If you're looking for a super easy and WAY cute Easter project look no further. The talented and generous Amber Miller has created a fun treat for for her kiddos to take to school and she's sharing it with all of us!
I'm positive that her children's classmates and teachers think she's pretty awesome. And, I can confirm it, she IS pretty awesome.
Ready for easy? A couple of Peeps are tucked in a cellophane bag with some coordinating Easter grass and tied up with her label and a sweet ribbon. Cute overload. You can print the label pdf HERE.
Thank you for sharing Amber! We can't wait to see what you come up with next!
Welp, we are officially 38 weeks. In the 'safe zone.' Ready to go. So...dooteedoo, what now?
We have been on edge for months after a strict bed rest restriction at 20 weeks. Relatively speaking, we've made wonderful progress throughout the pregnancy. We were so happy to make it to 24, 28, 32 and 36 weeks. We were a bit nervous when a growth scan showed that his abdomen wasn't growing as quickly as it should and it was even predicted that we would induce at 37 weeks if that measurement didn't increase.
We arrived at our 37 week growth scan and we were READY. The house was clean, the laundry was done, Elia was with her "Ooma and Oompa", the dog was boarded, and the hospital bag was in the van. We were even able to enjoy a wonderful lunch out on a patio on a beautiful 80 degree KC day. When we checked in with the doctor we giggled and laughed that there was NO WAY the baby was coming that day, we had prepared too much. So when the doc told us that the baby had had a growth spurt and was nice and cozy we were SO happy but knew that we'd be heading home rather than checking in. We knew he was exactly where he needed to be and we were so thankful that he was doing so well but now that we were officially 'full-term' maybe a bit disappointed we'd have to wait awhile longer. When we got back to the van we looked at each other and said, "Well, now what?"
Now, rinse and repeat and you'll be caught up to today's appointment at 38 weeks. House is clean, laundry is done, Elia's with her grandparents, Jackson has been boarded and our baby boy is just as content as can be hanging out in his womb. The only difference? Today it's not 80 degrees. Nope, that was just a teaser day--today KC is going to get slammed again with another snow and ice storm. Sounds like baby-havin' weather to me...yes?
Now that it's REALLY safe to meet our little guy I'm wondering if he's going to make an appearance this weekend. Who would have thought that after trying to keep him in there so long that we'd be at a point that we may have to kick him out!
In other news, his big sister is getting anxious to meet him too and has decided it's time to announce his name.
The Tea on Tuesday Social Hop is hosted by Jessica at Boys Oh Boys and Haley at Team Ibrahim, with this week's special co-host Jill from Frugal Plus. The Tea on Tuesday Social Hop, is a multiple social link-up for everyone to meet new people, make new friends, and grow your audience! There are 4 social link-ups for you to join, including: Your Blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!
Our little Elia is about to take on a new role as "Big Sister" and we couldn't be more excited for her. Our son is due to make an appearance any day and we have been hyping the big event to her for months. At just 20 months we're positive that she has no idea what is about to happen but we're confident that she'll make him an awesome big sister.
I've known for a long time that I wanted to create something special for her to open at the hospital shortly after meeting her little brother for the first time. Even though we know that the true gift is the gift of a sibling it'll be fun to have something special for her that she'll be able to enjoy and hopefully it will keep her occupied during the long days at the hospital.
The first thing I knew that I wanted was a personalized tote bag that would hold her gift. I love that it can be reused and she can haul around her books and activities for years to come. I also wanted to include personalized t-shirts for both of them. Whenever I want anything personalized I contact my friend Jesi at The Polka Dot Lollipop. She is so talented and so reasonably priced. She made Elia's sweet dress for her Olivia themed 1st Birthday party. If you "Etsy," and if you don't...you should, head on over and favorite her shop so that you'll have it the next time you're looking for something special.
The "Little Mister" shirt has his name and initial too, and trust me, it's super cute--but we're keeping his name hush-hush!
We also included a couple of big sister books, a Melissa and Doug peg board activity, and a big sister hair bow.
Here are all the gifts, including the little guy's cute onesie, ready to be opened!
Stay tuned as our team grows! We can't wait to update you all with our big news.
The Tea on Tuesday Social Hop is hosted by Jessica at Boys Oh Boys and Haley at Team Ibrahim, with this week's special co-host Katherine from Irish Italian Blessings. The Tea on Tuesday Social Hop, is a multiple social link-up for everyone to meet new people, make new friends, and grow your audience! There are 4 social link-ups for you to join, including: Your Blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!
The Tea on Tuesday Social Hop is hosted by Jessica at Boys Oh Boys and Haley at Team Ibrahim, with this week's returing co-host Lanaya from Raising Reagan. The Tea on Tuesday Social Hop, is a multiple social link-up for everyone to meet new people, make new friends, and grow your audience! There are 4 social link-ups for you to join, including: Your Blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!
The Tea on Tuesday Social Hop is hosted by Jessica at Boys Oh Boys and Haley at Team Ibrahim, with this week's returing co-host Brani Laine from That's Just Lovely. The Tea on Tuesday Social Hop, is a multiple social link-up for everyone to meet new people, make new friends, and grow your audience! There are 4 social link-ups for you to join, including: Your Blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!
The Tea on Tuesday Social Hop is hosted by Jessica at Boys Oh Boys and Haley at Team Ibrahim, with this week's special co-hosts Christine and Janene from More Than Mommies. The Tea on Tuesday Social Hop, is a multiple social link-up for everyone to meet new people, make new friends, and grow your audience! There are 4 social link-ups for you to join, including: Your Blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!
The Tea on Tuesday Social Hop is hosted by Jessica at Boys Oh Boys and Haley at Team Ibrahim. The Tea on Tuesday Social Hop, is a multiple social link-up for everyone to meet new people, make new friends, and grow your audience! There are 4 social link-ups for you to join, including: Your Blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!
There are just a few simple rules:
1. Follow the hosts, Jessica via Networked Blogs and Haley via GFC (if you can) or RSS, Facebook, and Twitter.
Jessica: Blog - Facebook - Twitter
Haley: Blog - Facebook - Twitter
2. For every social link-up you enter, visit at least 3 others from that link-up and follow them.
3. HAVE FUN!!
(*Note: When liking on Facebook, you MUST do this from your personal page. It does not count as a "like" if you like from you blog Facebook page.)
Interested in Co-hosting the Tea on Tuesday? Contact Haley at haleyibrahim {at} gmail {dot} com.
Ready to hop?
The Tea on Tuesday Social Hop is hosted by Jessica at Boys Oh Boys and Haley at Team Ibrahim, with this week's special co-host Amy from Consider Me Inspired! The Tea on Tuesday Social Hop, is a multiple social link-up for everyone to meet new people, make new friends, and grow your audience! There are 4 social link-ups for you to join, including: Your Blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!
Tonight's dinner consisted of a new recipe via Pinterest and courtesy of Savory Sweet Life. When I came across this pin (see below) I KNEW I had to try it. And, I'm so glad that I did! We're big fans of Chicken Marsala, and seriously, what's not to love? I've never tried to replicate it at home but this recipe is super easy, fast, and tasted pretty darn delicious.
I reduced the sauce as the recipe suggested but next time, and there WILL be a next time, I'll probably reduce it longer and even let it 'rest' a bit to thicken up a little more. We paired it with some yummy mashed potatoes, green beans, and a soft dinner roll.
Review: It was so, so, so good. The family loved it and I was able to have a delicious dinner on the table in 30 minutes from start to finish. I'll definitely be adding this one into our rotation. If you try it I'd love to hear what you think of it!
Those of you that know me know that I have tons (yes, literally tons) of hair on my head. It's long and thick and not in the beautiful Hollywood or Real Housewives of (fill in the blank) kind of way. And, as an added bonus to my double crown (go ahead click the link, I'll wait), natural wave (only in one weird spot), cowlick (who named it that anyway?), I have hair that gets really dry in the winter. So while 'wasting time' on Pinterest I came across a pin from How Does She? using coconut oil as a natural hair conditioner. Hmmm...intriguing.
Now, this wasn't the first time I had heard someone singing the praises of coconut oil. I've heard of it used for cooking, face and skin moisturizers, baby needs (diaper rash), and then here as a hair conditioner. Subconsciously I had been keeping an eye out for a good deal so that I could give it a go, for one of the methods mentioned above. So when I strolled past an endcap at Costco and spotted a 54oz jar of it for under $20 bucks I decided to give it a whirl.
I brought it home and sat it on the kitchen counter. And it sat. And it sat. And it sat, until today. I posted this morning on our Facebook page that I was going to test a Pinterest tip so that I would be held accountable to actually do it! This afternoon I grabbed a ziplock bag and used a spoon to scoop out a handful of the coconut oil and headed upstairs to give it a go. If you've never seen coconut oil it's actually a solid that melts to an oil at body temperature.
Once upstairs I followed How Does She?'s instructions exactly. Let's me just say that this stuff smells SO good. Like you're bathing in a giant pina colada.
First I brushed out my hair then I put a small amount of the gunk in my hand and rubbed them together to create an oil. Then I rubbed the oil into my hair. I started at the ends and worked up to my roots covering every.single.strand. Once my hair was coated I wrapped it up, held it in place with hair clips and put on a shower cap (courtesy of some hotel). At that point I sat down and watched a cartoon with my daughter as she looked at me funny and sniffed me. After about 30 minutes I jumped in the shower and let the steam do it's job for a few minutes before washing my hair two times. I always use conditioner when I wash my hair but didn't this time as I wanted to see what it could do it on it's own.
So my review?
It works. It totally, works. I do believe that I'll repeat this each time I wash my hair for a few times and then just do it every so often. But, after just one time I can definitely tell a difference.
I will say that while you are waiting have a hand towel handy as I did notice it 'melting' a bit down my face. Not a ton but enough to wipe away. And, as an added bonus...my hands are super soft!
If you have a membership to Costco and would like to try it out it's the cheapest price I have found. If not, they do sell it on Amazon and I'm including a link for you to check it out.
Tonight's dinner was another Pinterest find. I double-heart-love-it when I find a recipe that's easy, inexpensive, and it gets good reviews from the family. We had a busy day planned so we needed a simple dinner that could be on the table in minutes after we returned home (totally relatable, right?).
This recipe came from Margie Hawks, and was posted on Dahl's website. I'm not familiar with Dahl's but because of the magic of Pinterest I was led to the recipe. Thank you, Pinterest. You can find the original recipe HERE. We paired it with a yummy side salad with some of our leftover homemade dressing.
I followed the lasagna recipe exactly, except for two very minor changes. I added a can of sliced mushrooms and I had a bag of Kraft Italian 5-Cheese mix that I subbed for the parmesan since I had it on hand. I strongly believe that this recipe is very forgiving. So, if you have a favorite sauce you'd like to sub, I'm sure that would be fine. I will say that the timing and 'cooking instructions' were spot on as it made delicious and tender pasta. Also, adding the top layer of cheese at the very end and turning off the cooker made the steam melt the cheese perfectly. What a great idea!
Our Review: Quick to assemble, easy to make, and delicious. We'll definitely be adding this to our rotation. Dinner success! Click on the picture to pin it!
First, I'd like to send BIG love to my hubby for making the BEST dinner last night. Seriously, it was fan-fricken-tastic. After a long and tiring week, he made us:
Beef Tenderloin (grilled to a PERFECT medium rare)
Scallops pan-seared in a garlic infused olive oil
Garlic mashed potatoes
AND
Alaskan King Crab Legs
Seriously, I just about died. My tombstone would have read:
Haley Ibrahim
19??-2013
~She ate too d@mn much.~
I would have taken pictures, but there was just NO time. I was shoveling it into my swollen preggo face faster than he could say "dinner's ready!"
TIP: Have you ever wanted to buy crab legs but weren't sure how to cook reheat them if they are pre-steamed? Our favorite way is to simply wrap them in damp paper towels, place them in a glass casserole dish and microwave them (yes, microwave) for a couple of minutes. The damp paper towels create steam and what you get is delicious crab meat that isn't rubbery or watery. Just be careful not to overcook.
The real purpose of telling you about our meal is to tell you how we incorporated the little bit of leftovers into our meal tonight. Knowing I'd have to fix SOMETHING for dinner tonight and realizing we had a little baggie of yummy crab meat I headed on over to Pinterest. It didn't take long to decide to continue our weekend of indulgence and make some Fettuccine Alfredo and a big garden salad with our favorite homemade dressing.
I'll start by saying that we rarely eat Alfredo sauce. It's heavy and hardly healthy. BUT, with everything in moderation and pairing it with a salad makes it a very enjoyable treat. Now, if you've never made the sauce homemade and insist that it's easier to just pick up a jar at the store, listen up because I'm talking to YOU. Put down the mediocre white stuff and promise me you'll make it homemade ONCE. It's not hard, it doesn't take long, and it tastes so, so much better. I promise.
The Curvy Carrot has one of my favorite recipes. It's easy, tasty, and inexpensive. Check out her recipe and give it a try! I will say that it does get a bit of a kick from the red pepper flakes. Our family LOVES spice so it wasn't a problem. I would definitely modify the amount based on your taste. Once the dish was complete I put our leftover crab meat on top and dug in! Delish! This would also be fantastic with grilled chicken, shrimp, or whatever else you have on hand.
Our salad was simple and had our favorites: romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, black olives, purple onion, red pepper, and croutons. We made our favorite homemade dressing, which is a version of Olive Garden's recipe. In my opinion, CopyKat Recipes nailed it! So, so, so good!
I really hope you'll give these two recipes a try and let me know what you think!
The Tea on Tuesday Social Hop is hosted by Jessica at Boys Oh Boys and Haley at Team Ibrahim, with this week's special co-host Liz from The Pepper and Her Pups! The Tea on Tuesday Social Hop, is a multiple social link-up for everyone to meet new people, make new friends, and grow your audience! There are 4 social link-ups for you to join, including: Your Blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!
Psst! Did you miss us?! We did not host the Tea on Tuesday Social Hop for the past two weeks because of the holidays BUT we are BACK and ready to rock...are you ready to roll?
The Tea on Tuesday Social Hop is hosted by Jessica at Boys Oh Boys and Haley at Team Ibrahim, with this week's special co-host Sara from All in an Iowa Mom's Day! The Tea on Tuesday Social Hop, is a multiple social link-up for everyone to meet new people, make new friends, and grow your audience! There are 4 social link-ups for you to join, including: Your Blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!
TGIF, and all that jazz! So, so, SO excited to say that I am this week's More Than Mommies Mixer Life of the Party! Wahoo! This fun title comes with many honors and benefits with my most favorite being the co-host of the More Than Mommies Mixer! Can I get a whoop-whoop?
So, if you are already a reader of Team Ibrahim, scroll to the bottom and check out the other blogs that are linking up and you will be sure to find some amazing bloggers that you'll love!
If you're coming here from another blog that is participating in the Mixer--welcome! I really hope you'll kick your shoes off and stay awhile.
Still here?
Yay! So happy!
Our 'team' is made up of my husband and me, our 18 month old daughter, our ornery husky-beagle Jackson, and our sweet baby boy who will joining us in the spring. This here bloggity-blog is all about DIY, Crafts, Recipes, Organization, Home Management, and anything else that I either think you'll love or will make your life easier (and hopefully both).
So, back to the Mixer...
Here are the "rules" - (Don't make us post bouncers at the door.)
Follow the Life of The Party - Haley at Team Ibraham is our lucky tweeter in the spot this week. (we choose a different Life of The Party EVERY week! All you have to do to be in the running is Tweet about us using the #MTMmixer hashtag RIGHT NOW! - Tweet
Follow our Mixologist - This week our Mixologist is Amy at Adorable Chaos. Every week we will choose one participant to get our party started at the #4 slot. All you have to do is link up (and follow the "rules") to be considered!
Follow the person directly BEFORE you on the hop!
Finally, we ask that you post one (or both!) of the following buttons in either a post or on your sidebar to let other people know where you are partying today!
Well, it's January 2nd which means a couple of things; it's time to get back to work and time to set goals for the new year. When I think about where I want to be this time NEXT year it can get quite overwhelming. I'm also just not sure how I'll handle the rest of my pregnancy and the addition of our baby boy in April. To be honest, all my 'plans' can and probably will change drastically once we finally meet him.
BUT, for planning sake I'm going to take it one month at a time and see where it takes us.
My Plan for Jan(uary)!
I'm making January all about organization. Now, keep in mind, it's a real bugger to have the nesting instinct AND be on bed rest but I'm doing my best to take it easy while completing small projects. I also hope to pin and re-post some of the best organizational ideas on the interwebz for YOU! Hopefully, you'll find something that inspires you to tackle a project or some area in your home that has been bugging you.
Some of my 'hot spots' include:
Pantry
Linen closet
Elia's closet -- I need to pack away the clothes that are too small (sad face)
Find a solution to organize Elia's toys (a never-ending battle)
Find a solution to organize Elia's accessories
Photos -- They are a digital mess and I need to order more often (who's with me?)
What are your hot spots? Do you have any organizational areas that you need help with? I would love it if you would leave a comment and let me know what you plan to tackle this month!
2012 has come and gone and this year has been one for the books blog. I'd like to take a minute to reflect on some of our favorite highlights of 2012. What was your favorite moment of 2012?
January brought a fun family trip to California. Elia and I joined the hubs on a business trip for a week in LA. We stayed at the beautiful Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, the week AFTER the Golden Globes were held at the hotel. I'm pretty sure that will be my one and only time that I'll ever be so close to Hollywood royalty. We made quick trips to Malibu, Santa Monica and had a stroll down the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In March, Elia and I joined my parents and niece and nephew for a Spring Break trip to Omaha, NE for a visit to the Henry Doorly Zoo and the Omaha Children's Museum. We had such a great time and Elia loved seeing all of the animals and playing at the museum.
Also in March, we celebrated my father's retirement. We are STILL so excited for him and are so happy he's enjoying himself and making the most of his retirement.
In April we celebrated Easter by attending the Easter Egg hunt in my hometown and then spent the day at the Deanna Rose Farmstead. Elia loved seeing the animals and we all enjoyed the beautiful spring weather.
In May, we made a trip back to Ohio to celebrate our nephew's Bismillah. We had a wonderful time with family and are so proud of Jibreel.
While we were in Ohio for the Bismillah we also celebrated Elia's 1st birthday (early) with Zameer's side of the family. This short little video just cracks me up. As you can hear in the background there's lots going on but none of it is going to distract her from enjoying her first piece of cake!
I started this blog in June as I thought it would be a wonderful way to chronicle our adventures as new parents and my beloved DIY and craft projects. Oh, and I like to cook too so I thought I'd throw some recipes in the mix (see what I did there?). I honestly thought that I might have a few family members check in every once and awhile but never in my wildest dreams did I expect to 'meet' so many wonderful friends and make so many connections. I'm so glad that I started this new adventure look forward to what's to come.
This was one of my favorite (and first) DIY projects of 2012. I converted a garage sale baby changing table to a fun beverage cart for our new deck. Check out how I did it HERE.
July? July was a doozy. July brought Elia's 1st Birthday Party and what a fun time that was! We had an Olivia themed party, and even did it on a budget. Check out our posts on Party Deco on a Dime and Party Eats on the Cheap for budget friendly party ideas.
This next project was easily my most favorite of 2012. We took a picture of Elia every day for her first year. Babies change so much and so quickly that we wanted to capture it and keep those changes forever. She truly is our miracle baby. It was a ton of work but totally worth it. I can just see her now rolling her eyes at her 16th birthday wondering why we're embarrassing her. :)
Exactly THREE days after hosting Elia's first birthday party we were scheduled for another embryo transfer hoping to give Elia a little brother or sister (or maybe one of each). We were so excited to find out just nine days later that we were indeed pregnant and that the procedure was successful. We are due April 4th and could not possibly be any more excited. Boy or girl? Click HERE to find out.
As if July couldn't have been any more exciting, I added one more element. I started doing independent contract work for V3 Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency. This was and still is such a wonderful opportunity--I absolutely love it and my entire team!
In September, I was able to attend the Bloggy Moms Conference in Cincinnati and met so many wonderful women, some of which I had already 'met' through blogging. I learned so many new things and have started to incorporate them into my blog and social media strategy. I never imagined that I would even have a 'social media strategy' just two months into blogging!
October brings one of our favorite weekends of the year...The American Royal BBQ competition! I have been planning a BBQ post for quite some time, it really is over due. Stay tuned!
We were so fortunate to be able to travel to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico to celebrate the wedding of our dear friends Paul and Danielle. We had such an amazing time with this group of old and new friends and made memories that will last a lifetime.
Halloween happened to fall while we were there and we had a super fun costume party! Click HERE to find out more about our costumes.
Meanwhile, back at home and with Ooma and Oompa, Elia trick-or-treated as the sweetest little ghost ever!
Christmas was absolutely wonderful (magical, even). And we shared some of our highlights HERE.
We have so many things to be thankful for, and 2012 although full of challenges, was also full of so many beautiful and rewarding moments. We sincerely hope that 2012 was all that you dreamed it would be and we can't wait to experience all that 2013 has to offer.
