Crazy love

Read this book.
It's crazy good.
And crazy challenging.

The God and Creator of the universe loves you.
so so much.

What is our response to him?

He sacrificed his one and only Son Jesus for us.
for me and for you.
So that we could be saved from our sin and spend eternity with him.

And in return he calls us to love him with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength
and to love others as ourselves.

This book is a wake up call to live life's of wholehearted devotion to God.
who is crazy about us and so worthy of our praise.

Best Baked Potato Soup. Ever.

Try this recipe and you will be hooked.

For reals.

Ingredients:
-4 large baking potatoes
-2/3 cup butter
-2/3 cup flour
-6 cups milk
-3/4 teaspoon salt
-1/2 teaspoon pepper
-1 1/2 (6 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
(I usually add more because I love cheese)
-12 slices bacon, cooked, crumbled and divided
-4 green onions, chopped and divided
-1 (8 ounce) carton sour cream

Wash potatoes; prick several times with a fork. Bake at 400 degrees for one hour or until done; cool. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp and reserve. Discard shells. Then I use a potato masher to mash the potato so it isn't so chunky.

Ok...turn on the Sesame Street for the kids
because you will be stuck at the stove
stirring and stirring and stirring
for what feels like forever.
But persevere because it's worth it :)

Melt butter in a dutch oven (or big pot) over low heat; add flour stirring until smooth. Cook one minute, stirring constantly.

Gradually add milk; cook over medium to medium heat high; stirring constantly until thick and bubbly (at least 30 minutes).

Stir in potato, salt, pepper, 1 cup cheese (I just do a big handful which is probably more than one cup), 1/2 cup bacon, and 2 tablespoons green onions. Cook until heated.

Stir in sour cream; cook just until heated (don't boil).

Sprinkle servings with remaining cheese, bacon and onion and
Enjoy!

A bowl of pure cheesy, bacony, potato goodness.
Yum.

*I have also substituted the flour with corn starch to make it for my gluten free friends and it turns out just as yummy. Just follow the directions on the back of the corn starch can/box and you should be able to figure it out :)

My baby...

is a big girl now.

She sleeps in a big girl bed.

as of last night.

Mackenzie was so excited at the

thought of sleeping in her big girl bed

then she realized that she actually had to sleep in it

and wasn't so excited anymore

But after a couple minutes of crying she fell right asleep

and slept like a champ.

Because she's a big girl.

Who wears Minni mouse costumes

just because

and rides big girl bikes.

and goes down gigantic slides.

A big girl

who will always be my baby.

Headband anyone?

I'm giving away a headband (of your choice)
to kick off Teresa's new blog!
Head over here to check it out!

Somewhat Simple Giveaway!

I would like you to meet Stephanie

of Somewhat Simple.

Here she is..

"I am a stay at home mom of 3 fantastic kids, and a wife to my very best friend. We are OC transplants living in sunny (and HOT) Arizona. We have been here for just over 4 years now and we LOVE IT!

I have been selling crafts for years now at boutiques and on etsy, but just this summer decided to share my ideas with other creative minds on my blog somewhat simple. I post something new every day of the week- yummy recipes, craft tutorials, giveaways and all things creative! I I host a monthly creative challenges where ordinary people like you and me can join in the fun! Come and see what I have been up to and get inspired!"

Love, love love these wooden blocks.
What a super cute wedding or anniversary gift they would make.

I need this quote above our front window.
It's our dog's favorite hang out place.
She feels it's her duty to keep an eye on the entire neighborhood
and bark at every moving thing that goes by.

Do your kiddos grow as fast as mine?
You need one of these.

And today is your lucky day!
Because Stephanie is offering
vinyl lettering for you to create
your very own family growth chart!

You buy your wood and paint and she will send you the vinyl stickers!

What you get:

- "Our Growing Family" customizable decal- approx. 7" long x 6" tall and can be in any color you want. Just let me know the last name of your family!
- #'s 1-6
- 100 dash marks

YEAH!

How can you win?
(Please leave a separate comment for each)

1. Visit her shop.
Come back here and tell us what your favorite item is.
2. Visit her blog and become a follower.
3. Follow my blog
4. Leave a comment telling us what quote
you would want to put on the wall in your house!

Giveaway will end at midnight
Thursday, October 1st.
Winner will be announced the following day.

Original Andrea Winners!

Congratulations

"The Harris Family"
and
"Whatever Dee Dee Wants"!

You each get a personalized feeding and diapering chart!

Email me to claim your prize :)

Problem solved

I love sewing because you can create whatever you want.

When Mackenzie was younger we would put her food on her highchair.

A few pieces at a time.

Because she is a little piggie

and would stuff as many pieces of food in her mouth as she could.

And since I'm not a nurse

I tired to avoid the heimlich maneuver at all cost.

Anyways, we would always be left with her plate
that stored the rest of her food.

Sometimes the plate was hot

And since I don't like putting hot things directly on our wood table

we would put a napkin under it.

Well napkins just aren't pretty

or very practical
and a regular size place mat would be too big

to fit in the corner of the table where Mackenzie's high chair is

So I went to the sewing machine

and whipped up a little

circular placemat/hotpad

to fix the problem.

All I did was
trace a large plate from my kitchen
to make my circle pattern

Then I took a piece of cotton fabric
and an old washcloth
cut them into circles from my pattern
and sewed wrong sides together
(leaving a small opening).

then flipped it right side out
(through the opening)
and top stitched to finish it off.

Super easy solution :)

*This was an old project I made that I just realized I have never shared.
Mackenzie now uses a fork or spoon and eats like a semi normal human being :)

Wedding in the Potato State

Remember these super cool invitations for my cousin's wedding?

Well last weekend was the Big day!

We packed our family on a plane and headed to Boise, Idaho.

We had such a fun time exploring the city and spending time with family.

And the wedding...

Am.az.ing.
Hands down the coolest wedding I have been to. Ever.

Here we are...the Sellars' clan

The wedding was at the Bride's parent's house.

They had a huge driveway that lead up to their house so they asked everyone to park on the street and provided tractors to take everyone up to the ceremony.

Are you freaking out already? How awesome are these old doors!

The Bride's brother built this, the altar and a bunch of other amazing things out of old barn wood.

The altar.
Totally reminds me of Anthropologie.
and I heart that store.

The happy couple.

I love all the fun details they added.
The seating chart nailed to more old barn wood.

The center pieces.
A birdcage...seriously!
This wedding was just for me :)

Lemonade, water and ice tea in mason jars

yummy, yummy food

Love the hanging lights.
They looked so pretty at night.

Pie anyone?

It keeps getting better.

For the cake topper
Little birds that looked like the bride and groom.

Such a beautiful and fun wedding.
Mackenzie stole the dance floor.
She busted her moves all night long and loved every second of it.

--------------------------

We had a couple days before and after the wedding to explore Boise.

All of my cousin's fell in love with this fun coffee shop.

Even though Boise is Idaho's biggest city it had a small town charm.

You would never see something like this in the OC.

Or this.

A rope swing into some random lake we had to hike to get to

We visited a bounce house/Monkey bar place to let Mackenzie burn some energy at.
I think Aaron and I had as much fun as she did.

Went to the Saturday Farmer's Market

Ate breakfast at Cracker Barrel...my favorite!

We also ate at a yummy Brazilian restaurant to celebrate my brother's birthday.

Aaron and I lived in Brazil for a few months and have been back multiple times so we were in heaven eating our favorite food.

We had such an amazing time on our little vacation
but by the time our getaway was over we were all exhausted.
And ready to be home sweet home.

Counting Book

Mackenzie is my little smartie pants.
She soaks up everything and learns things so easily.
Recently she learned how to count to 10.

However...

being able to recognize numbers
and count objects in front of her
is still a work in progress.

So I decided to make her a little counting book.

I took pictures of things she sees around our house everyday,
then added some numbers to the pictures with Picasa,
printed them out,
stuck them in a cheapie photo album and

Tada!

A personalized, fun and cute learning tool that Mackenzie loves.