Amber Waves of Grain

Many of you contributed feedback about selecting Savannah's bedding.  I recently received the winning comforter in the mail.... And, while I liked the looks of the comforter, it was NOT soft and inviting.  Rather, the material felt cheap and slick.  " Say it ain't so! "  I've turned into a bedding snob. I had already ordered the ponies sheets (Garnet Hill) to use with the cheap comforter.  When the sheets arrived, I loved them.   What little girl wouldn't love colorful ponies? So, I've returned the cheapo comforter to Walmart and ordered the solid turquoise/green reversible quilt to go with the ponies sheets.  Some of you can just pretend to care.  Here's the quilt: I'm keeping the purple bed skirt from Walmart. And, because I like to have a second set of sheets for every bed, I found these sheets at Walmart with the right colors.  So, when Savannah vomits blueberries on the ponies for the first time, I can throw the...

Here are a few of my favorite things right now.  I'm not Oprah or I'd give these all away.  You'll just have to buy them yourself.   In no particular order.... 1.  Trader Joe's Turkey Burgers.   These are my new obsession ( I may have just bought 6 boxes... ).   The only ingredients are turkey, kosher salt, and rosemary.  I skillet cook mine with just Pam (no oil for me) and they're done in 12-14 minutes.   4 burgers per box for $2.99.   180 calories each.  2. Williams Sonoma Corn Zipper ( LINK ).    I live in the Midwest and we're serious about corn.  I recently tried this tool and was surprised at how much better than a knife it worked.  Plus, it's just fun.  For $12.95, you can own one too. 3.  Private Selection (Kroger Brand) cinnamon chocolate ice cream .   $2.39  You're lucky I got a picture of this container with my iphone before devouring the contents.  It...

Kennedy's HALF birthday was over the weekend, not that we do anything to celebrate!  However, it is a good opportunity to do an official Kennedy update on my blog! At 3 1/2.... She spends most of her days playing with dolls .  It's blurry, but you can tell in this photo that she's got the baby, stroller, purse, and a "twirly" dress down.  She feeds the babies, changes their diapers, puts them down for naps, and just loves on them.  She loves to swing and be outdoors.   She's a girly-girl and likes her hair braided and loves to have her nails painted: Her personality has really come out this year.  She is a nurturer & likes to help everyone.  She likes to comfort those who are hurt or sad.  She's compassionate, joyful, and quick to show affection. She is energetic, fun, and entertaining. We love you, Kennedy!  Happy half birthday!!!!!!!!!

It's officially fair season at our house. We LOVE the fair. It started with a county fair for our neighboring county.  We didn't have plans to go until later this week but we were all in the car and just sort of drove there.  So, we weren't wearing our John Deere official fair clothes & we failed to listen to the State Fair soundtrack on our way there.  It really shook things up . Every year we buy bottled drinks from this same man.  We just love him.  I would love to do a photo shoot of him.  His face tells a story.  He has no idea that I stalk him with my camera.  We visited the tractors, of course. LOVE .  I can tell you a story later about riding inside a tire down a hill and how I ended up with treadmark bruises all over my body.  But, that's for another day.  This fair has freshly made DONUTS .  One donut for 75 cents.  Score.  Savannah's first fair food.  Cinnamon sugar donut....

I'm coming out of the closet ( again ) about having natural wavy hair.  It's never been "good" wave .  More like " 1990's-wind-tunnel-then-sweaty-beach " sort of wave.  I have straightened it for years...... until now . Here's my before photo.  Long and straightened hair.  Bangs pulled back in bobby pin when it's humid: Yesterday I got my hair highlighted, cut........ and left wavy.  I immediately pulled my bangs back, but here I was after the stylist left it curly. Ignore the tractor; it's how I roll.   The curls held up at the fair in the 90 degree temperatures and even in the cow barn.  The cows said nothing but the one right behind me is definitely looking at my hair . I even left it curly for church today. If a house of God isn't a safe place for a new hair style, then I don't know what is.   This is the best I could do without the stylist:  It definitely takes some getting used to. I'm not sure that I like i...

Same table, different daughter.  Kennedy at 16 months:   Savannah at 15 months: Looks like we have another climber.  Wish me luck!!!!!!

  Things that are CUTE... #1.  Little shoes with tiny toes #2.  A sweet boy reading #3.  A peek-a-boo happy baby: #4:  Pigtails Need I say more?

Thanks to everyone who gave me feedback on Savannah's bedding!! I received several emails, facebook messages, and even face-to-face comments outside my blog too!   So, we have a winner!!  I have purchased bedding #1 ! This will include the comforter, pillow sham, and a matching purple bed skirt. I'm also going to look into getting the pony sheets to go under it but we'll see. I never would have thought to use them together ( thanks, Mindy! ).  Now we just need Savannah to climb out of her crib! (no.. wait!!!)

We surprised the kids this week with a new playground in the backyard.  Lives have been changed.  My house is so quiet now that Keegan & Kennedy want to spend all day outdoors! We used a local company called The Swingset Guy ( LINK ) who we highly recommend.  He delivered, leveled, & installed the playground.  Labor was surprisingly much less than we imagined because he gets the swingsets at a discount.   And, he did a lot of it ahead of time so he was only on our property about an hour. We bought the most quality set we could get with our budget. I really wanted one with a wooden roof for the fort:   The kids have spent HOURS outside on it now.  They love it.  I even send out a picnic lunch. Savannah can climb the ladder onto the fort and slide down the slide.  She is so happy up there!:   They all love to swing too, especially Kennedy: Someone at church gave us a hand-me-down swing seat for Savannah too: ...

Thanks to all the emails and comments I received about Savannah's bedding from my recent blog posts!!  I found a couple more ( thanks to Pinterest ) to add to the mix.  These are the last ones, I promise. #10:  Ponies (then I'd get a solid comforter on top, probably in green).  This one really has my interest suddenly. I feel like a little girl would choose ponies over flowers. #11.  This matches perfect but might be a little hum-drum for me: Do these beat the choices from my other two posts?  You decide! Thanks for your feedback!

Today marks Keegan's HALF birthday .... because when you are 6, half birthdays matter!  At least this is a good excuse to blog a Keegan update! Keegan is playing baseball at the YMCA now.   He's home for the summer and has read about 60 library books in the last 2 weeks. He reads like a whiz and rarely asks for help with a word.  I'm super impressed.  He's eating better, gradually.  If you don't know his story, he is very food sensitive!  He definitely eats more foods than he did this time last year so there has been progress.  We'll use the summer to grow with that since I can control his meals and snacks.  Mealtime can be rough but we get through it .   Asking him to eat a bite of certain foods will often result in crying or tantrums. But, he's doing better!  Corn on the cob is a new food this summer!: His growth issues has left him small for his age .  Here he is with his classmates for some perspective. Th...

Please see my post from yesterday and help me decide on Savannah's bedding! ( LINK )   It's your duty to make sure this little girl's room matches! Here are some additional choices I'm adding today for your feedback!! #5:   S imple plaid. Nothing fancy but has all the right colors:  #6:    This reminds me of the movie Elf. "That's a very nice purple dress. It's very purpley."  #7:  I don't have any teal in the room currently and not sure if I can add it now. ?:  #8:     Again, can I add something with teal or am I getting too many colors?  #9:   Completely random because I've reached that point of crazy looking at comforters online all day. By the way, I'm not attached to the framed art on the walls (green & purple).  It was cheap & thrown together with scrapbook paper.   It can go.   I just don't want to repaint so I must stay with the purple walls.  Thanks for your fe...