my blessed life

New throw pillows for our master bed {my hubby is going to be just thrilled ...heehee} ! Yea! I've been wanting some for a while, but couldn't justify a frivolous purchase right now. But I got a gift card to Target for Christmas and when I saw this set for $8, I couldn't pass it up. They came tied together with that pretty ivory grosgrain ribbon. When I took them apart, I thought it would be fun to cut the ribbon in half and tie them back up~like a present. To me:)

We have recently begun a new geography study with the book Galloping the Globe . It's a great book, by the way, I think we're going to have tons of fun learning with it. It's categorized by continents and we have started in North America. Since we spent the entire fall on America, we have begun this study in Canada. So for the past week and a half we've been learning all sorts of fun facts about our neighbors to the North. Today we hit the library to look up some more books on Canada, worked a puzzle of Canada and made a delicious Canadian treat to eat. I was blessed to have the most awesome roommates in college~two of which were Canadians. So I've been schooled on lots of things Canadian:) One of my former roomies shared this favorite recipe with me after I fell *in love* with it on one of my trips to visit her. You should definitely try them~they're super easy, but look complicated, and taste divine!! I even found some fun, educational trivia about the...

0011. flannel sheets 0012. making paper snowflakes with my kiddos 0013. a sweet hubby who takes out the trash 0014. Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Coo king 0015. reading bedtime stories to my children 0016. my sister 0017. comfort food: soup! 0018. a paid-off vehicle (that I like!) 0019. the best parents a girl could have~whom I still call *mama* and *daddy*:) 0020. getting to start over each morning with a fresh day

Well, we are only one week into the *eat from the pantry* challenge and I already have quite the list started of things that we are out of. Granted, I don't stockpile so I didn't have massive resources to draw from for this challenge. But other than making a trip to the store for things like milk, butter and eggs, I'm hoping to hold out for another week before I do full-blown grocery shopping. This week I only sent Vince to the store once: for milk and for sausage--I thought I had some sausage, but was mistaken and I needed it for a certain recipe that I was making for my parents. It has been SUPER cold here in the South lately, as in single digits !! Not that I'm complaining~I actually am enjoying being able to wear my sweaters/hats/scarves/coats outside without sweating:)) We haven't seen much in the way of real winters in the South for several years. I'm really hoping for some more snow! AND all of this cold weather put me in the mood for soups an...

Do not keep the alabaster boxes of your love and tenderness sealed up until your friends {and family} are dead. Fill their lives with sweetness. Speak approving, cheering words while their ears can hear them and while their hearts can be thrilled by them. ~Henry Ward Beecher words in{} added by me Timely words to ponder as I prepare for my uncle's funeral today.

This week I was reminded once again of the fragility of life and how the most important things in life aren't things. My uncle~the youngest of my mom's siblings and the only son~died very unexpectedly. He apparently had a heart attack in his sleep and never woke up. He was only 60. While everyone knew he wasn't in the greatest of health, his death has shocked the entire family. This tragedy has given me pause to think. To think of how I end each day. What is my attitude toward my children? Is is impatient and tired or is it loving and kind? Was I so consumed with getting the house clean that I didn't make time to enjoy my children? Did I make the effort to kiss my husband goodnight before I drifted off to an exhausted sleep? What was the last thing I said to my parents, my sister, my friends? What if I didn't wake up in the morning? How would my last moments be remembered? The Bible tells us how short our lives are in the big scheme of things, just a vapor....

Recently I tried out a new craft idea~and it was SO much fun!! And extremely frugal, too. That's always a bonus, right? So here we go: 1. Take your basic composition notebook (purchased at the back-to-school sales for .99 each). 2. Go to your craft supplies and get your Mod Podge ready, along with a good paintbrush. 3. Look through all those scrapbook papers you've been randomly collecting and choose some. 3. After choosing your paper for the cover of your book and trimming it to fit, start *painting* the cover with the glue. Next, give the back of your paper a good coat of glue, too. (I left the binding uncovered so that I could use a contrasting paper there later on). 4. Glue it on! Remember to smooth out any air bubbles under the paper. 5. Flip the cover open and make a few cuts on the corners so that they will fold over nice and neat, then add a little more glue to the edges of the inside cover and a little more to the paper edges. 6. Fold them over and press...