5 Favoritas

Linking up with Hallie today for some favorites...

1. New-ish jeans.  

I got my sewing machine out last week and made easy alterations on 2 pairs of jeans, hemming one piar and taking in another.  This tutorial by Refashion Mama on hemming jeans, and keeping the original "jean" hem was great - I'm going to keep it in mind the next time I'm shopping for my short self.  

And this tutorial by Freshly Picked on altering jeans by taking them in on the sides was very helpful. Glad I took the plunge on both of these are have been loving having 2 "new" pairs of jeans to wear!  

The only picture I have of my work was of me in the mirror, standing on the toilet in my altered jeans for my fashion grad sister...not worthy to post.  But she did approve!  

2.  Cartwheel by Target.  

Have you heard about this???  It's a free app that lets you choose deals/coupons (5-50% off!) to use at Target.  Just select which deals to add to your cart and then present your phone when you check out to be scanned.  So easy!  Love me some good dealz!

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3.  Clementines.  

They're herrrrrrrrrre!  

And I love that Clare loves them so much.    

4.  The color fossil grey by Glidden.  

Color matched in Sherwin Williams cashmere paint.  And purchased during their 40% sale.  

Win - win - win.  And currently being rolled out by my husband.  :) 

5.  Crock pot soups!  

The Cheese Tortellini Soup I shared yesterday is a current favorite here.  But I also love making Potato Soup (and I know you do, too, Kathleen!) and Chicken & Wild Rice Soup is another one of my very favorites!  Delicious, hot, easy dinner - check! 

  

{Crockpot} Cheese Tortellini Soup

I love a good crock pot recipe, especially one for soup this time of the year.  This recipe came from a recipe exchange I did this spring and we finally tried it out for the first time a month or so ago when the fall temperatures hit.  Ryan, Jude, and I especially love it!  (Jude keeps telling me that "spinach in soup is really really good!")  

Cheese Tortellini Soup 

1 bag frozen tortellini (approximately 12 oz. - I use cheese, but meat would work, too.) 

1 small bag of fresh spinach

2 cans of Italian style diced tomatoes

1 box or 4 cups of chicken broth

1 block of cream cheese

1 pound of roll sausage (optional) 

1. Brown sausage and drain (if using).

2. Chunk up cream cheese.

3. Put all ingredients into the crock pot.  (You can put tortellini in now or later.)

4. Cook on low for 4 - 6 hours.

5. If you didn't add tortellini in with other ingredients, add it an hour or so before serving.

I've only made it without the sausage and just using cheese tortellini - we are fans.  

Here are the leftovers I enjoyed for lunch the next day - yum.  

Tree of Thanks

Last year around this time our pastor gave a talk that has stuck with me.  In it he mentioned that "if you are not teaching your children to be thankful, you are teaching them to ask for more."

So in that spirit and with the upcoming holiday, we made a Thanksgiving tree of sorts over the weekend.  I simply stuck a large tree branch in a pot with rocks and we were good to go.  (Of course Michael has become interested in those rocks...thankfully they are too big to do any damage!)  I printed out tags for everyone to write out what they are thankful for.  Simple.  And the kids are really enjoying it!  And I love seeing what they have come up with over the past few days.

Ellen's grateful heart.  

Funny because we don't own any!

He really does love them!

8 Months!?!?!

Our sweet Michael turns 8 months old today.  

8 MONTHS OLD!  He is getting too old too fast!  

Nickname: Bubbs.

Eats: Still nurses, but eats solids like no other baby I have ever had!  He especially likes peas, green beans, and bananas.  

Latest achievement: Mastering the army crawl!  He made his way into the kids' bathroom the other day and tipped over the trash for the first time.  

Newest talent: Clapping!  

Teeth: 4 - 2 on top and 2 on bottom.

Says: "Da-da" and "Juuu" (I'm pretty sure that means Jude!)

Diaper size: Yes, that's a 4.  

Dinner for New Mom

Some friends of our's recently joined the 4 kids club and welcomed their new addition almost 3 weeks ago.  I brought them dinner the other night - one of the perks of having a newborn!  I always feel like you get a lot of casseroles with the addition of a new baby, so dinner for our friends included...

Chicken Packets, Macaroni and Cheese, Green Beans, and Snickerdoodles.  

(Ryan says snickerdoodles are his favorite, so I shared the love.)  

In disposable pans = no dishes = more time to love on that newborn baby!

Life of a Kindergartener

Yesterday was the first day back to school after a nice relaxing week off for fall break.  (I look forward to not packing lunches for 5 glorious days!)

Jude, who his teacher described as a "sponge" during his parent-teacher conference, was soaking it all up again today and was a wealth of knowledge for me after school...

With a real meteor he found in our yard.

"This kindergartener girl found a feather at recess and she told me that when she finds a feather she checks to see if it has rabies by licking it."  (gag)

"The secret at my table is that Mrs. 'G' (classroom aide) dances with gorillas."

Teether Necklace

Michael is at an age where wearing a necklace (and having him ignore it) is nearly impossible.  In fact, he recently broke one of my favorites right off my neck.  Thankfully (?) it broke all over my kitchen floor and I was able to collect all of the beads and fix it.  

I actually saw this idea for a "teether necklace" on pinterest and made one for myself (before he broke my beads). 

To make your own you need a scrap piece of fabric (I didn't measure before I started...mine was probably 4 inches wide and about 48 inches long tops...depends on how long you want it and how large the beads are) and large wooden beads (I used 6). 

I took the piece of scrap fabric (of course I'm not daring at all and stuck with off white!) and sewed it, making a tube that would fit snug around my beads.   

I made a knot in the very center of the fabric, then added a bead, then made a knot.  I added 3 beads and 3 knots on each side of the original knot.  (This was just so I knew I had centered everything.)  When I was finished, I sewed the 2 ends of the necklace together.    

I tried my finished necklace on for size...and Michael immediately loved it!  

Here's the (blurry) finished product.  

No fear of him breaking this one!  

Linking here.