Day 31

Wyatt is taking a youth baptism class at our church and this little cutie was the only one who wanted to ride with me to go get him.    Okay-- he was made to ride with me but he's not complaining.  

Day 30

Day 29

Day 28

Cody's FAV!!!   Curious George!!!

Day 27

Late night flooring run.  

Day 26

Progress!!!

Day 25

Day 24 | Crockpot BBQ Chicken

I love a crockpot dish that can be put together in less than 5 minutes..   I was able to get this recipe ready in about 4 minutes AND it tasted amazing.   Everyone raved and seconds were had by the oldest child and oldest in the family.

Crockpot BBQ Chicken

1 bag frozen chicken breasts (2 pound bag)

1 cup BBQ sauce - I used Cookies BBQ sauce

1/4 cup Italian dressing - I used Olive Garden's Italian dressing

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

salt to taste

Dump frozen chicken in a greased crockpot.   Mix together the remaining ingredients and pour over chicken.   Cook on High for 5 hours or Low for 8 hours.   If your chicken is already thawed, the cooking time can be reduced.    If you are in the kitchen 30 minutes before you eat, go ahead and shred the chicken and let simmer in the sauce until you are ready to eat.   Serve on buns with coleslaw.   I'm the only one who used coleslaw and it was so good!

(the original recipe can be found here)

I am still loving my Calphalon crockpot.   If you're in need of a new crockpot, I highly recommend!

Leftovers the next day were even better!

Day 23

Day 22

Day 21 | our view

Day 20

Cody and his grandpa enjoying Wyatt's vocal and band concert.  

Day 19

Yum!  Salsa!  

Day 18

When these two get a hold of my phone........  

Day 17

Last night we all met at a restaurant for D's mom's bday.   It's rare that ALL 10 grandkids are together so we had to get a pic!    

Day 16

I loooove a clean house but I will miss finding dinosaurs amongst the boots someday!

Day 15

The one set of decorations I really don't want to take down.   This set of trees defines my style so perfectly.  

Day 14 | Sugar Cookies

It seems every Christmas season, I try a new sugar cookie recipe to find THE perfect cookie.  This year, according to our family, this is it.   I tweaked both a cookie recipe and a frosting recipe to come up with this combo.

Soft Sugar Cookies with Vanilla Frosting

Soft Sugar Cookies with Vanilla Frosting

Sugar Cookies
2/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup softened butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl cream the butter, shortening and sugar.  Mix in the eggs and vanilla.   Combine the flour, baking powder and salt and stir into the butter mixture until the dough forms together.  Roll into walnut sized balls and place them on a lightly greased cookie sheet.  Slightly flatten dough balls with the palm of your hand.  Bake for 11 minutes and cool on a wire rack or a towel.   Cool completely before frosting.

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Vanilla Frosting
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup milk
2/3 cup shortening
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 bag powdered sugar

Beat first 4 ingredients with an electric mixer until creamed.   Add in the powdered sugar and slowly mix slowly until all is combined and smooth.   Frosting may be tinted with food coloring if desired.

Frost cooled cookies.   If adding sprinkles, be sure to sprinkle on right after frosting a cookie because this frosting sets quickly.


These will stay soft for over a week when stored in an airtight container.

Day 13

Cody's crooked, cheesy smile

Day 12

A good man!

Day 11

It's an I-want-to-play-with-every-single-toy-in-the-house kind of a day.  

And no, we don't usually have dining chairs in the living room but we're baracading Cody while D is working on the house  😄

Day 10

Cody's first time experiencing Hilton Magic

Day 9

It's cooooold here and Landon found a way to stay cozy by wrapping himself in an electric blanket cocoon.  

Day 8

Hot Chocolate Muffins | oh-so-super-cute muffins with mini mallows on top

I just made these for the kids when they get home from school on this cold and windy day.

The recipe can be found here.

Day 7

Egg washing and harmonica playing.   1960's anyone?  :)

Day 6 | laundry soap

A friend shared this laundry soap recipe last summer.   I made it shortly after and we have been using it ever since.    I made my first batch on July 13th, 2014 and I just finished up the last bit of it last week.    For our family of 6, that batch of laundry soap lasted us almost 6 months.

I picked up all of the ingredients for batch #2 a few weeks ago and just mixed it up last night.

Laundry Detergent

1 box Borax

1 box Washing Soda

1 large box Baking Soda

1 container Oxy Clean

4 bars Fels Naptha laundry bar soap, found in the laundry detergent aisle 

(the original recipe calls for 3 bars, but I like my detergent to suds a bit more so I use 4)

Grate Fels Naptha on a cheese grater or in a food processor (a food processor makes it SO quick!)   Mix all ingredients together in a large container or bucket.   Store in an airtight container.

I use a 1/4 cup measuring scoop for adding the detergent into the washing machine, but I don't use a full 1/4 cup.   My farmer husband even uses this detergent for his manury, greasy, smelly clothes and they come out very clean!

Our whites are bright, stains come out and clothes come out fresh!   Thanks, Jenny for the great recipe!

This is only a portion of the recipe.   The rest is stored in the bucket I mix it in.

Day 5

It's always sad when Christmas is done but I sure do love the Spring catalogs that are arriving!

Day 4

Audrey reading to her baby brother

Day 3

The dining room is started!!!!

Day 2

Not ready to undecorate

Day 1 | Happy New Year

This year.  

Slowing down.  Cherishing family.  Personal projects.

Goal:  on December 31, 2015 I will have blogged one photo every day.

365 photos that bring joy, memories, laughter and possible tears.

I'm pretty excited!

a work day in the studio calls for a Day #1 selfie