What's Happenin'

I've been kind of MIA for a little while, but it's only because great things are going on for myself and my family! I'm fortunate enough to have been able to return to being a full-time homemaker and I am absolutely blissful over it! You would think I should have all sorts of time on my hands then, right? Well, I do...and I've been putting that time to good use. I've been doing thorough cleaning jobs throughout my house, that were majorly neglected while I was working. I've finally been hanging things on the walls in my house that we've now lived in for a little over a year. I have been cooking up a storm, which my husband and boys love...my waist doesn't, but eh, who cares. I've been working on craft projects that I was dying to try. There are just so many things I've been able to enjoy now that I'm not working outside of the home anymore. One of those things being my sanity and lack of feeling overwhelmed, stressed and rushed all of the time. With 3 boys (2 in elementary and one in middle school), we have a lot of activities going on and it's nice for me to be able to be home to keep the house up and have meals prepared so that even on rushed nights, my family is being fed well and not coming home to a disaster of a house. There is more relaxed time for homework after school and sometimes even a homemade snack to enjoy while doing that homework. It's just been beyond amazing and it's only the second month of school! Anyway, I thought I would share a couple of the projects/treats that I've been working on around here and maybe you'll find something I've had going on that you can enjoy too! I absolutely love to crochet and there's a great site called ravelry where you can get a ton of crochet and knit patterns for free, as well as ones you can purchase. Pretty much anything you can think of that you might want to make...you can find a pattern for. I have a couple projects going right now, but since they are gifts and our family's Halloween costumes, I can't show you just yet. You'll definitely want to check out the site though, if you're a crocheter or knitter!

I did make this owl hat and really cute lambie for my niece for her first birthday with patterns I got from ravlery though!

I made this Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll Cake from Six Sister's Stuff blog and it was AMAZING! It's already been requested by mom Mom and sisters (Brian and the boys too) to be made sometime during the few days we all spend together at my Mom and Dad's at Christmas time.

I made some seriously delicious raspberry freezer jam. It's incredibly easy and soooo good. Keeping my husband from eating it all is the hard part.

So there's just a little peek at some of what I've been up to lately. I hope you're all doing well and I look forward to being a little more "present" around here. ;-)