"You Should Put That On Your Blog, Mom"

I've loved many things about blogging, but I have to say having my boys tune into the blogging world has been one of my favorites!  They'll often see a recipe, a craft, or make something themselves and say, "mom, you should put that on your blog!"  It makes me smile every time they say it.

Well, here's something my twins were quite proud of, and thought it was blog-worthy.  It completely is!!  

My husband used to work at his dad's art gallery and there was always extra pieces of cardboard, poster board, bubble wrap, boxes, tubes, everything a little boy could possibly want!  We have many creations and pieces of art from going to work with daddy.  This is one of them.  I don't know if you can see, but I love the 'Do Not Bend' stamp they used on the  ship.

And here's my three-year-old's piece of art.  He has to do everything his big brothers do.  These squiggly lines are his trademark.  He took pictures of his Lego guys one day for my blog, but I can't find the pictures anywhere.  I'm determined to hunt them down and share them!  He was so proud!

All of this makes me think of a quote I read from Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers).  It came from this book.

Amazon

As a mom, I want my boys to KNOW that their story is important to me.  In the hustle and bustle of my days, its easy to push aside the little pages of their stories, but I need to remember to take the time to notice them, validate them, and celebrate them!

So boys, I did put "that" on my blog today just for you!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

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Cottage Cheese Rolls

My mom has a good-sized collection of Gooseberry Patch cookbooks.  I have a few (okay a lot) myself.  My mom found these cottage cheese rolls in one of their cookbooks many years ago.  I'm not sure if she found it in their Country Baking one or another one, but you can find it in that one.

Truth be told, I've never made these myself, but I've eaten more than my fair share of them.  My mom makes them just about every time we get together.  She likes how easy they are, and they always turn out so light and fluffy.  We usually end up making a batch of jam when we're together, and you can't beat homemade jam and fresh rolls from the oven.

We also love using these rolls for sandwiches the day after they've been made, or they also make great Sloppy Joe buns.  Speaking of Sloppy Joes, have your tried Our Best Bites recipe.  If not, you really need to.  It's the only one I make anymore.  My whole family LOVES it!

Click to Print

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

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Living Beyond Mediocrity {Printable Quote}

If you've read my About page, then you know the name Blissful Roots came about because I thought long and hard about why I enjoy doing the things I do.  Well, it all boils down to my roots.  And a big part of my roots is religion. 

Click to Print

Today's printable comes from Spencer W. Kimball.  In our church we believe in modern-day revelation.  We sustain Thomas S. Monson as our prophet today.  Spencer W. Kimball our 12th prophet.

 Our 15th prophet was Gordon B. Hinckley.  He did an interview for 60 Minutes with Mike Wallace in 1996 (click here to watch clips of it).  When Mike Wallace stated, "there are those who say, this is a gerontocracy, this is a church run by old men."  President Hinckley answered this way, "isn't it wonderful?  To have a man of maturity at the head, a man of judgement, who isn't blown about by every wind of doctrine?"  I have to say I second President Hinckley whole-heartedly.  My life has been greatly enhanced because of our modern-day prophets.  I very much appreciate the peace of mind, and hope that comes when I hear the words from these wise men.  Not only do they give me hope and peace of mind, but they always have words of encouragement and inspire us to live life to the fullest.  That's why I love this quote from President Kimball so much.  We don't have to settle for mediocrity- common, dull lives.  We can have a colorful, progressive, rich (not in dollar amounts) life.  Isn't that something we all want?  I know I do, and I want that for my family as well.  I strive every day to implement this way of living into my life.  I fall short many days, but overall I feel I'm finding little things to do each day that bring vibrance into my life. 

What do you do to live beyond mediocrity?

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

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DIY Back To School Labels {from PicMonkey}

If you follow me on Facebook, you know we had an eventful few days last week.  My twins have made it almost seven years without a single stitch or broken bone.  Well, that lucky streak came to a close on Thursday.  It involved some playing, running, a coffee table, and four stitches right under the eyebrow.  

All is well, but when things like that happen, it makes me realize where my priorities need to be.  I LOVE blogging, and I've been pleasantly surprised with how easily I've fit time in for it (without loosing time with my boys).  But sometimes I just need to take a step back.

With all that being said, I do still have a post for today.  It may not be as detailed as I would have liked, but here it is.

I did a post on making your own labels in PicMonkey a few weeks ago, and there seemed to be a lot of interest.  As I was making the labels for that post, I also played around with some labels for my boys' belongings.  School is just around the corner for us (we start August 20), and there are definitely things that need to be labeled- backpacks, books, folders, pencil boxes lunchboxes, etc...  

So, here comes the lack of details.  I'd love to had screen shots of each step I took to make these, but they're really simple, and I'll have the links to my previous PicMonkey tutorials below that may be helpful.

For the globe I went to:

 *Overlays

*Postal

*Globe

(click here for more details on finding the Postal Overlays).  

For the chalkboard background I went to:

*School U Theme (brand new!)

(click here for more details on finding School U)

*Shape-it

*Rectangular chalkboard.  

I then layered the globe on top of the chalkboard and added the name (I used the Tall Dark & Handsome font).  So, so easy. 

As you can see, you can put as many or as few as you want on a page.  Don't you love how the globe and chalkboard work together to give the label a school-like feel?  I do.  I also think this image would look great printed out big and hung in my boys' bedroom.  I love all the possibilities!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

Linking up to these parties & Savvy Southern Style.

My Favorite Blogs Series {Dear Lillie}

I recently started a litter series here at Blissful Roots called 'My Favorite Blogs Series'.  Last week was Diana @ Our Vintage Home Love.  Today, I'm featuring Jennifer from Dear Lillie.

I can't quite remember how I happened upon Dear Lillie, but I'm sure glad I did!  Her home is so inviting!  She knows just how to add that little touch of something to make a space extra special, and her style is spot on for me.  

Here are a few photos of her old home.  She and her husband recently bought a new home and are in the process of fixing it up.

Kitchen

Her fridge is stainless steel, but it looks a bit blue in this photo, doesn't it?  I never thought I'd say this, but I would totally go for a blue fridge if it looked just like this one- with the kitchen to go along with it of course!

Kitchen

This was one of my first kitchen pins on Pinterest.  I fell in love with her IKEA plant and fruit holder hanging on her island.  I also love her photo garland in the window.

Parent's Guest Bedroom

You can see where Jennifer gets her amazing sense of style.  This is her parent's guest bedroom.  Her mom did most of the decorating, but Jennifer did find the rug and pillows to finish the room off.

Living Room

She has a post with her living room decorated three ways. This photo is one of them.  Like Diana's home, I love how Jennifer uses whites and creams with wood.  I also really like the use of black in this room.  Her chalkboard art is amazing!  She does it all by hand!

Dinning Room with Spring Tablescape

Look at this dinning room!  Just like I said, so many little touches that make this room extra special.

Lola's Room

Jennifer has two daughters (she's an amazing photographer, and has some priceless shots of her girls).  This is her youngest daughter's room.  Isn't it absolutely sweet?  

Christmas Porch

Even her back porch is dressed to the nines.  Another reason I love Jennifer's home so much is because she likes to add bits of holiday decor here and there.  She even adds little bits to her girls' bedrooms during the holidays.

Pink Cinderella Party

And if her amazing home wasn't enough, Jennifer goes above and beyond for parties!  Check out this pink Cinderella party she did for her daughter.  I love how classy, timeless, and yet very little girlish it is.  I've always wanted a little girl, and this party convinced me I really need a little girl so I can have this party for her.  I'm pretty sure my boys would start tearing down all the pink if I tried to pull this party off.  :)

Chalkboard Art

I mentioned Jennifer's amazing talent for chalkboard art.  This is her latest.  Beautiful, isn't it?  Dear Lillie also has its own shop.  You can buy this Amazing Grace print and many others here.

New House

And here's the first peek into Jennifer's new home.  They've been hard at work painting and remodeling a few things.  I can't wait to see what else she has in store with her new home.

Thank you so much, Jennifer for opening your home to us!  And thank you for letting me feature it here at Blissful Roots. I've decided I need to put Jennifer's home photos on my blog every day.  They sure make me look good!  But I can't take credit for any of them.  So glad she's willing to share!  Go visit Dear Lillie today!

Oh, and if you missed last week's favorite blog feature (Diana @ Our Vintage Home Love), then click here to see her beautiful home.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth  your time.

Linking up to these parties & Savvy Southern Style.

School U {New from PicMonkey}

The school teacher in me can't help but get excited this time of year.  The notebooks and pencils are lining the shelves everywhere, and PicMonkey has a new School U Theme!  Okay, so PicMonkey didn't even exist when I taught (I wish it had), but it's still something to be excited about!

I received an email from Lisa at PicMonkey earlier this week.  She gave me (in words) a sneak peak of what PicMonkey was working on for their new School U Theme.  I was honestly giddy with excitement as I read all the new features that would be included.  And that was just reading the words.  Then a few days ago, it went live and I got to see it all.  Happy Day!

I tried to make a bit of a collage of what you can find at School U.  There's more than I could fit here, and once again I haven't paid to have the Royale features (School U has totally convinced me I need to- there are adorable buntings!!), but if you include the Royale features and all of the color possibilities, the fonts, the boards, the papers, the clip art, and you could be busy from now until forever!

You can find the new School U Theme after you've chosen your image to edit a menu will come up to the left of your image.  The School U Theme is the apple in the bottom left corner with the word 'New' next to it.  It's not hard to miss.

Once you've clicked on that, then you'll see this appear.

And after that, you'll find ALL of these.  There are so many features that I couldn't fit everything into one screen shot! 

 There's fun effects.

Awesome overlays.

New fonts, boards (like chalkboards), and frames.  I honestly can hardly stand the excitement!  I can't wait to get going on some projects. Stay tuned to see what I come up with, and let me know what you create as well.

You can click here to see my post on how to make labels in PicMonkey.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

Linking up to these parties & Savvy Southern Style.