instafriday...

Welcome to instafriday! In an effort to get back to regular blogging, I am going to start linking up my weekly instagram pics with jeannett over at Life Rearranged.  

Grayson was playing around on his Etch-a-Sketch for about 5 minutes and said "Mom, Dad, look at what I made!"  This kid is 5, nearly 6, but has far superior spatial reasoning skills than his mom.  It would have taken me much longer than 5 minutes to "draw" my initials on the Etch-a-Sketch.

This baby's gummy smile is one of my favorite things. Seriously.

I finished up dinner and looked outside to see this...Scott and Grayson practicing passing the football while MK watched from her stroller.  He is the best daddy ever.

This dog is never far from us during the day.  He thinks he is a guard dog.  Love him.

I made Pioneer Woman's Chicken Parm recipe last week and MK could not get enough...neither could Scott and I.  The recipe is delicious and super easy.  Try it.

Scott and I were working on a large magnetic board for our church lobby.  Sheet metal is sharp, y'all. Scott finished the rest of it up by himself while MK and I played in our awesome Wellspring Babies room.

Snuggling with this sweet girl before MOPS the other morning.  Love her!

My fall was made yesterday morning.  We drove through a little donut shop in town for donuts and they had PUMPKIN donuts.  It was seriously fantastic.  I'm ready for another one!

Happy Friday, y'all!

"a beautiful mess" string art cross...

Have you heard of MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers)?  I have been involved with one group or another since Grayson was born, almost 6 years ago!  I am in charge of the "Creative Activities" for our group and this year's theme is "A Beautiful Mess".  When looking for a craft that would fit the theme and be a little on the frugal side.  I came across this pin for a string art cross on Pinterest and it was perfect!

We have a a friend who has access to free barn wood, so my husband pulled out a bunch of boards and cut them into roughly 5x7 pieces.

I made a little pattern for the nail placement and we hammered in the nails for all 70 boards!

I bought small brad nails from Lowe's and a multi-pack of embroidery floss from Hobby Lobby (with my 40% off coupon!).  The whole project ended up costing a little over $10 for 70 boards!  A great, frugal project that is perfect for our theme and perfect for adding a little fall touch to our house.

Pinterest-tested recipes...

Y'all...how is it already October?  I feel like this year is just absolutely FLYING by.  My little peanut just turned TEN months old, which makes me want to both cheer and weep at the same time.

I promise I will be back to regular blogging this week, but I wanted to share with you a few Pinterest recipes that I have tested and LOVED!

If your family eats chicken as often as ours does, you MUST try this Butter Chicken recipe by Maple Leaves & Sycamore Trees! I have made it twice in the last 2 weeks and everyone has loved it.



I made these cheesy potatoes to go along with the Butter Chicken one night...they are delish!



Feeling like baking for fall? This Starbucks Pumpkin Pound Cake recipe is good! I made it in mini-loaf form (I bought a 9-count mini loaf pan at Joann's and LOVE it!) and they were seriously good.



Have you tried any great Pinterest recipes lately? Leave me a comment with the pins!