the {first half} of the week in pictures

So, I started this post on Monday. That means it's only taken me all week to get the thing finished. Bare with me. I may only have one little, but he's a busy one!

good gracious, he's handsome, right? we couldn't resist the amazing weather--65 degrees in January!

reading (The Grinch)--one of his favorite things! I hope he continues to love books as he grows.

typical boy (sorry for the blurriness-I couldn't resist)

sawyer hanging out with uncle jason while I got me some ellie time.

this is the first flower that Sawyer picked for me. he pulled it right up, handed it to me, and said, "flower, mommy." my goodness, how my heart swooned!

ok, now here come some photos from a real camera (aka: not the iphone). ha!

coloring and cheerios--perfect combination.

you can only kinda tell here, but he was picking up his cheerios using the tip of his crayon. who needs a spoon when you have a pointy crayon?

hey woman, what are you looking at?

Eat then color. Eat then color.

here, you color, mommy!

So, pictures, as promised. Only a week late.

And please excuse my  lack of non-focused photo taking ability. That's why I have a photographer husband, right?


Hope you have a lovely Friday!

Toddler fun

Today, by about 8:15, I started counting down the hours and minutes to nap time.

It has already been one of those days.

After talking to lots of other seasoned moms, reading plenty, and allowing myself to acknowledge the fact that Sawyer's showing THE signs...you know where this is going, don't you?

Yup, potty training.

He's got the vocab down, tells me when he needs to go pee-pee and poo-poo, knows the whole sit on the potty process, and absolutely detests wearing diapers.

The thing is, he doesn't want to sit on the potty without some sort of pants/undies/diaper on.

The boy loves to sit on the potty when mommy and daddy do, and even when I ask him to sit while he goes potty in his diaper. Once that bare-bottom is out, though, the melt-down begins. And oh my goodness, have I mentioned he has his daddy's lungs? And probably my dramatic tendencies.

So, today, we've had three pees on the floor, and zero wins for the potty. We watched potty videos (which he thought were awesome), we danced, did lots of positive affirmation for the little wins. But nada for the potty. I'd love to hear suggestions, I think. Actually, maybe just prayer.

Also, I'm out of toilet paper.

Also, it's pouring outside, which I normally love (I'm a rain and cold weather--why am I in Alabama, again?), but my toddler needs fresh air, and so do I when there's a crazy toddler inside.

Also, I need to go grocery shopping, but as I said, it's pouring.

Also, I have yet to shower (next on the list after mopping my pee-pee floors)

Also, this morning, Sawyer found a muffin and now there are crumbs everywhere--and I mean that very literally.

So, while I am utterly thankful for my hilarious and charming little boy, and the blessing of being able to stay home with him and manage our home, it was just one of those days where nap time couldn't come soon enough.

Thank you, Jesus, that nap time is here!

Cranberry Peach Pie--yum!

A day or two ago, I had the urge to bake. More specifically, I had the urge to bake with peaches. This was mostly because the peaches I had prepped and frozen from summertime were staring at me--seriously, every time I opened up my freezer, there they were.

That's when that handy little website, Pinterest, came to my aid.

I simply began a broad search for peach recipes.

Cranberry Peach Pie was one of the first recipes. It sounded perfect because I just happened to have some cranberries in the freezer, too.

The recipe that I found was linked back to Simply So Good blog. She's got some other yummy-sounding recipes listed, too--definitely worth a look.

Notice that I managed to take a few pictures while I was at it? I promise I'm getting better!

Also notice that I didn't do the crumb topping as the recipes prescribes below. I was out of brown sugar (of all things!), but I did have an extra pie crust (I just bought the rolled dough stuff). I also haven't mastered making my pies pretty, so that's why it looks goofy.

Here's the recipe (courtesy of Simply So Good blog) :

Cranberry Peach Pie

1 (29 oz) can peaches, drained, reserve syrup

1 cup reserved peach syrup

3 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

9-inch pie shell, unbaked

Crumb Topping:

3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

For the filling:  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Mix sugar and cornstarch together in a medium sauce pan.  Add reserved peach syrup and cranberries.  Cook over medium heat until the cranberries crack.  Add drained peaches and almond extract.  Stir together.  Pour into unbaked pie shell.

For the crumb topping:  Combine the flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Using a pastry blender or your fingers, mix in the butter.  Stir in rolled oats and chopped walnuts. 

Sprinkle topping over pie filling and place in oven to bake for 40-50 minutes.

Yeah, I'm lazy and don't want to edit this picture so it's not on it's side. So.

It was so good, and perfect with vanilla ice cream. I love how the cranberries and peaches complimented each other. Mine did turn out a little juicier than her's appeared, but I say the more the merrier!

I'm a very proud Aunt!

Yep, it's true!

photo courtesy of my sweet MIL

Miss Eleanor "Ellie" Pearl, my sister-in-law's brand new baby girl, arrived on Tuesday at 4:26pm. She weighed in at 6lbs and 9oz, and she was 18 inches long. She is completely beautiful!

courtesy of Lighthouse Photography

The entire day was spent checking my phone every five minutes for an update. I was a mess!

James called me crazy and told me I needed to slow down as we were packing up to head to the hospital so I could congratulate my sweet SIL and BIL, and hold sweet Ellie.

She is every inch of perfection! She was wide awake while we visited.

courtesy of Lighthouse Photography

That dark hair! And those big blue eyes! Goodness gracious! I'm in love with my little neice already!

Sawyer, on the other hand, was not too keen on me holding her. He had a fit when his Neecey handed her over to me. He quickly realized his Paw Paw was available and was who he wanted to hold him. :)

I must add, though, that this morning he was asking for Ellie. He specifically (and clearly!) said, "I want (to) see Ellie!" So, so sweet!

God is faithful and I am so thankful for it!

My Son, Future Rock Star

So, in our house, we like music. I mean, we like it a lot.

We have daily dance parties, in which we turn on apple tv and James, Sawyer, and myself jam outrageously to fun music (mostly rap--ha!).

James plays guitar (and flute!) and we both sing at our church.

Music is a very important part of life for us, and it was obvious that Sawyer would just have to get in on the fun.

I think we're doing pretty good so far. We got this little video a couple nights ago...

My goodness, they make my heart sing!

My cup runneth over!

Tea Wreath

For this last Christmas, I decided to try to do as many handmade gifts as possible.

Unfortunately, there's a fine line between  "thanks for putting all your time and energy into this, but I'll never really use this" and "wow, thanks for taking time out to make this because as soon as you saw this you thought of me and knew I'd get some use out of it."

So, when I saw a Tea Wreath tutorial during my crafty gift hunt on Pinterest, I immediately knew I had found a useful and thoughtful handmade gift idea--specifically for my mom-in-law and sister-in-law, both avid tea drinkers.

The craft was super cheap, and amazingly simple.

Here is a link to the full tutorial: Tea Wreath Tutorial.

And believe it or not, I actually remembered to take a few pictures while I was making mine!

(back)

(front--sorry for small image and poor quality--stinking old iphone!)

(MIL's tea wreath)

(SIL's tea wreath)

Did you make or receive any homemade gifts for Christmas or your birthday? I'd love to hear about them and what you think about making and receiving homemade gifts!

Love, 

KP

Favorite Things Friday

My new favorite thing? My Erin Condren life planner, of course!

(photo courtesy of erincondren.com--my iphone pics were just not doing the job)

I had been eying it since Kelly's Korner mentioned it, and I had even put it on my Amazon birthday list. Little did I know that my super awesome SIL, Jocelyn, was gifting it to me for Christmas. To say I was excited was putting it lightly. I mean, I squealed when I opened it up. And I had a moment. It was great.

Anyways, it is the super gangster awesome version of any planner you've ever had. As mucatom a tech-savvy family we Panter's like to be (right), I have to write everything down. I have two or three apps that are for planning/ organizational purposes, but they just weren't doing it for me. My Life Planner has each day broken down into three parts--Morning, Day, and Night. Each section has plenty of writing space, and there are even goal and to do list sections for each week. As if that wasn't good enough, there are notes spaces for each month, cute little stickers to use to color code and label special dates (i.e. birthdays, date nights), as well as pockets to store things like church bulletins and sale fliers.

It is amazing!

Have I mentioned you can personalize your planner? Not with just a favorite design--I'm talking family photo on the front, people. The original price is a little steep for a planner, but it seems like there is always some type of coupon code out for items on the Erin Condren website.

Have you ever used a life planner before? What are you thoughts?

I'm loving mine so far, and I highly recommend it!

Love, KP

Going green: cleaning supplies

Lately, I've been trying to tweak our lifestyle and go the green route where we can. One of the easiest and cheapest changes I've been steering towards is making my own cleaning supplies. From laundry soap to clogged drains, there is a safer, greener alternative to almost anything. Here are some of the ones I've found:

Counter cleaning: sprinkle counters with baking soda; scrub & rinse with water

Window cleaner: 2 tbsp white vinegar, 1 gal water; combine and pour into spray bottle (you can also substitute lemon juice or club soda to avoid vinegar smell)

Clogged drain: pour 1/2 c baking soda, follow with 2 cups boiling water; if needed, chase baking soda with 1/2 c vinegar. Cover drain tightly. Wait about 10-15 minutes, then flush with 1 gal boiling water

Disinfectant: 2 c water, 3 tbsp liquid soap, 20-30 drops of tea tree oil; combine and store in spray bottle

Dry laundry soap: 2 bars of Fels Naptha, one box Borax, one box washing soda; grate soap, combine all ingredients. Stir and store in air tight container. Use between 1 tbsp and 1/4 cup--depending on load size and condition of clothes ( I use 1/4 c almost every time).

There are loads of other cleaning recipes, so get on out there and find/ try some! I'd love to hear what you're using!

New Year, New Theme

Without even thinking about it, it seems like every year starts out with a new theme.

This year, I'm thinking that my personal theme is going to be joy.

So what does it mean for me?

It means remembering that Jesus is my joy. Reminding myself that happiness and joy are not always married together. Finding joy in the little things--homemade laundry soap, using chalk on the sidewalk, snuggling.

What's your theme?

Cheers to a new year!

(yes, my husband is weird--photo courtesy of Daniel Perez)