Your Ideas Wanted Here

In the past few years I have begun to simplify some of my home decor. This has included de-doilying my end tables, coffee table, etc. I didn't realize how many I had accumulated over the years. It all began when I worked in a Victorian-style gift shop, in case you were wondering.

I have some really beautiful handmade pieces (not shown) that I am definitely keeping for another time, but I also have quite a few pretty smaller pieces that I'm wondering what to do with.

I'm thinking there must be some great crafts that I could make with these. I'm not really a *country* decor girl, so I tend to shy away from that style. But nothing really good is coming up with I google *doily crafts*...haha

So...give me your thought, leave me some links, just help in general!! There's got to be something fun I can do with all of these.

If not, maybe a *doily giveaway* is in order...LOL

Special Delivery

It all started on Sunday afternoon with my son's Lego *RC*. He (*RC*) came rolling into my room toward me with a note attached to his antenna. When I detached it and opened it, it read "I {heart} U! So precious! Then *RC* took off and it started all over again.

I now have quite the *love note* collection from these past couple of days. My daughter had to get in on the action, too, but mostly these are all from my sweet boy. I have no idea where he got the idea of sending me notes via *RC*, but I love his little creative mind.

Then Monday afternoon I remembered that way back around Valentine's day I had picked up a couple of mini mailboxes at Target's $ section. I had some idea then of attaching them to the walls by their doors or something, but had tucked them away in my closet and nearly forgotten them. So I dug them out and put their names on the fronts of them with letter stickers, tucked a note inside each and surprised them by putting them on the floor in their doorways. They LOVED them!

In fact it started an absolute frenzy of note writing between the two of them as they rushed to fill the other's mailbox. They loved the concept of putting up the flag to notify their sibling that something was in the box. (This is sort of a new concept for them since our neighborhood doesn't have traditional mailboxes...sad, I know).


I am so happy that we have found a new avenue of encouraging each other. I'm sure any of you who have kids close in age know the joys of sibling fighting. It can drive a mama nuts, I tell you!! Watching my kiddos write loving things to each other was just what I needed today. I'm looking forward to using these little boxes for lots of fun stuff!

One Thousand Gifts

0241. my mom's home cooking

0242. time spent with extended family members

0243. a new family pet

0244. watching my 7-yr-old daughter write her first *book*

0245. receiving *love* notes from my son via his remote control car

0246. air conditioning on hot summer days

0247. that word of encouragement just when I need it

0248. having a good tune stuck in your head

0249. the fun of *real* mail in the mailbox

0250. the joy of writing a friend a *real* letter

Menu Plan Monday: July 26th

This past week it was just the kiddos and me and we really stuck to our menu plans fairly well, with only a couple of minor adjustments. I don't know why it's harder for me to do that when Vince isn't home.

We have been enjoying yummy bruschetta this week with basil fresh from our garden. We also enjoyed some amazing biscuits with chocolate gravy. I thought I'd share those recipes with you this week. I tried a new-to-me biscuit recipe from Susan Branch and it was AMAZING! You have to try these!

(image from Google, because we ate ours too fast to take a picture)

Best Biscuits
(from Susan Branch)
2 cups unbleached flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1-1/4 tsp. salt
2-1/2 tsp. sugar
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
4 Tbsp. melted butter
*****
Preheat over to 425F. Put flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into mixing bowl~stir with fork. Slowly add cream, stirring constantly, just until dough comes together. Place dough on floured board and knead for 1 minute. Pat dough flat to about 3/4" thick. Cut with round 2" cookie cutter and brush both top and bottom with melted butter. Place the buttered biscuits 1" apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 15-18 min., till browned. I would imagine these would be good with just about any meal you could think of!

Chocolate Gravy
(from my friend Holley)
2 cups sugar
3 Tbsp. cocoa
3 Tbsp. flour
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 stick butter, melted
*****
Mix all dry ingredients very well. The key is to get all of the lumps out. Then mix in the liquids. Cook on medium heat while stirring constantly. Let it boil just until it thickens. If you let it cook too long it will become too thick (remember: the longer it sits the thicker it gets, too, even after you take it off the stove). Serve with hot biscuits. Just an FYI: it tastes great leftover, cold straight out of the fridge, too. Not that I've tried that or anything...

*****

As I sat down with my calendar to review what was already on the schedule for this week and also plan my menus, I realized it's going to be a very light cooking week. And I'm not complaining, it will be nice to take it easy a little.

Monday: Dinner at my parents' house
Tuesday: Mom's Nite Out with my homeschool group (kiddos w/Nana)
Wednesday: Tostadas
Thursday: {quick trip to visit my aunt & cousins}
Friday: {still visiting}
Saturday: A cookout at my aunt's (a different one) house

See? A very easy cooking week! Of course, there will be breakfasts and lunches to prepare, but those will most likely be simple.

I hope you have a fun and easy week, too!

P.S. I have been doing a little housekeeping here at my blessed life and have updated the recipe categories. Just look on the side bar to the right for the different categories or click here:

• appetizers
• breads
• beverages
• breakfast
• desserts
• main dishes
• miscellaneous
• salads
  
• soups
• veggies & sides
  

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

A Word of Encouragement

In reading from Daily Strength for Daily Needs this morning, I was struck by this passage. And I wanted to share it with you.

"We complain of the slow, dull life we are forced to lead, of our humble sphere of action, of our low position in the scale of society, of our having no room to make ourselves known, of our wasted energies, of our years of patience. So we say that we have no Father who is directing our life. So we say that God has forgotten us. So we boldly judge what life is best for us. And so by our complaining do we lose the use and profit of the quiet years. Oh, men of little faith! Because you are not sent out yet into your labor, do you think God has ceased to remember you? Because you are forced to be outwardly inactive, do you think you may not be, in your years of quiet, about your Father's business? It is a period given to us in which to mature ourselves for the work which God will give us to do".
~Stopford A. Brooke

Man's goings are of the Lord; how can a man then understand his own way?
Proverbs 20:24

If you are in a different season, a time of waiting, a time of maturing...be encouraged that God has great plans for you yet to come!!

Our Homeschool Curriculum for This Fall

I am so excited about all of our curriculum choices this year that I can hardly wait to start school again.

Don't get me wrong, I have really enjoyed our summer break as much as the kids have. At this point in our homeschooling career~the early, very hands-on years~I cannot imagine schooling year-round. Mama needs a break just as much as the kiddos do! At least this mama does!

Ever since our first year of homeschooling (2007), which was really a K4 year for The Princess, I feel as if I have been in perpetual research mode concerning curriculum. There is just so much out there and I want to choose just the right things for my kids~it can be overwhelming! I probably drive the other moms in my homeschool group nuts asking them questions about the curriculum they use, but so many of them are SO much more experienced than I am that I value their input. Other moms can be one of your greatest resources! Plus there is always new stuff coming out~not that it's always the best, but I like to look into it. That's why I so enjoyed attending my first homeschool convention this past May. It was incredibly helpful for me to browse the vendor tables and really look at their books and materials and even talk with some of them.

So after hours pouring over catalogs, a weekend at a convention and more hours browsing websites, here are our curriculum choices for this year:

Bible:

We are going to do a character study each month using the Character Sketches books from the Institute in Basic Life Principles as a one of our guides. My hubby is going to be working up these studies, focusing on a different character trait for each month. Maybe I can talk him into creating some worksheets that I can share here, if anyone is interested.
Phonics~Grammar~Reading:

The Princess {2nd grade} will be using Horizons. This is our second year to use their curriculum for this subject. I don't know how many years we will use it, but I have been pleased with it for these early years.
Mr. B {K5} will be using my very own Calvert 1st grade readers (I was homeschooled for 1st and 2nd grades and still have my readers & they're wonderful). Along with them I will be using some workbooks from the local teachers' store for short & long vowels. This is the system I used to teach The Princess to read and it worked beautifully.

Handwriting:

We will continue using the Getty-Dubay Italic handwriting series. The Princess is now on book *D* and Mr. B will start with book *A* this year. I have been very pleased with this program.
Spelling:

This is a new subject for us, since last year I didn't have an official spelling curriculum for The Princess. I found A Reason For Spelling at the homeschool convention. It looks good and I hope we will like it. It is a Scripture-based program and I like that a lot. This will be a subject just for The Princess.
Math:

We are making a switch this year in our math curriculum. I have used Math-U-See for the past two years with The Princess and have been very pleased with it. However, she is just not a math girl (I see myself in her in that regard) and really dreads math. Math-U-See is wonderful and solid, but the pages are kind of monotonous and colorless, so I'm trying the Horizons program this year with both of the kiddos (since Mr. B is very visually oriented as well). The Horizons workbooks are very colorful and varied in exercises. I'm really hoping that this will stimulate The Princess' interest in learning math.

Science:

I am very excited about starting Apologia's Exploring Creation series this year. I wish I had known about it last year. We will be starting with Exploring Creation with Astronomy and will be doing it together as a family. We will also be using the Notebooking Journal that corresponds with the book.
History:

This will be another family subject. We are starting The Story of the World series this year, beginning with Ancient Times. We will also be using the Activity Book. I'm very excited about this new choice for us as well (I am a total history buff!!).


Geography:

Yet another family subject, we used Galloping the Globe last year some and really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to digging deeper with it this year and coordinating it with our history lessons. Homeschool Creations has some free downloadable worksheets to go along with this book that we will be using again this year, too.


Music:

We will focus on a different composer each month, using Great Composers as a guide. I will also be using free downloadable worksheets from Practical Pages to help us as we learn about each composer.

I am still deciding what to do about continuing piano lessons for The Princess. They are just not in our budget right now, but I really would like for her to continue learning. My sister gave her beginning lessons last year, but has really gone as far as she can. I am considering doing it myself, with the right curriculum. If you have tried something like that and it has worked well for you, please tell me all about it!

Art:

We will focus on a different artist each month, also using worksheets from Practical Pages along with these art books as well as a few others that I've been rounding up. Used book stores are a wonderful resource for these types of books, although I did pay top dollar for the Can You Find It? book just because I thought it was so good.

We will have various hands-on activities and crafts to correspond with each artist, along with various arts and crafts projects with each season.
P.E.:

This will be another subject that my hubby will lead in. This will include such things as family bike rides, outdoor games, hiking as well as other opportunities that may come.

*****

I plan to post about homeschooling more regularly as the year goes on. I want to be as much of an encouragement to others as I can be. And I always love reading about others' homeschool plans and ideas~that is a continual source of encouragement to me. If you are homeschooling, I'd love to hear more about it in the comments!

The Daisy Shop

My friend, Karyen, over at Everything's Coming Up Daisies, has opened a new online shop: The Daisy Shop!
She's got some really cute things in there: all kinds of zippered bags, fabric notebooks, fabric notecards, tote bags...
...and she's having a giveaway!! So go visit her blog and her shop and enter for some awesome prizes while you're shopping.

One Thousand Gifts

Listing these gifts, this "counting my blessings" has been such a wonderful reminder each week as to all of the many things that I sometimes so easily take for granted. It is a worthwhile endeavor and I highly recommend it!

0231. fresh veggies~the variety and beauty of all those displays at the farmers market is amazing!

0232. the joy of watching a harvest mature in my own tiny backyard garden

0234. cooking with my hubby

0235. cooking with my kiddos

0236. the fun that a tire swing brings to two kiddos and their grandpa

0237. endless squeals of joy from all that swinging

0238. watching my kids' excitement in learning about God's Word

0239. seeing how God is working in them and growing them

0240. knowing that God is still not finished working in me and through me

Menu Plan Monday: July 19th

While this week's menu is striving to be ultra child-friendly, I am trying a new thing or two. Just so I'm not too bored in the kitchen {grin}. Vince is going to be out of town so I am cooking to please the kiddos, although I must say The Princess and even Mr. B have greatly expanded on their food likes~thank goodness! For some funny reason Mr. B is much more willing to try new things since he turned 5 last month.

Last week's dinners were somewhat haphazard and off-schedule, what with the kiddos going to VBS each night and having a couple of meals there thrown in. I guess all-in-all it was actually easier on me.

Then this weekend Vince and I hit the Farmers Market, the local cattle ranch for grass-fed beef and the organic market for organic chicken. I am very happy! I don't mind eating a little less meat and pay a little more if we can eat the good stuff. I feel so much better about feeding my children meat without hormones and antibiotics.

Plus Vince made more pickles! Can you believe it? I am not complaining at all~the last batch was amazing and this time he has tried a couple more varieties. Can't wait to try them in a day or so. Aren't they pretty?!


What's cooking this week:

Monday: Olive Garden's Pasta e Fagioli with bruschetta
Tuesday: Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Peas and Carrots
Wednesday: Tostadas
Thursday: Eggs, Bacon, Biscuits with Chocolate Gravy
Friday: Homemade Pizza
Saturday: {leftovers}

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Fifty-Nine Bottles of...Spice On the Wall (Or In The Cabinet)

I have come to a realization. I love spices.

I realized this last night when I was doing a bit of spice-cabinet-organizing and counted up nearly 60 spices and spice blends in my cabinet. I know! It's an addiction! But I really do use nearly all of them, at least occasionally.

There is definitely all kinds of stuff in there. Although every once in a while I come across a recipe that calls for a seasoning that I actually don't have. Hard to believe, isn't it?

And I know that you are supposed to clean out your old spices every six months or so and while I must admit I'm too cheap, I mean frugal, to do that with abandon, I do toss one occasionally. But it is amazing how long spices actually do last!

I do have a few personal faves. Seasoned Salt is one. I love the stuff from Tastefully Simple, although I do have a great from-scratch recipe for seasoned salt that I love, too. Smoked Paprika is another wonderful spice. I could just smell it all day long! Then there's some good old Cajun seasoning. I try never to run out of this. I add it to lots of things in place of salt and pepper. It gives an extra flavor kick that is wonderful.

Of course, I love freshly ground pepper and kosher salt~which I now keep in what used to be a jelly jar on my stovetop. So handy!

What are some of your favorite spices? And how do you most like to use them? Tell me!!

This post is linked to Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home.

Why Do I Do This To Myself?!

Do you do that, too? Worry too much?

Why?

Why do we do that?

I know maybe one reason that I do. It's a control issue. I like to be in control, I admit it. I'm not really proud of that though. And it's not like I'm really in control anyway. Sometimes I guess it just feels like it, when I can have everything planned out.

I've had nothing planned out for a couple of years now though. Let me rephrase that: I've had plans, but none of them has worked out.

I've come to realize that God has very different plans for me and my family than I would have chosen. And He has very different timing. This is hard for me, given my love of planning and scheduling.

I am slowly learning some things though.

Things about waiting on God. Waiting for His timing.

Things like His plans are always better than mine. He can truly see the *big picture*.

Things like really, and I mean really, trusting in God. In His provision.

So while this season of our life seems about 2 years too long for me, there are so many things I am learning. And things I don't yet realize that I'm learning.

All I know is that all of my worrying does absolutely no good whatsoever. That whenever I think things are not going to work out, God always comes through. That He is so faithful, even if I think He may have forgotten about us.

And I will remember to read the verse that is hanging on my bedroom wall.

Don't worry about anything;

instead pray about everything
tell God your needs and don't forget to
thank Him for His answers.
If you do this you will experience God's
peace, which is far more wonderful
than the human eye can understand.
His peace will keep your thoughts
and your hearts quiet and
at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6 & 7

Indoor Summer Fun

While summer is usually the time for outdoor fun, sometimes you just have to do something inside. We have needed some indoor stuff to do these past couple of weeks for a couple of reasons: 1) swimmers ear and 2) some days have just been too hot.

Thankfully I've had a few craft projects stashed away for just such a day~thanks to my sweet friend Paula for thinking of us when she had her big *clean out* a few months ago! She passed along a couple of projects by Crayola's Big Yellow Box (which I had never even heard of before) that were just perfect for my kiddos.

So when The Princess developed swimmers ear I knew just what to do. It was time to paint some bookends.
She and I worked on this little project together over several days. It was really fun and everything we needed was already there in the kit, thankfully. She did a great job painting and stenciling these. I only helped with some of the detail work that she wanted.

She was even more excited about finishing these because she has recently become a huge fan of The Magic Treehouse books by Mary Pope Osborne. And she really needed these bookends for her new books:)They do look adorable in her room, don't they?

Of course Mr. B also wanted to do a project, because that boy is all about the crafts, I'm telling you! At church he can hardly remember anyone's name from his class, but he is always over the top excited about craft time. It's kind of funny:)

Well, I had just the right project waiting for him as well: *Patches PJ Pouch*, which is basically a *stuffed* dog with a zipper pocked to hold your pj's and look cute on your bed.


The project here was to decorate Patches with felt cutouts that you just *peel & stick* on. Perfect for my 5-year-old. And he loves the whole pj pocket thing and is being diligent to put his pj's in there everyday. I love it!

Some other indoor, rainy day, too-hot day activities I have up my sleeve are some sewing projects, rocket-making projects, cooking projects...just to name a few.

I'd love to hear what you and your kiddos do on a day indoors!