see you soon

everyone else is probably just as busy as I am but I just wanted to drop by here (virtually) and say (type) that i have not abandoned this blog (to anyone who is listening (reading) ;)

we have had some sickness, tragedy, vacations, and general holiday business that is keeping my mind and body focused on other things, with no creativity or time left to write here.

see you soon. 

Christmas Favorites

I picked this jewel up at Marshall's. Instead of a cat lady I'm sort of a wreath lady. I just paused and counted the number of wreaths in my home that I can see sitting here at the kitchen table and let me just tell you, that number is in the double digits.

Remember these old Christmas light bulbs from this post? That was at the beginning of August and I was bummed because it was going to be foreverrrr before I got to decorate with them. Here we are folks.

I showed you my beloved red sleigh last December when my grandparents gave it to me (Levi). It looks nice on our entertainment center. I hope to get it down in the next few days and snap some pictures while Levi still fits in it.

Nothing new here. Same kitchen hutch and I threw some red beaded trees, garland, and rice lights up for Christmas. I have a love for rice lights. I'm aware that they were banned a couple of years ago, then brought back, and now I don't know what the legal market status is on them. But I have about 10 strands of them. There is no way a picture could capture the way that they twinkle (in your choice of 8 different settings), but here is one attempt,

...and here is another.

I'm aware that my posts have slowed down lately. For now, and especially this coming year, I have priorities far greater than the internet. No plans to shut it down though. I do enjoy communicating and sharing with family and friends this way.

I hope everyone takes time to slow down and enjoy this great season.

Simple Peanut Butter Cookies

I got a cookbook made by a local church as part of a wedding gift. I don't remember who, but someone commented that it wasn't a very exciting gift, but I have used the heck out of that cookbook the last 5 years. There are some great "staple" and basic recipes in it that are now some of my staples that I cook all the time.

A couple of years ago (pre Pinterest), I realized I had never made peanut butter cookies (from scratch) when my uncle requested "simple peanut butter cookies" as a birthday present. I grabbed that cookbook and it had a great, easy recipe for PB cookies. I have since added and taken away from that recipe to create my own favorite simple recipe.

I asked my father-in-law what his favorite dessert was (his birthday was last week), fully expecting to make a pie or something equally challenging, but he said peanut butter cookies and oatmeal cookies were his favorite. Here's my simple PB cookie recipe:

Ingredients:
2 C sugar
1 stick of butter/margarine
1/2 C butter-flavored shortening
1 C peanut butter
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 C all purpose flour

Instructions:
Cream together butter, peanut butter, shortening, sugar, and vanilla, and then add the eggs. After it's mixed well, add the flour. Roll into balls and press with a fork to flatten. Add sugar or sprinkles on top. Bake at 350 for 10-11 minutes.

A Love for Dogs

Levi has developed a great love of all dogs. It works out well for him that all of our family (both sides) have dogs. These are some snapshots from Thanksgiving. He had a good day :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Give thanks
with a grateful heart
Give thanks
to the Holy One
Give thanks
because He's given
Jesus Christ
His son

And now
let the weak say I am strong
let the poor say I am rich
because of what the Lord has done
for us
Give thanks 

Anna's Musical Wreath

I can't claim this project as my own although I am going to write about it because I love it! My aunt Cindy and uncle Mark made this wreath for my grandma (Anna) for her birthday. Anna is passionate about music and has been a member of her church choir for over 50 years; thus, something musical is always a good gift idea for her.

My aunt sketched out a treble clef on a piece of plywood and she and my uncle cut it out with a jigsaw....freehanded! (wow) Then they painted it black, drilled a bunch of holes, and stuck a Christmas light bulb in each hole (labor of love!). Then the treble clef was attached to a basic wreath with black pipe cleaners. My aunt asked me to help run some silver metallic glittery ribbon through the wreath, and later I found out that it was because she knew it would make a big glittery mess all over the floor, and my floor was perfect for that! (kidding)

My grandma loved her wreath (I heard she cried) and can't wait to display it on the wall of her porch, to share with all the world. I will try to add a better picture later once she has it displayed. Good job Aunt Cindy & Uncle Mark!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Halloween Snapshots

I'm kinda a party pooper when it comes to Halloween in reality, but I try to be a good sport for everyone else who loves it (and now for my child). I'm just not crazy about the holiday, but fear not, I won't keep my kids from dressing up or trick-or-treating. You just probably won't see me dressing like a witch or screwing orange light bulbs in all my porch lights.

With Halloween being on Wednesday this year, things were a little up-in-the-air as to what was going on. Our church was planning on doing a few fun things for the kids (and they were suppose to wear costumes if they wanted to) so we planned on doing that. I wasn't sure if there would be kids trick-or-treating before/after church so we just planned to go with the flow. As it turned out, trick-or-treating was from 6-8pm and surprisingly most everyone followed the rules. So, we didn't go from door to door, but we did have a fun Halloween. Tyler's parents came over for dinner and church, and then after church we trick-or-treated at my parents' house. Levi didn't get shorted on fun, and he was wound up pretty much the entire night (I didn't see him eat much candy but someone had to have given him loads of sugar when I wasn't around!). They had inflatables for the kids at church and they went trick-or-treating in all the different classrooms.

Here are some (terrible) snapshots from our night. Levi wasn't cooperative with pictures at all if you couldn't tell. He was WOUND UP but he was having lots of fun, so that's what I will think about when I see all these pictures of him trying to wrangle out of our arms.

{He was a brain surgeon (doctor) for Halloween}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

{Here, we are coming off the sugar high and realizing it's definitely time to go home and go to bed;)}