A Back To School Dress For My Little Love

 

Can you believe that school starts in just a couple of days!. Miss O will be starting Pre-K this year (what a big girl). What better way to start a new school year than with a pretty new dress! I found this fabric at Joann's during their big Spring sale. That bright beautiful fabric sat in my studio for months just waiting for the right pattern.  I had Miss O pick out the buttons on it. I was not the least bit surprised that she picked the giant blue sparkle ones. This was such a simple dress to make. It took almost no time at all, which made for one happy mamma.  I am such an instant gratification kind of girl.

The thing that made me even happier than a quick and simple pattern was a little girl who was so excited to receive a new dress. She loves it, and can't wait to show it off to all of her friends at school.

 

A Fairy Garden

Miss O has recently entered into the world of fairies. I must admit, I find this phase super cute and fun. We have been reading fairy books and watching fairy movies.

So, my parents decided to get her the fixings for her very own fairy garden. This was a great opportunity for them to create something together, and make some memories. 

 

 We have informed Miss O that the fairies here in Southern Arizona are nocturnal. This does not keep her from going outside most mornings to check. I love getting to hear her calls of  "Fairy....come out, come out."

All you have to do is believe....right?

Black Bean Salad

An even better title for this post could be, Dinner When Everything Else Falls Through. This here folks is my go to meal.

Back in the days when DJ and I were dating, we would go to this amazing Caribbean restaurant. They made these to die for black bean salads. These salads were giant, piled high with black beans and rice, and topped with this wonderful BBQ Caribbean salsa. Oh, how I still dream about those wonderful salads! We were heart broken when the restaurant closed down. Shortly after, we started making our own versions of those black bean salads.

 

I thought I would share this recipe with you guys today.

 This is easy to make, hearty, and so delicious.

 

You will need:

 

Romaine Lettuce

Tortilla Chips (optional)

1c. Rice

1 can Black Beans

1 can Corn

Onion

Tomatoes

Cheddar Cheese

Salsa

Sour Cream

 

All you have to do is cook the rice per package directions. Chop up the lettuce, onion, and tomato. Then, start layering on your ingredients in the order listed above. The salsa and sour cream are used as the dressing. One of the great things about this recipe is its versatility.  Feel free to add as much or as little of things as you like. 

Enjoy!

Essential Oils

I recently purchased the doTERRA Family Physician Kit. I have to admit, this sat in my Amazon cart for months before I finally just sucked it up and bought it. Our family is trying hard to make strides to clean up our act so to speak. I have mentioned before that we want to make all of our health and beauty products in order to cut out as many chemicals as possible.

This kit of oils is a good mix of oils for a beginner. It includes lavender, lemon, peppermint, melaleuca, oregano, frankincense, deep blue, breathe, digestZen, and on guard. These seem to be the most popular and commonly used oils. Most of the recipes that I plan to make include these!

When I purchased the oils I also got a diffuser and the super cute oil bag pictured above. The bag was made by a friend of mine. She has a talent for paring up fabrics. When I saw the owls, I just could not resist! 

I have to say I am very pleased with this purchase. I have made some projects using my oils already, and I can't wait to share them with you.

Catching Up

Wow! Its been a long time since I last sat in front of this computer and wrote a blog post. I have missed you guys!  For those who have been wondering what happened to us I apologize. We are all fine and safe in our little part of the desert.

Since it has been so long between post, I thought today I would share with you some photos from the last few months.

We expanded our garden this year. Our front yard gets such great sunshine all day. What a great place to plant!

Of course there has been canning and cooking galore.

We celebrated a 4th birthday with our good friends and family.

A certain little cutie of ours also graduated from preschool.

We got a bike trailer! We have been wanting one for so long now, and some great fiends of ours gifted this one to us.

We hiked and explored.

We visited family at Yosemite National Park.

DJ and I also got to go on a hike all by ourselves. This was such a treat!!!

 

On top of all that there was Short Rounds surgery, painting the outside of our house, Vacation Bible School, and much more.

Now that you are all caught up in the happenings around here, I will get back to sharing lots of crafts, recipes, and DIYing.