24 Olive Street

Oh What Fun Daily Dairy Kit // Noel Mignon

I can't believe we're nearing the end of 2016! And despite the fact that I have many, MANY unfinished crafty projects that I've resolved to finish I'm ready to see what 2017 has in store! But before heading into the new year I wanted to share my December projects using the Oh What Fun Daily Diary Kit from Noel Mignon. This kit was full of so many adorable holiday cards and embellishments and I had a lot of fun creating my pages.

In addition to the pocket pages that I created with this kit, I also updated my Christmas recipe album I created 2 yrs ago (see more about that here). Every year I add a few new recipes and old favorites that I come across. I don't decorate every single recipe card in this album, some are just printed recipes that I slip into a pocket. My favorites get a little more attention :)

I also like to add a photo here and there like the one from Christmas Eve with Santa's cookies on our new grinch plate and Santa bottle. The photos break up the book a little bit and add a bit more interest. You can see more on the Noel Mignon blog here.

If you have a few holiday projects that need finishing there are still 2 of these kits left!

Now bring on 2017!!!

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celebrating the 4th

Hanging out at home

Playing outside

Asian beef skewers & baked potatoes on the grill

Festive fruit salad

Jello poke cake

(and a little bit of cleaning & gardening!)

A typical all-American day :)

Memorial Day

fondue sunday

Sunday I got 2 of the best Mother's Day presents. The first one - little one slept in til almost 9!!! And the second - the big kids brought me breakfast in bed...donut holes & milk :)

Hubby had been out of town all week and got back Sunday afternoon. I'd been wanting to check out The Melting Pot since we moved here. I had only been there once back when I lived in TN & was so excited to see we had one here!

It was pure fondue heaven!

And a free mimosa for Mother's Day. Yes please!

I should also say that this place is a bit on the expensive side...esp when you're paying for 4 people. It's definitely not a place we will eat at often. But it's definitely one of those places you have to try at least one (or twice!)...esp if you're like me and you love fondue!

We decided to do cheese & chocolate. For the cheeses we picked 2 kinds - cheddar & swiss. The cheddar was a definite favorite...esp with the kiddos. They gave us bread, cherry tomatoes, carrots, cauliflower & apples to dip with.

For the chocolate we did smores. Oh.my.heavens. it was good!!! It's amazing how full you get just from cheese & chocolate. And the dippers for the chocolate fondue...strawberries, bananas, 2 kids of marshmallows, brownie bites, pound cake bites, cheesecake & Rice Krispie treats.

Oh yeah...tummy aches all around after! haha Thankfully it didn't make me too ill with my Crohns. But it was so worth it :)

I didn't get any pics of all 3 kids together, or one of them with me. Addie wore her pretty Easter dress & I still have yet to get a good pic...this time daddy dripped chocolate down the front. Oh well...one day!! haha It's cooled off a bit from our 80+ degree temps so we'll head out to the park for some nice pics when it's a little warmer & less rainy :)

Oh, and the hubs bought me a composter for my garden for Mother's Day. Yey!!

Valentine's Day decor...and a giveaway!

I don't do a lot in the way of decorating for Valentine's Day. By the time it rolls around we've already had 2 birthdays at my house without having had any time to recuperate from the craziness of Christmas! But I did put up a few things around the house.

I made this simple banner out of some vintage book paper & cut the hearts from papers in the Lasting Love kit with my Silhouette.

Some other crafty decor items that I made a few years ago... burlap wreath & mason jar candles.

One thing I do love to do is decorate with cute towels...for every holiday. Even if you don't do anything else, cute towels add some fun to your kitchen or bathroom.

So, of course, I spotted some cute waffle towels in the dollar section of Target. I noticed that they've gone up a little in price...they used to be $2.50 and now they're $3.00 for a pair. Still a good deal on some cute towels.

And when I saw this cute vintage Valentine's Day fabric I had to add them to these towels!

I bought mostly the turquoise towels...because they're my fave :) But I did also get a few pink ones. They had 1 or 2 more styles but I didn't like them as much. I try to stick with the embroidered ones because I just don't think the one with what look like decals will hold up in the wash.

I bought several of these towels (just couldn't resist!) and after I take a few down to my space at This Old House I'll have a couple extra to giveaway :)

If you'd like a chance to get a cute set Valentine's Day towels (US only please) just leave a comment! I can't guarantee which one you'll get but I promise they're all cute :) I'm only going to leave this open until Sunday so I can mail them out to the winner on Monday & hopefully get them by Valentine's Day!

modeling contentment

So how was your Thanksgiving? Ours was wonderful...spent watching the parade & some Christmas movies. All of the new recipes I tried turned out great...with the exception of one. The french silk pie had a weird texture. It had a good taste but something just wasn't right. Plus, I pulled it out of the fridge and after sitting on the counter for about 10 min it got a bit watery in the bottom of the pan. Weird. So I won't be making that one again.

Bummer.

Maybe it's better frozen like they did in the recipe??

Didn't go out shopping on Black Friday. I don't like it. People pushing & shoving each other to save 10 bucks on a video game. I shopped a little online for some things I wanted to get the kids for Christmas but that's about it.

Instead we stayed home, just hanging out. Later that evening I took the kids to see Rise of the Guardians. GREAT movie.

I did go out on Saturday with my oldest daughter to support a few small businesses in my area. First we hit Top Stitch for some red chevron fabric for a few Christmas projects. Then over to Fergusons Cafe for lunch. Great food, awesome people. And they filmed the diner scene from Vision Quest there...one my all time favorite movies from the 80s :) I had no idea how much of that movie was filmed in Spokane til I moved here!

After that we headed over to a local bakery for some candy cane cake pops. YUM! Then we went over to Lollipop Lemondrop, a kids consignment shop, & got a few goodies there. Btw, they have the best lollipops :)

It was a very stress-less Saturday afternoon with my daughter...the kind of Christmas shopping I like!

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With all of this shopping craziness of Black Friday it reminded me of a post from Dave Ramsey earlier this month. Dave Ramsey is one of my favorite financial guys. I have a Finance/Accounting background & I love his envelopes concept. I use them every day and so do my kids :) Such a different (but simple!) way of looking at budgeting money. Cause sometimes budgets can be boring...even for a Finance major ;)

Anyway, he had a post recently about modeling contentment (found here). I absolutely agree with everything in that post.

We live in an area where there are many families who have more than us. And by 'more', I mean the 'tangible' stuff. Things. Toys. Fancier homes. The stuff that, to me, isn't really all that important in my life.

And what's sad is that some (not all) of these people are teaching their kids that these things are important in life. My daughter recently took her ipod nano (that she used her own money to buy last year) to school for a class party. When one of her classmates saw that it wasn't a 'touch' ipod she then said 'oh, yours sucks'.

Spoiled much??

My kids see that some of their classmates have a Kindle, or ipad, or cell phones.

Don't get me wrong, that stuff is fun! But I'm ok living without it. And I want my kids to know that it's ok to live without it. And if you want nice things in life you work for them...and save. You don't just charge up your credit card to have nice things. A lesson that is sadly missed on most people these days.

My life is good. We have a nice home. A few nice things. I'm ok with not having more. I'm ok that my countertops aren't granite. I'm ok with not having an ipad. I'm ok with my trusty pick-up truck that's 11 yrs old and still going strong. I'm ok with not having the latest Vera Bradley bag, or latest electronic gadget, or whatever.

Because when I do get something nice from time to time, or we're able to splurge on a vacation, it's that much more special to me.

And I teach my kids that every day, especially at Christmas time. My kids have always been limited to 3 items on their Christmas list to Santa. And quite honestly it's never been an issue of 'why can't I have more??'. Now that doesn't mean that's all they get. I just don't think it appropriate to take a list of a ton of 'gimme' stuff to the big guy in red. Just my personal opinion.

We pick families off a giving tree & we shop together for those people. My kids get involved in the shopping, wrapping, & delivering of these items.

We donate to the Salvation Army buckets when they're out during the holidays. And my kids donate some of their money. I don't ask them to. They see me giving and it encourages them to give...even if it's just some change.

This year since they've been doing the Financial Peace Junior they are saving the money in their 'give' envelopes for Toys For Tots. In December we'll head out to do some shopping and they can pick out what they want to buy & donate it.

It empowers children when they give.

I'm a firm believer in showing your kids that you don't have to have a bunch of 'things' to be happy. And when they see that all year long it's not really a big issue when Christmas rolls around :)

turkey day menu

Are you cooking for Thanksgiving this year?

Having company over?

Or maybe traveling this season?

We're staying home as always. Last year my dad & step-mom were here visiting so it was nice to actually cook for someone else. But this year it's just us :)

And even though it's just the 5 of us I stil llike to make a nice dinner, pull out the 'fancy' dinnerware & make it special.

So I thought I'd share a few of the recipes I'm using in case you're looking for a little last minute inspiration :) You can find them all on my Thanksgiving pinterest board here.

I usually plan to eat around 2-3pm so it's kind of a late lunch & then we munch on leftovers for the rest of the day. So I try to make some kind of appetizer to tide everyone over until the meal is done. I tried these bacon wrapped smokies last year.

Oh my goodness...SO good! So we'll definitely be having those again.

For sure.

I will also be brining my turkey again. Let me tell you, if you've never brined a turkey you really need to try it. At least once. Seriously. It makes the turkey sooo juicy.

The first time I brined a turkey I pulled it out of the oven & there was hardly any turkey drippings in the bottom of the pan. I thought 'where is it all??' And then, when I cut into the turkey, I realized where all of it was. In the turkey!

By the way, I usually pull my turkey out of the oven about 1/2 hour before it's done & let it sit, covered in foil, on my stove for at least 20-45 min. That way all of the juices have a chance to stay in the meat & won't all come leaking out when you carve into the turkey.

I like to use Pioneer Woman's recipe but you can find tons online. I've also used the one from Williams Sonoma but that's a little pricey. I tried their brining bags last year & liked them but I also have a 5 gallon paint bucket that I use specifically for brining a turkey but I just didn't have the space in my fridge. If you use the bags make sure you turn the turkey at some point so the brine gets all over it.

Now when it comes to Thanksgiving I usually go with the good 'ol standards...like brown & serve rolls & Campbells green bean casserole. But last year I tried 7-Up biscuits. And the next day...I made some more. Oh yes! Here's a couple tips: first, don't try to make them bigger. They just don't turn out right. And I've found that they bake up better in a glass pan. Maybe it's just my pans but they burned in the metal pans.

To go with the biscuits I make a cinnamon honey butter (Texas Roadhouse knock off) but I alter the recipe a bit cause the way the recipe stands tastes too much like honey to me.

I always make mashed potatoes but I'm going to try Pioneer Woman's recipe this year. I like the idea of being able to make it ahead of time. Same with the Creamy Parmesan Corn...I like the idea of throwing that in the crock pot. One less thing I have to think about is one less thing I might forget!

I also want to try making stuffing from scratch. Still looking for a recipe for that. Might use Pioneer Woman's but I'll need to alter it a bit.

For dessert I always make 3 pies: apple for my hubby, pumpkin for me and chocolate for all of us :) This year I'm going to try the french silk pie I pinned instead of the regular 'ol chocolate pie from pudding mix.

And to drink I usually make my holiday punch that my kids love :) Just mix equal parts 7-Up & cranberry juice cocktail.

Now I have to go print some recipes & do my turkey day prep so that tonight we can watch Charlie Brown Thanksgiving :)

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

memorial day

As you enjoy the long weekend with your family, remember all those who sacraficed so that we could have the freedom to do so!