So, it has only been a little over 4 months.......

I feel like I have been out of touch for a long, long time and it isn't just the RENOVATION....life is busy with a husband, family business, church and did I mention 3 kids 5 and under!?!  Enough complaining...moving on....When I read a new design blog I always want to see the kitchen first so I thought that I would start there....the kitchen...the heart of the home and by far THE MOST EXPENSIVE PART OF RENOVATING!  I thought y'all might enjoy a sneak peak at the progress. I am excited about how it has turned out and CAN NOT WAIT to have it all finished....so, here are some before, progress and not quite "after" shots....

Here she is in all her glory the day we closed...(notice that there isn't a dishwasher!!)

  

This is a shot standing in the doorway from the dining room and looking towards the laundry room...

 I was excited to see this wall come down that separated the kitchen and dining room!...

All the tile came out and it was basically gutted...wow, that seems like a long time ago...this next one is looking from the kitchen back into the dining and front entry area..the wall to the right has also been removed making the entire living area open and seem so much bigger!

It has been an ugly process...here are some pics of the beadboard ceiling installation and recessed lighting....

 

 This next picture was taken after the ceiling was stained white....long story short...we are not happy with the way the stain turned out so this week our "new" painter will be glazing the ceiling....I am a little nervous about all that but if you saw it in person you would agree that it needs to be done..(Grant is installing the new kitchen window in this picture...)

ahhh.....exciting day!  New cabinets installed...I could not be happier with my cabinets! For the cabinets we used a client of ours whose pool we built a few years ago...and they are amazing....stained a cherry color, painted BM Bone White and distressed back to the cherry...I love them!

Grant installed planks as a back splash, all through the desk area and laundry room...pictures really don't do it justice! He did a fabulous job! (notice where the fridge area is?? well, that was where the master bedroom door opened before we moved it!)

Counter tops are granite and look great....(this was a difficult decision for me to make, not sure why, but thankfully I couldn't be happier with them!)

 Big improvement!

So, this is where we are right now....a little ways to go before I can do an official before/after shot but a long ways from where we started!

Maybe, just Maybe...we will be moved in by Christmas!! :)

Thanks for reading,

Rhiannon

Homemade S'mores

These s'mores will make you the hit of the next bonfire or camping trip. With homemade graham crackers and marshmallows these take s'mores to the next level. The graham crackers are extremely easy to make and are good even by themselves. When I need marshmallows I make my own. These take a little planning ahead, because both need two hours to prepare. I made both of these last night after we got home from church. I made the marshmallows then the graham crackers. I keep the graham cracker mix in the fridge now. The kids love eat them a couple times a week.



 

 

I use this recipe for the graham crackers. This is the best one I have found. The difference is definitely with the graham flour. These taste like graham crackers only much better than store bought. I used Bob's Red Mill Graham Flour. I bought it at our local health food store. The marshmallow recipe is Martha Stewart's. Homemade marshmallows don't even compare with store bought. Try these and you'll never go back to the fake ones at the store. You could use any shape for the crackers and marshmallows. Using a square with a small shape cut out of the center would make a really cute cracker. Possibilities are endless.

 

Christine





Homemade Chocolate Syrup

If you have kids I'm sure you go though a lot of chocolate milk. My kids love chocolate milk. Making your own syrup is super easy and only takes a couple of ingredients. I always have a jar of this in the fridge. This is great for ice cream too.

Chocolate Syrup

3/4 cup (homemade) brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
1 cup cold water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla

Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a medium size pan. Add the water and whisk until all the lumps are gone. Over medium heat bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer on low until syrup starts to thicken (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and cool. Keep refrigerated. This makes about two cups and last two weeks.

Enjoy,

Christine

Our New Bathroom

The time has finally arrived. Our bathroom was overhauled. Everything was ripped out and replaced. And can I say so far I LOVE it. I don't have a picture of it when we first bought the house. It was painted dark blue and dark green stripes. It was horrendous to say the least. We painted the walls and cabinet and everything else stayed the same. I took a couple of before pictures, but they aren't on my camera. I have no idea what happened to them. I'm going to have to look back though a bunch of pictures to find a before. I know I have one somewhere. I started this post last week and was having trouble uploading the pictures. With the weather finally getting nice, we have been spending all of our time outside. The bathroom is finished I am just waiting to show the complete finished pictures after I get the new shower curtain up. Here are a couple of pictures during the process.

 

Luke couldn't help but get in on the action. He and Mac stood
at the door everyday waiting for "jobs" to do. The contractor
kept them busy all day. He said they worked better then any
of the helpers he has.

I love the marble floor.

Jax tried helping too but ended up in "baby jail" as
the boys call it. He was not happy about it.

 

I will hopefully post the finished pictures in the next couple of days. Have a great weekend. We are finishing up some yard work today and then headed to the park.

 

Christine 

 

Friday's Treat ~ Oatmeal Creme Pies

These little "pies" are absolutely amazing!! If you like little debbie snacks but don't like that they are just chemicals and not real ingredients than you have to make these. Trust me, you won't regret it. They taste just like the little debbie ones only about 20x better! I found the recipe for them on The Pioneer Woman's blog.  You can find the recipe for them here. She calls them Whoopie Pies but says that they are just like the little debbie creme pies as well. 

Don't you think they look amazing?! They were really easy to make too. I doubled the recipe and they still took very little time. In the actual recipe she says to bake them for 10 min.

 I only baked mine for 8, I think they would have been to dry if I had baked them for the full 10 minutes. 

Now, the filling. I feel slightly embarrassed to tell you I did take the easy way on this. My intentions were to make the Homemade Marshmallows that Christine wrote about. I only needed to get the gelatin. I was out shopping with a friend and went into Target. They didn't have it:( It was pouring rain, my daughter was about beside herself from exhaustion ( because she insisted on getting up at 6:15am that morning and didn't want a nap ) I knew it was going to be late when I would finally be able to make them so I bought marshmallow cream at Target....I know, I know!! I think the marshmallow cream is really the best option in these. Next time it will be homemade:)

If you aren't doing anything else this weekend you need to make these. I promise you will not be disappointed! Let me know if you do and what you think.

Have a great weekend

Mary Elizabeth

Homemade Vanilla Bean Pudding

It has been entirely too long since I have posted anything! I am still making the treats for Friday....I don't have a good explanation as to why I haven't posted those in a few weeks other than I just keep forgetting. Is that acceptable? :) 

 In case you haven't noticed my sister Christine makes pretty much everything herself, I have been trying to do the same. I make pretty much everything myself but won't deny I do like the convenience of a box mix now and then.  One thing I have been looking to make is homemade pudding. I actually use a lot of it and my husband loves to eat it. There was a recipe for a coconut cake ( basically a coconut cream pie ) that he has been asking me to make for a while but I kept forgetting to get the coconut pudding. So, yesterday I decided to make homemade pudding to use in the cake. It turned out to be a vanilla been cake with toasted coconut on top which is not a bad thing. I will tell you about that later, for now the pudding. 

This pudding is absolutely delicious. Very smooth and creamy like boxed pudding but I know exactly what is in it un~like the box mix. It was very easy to make and took very little time and it had ingredients that I always have on hand. 

You can see the specks of vanilla bean in it....I love vanilla beans!!

The recipe I used didn't call for vanilla beans but I find myself putting them in everything. It gives such a better flavor. 

The blog I found this recipe on said they like to eat theirs with fruit. I had rasberries in the freezer and put some of those on it today and it was sooo good. Kinda like eating ice cream only creamier. This will be a good way to get my daughter to eat more fruit too:)

Homemade Vanilla Pudding

3/4 cup sugar

4 tbls corn startch

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup heavy cream

2 1/2 cups milk

3 egg yolks

1 tlbs butter

1 tbls vanilla ( and vanilla beans if you want )

Combine sugar, salt and cornstarch in saucepan. Whisk in the cream, milk and egg yolks. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly for 3-5 minutes or until thick. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and butter. When refrigerating place plastic wrap directly on top of the pudding to prevent the skin from forming on the top. 

There is no separation in this pudding like there is with the box mix. 

Try it, I know you will love it!!

Have a great day!

Mary Elizabeth