Friday Five: Favorite Candy

Hello Rosey Readers!!! It's almost Halloween!! I'm such a kid at heart and I love all holidays (especially Christmas). In honor of this wonderfully spooky (Munchkins new favorite word) and awesomely sweet holiday, here are my five favorite candies of all time.

1. Snickers! By far my favorite! Who doesn't love a caramelly, chocolatey, nutty bar of goodness! I've had ice cream Snickers and even fried Snickers. Back in the day I'd get a king size Snickers with no guilt... Not anymore. The only time I eat Snickers these days is around Halloween when I get two bags of fun sized Snickers, and only pass out one to the trick or treaters.

2. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, peanut butter and chocolate... Has there ever been a better pair?... Shhh don't tell jelly...lol

3. Twizzlers. Now I know they are not totally guilt free but I do feel better about eating a bag of twizzlers than I do a bag of Snickers. I love them, fruity and chewy. Have you ever had chocolate Twizzlers? how about the sour filled ones? They're good but nothing beats good ol' strawberry.

4. Werther's Original Caramels. OMGsh!!!! These are the best hard or soft caramels out there!!!

5. Peanut M&Ms. Yum-O (wait do I sound like Rachel Ray?) anyway. I totally prefer peanut over plain... Does anybody disagree? I don't often get these (even though I love them) but here and there I'll add them to trail mix. Try this recipe I use: mix together 1 cup of the following: walnuts, almonds, cashews, raisins, and dried cherries and add 1/2 cup of
peanut M & Ms. Make 1/2 Cup baggies for a quick or on the go snack.

What kind of candy do you love?

Home Tour With A Twist: The Museums

Welcome back! I hope you have enjoyed, and offered suggestions;)on the rest of the home tour. If you're new to my home tour with a twist, check out my explanation here.

Today I'd like to share with you what my husband and I call the museums since we very rarely use these rooms.  When my husband and I first bought our home it was builder white.   Thanks to hours and hours of watching HGTV we were very open to color on the walls. We did a bit of design cheating and visited a model home at a nearby development similar to ours. Mostly we just noted some design ideas, then we came to the living room. Take a look, please note... this is not our house.

I love all the little details... but they will have to wait in our home due to the little hands.

We loved the deep chocolate on the walls with the contrasting bright white below the chair rail... So we copied... lol.   We decided to paint the tray ceiling gold, although you can't quite tell in the pics. I plan on using the leftover gold to paint stripes in the powder room.  Here is our actual Dining Room and Living Room, we have a long way to go, but I'm ready to get down to decorating business.

The Dining Room

lol... see my little pumpkin center piece.

Screaming for a vignette!  I couldn't figure out where else to put the huge vase, so there it sits.  The mirror and lamps came from Hobby Lobby during their 50% off sale.  Is it me, or are they always running a 50% off sale?

My favorite part of this room, we added them a few months ago.  The pics do them no justice.

We did add a little family portrait wall.  Each year we'll switch the pics out.  I'm thinking I'll make a little scrapbook of the pics from years past.  Anyway, we added curtains that I'm in love with... Once again you can't tell from the pics but there are stripes with tans, golds, and shades of an iridescent tealish sageish (my own words) color that matches the lamps.  Love love love them.  When we chose furniture I was adamant about not getting a china cabinet even though hubby kind of wanted one.  I had dreams of a really cool vignette of some sort.  You see it's empty, except for that sad empty vase.  I would really like to tackle this project, but I think I'm going to hold off until after the holidays. 

The Plan: 

 I hope to add some kind of cool center piece bringing all those colors together, still parusing Pinterest for ideas.   Maybe those decorative balls.  What do you think?  I'd love to do a whole table setting, but with the little hands that live with me... It's just not going to happen anytime soon.

The Living Room

Across from the Dining Room is our Living Room.  Not much living goes on in here.  Everyone that comes over says how it'd be such a great space for reading and sipping wine.  Alas, when I get a chance to put my feet up... It's in the family room in front of the TV.  Anyway, as the littles get older I'll add some things to the table tops.

The doors lead right into the playroom we are VERY blessed to have.

These are the tables that were in the family room, but they were not only magnets for little heads but they were becoming expensive teethers for Little Bear.

This wall needs something! Just not sure what.

The Plan: 

I saw a super cool idea for wall art made from pizza boxes, I will attempt something of that nature. Also, hubby and I will be adding some wainscoting below the chair rail in here and in the dining room.

The Foyer

Our Living and Dining rooms are separated by our foyer. lol... this is the first home I've lived in that had such a formal entry way.  This entry is only used for guest, or if I want to sit on the porch with the boys.   The foyer is huge and it screams for a little table or something, but the boys drive trucks, cars, and walkers (and anything else they can physically move) through here so adding any nice tables or stands is out of the question... But some day.

The Plan: 

I have absolutely no idea what to do here.  I like symmetry (notice the matching living room and dining room?) but I think it'd be over kill to have two tables here.  Maybe I need to get over it... who's knows?Help please!

So thanks for stopping by again. I appreciate all suggestions. Want to see more, here is the rest of my Home Tour With A Twist

The Laundry Room

The Mudroom and Powder Room

The Kitchen

The Family Room

Next on the tour is our home office and the playroom re-visited.

Linking to:
A Bowl Full Of Lemons

Friday Five: Favorite TV Shows

When the boys finally settle down I snuggle into a comfy robe, slippers, and I put my feet up in front of the TV. Sometimes, I watch with hubby. He is currently addicted to news, and while I know I should be paying attention to the world... Sometimes I just want to decompress. Enter my favorite five Shows!

1. Grey's Anatomy - This is by far my favorite, I typically watch with a glass (or two) of wine, and text with my cousins throughout. It's our own little girls night in :).

2. Most of the Real Housewife Series - I'm not super proud of this one... But I love the drama (real or not), it cracks me up.

3. Glee - I started watching this after the Super Bowl this year... Omg! I love it... The singing... The dancing... It's awesome! Gleekster here!!!!

4. Modern Family - This is funny TV. I love shows that make me actually laugh out loud, and this one is a winner... I usually iron shirts while I watch, which makes ironing more bearable.

5. True Blood - I've always loved vampire movies, even before the fad. They are scary movies I can tolerate, so of course True Blood sucked me in... Pun definitely intended..hahah. I've read all but one of the books in the series and can't wait till the next season starts?

So what are your favorite five shows... If you had to pick?

*wow... Sorry this is late.. Problems with scheduling posts... Smh. Amateur.

To 3 or Not To 3

My husband and I have been blessed with two wonderful boys.  We both love them with our whole selves. Sometimes I can't believe how fortunate we've been, but still... I long to have a third child.

Simple right? Go for it. We're financially able, we have plenty of room in our home and a third would complete our happy family.  The thing is, both of my boys were born prematurely.  Munchkin was delivered at 36 weeks and Little Bear at 34 weeks. My husband, the numbers guy that he is, swears if we have a third, he'll (yes, I think it'd be a boy) be born at 32 weeks.

The causes of their early births were slightly different.  I had to be induced with Munchkin due to preeclampsia.  He didn't tolerate labor well and after about 5 hours of labor he had to be delivered via cesarean section. There went my dream of having a natural delivery.  He was born at 5lbs, 8oz. While he was the smallest in the nursery, he breathed on his own right away (so no visit to the NICU) and aside from being jaundiced he was a very healthy adorable baby boy.

Little Bear's situation was a tad more serious. I was at the hospital for an ultrasound (because of my first pregnancy I had more than the typical pregnancy).  Everything looked good, but my blood pressure was extremely high (can't remember the number but it was something like 170/100). I was directed to the labor and delivery area where they would do some blood tests.  When the preliminary blood work results came in, my doctor informed us we'd be having our baby that night.  My husband and I tried bargaining for extra time. I promised to stay off my feet and hubby promised to keep me calm. Doc was hearing nothing of it. He told us that the baby needed to come out now. He explained that I was presenting with H.E.L.L.P syndrome and went over all of the problems I'd face if we didn't deliver.  He didn't even want to risk me going through labor, so again I'd be having a c-section.  On top of that, because I had been taking aspirin (doctors orders), I'd have to go under for the c-section, which also meant my husband couldn't be present.  Poof there went my dreams of having an all natural VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean). Little Bear was born at a pretty good weight 5 pounds, but his premature lungs were not quite ready.  He spent his first two weeks in the NICU each day getting stronger.

So far neither of my boys suffers from any long term health issues.  They have both achieved milestones on the later end of the scale(which was expected) and obviously were a bit small for their ages (Munchkin has caught up and Little Bear has finally reached the 10th percentile). Everything is peachy with them, but would we be tempting fate to try for a third? A very small part of me thinks yes, just be happy with what you have. However, a much larger part of me figures, you never know what could happen either way, and we've gotten the go ahead from two separate doctors. Sigh... To three or not to three is still the question.

Home Tour With A Twist: Family Room

Hello, and welcome to the 3rd installment of my Home Tour With a Twist (I've got a half sleeping 1 year old on my chest so this will have to be quick).  This is my Family Room as you enter from the kitchen.

Upon looking at the floor you will usually see two littles playing with cars and trucks (even though they have a huge play room full of toys).

Anyway... back to the tour.  I recently decorated my mantle for Fall.   Up until about a week ago, it looked like this.  Yes those would be Christmas candles from 2010.  Even in it's previous state it looked really bland (and lets not even go there about the red candles).  

Anyway, I picked up some gourds and little pumpkins from Walmart, painted them a mixture of burnt almond paint (it's whats on the walls) and white, as well as sage (it's on the walls in the kitchen).  I added some scented pine cones, and there you go.  I love it, and the pine cones smell delightful.  I know scale wise I need something much bigger, but for now it will have to do.

This is the view as you come in through the foyer.  My husband and I can't decide what to do with the space over the fire place.  I would like to add some trim work, or maybe a huge mirror.  I think hubby wants to place a huge family portrait.  I don't think I'm feeling that idea.  In the future we will probably add custom window treatments... but that will be a costly project... so it will wait.

We used to have a wooden coffee table and end table in here, but it proved to be a hazard to little heads that always seemed to find corners.  The set now lives in the living room which is next on the tour.

When you look from the foyer, to the left you'll see the back staircase.  I have dreams of either some iron art, or a gallery of pics.  What do you think?

It looks like the couch is pushed against the in this pic, but there is actually a walk way, that's been blocked by the pack in play... probably one of the boys did that.

My Plan:  

Aside from adding some decor on the walls, I want to add a large basket for blankets (or some snuggies).  Two story great rooms look nice (to me), but they are pretty darn hard to keep warm in the winter.  I also want to add a nice pop of color, I'm hoping to do this with pillows on the couch.  

Any ideas?  I'd love to hear them.

Want to see more?  Here is the rest of my Home Tour With a Twist.

The Mudroom and Powder Room

The Kitchen

The Laundry Room

Mission Mudroom: Organized Closet

Here's my first update on my mudroom.  Last week I began my Home Tour With a Twist in my Mudroom.  I received some awesome ideas, and had quite a few sleepless nights imagining all the possibilities.  Anyway, I started with the closet, because if you remember it was horrendous, and I knew I could do it with out spending a dime.  Take a look.

Remember this...

Now take a look at this...

And this...

How'd I do it? Here's my step by step process.

1. I emptied everything out. It will seem like a bigger mess, but that's okay. The stuff ended up all over my kitchen table and counters. See!

2. I painted the closet. I guess I didn't have to, (my husband claims he can't even tell the difference... Men..) but I wanted a fresh look.  I mixed together some leftover white with some leftover sage and got to work.  My buddy Blue kept me company.

3. I Decided what was allowed in the closet and where it would go. This took a bit of time, so I kind of left the mess, started dinner and thought about it. Then I shopped around my house for a few things.

I came up with this: Shoes, Bags, Umbrellas, and Coats/Jackets only.  I only put often worn shoes down here, my hubby got the most space as you can see in the pic.  I typically wear sneakers out, and so do the boys, so we didn't need much space.  On the top shelf I placed two white bins (1).  One bin has my husband's shoe shinning things (its been in the closet)... I found another bin just like it in my craft room and put the boys shoes in it. I just consolidated the items it had into another box so I could snag it for the this closet.  The shelves (2) actually came from Munchkins room.   I used to keep his books on it but I think serves a better purpose here and I have other plans for his books.  I haven't gotten a chance to get an umbrella stand, so for now they are just leaning against or hooked to the shelf (3).

 The other side is where I have hung all jackets and coats.  On the top shelf (which you can barely see) are all the bags, and the floor is where my husband keeps his gym bag, when it's not in use.  Later this week I will be adding a rail of hooks on the mudroom wall and I'll hang the bags there.  The gym bag will get a new home on the top shelf.  My goal is to get everything off the floor.

and I almost forgot... I added a small basket to the powder room (thanks Latoya!).

Things are coming along nicely.  I'll be posting another room on my home tour soon, so check back... I'm loving all the great tips.

Linking to:
A Bowl Full Of Lemons.
iheartorganizing

Friday Five: Fabulous School Lunches

Did you know that it was National School Lunch Week?  I don't have any in school yet, but I do make lunch everyday.  So in honor of National School Lunch Week, I thought it be fun to share some of the cutest lunch ideas I've seen out there in blogland.
Click on the picture to be directed to the web page.

Bon Appetit Hello Kitty Style!

I don't have a little girl, but if I did I'm sure she'd love this.  How Sweet!!!!

How about this one... simple, but adorable.  Look at that happy little cloud.

Too bad I didn't think of this for our U is for Umbrella week.

This Space ship sandwich was a big hit (yes... small plug for my own lunch making skillz).  For real though, Munchkin finished every last bite and it wasn't because I starved him to make sure he was hungry... I never do that.

Okay... this might be better for a fun dinner... but I had to add it.  Meatloaf cupcakes!!! Come on... Love it!!  I'm thinking of making this for April Fool's Day... wouldn't that be funny?

Speaking of cupcakes... have you ever seen muffin tin meals? These are super cute! There are so many but I had to add my favorite Halloween Themed one.

This one is so cute and looks relatively healthy (minus the candy... then again... it is Halloween).  There is one in the works for Halloween in our home.  Some are down right disgusting: witch fingers, goblin puss (yeah I know)... I have to think of some less gory Halloween goodies for the Munchkin.  Check us out after Halloween to see what I came up with.

Hope you enjoyed This week's Friday Five, Have an awesome weekend!

Leiah

Home Tour With ATwist: Kitchen

I am so excited about this home tour with a twist.  I've already gotten so many great ideas from comments here and my Facebook page.  Thanks to everyone who's been helping!! I've already gone out and bought some spray paint for a basket I have, thanks to Latoya from The Scott's Crib, and thanks to my friends over at We Know Stuff, I'm re-evaluating the kind of art I want to add into the space.  My creative juices are super flowing, so of course I'm ready for the next part of my tour.

I was watching HGTV (while the boys napped, side bar.... it is fabulous to have them on the same schedule!!!) anyway.. I decided it was a great time to snap pics, and since they're still sleeping it's a great time to post (wow that was a long sentence).  So here they are!  Welcome to my large, but pretty bare kitchen ; )


This was my Kitchen when we bought the house... we basically have only painted and added blinds.

This is it today.  When you stand by the mudroom door, you face my kiddie zone.  I have some projects Munchkin does, and his learning poster.  Uuumm... yes those are Little Bear's first birthday balloons (from a month ago).   I think I have issues because I just can't seem to take them down.   Anyway the balloons are attached to our back doors, there is actually the appearance of three doors but only one opens.

So glad you can't see the floor under there (and the wall, and side of the cabinets for that matter).  I used to have a mat but it got so gross I tossed it and have yet to replace it.

The Plan:

I want to add some fun word art in the space over the back door.  That is assuming I ever take the balloons down.  I like what Latoya did with her word art, but I'm thinking I may go vinyl.

A look to the left and you'll see the sink area.  I don't like a lot of things on the counter (as you can see).  I think this stems from living in very tight quarters when I got my first apartment, with almost ZERO counter space.  I guess I've just never moved on.  I don't think there is much I can do there, but I am totally open to opinions.

Sorry it's so dark.  My camera doesn't take great pics... and hubby's camera (which I used) takes great clear pics, but the flash is broken, plus it's raining out... ah such is life.

The door in the corner is my pantry, then next to the fridge is my toast and coffee area.  Ever since I completed my command center, it has become the new clutter zone.  I want to add a pantry sign in the space over the door... possibly.

2

Yes, those speakers are the same ones I removed from the command center.  I just can't figure out where to put them.

 The Plan:

I would like to add a chalk board menu somewhere.  I'm thinking the side of the upper cabinet.
What do you think?

Okay... this is my kitchen table.  I love it!  The color, the height... everything.  It's just plain.  Help!  I can't add a runner...  I had one there for a day with near disastrous results.  I used to have a vase of flowers.  You can see them on the command center way in the background.   I don't want to add another vase because it gets in the way when we're eating dinner.  I was constantly either moving them out of reach of Munchkin who could reach them from his chair, or moving them because they blocked the view of my hot hubby while we ate ; ).

Yes yes yes... I have plastic on my chairs, I'm that lady.  I've already scotch guarded them, but they're close to white and I've to sets of sticky fingers to protect from.  So far so good.

The Plan (so far):

Add a bowl of lemons.  I figure it's low and it will add some bright color.

You've already seen my command center, so I won't spend a lot of time here.  The two doors on either side lead to the Dining Room.

The last area in the kitchen is this blank wall (get used to these, there are a lot to come on this tour).   I think the possibilities are endless.  A neighbor of mine who has an almost identical home, has a hutch here.  It's beautiful, I just don't see the need for any extra furniture or storage for that matter.  What do you think?   I don't quite have a plan yet except some art... but I want to do something awesome.

Thank you for joining me on another section of my Home Tour with a twist.  So far we've seen:

The Laundry Room

The Mudroom

Once again... I encourage the comments, suggestions, ideas... but please be nice : ).

Leiah

Home Tour With A Twist

Over the past almost year of me blogging, I've seen some amazing home tours. The host leads you through amazingly decorated spaces, beautiful art and craft work. Flowers, clocks, pictures, vignettes, everything a warm welcoming home should have. My home does not include these things. For this reason I have hesitated on posting a home tour, but you know what? I'm ready! In an effort to be personal and honest I'd like to welcome you to my big ol' undecorated home.

First a little background. Two years ago (well about two years ago) my husband and I found and purchased our dream home. We have been extremely blessed, and sometimes we are both on edge waiting for the other shoe to drop. Because we moved from a much smaller space we had pretty much no furniture for our home. Over the last two years we've been slowly purchasing furniture pieces for our home. My hubby's goal was to get furniture in each room, and then start to focus on decorating. Well, now it's time to decorate.

So on to my home tour with a twist. As I lead you around my home, I'd like to run some ideas off of you.. my readers (that's assuming peeps are reading). I need ideas, opinions (please be nice), and perhaps even some tips. This is of course a plea for comments (hi, my name is Leiah and I'm addicted to comments). Please join me as I decorate our home. Some areas need lots of love, some not so much. Some things I will make, some I will purchase. I will continue this home tour and include updates as we complete projects. Let's start shall we?

I'm starting my tour in the mudroom. This is the entrance my family uses daily, it needs a bit of love (well the closet I'll show needs lots of love).  To the left is the Laundry Room, although you can't see it in this photo.  It is sadly one of my favorite places in the house now. Straight ahead is the mudroom closet.  When the doors are closed it looks perfectly pretty (well I guess not pretty, but definitely neat).

I think it's a pretty sad excuse for a coat closet once you actually open the doors.  There aren't many coats (mostly because it's only Fall), That would be two of hubby's shirts, sometimes I hang them in there to dry (a duh, I should have put some kind of hanging system in the laundry room).  There's no light so it's hard to see the mess that has accumulated on the top shelf.

LOL, I had to add this... it took like 10 shots to get a pic without Blue in front... every time I'd move him he'd be right back in the middle.

This is a close up of the shameful floor.  Little shoes, big shoes, white shoes and black shoes... I literally have a Dr. Seuss book in the closet.

This is the other side... just as messy and miss used.

The Plan for this closet:

Possibly add paint (only if I can find a color that we already have enough of that will work).

Add baskets to the top shelf for neat storage

Get all the non-essentials out.

Add some type of shoe organizing system

* See The Updated Closet Here

Get matching hangers (I just think it'll look neater)

Now it's your turn! Do you have any ideas or tips for this space?  It really needs help.

Back to the tour.

When you step into the mudroom to right is where we drop our shoes.  The Rosey house is a no shoes house... it helps a ton with floor cleaning, which is the most neglected area in my home.

The Plan for this corner:

Add a mat on the floor to catch the extra water and grass that can get tracked in.

Add a bench and hooks on the wall.

I'm toying with the idea of building a bench.  Most of the ones I've seen that I like won't fit (it's a pretty small corner) or they are unbelievably priced.  The problem is I've never built anything from scratch and I'm kind of worried it'll look crazy.

Your Turn!  What do I do? Has anyone out there ever built something like a bench.  I want it strong enough to sit on and I'd like to add a basket or two for more storage.

Anyway, when glance slightly to the right you can see that this entry leads straight to my kitchen.  Do you see the door that's open? 

 This is whats behind it.  A small can't do anything with it corner. 

 The Plan (it's a small one)
Add an umbrella stand.

Directly across from this cozy little corner (before you get into the Kitchen) is a Powder Room.

Yes, we are still potty training.

It's pretty basic.  Recognize the color from the Laundry Room?  See the little sad frame.  It's my poor excuse for decoration in here.  SMH.

So here's The Plan for this powder room.

 I'd like to add a bit more art on the walls.  Possibly replacing the tiny square that's there.

Add stripes.  We have a lot of metallic gold paint (leftover from another room), I think it will work great in here.

One day* change the lighting (I hate the builder grade, dressing room lights).

One day* change the mirror along with the sink fixtures.

Your Turn!

Please help, any cute ideas for powder room art? Or inexpensive upgrades?

* - projects like these will probably not happen for quite some time.

So that is it for my Home Tour With A Twist.  I hope to hear from you! I also hope to post back soon with updates as I finish them.