The Best Parts

Happy Friday!  Hope you had a nice week. 

We were busy and are ready for the weekend.  We got snow, wrapped up Olive's Spring Break, watched the ND women win a National Title in basketball and did all of our usual activities.

The best parts of our week were...

SNOW
We got at least 3 inches of snow this week and it was BEAUTIFUL.  It was easily the prettiest snow we had all year.  I know it's April and most people are over the snow, but not us.  The kids ran out in their pjs to see the snow and couldn't wait to get out and play.  Fletcher had to be reminded that he really did love bundling up to go outside and play.  Olive would have stayed out in it for hours if I would have let her.  We got to build our first snowman of the year, went sledding, played and all our winter (now Spring) wishes came true!!  Did you get any snow this week??

PARTY SUPPLIES
I LOVE throwing parties and I also LOVE getting a good deal on party supplies.  I thought I'd share my favorite get the most for your money tip - Pick 3 colors for your party decor and then buy party supplies to go with the colors instead of the theme.

For example, I just threw a fireman 2nd birthday party for my son and instead of buying everything firetrucks I bought red, black and gold party supplies.  That way I can use the leftover supplies for other holiday - reds for 4th of July or Valentine's Day, black for Halloween and the gold could come in handy for anyone's birthday.  I also found all of these things at The Dollar Tree, Kroger, Walmart or Meijer. I decorated with his toy firetrucks so it all tied together nicely.

THANK YOUS
I went a different route with birthday thank you notes for Fletcher.  I couldn't find cute boy notes so I printed a favorite picture of him to go with the firetruck theme.  I wrote the thank you note on the back of each picture and mailed those out.  I've never gotten such nice texts and calls about thank you notes before.  I think I'll try and do this more often.

EGGS
What do you do with all of the hard boiled eggs post Easter??  We've had deviled eggs and big salads with eggs, but I still have a lot of eggs leftover.  I was thinking of trying a fancy deviled egg recipe.

JELLIES
Wal-Mart has the cutest jellies for little girls.  They come in tons of colors and are just $4.96.  Olive has the pink and clear from last year and we picked up a white pair a couple of weeks ago.  They're comfy and cute.

Kids:
SWIMMING LESSONS
Olive's wrapping up swimming lessons and made some great progress!  We're excited for pool days.

WELL CHECK
We finally found a pediatrician that we really like so going to the doctor is great!  Fletcher

These two have the best time together about 90% of the time.  The love popcorn and movies.  They come up with the funniest games and become better friends every day.  Fletcher got a blue cowboy hat for his bday so they spent the day lassoing things.  We spent the morning at a local bounce house.

EMBRACED
I have really been enjoying reading Lysa TerKeurst's latest devotional.  It's called Embraced: 100 Devotions to Know God is Holding You Close.  I'm a fan of hers and have enjoyed several of her books.  I think The Best Yes is my favorite.  I was excited to dive into this devotional.  The book is beautiful, hardcover and it feels good in your hands.  I found myself reading several days in a row.  I didn't want to stop reading.  Each day starts with a Bible verse, a devotion and ends with a prayerI loved her stories, her honesty and the fact that I could relate to so many of the things she addresses in this devotional.  It feels like you're reading a book a good friend wrote just for you.  I'd highly recommend it and look forward to reading it each day.  This would be an excellent gift to give to encourage someone you love or to do with a friend.  Another great book by TerKeurst!!
*This book was gifted to me in exchange for an honest review of it from BookLook.

Embraced: 100 Devotions to Know God Is Holding You Close

In case you missed it on PDP:

Monday: Easter Weekending
Tuesday: 4 Ways to Save in April
Wednesday: DIY Dollhouse


Hope you have the best weekend!!


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DIY Dollhouse

Remember when I gave my vintage doll house a makeover for Olive at Christmastime??

Did you have a doll house when you were little??

I had always envisioned giving it to Olive when she got a little older and this past Christmas seemed like the perfect time.   I'm excited to tell you all about the process today.

The doll house was something I got as a little girl from my parents.  We had planned to paint and decorate it, but never got around to finishing the project.  That made it really easy for me to customize it for Olive.  My mom dug it out of their attic and my sister delivered it to me.

My supply list was really easy.  Everything came from Wal-Mart.
Paint brushes
white paint
light and dark pink paint
purple paint
a couple of shades of green paint

Hand painting the whole thing definitely took longer than I expected.  I had to do two coats on the white and light pink.  It was still a fun project.  I'm just glad I started it weeks in advance.

BEFORE:
I opted not to put on the front door and porch rails for a more updated look.  I wiped the whole thing down before I started painting.

I ended up doing 4 or 5 late night painting sessions in December.  I'd make sure everyone was sound asleep and then take over our kitchen island to paint.  Let it dry for a bit.  Then cover it up until I got a chance to paint again.

I painted the whole exterior of the house white first.   Then the floors got painted white.

Next, I went room by room to paint the inside.  I picked Olive's favorite colors for the inside.

Once it was all dry, I felt like it needed a little something extra on the outside. 

I'm a HUGE fan of window boxes in real life so I knew window boxes would be a fun addition.  I just started painting flowers of all shapes and sizes until the box looked full.  I'd do the same type of flower on every box and then move on to a new flower.  I went in and added in stems in a variety of greens once the flowers are done.  This part of the project ended up being my favorite. 

Upstairs window boxes:

Downstairs window boxes:

Olive loves it and that makes me so happy!  She plays with her Calico Critters, little dolls and anything else that will fit inside.

I had some vintage dolls and furniture to give her and then we asked for some new wooden doll house furniture for her for Christmas.  It's a fun assortment that she is always rearranging.

Now it's time to link up with my favorite Welcome Wednesday Ladies.
Be sure to join us with a current post or two.

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An InLinkz Link-up

4 Ways to Save in April

April is a pretty quiet month at our house.  I am looking forward to a few low key weeks with no major activities going on for us.  I'm excited to share the ways we're planning to save money this month with you.

1. This month seemed like the perfect month to do a MINIMAL SPENDING MONTH.

I've heard of people doing NO SPEND MONTHS, but that just doesn't seem doable for us. 

Instead we are going to focus on not buying extra things, using up what we already have at home and saving money.  That'll involve sticking to our grocery lists, very little Amazon spending, avoiding browsing stores and holding each other accountable.  We like to talk about ways we've saved money each day to hold each other accountable.  I'm also hoping to take some things to local resale shops to make a little extra money this month.  I know it'll feel great to declutter and to have some extra cash!

2. Know Where to Find the Best Deal
I was tempted to buy a $40 box of diapers at Sams the other day.  I had both kids with me and was trying to make as few stops as possible.  It was convenient because I was already there, but I knew that I wasn't getting a good deal.  I opted instead to head to Aldi and save big.  Instead of spending $40 on ONE box of name brand diapers, I went to Aldi and got 12 items for $40. 

TWO boxes of diapers
3 boxes of fruit pouches
Thin mints
2 pkgs of string cheese
Peanut butter crackers
Crescent Rolls
Eggs
Marshmallows
= $40!!!

3. Mark Downs
I have been paying more attention to the mark downs at my grocery store.  I shop at Meijer pretty regularly and they keep their mark downs on end caps as well as mixing in the mark downs with the regular products in the refrigerated cases.  I'd never paid much attention to the see mark downs in the bagged produce section until recently.  I got super deals on a giant bag of broccoli that we'll use for roasted broccoli and two big bags of fresh green beans.  They were both 40% off.  I brought them home and popped all of them in the freezer. 

I always pick up containers of spinach when they're marked down.  We eat a lot of spinach for salads and smoothies.  You just can't beat 40% off those big containers.

My only warning is to be sure to check expiration dates.  Usually things are nearing their expiration date if they're marked down, but they're still perfectly fine.  I've found Lara bars, M&Ms, pretzels and cereals that we love marked down.  I just make sure to eat them first and enjoy the good deal!

4. Sales at Sams
I like to stock up on favorites when they go on sale at Sams.  Peanut Butter, produce, meats and baking items are always things I look for when they go on sale.  I picked up this huge bag of Brussels sprouts recently because they were on sale for $3.  We like to eat them as a side and this will probably be enough for us to eat three different times.

What are some fun ways you save your family money??

Easter Weekending

We had a fun Easter weekend despite the less than ideal rainy, cold weather!  We made yummy treats, dyed eggs, hunted eggs, went to a bunny brunch and went to Easter church.   It was a great family filled weekend.

Easter Family Picture.  It was freezing, but we really enjoyed the church service.

Egg carton lunches were a big hit all week long.

There were definitely more highs than lows from our weekend so I'll give you a little run down of both.  Let's start with the lows because they're funny now...

1. Fletcher got his head stuck inside of his Easter basket on the way to our egg hunt.  He was riding in his car seat and started screaming.  I turn around to help him and realize he's really stuck.  I shimmy his head out of the basket only to realize he's scraped up his entire forehead on the scalloped basket edges.

2. Olive snuck into the Easter egg dyeing kit while I was putting Fletcher down for a nap.  She got out all of the supplies she thought we needed according to the back of the box.  I came out to a counter full of water filled cups, egg dye tablets in each and all the stickers out.  She was ready to go.  She was so proud and I was just thankful the mess wasn't worse.  She said she was excited to be so helpful and I quickly reminded myself that my way isn't always the best way.

3. We're enjoying a yummy Easter brunch.  In a split second, Fletcher grabs a handful of blackberries and smears them into the bright white table cloth.  I was mortified and hope they've got some super start stain removing trick.

4. We head out to the golf course for the egg hunt.  They let the littlest kids go first.  I head out with Fletcher and this little boy blows past us.  He gets going too fast and barrel rolls himself and his basket down the hill.  His parents are running along behind him.  I hold Fletcher's basket while he grabs a couple eggs.  I look down and he's found as many golf balls as Easter eggs.  He's thrilled.

5. Easter church.  We head to church early.  Have to park much farther away than usual.  Are rushing into the service.  Olive trips and falls on the way in.  She's fine.  Church is packed.  Head to the cry room with the kids.  Fletcher cries.  We all settle in and really enjoy the Easter service.  Head to brunch at our favorite spot - Dennys.  Olive knocks over her drink seconds after getting it.  Thankfully it's water and we have a great rest of the meal.  When it's time to go Fletcher runs back into the kitchen.  We hurry home.

So just remember...

There are lot of cute pictures in this post, but there was plenty of chaos behind the scenes.

I gathered all the kid's favorite things and stuffed their Easter eggs with a mix of salty and sweet things.  The Tootsie Roll EGGS were the favorite.  Our sweet neighbors brought each of us chocolate bunnies.  They make all kinds of fancy chocolates for every holiday.  I always look forward to their treats!

Bunny Brunch
This was our 3rd annual bunny brunch.

2017 Bunny Brunch

2016 Bunny Brunch

We had a great time.  The food was tasty and the kids enjoyed all of the activities.  It was freezing so we didn't last long without our coats.  Olive was excited to give Fletcher some egg hunting tips.

My kids were really excited to see the Easter Bunny.  They followed him around giving high fives, smiles and pretty happily sat by him for pictures.  I always feel like he could use some bunny clothes, but they didn't ask for my input :)

Fletcher is quickly catching up to Olive.

Their personalities perfectly captured in one picture.  

Brunch was delicious - quiche, ham, eggs, cheesey potatoes, berries, eggs and more.

Remember my story from above??  Here's his scratched up, blackberry stained face as proof.  

I spy... Easter eggs!

We prayed that the rain would stay away until after the hunt and it did.  We finished hunting eggs/golf balls and it started raining.

 Another great Bunny Brunch in the books :)

Popcorn & Easter movies :)

Dyeing Eggs.  Easily the most stressful holiday activity we do all year.  Thankfully the kids were fast and we only ended up with one green hand casualty.  

Olive loves all the bunnies around this time of year.  She also wore her Easter dress all weekend!

Easter baskets ready to go.  The bendy bunnies, kites, striped cookies and bunny mason jar cups were a big hit.

All smiles after church!

We love breakfast at Dennys!!

Egg hunt!  We were so glad the rain stayed away.  Our yard was MUDDY after a week of rain so the bunny very thoughtfully placed the eggs all along the driveway and front sidewalk.

I cooked an easy Easter dinner with all of our favorites.  I used an assortment of my grandma's dishes that I love and we made Resurrection Rolls for dessert.  I had the kids make place cards while I worked on dinner.  They loved it.

Thankful for a great holiday with my family!!  What was the highlight of your Easter??

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