And used the fabric from it to make a dress for Lil! I used one of Lil’s basic A-line dresses to trace as a pattern. And ta-da! I’m pretty excited about it since it was my first time!

One of the straps falls to the side a bit, so I need to tweak it. But I do love this! And it’s super soft!

For any of you at work, you can totally watch this on mute and see what we have growing. But in case you can’t tell exactly what everything is, here’s a list of what we have growing…

• Two tomato plants – one cherry, one large
• Quinoa
• Carrots
• Beets
• Green bell peppers
• Jalapenos
• Habaneros
• Two blueberry bushes
• Blackberry bush
• Pomegranate tree

I cannot take credit for this garden at all. It’s really been tended well by my husband. And this is our first year, so we are not experts. But here are a few things Brendon did that really helped our garden along…

• Brendon and his dad built a raised bed, which is almost essential for a garden in North Texas, where our soil is very clay-like.
• He didn’t skimp on the soil. Brendon got the good stuff. And he added a cow manure fertilizer to it as well.
• We go to this great nursery called Northaven Gardens, local to Dallas, where they are extremely knowledgeable about North Texas plants and what grows best where, etc. We listen to their advice with what to plant and how best to do it. They are so helpful! Truthfully, it would be easier to go to Home Depot, but we have found the employees there to be knowledgeable in constructing but not so much in planting. For our home needs, we choose Home Depot (or the like), but for gardening, we choose a specialized nursery.
• Since it’s not too hot just yet, we have been watering the plants every other day with rain water, collected in our rain barrel we got off Freecycle. (Dallas friends, sign up for a class to make your own rain barrel here.)
• Also we keep the garden fenced off with 4-foot high, flexible fencing to keep squirrels (and our chickens!) out. The fencing isn’t really pretty, but it does it’s job!

Do y’all have any tips for growing your own vegetable garden?

I wish I had some great transition into this week’s meal plan, but I don’t. It should be an interesting week because I am trying to hold out on going to the store. My sister graduates Friday, which means a quick trips out of town and lots of festivities. I hate to buy stuff only to have it go bad! Sooo we’ll see how this goes! Good news though – this weekend we’ve harvested beets, green bell peppers, and cherry tomatoes from our garden! Wahoo! So we will have some fresh produce!

Our menu…

Breakfasts:

• Banana bread oatmeal
• Smoothies
• Eggs

Lunches:

• Whatever I can scrounge up… turkey and swiss, yogurt, apples, and of course, leftovers!
• Veggies from the garden too!

Dinners:

• Pasta with marinara sauce
• Burgers, green bell pepper and humus
• Chicken tortilla soup
• Leftovers
• Pumpkin spice pancakes from the freezer, breakfast sausage

Kitchen projects:

• Chicken stock
• Homemade GoGurts
• And I’ll be trying to figure out something to make with beets! Ideas?

What are y’all eating this week?

Since we did not find out the gender first time around, this nursery started out gender neutral with white, cream, and chocolate brown as our colors. I then came in and girl-ified it after Lilleigh was born!

The mobile is no longer up, but most everything else is the same. We already had the full size bed in here and wanted to keep it since we have lots of out of town family. And soon Lil will be using it as her big girl bed anyway!

You may notice the ceiling fan. I know it’s trendy to replace the fans with cute lighting, but I love ceiling fans! So that just doesn’t seem practical to me. Cute, yes. But not practical – for us.

The glider was passed down to us from my sister’s nursery. If we had a boy, I had planned to recover it. But I am glad we were able to keep it as is because I love the print! Actually, since we already had a girly glider, I based the rest of Lil’s room off of it. Green and pink, plus flowers!

The blanket draped over the chair was crocheted by a friend. How sweet is she!

A friend made this framed sign for us. So special to us. And the pom-poms I made from tissue paper.

The sign was made for me by a friend in college. And the Pottery Barn chair was a gift. Actually a friend made her own PB knock-off chair with a chair she found at Home Goods. Then she cut out fabric letters and sewed (or maybe even, glued) them on, spelling out her little girl’s name. It looks pretty darn look! An applique look, rather than an embroidered look, but I love it.

The three hooks were purchased at Hobby Lobby for $12 altogether. I thought they looked so cute above the changing table and then realized how impractical they are once little ones can reach and pull… oh well… still cute!

The pink changing pad cover was a hand-me-down given to us after Lil was born. And as a baby gift, my mother-in-law gave us an amount of money to use toward the nursery, and of course I had to find the very best deals I could… so that money bought both the crib and the dresser. Steals of deals! Actually we still came in under the allotted amount.

Cribs are one place that it would be so easy to spend a lot, but we bought the Graco Lauren, which was pretty and inexpensive. It looks great and will be able to used by multiple kids in years to come!

Also the bedding was bought from Pottery Barn Kids as well. We had a gift card to there, which brought our total out of pocket $30-something! And I was seriously obsessed with this bedding! The best gender-neutral that I found!

These flowering vines are all around her room. I saw them in a Pottery Barn catalog, and thought, I could do that! So I headed to Hobby Lobby and spent a whopping $12 on paper and set out to making flowers! Time-consuming, but I love the look!

The curtains were from Target. Both the rods and panels were bought with a gift card. And because our windows are long and short, each window is actually just one panel, hung horizontally, cut in half, and hemmed. Was there another way people have used to cover these windows? That’s the only thing I’ve been able to figure out to do!

I made the fuzzy pink pillow, and a friend’s mom made the denim cube and pink cross pillows. We love our lovies!

And a bookshelf in the closet! Because we love books!

There’s a trend on going “all out” for baby nurseries. Getting super excited about baby is normal, but I don’t think that has to equate with an expensive nursery. I just wanted to show y’all Lil’s nursery because 1. I love it, and 2. it cost very little. We spent less than $60 out of our pocketbook on this entire nursery! We were blessed to be gifted with several items, but even so, I was sure to find the best deal on everything we bought AND that others gave us money to buy.

How have you found ways to save on baby nurseries?

Recently I set out to reinvent our patio! With a toddler, we have actually been spending a lot of time outside. She loves to play in her sand box and at her water table! Both of these are on our patio, which is actually a great space immediately outside the sliding glass door in our living room. You step out of that door onto a good-sized concrete slab, the perfect place for an outdoor sitting area. The problem is that our space was taken over by falling apart patio furniture, play toys, watering cans, a hose strung across the patio into the driveway and into the yard. It didn’t look pretty.

You might think I edited this scene, the way we all know those makeover shows do. I am certain that they make the contestants look like they haven’t showered in days, on purpose. Nope. This is not like that. This is for real. I kid you not. We have so wanted a fantastic patio refuge, but alas our falling apart table had become home to our gardening gear and water buckets, while the creaky chairs had been moved near the chicken coop to give them extra coverage after that unfortunate hawk incident.

We had gotten the furniture shown in the photo above as hand-me-downs from our next door neighbors. Okay, truth be told, they set it out for heavy trash, and we took it. They thought it was hilarious – in a good way – that we did this. Unfortunately though the neighbor across the street took the bench that went with it, so our old, falling apart patio set has consisted of a table and only three chairs. Pretty sad. Clearly it was time for new furniture!

I hopped on the Internet to see what patio furniture deals might be available. I used Ebates to direct me to the Kmart site. I loved the selection I found on Kmart’s website.

Kmart’s site is easy to navigate, has several ways to sort through search results, and includes customer product reviews, which I read before each purchase! They also offer in-store pick-up and layaway options! Now y’all know I’m not a fan of payment plans that encourage you to buy items on credit, but layaway is a different story. With layaway, you put down a deposit for the item, and then agree to make payments over a series of intervals. Kmart has it set up for you to pay four payments over a several week span. Here’s the difference between buying on credit and buying on layaway – with layaway, you don’t actually receive the item until you have finished paying for it. This may be a great system for someone saving up to make a big purchase, such as patio furniture.

When thinking about what we wanted for our patio, we debated between an outdoor table and chairs with an umbrella or a casual seating area. We ended up going the casual seating area route because with play dates and hanging out in the backyard, this seemed to be the most functional. We actually chose the La-Z-Boy Morgan 4 piece seating set, based on its reviews and the fact that it’s pretty neutral. (We love earth tones in our house!) Because of our hose was a problem, we also bought a Suncast hose hanger to keep our hose from being an obstacle to those “toddling” about. And being in Texas, I have always dreamed of a big porch with a fan. (The heat is brutal.) Building a shaded structure wasn’t exactly in our budget, so I opted for the next best thing – a Lasko box fan! (I’m partial to Lasko.)

My sweet hubby drove a couple of hours away to get this furniture! Long story. But, Happy Mother’s Day to me! 

Upon arriving at Kmart, pick-up was super easy. Only your name and an ID were required for pick-up. Hassle-free! A Kmart employee even helped to load it all up.

Here is our new furniture all set up!

I am so glad that we chose the casual sitting area because it’s so versatile. I have loved enjoying toddler nap times with a good book and ice water, just cuddled up in a big chair out in the backyard! We also entertain a lot – from play groups to small gatherings to large parties! Actually we have already had some sweet friends ask when my hubby is going to get to grilling his famous fajitas for us to enjoy in the luxury of this plush seating! I am hopeful that we can have a cook-out Memorial Day weekend! We love hanging out with great friends, enjoying yummy food, and relaxing over holiday weekends!

Did you notice that the hose is no longer strung over the patio and driveway? And how now it is wrapped neatly on the hose hanger?  Huge improvement! We do still plan to add an outdoor rug and a DIY canopy for shade. It all takes time!

If you are in the market for patio furniture, I would definitely recommend checking out Kmart. And be sure to check out some of this week’s hot deals:
20% all patio cushions and umbrellas
20% off all folding lawn furniture
Metal arbor with gate on SALE for $79.99 (reg $149.99)
50% off hanging basket plant stand & deluxe basket plant stand

You can see their weekly deals here.

Shop Your Way Rewards members save more each and every season and for every $1 you spend you get 10 points. Learn more here.

Lock in today’s low prices for all of your upcoming events with Kmart Layaway!

Check out my Google+ story of our shopping adventure! #Kmart outdoor LINK!

Any big plans for your patios? What’s your outdoor set up?

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™. All opinions are my own. #CBias #SocialFabric

This past school year I was blessed by the teaching and community of the women’s bible study at my church. This hour and a half of fellowship (and childcare!) was a time I looked forward to each week. The teaching really encouraged my heart – both in my faith and in my role as a wife and a mom. One of our teachers was Kay Wyma, who recently put out a book, Cleaning House: A Mom’s Twelve-Month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement.

My generation, and even more so the one currently being raised up, is a generation of entitlement. In her book, Kay shares her discovery of how entitlement had slowly crept into her home. Shortly after this realization, she began a year-long journey to rid her home of entitlement by assigning her children tasks that she wanted her kids to be equipped to do when they were out on their own. Kay shares what this journey has looked like for her five children, the “entitled,” and also for herself, the “enabler.”

I began reading through her book this week and have loved every bit of it! I am only on chapter two, but already, I have been encouraged and challenged. Kay has a very distinct voice in her writing, which keeps me turning the pages and silently praying my toddler will sleep just a little longer. I found myself smirking and full out laughing just about every other paragraph. And on those in between, I am nodding my head, relating to every word.

I will write a full review once I finish her book, but I just wanted to encourage you to check out this book! It’d be an awesome choice for a book club or a summer read. And be sure to check out Kay’s blog, where she is celebrating the launch of her book with fun giveaways!

I was given a copy of this book to review, but I was not asked to write this post, only to review the book. Full review to come. The opinions above are my own.

My neighbor introduced me to this oatmeal goodness. In my menu plan, I called it coconut banana oatmeal, but I am renaming it – “banana bread oatmeal.” It reminds me of banana bread in oat form!

Try it out this week for breakfast! You won’t be sorry. This recipe is for one serving.

• 1 c. Coconut milk
• 1/2 c. Rolled oats
• Pinch of cinnamon
• Raisins
• Banana slices (I used 1/3 banana, but increase or decrease as desired.)
• Walnuts

Cook oats as normal, only with coconut milk, rather than water. Add the toppings and stir. Delish!

Prepare the oats and take them with you for a healthy on-the-go breakfast.

Or eat them before you head out!

Breakfasts:

• Coconut banana oatmeal (Recipe to come!)
• Banana bread
• Oats and bananas
• Eggs and strawberries
• Smoothies – green and peanut butter!

Lunches:

• Lots of leftovers! We still have chili and tacos from last week…
• Picnic lunch with sweet friends!

Dinners:

• Stuffed green peppers (Because I didn’t end up having time to make them last week.)
• Grilled chicken and apple salad
• Baked potatoes, salad
• Up in the air – One night we will probably either go out with or host friends! Pot luck? Burgers?
• Leftovers x2

And while I’m in the kitchen:

• I plan to make more GoGurts!
• Bake bread. It probably seems like we go through bread a lot faster, and we kinda do. But we also make smaller loaves than what you’ve buy at the store. And fresh bread (without preservatives!) doesn’t last as long, but it’s all ingredients I know so no complaints!

As you can see I am working on our breakfasts. Trying to make them more fun! What breakfast ideas do you have?

I should mention that I cut up the cheesecake and put it on a platter before taking the photo. I wasn’t thinking. But it looks awesome still, right? Here’s the recipe…

2-  8 oz packages of crescent rolls
2- 8 oz packages of cream cheese, softened
1-1/2 c sugar (divided use)
1 t. vanilla
1 stick butter melted (sometimes I use less)
2 t. cinnamon

Grease 9×13 pan. Line bottom of pan with one can of crescent rolls. Combine cream cheese, vanilla, and 1 c. sugar, and evenly spread mixture over the crescent rolls. Unroll second can of rolls and layer them over the cream cheese mixture, pressing seams together to seal the dough. Combine melted butter with 1/2 c. sugar and cinnamon. Evenly spread mixture over the top.
Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.
Let cool or serve warm! Personally, I love it a bit cold!

*This recipe is highly processed. But for a party, it’s totally fun and worth it! If you find a good less processed recipe though, let me know!

Well it’s still spring cleaning around here! I am slowly but surely making my way through our house – reorganizing, decluttering, and getting rid of lots!

The closet is a place I am constantly decluttering. For whatever reason I can’t seem to make it happen in one clean sweep. I so envy those of you who have five shirts, three pairs of pants, two pairs of jeans, two pairs of shorts, three dresses, and a jacket. Simplicity is a beautiful thing. I do not have the will power to be so limited in my wardrobe. In fact I’ve even been known to keep things that look worn or are a tad out-dated just so I can have variety in my closet. Even if I don’t wear it! That’s just crazy.

When going through my closet, I make five piles: 1. Get rid of, 2. Not sure, 3. Yes but needs to be mended or revamped,  4. Yes but not my current size (This may not apply to everyone.), and 5. Yes!

Over the years, I’ve come up with an growing list of requirements for the clothes in my closet. And I’ve turned them into a series of questions I ask myself.

• Have I worn the item in the past year? Now, this one gets a little if-y since I am in child-bearing years and changing shape and size a lot! So I often bypass this one. Still, great to keep in mind.
• Do I consider this item to be cute? This seems like a no-duh, but I always seem to find items I don’t even like in my closet! What in the world?
• Is this item practical? Know your lifestyle and your area’s weather! Being a SAHM, my idea of “practical” is different from what it used to be. When I was in graduate school, I mainly wore business casual attire. Now I wear casual and comfy (though cute, I hope!) clothes most of the time. This doesn’t mean that dressier items don’t have a place in my wardrobe, but what’s the ratio? Additionally, since it is usually warm or hot in Dallas, I don’t need nearly as many winter items as summer – or at any rate, they should be able to be layered!
• Speaking of dressier items, when looking for something dressier (or more casual, depending on your normal dress) than I normally wear, are there 3 or more items I would choose to wear instead? When going to a wedding, am I holding onto a dress when I know for a fact I’d choose three others before that one? If so, then it may be time for that particular item to go.
• Can this item be used to make multiple outfits? And if you’re like me, this is when you recruit a fashionista friend (or sister – lucky me!) to come tell you. This also comes in handy when you need someone to tell you what items you still need in your closet in order to make the most of what you have. The purpose of that is not to spend more but to use what you have well.

I know I’m not the only one holding onto old clothes because stats say the average woman has 22 articles of clothing in her closet that she doesn’t wear! Why do we hold onto these? Join me in cleaning out your closet! I’ll be reporting back with my closet pair down!

What are your closet clean-out rules? And what items have you been holding onto?