A Long Overdue Picture Hanging

Some of you may or may not remember this little post from 2 years ago in which I made a couple old windows into picture frames.

I have a confession to make, I have never hung these on a wall nor have I done anything with them since I made them! And it's not like I don't like them, in fact I still love them and they are still one of my most favorite projects ever! No, the reason I've never hung them etc is two fold; #1. Just a short time after I made these, we found out our house was sold and then we were moving. #2. Since we lived in a travel trailer for that summer  the frames were in storage and then when we rented our next place I didn't want to hang them and wreck the walls or something (these windows are quite heavy!) So, yesterday, I did this...

I finally hung them up in our master bedroom! I quite like them flanking our bed in there. I also hung a few more pictures to the far right (although now that I'm seeing them in the picture I think they're a bit too high. On the other side, I hung that wooden shelf (my hubby made that many years ago) and decided it was the perfect spot to hang my scarves.

One of these days I'd like to get/make some new window coverings and maybe a different paint color on the walls, but probably not for awhile since my focus will be changing soon from inside to outside areas.

See that little campfire thingy in the picture below? Gabe made that and decided to give it to his dad for his birthday, isn't it sweet?

Lots of things I want to do/fix/buy/make etc but I'm trying to not to get overwhelmed again. Although I think with everything we've got going on this spring there might be a good chance of that. Hopefully reading about "highly effective people" might help ME be more effective ;)

As always, any questions,comments, advice, let me know in the comments below :)

Hamburger Soup

This is one of our favorite soups for winter time. I remember my mom making this a lot in winter when I was growing up and it was always a hit, so much so that I remember several times requesting to have it in a thermos in my lunch the next day! I kind of forgot about it for awhile pre-kids and then I remember asking my mom for the recipe for it and she gave me the cookbook it was in. It was an old Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (she had a series of these that each slim volume was something different, Poultry, Italian, Chocolate, Cakes and Cookies{those last two were my favorite!})  and this recipe was in one appropriately called Soups and Stews. I remember reading through the recipe the first time cause I couldn't believe how short the recipe looked and I quickly realized why my mom made it so often in winter, It's so easy! It's also easily adaptable and freezable and it serves 6 full bowls (I grew up in a family of six) So without further adieu I give you Hamburger Soup.

Hamburger Soup

1 pound lean ground beef (preferably grass-fed pastured, or you can use ground bison or venison etc)

1 16-ounce can diced tomatoes

2 medium carrots, sliced

2 medium onions, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1/3 cup pearl barley (omit for paleo version and substitute with extra veggies in recipe)

1/4 cup ketchup

1 tbsp instant beef bouillon granules (I substitute gluten free Worcestershire sauce for paleo friendly)

2 tsp seasoned salt

1 tsp dried basil, crushed

1 bay leaf

In large saucepan cook ground beef till browned. Drain off fat. Stir in remaining ingredients and 5 cups water. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat cover and simmer for 1 hour. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove bay leaf. Serves 6.

A Boy Bedroom Update

Hi everyone! First off I have to say Happy Valentines Day!  

OK so it's more like a mini update, but I'm so happy to share with you some updated photos of Gabe's room. First of all, lets remind ourselves of what I started out with;

Yikes! Poor Gabe had to live with this for nearly five months (since the girls rooms took precedence in their unfinished state and then there was Christmas etc etc ;)

I'll be honest and tell you that I've been waiting awhile to try and get a good photo to show off his new color and since that just isn't happening I figured what the heck, Ill show you anyways :) So, here it is...

A vast improvement for sure! The color I used in here is called Silver Mist by Benjamin Moore

It's a nice light grayish blue as Gabe wanted his room to be grey (actually her originally wanted it to be all black but I nixed that since his only window is north facing and doesn't get much natural light, especially in winter) although, it is quite light and sometimes reads as a soft white. Not to worry as I have a plan to deepen the color a bit. I'm also super excited about this room as I got a fantastic idea for a sort of theme for his room. I'm thinking (and Gabe agrees with this idea and is sooo excited) that his room will be a ski theme or winter wonderland. Gabe loves to ski and I have some ideas to make his room cool for a little boy of 6 as he is now and also that he can grow with for many years to come as it won't be too cartoonish.

Have a great V-day and a wonderful weekend!

A Fun Family Weekend (Canadian Style :)

We had such a great weekend this weekend past (it was a long weekend where we are) and I just had to share some of it with all of you who are still checking in on me here ;) 

On Saturday it was gorgeous and sunny and my hubby had the great idea to check out a local park on the lake where we heard it freezes when there is a long cold spell (which there has been!) I decided to bring the good camera to play around with ;)