Chopped Date

Ok, so let's just say date night didn't go exactly as planned this week! 

First off we didn't do our date Friday night because I didn't have all the supplies that were needed. Since we had been gone we decided to do our grocery shopping on Saturday. 

Saturday there was a Christmas Craft Fair in Minot that I was dying to go to, so I was lucky enough to have such an amazing hubby to take me to that. After we finished there, we hit up the store to get our weekly groceries and to get the supplies needed for our date. I had decided earlier in the week that I wanted to do a Chopped Date (like the show on Food Network)

On our way home we received a phone call from a lady saying she had our dog. It was Savannah our English Pointer so we both assumed that she had jumped over our fence and that Talulah would be at home waiting for us in the back yard. Not the case, she was gone!! Struan put Savannah on a leash and went for a walk in hopes he would find Talulah, after an hour of searching there was no such luck. That's when I lost it, I started to bawl I was devastated.  You could even see it in Struan's eyes, we were both pretty heartbroken! So we jumped in the truck to keep looking for our little Lula Belle. After another hour of driving up and down each ally way, we decided to check back at the house to see if she had made it home. As we were approaching our house we looked over at our neighbor ladies house and there was Talulah Belle eating cat food off of her porch with another dog!! Well we were both way to happy to have found her to be mad, so we called her over to us.

After our emotional night date night kicked off a little late. Here's what we did....sorry there are no pictures we both were a little drained maybe in the near future we will be able to redeem this date although I think we both had a pretty fun time!

If you have never seen the show Chopped, I'll explain how our date was going to work. There are 3 rounds and you are each given 3 ingredients (I did 4 ingredients) from those ingredients you have to make an appetizer, a main dish, and a dessert. You are allowed to use other ingredients but these are your main ingredients. They usually have some twist that makes it a little more difficult. For the 1st & 3rd round you are given 30 minutes and then for the 2nd round you have an hour (since it takes longer) 

For the appetizer round these were our ingredients:

Canned Pineapple

Instant Oatmeal

Tortilla

Carrots

Struan headed straight outside to the grill while I preheated the oven. (Both going with the thing we felt most comfortable using)

I decided that I was going to make some sort of salad. I took the oatmeal and threw them on a frying pan to toast them, I then cut my tortilla into squares sprinkled them with olive oil, salt, and pepper and popped those in the oven (I was going for a crouton type thing) I then cut up my pineapple & carrots and put them in a frying pan. I then added a little brown sugar. From there I started plating my appetizer. Lettuce on bottom, then croutons, then pineapples and carrots (they were still a little crunchy which I like) and then a little pineapple juice as a dressing.

Struan took a whole other approach, he coated his pineapple rings in cinnamon and oatmeal to then grill outside. He then made cooked carrots with cinnamon and brown sugar on the grill. After that he heated up his tortilla. Once everything was made he took the ingredients and then rolled them in the tortilla to make a wrap. 

To tell you the honest truth our appetizers tasted delicious!!! We both were surprised at how they turned out!! 

Round 2 Main Dish Ingredients:

Chicken Breast

Graham Crackers

Potato 

Strawberry Yogurt

I knew exactly what I was going to do. I quickly turned on my oven. Then I grabbed the food processor where I put the graham crackers in with some roasted peanuts and chopped them finely. I then took my chicken dipped it in the strawberry yogurt, rolled it in the graham crackers and placed it on a baking sheet. I then popped them in the oven for 50 min. I then had to decide what I was going to do with my potato. I decided that I would make mashed potato and then do half milk, and a little strawberry yogurt (BAD IDEA!) After making them I tasted them and whoa way to sweet! So I thought that if I added some cheese and garlic powder maybe it would tone down the sweetness!

Struan had a similar idea he dipped his chicken in the yogurt and then rolled it in graham crackers, he then deep fried them like a chicken strip. He also made dutch oven potatoes on the grill. 

Let's just say Round 2 was an EPIC fail!!! The strawberry yogurt over powered EVERYTHING!! The only thing that was good were Struan's dutch oven-y potatoes! 

Ok so we never made it to Round 3 with desserts. We were so tired that we decided to skip it and do it another night! We haven't yet but hopefully we will soon. We also were going to watch the movie No Reservations but that didn't happen either. Like I said maybe we will be able to redeem this date sometime in the near future. At least  we attempted to do date night right!? I think we get an A for effort. 

Although the date didn't go according to plan, I still had a great time. It was fun racing around the kitchen and spending time with my hubby! It's little moments like this that I will remember forever!

Home for Halloween!

Yes, you all may think I'm crazy that I talked my husband into driving home for Halloween but I just couldn't help it!! Now that we have Adeline, I don't want family to miss out. I'm guessing it is because both Struan & I grew up so close to our grandparents that I want our children to have the same thing. I know that eventually the opportunity to be able to go home for such small holidays will be very slim, so I am taking advantage of it while we can!

We left good ol' ND early Thursday morning to head to Idaho. Ryan had the day off from work, so he decided that he would go home as well so we could see each other for a little bit. He wasn't sure if he would have any other days off while we were there so he figured he better come visit. It was nice to be able to see him and catch up. 

Friday my mom took work off so we were able to spend time together. Struan went down to Alexander Co. and spent a little time with his dad. Then he was able to hang out with Hayden and play Zombies on the Xbox, I'm pretty sure he was glad to have a pro to play with, I'm not so good at the whole Xbox thing!!

Saturday my mom surprised me and told me that for my birthday this year she was taking me shopping! She had thought about just giving me money so I could go in ND but then decided she had to monitor me (I'm a grown woman I don't need a babysitter) The reason she had to monitor me was because she knew that I most likely wouldn't spend any of it on myself. Lets face it the last time I bought myself a shirt was a year ago, and it was from Motherhood Maternity! Yeah, I know. I love to shop but since getting married and having a baby, I just can't justify something I want but really don't need. My mother also so lovingly pointed out that she knew I still wore some clothes from Freshman year of Highschool! Umm yeah GUILTY! YIKES! So to those of you that can still remember some of my clothing from Highschool I'm sorry; however, they are still in good condition! (Oh man this is embarrassing :/ ) So off we went to Pocatello. I'm so grateful for the time that I was able to spend with my mom. It's not often we get to go shopping together, and just get to chat. 

While we were shopping Struan was able to spend time with his dad. Granted they were running around doing stuff for the business but I'm sure he was pretty thankful to get to spend that time with his dad.

Sunday we attended church with Struan's family. Afterward, my mom threw me a birthday party! She even wrapped up the clothes I bought the day before. Ryan ended up having the day off so he was able to come and visit some more. I'm so thankful for the amazing family I have been given. I miss the get togethers we have, just visiting and catching up with each other. 

Monday Struan and I wanted to go for a RZR ride in the mountains, so we dropped Adeline off with his mom and were ready to go. We decided to fill the tires up before we left, and as we were driving it started to rain!! Boy was it cold too! We actually ended up having to bag the ride :( I was pretty sad about it! I was really looking forward to spending time with Struan. So then we went to plan b, I was needing to take some pictures for a few Christmas gifts I am doing, so he took me around and I was able to do that. 

We stopped by my grandpas ranch where he then showed us around. He talked to us about his cows, you can see that he really loves his animals. It was a great time. Next we headed up to Grandma & Grandpa Clark's so Struan could help them out for a few minutes, after we had lunch with a friend. Then it was time to pick Adeline up and go Trick Or Treating! I was pretty excited!! 

Here's our little Trick or Treater! Next year she is going to love it! I can already tell!!!

If you are wondering what she is, I'm not exactly sure. We ended up calling her a Dancing Zebra Fairy, if you didn't know what that looked like before now you do! :) 

I hope everyone had a fantastic Halloween! I'm so grateful for the family I have been given and wouldn't trade it for anything!! In just a few short weeks we will be heading back to Idaho again to spend a week at Thanksgiving with our families. Yes, it is a long drive but family is so important how can we not go?

Saturday Date Night!

Yes, you read the title correctly we ended up having our date night Saturday due to the new edition to our family!

Please welcome Savannah our English Pointer! She actually is Struan's early Christmas gift! She is such a sweetheart and so much fun! Now onto our date....

Struan was in charge of our date this week and I was really hoping that it would have something to do with Halloween, seeings how we won't be home this upcoming date night! To my surprise it was!! Here is my cute little invitation! I'm hoping that one day he will move away from texting but for now I can't complain! :)

First thing we did was load up the truck and head out to go shooting. Struan had bought little pumpkins and thought that it would be a fun idea to go shooting with them. At first I was a little nervous, I haven't really shot a whole lot and I'm a person who has a hard time trying new things. I hate that about myself and try to work on it but I still have troubles with it. Struan thought that I wasn't excited to do it, and was about to pack everything up when I explained my situation. Luckily he is such a loving and caring husband, and right away made me feel so much more comfortable. He helped me get all set up to shoot, and it ended up being a blast!!! I'm still not so good, but it was fun!

After Struan and I had taken a few turns shooting, he decided to let Savannah off her leash just to get a feel for things, seeings how she is a hunting dog! BAD IDEA! She took off like a bullet, with Struan chasing after her! There I sat in the truck thinking to myself that we hadn't even had her 24 hours and she was GONE! Just when I started getting super worried, I decided to give Struan a call. It turned out Savannah had ran about 1/2 a mile, he had almost caught her sooner but she saw a fox and took off after it. Luckily he had caught her! This is what I saw as they were coming over the hill :)

We then shot some more, and then headed back home.Here we are with our little pumpkins we had shot. FYI my pumpkins were alot closer than the ones Struan shot at!

We ate dinner and got Little Miss Adeline to bed. Then he told me that we would be carving pumpkins! I was pretty excited! I wanted to do them last year, but we ended up forgetting!! Here are some pictures of our amazing pumpkins!

After carving our pumpkins we watched Monster House (which neither one of us had seen) FYI totally not a kids movie! It had me a little scared! Yes, I am a big baby!! Scary movies aren't exactly my favorite thing!!! 

I am so grateful for the amazing hubby I have that is willing to teach me new things, and come up with such fun date ideas!!! My turn is next and hopefully I can keep up with the date standard we've been setting!! 

If you aren't doing date night, I strongly suggest working one into the week! With the day to day bustle of our lives (baby, and puppies) sometimes we don't connect with our spouse the way we should. Date night helps in bringing you back together, at least I think it has. Try it out! I think it may surprise you!

Just Had To Share!

Adeline has been getting so big these last few weeks, pulling herself up, getting teeth, and much more! She is so fun to watch and play with! Struan and I both just feel incredibly lucky to have such sweet little girl in our lives! She's full of spunk, sass, and love!! Here is a video of her this last week, just watch and wait! :) (P.s How I Met Your Mother was on in the background so just disregard the talking lol)

Also I do not want anyone to think I am a bad mother, she has done this a few times and I find it so cute that I had to video it! Once she flipped in and started crying I quickly retrieved her out of the basket and in no time she was back at it again. We finally tipped the basket on its side to ensure it didn't happen again! Oh and please disregard the fact that she has no pants on, that little girl can kick off her pants at any moment!

DIY Glitter Toes!

Glitter Toes, Twinkle Toes, Rockstar Toes whatever you want to call them have kinda been a big deal these last few summers!! I have been one to fall in love with them as well! Sadly I moved right after the first time I had them done!! I'm sure there are places here in ND to get them done, but really I wouldn't have the slightest clue of where to look! So I decided that there had to be a way I could do it myself! With a little research on the computer I put a few ideas I found together and came up with my own glitter toes! Of course they aren't acrylic like the ones you get done professionally but the nice thing about these is they are cheap, they last quite a long time, and you can change them up a little easier!! So here they are!

WARNING!! I do have a few pictures of my ugly feet on here so if you are creeped out by feet I thought I would give you a fair warning!! But if you don't look, you could miss out on some totally AWESOME glitter toes!!

First off, here is what you will need!

A fanned paintbrush

Clear Nail Polish, or Color of Choice

A Teaspoon

Glitter (Make sure it is fine) I found mine at Walmart for 0.97 cents! I have also found them at Hobby Lobby!

Also have something to catch your glitter

Step 1: Paint your toe, after put glitter on teaspoon tap the side of the teaspoon to make sure you get glitter all over the toe ( you could just dump it on, but you lose ALOT more glitter if you do it that way, a teaspoon is MUCH easier!)  Continue doing this to all toes!

Once you have finished your toes will look like this, including the excess glitter. 

I was doing every other toe that's why only 3 have glitter. Once you have your glitter on and it has set for a good minute. Take your fan brush and dust off the excess glitter! Once you are done paint a clear top coat, and VOILA! Glitter Toes!!

Here they are! Sorry the lighting doesn't do the glitter justice, but once you get it down there are so many fun colors and ideas to play with!! I did these brown and orange to celebrate Fall & Halloween! Just something fun I have found to do!

It's Date Night "Deer"!

So this last week was my turn to plan our date night, I was pretty excited not going to lie. First off I chose a  theme and since my hubby LOVES hunting I thought that would be the perfect theme for the date!! 

Here's the invitation I stuck on the steering wheel to invite him to our date night....

Friday after Struan got off work, I told him he needed to get ready. We both put on some camo (I had to borrow one of his shirts) and were ready to start our date. I was pretty impressed with myself that I kept what we were doing a secret! First off we got in the car where I handed him his 1st clue. 

Here we are before we set out on the date....

 I was a little worried about our date seeing how I didn't figure that the weather would be so COLD! We were only about 40 degrees that day so it was a bit chilly! 

 After he read his first clue I informed him that we would be going GEO Caching (for those of you who don't know what that is, its like a hide and seek game with your GPS. You are given the coordinates and once you get there you search for a box) I had never been so I thought it would be something fun to do. Ok, so I know it isn't exactly hunting but we were hunting for something just not with guns. :)

Here's a picture of Struan geo caching...He's in there somewhere!

There were 3 locations we went to and sadly we had no luck. I'm thinking mainly because we had our baby and it was freezing!! Maybe next summer we can try again but we did have a fun time looking. At our last stop we had a VERY interesting experience. Let me explain....

Our 3rd location was located at the Reservoir here, along the road there is a bunch of broken up cement to make sure the water doesn't come up onto the road. Well our clue said that the cement would hold the key. We searched, and searched, and searched as we were getting ready to leave I was looking at a specific piece of cement, I thought that possibly the geo cache was hidden there. I looked underneath and there seemed to be a piece of granite there, so I made Struan check it out. Come to find out we had found a headstone!! Umm yeah that's right a headstone, fully in tact. At that point I took a picture of Struan looking at it, and then we headed home. We were done geocaching! See if you can spot the granite......

After that I had Struan build a fire, and had him cook us tin foil dinner (yes again, and yes I made him cook but that was so I could get Adeline down for bed) We enjoyed a yummy dinner of Ribs, Mashed Potatoes, and Macaroni & Cheese! My hubby sure knows how to make a good dinner! I even set up the living room with our camper chairs, and put the tv on the hunting channel (which usually I moan at the thought of having to watch)

After dinner we set up some pop cans and shot them with the BB Gun. It was lots of fun! We made a little look out from our guest bedroom window, and sniped those cans. 

It was a lot of fun, and we both really enjoyed ourselves. Then at the same time we both GASPED, yes really at the same time I'm not just saying this for dramatic effect we both noticed this....

Yes, that is correct! You are seeing BB holes in our garage. We both didn't think it had that much power, but apparently it did! Struan thinks that since it was so cold outside the siding was a little brittle. Also don't mind how off I was in the shooting, hunting just really isn't my thing! No worries though, the next day Struan was able to patch the holes.

Once we noticed the holes, we moved on to our next event at the Clarks Shooting Range.

Ok, so this did not turn out as planned sadly. My original idea was to buy one of those sticky dart guns, and then put the animal photos in frames so when you shot at them it would stick to the glass. However, when I went to the Dollar Tree in Minot they had NOTHING. They only had one toy gun in the entire store. It came with 4 balls that shot out of the end, not ideal but it was better than nothing. In the end it was a piece of junk and wouldn't shoot 90% of the time, so we resorted to rubber bands. It was fun and we had a good time. Struan annihilated me, none the less it was still a great time.

After that I told Struan that we needed to build a fort in the living room. He was a little to excited and was trying to make it WAY WAY WAY to complicated, so we finally resorted to putting chairs on our couch, then hanging blankets from them. We then layed a foam mattress down with a bunch of blankets. We both slipped into something a little more comfortable (Struan in his red long johns, and me in my pink ones) We then played a matching game I had made, where you had to match the animal tracks. After that I opened up our backpack and pulled out the movie Open Season. So to end our night we watched a movie, and ate camping snacks such as Jerky, Trail Mix, Sunflower Seeds, & Candybars. 

Struan kept thanking me all night for planning such a fun date, apparently he has never had one planned for him before. So I was very honored to be able to do that for him. I am so excited to see what he has planned for us the upcoming Friday, he keeps telling me that he already knows what we are doing which gets me so excited that he is enjoying these fun date nights as well.

FARGO!

Well, I was going to post our date night that I had planned this past week HOWEVER Struan surprised me and decided we were going to Fargo for the weekend! Needless to say I was  pretty excited!!! He knew that I had been wanting to get a jump-start on my Christmas shopping, so he decided we should go! 

Friday afternoon we packed up the car and headed out for Fargo (it's like driving to Boise from Grace). We had a great time just being able to talk and spend time together! I love when we are able to do that, there's not many times that we get to talk without the phone ringing! Adeline was an absolute angel (like she always is) and just rode in her car seat so content. Sometimes I feel terrible that she has to sit in a rear facing carseat! I know she would love to be turned around and able to see everything around her! Just a few more months & she'll be able to do so!! WHOO HOO! 

Once we got to Fargo we checked into our hotel and then headed out to dinner. We chose Texas Roadhouse, seeing how we don't have one near by! Of course being a Friday night we had to sit and wait but it wasn't TOO bad. We actually talked to some people from the UVU Women's Soccer Team. Small world I know!! Then were able to enjoy a FABULOUS dinner! 

The next day we shopped, and shopped, and shopped! It was so fun! We were able to get quite a bit of Adeline's Christmas done! We are so excited for her 1st Christmas! We know she will probably be more interested in the boxes & paper but we don't care we are way to excited! Struan keeps asking if we can get the toys out and play with them. He tells me that she won't remember when Christmas rolls around but I have to hold firm and keep saying NO. This is one thing I will not give into! :) Ok I know she has already seen them when we were shopping, but really she can't remember! (Can she!?)

I am so grateful for my amazing hubby, who will take time to go shopping with me. He tries so hard to act excited because he knows how much I miss shopping with my mom. Not going to lie, he's a pretty fantastic guy!! :) 

Getting In The Spooky Spirit!

Ok, so I have ALWAYS loved holiday decorations but couldn't justify paying to much for them! It must be the thrify mother in me. So last year I didn't decorate for any holiday other than Christmas. That's a definite must! 

So this year, I have been really wanting to start getting decorations together for other holidays, such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc. I figure I better start now so that when Adeline is older its something fun she looks forward to! I was having a tough time coming up with what I really wanted to do, let's just say I spent many hours looking on Pinterest and nothing really jumped out at me. Not really sure why! 

Well....last Saturday we were in Walmart on our way home from Fargo and I saw an end cap with a bunch of Halloween scrapbook type stuff so I thought I would check it out! Boy was I glad I did! Everything on that end cap was .97 cents!! There must be something there I may like! There was!! I ended up buying two 4 packs of glitter (I'll share what I do with those another time), a 7 sheet pack of paper all devoted to Halloween, and two packs of chip board stickers! I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to do with them, but figured inspiration would find me soon enough.

Last night Struan was gone helping a friend, and Adeline was in bed so there was just me. I decided that was the time to come up with something to do with my awesome finds. Here's what I came up with! 

Needless to say I am pretty proud! I used an old canvas that I had purchased a few years ago, then modge podged the two types of paper to the canvas. Then I hot glued the chip board stickers to the paper, made a little bow out of raffia that I already had, and VOILA!! In total I figured this whole thing cost me $1.25 (this is not including the bow or canvas, like I had it quite a while I don't remember the cost and it was just lying around with no use) I figure if you don't have a canvas lying around you could always use a shoe box or something along those lines!

I also made this.......

Here is an up close shot.....

This was super easy to make as well! I have seen so many cute banners around lately that I decided I need one for Halloween. 

I went online and found a bunting pattern I liked, then I went to Picnik and made a Happy Halloween sign, I thought this font was super cute and fitting! I mean who doesn't like Ghost Font!? I then chose 4 types from my .97 cent paper pack and started cutting!! After I was all done, I punched holes in each corner & strung them on the rafia. Super simple and fun!! Total cost $1.53, not to bad!!! 

I still have paper and stickers left over, so I'm hoping to come up with at least one more project!!! 

It's Great To Be.....

Eight months that is!!!

I cannot believe that this Saturday our Little Miss Adeline will be turning 8 months old! Where has the time gone!? It seems like just yesterday she was itty bitty and snuggly & now she is getting so big and squirmy! I swear that little girl will not sit still for ANYTHING! :) 

Yesterday morning we were laying in bed snuggling (we do it every morning) and Adeline grabbed my finger and started to gnaw on it. Not a big deal, she does this quite often when all of a sudden I felt something very sharp poke my finger!! My reaction was! YES!!! We have a tooth!!! :) I was so excited, you see Struan and I have been getting a little worried that we were going to have a toothless & bald child FOREVER! Now we just need to concentrate on growing some of that hair! Sadly I think it will be a few years before we see any luscious locks! 

Adeline is growing and learning new things everyday. She so badly wants to walk on her own. She will pull herself up on the couch, & let go hoping she will be able to stand on her own but instantly falls to the floor. She is such a tough little cookie, no matter how many times she falls she just keeps getting right back up. It is so much fun seeing her learn and grow. 

She has a new fascination with her tongue. She loves to just stick it out at everyone! As seen below....

She also loves to get into EVERYTHING! :) But when you see a cute face like hers its not so bad picking up the DVDS 3-4 times a day!

I love the innocence in the face!! She nailed this act! :)

I am so grateful for the perfect little angel we were sent! She is such a joy to watch! Sometimes I feel overwhelmed and not worthy to have such an amazing little girl in my life, but I would not change it for the world! Motherhood is something that I love with all my heart, yes it has its challenges but when you get to see this face everyday somehow it because easy! 

Warm My Heart...

So lately I've been on this kick that Struan and I really need to have date night once a week. For some reason for the last few months we have just settled on cooking a frozen pizza, and watching a movie. While that is great every once in a while, every Friday gets a little boring! At first I thought I would be subtle, but with men I have found you can't be subtle. You have to just be blunt. :) So after weeks of trying to hint to him that I think we need to get more creative with our dates, I finally just came out and told him. I also knew that it wouldn't be enough just telling him, I would have to do some research and give him some ideas. Luckily there are some great sites out there to give you ideas! I printed off quite a few that I thought he and I could both enjoy. I told him that for our first creative date, it could be his turn first. (After thinking this through I have to admit I was getting a little nervous, maybe I threw him to the wolves to soon and should have gone first!) 

By Thursday I was getting pretty antsy to see what he had in store for us. He and I are both HORRIBLE secret keepers, but I did inform him that I didn't want to know what we were doing so for the most part he did a pretty fantastic job in keeping things from me. I was also getting a little curious because Struan hadn't officially asked me yet. (Yes, I know I was probably asking to much but what's the saying "Go big or Go Home right!?)  I kept hinting that I was probably going to be busy Friday night, but that he may still have a chance if he asked me soon. Friday morning he decided to ask me, here's the conversation...

Struan: Makala will you go on a date with me tonight?

Makala: No, you have to ask me in a cute way

Struan: REALLY Makala Really!? This isn't highschool!

Makala: Struan I want to be wooed!!!!

Out the door went Struan (ok, I should have been accepting of his offer but really? I wanted to be wooed!) I may be a married mom, but I'm not old yet!! Give me some sort of romance! 

About 5 minutes later I recieved this cute text message! Although I had to do some coaxing I have to admit that he came up with such a cute way to ask me!! 

Ok, so I have to admit that this cute little text message really gave me the butterflies!! (P.S. Yes, I know his text spoiled the surprise for the date.) Nevertheless, I was still EXCITED!!

Struan came home from work and watched Adeline while I insisted that I get ready for our date! I wanted to look good, even if we were just staying in!

After that, Struan started our dinner! I was so excited because I have to admit I've never eaten a tinfoil dinner before (insert blush here) Here's my manly man starting the fire in our new fire pit he worked hard on this summer! I LOVE it! 

Yes, this little munckin was on our date for a little while, but we are lucky enough that she goes to bed at about 6:30 or 7 pm each night so we can have some "us" time as well. 

Here's our yummy dinners in the fire! Struan taught me a great tip when making tin foil dinners. Buy food that is already pre cooked so you don't have to worry about getting sick!! I love that idea! So for dinner he made Chicken Alfredo with Bacon and Mac and Cheese! YUM! He knows I love pasta, so I'm guessing that's why we had two types! He's more of a meat and potatoes man! 

After dinner, and putting Adeline to bed. Struan pulled out

for us to watch! He has never seen the original so I think that he really enjoyed it. I kept in mind that it was never going to be as good as the original and with that in mind I actually enjoyed the movie. I guess it also helps that I haven't seen the original since I was probably in Jr. High, so that helped quite a bit in the memory department.

Next we went out again to the backyard and cooked up some yummy s'mores!! It was there that I learned that Struan had cooked s'mores before but had actually never eaten one!! WHAT!? I seriously considered that an American tragedy! So I decided that we had to capture the moment of his first bite!

He actually admitted they weren't as bad as he thought! For someone who doesn't like Hershey's chocolate and marshmallows, he enjoyed it! I do have to admit we substituted the Hershey's for a Carmello which I'm sure was much better! 

So here I thought the date was ending, but in fact Struan had one more thing up his sleeve!! He pulled the truck around to the front of the house, and instructed me that I wasn't to look in the back. He then grabbed our sleeping Adeline out of her crib and buckled her in her carseat. Away we went, with me having no idea what was going on. He then drove out of town about 12 miles and into what seems to be the only patch of trees in North Dakota (ok I exaggerate but North Dakota is way different than the beautiful mountains of Idaho) We then stopped, and I was told to get out. I went to the bed of the truck where Struan had put our guest bedroom mattress in the back. He then brought a ton of blankets out of the truck for us to snuggle up under. So with Adeline in the backseat of the truck, Struan and I were able to go star gazing! How sweet is he!? It was so much fun! We were able to lay under the stars and talk for a while.

My hubby really out did himself!! I had such a great time being able to spend quality time with him. He was such a sweetheart planning this date, and putting up with all my demands!! I'm hoping that we can keep having fun dates like this. My turn is the next week, and let's just say I'm soooo excited!!! I already have it planned out and can't wait to share it with my hubby! I didn't realize how hard it is to keep it a secret!!!

Challenge: Plan something special for the one you love!

Our Little Lion

Take a look at our little growling Adelion!

Ok, so my friend Becky her daughter Melanie started calling Adeline "Adelion" when she was first born. When we heard about it, we thought it was so cute and started calling her that. Well as you can see she definitely lives up to the name! It might also be because when I was pregnant with her Struan would growl at my belly. I was positive that she would come out growling instead of crying! She's such a goofy girl but we can't help but LOVE our Little Lion! 

Come & Knock On Our Door......

Lately my crafty bug has been itching like crazy! I wanted to do something but wasn't sure what! The past couple of weeks I've been stocking up like crazy with picture frames! We don't have a D.I. close by but Minot does however have at least 4 thrift stores! SCORE! :) I think Struan gets sick of visiting them each week, but I'm always afraid that if we don't go, I might miss out on my BIG find! :)

Pinterest has been my weakness lately! If you haven't been on their site, I highly suggest staying away or you will be sucked into the madness!! It's ADDICTING! So I have been looking at a few cute ideas on there for something to add to my front door. I wasn't exactly sure I wanted a wreath but then I found a really cute picture frame a lady had done! BINGO! That's what I wanted, of course I had to add my own touch!

Saturday Struan ended up having to work and all my house cleaning was done so I thought it was the perfect time to get started. I picked one of the frames I had picked up a few weeks ago and started painting.

Ok, so I actually forgot to take a picture before I started painting! Oops!! :( The frame was actually a dark brown and the light part a weird gold color! Not exactly my style! I decided to go with Black & White. I'm not exactly sure what my fascination with Black and White is but if I could do every room in my house with Black & White and an accent color I totally would!!

And this is what it looked like after 4 hours of off and on painting. Yes I know spray paint would have been so much quicker and easier, but I had a lot of time on my hands plus it was FUN! 

I then decided the frame would be cute with a Welcome sign! So I created a sign on Picnik! I love this site, I don't know how I've ever lived without it! So here is what I came up with....

I was pretty excited with how it turned out! It was my first real attempt at sign making and I didn't think it turned out to shabby!

After putting all of that together I decided it just needed a little something more. I had read about making flowers (like the flower ones you are seeing EVERYWHERE) our of junk mail, newspaper, or just scrapbook paper. So I dug into one of my craft totes and found some old ugly scrapbook paper I knew I would NEVER use!

I cute the paper into strips, and tied a knot in the first strip. I then started twisting and hot gluing the paper. You can use hot glue, tacky glue, or just plain old Elmer's but with the heavy paper I was using I chose the hot glue. Then as you come to the end of the strip, you glue the next strip and keep twisting. You choose the size you like. I did two the same size and one big one. Here are the two small ones.....

After I finished creating the flowers, which took a little more time than I thought but hey it was a rainy day and all I was doing was watching Grey's Anatomy (one of my many weaknesses) I painted the flowers with acrylic paint. I chose a burgundy color that I had. I used a sponge brush to do the majority and then a thinner paint brush to get the creases. 

Next I had to decide how to place them on the frame, I wasn't sure if I wanted to do the top or bottom corner. Here is were texting comes in handy! I quickly took 2 pictures with the choices I was torn between and sent it to my mom. She then told me she liked the bottom, Struan did as well so bottom it was! I quickly hot glued them to the frame and here is what I got! 

I was pretty proud of myself not going to lie! I will have to add a ribbon to hang and when it's up on my door I'll post that picture as well! Would you like to know the total of this cute little do dad!?

Frame $1.50

Paint Already Had

Sign Basically Free Except for the Ink

Scrapbook Paper: Free I think it was given to me

Yep you guessed it a whole $1.50 for this little craft! :) Can't beat that! I'm thinking that throughout the holidays that I will change the sign out! :)

I'm super excited to hang it up and see how it looks!! :) Even the most inexpensive things can turn out amazing!

Fire, Fire, Fire!!!

Well our week started out pretty interesting I must say. 

Yesterday, Struan went into work at about 4 am so he and Doug could get a broken part off of the equipment and get it fixed so we could be up and running. He came home about 6 saying they weren't able to get it apart so he was going to wait til the hardware store opened and grab a tool he thought might do the trick. Doug had an appointment in Minot so he would be going at it alone. 

I got down to work about 9, and everything seemed fine. We had a few men and an engineer here looking at the elevator. There is a company next to us that is looking into buying our grain elevator (they are with the oil) but before they do they wanted to make sure it would work with their product. Struan was trying to be super man, working on getting the part off, and making sure he could answer all the questions the men had. 

At about 10 o'clock he came to me telling me that he had a small fire, my first reaction was "Where's the fire extinguisher?" He said that he had one and that he was going to try and get some water so he could put it out.

About an hour later, he comes rushing in telling me that the fire has gotten lots bigger, then he precedes to call the fire department. I was very impressed within 5 min the firemen had shown up. Struan then walks into the office grabs Adeline and says that we need to get out. I gently had to remind him to grab the car seat. I then quickly threw my laptop and external hard drive (it contains ALL of Adeline's pictures ever taken) and walked out the door. I was probably a little slower than Struan liked but I have always told myself that was something I would always grab if I was in this situation. He had us get in the truck, then he drove us to a safe spot. 

From where I was sitting I could see it all. I think they may have gone over the top (not sure if they were just excited because they hadn't had a fire in a while) but there were about 20 firemen, 3 firetrucks, and a police officer. Within an hour and a half they were able to get the fire out. Luckily the damage was minimal compared to what it could have been. So we will have to replace some equipment but other than that everything is fine.

I am so grateful we were all able to get out safely and that nobody was harmed. All in all it was a pretty stressful, emotional day! Adeline slept through it all. Crazy girl!

I am also grateful for Struan in making sure we were safe, and seeing that we were out of harms way. I guess I didn't realize how bad it was until he came in and calmly picked up Adeline. I am grateful he is the kind of person who can keep calm in crazy situations so that I am not panicked. He is so great in keeping me calm, and I am so thankful for him in my life.

Sooo BIG!

 

Ok, so Adeline has been growing WAY to fast!! When I'm getting ready in the morning I usually put her in her pack n play with some toys so that she can be entertained. She is soo good, usually.

Today I put her in the pack n play, which I should explain has a top that goes in it so she isn't so far down. Her being up so high hasn't been a problem unitl....TODAY! Today as I was getting ready I peaked around the corner to make sure she was ok, to my surprise she was standing up leaning over the side of the pack n play! YIKES!! I quickly grabbed her, and decided that we had to take the top out! I am so grateful I looked when I did, or it could have been really bad! 

I just can't believe what a little stinker she is!! She is getting WAY to big!!! But how can you not love that cute little face!?

Reconnecting With Family

This past weekend was one of the greatest weekends I've had in quite a while! 

Friday night Struan took me out to 10 North  Main in Minot. I have been there a few times before and let me tell you their food is AMAZING!! It is sooo yummy! Struan is a little more adventurous than I when it comes to trying new food. You see when I find something I love to eat, that's all I order EVERY TIME we go there. So like the other two times I had their amazing Butternut Squash Ravioli! I do not like squash at all, but this stuff is AMAZING!!

Also this dinner was pretty special seeing how it was the first time we've ever gone out in Minot without Little Miss Adeline and family wasn't watching her. Before I had Adeline I was lucky enough to have met some amazing ladies at the daycare I worked at in Minot.  Becky volunteered to watch Adeline, and I am so thankful for that. However, Struan and I were having a little anxiety leaving her. We both weren't sure how it was going to go over. When were dropping Adeline off, I gave her a quick snuggle and handed her over to Becky. Adeline's whole face scrunched up and she started to cry. Right then and there I was ready to just bring her along, but Becky assured us both she would be taken care of. She was even nice enough to send updates while we were at dinner. You know as hard as it was to leave Adeline, I am so grateful for the time I was able to spend with Struan, just him and I, one on one. 

* Its hard leaving this little face! 

 

After dinner we ran to pick a gift up for Becky! She deserved a little something, and I knew she wouldn't take money. We also were missing our little girl terribly so we bought Rio to come home and watch as a family, and a new toy. Yes, spoiled I know. Once home, Adeline didn't make it past the previews before she was asleep. She was exhausted from all the fun she had! 

 

 The next morning we were finally able to watch Rio. Adeline absolutely LOVED it, especially anytime there was music! She takes after her mommy in that way. She already is a music lover!!  After a leisurely morning, Struan suggested we go to Bottineau/ Lake Metigoshe up by the Canadian border. We had gone there last year, and loved it. Its a little area kind of like Bear Lake or Island Park. I think it is the most beautiful area in all of North Dakota. I keep trying to get Struan to convince his Dad that we need to move the grain elevator up there but sadly I don't think that will be happening! I guess we will just keep going there yearly to satisfy my desire.

While we were there I was able to take Struan & Adeline's pictures. It was such a fun Daddy/Daughter photo session. Near the end she was pretty crabby, but I think they will turn out ADORABLE! Keep your eyes out for them. I will be starting to edit them today! 

I am so grateful that I was able to spend such a fun weekend with my family. I love going on drives with Struan, and just being able to talk. It seems like there are very few times when we aren't interrupted by the phone, or other distractions. 

My advice: Take a drive, away from distractions and take time to reconnect with what really matters! FAMILY!