Easy Baked Spaghetti

This is an easy and inexpensive way to feed a crowd. Who doesn't love layers of spaghetti that is then baked?! It almost tasted like lasagna. I didn't put any ground beef in it but you could add layers of that as well! Yumm.

Ingredients: 

Spaghetti Noodles

Spaghetti Sauce

Cream of Mushroom

Cheeses (whatever kind you would like)

Directions:

1. Cook Noodles

 2. Layer the bottom of a 9x13 pan with noodles

 3. Layer a coat of spaghetti sauce (I like to use Ragu's veggie combo)

 4. Layer with cheese. I used a sharp cheddar and some mozarella.

 5. Layer again with noodles

 6. Layer again with spaghetti sauce

 7. Water down (probably half a cup of water will do) a can of cream of mushroom soup and layer

 8. Put another coat of cheese on top. Here I used mozarella.

9. And then BAKE! Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes or until cheese is golden brown. So good, so easy. Enjoy!

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My galley kitchen

Here is a little glimpse of my super small galley style kitchen. We have demo plans for the future (probably 3 yrs away still if I'm being realistic). It's super tiny with not much cupboard space but it does it's job just fine. The cupboards are original to the house which was built in the late 60's along with the dishwasher. They both gotta eventually go. The dishwasher hardly does it's job and the drawers are hard to open and shut and shed a fine dusting of wood particles when opening and closing. There are a couple of drawers I can't use. I try and see all the positives in this little space but I'll be honest it's difficult and is sometimes a stretch but I like to see them anyway. The positives: putting away dishes is just an arms reach away from the same standing spot, I can't hoard stuff and have had to simplify, my boys know where everything is and can help themselves to the snack cupboard (eeek) and feeding a crowd gets nice and cozy! You can't see much of the kitchen but you can get the idea...and there really isn't much more to see! ha!

Spoon and Fork: St Vincent DePaul - .99 cents. SCORE! Who goes looking for a spoon and fork and finds them in a junk yard? Yah, that's me! I find the strangest of treasures. They were a dark brown - white spray paint goes a long way. :)

Menu board: IKEA

Bar with organizers: IKEA

Curtain: Burlington Coat Factory (originally a long curtain that I turned sideways!)

Sometimes my counters are occupied by this little dude. I may of been blowing bubbles while trying to cook dinner. You gotta do what you gotta do. I'm sure there will be more kitchen posts down the road but I'll leave you at these cute pictures of this cute little Boone man half a year ago!

Isn't he sweet?

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7 years of love

Justin and I celebrated our 7 yr anniversary this summer and the statement above couldn't be anymore true for me. I have a husband that makes me laugh everyday in my marriage (no joke...everyday) and I do find that being a real treat. He even made me laugh hard over breakfast this morning - and he loves that he can do that! Really, that is one of the biggest reasons I married him. A man that loves the Lord and is also funny!?! Yes, please! I'm glad he is all mine and I love that we got to go out and celebrate 7 yrs together by dropping the kids off at Mimi and Poppi's house and spending the day like middle schoolers at Wild Waves on a 90 degree day. We did at least 4 laps on the lazy river together and rode every single ride in that whole park. We loved it. The next day we went out to dinner and did our tradition of re-capping each yr of marriage and the big events of each yr including the highs, lows and what God taught us through it all. I'm looking forward to this next year and what the Lord will teach us in another year of marriage and parenting together! I love you, Justin!

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DIY onesies

In my early to mid twenties it was all about the weddings and now as I am in my late twenties it's all about the babies. They are everywhere and I like it! :) I always like making something to gift but have to stick on a budget (Dave Ramsey style). Buying a pack of white onesies and a couple packs of iron on letters at Michael's will allow you to gift multiple times and something personal. OR some stencil's and fabric paint will do the trick as well! I always like to throw in a handmade tutu (if I find the time) if it's for a little girl or another article of clothing or baby item. I have found that you don't have to break a budget to bless a mom. Simply attending a shower for support and putting love into a gift goes a long way. Here is how to make a personalized onesie and some others I have made:

1. Cut your letters out as close to the edges as possible. You don't have a lot of room to work with when using a onesie.

2. Place your letters face down and make sure they aren't upside down or backwards! :)

 3. Iron slowly using a cotton setting. Check every 30 second or so by seeing if the letter will peel back. The package on the letters says you iron for a couple of minutes. I find it taking about ten. Caution: you can burn the onesie and make brown spots.

 4. Peel the letters off slowly starting at a corner

 5. And VOILA!

Here are some I made awhile back for some other baby showers:

My friend Sarah Todd had twins so her last name worked perfect to switch with "thing" and I made a Todd 1 and Todd 2 onesie freehand with fabric pens. It's important that you label those same gender twins so you don't get them mixed up! :) They are sweet little boys that we got to see just last month for a bit. Their names are Maverix and Brooks...too cute, huh?!

Here is using the iron on letters again but ironing on the back like a sports jersey. This is my friend Jessie's boy, Mr. Miles Ford that is now 2 1/2! I'm pretty sure he was just a baby yesterday.

....and here is his sweet younger sister Madden rockin the onesie that I monogrammed using a stencil and fabric paint along with a tulle tutu I made. She is so cute and is coming up on her first birthday:

Last but not least these sweet twins Tesa & Tyce. They are some ADORABLE babies. You gotta make long sleeve onesies for PNW babes. It's cold up here! :) ....and I got to babysit these two for the first time last month and their cuteness and sweetness made me melt the whole time. How can you not love these little faces?!!


Aren't those baby models just precious?! I could just squeeze and kiss them all till they cried but that is probably a bad idea. The first time you make these onesies it can seem tedious and time consuming trying to find and purchase all the right supplies but once you have all the materials stocked up it's a quick little project! Happy crafting!!

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Eli + Emily

Oh, Eli & Emily! How wonderful their wedding day was. It really couldn't have gone any better. Most of y'all know that Eli is practically an Uncle to my boys and great friend of ours so we are a little bias to the newlyweds and how awesome their wedding was but seriously I think you will all agree that this wedding was absolutely breath taking. Emily did an amazing job on all the details including making all the cakes and cupcakes and was a total stress free bride who enjoyed every moment of their evening. You really need to look HERE to see how great it really was. Their photographer Michelle Cross did an excellent job capturing their personalities and the details of the wedding. Aren't they amazing? I wish I could of have thrown popcorn on my wedding day! The sunset, the cafe lighting, the hot chocolate and popcorn bar, the blankets and games - SO.MUCH.FUN.

Here are a couple of pictures that I took from our wonderful evening celebrating Eli & Emily's special day:

 Boone was really into his cupcake. He LOVED it.

 These are my favorite pictures. My boys would watch them dance and then go back to playing connect 4, watch them dance and go back to the games. It was cute. They definitely were taking note that Eli was now married and was smitten with his bride. :)

Can we get a normal family picture? Nope! :) Someday!

So glad I snagged a quick picture at the end of the night with the new Conlee's!

 We discovered that our boys are complete pyro's (really what boys aren't?!). They continued to do sparkler's for a good half an hr after Eli & Emily left. I really did appreciate the free entertainment even though Boone has a long way to go in learning his fire safety. :)

Happy 1 month ANNIVERSARY to Eli & Emily!!!

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SHS 10 yr reunion (already?!)

I had my ten yr HS reunion just two weeks ago. I'm not sure how 10 yrs have gone by so fast but it has! I still think I just graduated from college. Oh how I forget that I'm pushin' 30. Not quite ready for it. :) Anywho, the boys were watching me get ready for my reunion and were cracking up about my hot rollers in my hair. They wanted pictures with me and couldn't wait to see what my hair was going to look like once I took them out. How silly. I just love little boy humor. So, I look completely silly and this is one of our only pictures of both boys smiling - of course.

All ready to go!

And a couple of the family and once again we have pantless children. Like I've said before if it's after noon the pants somehow go missing.

And here are some pictures of the reunion which was way more fun than expected! It was a great turnout for such a small graduating class. Here we are re-enacting a 2002 photo...

and my friends that I went on my senior road trip to CA with....

Love these girls!

...and an attempt at a group shot even though a lot of people already left....

It was such a fun night and some definite memories were made. It sounds like everyone wants to do a 15 yr as well. I love that I went to a small school where everyone was friends. See you guys in 5-10 yrs!

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