Today.

Radley.

Soccer.

Backyard.

 Straw.

Lunch.

GingerLime.

Our day has been great so far. 

What about yours?

Ethan's Cake.

Today we baked a cake.

Because it was raining and because Ethan had been asking me to for the last two days.

He got to pick the flavor, frosting color and sprinkles.

He was so proud.

And then he devoured it.

Not a bad way to start out the week.

Found {beautifully rooted}.

Last week a new website was launched called Beautifully Rooted.

A ton of my favorite bloggers are contributing and so far I've really enjoyed each post.

I was especially interested in one of the posts, or challenges really.

The challenge was to be intentional about capturing God
in your everyday life through your camera lens.

Perfect, easy, no brainer.

I take a zillion pictures a day, this would be a piece of cake.

Only problem, it wasn't.

In my head I had the grand idea of what my photograph should look like and I imagined an immense emotion would burst out of the image. 

It wasn't happening.

I was trying too hard to capture what I believed would be amazing instead of letting it just come to me.

I decided I had nothing worthy since my photographs were not "good enough".

Then while I was outside this evening, I looked up.

The sun was setting, orange and pink clouds filled the blue sky.

I called the boys into the backyard so they could see the colors change as the sky grew darker.

We began a conversation about God and His creation, were He lives, and what He looks like.

And then it hit me, all this week while I was looking behind the camera, trying so hard to get the perfect image, I was missing what was in front of me the whole time.
God's amazing creation and the opportunity for my children to learn about Him.

How many times during the day do I stop and take in God's creation?
 How many times during the day do I share God's amazing creativity with my kids?
Sadly, far too little.

So, no my photograph is not perfect, it's not even good at best.
But it's not about the photograph, it's about what this photograph represents and the lesson I learned today.

InstaFriday.

It's Friday!!

Here's my cell pics of the week.

Lunch one day.

 For Brett's birthday I took him to the swanky restaurant.

We had never been and the food was divine.

I also brought along a little activity for us to do over dinner. 

I found this questionnaire in a magazine and I thought it would be fun. 

We had a great time with it and learned a few new things about one another. 

Ethan made chocolate chip cookies for Brett's birthday, so we paired it with Brett's favorite ice cream, mint n' chip.

 Valentine's Day shoes.

 Ethan likes to take pictures of me with my phone.

 My little pirate.

 Jacob thought it would be a good idea to walk around the house eating his cereal.

Surprisingly he didn't spill it.

Brett comes home today, he actually on a plane right this minute. 

We miss him. It'll be good to have him home.

Happy weekend everyone!

What I'm Loving.

This little head of hair.

I was going to have it cut but I chickened out. 

I'm not ready for him to become a little boy yet.

He can stay my baby a bit longer.

Ethan's little face at his first Valentine's Day party at school.

Also, his valentine envelope filled with goodies and the card he made for Brett and I.

Art and craft time with my boys.

Jacob is starting to enjoy it more and eats less of it each time. 

Water and noodles.

I gave the boys a big bowl of water, smaller bowls, measuring cups, and uncooked noodles and let them have at it.

They played nicely and quietly for 30 minutes.

30 minutes people.

Never happens.

 They made quite the mess and Jacob was not thrilled when we had to put it away, but it was well worth it.

Seriously, I may just do this activity every day.

What are you loving today?

Valentine's Day.

Brett is out of town today.

It's the first Valentine's Day we have not spent together.

We never do anything big for the day but I do miss having him here with me to celebrate.

At least I get to spend the day with my littlest Valentines. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

How have you enjoyed your day?

Cooking {pinterest style}.

If you have yet to hop on the Pinterest bandwagon I suggest you do so.

I'm not as addicted as I thought I would be and it really has given me some great ideas for the house, the boys, me, parties and all things food related.

So I thought I'd share some of the great recipes I've found on Pinterest.

This was super creamy and rich but we all loved it.

source

This mexican pizza was great but it makes two. So share with your neighbor!

source

These make a wonderful little snack or appetizer. Great idea!

source

I've made this 3 times already since I've pinned it.

It's great as tacos but we liked it even better in a salad.

We added romaine lettuce, black beans, corn, salsa, cheese, tomatoes, avocado....you could go on and on.

Delish!

 source

This is good but it didn't make a ton, plus it was too spicy for the boys.
So Brett and I ate it and they got chicken nuggets that night.

source

And lastly, tonight I am making this.
I haven't baked it yet but I already had a taste test and I think we have a winner.

source

So do you make what you pin?
And if so, share with me your faves!

Master Bathroom Remodel {part 2}.

Oh goodness it's been over a week and this little blog here has sat quiet.

Actually I haven't thought about blogging much these last few weeks.

I guess I sometimes just need a break from it all.

I mean I haven't looked at Pinterest in like 5 days. 

What? Craziness I tell you.

Anyway, I snapped a few pictures of our master bathroom remodel today.

I had intended on taking more pictures along the way, but you know how that goes.
For part 1 pictures click here.

So here's the progress so far.

The new vanity and counter top has been installed. 

The new sinks are ready to be hooked up.

And we have these nice little custom shelves on both sides which will be painted white. 

The shower is almost complete.

I am in love with the tile. In Love. 

You can't tell in the pictures but the shower floor has the same hexagon tile.

I love hexagon tile. 

I would have put all over the bathroom floor but I didn't want the hassle of cleaning the grout.

Speaking of floors, I'm also in love with our new floor. 

It's a little dusty in these pictures so it looks a bit lighter than it actually is.

I love the distressed wood look and yet it's tile. 

Much more user friendly for a bathroom than real wood.

I've also decided on a paint color.

Can you figure out which one?

Ok, I'll tell.

It's the one on the right. 

We're hoping just another couple of weeks before it's all finished.

We're getting close and I've loving it!

Oh and does anyone else want to remodel their whole house just because they started one project?

Please tell me I'm not the only one.