Happy Homemaker Monday

Hello and Happy Monday Friends!

I hope you're starting your week out great and full of smiles 😊  I had a busy one out of the gate this morning needing to get a few things done around here before running errands. And now I only have a few minutes to work on this before I need to pick up Annie from school. I will plan to finish it up when I get back and get it posted yet today. 

Did you have a lovely weekend? It was a productive one here and nice because the weather finally let up a bit and was warmer. I spent some fun outside time with Ruby. But also got things done around the house, including finally really diving into cleaning out my closet. I have been starting and stopping on that project for a long time now. Lol But really took the plunge this weekend. Not done yet, but getting there.  I also had some fun spa time with Annie and we went and got spa pedis. Love girlie time. 💕 

 

 

 

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING

some fruit and coffee with natural sweet cream creamer

HOW I AM FEELING THIS MORNING:

Full of energy. It was a productive morning and I got my workout in - which I've been determined to keep doing faithfully... and some things around the house before I had to dash out for errands.

ON MY MIND:

Appointments I need to make for Annie this week, her 2 hockey games, errands to run. Just a busy week ahead, but want to spend some time in my hospice volunteering and other projects too.  

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE   

Pretty clean and bright. But for all the nice pics I show you of my home here's some reality too:

There has obviously been a leaking issue going on in my bedroom ceiling. Ad and I are trying to figure out where it's coming from. He had someone come and clean out the ice dams on the roof - but it's still leaking, so on to plan B. Hopefully we can figure it out soon! 

CURRENTLY READING

I haven't started a new book yet, have been reading some new magazines I picked up

ON THE TV TODAY:

 Spring Baking Championship, Escape to the Chateau on HGTV, the Resident, The Chase, The Hustler, Miss Scarlet and the Duke, American Housewife, This is Us,  The Rookie, Men in Kilts: a roadtrip with Sam & Graham (from Outlander), and When Calls the Heart is back - yay!!

 

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

MONDAY -  not sure? Maybe crepes with berries & bacon

TUESDAY - pork & cabbage stir fry with cilantro & crispy fried onions (HF meal)

WEDNESDAY -  soup (not sure what kind yet), red lobster biscuits

THURSDAY - chickpea fritters with greek salad & garlic white sauce (HF meal)

FRIDAY - fish sandwich night?

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

work on fun projects, talk to girlfriends, give myself a manicure

FROM THE CAMERA:

lavender toes 💜 

I love when the sunbeams stream in the windows. And looking out those windows this weekend I noticed a very well fed bunny visiting on the deck. Lol 

Ruby said "Mom it's finally nice out - let's go play". And so we did. It felt wonderful to get fresh air that wasn't painful. Lol I love this bay and the beauty here so much. 

PRAYER LIST:

I pray for an end to this virus. For peace, healing and unity in our world.  I pray for anyone sick, suffering, isolated, and afraid - for their peace and comfort. Please Lord give strength to those fighting the virus on the frontlines.  🙏 I hope this vaccine will be safe and effective and the beginning of the end for this virus for good.  

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

I'm linking with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.

Happy Homemaker Monday

Happy Monday  ~

How are you doing Friends? I'm sorry last week ended up kind of crazy for me so I didn't get around to saying hello to many of you. I helped my Mom finish moving and helped her get ready for her wedding. Plus, Annie's hockey and other appointments and a visit from Scott - all kept me from going on my computer at all. Did you have a lovely Valentines weekend? It was a very nice one here. I watched Annie's hockey game with Ad - it's so nice we can watch them in person again now. And Scott's visit was great! I made us ribyeye steaks that I seared and then finished off in the oven and basted with herbed butter, a splash of beef broth, fresh rosemary and garlic. Also garlic mashed potatoes, caesar salad and chocolate fondue for dessert.  We ran errands, lounged, played games and did a lot of laughing. It was a lot of fun! 😍  And other wonderful moments around here for ♥️ day included my Mom running off to "elope" and get married to her fella. 🎉 I'm so happy for them! And Aaron's GF surprised him by flying home for the weekend from CO (where she goes to school). He was thrilled!! So all in all a great weekend around here! Now I'm ready for the week ahead and coming around to visit all of you my Friends! 😊  

 

 

 

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

Yep, with windchill it was about 50 below zero this AM. And I'm going to whine because I had to bring up the garbage and recycling - and I have a LONG driveway! Lol I was bundled up like a mummy. The kids usually bring it up for me - either Annie before school, or Aaron before work. But Annie is on February break from school (they get a February break and a Spring break in April), and Aaron took today off because his GF is still here visiting. So they were sleeping away and I had to brave the literal arctic cold and get them up by the road. 

*Thanks for letting me whine a bit. But I'm a true northern Gal and if you dress right it's all good. 😉 

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING

mini bagel with one side a bit of cream cheese and a sprinkle of everything bagel seasoning, and the other strawberry cream cheese and raspberry jam. Also, fruit and coffee with natural vanilla creamer

HOW I AM FEELING THIS MORNING:

Feeling a little scattered as I'm trying to get a few things done before I need to take Ruby for a vet appointment soon. Annie has hockey practice later too as it's February break at school so she doesn't have school this week. 

ON MY MIND:

Other appointments this week, helping my Mom finish cleaning of her old place and help her create some photo things with their wedding pics to put around their new apartment, projects I want to accomplish this week, and Annie's hockey schedule and games this week. 

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE   

I'm happy with other recent projects I did accomplish including cleaning out a spare closet and organizing things. 

CURRENTLY READING

I actually started reading an old Susan Branch book I've read before but for some reason I was in the mood to read again. 📚 Then I still want to read Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe. Also, my Aunt just gave me a book that looks really good called Waging Peace - One Soldier's Story of Putting Love First by Diana Oestreich. So lots of good reading in my future! (no change here)

ON THE TV TODAY:

 HGTV shows, kids baking shows, Escape to the Chateau on HGTV, the Resident, The Chase, The Hustler, Miss Scarlet and the Duke, American Housewife, This is Us, And watching Schitt's Creek on Netflix, The Rookie, Men in Kilts: a roadtrip with Sam & Graham (from Outlander)

 

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

MONDAY -  slow cooker meatball soup

TUESDAY - chicken and guac burrito bowls (HF meal)

WEDNESDAY -  Parm meatballs, buttered tortelloni, lemon broccoli & garlic ciabatta bread (HF meal)

THURSDAY - apricot miso chicken with chili lime broccoli & ginger rice (HF meal)

FRIDAY - pizza night??

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

work on fun projects, read, blog visits, hang out and help my Mom

FROM THE CAMERA:

Some fun epic cribbage games over the weekend. We do a lot of trash talking and laughing. Sadly, I lost far more games than I won. I swear Scott is a cribbage pro and seems to always win. Lol Or else he's cheating. I may need to watch him more closely next time. 😉 Also, for dessert I made chocolate fondue from ghiradelli milk & dark chocolate bars, heavy whipping cream, and some vanilla. It was SO yummy. We dunked fruit, pound cake, cookies, pretzels and potato chips. I have little fondue mugs that each has their own tealight and little skewers. They work great! 😋 

And varsity hockey action of my girlsie! She's number 15 and her team won! 👏 

For fun, I ordered this wonderful strawberry cake, with strawberry curd filling and buttercream frosting for my kiddos. And part of it is going to my Mom and my new step Dad as some wedding cake! 🍰 

When Scott and I were grocery shopping and picking out our ribeye steaks, he grabbed these flowers for me too. ♥️ 

After he had to leave to head back up to AK for work - he was texting about hoping to get an upgrade to first class. He was flying yesterday on Valentine's Day. So I told him I hoped he'd get it too as a nice Valentines gift -and he responded with the above sweet message. Our situation is so complicated. And I have been honest with him that I just don't know how it will work out long term. He understands and we both just enjoy the present and are grateful for such a wonderful and fun friendship in this chapter of our lives. 💕 

And here is my sweet and adorable Mumsy and her new Hubby. They got married yesterday. Aren't they just the cutest?? 

And this freezing weather has made for some much needed relaxing hot bubbly bath time - and some beautiful sunsets and twilights. 

PRAYER LIST:

I pray for an end to this virus. For peace, healing and unity in our world.  I pray for anyone sick, suffering, isolated, and afraid - for their peace and comfort. Please Lord give strength to those fighting the virus on the frontlines.  🙏 I hope this vaccine will be safe and effective and the beginning of the end for this virus for good.  

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

I'm linking with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.

Happy Homemaker Monday

Happy Monday to you Friends ~

I hope you are all staying warm and toasty. It has been FREEZING here lately! Continuing with the 30 or more below zero temps with windchill. Some places north of me are seeing 50 below! True northwoods weather. Lol 😝  Needless to say,  we snuggled in a lot this weekend. Annie and I helped my Mom with some moving of little things to her new apartment. And Mom and I had dinner at her old place one night and found and then went through my maternal Grandma's old recipe box together. It was fun to see things in her handwriting, notes she made, other miscellaneous things she had in there. We both hadn't looked through that box in over a decade! And I made some goodies yesterday and watched the Super Bowl. My kiddos weren't interested in it much. Although it wasn't much of a game, unfortunately. But the commercials were fun. 😊 

I hope you had a wonderful weekend and are ready for the week ahead...

 

 

 

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

Haha! I have been asking myself this a lot lately. 😂 

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING

honey chex cereal with blueberries, coffee

HOW I AM FEELING THIS MORNING:

Not too excited to need to haul my laundry over to my Mom's to catch up a bit. My dryer broke this weekend and I knew it was on its last legs. So called today and thankfully I can get a new one delivered Wednesday!  

I've been doing my Mom's laundry for her for years. The place where she lives now, the stairs have become just too steep for her to do the laundry that's located in the basement. Her new apartment has the washer and dryer right in the apartment. Yay! So I don't need to help her anymore...But it's funny because today I needed to reach out for her help with my laundry. 

ON MY MIND:

The busy week ahead: Big moving day soon for my Mom, new dryer delivery, errands and appointments, Annie has a hockey game and lots of practices, and Scott visiting later in the week (Valentine's time 😉♥️)

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE   

It's nice and bright. The sun is streaming in today. But it doesn't fool me and the frost on some of the windows confirms how painfully cold it is outside today. 

CURRENTLY READING

I actually started reading an old Susan Branch book I've read before but for some reason I was in the mood to read again. 📚 Then I still want to read Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe. Also, my Aunt just gave me a book that looks really good called Waging Peace - One Soldier's Story of Putting Love First by Diana Oestreich. So lots of good reading in my future!

ON THE TV TODAY:

 HGTV shows, kids baking shows, Escape to the Chateau on HGTV, the Resident, The Chase, The Hustler, Miss Scarlet and the Duke, American Housewife, This is Us, And watching Schitt's Creek on Netflix

 

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

MONDAY -  creamy tomato soup, grilled cheese croutons, fruit

TUESDAY - cranberry dijon pork tenderloing, mashed potatoes, roasted green beans (HF meal)

WEDNESDAY -  chicken over garlic parm spaghetti, veggies

THURSDAY - gouda burgers with tomato onion jam, potato wedges (HF meal)

FRIDAY - steak, garlic mashed potatoes, salad and chocolate fondue for dessert ♥️ 

*Also, think I may make chocolate cherry rice krispies bars for the kiddos this weekend

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

scrapbook, read under fleecy blanket and sip hot tea, sit in front of the fireplace and draw or journal in pj's, might do lunch (safely) with a girlfriend

FROM THE CAMERA:

When it's so cold like it's been I drink extra hot drinks like coffee and especially tea. And I've been pulling out my warmest scarves. You can imagine I have quite a collection with our winters here. Lol 

When it's this cold it's often clear instead of cloudy and makes for a lot of beautiful sunsets. That part is nice at least 😍 

A happy place when it's starts getting this cold

It was so fun going through my Grandma's old recipe box with my Mom and sometimes deciphering her writing. Lol Found some really old newspaper clippings and other miscellaneous things too. 💕 

For the big game, I made BBQ ribs and potato wedges with southwest seasoning that got turned into nachos with pepper jack cheese, fresh pico de gallo and lime sour cream on it.  Very yummy! 😋 

PRAYER LIST:

I pray for an end to this virus. For peace, healing and unity in our world.  I pray for anyone sick, suffering, isolated, and afraid - for their peace and comfort. Please Lord give strength to those fighting the virus on the frontlines.  🙏 I hope this vaccine will be safe and effective and the beginning of the end for this virus for good.  

Extra prayers for my Mom on her upcoming wedding very soon. That her and her spouse will be so blessed and happy for many years and in their new home. ❤️ 

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

I'm linking with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.