Bird Watching...

Keeping watch...

Makes for a Lazy kitty.

Graceful...

Yesterday while doing my shopping, I found these wonderful fillers in the floral shop at my local grocer. So I scooped up two types of floral filler- green branches and babies breath. They have now found a home in the dining room and on my little desk. They make a statement with little fanfare, they are simply graceful. They have added a little life to the otherwise dreary winter!

On the writing desk...

In the evening...

In the morning light...

Blessings~

An added bonus: the fragrance is amazing. The scent of fresh eucalyptus is permeating the air!

Winter Warm Up

We had a little dusting of snow and a lot of cold wind. Burr...
Since I was forced to remain inside my snow globe, only catching glimpses of the lightly falling powder, I decided to make some apple streusel bread. Mixing up the dough was easy and quick. Chopping apples and nuts was simple, I went the rustic route, no peeling and a rough chop. The result was amazing... I will post the recipe on this post tomorrow.

~Blessings

PS So far I am enjoying having the semester off. I hope to see and here from you soon.

Simple Pleasures

Some of life's greatest pleasures can be found on a plate... The comfort of summer evenings, cool breezes, and tasty fruit. Simply wonderful!

Blessings

Refresh

The table is ready for winter.

Signs of Christmas are slowly finding themselves packed tightly back into their boxes. I would have to say that my most favorite week out of the year is the week post Christmas. The house feels so much lighter and fresher. Peace and calm rest over the house and make my soul truly grateful for all the blessings in my life. When is your favorite week?

Keeping Warm

A gift from my mom. The little candle below really keeps the tea just the right temperature. I love drinking tea on these cold winter days. I really love not having to keep heating up water for each new cup. Thank you Mom.

~Blessings~

Christmas Warmth

Who wouldn't wake with a smile if this were on your night stand?I love poinsettias, and this one makes me smile every morning.

Little's make a paper town

We started this as a project together... But I must have craft A.D.D, because I lasted all of one house (the gold one) then I was done! Little's finished off the lovly town. We need to put the glitter on, and the snow on the ground. More to come...

I could live here...

and walk to church!!
~Blessings~

morning view

I love, love, love my views in the morning. I am a early riser so I was so pleased this morning to see God's wonderful gift for me ( well for anyone who took the time to admire his wonder). I am a huge outside person, perhaps because of my mom. She is never in the house, she has a pool and lives in AZ. Lucky, lucky!!

Coffee on the porch is the most amazing time of the day. Sunsets are wonderful~ but there is nothing more breath taking than starting the day like this. I wish my camera was able to be better focused, these picture hold no candle to the beauty that was there.
On a side note~ I attended PWOC today! Wonderful, it is a military bible study group on most bases Protestant women of the chapel. Wonderful worship, message and fellowship. I am so excited to see what the Lord has in store. I am doing the bible study Becoming A Woman of Simplicity by Cynthia Heald. I had a wonderful full and blessed day. I missed last weeks kick off so I was so pleased to see they had one spot open for this study (thank you Lord). I guess that is enough rambling...
Blessings~
xoxo

Sweet goodness

Chewy Carmel in a thrifted dish, always makes me smile.

Bit by the bug

Ok, so around here there has been an awful cold attacking my family. I thought I had made it through free and clear. Apparently not, as the day has gone on I am feeling worse. Aches, chills, tired.... So what was my remedy????

A nice long hot bath with a bar of chocolate soap. To bad I couldn't really enjoy it, I ached to much.

Then it was into my nice comfy sweater pants, these are so comfortable. Can you believe it a sweater for your legs...
Needless to say I have 1 day to get to feeling better, its back to school on Weds. I hope I am feeling better.
Blessings to all.

DBR Gen 7-8, Psalm 4, Matt 5

All is peaceful

The end of the holidays, brings the start of winter. A cozy fire, hot coffee, and sweater pants so toasty am I. The house is almost back to normal, just some laundry left to do. I am looking forward to some quite time to reflect on the wonder of our Lord, and just enjoy the peaceful company of my children. The girls returned home today, I cried, but I am sure Josh is happy to have them back home with him. Blessings to all.

List of work accomplished today:

bedding laundered

tree down

boxes tucked away

floors cleaned

window sills dusted

errands ran

family loved

Sunday suppers

There is just something about Sunday dinners. I love celebrating the Lords day with my family. Dinners usually are a little more fancy, the table looks a little nicer, and the conversations linger longer. I only wish I had more family and friends around our table. How about you, do you have any traditions for the Lords day?

Blessings to all.

Morning Coffee

This is where I enjoyed my morning coffee today. My fake fern, I know, but it has been 109 lately. No living fern could withstand that. I can't.

I already had the basket, one of my favorite finds, and lucky me it had a hole big enough for the umbrella to fit through.
My $3.49 angle nestled by the fern.

My dollar store candle holder, 2.00 clearance hurricane glass.
A place to enjoy the early morning hours. Many blessings to all.

I am back.

I am back from my mini vacation. Audrey and I went to visit my parents, and family. It was such a nice relaxing time. I will post some photos later. I have been a bit under the weather today. The kids have bible study tonight, so I am forcing myself to get them there. Summer is slowly winding down, before I know we will all be back to our studies. Today I set up Audrey's history reading basket, it is full for the first half of the year. Hopefully we will get through most of it before the winter. I have most of the lessons planned for the first half of the year. My plans are so simple, and work so that if we have unexpected interruptions we just pick up where we last left off. I love it that way I don't have a bunch of rewriting and jumping around. It works for us, so I will continue to use this system faithfully.
Blessings to all,

Lazy

Happy Birthday America!!! We love you.

I will post some photos tomorrow of the kids swimming. I am just too tired to do anything right now. I have dozed off 2 times today, but managed not to drift off into a full blown nap. We had a really nice day. Tim is feeling much better, he had a bit of a stomach virus yesterday. He went swimming today, I could tell he is feeling much better. Not much else is happening at this moment, so I am going to head off to bed for now. I will be back tomorrow, with pictures.


Blessings

The lazy days of summer.

I have found myself joyfully lost in the long hot days of summer. I am getting nothing done that needs doing, and doing everything that should wait. The temperatures have been over 100 degrees, so out of doors seems so miserable. Instead I find my self shut up in the house, fans blazing, shades drawn, and busy creating. I have managed to whip up some yummy deserts, and delicious dinners (photos to come). Yesterday was a blueberry coffee cake, well 2 actually, one for the family and one for the freezer. I also finished a dress for little Emma, and am diligently working on my fall wrap (I only had to start over... after I was almost done). I am so loving the colors of fall right now, it brings a hope of the fabulous colors and cooler temperatures. I have managed to finish one book and I am almost finished with The Enchanted Barn. So needless to say, I am doing nothing that needs doing and everything that I want. :) Have a wonderful day.

Summer Reading List

1. Lessons At Blackberry Inn ( I couldn't resist, already started!)
2. The sinking of the Titanic
3. A common Life
4. Biography of Billy Sunday
5. This Present Darkness
6. The New Setting Your Table
7. The House At Pooh Corner

I am sure I will find a few more to fill my leisure time this summer. I plan on relaxing, sunning(well not to much, I don't like the heat), and crafting. Until next time enjoy your weekend.

blessings

The CALM

A few weeks back Odd and I found ourselves at the CA living museum. We had fun, it is a small zoo, actually a home for injured wild life. The day was warm, and the company was sweet.

Odd!

We saw.....

spring flowers,

pretty views,

creepy crawlers

road runners, (tyring to get into the exhibit)

Fluffy Critters

Crazy signs.... I can just see 10 families standing there howling at the poor coyotes.

All in all, a great day, and cheep, $7.00 for both. Odd was free. :)

THE GREAT INTERFERENCE

I was browsing around and found this wonderful group of young singers. I loved them so much, I just had to let everyone hear them, too. If you enjoy them pop over to their blog, and say hi. I hope you enjoy.
many blessings