Our House

Okay, so we've lived in our house for about 4 months now and I realize that I have still not really posted pictures it. I really am not much of a decorator. I have a hard time spending money on home decor but I am working on it. Miss E's room is the only one that is really done with paint and decor on the walls. I hope that with spring in the air a fire will be lit under my bootie to get some painting done. Then I hope to have a housewarming party (yes, a little late). Here are a few pics, enjoy...

We have all of the letters of E's name on different colored backgrounds hung over her crib.

This isn't a very good pic, but these were the inspiration for the room. I love the Winborg sisters! My mom got E these for Christmas and I love them!

The office portion of the "office." We also have a craft table and two pianos in there. It's a big room!

Master bath...

Family room/kitchen...I love having a gathering space when everyone comes over!

Master bedroom. We are looking for some sort of couch/chaise to put in here soon. I think we are going to go with a natural green color on the walls. Still looking for artwork!

Again, pretty boring. I am still waiting for inspiration to strike me for the color and artwork to place around the house. We are loving our neighborhood and love seeing the growth that is happening around us! I am happy to say that we, for the first time in a long time, feel like we are "home."

Fablehaven Signing

Steve and I love the Fablehaven book series by Brandon Mull. These books are kids chapter books that are similar in genre to Harry Potter and the like. Our 8 year old niece, Smarty Pants, also loves them, so when we heard the author was going to do a huge signing party at Cottonwood High School, we knew we needed to take her. Unfortunately we knew we would have to go late because Steve had work and Smarty Pants had dance. We hoped that by getting there late the line would have somewhat subsided...not so. It was insane! Apparently you had to get there very early to get an alphabetical ticket. They then would call groups up to have their books signed based upon what letter of the alphabet they had. If you didn't have a ticket, you had to wait until after the letter Z. At 8:15 pm (keeping in mind they probably started somewhere around 7 or so) they were to the letter "D." Sadly, we knew with school and work the next day we couldn't wait to get our books signed.
Smarty Pants took the news very well and was content to have the characters sign her book and pose for pictures. We decided that for her maturity we would reward her with a big ice cream sundae. She was pleased! Now we just need to find a time when we can get Brandon Mull to sign our books elsewhere!

Update on Menus

I have slacked this week. Actually I made a menu, I was just a little embarrassed to post it because it involved lots of frozen leftovers, etc. I did make a few of the things from last week's menu to catch up because we had to change some days. These were the recipes that really stood out to us and we will definitely make again: Thai Red Curry, Spicy Chicken Chipotle Pasta, and Maple Glazed Salmon. These were a total hit at our house. I also made this TGI Friday's Bruschetta Chicken Pasta for Steve's family last week and it was AWESOME! I love when new recipes work out!
Our theme this week and last is to use things that we already have in order to keep the grocery bill lower. We try to always have frozen chicken and ground beef on hand and have been lucky enough to have Steve's dad supply us with yummy salmon from his fishing ventures. Since we have those staples we can easily adapt our recipes to be pretty cheap if necessary.
Still struggling with side dishes. If you have suggestions I am listening! Here is this week's menu: (keeping in mind family is coming and this will probably change)

Monday
French Bread Pizza
From My Food Storage Deals
Green Salad

Tuesday
Corn Chile Chowder (freezer meal)

Wednesday-Our sad tribute to St Patrick's Day
Broccoli Chicken Casserole (see...it has green in it!)

Thursday
Hamburgers
We love to stuff our burgers with cheddar cheese and crumbled bacon before we cook them. Yum!

Friday
Visit with family

Saturday
Visit with family

Sunday
Our favorite roast and mashed potatoes!
*Meat was on sale a couple of weeks ago so I bought several roasts for only a couple of dollars a piece. They keep really well in the freezer and are nice to have when you want a nice dinner or you have company coming.

This Just Made My Day

I love WinCo! Welcome to Ogden...I can't wait for you to open!!!

Trip To Boise

So this is a little late, but better late than never...right? During Steve's last on week E and I were getting a little bored and going a little stir crazy staying home alone so we decided to head up to Boise for a couple of days. We couldn't leave until Thursday because Miss E had a Dr. appointment and we had to be back on Saturday so I could teach Sunday School, so it really was a quick trip. We had lots of fun eating, playing with Grandma, eating, playing beauty shop with grandpa, watching Kels play some bball, oh, and eating cupcakes. We did lots of eating. It was fun! Thanks for the fun couple of days Mom and Dad!

Just Playing

I have plenty of real posts in mind, but I was just playing with Picasa and thought I'd share. I never knew you could do all of this with that program...I thought it was just for sharing albums. Oh great...here's to a new time waster! : )

Weekly Menu 3/1-3/6

After our very heavy meals last week, I am trying to focus on a little bit lighter fare this week. I ended up going to Boise for a few days so we are having pizza tonight rather than last week.

Monday:
Pizza and Breadsticks

Tuesday:
Homemade Turkey Noodle Soup
Turkey Stock
Leftover Turkey
Carrots
Celery
Onions

Wednesday:
Sensational Sirloin Kebobs
Rice

Thursday:
Leftovers

Friday:
Thai Red Curry
I am going to use chicken rather than the beef.
From What's On My Menu

Saturday:
Maple Glazed Salmon
From Hold the Onions
Rice
Veggies (whatever is on sale or looks good)

Sunday:
Spicy Chicken Chipotle Pasta
From my friend Courtney Davis

Now I just need to get my shopping done for the week!