Monday, August 27, 2012

Changes

I love changes, especially in my home.  New things or just changing stuff around always makes me feel good!  Well, I'm not sure Mason will take after me in this category.

For the past few months, we have been going back and forth on getting Mason another bedroom set or just a new bed.  He's only 3, so I didn't want to put a ton of money into something that he will destroy.  Let's face it, he still rips pages out of books (only a couple of times), is he really ready for a bedroom set?  I don't think so!  

We also were holding off because he still rocks (A LOT) in his bed.  He has done this since 8 months old and has never stopped.  Some nights are worse than others and now he adds humming to his ritual.  Enough to keep us up at night too!

We finally decided to get him a toddler bed.  Yes, I know, he's not a toddler, but this will last him another year or two and then we'll move on to something nicer.  We ordered one from Wal-Mart and Saturday went to pick it up from the store.  We made it a fun day.  We were going to pick up the 'big boy bed', go to D-Donalds, shop, get a haircut, and just have fun.  He was very excited!
 
We got home, unloaded the box, and Daddy and his helper began putting it together.  Mason loves being Daddy's big helper.  Everything went together well.  I rearranged his room a bit, cleaned and vacuumed and we were ready to continue our fun filled day.  No nap, just fun.   




Later in the evening it's time to get ready for bed.  YAY! I can sleep in my big boy bed.  So excited.  Well..... Not so much.  When the time came to get in the bed, he refused.  "I don't want to"  "That's not my bed"  "That's not my favorite bed"  He would not get in that bed!  45 minutes later, he falls asleep in a chair in the living room, Daddy scoops him up and put him in the bed.  

He went from this...

 
 ...to this




We were not expecting this.  We thought for sure he was so excited about sleeping in this bed.  Sunday for nap, same thing.  He doesn't want to get in his bed.  He laid in his bean bag chair, played, came in and out of the room...finally an hour and a half later falls asleep.  And just a repeat at bed time Sunday night.



Monday morning, up at 6:15 AM.  Normally sleeps until 7:30.  

He is restless because in his new bed, there is no where for him to rock.  Hopefully, this will pass, but may take some time.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Show Us Your Life ~ Laundry Rooms

Hey y'all!  We're sharing loads of fun today, HA! I mean, our laundry room.  I'm in this room just about as much as the kitchen.  Even though my goal is to wash only one load per day (no that doesn't always happen), I still feel like I'm in here an awful lot!




I'm thankful to have this space.  We moved from only having a laundry closet.  This room isn't huge, but it serves the purpose.   I would love to have a sink, especially since I have a child now and a husband who loves to work out side.





I do like the fact that you walk in from the garage right into our laundry room.  Even more reason why I would love to have a larger space for a mud room.



We also share this space with our pantry.  Not a great place for a pantry in such a small space, but again, thankful to have a pantry.  I also use a shoe organizer for all of the smaller pantry items, fruit snacks, granola bars, oatmeal packs, etc.  This has worked great for our family.  Helps keep us organized and allows me to see when we are running low on an item. 

 
I just recently did some re-organizing.  When we moved in, we only had one wire shelf in this area and since then, we've added another.  I was able to put some of my larger appliances (not used very often) on the top shelf.  This left the lower shelf for laundry/cleaning stuff.  


I consolidated everything from the cleaning caddy, to one basket, that is much prettier. 
 

Added a few more baskets for misc. items, light bulbs, shoe cleaning kit, etc.




So, we went from this....


...to this.  Not a huge change, but much better.
 

Thank you for visiting us during the home tour.  The 'Show Us Your Life' topics will continue and I'll update you on the schedule once it has been posted. 

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Pizza night

At the Kranz house, we have pizza almost every Friday.  It's fun, it's easy, and there are so many different varieties.  Most importantly, we just like pizza.  I have been trying very hard to eat and cook a bit healthier, but I needed ideas.  After some research, I found this recipe.  Amazing Whole Wheat Pizza Crust.  This recipe is not all whole wheat (as you can see).  During my research, I read the whole wheat crusts are a bit dry and hard to work with so I decided to use a recipe with all purpose flour as well. 

You will need to go directly to the site listed for the complete directions, but here are the ingredients you'll need: 

  • 1 teaspoon white sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups warm water
  • 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
The recipe has a few different steps, so it will take a while to complete the process.  Honestly, it might be better to make a head of time and keep in the fridge until you are ready to use it.  

The yeast has to activate in the warm water and sugar before you start adding the flour.    



Yes, this is a messy job.  It wasn't too bad.  

Once the flour has been added, you will have to wait for the dough to rise.  Even when the dough was ready to roll out, it was very wet.  This is where I had a hard time.  The dough was wet and sticky.  Every time I tried to roll it out, it stuck to my hands and the rolling pin.

 


My advice, (I will do this next time), make sure you have a bowl of extra flour off to the side to add to your hands, the rolling pin, and the counter or where ever you are working with your dough.  

 


Once it was rolled out, it was fairly easy to work with.  It was hard to get a perfectly round circle, but hey, this was my first try.  HA!

 

I used the entire recipe for one pizza crust which made a 'hand tossed' thickness.  If you like your pizza thin, you could easily separate the dough in to 2 pizzas.



I was very happy at this point.  The toppings are on and it's in the oven.

We like turkey pepperoni, black olives, and mozzarella cheese (or an Italian blend cheese).  Normally I have shredded, but we were out so I used sliced.   

 

 
 It turned out great.  The crust had very good flavor.  It was soft and fluffy, not to heavy.  I was really impressed with myself too!

I did try to flip it in the air, but failed miserably! HA! 

 

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Show Us Your Life ~ Front Porch

Hey y'all!  Today we are showing off our front porch.  As a Southerner, front porches are a must!  I wish we had a larger porch, but I'm thankful for the one we have.

We have a heavily wooded lot which means spiders!  I had to take down our wreath because evidently that was a perfect place for the webs and other misc. bugs!  Every time we opened the door, we walked through a web. 

The end windows are the guest room turned playroom.  It would have been nice for the porch to extend all the way to the end.



The porch is pretty wide.  Plenty of room to rock in the rocking chairs, which is a must.  Especially with a glass of sweet tea or lemonade.  

We stained all of the wood when we first moved in.  I'm so glad we did.  I really like the color and will extend the life of the wood too. 



Outdoor rug is from Overstock.  I just loved the color and pattern.  We've had it for 2 years, but looks like it needs to be replaced.  The fibers are starting to shed everywhere. 



Our porch just wouldn't be complete without rocking chairs.  These are from Wal-Mart.  We bought them at the end of summer about 4 years ago.  They were only $40 per chair.  The only con to having white is I do have to clean them and touch them up with paint, but other than that, I love them.

The chair pads came from Kohl's.  I think I got both of them for $15.  I just love the pop of color they give our porch. 




Since we took down our wreath, we needed something, so we added this cute little butterfly.  I'll change it in the Fall.  These vinyl hooks are the best too!  No holes in your vinyl siding.  Just slip it right under a piece of vinyl and there you go. 



I just LOVE sweet potato vine.  This was the first time I had seen green with deep purple.  So pretty.  And it is so durable.  Our front porch gets all of the afternoon sun.  It gets extremely hot!

I'm loving our ole' metal milk jug too!  I have plans for it soon. 


I would really like to add a monogram to our milk jug.  Similar to the one below.  There are a ton of vinyl letters/patterns on etsy.  I'm thinking of doing the vinyl letters, as opposed to painting.  Not sure yet. 

painted monogram milkcan 



My husband is a State grad, so of course, we have to welcome you to Wolfpack Country!  Go Pack!  (we're so ready for basketball)
 


WOW! What a difference!  Here is our porch 2 years ago, before we moved in.

 


And here it is today!

 
Thanks for visiting!  We'll see y'all soon!

Friday, August 17, 2012

Little Ham


I really have to remember this forever.  Mason says some of the funniest things now.  I'll spare you the potty comments.  I don't think I'll forget those.  HA!  
  
  • I want to wear my swim soup.
  • Let's eat at D-Donald's (McDonald's)
  • Are we going to the Quesadilla store? (Mexican Restaurant)
  • If you ask him a question, his response is, let me think or ummm, I'm not sure.
  • Mommy! Pull my finger! (Thanks Daddy)
  • I need to watch a little bit of TV before my nap. 
  • Talking to the bird feeder,  he says, get down squirrels, that is for the birds.  Mommy, I tell them to get off, but they didn't listen.
  • Don't worry, I'll help you.
  • Hey guys? (trying to get mommy and daddy's attention)
  • Mommy, I want to hold you.  Give me a big bear hug.  Give me some sugar. 
  • I want hot milk, not cold milk. (yes, we are still warming his milk)
  • Here you go.  Have a great day!
  • I want black olips.  (olives)
  • I have to pee pee in the potty before I can go to school.
  • Papa will be very sad if I break my toys.
  • So, what do you want to do today, Mommy?
  • It's befind you! (behind) 
  • Hey pretty lady!
  • Howdy Cowboy!
  • Oody and Robot (Woody and Buzz Light Year)


Mason says something funny almost every day, so I'm sure I'll be adding to this list.  He is so creative and has such an amazing imagination. 

Although, he doesn't recognize the ABC's he is such a smart boy!  He can count to 20 and recognizes the numbers.  He knows all colors.

 I am amazed every day by all the things he knows.  I am constantly saying, "how do you know that Mason"?

He knows every vehicle that you drive.  He sees the same make and model of a vehicle and say's, hey I see Grammy's car, or Jack's car, or Aunt Amy's car.  Anyone he knows, he can recognize your car.  

I love how he has a two way conversation with himself.  Do you want to go to Papa's house?, he says.  And answers, yeah, I love Papa's house!

He loves chocolate!  He loves his matchbox cars and can play with them for hours.  He laughs all the time and is a very social little boy. 

I'm amazed everyday by our little boy!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Tuesday's Tip ~ Cleaning a glass cook top

Hey ya'll!  I'm back again to give you another cleaning tip.  I know, I know, more cleaning, but this is super easy. 

First, let me say, I am not being compensated by this product, nor are they sponsoring me or this blog.  I have used this product for years and it works, so my opinions are that of my own.  

Wright's cooktop cleaner does contain abrasive, but it does not scratch your glass surface.  You can use this cleaner on other surfaces as well....stainless steel, fiberglass, porcelain, etc.  And is excellent for a glass cook top.





I have seen other methods of cleaning the stove top with baking soda and soapy water.  Great, if that works for you, but I find it to messy and to many steps.  Using this cleaner, to me, is less work.  

I only use this when I have something that has boiled over or cooked on to the stove top.  With that being said, this product lasts a very long time and you only use a little bit when cleaning a small area.  

 




Dab a bit on the area.  Use a paper towel and a little elbow grease.  

 

You can see the burnt mess comes right off.



The best part is the end result.  When the cleaner dries it is like a wax and you just buff it off.  Your glass top is very smooth, shiny, and clean.  



Sunday, August 12, 2012

Show Us Your Life ~ Table Displays

Hey ya'll!  Welcome back!  

Today at Kelly's Korner we're talking about table displays.  I really hope I find some inspiration from you because there is not much going on here.  

Nothing on the coffee table.  Only lamps on the side tables, with the exception of one canvas photo that I move around because I don't know where to put it.  :) 




I would say my tables are empty because we have a 3 year old, but the fact is, since this home series, I've realized I'm a pretty simple decorator.  This may be partly due to my OCD in wanting everything clean or because I really have no clue what to put on table tops.  Other than picture frames, I just 
don't know.  

WOW!  Hold your applause!  We have a pant on the kitchen table.  HA! 


A few family photos, yankee candle burner, napkins, and wipes for the baby! 





Our entry table has another family photo with 2 topiary's. 


Notice there is not much glass?  I'm terrified of my son pulling things off of the tables.  I love the apothecary jars, but maybe in a couple of years. ;)

Here are a couple photos of our home before we moved.  This is when we had a dining room.  I kept a runner on the table with hurricanes.  




Here are a couple of inspirations. 





Another super cute and very versatile way of decorating is with the glass domes.  I would love to do this some day. 


So that's that!  Thanks for visiting and we'll see you again soon!