my blessed life

Yesterday I had a rare afternoon all to myself.  The kiddos went over to my parents' house right after lunch and I hardly knew what to do! I thought about going shopping, but that wasn't really what I needed to do.  So I thought why not re-visit some of my Pinterest boards and see what I can find to do!  So I did just that. One of the things I really wanted to do this week was give my kitchen floor a good cleaning ( I know, I'm weird ...but it's really been bugging me ).  So I found a homemade floor cleaner that I had pinned, you know, ages ago and decided to give it a shot.  I must admit I've never gotten down on my hands and knees to scrub my floors, just used mops and wet Swiffers.  I hope you don't think less of me.  If you do, think that no more!  Because I crawled all over my kitchen and pantry floor scrubbing away with my homemade cleaner.  My shoulders and forearms are sore to prove it!  And while my floor doesn't exactl...

We have a new project going at our house.  The Princess is making a 'knot quilt'. She received the kit for the quilt a couple of years ago actually from my mom, but we are just now getting around to making it. I think the timing is right though: her interest is there and she's able to  make all of those knots on her own.   Teaching sewing is really out of my personal realm of knowledge,  but I'm grateful for a mom and sister who sew and can  assist with projects as needed. Do you teach any kind of sewing to your children?  

This past Christmas there we received some adorable and fun handmade gifts!  I love handmade gifts!  They are always unique, from the heart, and made with love.  I just had to share these with you. Mustache mugs hand-painted by my sister~totally awesome!! (Vince's mug is a Tom Selleck 'stache and my mug is Quill's from The Cat Who... books) Hand-stenciled t-shirts with Darth Vader and Luke for the "boys" from my sister:) A hand-painted nesting nativity set for The Princess from my sister. I love this awesome lap desk that my sister made me~ it even comes with a pen holder and a clip to hold papers! (Top view) Here is the cute Mary Engelbreit fabric covering the cushion on the bottom:) The coolest collage from Vince to me with all of the places I've/we've lived. A beautiful handmade platter from a family in our church. I must say I am very inspired for next Christmas!  I've already created my "secre...