Happy Leap Day!

Happy February 29th! Such a special day, to only happen once every four years! Gavin had his first day of standardized testing today, so we got up early to make him a hot breakfast. He was pretty nervous before school, so Olivia and I decided to go have lunch with him and hear all about the test. Luckily, he felt a lot better about it afterwards! After school, we had a Doctor Who marathon and I made him pizza and pepperoni bread sticks for dinner, his favorite!

Liebster Award Nominee!

I'm so excited to share that Meeshie's World was nominated for a Liebster Award by Neha Gunnoo of the blog Digimarketivity. The cool thing about the Liebster is that it is given to bloggers by other bloggers. Specifically meant to help with creating new connections, it is an award that is only for new blogs. Starting out in this crazy world can be completely overwhelming, so getting recognition for your work can be so motivating!

Creamy Crock Pot Chicken & Potato Soup

The cold weather came back strong this week! As always, I like to view it as an opportunity to make some yummy soup. I didn't really feel like getting out into the cold weather, so I decided to work with what I had in the house. Annnnnd.... what I had in the house was chicken and potatoes. I even found some carrots and an onion to throw in. It turned out AWESOME! This is a great creamy deliciousness that helps the body fight off all of the cold weather outside :)

Homemade Biscuits & Gravy

One of our family's favorite things to have for dinner is breakfast food! My husband taught me his recipe for AMAZING sausage gravy and I brought the homemade biscuit recipe to the table :) I'll even show you the special way we plate ours, which makes it taste so much better!

DIY Ruffled Crib Skirt with Matching Window Valance

For today's Throwback Thursday post I am going to reminisce about making the ruffled crib skirt for Olivia's nursery. While planning the room, I had an extremely difficult time figuring out a color scheme or a theme. Flipping through Pinterest one day I found several super cute ruffled crib skirts that seemed like exactly what I was looking for.

I especially loved that I could use several different fabrics that would bring a few different colors into the room. Then, I looked at the prices... Whew! They are expensive! So I looked on Pinterest for DIY tutorials and found several! My two favorites, and the ones that I used for reference, were from Saleena Marie and A Little Bolt of Life.

Detox Bath - Feel Better FASTER

Last Thursday morning I woke up with a heaviness in my sinus cavity that told me I probably had a cold coming on. On Friday it had only gotten worse! By Saturday, I decided that I needed to do something to try to knock it out quickly.

So, as I often do with my problems... I took to Pinterest. I was already thinking a relaxing bath sounded nice, so I was hoping to find ideas for things to add to my bath that would help. I found great suggestions from The DIY Guinea Pig, The Bewitchin Kitchen and Sunshine Southern.

Potion Making for Kids

Happy Presidents Day! School was out, so it was a perfect time for a cousin sleepover. Gavin is lucky to have an amazing relationship with his cousin Parker who is a couple years younger than him. We got a few inches of snow yesterday and they were extremely happy to get out and romp around in it! In fact, they wouldn't even stay still long enough for me to get a non-blurry picture :)

Every time these boys have a sleepover, movie night is a must! This time was no different :) The boys picked Cat in the Hat and Paul provided them each with a personal treat bag with popcorn, candy and juice. When I went to check on them, I found them both asleep on Gavin's top bunk. It was adorable.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! As fun as it is to have a day to recognize the people you love, I also think that showing affection every day of the year is just as important. We tend to celebrate the day as a family fun fest. We started off with a delicious Valentine's Day breakfast. I made some scrumptious heart shaped pancakes with eggs and bacon. The pancakes are so easy to make, just make two dollops of pancake mix and use a spoon to pull down at the bottom!

It has been a busy, busy week here, so it is nice to be spending a relaxing day at home. We have some chicken in the crockpot and no intention of leaving the house! It is even supposed to snow, which we are thrilled about. Send snowy vibes our way!!!

Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Soup

Brrrr!!! The cold has returned to the Midwest! You can't walk outside without the air hurting your face :(  If only it were snowing, it would make it all worthwhile! The other good thing about cold weather is that I get to put my crockpot back to work. One of Paul's favorite soups is chicken enchilada soup, so I decided to give that a try.

Valentine's Day Gingerbread House

Living in Indianapolis, we are big Peyton Manning fans! So we were pumped to cheer him and the Denver Broncos on in the Super Bowl. Go Denverapolis Broncolts, ha!!!

Spectacular Homemade Salsa!

In honor of the Super Bowl today, I am going to share my husband's AWESOME salsa recipe. One of the best things about this recipe is that it is totally customizable! To make it spicier, add more jalapeños. To make it less spicy, add more tomatoes. The tomato to jalapeño ratio that we used in this recipe makes a pretty spicy version. Paul ranks it a 6 or 7 out of 10, if 10 is so spicy it would make you cry :) AKA, too spicy for me!!!

Senior Picture Ideas for Guys - Poses, Outfits and Locations!

When my nephew Christian needed his senior pictures taken, I jumped at the chance to take them for him. Although I am far from a professional, I have dabbled in photography since high school and have always loved the art form.

My niece was planning on joining us with her digital SLR camera, so I left my fancy camera at home and used my iPhone exclusively. I understand that the quality may not be quite as high, but I can work an iPhone camera!!!

Laundry Room Makeover!

One of the easiest and most rewarding room makeovers is a laundry room! Doing laundry is a never ending chore that requires a lot of time spent in your laundry room. Does it NEED to look nice? Not at all! But it makes the tedium that is doing laundry a little less dull :)

Be Inspired!

Some days we need a little bit extra motivation to get through our days. Here are several really great quotes that will remind you to push yourself forward at every step!

Baby Wearing For The Win!

Baby wearing wasn't even on my radar when Gavin was a baby. I knew it existed, but I never really thought about it. One family member even sent me a sling of some sort and I didn't take the time to figure it out.

Conversely, I started thinking about baby wearing while I was still pregnant with Olivia. I pinterest-ed A LOT while I was preggers, trying to look up the best things to register for, what to pack for the hospital, and nursery ideas. One thing I saw showing up regularly on almost every registry list was baby carriers. Different people recommended different types, but there was almost always at least one on every list.

Crockpot Chicken & Noodles

I love crockpot meals! They are so convenient if you are going to be out of the house all day, but I love them even when I'm home. Getting to smell delicious food cooking makes the house feel cozy, especially during winter!

This Crockpot Chicken & Noodles recipe is by far the easiest crockpot meal I make. Prep time probably only takes about 5 minutes depending on how long it takes you to gather your ingredients :)