congratulations!

You remember our friends, The klausers, in Minnesota from this post and this post?
I have people ask about them once in a while and how they are doing....well, CHECK THIS OUT. :)
God is so amazing.
Congratulations, you guys! SO excited for you and your family!! :)

follow their journey from last year starting here.

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mason at play

I was playing with Mason before naps and realized I don't have many videos of just him, so I busted out the camera.
Addy was watching Spongebob {she snuck her paci...she only gets it at bedtime, but if she finds one laying around, she tries to get away with it, little bugger}. I loathe that show. We were at Costco earlier and both kids were flipping out. I caved and told Adelyn if she behaved and left her brother alone (*sigh*), she could watch Spongebob on Netflix. She was great the rest of the time. I'm not embarassed. Don't judge me ;)
Anyway..he LOVES to push around the red firetruck. Uncle Alan and Aunt Steph gave it to him for Christmas. It's remote controlled....but he likes to push it around. Everywhere. And set things on top of it. He's weird. ;)
So here ya go, grandparents :)

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swim lessons::take one

Adelyn had her first swim lesson this weekend...

...this is her "oh boy" face.

We had toyed with the idea for a few years, but never found a class at a good time, or it was way too pricey.

I didn't know how well she would do....the girl has some serious ants in her pants....

of course, my child is the only one not sitting still...oh well...as Nick put it the other day... we are glad she's got spirit...we just need to help her learn how to control it :) and use it properly! :) ha...

I took a few videos for the grandparents' viewing pleasure :)

Let's just say, I'm thankful her teacher is super patient and doesn't miss a beat.

Hopefully by the time she hits preschool this fall, her attention span will improve a bit ;)

*sigh*

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{for kiddos colds} I really love....

 PediaCare Gentle Vapors plug-ins and Little Colds Honey Elixir for my kiddos when they are sick!
The littlest members of our family have been battling colds around here. Colds and babies are not a good combo. Sleep eludes everyone due to the coughing, sore throats, plugged noses, and crying from all of the above.
This time, I went into battle a little more prepared :)
These 2 products (and our cool mist humidifiers on full blast) saved my sanity and gave us all a little  more sleep! :)

I tried the vapor plug-ins because the vapor rub on their chest is so goopy and would wear off. The plug ins last for 8 hours...and they are strong...I really feel like they helped the stuffy noses. The only thing is the night light on the unit is super bright and you can't turn it off, so I had to put electrical tape over the light portion :) 

Adelyn will not eat straight up honey, which is an awesome "cure" for sore throats and helps soothe coughs....but I can convince her to take Little Colds Honey Elixir (don't know why...they totally taste the same, except raw honey is alot thicker...must be a texture thing). Whenever she had a coughing fit, this took care of it. No joke.  It really helped Mason's sore throat and coughing too.

...I did use raw honey for Mason when I could get him to take it :)...and I did have eucalyptus oil going in the house during the day to help the noses....not gonna lie, the vapor plug ins aren't cheap!

So there you go. Hopefully someone will get some use out of our experience :)

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our gallery wall

About a year ago, my sister in law was visiting and helped me put together this gallery wall.

I love it.

I was really overwhelmed with how to start one, and she gave the idea of finding one online that I liked and going from there.

We used that as a template and adapted it to the frames I had.

We laid it out on the floor first and moved things around until it looked just right.

After she visited...our house was actually painted and I had to take the whole thing down (boo). I took a picture to remind me and removed all the nails.

I had just discovered 3M picture hanging strips.

These are amazing.

When I redid the gallery wall, I used them and didn't have to pound nails into the wall.

It was SO easy....and if you're renting, like we are, it is especially nice not peppering your wall!

It's been a year and no picture has fallen...believe me, they have gotten knocked by pillows, ball and other flying objects. ;)

So...that's about it. That's how it happened :)

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our home...again :)

I can't believe we've been in California for more than a year! Time flies when you're having fun, I guess ;) ha....
Okay, so for family who have asked...here are some pictures of the updated decor :)
I am banned (by myself) from changing anything else for awhile. I'm working on this thing called contentment ;)
I didn't take pictures of every room...Mason was sleeping and you've already seen Adelyn's room :) Nick's office hasn't changed....and the bathrooms aren't that interesting. :)
Anyway...here we go.....

We got a new duvet with the help of a Christmas gift from my father in law :)

I actually saw it on a blog a year ago and have been eyeing it...

I. Love. It.

Adelyn was following me around and wanted me to take a picture of her "funny face"

I made this chalkboard from an old cupboard door.

For little notes and memory bible verses...

I got some fun throw pillows all on clearance at one point or another....

and I looove the gallery wall...I have another post on that, so stay tuned ;)

I got this rose one for $3 on clearance and BBandB this last fall! woohoo :)

I have actually come to like this little alcove above the tv alcove.

I didn't know what to do with it at first...but now it's fun to switch things around (to my husband's chagrin)

{clock, flowers, box and "F", bird: HL..bird cage: Michael's..birch candles: etsy}

The mirror is one I got from my mom when we moved. It was going to be in Addy's room, but is too heavy to hang. I repainted it and popped it up there.

The "mural" on the wall is actually cork placemats that I hung with 3M picture strips. If you haven't discovered these, you need to. 99% of the things hung in our home are with this (including the gallery wall)...not a nail hole in site :)

I love owls. I don't know why. I just do.

This is the new center of the table since I first took these pictures

Just to prove that our house is not picked up all of the time...here is the toy room with 4 days worth of play:

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homemade fruit roll up...flop

I found this recipe on pinterest last week and was all over it. We had a ton of strawberries in the deep freeze from last season and they needed to be used pronto.

We don't have a dehydrator (yet), so I went the oven route.

Unfortunately, I tried it twice and both times they were mushy in the middle and crisp on the edges. Classic signs of too high of a temperature.

The problem is, our gas oven won't allow a setting below 170F. Boo.

 I looked online...oven temps for food dehydrating should be around 140F. Double Boo.

I'll share the experience anyways because I took pictures with my new lens I got for christmas {I luuurve it...thanks, Mom!} and want to share because it was quite fun {and SO easy!}  :)

Step one::assemble ingredients: 1/4 tsp cinnamon and 2 cups strawberries {seriously...that's it...and we doubled it because we had plenty of berries}

Step two::enlist 3 year old to help out and dump ingredients into blender

Step three:: let said 3 year old work the blender...catch picture of her face the minute she presses down :)

blend until smooth

Step four::pour onto baking sheet lined with wax paper

Step five::let 3 year old spread with spatula to her hearts content :)

{make sure it's a little thicker at the edges since that tends to bake the quickest}

Step six::pause for "photo shoot"...someone discovered she can roll her tongue ;)

Step seven::put into preheated oven for 8-ish hours {until fruit is pliable and smooth}

Ours was more of a lovely crispness ;)

BTW, cinnamon strawberries is the most yummy aroma...our house smelled delicious for 2 days.

The great thing about this is that I'm sure you can use just about any fruit/veggie under the sun. I'm quite excited about this.

I'm definitely going to do this as soon as a dehydrator is in my possession :) I will let you know how it turns out!

If you try this and it works, let me know! I would love to hear about it :)

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