Happy Fourth of July Weekend

Happy fourth of July!!  I hope everyone who celebrated had a wonderful weekend.  The fourth looked a bit different this year, of course, but we still had a nice weekend at home.  I made a strawberry vanilla cake and we grilled hotdogs along with some yummy, traditional sides.  It was a nice and relaxing weekend.  Very hot I might add at 90 degrees.  We spent most of it indoors.  I started a new book "Little Cafe in Copenhagen" which I am just loving.  I love to read, especially in the summer.  

And our newest addition - sweet little puppy Rosie is adjusting to life with her new family.  She's just precious - even though she is biting and chewing on almost everything.

I hope you are enjoying summer wherever you might be.  Please comment and let me know what you are up to this summer - I'd love to know!

Happy July

Happy Fourth of July, friends!  It's very hot here - 90 degrees to be exact.  We are celebrating at home today.  I made sheet pan chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches - they are currently in the freezer and will be dessert tonight.  We are also planning to grill burgers for dinner and watch fireworks on TV a bit later.  What are you up to on this Independence Day?  

Christmas Recap and Happy New Year

Wow!  I feel like I'm finally starting to bounce back from all the busyness of the holidays.  Charlotte came down with bronchitis the day after Christmas and strep throat for me the day after New Year's day.  It seems like for most of her Christmas break one of us was under the weather.   I think all the busyness of the holidays caught up with us.  Anyway, we had a nice Christmas.  We celebrated with my family at my brother and sister-in-law's house on Christmas Eve.  And there was snow, so that made it feel extra festive!

I think Charlotte got everything she asked Santa for - including a new bike.  This past weekend it was unseasonably warm for this time of year and she was able to get out and practice riding a bit. We have a chance for snow showers this coming Saturday, so go figure.

I've been taking it slow the past few days and resting a lot, as strep was much worse than I remembered.  I'm feeling much better today and seem to have a burst of energy, so I'm doing some much needed housework.  Also, I'm going to make out a big market list along with some meal planning.

I love to put the tree up along with all my Christmas decorations, but I'm always very ready to take it all down by New year's day and freshen up the house a bit.  Earlier last week, we made a trip to Ikea and bought a lovely new white china cabinet/bookcase.  I'll share photos with you soon!

Holiday Baking

The first week of December, I decided to bake cookies for some family and friends just as a little early Christmas gift.  I ended up with eighteen dozen cookies and four dozen bars.  I made Chocolate Crackle Cookies, Gingerbread Cookies, Coconut Meltaways, Frosted Sugar Cookies, White Chocolate Cranberry Blondies (my favorite), and Chocolate Layer Bars from the new Smitten Kitchen Every Day book.  It was so much fun and made the start of the holiday season feel extra special!

What are you baking this holiday season?

Happy Easter

Hello friends and Happy Easter!  We dyed eggs on Friday evening and used the Paas Classic dye kit.  Our eggs turned out really pretty and bright this year.  I think leaving them in the dye cups a bit longer may have contributed to the extra bright colors.  My daughter looks forward to this fun tradition every year.

We had a low key Easter this year with just the three of us.  We went to church this morning and then out for a quick lunch.  Now we are back home and I've decided it's time to do a bit of spring cleaning.  I just took off my white sofa slipcover and it's headed upstairs to the washer soon.  I love a fresh and clean slipcover.  

Charlotte was super happy to see the movie "Annie" in her Easter basket this morning.  I remember seeing this movie when it first came out at the movie theater.  I think I was seven then. 

I hope you are having a great Easter and a great spring weekend!

Hello February

Hello Friends!  It's February and Valentine's Day is next week which is exciting, especially if you have an eight year old little girl in your house!  She's already made sweet valentine cards for her classmates.  She was such a big girl this year and wanted to do it all herself!  I'm planning to make a yummy dinner for the three of us on Valentine's Day along with a chocolate cake.  Yum!!

Oh, we recently bought a new dining table from IKEA and I love it!  I also picked up a few orchids while we were there and they were on sale for $1.49.  I should've bought more.  I need to make another trip there soon for a hutch, so hopefully they are still available. 

I finally decided on a new tea kettle.  I went with the 1.25-Qt. Le Creuset in cream and it is the perfect size for us.  I love the cream color, it's a classic.  I have a Le Creuset Dutch oven and sauicer pot in red, which I love and use almost every day, but my next piece will be in cream.

Hope you have a great week!  I'll pop back in soon!

Happy New Year!!

Hello!  And Happy New Year!!  Just dusting off my blog a bit - it's been almost Two years since I last posted.  Wow, I suppose life just got really busy and then there is Instagram, so I seem to be posting mostly there these days.  But I miss blogging and hope to pop back in more often this year.

We had a wonderful Christmas with our families and a very Happy New Year!  Oh, and I made some yummy dutch oven bread this past week which has been perfect toasted and topped with butter.  Also, making lots of soups and chili and spaghetti with homemade meatballs, as the weather has been very cold and blustery for the past few weeks.  We've also written thank you notes for gifts and bought a new lovely calendar for the kitchen.  It's winter and I love it!  Hopefully, we will get another snow before it's over.  My eight year old has her fingers crossed!

Lately

Hello!  I'm still here.  Just super busy with life and my six year old.  We've celebrated Charlotte's sixth birthday and Easter since I last posted.  Here are a few photos from the last several weeks.

I'm waiting for the weather to dry up and warm up so I can start gardening again.  I'm itching to get my hands in the dirt!  Be back soon!