The Food Post- Some Good, Some Not-So-Good

Let's start by going back to last weekend and our Easter festivities.  The boys started the day off with Easter baskets and playing with the new toys and begging to eat all the candy (or caugy as Wyatt says) they could.  I tried to get more toys and books than candy though for them.  Everything in the baskets was a hit.





Wyatt liked his new "bubblesh" a lot and I love that they can't spill over.  Genius.  Quick side note- Wyatt says most of his "s" sounds as "sh" which is adorable.  Anyhow, they played outside a lot that day with the two little boys that were visiting their grandparents, our next door neighbors.  The guys had ham for dinner and I had potatoes and salad because I think ham is disgusting.  I have never made a ham for Easter before but Rob really wanted it and the boys like it so I caved.  It maybe wasn't my favorite Easter ever, but my guys all had a great time which is really all I care about.

This past week we were working really hard to finish up some small projects around the house and clean everything up since we had friends coming over for dinner on Saturday night.  And since these friends had never been to our house before, we really wanted to make sure it looked good.  We smoked a turkey breast in our smoker, barbecued a sirloin cap roast/steak thing (with this rub) and had these delicious and creamy mashed potatoes.  We have discovered that the sirloin cap makes a good replacement for those times when we can't find any tri tip.  I make pretty good mashed potatoes but these are so good for a special occasion- they get an extra bonus because you can make them ahead and then they go in the oven.  I really made an effort this time to pick out a menu that limited the amount of time I needed to spend in the kitchen once our guests arrived.  It was so much more fun for me this way and I'll remember to do that from now on.  Rob made this apple pie for dessert which is outstanding. We all had a good night with lots of delicious food and great conversation.

All our hard work cleaning the house will make housecleaning this weekend much easier for my parents' arrival on Saturday.  I'm really excited to see them and looking forward to their visit.

Finally Finished- The Scrap Wood Fireplace Wall

We have some friends coming over for dinner this weekend and my parents will be here the following weekend which prompted us to finally finish the scrap wood wall around our fireplace.  This project has been lingering for probably a month but it is all finished now.  This was the pin that started it all (from the Young House Love blog)-

Source: younghouselove.com via Shelby on Pinterest

I pinned a few more to show Rob and he was on board.  The fireplace needed something more because it was just too blah.  Originally I planned to carry it all the way to the ceiling on the fireplace bump-out but we decided it might be too crazy behind tv and this way we could cap it off with a mantel.  We also realized once we started that lots of different wood tones/colors combined with our hodgepodge, random carpet tiles was just a little too much.  It ended up getting painted white which I think turned out fantastic.



So we finally have a fireplace that we love- yay!  And there is no more work to do for it- double yay!!  Another really exciting part is that it didn't cost us anything thanks to the ridiculous amount of scrap lumber we have around here from all our other projects.  The paint was leftover from all the trim we painted in the family room, so that was free and it matches perfectly.  And now that I'm looking at it, I realize I should have turned the fireplace on before I took the picture.  Dang it.

I do have a few comments/thoughts if anyone is thinking about doing a scrap wood wall project themselves.  I think it would probably be a lot easier to do a blank wall than to do what we did.  Having to go around the two corners of the bump-out was really tricky.  There are outlets on either side of the bump-out that we had to go around too so make sure you think about any outlets or windows you need to go around and have a plan for that.  Finally, it is just hard to be random.  You want to end up with a random appearance but it is kind of tough to make it come out right.

Though it's not a new project exactly, I'm linking up with Nanette's Pinteractive party so anyone who looked at it before can see it all done now.

Basketball Pick 'Em Superstar

Remember how I recently said that we were watching a lot of the NCAA basketball tournament?  It was definitely March Madness around here.  Rob and I even filled out brackets.  I did so good- I even had Kentucky and Kansas in the final game with Kentucky winning.  I am proud to say that I made it to the top 1% in ESPN's Tournament Challenge.

I didn't do good enough to win anything but it was my first time entering a bracket in any big challenge like that so I am very pleased with myself.  I can't wait to try it again next year.  Though I didn't win that contest, I did win the bet that Rob and I had going.

It was my birthday on Friday and I had an excellent day.  I went out in the morning and had a little Shelby time, being treated to a massage, pedicure and manicure.  And I set up a deal with the lady who I always go to for massages where I am trading washing the sheets that go on the massage table for a free massage every month.  I am so excited about that.  I pick everything up once a week and she said there are usually about 4 loads to do.  I do so much laundry already, I don't think I will even notice.  Anyhow, the birthday was great.  Here's a picture of my birthday cupcake.

It seems the photographer may have had his thumb over the flash when he took the picture.  Oops.  Then I tried to get a picture of all of us after this but the battery was dead.  Oh well.  I am still happy to get any pictures with me in them because I never seem to remember to do that.

We have been working around the house a lot lately, including out in the yard.  Everything is blooming about 4-6 weeks earlier than usual so it is already getting crazy out there.  Rob has had to mow 2 or 3 times already.  My daffodils have all been done for a while and some of my tulips are already dying too.  The lilacs are really the big surprise though- they are usually in bloom around Mother's Day and they are already blooming right now.  I have to keep reminding myself to enjoy this weather and be glad that it isn't snowing still!

Pinteractive: Easter Wreath

I was inspired by the wreaths in last week's Pinteractive edition to finish some wreaths I had bought supplies for.  The first wreath I wrapped in a teal-colored yarn and then I got stuck.  I'm not sure what direction I want to go with so I'll wait until I find something that inspires me.  At least the hard part is done- it takes forever to wrap a wreath with yarn!  I knew I wanted to make an Easter or springtime-ish wreath with the other one but wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do.  These were some favorites that I had pinned.

Source: twojunkchix.blogspot.com via Shelby on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Shelby on Pinterest

Source: thecellardoorstories.blogspot.com via Shelby on Pinterest

I also pinned (and love) the Peeps wreath that Wan did on her blog last week.  I went to the craft store with all these ideas in my head and ended up picking out some felt Easter egg stickers to use.  I already had some ribbon, the wreath form and Easter grass and this was what I came up with.



I feel like it needs a little something more- maybe a "Happy Easter" sign or an initial or something else on it.  But it is a good start and with Easter only 6 days away, I think I will leave it as is for 2012.