A Lovely Cozy Breakfast : Baked Oatmeal

 I love turning on the oven on these cold mornings and baking something quick and hot for my family.  And one of my very favorite breakfasts  is Baked Oatmeal.  Have you had it before?  It is wonderful food.  Warm, delicious, and downright cozy.

 My little people haven't taken too well to plain oatmeal yet.  So to get them on board with this breakfast, I call it "Oatmeal Cake".  And of course, they want "Oatmeal Cake" for breakfast.   However, for them I cut down the sugar to 1/2 cup, so it really isn't too much sweeter than the traditional bowl of oatmeal sprinkled with sugar or honey. 

To make it a true people-pleaser you'll want to use at least a cup of sugar.   :)

To Make Baked Oatmeal

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of oil (I like to use extra light olive oil)

1 1/3 cup brown sugar (or as little as 1/2 cup)

2 eggs

4 cups oats

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/3 cups milk

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

approx. 1 cup raisins

sometimes I toss in a few walnuts extra yummy crunch

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Mix all ingredients together

3. Pour into 9x13 pan, sprayed with cooking spray.

4. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

Serve in a bowl with some almond or cow's milk poured over the top. :)

Notes:

Usually I'm in a hurry to get hungry little people fed in between various other morning work, so I usually divide the mix into two 8x8 pans to cut the baking time down to about 15-20 minutes.

Serves 8-10, so we usually get two breakfasts out of one batch.  Yummy cold or warmed the next morning.

Hope you're enjoying a lovely, cozy Monday morning.

Update: The same bowl one hour later...after a disgruntled little person threw it on the floor in a defiant fit...he would not take his bowl to the sink.

So just in case you were thinking it's all cozy oatmeal and silver spoons over here...not quite.

But it is still lovely.

{Linking to Life Made Lovely Monday}

Dust Off That Library Card

If you're like me there's a nice list of decorating/crafty books in your head that you'd really like to spend a nice, quiet afternoon leafing through.  But if you're like me, you check on the prices of these books on Amazon and $40 per book adds up awfully quick.

The other week it finally occurred to me to check and see if my library carried them,

and lo and behold! they did.  So I placed holds on them and in a few days they were all waiting at my local library for me to pick them up.

Here's my first pick - Romantic Prairie Style by Fifi O'Neill.   It's a beautiful book.  And while I wouldn't really use either the word Romantic or Prairie to describe my style, I do like an eclectic look and found lots of beautiful ideas that could be incorporated in our home.

 This is sweet little book was recommended actually by Kimberly who won the Lollia giveaway a couple weeks ago.  I'm not really a seamstress - don't even own a machine, in fact.  But these projects are so inspiring... that I'm kind-of hoping a sewing machine will show up for me under the Christmas tree!

Feeling quite sure that I'd be perfectly content with this bag for the rest of my life 

{of course the fabric has quite a bit to do with that feeling}

Finally here's this book that I've been wanting to get my hands on for quite some time.  

Patina Style by the Gianetti's.  It's just completely beautiful.

 Hope perhaps you're feeling a bit inspired to dust off that library card and 

check out some of these inspirational lovelies. 

 Don't forget that cup of tea. :)

Family Photo Session: The Marr's

First of all, thank you for your kind feedback and encouragement regarding my new photography endeavor.  So far I've gotten a lovely response and have had ever so much fun.

The other day I had the privilege of photographing this sweet family.

They were a complete delight.

Kevin and Kami have two adorable little boys.

This picture makes me laugh -  the oldest was very persevering at making all kinds of funny faces in an effort to make his brother smile.

He was such a sweet big brother.

And seriously, one of the most adorably precious little boys I've ever met.

When we were thinking to be all done, he asked if we could take more pictures - who could say no to that kind of enthusiasm?   And when we were done for reals he pronounced "that was So much fun".  So yeah, I was pretty charmed. ;)

Can you believe the skin on this little one?  So sweet.

Such a lovely family.  Thank you, Marrs!

New Cavallini Calendars

 I've written before on how much I love Cavallini Calendars not only for the joy of beautiful prints to enjoy each month of the year, but also for the potential to use the prints for decoration once the year is past like I did in my front closet. 

In the past I always tried to wait to get on until January to buy a calendar at a discount, but it's been my experience that Cavallini sells out and after having to track one down in little shop in California last year, I decided I'd better just order mine in November. :)

After two years in a row of "Birds" I decided to branch out a bit and do "Butterflies" this year. 

I really do love the Birds, but I'm very happy with this one. 

 My kiddos are enthralled with these calendars.  We've already flipped through this one many times - we count the butterflies and pick our favorites, go over the days of the week and months of the years, and of course, talk about important matters like whose birthday comes in which month.

This year Cavallini came out with a Vintage Advertisement calendar, and it is so fun.

Thought about it for myself, but decided it would be a better fit as a gift for someone on my Christmas list.

 Cute.

Love this toaster for Christmas.

Here's all the 2012 Cavallini Calendars.  I got mine at calendars.com.  If you order over $25 you get free shipping and they often run a 15% off sale - you just have to watch it, or get on their email list so they'll notify you.  

Just today I went to the sight and they were offering $15 off your order if you signed up for email notices!

Now you can see it will be hard to choose!  

Perhaps this will give you an idea for some Christmas gifts too - 

have you started shopping yet?

Invite Those Mums Inside

The frosty nights are here, indeed.   Actually here in Colorado, the 10-inch snowy nights are here, indeed.  And that means it's time to invite inside those beautiful pots of mums that were previously adorning the front porch.   

We wouldn't want to let all that lovely go to waste.

Those mum plants are so bountiful in blooms they won't miss a few from the backside. So find yourself a nice little vase, or a little tin teapot will do nicely.  And let it add some cheer to your front entry.

Or make a bouquet in a turquoise jar to put next to your bed.

Just think how lovely it will be to wake up to in the morning.

And who doesn't need a little cheering bunch of mums to look at by the kitchen sink?

Now, I don't know about you, but I spend quite a lot more time admiring mums while at my kitchen sink than I did those on our little front door stoop.   Especially lately.   

And you better believe my sweetheart is appreciating that.
(appreciating that I'm spending a bit more time cleaning up, I mean ;)

This has been a very good week - already the shift in priorities has made such a tangible difference in our home.   It's not all peaches and roses, but in general I'm more focused, motivated and altogether happier in spirit.

You blessed my heart so much with all your kind, encouraging, and sympathetic comments on my last post.  It seems many of us are in the same boat, and it's heartening to know we are not alone.  And so, we press on.

{ Linking to Feathered Nest Friday & Just a Girl}

Not Enough Time? Really?

No pretty pictures, or project reveals to share today - 

just sharing what's going on in my heart.

"There's just not enough time."

"I need more hours in the day."

How many times a day do we make these statements?   I know I say them often - maybe not aloud, but under my breath, or in my head.  And it's often the excuse I readily put forth when things - important things - are left undone.

But is it really True? 

I'm going to admit to you that things around our home have been unraveling a bit.  

I find so much joy in finding, creating and sharing the everyday lovely with you.  

But sometimes getting to have this joy has been more important than taking care of my little people, my sweetheart, and our home.  In this way the everyday lovely... hasn't been so lovely.

So over the weekend my longtime good, wise friend, Gail sat down with me and went over this Time problem I seem to be having.  I want to share a little of what she shared with me. She reminded me of something I'd heard her say years ago.

God gives me all the Time I need.

And the amount He gives - 24 hours, 7 days a week - is good.

My problem is with Time Management.  I have a Calendar and Lists to do, and in order to make them work my Calendar and my Lists need to get married.

But I don't want to marry the two because I don't want to be Responsible and say "no" to stuff that doesn't fit into the calendar.

Instead I want to just blame God, "there isn't enough time".

 I'm not going to blame God any more.  He gives me all the time I truly need.

Titus 2 reminds me of my priorities:

1. To love my husband 

2. To love my children 

3. To keep my home

And while I do think that Everyday Lovely fits under Keeping my Home to some measure, for me it probably shouldn't come before cooking dinner for my family or crafting with my kiddos. 

This Doesn't mean that Everyday Lovely is being shuffled off my calendar.  But it is being moved down the list of priorities.  First on the list, is reminding my husband and my kiddos that they come first - they are my first joy.  

So when you see a post here, I pray it will be true that I have attended to these very good things God have given me to do and enjoy first.

Thanks for letting me share.
Hope you enjoy this very good day.

{Capturing Motherhood}

Color is Quite Important Indeed

 First of all, thank you for all the absolutely lovely comments on my yellow bed.

I'm so glad that color made you as happy as it made me.   I love the way colors can do that.

And today, sweet Jena at the website Involving Color  is featuring some pictures from my home.  The neat thing about Involving Color is that it is a site devoted to showing real rooms and sharing the actual paint colors that were used.  

So if you were ever curious about a paint color I've used some where about in my home, you can go find them all in one place!

So go over and get inspired by all the color...and consider whether you might 
need to make a trip to the paint store quick-quick. :)

Sister's Family: A Photo Shoot

Earlier this week I got to do a little photo shoot with Sister and her Andy and their kiddos.  

It was ever so much fun.

 

  

I loved scouting out some old painted brick and lovely chippy doors beforehand. 

But what really makes the pictures is how crazy adorable they all are. ;)

{definitely goofy-face pros}

 

*****

Now is the perfect time to squeeze in some Family Pictures in time for Christmas cards.

I will also be happy to do sessions for Babies, Children, Seniors, etc., 

as well as Engagement and Maternity photos. 

See portfolio {HERE}

So, if you live in the Ft. Collins, Loveland, Greeley area and you would like to plan a photo session just for you, email me at everydaylovelyblog@gmail.com.