Technical Difficulties

I'm still here in "blog land" even though I haven't posted for a while.  Part of the problem is that Google will not let me upload any photos :-(  There also doesn't seem to be any support on this issue as there are many, many others with the same problem.  So don't give up on me; hopefully I can get back to business soon.  In the meantime, if any of you have experienced this issue, and know how to correct it, I would be ever so happy to solve the mystery. 

Mini Mini Marshmallows

Christmas stockings take an important place in our celebrating.  We try and fill them with very fun and unique items.  This year I think the most unique was these little marshmallows I found at our local Safeway:

I have never seen them in the store before, and have a feeling I will never see them again.  They are just like the little tiny marshmallows you find in pre-packaged hot chocolate that claims to come with mini marshmallows already enclosed.  I thought they were such a funny thing, I just had to get them for my kids' stockings.  Here is a picture of one next to an actual mini marshmallow:

You can put them by the handful into your hot chocolate, or eat them plain, which tastes just like the little marshmallows in Lucky Charms cereal, except you don't have to sort through all of the cereal.  I kind of like the last idea.

More Snow

Last week I made note that I was ready to move on into spring.  I thought that the picture of my snow shovels sitting on bare bricks made it more than evident that winter surely must be over, and that it was time to start thinking of springlike things.  Well as is typical of North Idaho weather, winter decided to make another grand appearance.  Yesterday afternoon a storm hit, and my daughter and I were out driving right in the middle of all of the chaos.  There were numerous accidents, cars sliding off of the road, cars and trucks stuck in the snow and ice, and the snow just kept coming down.  I was so thankful to finally get home where it was nice and warm.

Here is a picture of what it looked like while I was driving home:

And here is an updated shot of the shovels this morning after they put in several hours of service:

And as a side note, we did have an official home school "snow day" today (clearly one of the advantages of snowy weather).

February Finds

When my kids were younger, every February I would evaluate if they would be needing a new winter coat for the next year.  February was my official buy new coats month.  The reason being is because I could always get them new coats at ridiculously low prices.  With stores clearing out all of their winter clearance and getting ready for spring, they price their leftover stock at such low prices so they can clear it all out rather quickly.  Not only are coats at great prices, but any winter clothing as well as flannel sheets.  This year my great buy was on two sets of flannel sheets.  Originally priced at $60 a set, I bought one set for an amazing $9.00.  The other set for one of my daughters cost me only $7.00.  And her set is so colorful and cute, just like she is.

Staying Warm

I love the fact that I can buy hand and toe warmers in bulk at Costco.  This winter I have taken advantage of them while shopping in the cold before Christmas, shoveling snow, and walking out in the snow.  It makes spending time outside in the cold much more enjoyable; and from looking outside at this moment, it looks like I will be making use of them today as well. 

Being Neighborly

Having neighbors is a part of life for most of us.  Some have bad neighbors, some have good.  I have been blessed by having the best neighbors for so many years.  They were recently gone for a few days, and upon their return brought us the most delightful treats:

A box full of very large apricots:

Another box with a lid on it (hmmmmm what could be in this one?) ....

Ahhhhh, fresh peaches (yum) :-)

And then to top it all off, after checking their garden, they met me at the fence with a bounty of fresh zucchini

I am so excited.  This means I get to make peach pies, apricot jam, zucchini bread .......  not to mention the ability to grab a fresh apricot or peach any time of day for a delicious snack, and all because I have such nice neighbors ..... thank you Jerry and Addie!!

Toasty Toes

Once the weather turns chilly, so do my toes. We don't wear shoes in our house, so it is a necessity for me to either don some heavy wool socks, or wear a pair of slippers - especially on my kitchen tile floor - it can get downright freezing cold! The slipper part gets tricky though because if they have hard soles on them, they tend to scuff up my hardwood floor. So I will only wear soft soled slippers. Any more, those are almost an impossibility to find. I have instructed my oldest daughters that if they ever find soft soled slippers to just buy them for me no matter what they look like. Recently one of my daughters brought these home to me, and I think they are pretty cute.

Cooling Off

It has been quite hot here the past couple of weeks. Consistently in the 90's and pushing 100. I'm not complaining, it has been beautiful. But when it gets so hot, in my mind there is one particular way in which I like to cool things down a bit. And that is by pulling out the ice cream and root beer. Root beer floats on the back deck when it's hot ..... life doesn't get much better than that.

Lovely Blogs

Yesterday I received notice from Marilyn that she has given me an award. That was very kind of her -- thank you, Marilyn. Since I am fairly new to the blogging world, and not entirely familiar with all of the proper protocol that goes along with it, I will do my best here. This is my first such award, and apparently there are "rules" that come along with it. With this particular award, the rules are:

To the recipients of this award, here is what you do: Please pass this Bella Award on to 15 people who have blogs that are new to you and you think are lovely. If you don't know 15 new blogs, it's O.K. to choose a blog that you really love! Also, this award is yours to take and post on your blog side bar if you would like, just put the name of the person giving it to you beneath. Enjoy and congratulations!

I don't know of 15 "new" lovely blogs, so after thinking on it a bit, I am going to pass this award on to three blogs that I read that fall under the category of being "lovely" blogs.

1. Sheila of Alice and the Mock Turtle posts wonderful recipes, cooking tips, and decorating ideas. Her pictures are amazing.

2. Jennie and Julie at Tending our Gardens. The whole purpose of their blog is finding beauty in their every day lives.

3. Knot Garden is the place to go if you want to be inspired by beautiful handwork. She is quite talented, and her photography is also amazing.

So here is your award ladies -- thank you for blessing me with all of your talents.

A Little Sunshine

Today was an absolutely beautiful day. The temperatures got up into the high 70's. Considering that last Tuesday we woke up to snowfall with snow sticking to the ground, it was marvelous to get into the car this afternoon and notice that it was actually hot. This definitely put me into a spring/summer state of mind, and when I went to change my desktop background on my computer, this picture won hands down.

This is one of Debbie Mumm's free desktop backgrounds just in case you are interested.

24 Hours in a Day

I realize that there are 24 hours in each day. But I tend to think that some people actually have more hours in their day than I have. I know that my days go by very quickly being filled with home school, laundry, cleaning, preparing meals, and the usual day-to-day activities that we all have. I try to squeeze extra moments in here and there for reading and sewing. Usually those moments are in the evening; but I am an early to bed type of person, and so the evening moments aren't many. Sometimes I begin thinking that I just never get anything accomplished. For the past two years though I have begun a finished project list. Whenever I finish something, I jot it down in my little notebook, being sure to add the month it was completed. This way when I am feeling like I don't accomplish much, I reach for my notebook, and realize that I actually did get a number of things made throughout the year.

I still think that some people actually do get more than 24 hours in their days. I know of two women that surely must. I enjoy looking at their blogs because it is so inspirational to see how many projects they finish up in a very short amount of time. I don't think I could ever finish projects at their pace; but by reading about their successes, it makes me feel hopeful that if I just continue grabbing a moment here and there to work on my projects, they will get done. If you would like to see some beautiful crocheting, embroidering, and applique, then I highly recommend you take a look at Knot Garden and A Passion for Applique.

My Little Bears

My two oldest daughters are very talented, especially when it comes to making tiny little things by hand. When they were quite young, they began sewing things by hand. They would make little stuffed animals and dolls for themselves to play with. Some form of clothing was always included with each little toy. At one point their grandmother gave them some suede cloth and a little tiny pattern for a miniature bear. They took to it immediately, and seem to have no difficulty at all working with such teeny tiny seams. For years one of my girls would enter one or more of her bears in the local fair. She won Grand Champion ribbons several times for her work. I would always be the honored recipient of one of her fair entries. Both of them though also have given me several bears as gifts. Each bear is only about 2 inches high. Here is a picture of my little collection:

All of the bears seem to have their own little personalities:

Most of them are made out of suede cloth, with a few out of felt. Some of them go together, and could never be separated:

There is even a king and queen in the back of the group. All in all a very happy bunch!

The Bottom Line

This morning I was reading Psalm 46. It begins "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea." And then picking it up once again in verse 10: "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" No matter what happens in our country, or in our personal lives, it all comes down to the fact that God is God. In the end He will be exalted over all. There is no altering that in any way. It will happen. So in the meantime, any self pity we might feel about personal issues, grumbling and complaining about our new leaders (whom God has appointed by the way), are all just a waste of time and energy. I think a better use of our time would be to spend more time in prayer, being thankful for all of our many blessings, turning to God in our troubled times taking advantage of the refuge that He offers us, and especially spending time being still knowing that He is God. I like the words "be still". No room for anxiety, having a critical spirit, grumbling, or complaining there.

Joyful Snowmen

When I put away all of the Christmas decorations, I usually allow a couple of snowmen to remain unpacked to keep me company through the month of January. One in particular that I have kept out for the past couple of years is a small watercolor that one of my daughters painted for me. I just love him. He sits on my windowsill above my kitchen sink, and smiles at me every time I am there. This Christmas I received a new snowman to sit beside him. I felt that the new addition matches my little painting quite well; and now I have two joyful snowmen sitting in my kitchen.

A Red Batter Bowl

I tend to be a very practical type of a person. When I see something I would like, I very rarely buy it. I comment to myself about how nice it would be to have it, and then I go about my business. One such item is a red batter bowl. I have wanted a red batter bowl for probably 4 or 5 years. Yes, years. I see them in catalogs, and always comment about how much fun it would be to have one. I see them in stores, and tell myself that some day I am going to buy one for myself. The years have gone by and still I have not purchased a red batter bowl. It isn't like it is an expensive item that I need to budget for; but in the back of my mind, I know I am thinking practically and wondering if it is really something I need or just want. Just this past November I was shopping with my youngest daughter, and saw one in a store. I made the usual comment about how some day I was going to buy myself a red batter bowl. Apparently as soon as we got home, she mentioned to her sisters that she knew exactly what she was buying me for Christmas. Yes, she did indeed buy me a red batter bowl. I was thrilled!! And since she had made a recent request for pancakes, this weekend I honored that request, and put my new red batter bowl to good use.

A Robin's Nest

God's creation is amazing. I know I have probably said this before; but I never get tired of pondering this particular topic. This past summer we had a robin that built a nest in a tree next to our deck. It was in a location that if we stood in just the right spot, we could watch her sitting on her nest. God created the birds with wisdom enough to know just where to build their nests, and how to build them with strength to endure the elements. Our robin built hers just high enough so that the sprinkler wouldn't hit it, and it was in a nice strong spot in the tree where the winds didn't bother it, and she couldn't be seen by her predators. This winter I have been watching the empty nest. We have had some amazing weather --- heavy snow, high winds, and freezing rain --- and after all of this, the little nest is still sitting right in the same spot not seeming to be affected by any of it.

User Guides

I am a "by the book" type of person. When I receive a new appliance, or electronic device, I always sit down with the user guide first to read all about my new possession. My son and husband are totally the opposite. They would only read a user guide in an extremely rare circumstance (of which that circumstance I'm pretty sure has never occurred). They like to sit down with their new toy and just figure it out on their own. And they do a great job at it. My way takes longer, but I just want to learn about it the "right" way; and I think most of all, I don't want to miss something. I want to read about all of the features, and see what possibilities are just waiting for me to enjoy. And then here comes the lame part. I actually read the "Important Safety Precautions". But my main intention in reading these is for my amusement. I realize that most likely the sole purpose in a company publishing these is to protect them from lawsuits, not necessarily to protect the consumer from harm. In reading through my safety precautions for my new cell phone recently, I came across the funniest precaution that I have ever seen. This still makes me laugh: "Never place your phone in a microwave oven as it will cause the battery to explode." Why would someone even think of placing their phone in a microwave?

More Snow

This winter is only beginning, yet we have already set all kinds of snow records. If it keeps up at the current pace, we are really in for a lot of snow. Last year we set a record for the most snowfall received in one season. We actually had snowflakes falling from the sky on May 10, 2008. Of course none of it stuck, but it was snowing nonetheless. It will be very fun to watch and see what the Lord has in store for us this year.

A number of buildings have collapsed in the area this past week, which has made it necessary for us to shovel our roof. Here is a picture of my son up on the roof in the midst of a recent heavy snowfall. He said that he really wanted to build a snowman up there, but stuck to his duties instead. He will be shoveling more today, and I hope he does take a moment and build a snowman. How fun would that be to have a snowman up on your roof?



And here is a recent picture looking across our front yard towards our neighbor's house. We don't normally have many blue skies around here in the wintertime, but here was a little patch with some sunshine, and it was snowing all at the same time.

A Snowy Day

Yesterday morning when I woke up at about 6:00 a.m., the snow had begun to fall. Prior to this snowstorm, we already had a couple of inches, but nothing significant. This morning when I woke up, we had close to 3 feet of snow on the ground! It has snowed for the greater part of the day, finally stopping just a couple of hours ago. It has been an absolutely gorgeous day. Of course we have spent the greater part of it shoveling, thanks to our neighbors that loaned us their shovels (ours have mysteriously disappeared somewhere throughout the course of the year).

In this picture, if you look real close at the base of the trees, you will see the very top of a fence post of a 3 foot high fence.


This was the beautiful sight that greeted me early this morning looking out my kitchen window onto my deck:

And the playground ...

The cars in the midst of being found ....

And as darkness began to fall this evening, the driveway was finally cleared, some of the snow pulled off of the roof, and we could actually open our gate.

And the fun thing about it all .... we are supposed to get another possible 10 inches tonight. I love winter!!!

Baking Inspiration

Today I stumbled upon a very cute website for purchasing items for baking. It is called Bake It Pretty. They really have some cute ideas like these vintage cupcake toppers:

Or how about some cupcake liners that look like flowers:

A cupcake 101 kit including everything someone needs to make cupcakes packaged in a cute tin:

And little sugar flowers for decorating cupcakes or cakes:

There are other unique items for sale that are worth looking at if you enjoy baking or know of someone who does.