One Little Word 2016

Do you do the one little word thing, or word of the year? I think it's an interesting concept and kind of fun! I knew from about mid November what my OLW would be this year!  I don't think it would work so well if last year my word hadn't been REFINE. SO much change and refining last year!

~ We moved 2x and got rid of so much stuff! Refining our belongings.

~Gave up a whole lot of our normal doings. Refining how we spend our time

~Changed (a little) about who we spend our time with. Refining more of our time.

Refined some of what we eat, how many chores we have, activities. Just a whole lot of changes for the better!

But now we are here with new priorities, time commitments away from home, meals and we still have a house that is not even CLOSE to being done!  So looking at how we do everything with FRESH perspective.  It almost feels like we went through every aspect of our life, cut a whole bunch out and now we just have piles of piles that needed to sorted into Fresh ways of doing things.

So there it is. Fresh. Everything here is about to be FRESH!

What is your WORD?!  I want to hear all about it!

12 Weeks of Christmas {Week 12}

It's down to the LAST week!

I am so excited, our kids will be home!

 

I am pretty much done with everything! Couple things to grab when we are out, but nothing I have to have. Going to decorate cookies with the kids and enjoy the time they are home!

Soaking in this time with my little muffins

Hope your week before Christmas is stress free and full of fun 

12 Weeks of Christmas {Week 11}

In the 11th week of planning, and this week is the LAST week before our kids will be home from school!!!!

Sooo for me that means a whole lot of wrapping. I don't want to attempt it while they are home.

I have a big list for this week because I don't want anything but FUN next week when the kids are home!

~Deep Clean 

Especially if you are having guests. I use my Fall Cleaning list as a guide.

~Finish Food Prep

Freeze what you can, mix your dry ingredients for other stuff.

~Finish Gifts for Hosts and Teachers

~Mail Cards

If you haven't already

~Wrap Up Decorating

I got a good start but I have been watching for sale items so it's pretty bare here still!

Hope you are all enjoying the season and leaving the stress part out of it!

Take your weekend back!

Who doesn't love the weekend?

 Hubby works Mon-Fri and weeknights keep us running around like crazy, but weekends are special! Weekends are meant for family time and relaxing. Not full of chores or errands! Some weekends there is just no avoiding projects or chores but my aim is too make the majority of them mellow and fun filled. A lot of our weekend is filled up with sports activities, which is still considered a FUN thing here!

How do you prioritize family time?  Plan every weekend months in advance and jam pack them all? Say NO to anything that isn't family centered on Sundays? I don't think there is a right or wrong way as long as it works for you and your family.

What do you do during the week to make the weekends as free as they can be?

For us to have FUN weekends

~ I try to get the cleaning that has to be done all taken care of during the week. Check out my (old) schedule HERE!!

~Prep Meals/keep stuff stocked, no wants to go to the grocery store, or COSTCO on a weekend. NO ONE.

~Keep as much of 1 day free as possible if we have something that has to be done on a weekend.

What can you move from your weekend list to your weekday list to free up family time?
Something you can scrap altogether?

Join me in January for a 4 week overhaul to take back your weekend!
Join our group HERE!

12 Weeks of Christmas {Week 10}

That 10 up there means that after this week, Christmas will be here in 2 short weeks!

What is left on your Have to do list?

Want to do list?

This weekend we are getting our tree and have a movie night planned. 

While the kids are at school I am going to prep Christmas treats, and make Christmas cookies that are easy to freeze. Finding a time to make, cool and decorate in 1 day becomes increasingly harder as we get closer.  I will have them all ready to decorate for the kids. Makes it a little easier on me too, cleaning up the baking 1 day, and the decorating mess another.

If you have been watching the sales like I talked about in week 3 then you probably have a good portion, if not all of the things you need to prep Christmas goodies!

What is your must have Christmas treat?

I am also going to say Decorate this week too! Decorating for me isn't a 1 day thing. Especially in our new place. I feel like all our stuff from our old house just isn't right in this one. I am slowly getting stuff out and set where I like it.

I have a few things I have made for our new place. I feel like I share those more on Instagram though! Find me @OregonHousewife

Warning though, I have been posting a whole lot of chicken pictures lately hehe

12 Weeks of Christmas {Week 9}

Since yesterday was Thanksgiving, I am just going to go with the obvious for this week! Take advantage of all those sales and see if you an get the majority of your shopping done!

Some ways we do it to save money?

Amazon Prime! Cyber Monday will be full of awesome deals, the fast free shipping means I don't have to leave home!

Ebates! If I am shopping online, I want to get the cash back too!

Black Friday (today) typically has some great deals, and it appears that all weekend will have sales on some stuff, according to the 200+ emails I have had in the last few days anyway!

Thanksgiving Treats {Kids Table}

I just love how whimsical these are! Not to mention super easy to bust out, 3 at a time.

And these would be perfect for caramel apples!
Little Branch looking pop sticks!

Adorable! Donut holes and pretzels!

I made some of these for our cupcakes a couple years ago! One of my favorites! 

All super easy and time still to get supplies from amazon ;)

12 Weeks of Christmas {Week 8}

Thanksgiving is NEXT week?! How that happened so fast, I don't know.

This week is a whole lot of Thanksgiving prep for me. Chances are it is for you too, 

some things to do while you are taking care of Thanksgiving business.

~At The Grocery Store

 Buy what is on sale for Christmas too! Think cookies, and treats!

~Big Box Stores

Get your wrapping paper now if you prefer a certain look over getting $1 off a roll. As soon as Thanksgiving is over the good ones go fast!

~At Home

Double batch those pie crusts, cookies and anything else you can freeze for the next month!

Compare your gift list to the Black Friday/Cyber Monday ads. They are pretty much all online, and a lot of the deals are available online, so no going out with the crazies (like me) required!

If you are having guests for the holidays, add deep cleaning/guest prep days to your calendar, the days can get away SO fast.

12 Weeks of Christmas {Week 7}

November is speeding right along!

How are you doing with your prepping? 

I've just been focusing on the important FUN stuff and trying to let the things that make it stressful take a backseat, but dealing with them early has really helped! A PEACEFUL holiday season is what we are going for.

Just a quick recap of what I have been working on.

~Plan, calendar filling in
~Budgeting
~Meal Planning
~Christmas Card Prep
~Hostess/Teacher Gift ideas
~Craft Supply Planning/Shopping


And that all leads us to this week! Next week will be full of Thanksgiving Prep for most of us, so this week is the perfect week to catch up.

Order Christmas cards
Wrap any gifts you have already
 Work on crafts!

12 Weeks of Christmas {Week 6}

If you are a mama that makes gifts, this week is for you!  If you have supplies to get for pajamas, or blankets, or sewing projects, don't wait.  Those stores get INSANE the days before Thanksgiving and everyday after.

Watch for those coupons and get first pick on the fleece before the crazy hour long lines for fabric cutting start!  

Not doing any DIY, or sewing projects? 

If you are as nutty as I am, now is the time to check out the wrapping paper and supplies!

I am a big fan of coordinating paper, no haphazard wrapping here.

If you are particular, now is the time to scoop it up before the good ones are gone!

Last year (and this year) we did buffalo check, wood grain and brown craft paper.

 source

Thanksgiving Table Accent

Go scoop up as many of the baby pumpkins as you can find! 

This adorable place setting is SO worth it!

Maybe it's just for the kids table, or use as food labels on the buffet if that is your style. However you do it, these are just adorable and I can't wait to bust out the silver paint, or leaf if I can find it, for ours!

Let's Talk Thanksgiving!

Usually it's not high on my list of favorite Holidays, however, this year I feel like it's been getting more of my middle of the night thoughts! The randomness of my thoughts while I am up with the baby are insane. 

I have just been SO inspired, in different ways, the last few months.

Some adorable stuff on Pinterest.

Our neighbors turkeys, I don't know what you call 30 turkeys? A flock? 

My girly and her sweet heart

Having an oven that works

FOOD

Family

Traditions
and watching too much Gilmore Girls and 7th Heaven on netflix.

I am just so excited for it this year! I want to share all my favorite things and I hope you will share yours too! Comment below and leave a link to anything Thanksgiving related!

I want to share your sweet stuff too!

Today I am crushing on these cookies! Couple reasons, like I know we have that cookie cutter and I have a slight obsession with edible glitter!

I am going to post all my favorites here! So go follow me and get ready to have your best Thanksgiving yet!

12 Weeks of Christmas {Week 5}

I used to love shopping, not so much anymore. I like my time better! I want to have an idea of what I am looking for before the time comes to start shopping. 

I like this style of list, I have one similar.

I use the list as I make decisions. I use the pad on my phone to track ideas.

And I use Pinterest now to start gathering ideas for Hostess and Teacher gifts!

Some things need supplies purchased ahead of time, and rather than buy everything at once. I would like the decide a little early and have them ready before the last minute!

I have a big ol' board of ideas right HERE! Find all of the ideas below there too!

So far a couple of my favorites are

and

and this is pretty cute too!

So this week isn't as much as DOING, as it is gathering ideas. The Black Friday ads start to show up soon and knowing what you are looking for before getting sidetracked by all the door busters makes it much easier!

Meal Plan October {Week 4}

I can't believe we are so close to Halloween! It has sure crept up fast!

This week is a lot more mellow than previous weeks, and I could not be more excited about it!

Monday~Family Birthday Dinner

Not sure exactly what the plan is yet.

Tuesday~Mac N Cheese

This super easy meal has become a staple here, everyone eats it and it's not super spendy to make!

Wednesday~Chicken Taco's

Thursday~ Chicken Spaghetti

 Another easy, cheap and family pleaser! Those always become staples.

Friday~Lasagna Casserole

I don't have lasagna noodles, I doubt I will grab any. Going to use what we have in our cupboards and fridge and see what I can put together. I have an idea. 

Do you do any special meals on Halloween?

12 Weeks of Christmas {Week 4}

Last week I tried to decide what recipes I would be attempting, and I have my list of ingredients to watch for in the ads! I only did Thanksgiving for now, once we get set with that I will do Christmas too!

This week is an easy (ish) week, I don't want to add too much to our plate while we are wrapping up Halloween prep and a few sports seasons.

I'm prepping for Christmas Cards and all that goes with it!

Just a few easy steps!

1~Email, Call, text your friends and family to see if they have had an address change since last year.

2~Schedule a photo shoot if that is your thing, or plan a day to do them yourself. The sooner the better. You don't want to run out of time to mail them.

3~Plan outfits for photos. Pinterest is full of great ideas for coordinating!

4~Start addressing labels, even if you just stick to return addresses, that is a big chunk out of the way!
Keep a package of envelopes and pen in your car, have 5 minutes to spare, get some done!

5~Decide on the cards you want to order so all you have to do is add your picture!

Nothing too time consuming or really difficult, just tedious and a lot of time.
Check out these super printables and adorable take home stickers too!!

Click to Download, from Yellow Bliss Road. SO cute! Get the kids to help color them in :)

Meal Plan October {Week 3}

I just cannot keep avoiding fall food! I love fall and those Halloween specials are on TV! It's time for fall food!

Monday~Pot Roast

Because nothing is as cozy as Pot Roast!

Loved this recipe!

Tuesday~Cowboy Lasagna

New recipe I am trying/tweaking

Or maybe not? It's our anniversary and I have no idea what we are going to do

 

Wednesday~Chicken Spaghetti

A favorite here!!

Thursday~Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Making enough for leftovers!

  Friday~Nachos

Going to put that leftover pork to good use!!

Weekend Meals

Have to be easy and quick! Probably baked potatoes and mac n cheese!

12 Weeks of Christmas {Week 3}

Week 3 I am focusing on MEAL PLANNING AND RECIPES!

It might seem a little crazy to start that 2 months ahead of time, trust me, you don't want to be doing huge grocery trips when everyone else is, missing out on Elf! 

So start now, take a few minutes and save hours later!

1.  Write down, or pin or save on your phone, ALL the recipes you know you will use!

this is adorable!

2. Break down those recipes so you know how much butter, flour, seasoning, chicken stock, etc. That you need.

3. Check the ads and sales flyers for the place you are going anyway.  When something on your list is on SALE, get it now!  

4.  I keep a brown bag in the bottom of our pantry for non perishable items I need for the Holidays, that way they don't get used.

5.  As you get a collection of stuff going it can be easy to lose track of what you need for which recipe. If you have the space, try something like this! Even on a smaller scale would be helpful.

If they are small, you can rubber band them together, or separate into smaller bags.

You will have 8 weeks to prep before the insane crowds for Christmas and 5 weeks for Thanksgiving!

Let's not make grocery shopping something we are dreading!

 

Cozy Fall Home Essentials

Fall just calls for WARM and COZY!

Warm colors and warm drinks, comfort food and pumpkin everything!

We have Halloween stuff up until Halloween, but usually right after Trick or Treating I pack it all up while we unwind.  I am on the hunt for Fall stuff, not Thanksgiving, just Fall.
I am NOT looking for all things pumpkin or leaves. I am just choosing a couple colors that already go with our home, which is mostly grey, black, white and browns.  I am maybe looking to add a little orange to that mix and some yellow and a touch of gold.
Some things I am watching my favorite resell pages and thrift shops for:

A couple pillows like these!

 

I really love the sweater pillows! So cozy!

 And I need a couple of these, I haven't attempted them before but I might!  

Anyone make these?

And I am LOVING all these cute tartan throw blankets!

And to mix it up a bit I love this!!

Sources for all this stuff right here!

We keep our blankets and a couple extra pillows in this basket, it's fun to be able to add a little color but not have it take up much space!

totally should have swept again before taking this, eh, real life.

And while I would love to go all out and do everything seasonal, I am doing just my favorites!

Swapping out some pictures, changing up our chalkboard. I love these!

adding a couple of signs and doing our mantle  

Once the big stuff is done, I like to add just a couple smaller things that aren't too loud or big or attention grabbing. Cute subtle things. 

 Love this!

I don't know that I would hang it, but on the mantle maybe.

And these seem like a simple DIY, would look cute in a little vase!

And doing our kitchen table

  This year our table is quite a bit smaller though.

What do you change out for Fall?
Any Favorite DIY projects?!