2 Chickens | 9 Meals | For 8 Chickadees

     How I plan to make nine meals out of two rotisserie chickens (they are $4.99 at Costco so this should really stretch the dollar)

Knitting | Duplicate Stitch

     Learned a new knitting stitch last week.. It's called a duplicate stitch..

The Skinny on my Skinny

     I'm often asked how I manage to stay skinny all the time. Let me tell you, skinny does not always equal healthy. I may have always been skinny, but I wasn't always the healthiest. I ate everything and anything. I didn't watch my diet. Some days I ate all day long. Some days I would forget to eat at all. Some days I ate nothing but candy or cake.

One Hour Bread | Cranberry Walnut

Mr. Chickadee loves the Cranberry Walnut bread from Costco, but they don't always have it. So I wanted to surprise him by making it myself using the one hour french bread recipe.

It is the perfect bread for breakfast or snack!

One Hour Bread | Garlic Parsley

I really wanted to try a couple variations of the one hour french bread and one of my chickadees loves garlic bread so this was for him.. but everyone loved it!!

It smelled amazing while baking!!

Things you may not know about me #4

I do not like winter.

Rags to Riches | Headboard

     Last year I made a headboard, all by myself!, and because I wanted something bright in my bedroom, I painted it sunshine yellow:

The Thankful Paper Chain

     Every Thanksgiving, we celebrate with family and/or friends. Everyone brings a dish to share, which usually turns into a feast, we talk about things we are thankful for, and generally have a relaxed day of yummy food and fellowship. I really liked a thoughtful Thanksgiving tradition that a wonderful friend of mine started with her family. I thought, "What a great way to get children to think about the things they are grateful for, to see them all in one place, and to have a daily reminder!"

Nail Polish on Carpet!!!

     So my chickadees got nail polish on our beige carpet.. have I ever mentioned that I cannot stand carpet?? Well this is why.. my children and carpet just DO NOT mix. We've been here less than a month and I've had to treat a stain at least once a week. Unfortunately, since this house is a rental, we can't rip it out.. So I went to my sister, who has had nail polish in her carpet, and pinterest to find a solution...

Thrifty Finds | Episode 3

     I don't know if you know this, but I get a thrill from watching how people update their furniture. My Pinterest is full of before and after photos of furniture makeovers. Now it's my turn and I couldn't be more excited! Mr. Chickadee is getting a kick out of it, says he's never seen me light up this much about things. He's the type to go to the furniture store and buy the whole set up. Not me. I'm thoroughly enjoying the scavenger hunt and am anxious to start working on my treasures! Bringing together random pieces to make it all work. Check out my thrifty finds from the last 2 weeks!

Rags to Riches | Photo Frames

     I like to display these older photos in our home.. they are of Mr. Chickadee and myself in our younger years.. and they've been in this frame for ages! Wasn't Mr. Chickadee such a cute toddler?! (Top left) And the bottom left, is the photo I was shown before we met.. sooo not what he looked like when we did meet.

     Since I discovered what my decorating style is, I decided I wanted to change it up a bit and add that farmhouse charm to them.

Thrifty Finds | Episode 2

     I am a thrift store junkie. I love thrift store shopping and almost always find some goodies. Yesterday I went to a local Goodwill to find a cheap art frame to turn it into a chalkboard sign, but as I was browsing, an employee set out a white framed chalkboard. Excatly what I wanted to make in the first place! And it was only $4!

The ABC's of Our Family Values

     I am so glad I found a MOPS group here! I went this week and we watched a short video clip by Danica Russell where she talked a little about her book, A Little Radical: The ABC's of Activism. A book for kids to start thinking about pro-active problem solving. As an exercise, we all wrote down our own. When I got home I decided to find a bible verse for each one as well. So here they are...

Thrifty Finds | Episode 1

     Saw this white sofa on Facebook Marketplace for only $150.. It was a mess picking it up though.. my phone was dying, then eventually died, the woman selling it had given me the wrong apartment number, I couldn't reach her by messaging or calling her. But we had driven 30 minutes to pick it up, so I wasn't going to give up!! It ended up being half an hour by the time we figured things out and picked it up. It turned out to be a $500 Ektrop Sofa from IKEA, so you tell me if it was worth it haha.

My Decorating Style

     It wasn't long ago that I discovered that there were so many different interior decorating styles. I have always loved arranging and rearranging furniture,  but I haven't always been able to decorate our homes in any cohesive way. Some times it worked and other times it didn't. I didn't know why it worked or why it didn't and sometimes would get frustrated. So I started studying interior decorating.

Our new home

     Many people are downsizing their stuff and their homes, going from big homes to tiny homes. Not us. We were living in a 1,260 square foot home. 9 people in that tiny house. We were like sardines in a can.

Guest Post | Simple Steps: How I Plan Meals

     Today, instead of writing about me, I would like to share a friends blog post. Alesia and I met in a Facebook group of Russian mama's. We had quite a few things in common, started chatting, and now we even co-admin another Facebook group. We have never met in person, but if given the chance, I would take that chance in a heart beat! She is one of the sweetest and caring women I know and she writes about her life in her blog, Simple Steps. The post I will be sharing with you today is how she meal plans with 3 kids under 3!

Large Family | Moving

     I do not enjoy moving. It's always chaotic and headache inducing. Somehow it has always turned out that I was either super pregnant or nursing a baby or we had one week to pack. Things would get frantically thrown into boxes, not labeled. Some things thrown together that didn't even belong together. Whenever unpacking boxes, it was like opening Christmas gifts, I never knew what I was going to find in there. And some times even had some surprises, like, "Hey, a whisk in my clothes!" Or "Hey, my shirt between glass vases." On top of that, the more Chickadees we had, the more stuff we had, the harder it got. This time I refuse to let it be chaotic, so I made a plan...

Things you may not know about me #3

     I may have been born in the city and grew up in the suburbs, but once I moved to the country side, I found my home.

Happy news!!

     Some time in June Mr. Chickadee and I decided it was time to move. We have outgrown our mobile home and are ready for something new. My mom jokingly calls us gypsies hehe. Anywho.. in July we talked about moving to Texas, Florida, or North Carolina. So while the chickadees and I visited my family in August, Mr. Chickadee visited those states. Scoping out work and living arrangments. He also asked me to do the same in Minnesota.

Things you may not know about me #2

I got my foot stuck in the spokes of a bicycle.

Large Family | Traveling with children | Part 2 | Going home

     50 minutes into the trip and everyone needed to use the bathroom.. and they saw a playground.. when traveling with kids, you have to be flexible.. 10 minute break it is..

Large family | Traveling with children

     With each child addition, traveling has gotten increasingly difficult. So I've had to come up with ways to make it as easy as possible. And I have come to the conclusion that stopping every 2-3 hours is a must when you're traveling long distance with children, especial if one of them is a nursling.

Throw Together Salad

     I love making random salads.. Throw a bunch of stuff together and enjoy.. most of the time, they turn out amazing. Today was a hit!!

Dairy-Free Mango Raspberry Cheesecake

There is a total of one hour of prep that is broken up between freezing times.. and 4 hours of freezing.

Things you may not know about me #1

10x10 Mini Capsule Wardrobe Challange

     I'm still working on my capsule wardrobe and trying to decide if I should break it up into seasons, until then I wanted to try the 10x10 challange where you pick 10 items from your closet and style those items into 10 different looks to wear for 10 days.

Wardrobe Malfunction

No nip slips here, I just realized that a few of my dresses are not breastfeeding friendly!!

Bleached Chambray Shirt

     I had two dark chambray shirts in almost identical cut and color. Since I don't need two identical shirts, I was going to get rid of one. Until I saw a few outfits with a lighter chambray shirt and loved the look.

Our dog, Kiki, gave birth..

     I got to witness and assist our yorkie give birth today!! It was quite an experience for me.. This isn't her first litter; she had one single puppy last year, but we woke up and she was already nursing him. This time I witnessed 4 puppy births!!

Modesty

Okroshka

Окрошка [Okroshka] Cold Vegetable Soup

     I love this soup in spring and summer. It's fresh, light, and perfectly chilly when the temperatures are high. Not everyone loves this dish, however. My dad's family all love it and my mom's family all hate it. Mr. Chickadees and I love it, but not all the chickadees like it. They much prefer it as a salad without the "soup" part.

Family Dinner Questions {free printable}

     Does your family eat quietly at the dinner table? Or does every one chatter and talk about their day or their dreams? This is a craft we put together in one of our MOPS meetings. If you're looking for a way to engage your family in conversations, but don't know where to start, this is a great way!

Fresh Quinoa Salad

     Do you have a favorite salad? I would have to say my favorite is my quinoa salad. It looks good, smells good, tastes good, and is so good for you!

Large Family | Meal Planning

     I love our MOPS group.  I joined it in 2015 after just one meet and have made many friends, my chickadees have made friends, I have been encouraged, and have learned many things. One of the things I have learned is, meal planning. I've tried it before, but without much success. This time I tried it the way a friend, Kristen, at MOPS does it and it works!

Capsule Wardrobe | Challenge Conclusion

     I'm going to let you in on a little secret. 2 weeks into the challenge, I started doubting myself and wondered if it was a stupid idea. I'm a stay at home mom with 7 children.. some of whom pull on my clothes, hair, and if I wear jewelry, they'll yank on those too. Not to mention the spit up and dirty hands. More often than not, that was the reason I wore the same clothes forever and reach for the same combination of top and bottom.

Capsule Wardrobe | Week Six

Week six of my 35 outfits challenge

Easter Sunday
{Outfit 33}
B&W striped 3/4 sleeve shirt,
floral maxi skirt,
with a blue necklace,
& black flats.

Capsule Wardrobe | Week Five

Week five of my 35 outfits challenge

Sunday
[Women Of Joy Conference]
{Outfit 26}
Cream sweater,
skinny jeans,
& tan sandal wedges

Capsule Wardrobe | Week Four

Week four of my 35 outfits challenge

 
Sunday

{Outfit 21}

Mustard yellow shirt tucked into

a black maxi skirt
 

 

Capsule Wardrobe | Week Three

Week three of my 35 outfits challenge

Sunday
{Outfit 14}
Mustard yellow shirt,
tucked into grey pencil skirt,
with a black necklace,
& black flats

Our family car decal ♥

     I like family car decals.. I know not everyone does, but I love them. Especially when it's a large family. I am very particular about how things look though, so I had been searching for just the right one. Not finding anything that I loved, I decided to make my own.. Isn't it just perfect?!

Capsule Wardrobe | Week Two

Week two of my 35 outfits challenge

Sunday:
{Outfit 8}
Red shirt
tucked into black maxi skirt,
wide black belt,
black necklace,
& black flats
 

Capsule Wardrobe | Week One

Week one of my 35 outfits challenge

Sunday:
{Outfit 1}
White shirt
with turquoise maxi skirt
 & turquoise necklace
 

Capsule Wardrobe | 35 Outfits Challenge

 I am challenging myself to wear a different outfit, every single day, for 35 days.

    I have a small problem. I can wear the same clothes several days in a row, without taking them off for the night. Don't judge. But, since deciding to build a capsule wardrobe I also decided to challenge myself to create various different outfits and not wear the same thing over and over again. So this Sunday I played around with some of my clothes and was able to create 3 different outfits.

     This white shirt and turquoise maxi skirt can be worn as is, simple and perfect for summer.. and for cooler weather it can be paired with a tied chambray shirt (or a cropped jean jacket which I'd love to add to my wardrobe) or this yellow cardigan and a brown skinny belt. Love the colors ❤

Capsule Wardrobe

Source: Today.com

     I've never been one to put "outfits" together. I mean, I put on a shirt and a skirt or a dress. That's my outfit. And like most women, I had a closet full of clothes with nothing to wear and wear the same outfits over and over. Yes, I'm a stay at home mom, so it's not like anyone ever sees me, but I would still like to look nice for myself. And I do go out and see people, I'm not chained to the wall lol. I go to church, bible study, grocery shopping, mops, play dates, mom dates, and, though not often enough, Mr. Chickadee does take me out on dates.

40 Bags in 40 Days

     What has this mama been up to? I have been majorly decluttering our home!! Clothes and things just seem to accumulate over time and I start getting overwhelmed, stressed, and even some times depressed. In January, a friend posted something about a decluttering challenge and my interest was piqued. It was a challenge to get rid of 1 bag of stuff per day, for 40 days. The official challenge started on March 1st, but I wanted to start immediately and so I did. On January 5th, I started the challenge and here is my progress!

How We Met

     Walking up the stairs, I froze for a second. I recognized his face from the photograph, but this was not the same scrawny boy. I wondered how old the photo was that Andrey had showed me. Because Sergei, most certainly, did not look like he was a seventeen or eighteen year old boy. This was a man. He was incredibly tall, well built, broad shoulders, dark hair, and ample lips; he was very handsome. All of a sudden I was nervous, he was not at all who I had expected. My heart fluttered in its cage as I took a deep breath and walked right passed him.