Easter Art Print // FREEBIE!

While I love to decorate, I'm very picky about seasonal decor. Let me preface .... Christmas -- all bets are off and I'll go from zero to Clark Griswold before you can say HoHoHo! BUT, the rest of the time, I find it difficult to live with faux bunnies and pastels or turkeys and cornucopias. Fourth of July - it's AMURICA - that's totes ok. And Halloween, well, I make an exception cause I'm so ready for fall that I'll do anything to usher her in in style. 

All this to say, our easter decor is very limited. I did, however, make a little easter print that I'd love to share with ya'll! Download below to spruce up your kitchen or living room, and remember why we celebrate easter! Bunnies & chocolate are great, and I love me a good dyed easter egg, but we have a loving God that sent his son to die for our sins and He conquered death and rose again. A promise of what is to come for us and a testament of our all-powerful Creator! 

I hope you enjoy - tag us @HENANDCO or #henandco on Instagram so I can see what you've done with your print! Happy Monday peeps! #ilovepunnies

Spring Things

Have you guys been to Target lately?! Their easter stuff is great this year (that little porcelain bunny with the gold ears! cayooote!) but I especially love that they're getting a little bit craftier on us. I found this paper garland in the home section and instantly knew I had the perfect home for it, dangling over a chalkboard in our entry way (which I found at Home Goods a bazillion years ago). 

Fun, right?! For $16 dollars! #winning

We (as in I, because baking with kids is never as fun as it sounds #realtalk) baked a cake this week and it has served as festive and delicious dessert (or breakfast if you're the mom and make the rules) after every meal and my kids have learned in just two short days that cake is served after every meal. Bellamy finishes her lunch (tunafish sandwiches yesterday) and points and whines at the cake stand until she is served. I mean, I can't blame a girl, but easy tiger! mama is going to start hiding the cake. what kind you ask? the only kind worth making ... funfetti. #foreverandalways #tilldeathdousparty #seewhatididthere 

cake stand via Target at Valentine's Day

On another note... I'm on the hunt for some cute Easter outfits for the littles. Last Easter was the first official time we dressed Bellamy up and man, the memories overfloweth. She was just such a little peanut. Cue mom tears... what happened to my small children who sat for photos?

I've got plans to go shopping later in the week and will be sure to report my findings ... my threenager is a giant and my one year old has a giant attitude. #99problemsbutabitchaintone #hitme

Happy Hump Day! My apologies for the gross amount of hashtags used in this post. I hope you'll return. If you can't handle it, feel free to curse me out in the comments. 

Thanksgiving Outfits

Thanksgiving is really not that far away (wasn't it just 4th of July!?!) and we are working hard over here to avoid the seduction of christmas. Our christmas thanksgiving tree is up, but I'm holding off on the ornaments & tinsel until Nov. 28th (let's be honest....that's just lip service. Those puppies are going up this week...HEY SANTA!)

In any case, I've been working on finding some Thanskgiving outfits for the kids, as it always proves to be a great time for family pics and this is our first holiday season with two kids  - so naturally, they have to coordinate. #stagemom

flannel // pants // hat // mittens // doc martins

dress // sweater // moccs // headbands 

halloween house tour // 2014

I haven't seized the opportunity for Halloween decorating too much in years past, but we definitely spiced things up a bit this year. Baylor is finally at the age where he appreciates the festiveness and that's all the motivation I need to get things a little spooky. My goal when decorating for the fall was to keep it festive, but make it easily transitional into Thanksgiving. I lobbied tough for the burlap ghosts, skeletons & cobwebs out front, BUT, Collin put the kabosh on that. Wait until he sees the Christmas trees arrive on November 15th. sorry, honey! (isn't life about picking your battles? halloween is great, but christmas is my bread & butta, baby).

we have a large vintage chest for toy storage, and this is what it's filled with. 

we are single-handedly supporting hot wheels. 

the kids loved doing these (free downloads here!) and they add a fun little festive touch to the kitchen!

how fun is this banner?! $8 at TARGET! I mean are you serious? Both the cat print & the subway print can be found in our shop! 

we plumped up the sofas with lots of cozy pillows, neutral colors and textures, and extra blankies for cold nights! we cobwebbed the stairs for a little extra spookiness (although that shiz is a pain in the ass to decorate with and makes vacuuming a real doozy...)

these jars live on our island and hold candles, basil, treats and sometimes flowers! 

fall! I could just kiss it!

you guys - it's getting freakishly FALL over here and I can't say I'm mad about it. Collin's been gone all week for work and I've taken the liberty to have a little love affair with all things fall while he's away.

First off - if you haven't tried an ICED pumpkin spice latte - I dare you. it's all things divine and doesn't make you sweaty & hot (cause i'm pregnant, hormonal and hotter than a whore in church most days).

anyways... I've seen lots of super fun recipes on pinterest lately for all sorts of fall deliciousness, but I typically just resort to krispy kremes sprinkle donuts because A. they have a drivethrough B. I don't have to make them and C. they have festive halloween sprinkles & they're SO delish. BUT... I had a little time on my hands this week so I thought I'd put them to work.

With a little inspiration from the local chocolate factory, I whipped up some Apple Pie Caramel Apples. They're every bit as delicious as they sound and SUPER easy.

We hit up another pumpkin patch, and while I won't bore you with all the details, I will just bore you with a couple photos ... wink. 

 

Have a fabulous FALL weekend and we'll be back on Monday with a little nursery inspiration board! You can't wait ... right? oh and maybe a little wreath/front porch update - the beauty has been purchased and hung, so keep an eye out for her debut!! 

the pumpkin patch!

While Collin was busy getting his knee operated on this week (a torn meniscus - so lame!), Baylor and I met up with our bffs and headed to the pumpkin patch... in the pouring rain. But really, what else do you expect in October in Seattle and what else would you want? I would cry if I had to go to the patch in shorts & a tank. Bring on the rain boots, the jackets & the beanies - it just feels right!

Baylor & Grif are only a year apart and getting to be so fun together. Favorite activities include feeding eachother and copying everything eachother does. And notice below how Baylor is keeping a healthy distance from the turkey - he wasn't quite sure what to do when it gobbled at him. 

This child is ALL boy. I bought rain boots for him due to his fascination (read: obsession) with mud and dirt. So sitting in a mud puddle didn't faze him or his heavy brown diaper (not poopy, you sicko).  

Most photos lately turn out somewhat similar to this - baylor trying to escape my death grip and being so annoyed that I want a photo. I mean, how unrealistic of me! He has places to be and mud to soak in. I'm sure he's thinking "get over you & your selfies, mom! there's more to life than instagram!"

RECIPE // TORTILLA SOUP

While we were MIA through the month of August...
We vacationed, spent time in the sun, packed up our whole house and moved into a new house!,
attended weddings & celebrated a wedding anniversary of our own!

September has finally arrived and I'm knee-deep in college football, routines, pumpkin flavors and fall candles (hello LEAVES from Bath & Body Works). I live for this time of year and have patiently awaited it's arrival for weeks. We've finally moved in to our  new house and the Crockpot is making its debut tonight with Tortilla Soup.

I kid you not, this is THE easiest, most delicious version you've ever had. Delish with chips & guac, a little mexican rice or warm, gooey quesadillas on the side!

the story of a young casanova

First off, for those of you who watch the Bachelor...can I just get an AfreakinMEN that Tierrable is GONE. Cheers to no more heinous eyebrows. Moving right along ...  

One of my BFF's (yep, here we go again) got married last year to a Mr. Casanova, making her Mrs. Casanova. (You're probably wondering where the heck this is going...bare with me) How legit would it be to be  Mrs. Casanova?  Romance, luxury, love, mystery. Right? Whatevs. I wonder if the lady at the bank thinks she's married to a fierce spanish speaking casanova? Funny thing is, it's true! He's quite a charmer, that Nick.

ANYWAYS. Somehow, this post about my baby's valentines became about a hustling casanova. Ok, back to our agenda.

BAYLOR is what I'd like to call a young casanova. He is the only boy among heaps of little baby ladies. We had SO many friends give birth to baby girls last year and Baylor was the lone gent. SO, in honor of his manly baby status and the fact that he has lots of little girlfriends, Valentine's cards seemed like the perfect idea. Not to mention, we're trying to bring chivalry back around here (not sexy, chivalry, JUSTIN). Side note: How good was JT's performance at the Grammy's? I was about to go all home wrecker on Jessica Biel and make him mine! 

Baylor and I worked very hard on this little project and thanks to his teething, he had lots of extra drool to seal the envelopes nice & tight. Makin' lemonade out of lemons around here, people.

FIRST, we had to come up with a photo concept, so we made a charming little onesie.

Getting a photo of him in the onesie where he wasn't lunging forward for a piece of fuzz on the floor was likely the biggest challenge of them all. Even greater than preventing him from eating everyone's valentines.

Once we got the [not so] perfect photo, I pulled together a little somethin' and VOILA, we had valentines!

Off to all the little ladies they go! (And the Nanas, Gammys & Aunties!)

Valentine's Fluff

We're a mere 3 days away from Valentine's Day ... that's SO not as exciting as 3 days from Christmas. What a rip. BUT, celebrating love is still important and I suppose we can roll with it. 

We'll be spending our V-Day with two of our BFFs (yep, you can still have BFFs in adult life, not just middle school) on the beach in Cali ... romantic, right? ;) I envision it going a little something like this: Baylor sleeping soundly in the pack & play inside, the four of us in the hot tub drinking wine, eating some snacks (because snacks are a vital asset to any good time), and telling hilarious jokes, because really, who can resist a good joke. Right? 

The chances of that happening exactly as described are slim to none, but i'm a dreamer, baby! 

Anywho, we'll be leaving our humble home behind as we embark on our vaca, and she's a bit sad, as we've decorated her for VDay and she'll have to spend the evening alone, in the dark & cold. Let's be honest, she's in good company...Raise your hand if you're spending Valentine's Day alone! Yep, thought so. no shame in your game. 

Here's a few little updates around the ol' homestead to heat things up in this season of  l o v e (say that in a man's voice, preferably Matthew McConoaughey)

 A little felt garland for a sprinkle of pink. These are super easy to make! 

Pillows are a simple way to add color to any room, and especially great for when you can only handle pink for a short time! 

I love you the most card, by HEN & CO.

I had to come up with a quick gift and decided to give these napkins a little spruce with a heart. I may add some of these to my Etsy shop, they turned out so cute! 

 

Always have to updated the chalkboard for the seasons ... easy, erasable and quick!