The "Wal-Mart Special" Birthday Bash

Is there a dash between Wal and Mart? I'm not even sure. It didn't look right as a whole word, so I went with the dash. And I could be completely wrong (in fact, I'm pretty sure I am wrong). Probably the first time I've ever been wrong (kidding). However, I've decided I'm going with what looks best rather than what's correct. So no need to correct me because I'm going with it, like it or not.

So the meaning behind the "Walmart Special" birthday bash was this...everybody was required to pick themselves up their best Walmart halloween garb for the party. Whatever was in the halloween section was theirs to ponder. What we ended up with were skeleton shirts, pumpkin shirts, superhero shirts, pajama tops and bottoms, and homemade shirts. Much cheaper and much easier than 

having a costume party!

The Fam in Their Walmart Specials...

Thank goodness for the 10 second setting on Pennie's phone to get us all in!

You can make a homemade shirt for less than 10 bucks...a men's $4 shirt at Walmart plus

iron on letters in Walmart's craft section for 3 bucks. Things got a little crooked, but

I never claimed to be a professional t-shirt maker.

Simple Food Setup...

Cups: we used cling-ons for the faces and they are reusable for the next party (target)

Straws: bright green and black zig-zags (walmart)

Swamp Juice: 2 containers of Simply limeade, 1 bottle of Perrier sparkling water. Add a few drops of green coloring and whole blueberries for the effects. Simple, easy, & tasty. 

Big hit for the kids and adults!

Every year, we've done a chili feed for Ty's birthday. This year it was his favorite paleo bacon & pineapple chili along with Ty's Mom's paleo chicken chili. Both were a hit!

The Spread...

-paleo biscuits...as close as you will get to cornbread!

-baby oranges (to look like pumpkins)

-a lazy susan filled with avocado chunks, cilantro, mozzarella cheese for the primal chili, and

fritos for the non-paleo chili.

-caterpillars...aka grapes on a stick.

Pie box-reused from our wedding

Napkins-assorted varieties, all sold at Target for $1

Dessert...Caramel Apple Bar

Tip: buy mini apples...they are so much easier to work with, easier for kids to eat,

less junk your kids will most likely be able to put on them, and a fun size for all!

The Family...

(missing: my dad, who was out hunting in Eastern Oregon)

Meet Turner...he belongs to Nick & Pennie. He's 2 1/2!

Casey & Bumpa aka Batman aka Mark (Ty's dad)

Debby (very close friend, may as well be Aunt Debby on Ty's side) 

& Kathy (Ty's mom)

Mom & Me

Pennie, Nick, & Turner

Brother & Sister

Brother & Sister

and ALL Of Us In Our Finest Moments...

Mike (our brother-in-law in the red) vs Nick

Bang your caramel apple on the ground, then eat it. I think it's a thing for luck...

And then this happened...

The attempt to put the whole body together via two outfits on two different people.

(yes, I know the tibia & fibula don't belong on the femur, but it's as close as we could get)

The man of the night and the man I love so much...

The BIRFDAY BOI!

 I may be biased, but I think you have the best birthday EVER! Not everybody dresses up on birthdays, not everybody gets buckets of candy on birthdays, and not everybody has a birthday in such a lovely time of year like it is around here. Don't get me wrong, there's lots of good things about all the other months here, but if you're going to have a birthday fall on a holiday....make it happen on Halloween!

Love you everyday, Ty!

♥Cori

Stanley Homefront Updates + 2 Rookie Homeowner Mistakes

The Updates

It's official. We now have a lovely glass door in the basement shower and it's safe to say we will no longer have any water draining out of the bathroom into the basement (the flooring was not sloped well enough into the drain so instead of going in the drain, it trailed out of the shower area and would continue for as long as you showered). The glass maintains the perception of a much larger bathroom than it really is and leaves the bathroom feeling very open.

We are in the process of a new roof. Seriously. As I type, I get to hear the slamming, banging around, scraping, and shingles fall to the ground as they smash my shrubs. Around our house looks like a natural disaster, but thank the Lord it's a man made disaster. Soon enough we'll have a good roof over our heads...By the end of today, the main house should be completed and over the next two days we'll have the single car garage and double car garage finished!

That garden of ours is growing like crazy. We have lettuce coming out of our ears. If you're interested in a salad, please come over and we can have a lunch date. Just wait to come over until the roofers are done, it will be much more pleasant without the noise and the mess.

Ty and I have decided that I am the breadwinner in the home and he gets to be the project king, rat catcher, and house husband for the summers. As I've been busy working, Ty has been busy catching rats that have been eating our garden. I only partly feel bad for the little guy and only because he was kinda cute. On the other hand we now get to enjoy our tomatoes now that he won't be around to eat them all! I apologize ahead of time for the photo, but Ty is excited for his catch...it was like Christmas when he came inside this morning, should've seen his face. Partly disturbing, partly hilarious.

(can I just mention Ty caught him with a piece of bacon...wondering if the rat was paleo?)

We are plugging away at the fire pit area, the laundry space in the basement, and at the basement.

Once we get any one of those completed, you can trust I'll share them!

Rookie Homeowner Mistakes

(don't worry, they're all laughable. nothing too serious.)

1. Do NOT go on a weed & feed frenzy.

I'll be honest, I never read the directions and/or suggestions on the back of the weed and feed bag. Probably why we have the problem we do. I was ready to kill all those weeds in the yard and make our yard grow the most beautiful, lush, green lawn. Little did I know that weed and feeding our lawn so frequently would not only kill those weeds, but kill some areas that would then grow bizarre grass along with mushrooms. That means we are now in the process of killing large areas of the backyard to rid the yard of the junk that's growing back there. Then we get to regrow some new grass. Yay (in the least excited voice I could ever have). Lesson learned. Take our mistake and don't go weed & feed happy or else you'll end up with a bigger mess on your hands.

2. Know your skills. Know your knowledge. 

Know that a little extra money goes a million miles.

We are excited to be homeowners. We are loving all the projects and updates we get to do around here and wouldn't change that a bit. Fortunately and unfortunately, we are a little too eager when it comes to completing projects (mostly me, but that's no surprise). When we found out we needed a new roof, we immediately planned an AMSAP (as many shingles as possible). The whole gang of family and friends were ready for a roof tear off and the roofing company was ready to come in the days after to put a new roof on. When you can save some money, why not do some things on your own, right? Well we had the drop box delivered to our house and set up the scaffolding the day before the planned tear off day...and although we knew the three roofs were steep, we didn't realize they were that steep. So that whole AMSAP, ya, it was canceled. We've decided as homeowners that although it's great to save some money, it's not worth the safety of those helping out. Sometimes the extra cost to have it done is worth more than having giant medical bills from falling off a roof.

Stay tuned for the full garden blog post so you can see how it all came together, suggestions on where to buy the garden decor and boxes, and/or repurposing that wedding decor!

Bring on that sun and enjoy another Friday!

♡The Stanleys

A Little Something We Should All Have...

We could all use a lemon or lime fruit tree/shrub. They are way too cute not to have. Who doesn't want to plant a mini lemon or lime tree in a fun pot and let it grow in the backyard?! I apparently couldn't resist. I bought myself one of each and I don't even feel selfish about it. I have the room, I have the water, and I have the time to sit and watch them grow. And the fruit on them right now are darling. They've turned into my little babies. Believe it. They don't smell like a new baby, but they do smell pretty amazing. Just imagine me with my face all up in the bush, smelling that lemon or lime smell. Even if I don't get much fruit off of it, at least I get a whiff of it every day and that's good enough for me!

And the time to get them....is now. The bigger guys are on clearance at Home Depot, if you can even rummage through what's left. And the mini meyer lemon bush...you can find those guys at Lowe's. They aren't in the fruit tree section though, so be sure to ask where they can be found.

Before you buy one consider that they do need to come inside during the winter. That may just mean putting them in your garage in a location that gets a little sunlight. Otherwise it will die and you will have just spent money on one good for a single summer's worth of sniffing. Which I guess is good enough, right? And if you're thinking about buying one but wonder if they will be too big for your space...well guess what? The mini meyer lemon is obviously mini and the dwarf lime tree can be trimmed as a tree or shaped into a bush. How lovely.

Now go get one. If it's not worth the fruit, it's worth the all-up-in-your-face kinda smell.

Happy Friday!

♥C

Flavored Cubes

I"ve been MIA. And I honestly think this may happen more than once. Sorry ahead of time. I can't quite keep up with documenting/blabbing as I can do on here. Instead I'm utilizing Instagram in full force. It's made my life way too easy in "keepin' up with the Stanwees." It may also make your life easier so you don't have to read through everything. It's just that you'll miss the little detail if you don't read. I'll leave it up to you.

You've all probably seen it all...we're housing, we're playing, we're summer timin', we're adventuring, we're doing what everybody else does with their summer. We're enjoying our Stanley life and we hope you all are enjoying every bit of life as well! 

Because I enjoy these little guys and it made for a quick blog post, I figured I'd share. As always, it's simple, it's easy, and it's quick. All three of my favorite things when in the kitchen.

So here you have it. 4 versions, 2 of which are refreshing while the other 2 are for fun. I mean, how exciting to wait until the ice cube melts to get that fruit at the end! I know, that exciting!

Ingredients

water

2-3 lemons or 2-3 limes

grapefruit

raspberries or strawberries

mint

pomegranates (bought packaged and ready to eat from Trader Joes)

*The Refreshers*

Zest one lemon or lime into one side of your ice tray. Squeeze the fresh lemon/lime juice into each little cube with the zest. If you feel the need to make it a full cube, add a little water. Then, slice a grapefruit in half (Costco has amazing ones right now). Cut out each sliver and place in a cube on the other side of the ice cube tray. Then guess what? You got it, squeeze your grapefruit to fill the cubes. Place them in the freezer and pull them out to eat or place them in some cold water to add just a hint of natural flavor!

*For Funs*

Place raspberries or strawberry slices (1-2 of them) into the cubes of half your ice cube tray. Then place pieces of fresh mint with each berry. Fill with water. Just the same, add a glob of pomegranates to each cube on the other side of the tray and fill with water. Can't get any easier than that. Let them freeze overnight. Place them in some ice tea or pop them in your water and patiently or impatiently wait until you get to eat the fruit!

There are a million other ideas out there and yes, I know it's just as easy to add all that stuff to our water. It's just that it was kinda fun making ice cubes out of all the flavors. And surely we all know what Google is and how Google works. Utilize it. You'll get a handful of ideas for fruit cubes. 

Enjoy them in this heat and stay cool!

♡T&C

You Live & Ya Learn

First time home owners make mistakes. We've made a few. Probably the first few mistakes I've ever made in my life. Ok, kidding. Maybe I've made a few more than that, but who's counting? First it was the wrong color paint for the porch, but thank goodness it's a color that blends in enough that you can't tell. But our second mistake? Doing all that landscaping design, planting everything, and then deciding to get a sprinkler system. Oops.

Now we have trampled hydrangeas, uprooted shrubs, and our driveway was demolished to get the two front yards attached (thankfully they patched it right up!). We've learned our lesson...

sprinkler system first, planting second.

Trust me, we have no problem admitting the errors we've made already. Yes, I know. It seems like step one and two would be a no brainer, but obviously we had a case of "excited homeowners" to get the yard nice looking that we jumped the gun a bit too soon. Things happen. 

We live, we learn, we move on. Now you get to learn from us.

And here's where we're at for the moment. Excited to see these guys up and running later tonight!

these poor hydrangeas and shrubs were looking much perkier before the digging

began. Now we've got flower petals and limp plants.

I'm super excited to have the sprinkler system connected to the raised bed garden area

as well as run right by the chicken coop. Life is getting way to easy for all our

watering needs!

eventually we want to put in a flower garden specifically for cut flowers on the side of the

house. Our guy is hooking us up with a mini drainage system to water the flower garden!

With the amount of yard we have, it will pay for itself in saving not just our time but

the amount of time we're spending watering. And did I mention how many times I've already

forgotten about the sprinkler in the backyard and soaked one area more than another?

I'm pretty sure it will cut down our water bill as well as be a little more earth friendly.

Stay tuned for our next adventures of the first time home buyers in the next couple months.

There's always something to share, something to learn, and fun projects to come out

of it all!

♥The Stanleys