my blessed life

Happy October!!   In honor of this glorious month I did a little round-up of some of my favorite fall recipes and crafts that have been featured here on my blog.  And now I'm in the mood to do a lot of baking ...and a lot of eating! ;) Pumpkin Cookies a Fall Batik Banner Pumpkin Pancakes homemade kettle corn Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread Pumpkin Spice Latte Chopped Apple Cake Roasted Pumpkin Seeds ***** Don't want to miss a thing here at My Blessed Life? Subscribe by email today!

I rarely have a quiet Sunday morning.  Usually Sunday mornings are filled with activity for me: getting myself ready for church (I am a pastor's wife, after all), helping my children get ready for church, preparing a quick breakfast, maybe preparing something for lunch, making final preparations to teach a children's class, making sure the dog is taken care of.  Then when all of that is finished, we jump in the car and head to church where much more activity ensues.  Sundays generally don't have a quiet moment for me until the afternoon--and sometimes even those can be busy as well. Today is different though. I am sitting here by the French doors to our back deck watching the rain come down, as I stay wrapped up in my pink Snuggie in a comfy chair with my cell phone, my Bible and some good books and the laptop for my companions while my family is all at church. I am recovering. This past week I underwent a hysterectomy.  It was a long time coming and my body ...

It has been another busy week ...thus I am doing this wrap-up on Sunday night instead of Friday afternoon. ;)  You'll forgive me though, won't you? This week we went camping for two days (and I am still cleaning up the aftermath of said camping trip), got some school work accomplished, enjoyed a family movie night, and celebrated my birthday.  It was a good week. We've been wanting to go camping since the spring and the right opportunity never presented itself.  Either it was too rainy, or too hot, or we were too busy ...it was always something.  Well, we decided it was now or next year.  So we dug out our gear (that hadn't been used in three years) and headed for the woods.  It really was perfect camping weather and we had a great time getting back to nature.  You can read more about that trip here . I can't say that we got tons of book work done this week, but there was lots of learning happening.  I actually packed a bag full of sc...

This past Monday and Tuesday we were able to sneak out of town for a couple of days at a nearby campground and enjoy getting back to nature.  That's definitely a perk of homeschooling--not being confined by a calendar!   And we had so much fun!  It was good to enjoy the quiet of the woods, although those birds and bugs and such get pretty loud in the night and early mornings sometimes! ;)  The weather couldn't have been more perfect either!  We loved the not-too-warm days and the cool nights.   And we had some pretty good eats on this trip!  (even if I did forget a few things...).  This trip was planned kind of last minute so I was throwing a camping menu together quickly by checking my camping Pinterest board and scanning my pantry.  We did pretty well.   Here's what the plan was for our two days in the woods (reality added in parentheses) : Day 1: (arrive mid-morning) Lunch: Hamburgers & Baked Beans (we w...

If I've seem a little quiet this week, it's because I've been enjoying some unplugged time with my family camping in the woods.  It was incredibly nice to get back-to-nature and just relax!  I'll be back tomorrow with more though here at My Blessed Life .  Hope you're having a great week, too! Blessings, Lora ***** Don't want to miss a thing here at My Blessed Life? Subscribe by email today!

Recently when I was making an Italian main dish for our family I had a sudden craving to have some creamed spinach on the side.  The results were so good that I just have to share them with you! Creamed Spinach 1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen spinach, cooked and drained well 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped 1 Tbsp. butter 3 Tbsp. flour 1/2 cup chicken stock 1/2 cup milk 1/8 tsp. nutmeg Salt & Pepper to taste Mozzarella cheese, shredded ***** Place butter in medium skillet; when melted, add flour.  Stir until flour is blended well with the  butter.  Pour in the chicken stock and milk.  Stir continually until mixture is thickened;  remove from heat.   Season sauce with nutmeg, salt and pepper.   Add in the cooked spinach and chopped egg to the sauce,  blending well.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and serve.   Delicious!!

Yes, I know that it's already the beginning of a new week, ...but I am just now getting a chance to wrap up this past week.  You'll forgive me for being a little slow to do that, right?   It was a really good week!  We're enjoying lovely early fall temps and the weather has been so nice.  I still feel like we're struggling a bit to get to find our school groove, but I know we'll get there.  Life doesn't stop so that you can "do school" and life has been very full lately--and it doesn't look like it's letting up any time soon.   So the laundry is piling up again and there's dust on all of the furniture and I'm sleepy by the afternoon from getting up earlier than I'm used to yet.  But that's okay.  We're loving life and I feel like I'm learning new things every day and not just the kiddos! Oh--and did I mention that I got to meet up with some of my blogging friends this week, too?!  So much fun!  You can ...