Friday, March 31, 2017

Happy Friday!!

Happy Friday to you!!  Our week went a little different than I had planned...

We ended up having to cancel plans several days because my kids weren't feeling well.  Fevers early in the week, colds and yuck.  So we had a low key week at home preparing to celebrate Fletcher's first birthday.  We ran some errands, worked on some DIY projects and stayed in our pjs a lot.  We are headed to see family this weekend to celebrate our sweet little guy with a dinomite dinosaur party theme.  It should be a blast :)

// 1 //
OUTDOOR RUG
I was shopping at Sams this week and was checking out all of their summer/patio/garden aisles.  I came across their outdoor rugs and saw these cute outdoor rugs on clearance for under $10!!  They had a few different designs and I quickly scooped up this one for our deck.  It's so bright and cheery.  I couldn't believe the price especially since I'd been shopping on Amazon and could find one I loved for under $20.  Hurry to Sams ASAP!!


// 2 //
COLORFUL MEALS
I've been on a baby spinach kick lately for my salads.  It holds up so well in the fridge all week long and doesn't wilt/go bad nearly as quickly as mixed greens do.  I also picked up some mini cucumbers and I loved how quickly they were to slice up for snacks or for a salad.
We ate BLACK BEAN QUESADILLAS this week and they were SO GOOD!  Stay tuned for that recipe because we've already had them 2-3 times since I first made them.


// 3 //
EASTER
I love the way the calendar worked out this year for Spring holidays.  I feel like everything has gotten plenty of time and attention since they were so spread out.  We are loving doing all things Spring and Easter right now.  Olive helped me decorate for Easter so our house looks really fun.  I need to snap some pictures to share with you.  For now I'll leave you with this bunny family portrait that they insisted be taken :)


// 4 //
POLKA-DOTTY PLACE ETSY SHOP
My etsy shop has been restocked and updated for Spring!!  I love all of the blooms for Spring.  Come check it out and see if you can find some new accessories to update your wardrobe for Spring.

// 5 //
KIDS
Fletcher is getting so brave and it kind of scares me!!    He's taking a few steps at a time, going up and down a few steps, climbing everything and basically being a danger to himself.  We are all on high alert when he's awake :)  He got some big sister scooter time when she was distracted doing something else!  He was thrilled!

 Olive's signature bob got an update this week!  It was time for a trim so I got to chopping.  She's got straight hair that's easy to cut at home.  We chopped and then she requested some curls.  It looks great for Spring!!



 Polka-Dotty Place Week in Review:

Wednesday: Mr. ONEderful
Thursday: Watercolors

I hope you have a really great weekend!!




at 18 comments:

Thursday, March 30, 2017

Watercolors

The thing that Olive missed most while we were out of town was her art supplies.  We try to do art projects and free time with art supplies regularly during the week so it was fun to see that she loves that part of our routine.  We have painted almost every day since we've been home.  It's become a quick, easy, NOT MESSY process so I thought I'd share our tips today.




1. Create a designated spot to do art with easy clean up.
We do art at our kitchen island or the kid table in the kitchen.

2. Come up with easy rules to remember.
Only paint on art paper or your hands.
Ask for help.
Don't walk around with paint.
Use your imagination.

3. Come up with a good routine and clear expectations.
Olive gathers the supplies from our craft closet.
I get the water.
She paints and I do the clean up for now.
Eventually I'll give her the wet paper towels to clean up.

4. I usually give her one thing to do or an activity to try and then she gets plenty of free time.
I'll show some fun painting activities that take seconds to come up with.

Favorite painting activities:
Trace your hands and your kids hands and then let them paint the fingernails.
My daughter regularly requests to paint our nails so this was a fun (cleaner) alternative to the real thing.  She took it a step further and declared that she was going to do the same thing with her hands.  It was neat to see her replicate the project for herself.

Paint a portrait of a favorite pet

Paint a rainbow

Free paint

Color mixing

Finger paint

Q-tip paint

Polka-Dot paint










We are currently displaying her art work on her bulletin board, our fridge and in her room.  She's so proud to see her pictures on display.  For the long term I have her pick her favorites to save and then I usually toss the rest when she's not around.  We just can't handle storing 5+ paintings a day for her life :)

Our current set of water colors is Melissa and Doug.
We use cheap art paper and I love Crayola brushes because they don't shed.

What are your favorite art projects to do at home??
at 7 comments:

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Mr ONEderful

Happy FIRST Birthday, Fletcher!!

I can't believe my baby boy is ONE today.  Well, one as of 11:47am today.

This has been the fastest, most wonderful year.  I remember last year worrying about all the changes that came along with adding a second baby to the family.  Would there be enough love, time and me to go around?  The answer is YES.  Adding a baby to the family was the best thing we could have done.  Our little family of four seems just right.  Olive adores her little brother and so do we.  It's the sweetest thing ever to watch them growing up and becoming besties.

It seems like I was just writing out his birth story and now we're talking about him being ONE.

We overcame several tricky health situations that have all resolved themselves.  We tried all kinds of feeding options from nursing to soy to sensitive formula.  We dealt with a few ear infections, stomach flu, viruses and functioned on little sleep for months.  Things really seem to be leveling out and becoming so routine now that we are at one year.  Fletcher is a great sleeper now and is the happiest, healthy boy.

He's taking 2-3 steps at a time and I think he'll take off walking or running very soon.  He's continued on his trend of being a BIG boy.  It's almost always the first thing people comment on after they find out how old he is.  They assume he's older and are surprised he's still a baby.  People are always commenting on his bright blue eyes and saying how handsome he is.  He's quickly outgrowing his 18 month clothes, weighs over 30lbs and has been consistently sleeping 12 hours a night many nights a week.  I'd forgotten how nice it is to sleep all night :)

Throwback to 18 day old Fletcher:

HIS current favorite things:
MOM, waving, making pretend phone calls to your dad all day long, your sister, bath time, meal time, our cats, board books, going on walks, car noises, musical toys and 

A few day in the life shots from our usual routine:
Every morning starts out like this one.  Fletcher is our alarm clock.  I go in and feed him a bottle then Olive wanders in and we all snuggle in the rocking chair.  Sweet snuggles.

Breakfast and morning cartoons.

I get ready for the day while Fletcher destroys the bathroom.

 I've learned to do so many things with only one hand.  I'm prepping veggies for the week with Fletcher on one hip.

Post nap greeting :)

He loves his food and has been interested in having his own fork lately.

These two play really well together most of the time.  Their current favorite game is chase.  She leads the race and he chases her all over the house crawling as quickly as he can.


We have pretty low key plans for the day to play, eat fun things
 and do all of Fletcher's favorite things.  I think he'll love it!

at 11 comments:

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Top 5 Spots in Our House

We have officially owned our home for ONE YEAR.  We bought it on St. Patrick's Day in 2016 and it's been so wonderful to be here.  We love most things about our house and have big plans for things we'd like to do over the course of YEARS.

The best things we did before we moved into our house were: getting TONS of work done on it before we moved in,  painting almost every wall a lovely neutral gray (Thanks, Dad!), installing new carpet throughout and restoring the original hardwood floors (Thanks, Kev!!).  I wanted to share our 5 favorite spots in our house along with our home goals for 2017.

We LOVE:

1. Our family room with big windows.  
The windows are HUGE and the kids/cats love sitting there watching the world go by.  They also use the window ledges for all of their toys.

 


2. Our play room. 
I just knew this room would be perfect for toys, books and KIDS.  The window seat is the perfect spot for Olive to put her toys where little brother can't reach them and the cats love laying the sunshine here, too.  There's a wall of built ins and then plenty of room for a play kitchen, art easel, sofa and lots of toys.  We spend tons of time in this room every day.



3. Our kitchen.
We love having a large island and these bright yellow bar stools make me so happy.  We use this spot all day long.  We do art projects here, we craft here, we bake here and I fold laundry here.  I have always wanted a kitchen with an island.



4. Our backyard.
We love having an outdoor space to play and enjoy.  I'm hoping we will eat lots of meals outside when the weather warms up.  We've slowly been accumulating outdoor toys so the kids have lots of things to do to keep them busy.




5. Our closets!
This house has the best closets!!  When we first saw the house I couldn't believe the storage space and it turns out that it's still one of my favorite things.  Each bedroom has a walk in closet.  There are two closets and a pantry in the kitchen.  The laundry room has great storage and I am so thankful for it!  It helps cut down on the clutter that is out and my dad worked hard to rebuild the shelving so we could maximize storage.  All bedroom closets now have sturdy wooden shelves and the overhaul is impressive.  And our front door gets an honorable mention because I love the pretty blue door!


Home Goals for 2017;
1. We'd love to add shutters and flower boxes to the front of the house
2. Add landscaping to the front of the house.
3. Level out some spots in the yard / Yard work / Clean up
4. Get a playset for the backyard
5. Clean out and organize the garage
6. Finish hanging all the pictures in the house - 
Olive's room, master bedroom, half bath, playroom, etc.
7. Window treatments in the kitchen and play room
8. Reorganize all closets
9. Repair some areas of our deck
10.  Power wash our house in certain spots 

What are you favorite spots in your home?
Do you have any home projects in the works for 2017?

Linking up with Momfessionals and

It's time to link up with my favorite Tuesday Talk ladies.
Be sure to join us with some great posts for the week.
Crystal at Hall Around Texas | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram  
Stephanie at Wife Mommy Me | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram
Becky at BYBMG | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram
Lindsay at Lindsay's Sweet World | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram
Sarah at Sarah E. Frazer | Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram

Polka-Dotty Place

at 13 comments:

Monday, March 27, 2017

March Recipe Round Up

I'm excited to share a few new recipes with you today.  They're all pretty easy and really delicious.  I didn't cook quite as much as usual this month since we were out of town for Spring Break, but I still have some great things to share with you today.

// 1 //
Spaghetti and Fake Meatballs
My husband doesn't love pasta, but sometimes he requests it for dinner because he knows that everyone else loves it.  I whipped up this spaghetti dinner and it was DELICIOUS!

1 lb ground round
1/4 finely chopped purple onion
1/4 finely chopped yellow onion
minced garlic
olive oil
salt and pepper

Angel hair pasta
Ragu sauce
mozzarella cheese

Cook the ground round in a skillet and barely break it up while it cooks.  Leave it really chunky (aka fake meatballs).  Cook the onions and garlic in olive oil until they are slightly clear.  Combine the meat and onions until they start to stick together.

Cook the pasta like usual, heat the sauce and then build your own pasta bowls!!

// 2 //
Rotisserie Chicken
This was a huge time saver for me this month!  We ate big salads regularly and the chicken was the perfect addition.  My husband also dipped his in BBQ sauce instead of adding it to his salad.  To each his own :)  My favorite salad dressing in the world is Ken's Honey Mustard!


// 3 //
Breakfast For Dinner
We ate pancakes, waffles, scrambled eggs, egg sandwiches and omelets for dinners this month.  They're easy and cheap dinner options.  I love picking up thick cut bacon or turkey sausage to add to the meal along with some fresh fruit.



// 4 //
NACHOS, TACOS, QUESADILLAS, Oh my!
We had lots of Mexican food this month, but I barely took any pictures of it.  Head to Instagram (@polkadottyplace) to see my latest nacho combo.


FUN KID FOOD:
My three year old loves a good, festive meal so the edible rainbows were a hit.  I made sure to include all of her favorite foods.


TREATS:
Going BANANAS:
I shared my recipe for Banana Cake with Caramel Frosting



Banana Pops this month


Have you tried any of the Girl Scouts cereal yet??  This one was amazing!

My Perfect Buttercream Recipe never disappoints.

We enjoyed lots of rainbow treats this month.
You can never go wrong with a good chocolate chip cookie.
They are definitely MY MOST FAMOUS RECIPE



Have you tried any new recipes lately??

Now I'm starving!!  Which recipes are you anxious to try???
I'm linking up with 2 of my favorite cooking ladies today
and we're all sharing our best recipes from the month.

Linking up with Southern Plate

Katie @ Cup of Tea
New Recipes to Try March

Whitney @ Come Home for Comfort
What We're Eating March

Head over to their blogs to see what delicious meals they are sharing this month!
 We've also started a Pinterest Board called
New Recipes We've Tried and Loved!
Be sure to check it out and get some great ideas for meals at your house.
at 8 comments: