My Easter Mantle

I finally found my Easter Tub! We're hosting Easter at our house on Saturday (plus an egg hunt for the kids), so I needed to get my Easter stuff up ASAP! My husband and I LOVE doing the kids Easter Baskets and getting tons of candy. We know its NOT what Easter is all about, and we certainly don't try to make it about the candy. But we do love our peanut butter eggs, up in the Twitty household!

Dont miss out on my cooking blog! Last posts; Chunky beef stew and Apple Ginger Pork Chops! HERE


Here are some pictures of my Easter mantle. I would love to get some more nests and eggs, but unless I find them SUPER cheap, i'm just too cheap to buy them.

I'm linked to Blog Hop Tuesdays and Welcome Wednesday!

Kitchen tools that are essential!

Do you like to cook and bake a lot? Maybe you don't necessarily "like" to, but being a mama or wife, puts you in that role?! Here is a list of my have kitchen tools, that are essential! Take a peak at Sweetlifeaswife for other ideas!

Pop over to my cooking blog and check my latest recipe; Apple Ginger Pork chops found HERE

1. My Crock Pot. I don't really use this a lot, but I use it for soups, roast, and bbq. My husband and I aren't really a fan of chicken in the crockpot, so I don't use it for chicken recipes!

2. My super large skillet. I use this ALOT. Its ginormous. I use this when I'm frying pork chops or chicken, and need all the meat to fit in 1 pan!

3. My gorgeous red mixer

4. Tons of spoons. I routinly use 3 or more spoons while making dinner. When you have multiple pots or skillets going, you need to make sure you have enough spoons!

5. My wonderful stainless steal, gas range. LOVE

6. My Red Dutch Oven. This is great for things that need to simmer (like soups, rice, etc)

7. My hand meat tenderizor (found at bed, bath, and beyond). You really need one of these if you don't have one. I use it every time I'm cooking meat.

8. Plastic cutting boards. These are super easy to store, use, and clean

9. My huge food processor. These babies are expensive, but so worth the investment! You can put a whole onion in; love it!

10. My family griddle/grill

I hope that might help if you're looking for some cooking inspiration! I"m linked to Welcome Wednesday from Take It From Me. Hop on over if you're looking for more mom's!

1st birthday inspiration

Our babies first birthday is coming up in May. I CANT believe it; seriously. It makes me sad to think how big he's getting, but so happy and excited for each new stage with him! One of his favorite things is balls. So I think for his party, Im just going to get plates and stuff that are polka dots like ball pit balls, and go off that. He has a little ball pit, and I thought it would be cute to use the balls to decorate with. Also, I may fill a baby pool outside, with some ball pit balls. Here are some inspirational pictures! Come dream with me (because I'm too cheap to do anything close to these pictures! And lets face it; with 4 kids, a huge blow out expensive party just doesn't happen!)

Love these cupcake toppers

LOVE this cake! I wonder if I can do it....I like the apothecary jars with candy too! Im sure I can do that Love all the bright colors here Another super cute, not profesional, polka dot cake

Cute idea for cupcakes!

Now here's a cheap way to get polka dots; colored plates!

Love this.

Polka dot cups

polka dot plates

Cute ideas huh?! All it takes is money and the imagination!

*Most of the pictures were found at PolkaDotBirthday.

*I'm linked up to Things I Love Thursdays And SnackbarReviews And Blog Hop Tuesdays!

top 10 summer essentials

Today over at SimplySweetLife, the Tuesday topic is your top 10 favorite summertime memories or activities. Here's my list that I came up with! It certainly gets me in the mood for summer! 1. Having my husband home all summer! (lets face it; having some help with 4 kids ALL summer is pretty nice!) 2. Snow cones and Sonic drinks 3. Vacations (A possible Florida trip is in the works; I hope it works out!) 4. Sleeping In (I put this because its a memory I USED to have. Not so much anymore, with 4 kids. DONE are the days of sleeping in! 5. Birthday's! (we have 5 of 6 birthday's during the summer!) 6. Pool time 7. Sun dresses 8. Cuz Camp (Every summer our kids and 2 of their cousins on my side of the family, get together with my parents and have "cuz camp". My parents plan a trip and we all go. Its a very special time, as my parents lead bible studies, have them memorize verses, and the kids have a blast! Last year we did this in Florida, this year we're going to my parents cabin out in East Texas. 4 wheelers, dirt bikes; etc. Fun times! 9. Baby pool in the backyard (this is a new memory I want to have with my little one this summer!) 10. Popcycles

Ready for summer!?

What are your top 10 life essentials?

Yes, I realize today is Monday, but I"m posting a little early, because Tuesdays are busy for me!

Everybody has those "things", they feel they can't live without. Over at Simply Sweet Life, has put together Top 10 Tuesdays. This week, the challenge was to make a list of your 10 essential items, you can't live without. My first thought was, I dont know if I can come up with 10! Maybe a top 5?! But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was an opportunity to ponder over the things I love and desire most. And certainly I could come up with 10!

If I were stuck on an island, what are the 10 things I would most want with me?

Let me begin by saying, some things on my list are simple. Its the simple things people! I'm not trying to say my relationship with the Lord isn't important, and that a bible or devotional didnt make my list. I"m merely saying I'm trying to be honest, and if I"m being honest, there are a lot of other things that come to my mind as well.

So let us begin! In no particular order...

1. Caffiene: Coke and Sweet Tea (no further description necessary!)

2. Clothes and Shoes (that's kinda essential eh?!)

3. My husband (I would NOT want to be stranded on an island alone. All the things that go bump in the night?! shiver. I would need my husband! And if we're stranded on an island, it might be up to us to repopulate!)

4. My children (they are life.)

5. My parents (I mean, they've been in my life for almost 30 years now. They're pretty essential to me)

6. A bible, devotional, and journal (is this cheating to lump it all together?!)

7. Some kind of chocolate (FOR SURE)

Is there a mall or target on this island? I kid, I kid

8. Family (my siblings and inlaws. They have such an influence in my life, and in my children's lives. I cannot imagine or picture life without them. really. And I'm sad that we dont live near all of them, but thankful we're close to some!)

9. Friends (I'm super horrible at staying in touch with long distance friends. really. I always have been. Life keeps moving and I move with it. I always seperate myself from my different walks of life, and I wish that wasn't true. BUT life is not life without fellowship, friendship, and accountability. I have been so thankful for having this in my life, and the friends God has given me.

10.umm; can I say my Iphone? I just did. There; I said it. My Iphone. I use google maps all the time! solitaire! Angry Birds! Twitter! Gmail! You get the point.

So there's my list. Some serious, some silly. They all encompas what make up my life, or what SHOULD make up my life. Certainly chocolate and sweet tea are not life or death essentials, but they are wants and likes, and sometimes those just gotta make the list.

What are your top 10 essentials?

Kade's foot "surgery"

Poor Kade had a Planters Wart on the bottom of his foot. At first, we thought he must have stepped on something and it became infected. As time went on, it seemed to be pretty clear it was a wart.

This morning he had his appointment to have it removed. He was SOOO nervous! He thought for sure he was going to need crutches; although, I think he secretly wanted them to get sympathy from girls at school! He asked me multiple times, what we were going to do if he was still on crutches on Monday! ha! He didnt even get them for today.

After taking the younger two to school, we got some Sonic drinks and headed to the Dr's, at 7:45am! I was pretty impressed that by 8am, all 6 of us were taken care of and dressed for the day. Can I get an amen?!

He received a numbing shot, but that brought him to tears. Who wants a shot right in the middle of something, that is already causing them pain?! Thankfully, that lasted just a few seconds and he didnt feel anything after that.

In the middle of rubbing his back and consoling him, and trying to keep Kase entertained, I snapped some pictures. Dont look if you're easily grossed out!

Watching the nurse set up

Cutting the roots out

Cleaning and finishing up

Not even home yet, and we need to change the bandage!

I just wiped up the wound, and was about to put on a new bandaid.

The dr. instructed him not to play baseball for 4 days! Which means he's missing a game tonight, and a tournament tomorrow. I know he's bummed about that, but since this is on the bottom of his foot where he walks, it has to be given the time to heal! I gave him some tylenol, propped up his foot, and he's playing the playstation :)

In fact, he told me I can watch "house shows" on the TV upstairs all day, so he can play the playstation downstairs. ha!

Maybe today he'll see that I dont watch TV all day, dispite what he thinks a stay at home mom does! He's seen me do 2 loads of laundry, do the dishes, and take care of him and his baby brother! Amen?!

Here's to hoping he's not sore for long.

Diary of a non sleeping baby

We had the joy of going to Florida for a few days; just my husband and baby (and me!). My grandmother recently got re married, and the whole family was coming together to give her a big 90th birthday bash! 90 and a newly wed! We had a great time, even though it was short and quick, and I'm so glad we got to go! It REALLY stirred my love for the beach, and a part of me would love to live there.

anywho...

I was terrified that the travel and having Kase in our hotel room would ruin the sleep training! We didnt get to bed til midnight the first night, but he slept the night! The next night Kase he slept the night again! He DID wake up at 5am; I just nursed him at that point, and we all slept til 9:30. I couldn't believe it! He did great and I'm so proud of him!

but wait...

He didn't do so great last night, once we got home. He woke up a few hours after he went to sleep (which he hasn't done in 2 weeks!), and cried for 1 1/2 hours until he finally gave up. Boo!!! I"m sure the travel has thrown him off a little, so we'll see how he does tonight!