Our Favorite Turkey Meatballs

These are the best meatballs. Ever.

Not that we're really meatball connoisseurs per say... but these are without a doubt our favorite.

So flavorful and yummy. We eat them plain; we eat them with marinara sauce and spaghetti; we eat them as cupcakes with mashed potato 'frosting'; we eat them here, there, and anywhere.  Last night we had them with potato salad and roasted summer squash.

Oh, and there are no leftovers.

And why I love them most???

They are low points. :):

Servings: 12   Points+: 2 per serving

Happy mid-week!

Less screens; More Pages

Today the air outside is crisp and this morning faintly smelled like rain. Perfect weather for hot tea and good book. 

Whenever  September rolls around I challenge myself to read more.

Less screens; more pages. 

And usually those pages are novels. Not the leadership, marriage, or parenting books I most often read. And I don't feel guilty over this self-indulgence {not reading something that will help me grow in wisdom and knowledge} because reading in itself is brain exercise. 

And these days... my brain is gettin' a work-out!

My all-time favorite book series are:

Mark of the Lion Series

by Francine Rivers

Cheney Duvall, M.D. Series

by Lynn Morris

What I've recently read:

A Distant Melody, 

Book One in the Wings of Glory Series

by Sarah Sundin

And later this evening you can find me with my nose in this book...

The Shape of Mercy

by Susan Meissner

Leaving a life of privilege to strike out on her own, Lauren Durough breaks with convention and her family’s expectations by choosing a state college over Stanford and earning her own income over accepting her ample monthly allowance. She takes a part-time job from 83-year-old librarian Abigail Boyles, who asks Lauren to transcribe the journal entries of her ancestor Mercy Hayworth, a victim of the Salem witch trials.

What are you reading???

O Taste and See : Tutorial

"O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is that man that trusteth in Him." -Psalm 34:8

I love this verse. Particularly the reference to tasting. 

I like the idea of tasting His goodness. Sampling His sweet kindness. Savoring His love.
I love this verse.

And I've had the idea brewing for some time that this verse would find its place in my kitchen. 

This was really a matter of "Use what you already have."

I had this home decor plaque {or whatever you'd call it}

One coat of black latex paint and we're rippin' and roarin'.

I found a pear silhouette simply by 'bing-ing' "pear silhouette", printed, cut, and used to stencil. I used Americana Hauser Light Green.

Now came the longest portion of this project. First, picking the fonts I wanted. Second, using a Xacto knife to carefully cut out each letter to create a stencil. I can now tell you in all honesty it was absolutely not worth the money I saved taking the time to do this myself. Next time I will just order the vinyl! 

After laying out my stencil I painted over the letters using Americana's Bleached Sand. Its a nice, warm creamy color.

This is now one of the first things you see {read} when you enter the kitchen. 

I think this one little piece makes our house feel more like home. :)

Blessed and content,

Kaylee

Eat, Drink, and be Merry... tomorrow we shall Diet {And some Hadley Pics}

The house is slowly coming together. And I do mean slowly. Probably about one item a week gets placed or hung on the wall. What can I say... I'm in no hurry.

Today it was this one empty little space that's been patiently waiting on my kitchen counter. 

Finally found a home for my Ball Mason Cookie-Jar! How appropriate is the sign, right?

Well, since the camera was already out, we  thought, "Photo Shoot!"

Hadley liked the idea.

But this is the kind of stuff she was giving me to work with.

So I bribed  gave her one of those cookies.

That brought some smiles. :) Oh how I love her.

Blessed,
Kaylee

Summer is Precious

Summer is precious. This summer in-particular.


Why?


Because we will never get it back. 


Every experience we had and moment we passed will from here on out be just warm memories. 

 

We cannot stop the clock; fall will be here soon. And yes, Summer will come again, but it won't be the same because we won't be the same. We will each be older {hopefully wiser} and in the new season of life the Lord has in store for us at that time. 

We could attempt to re-create, but we can never relive these days. 

God is working in my heart. I used to feel as though busyness = productivity. And I like feeling productive. Maybe because then I feel justified. 


Spending today preparing to live tomorrow... of this I am guilty. 

I cannot go back and reclaim those moments. But I can repent. I can choose a new course of direction. 
I can throw out the clock and savor each moment of conversation, play-time, learning, growing and relaxing. 


Summer is precious. This summer in-particular.

Kaylee

Lost time is never found again. 

-Benjamin Franklin

Catching Up: Projects

Where did we leave off? 


Moving, sick, Independence Day...


The weekend immediately following the holiday Hadley was tickled-pink to spend some time with her cousin and best bud, Noelle. {Known in this house as "Noellie-Bellie"} I like to refer to the girls as "the twins"... not because they look anything alike, but because they are only 6 days apart in birth.

Cousin Love

That same weekend Nick's parents were so gracious to come and help with a couple of projects. Well, two. How much can you really cram into one Saturday? {One day we'll test that}

I had asked Nick to build me a dining room table. A big, rustic ol' farm-house table. A mix between Pottery Barn's Benchwright and Cortona tables, with enough room to sit 8-10 people. I have dreams of the dinners, game nights, holidays, and high-chairs that will fill this space!

So my builder-husband and carpenter-father-in-law got right to work. And isn't she a beauty?

All ready to be sanded and stained! I love the character of the wood. Oh, and it seats 10-12. Happy wife here!

Unfortunately, I did not record the process... but you can find a simliar tutorial here. 

So, where is this monstrosity of a table gonna go? Well we're parking in our formal dining room. 

This room is one big canvas of walls and floor. But we've got some plans brewing.

Meanwhile... my mother-in-law and I were inside making some stripes happen. 

On the staircase wall -opposite the dining room- we measured up every 10 inches and then taped inside the not-to-be-painted  stripes with blue painters tape.

Next, using our fingers we ran some caulking {very little} along the the inside edges of the to-be-painted stripes. {Learned this trick from our builder} This part took the longest, but it was worth it. Doing this makes for sharp, clean lines once the tape is removed. 

We were very pleased with the results!

Hoping to find an old sideboard to replace the pitiful entry table.

I hear the baby crying, so that's it for today. We'll catch up more tomorrow.

Feeling inspired,

Kaylee

Catching Up: Moving In & Holiday

Forgive me, Reader, I have sinned. Its been a month and a half since my last post. {Whoops}


What's been going on? Well one crazy appraisal story, a few hotels, and my parents' guest-room later... we are finally. home. 


And though we've been home for about four weeks now, we are just getting somewhat settled. 


The day we moved in my husband and sister-in-love were both sick. Nick recovered quickly; Rachel was sick all weekend. Then the baby and I got it. Hadley was sick on and off for about a week. Just about when we felt she was "all better" we would take her out and she'd start throwing up again; like a load of pancakes all over the carpet of my father's office. {Sorry Dad} Needless to say... we did a lot of lying around.

Once we were feeling healthy again it was the holiday week! I unpacked about half my kitchen for the 4th of July and we baked, diced, and grilled. 


Like these yummy Honey-Lime Chicken Skewers 

Rachel's Tomato-Basil Salad

 And some Corn-Avocado Salsa {I tripled the batch to make it a salad}

Watermelon of course

Here's what my plate looked like {oh yes, and my honey grilled some brisket}

IS YOUR MOUTH WATERING YET? Yum!


I had been waiting for just the right occasion to try these Watermelon Cake Pops. I let me tell you, they do not disappoint!

And it wouldn't be a celebration in this house without some red velvet. Rachel's Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Butter-cream Frosting. OH. YAH.

 

 Okay, okay.... I'll stop with the food pictures now.




After prancing around the house for days showing every one her new Independence Day dress, Hadley was thrilled to finally be able to wear it.

Hadley with her favorite girls

And after the fourth, well.... 


I'll tell you the rest tomorrow. :) 


And soon to come are my "Room by Room" posts. Follow me as I make our new house a home one room {or project} at a time.

Happy Wednesday!
Kaylee