Memorial Day Tribute

Chase was given the opportunity to narrate this video for our Memorial Day service at our church.

Another antique made useful

Along with my little iron chairs that I found in the antique store in Newberry, I also found a coke crate in pretty good condition. I know Pottery Barn used to sell them but now it looks like they just have Pepsi crates. At any rate, I paid $8 for mine instead of the $24 PB asks for theirs! I thought about leaving in the dividers but decided against it. I was flipping through a Pottery Barn magazine and I saw that they had a coke crate on a lower shelf in their kitchen table holding some plates. I thought I could get better use out of mine by putting some dishes in it too. I know...call me copy cat. =)

Getting crafty

I love to spend hours in antique stores and think about all the stories behind everything that is crowded

in there. But I also scrounge around

to find cheap 'junk' that I can turn into

something beautiful again.

On our way home from our family

camping vacation we stopped in the town of Newberry, SC.

They have many little antique stores and

I found several treasures to restore. Here is

one of them. I went into a room in the back

of the store and found this cute little rocking

chair sitting on a dusty shelf. I decided it could be more productive as a plant holder. =) More crafty pictures coming soon...

Happy Birthday to my best friend!

Today is Cinco de Mayo but more importantly, my husband's birthday!! =)

He is turning 27 and this year we will have been married for 5 years.

It's been a fun 5 years, 2 kids and in just a few shorts days he will receive is Graduate diploma for his MDiv.

I'm so proud of him for not giving up and sticking to what he knew was God's will for his life.

It was hard with crying babies and eventually no office to study in but the Lord got him and all of us threw it.

You're the best Daddy ever and I love you, Chase!! Happy Birthday!

Peanut Butter and Banana Trifle

I just happened upon a blog this week that was featuring some crafts but one of them was a dessert. It is out of this world, good!! I had never made peanut butter icing before but that really is the secret to the yummy goodness of this trifle. I found the recipe here.

It didn't include a peanut butter icing recipe so I found one online and added it to the instructions.

Ingredients:

1 cake (yellow mix or made from scratch pound cake of you choice) cut into squares

32 oz. container of vanilla yogurt

3 cups (approx.) of peanut butter icing

4-5 ripe bananas

Instructions:

Stir peanut butter icing into the yogurt; mix well

Slice bananas

Layer trifle with sliced cake, yogurt mix and bananas

Repeat layers until full

(Peanut butter icing recipe)

1 stick butter

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup milk

4 cups powdered sugar

Mix together in a saucepan butter, peanut butter, and milk. Bring to a boil.

Turn off heat and add powdered sugar. Mix well. I had to double this recipe to get

the amount of cups the trifle recipe called for.

Jan Brett Coloring Pages

I love the Jan Brett books! Emma has the Gingerbread Baby, The Hat and The Mitten. I just realized that the Jan Brett website has tons of free coloring pages available for printing. There are coloring pages from every book she's written and all kinds of themes (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Spring, Mother's Day, Summer etc.) This morning, Emma and I spent some time reading her books and then I printed some pages for her to color. She really enjoyed the gingerbread house. =)

"A Sure Cure for Complaining" DeMoss

I'm reading through Nancy DeMoss's book "Choosing Gratitude" and this little excerpt was so touching...I had to share it.

"A grateful heart will be revealed and expressed by thankful words, while an unthankful heart will manifest itself in murmuring and complaining."

"True story. A church group from New Bern, North Carolina, had traveled to the Caribbean on a mission trip. As you probably know, the conditions at the posh, luxury resorts are a far cry from the impoverished way of life endured by many others on these tropical islands.

During this particular ministry trip, their host took them to visit a leper colony on the island of Tobago. And while there, they held a worship service in the campus chapel. As you can imagine, the sight of emaciated lepers filing into their seats on the bare pews bore deeply into the minds and memories of each visitor to this unaccustomed scene.

But no memory left its mark like this one:

When the pastor announced, "We have time for one more hymn. Does anyone have a favorite?" he noticed a lone patient seated awkwardly on the back row, facing away from the front. At this final call for hymn requests, with great effort, the woman slowly turned her body in the pastor's direction.

"Body" would perhaps be a generous description of what remained of hers. No nose. No lips. Just bare teeth, askew within a chalky skull. She raised her bony nub of an arm (no hand) to see if she might be called on to appeal for her favorite song to be sung. Her teeth moved to the croaky rhythm of her voice as she said, "Could we sing 'Count Your Many Blessings'?"

The pastor stumbled out of the pulpit, out the door, and into the adjoining yard, tears of holy conviction raining down his face. One of the traveling party rushed to fill his place, beginning to sing the familiar song in this unfamiliar place, arguably the most "unblessed" of any spot in the universe.

A friend hustled outside, put his arm around the sobbing pastor, and consolingly said, "I'll bet you'll never be able to sing that song again, will you?"

"Yeah, I'll sing it," the pastor answered, "but never the same way, ever again"

Leave it to a grotesquely deformed leper to remind us that grateful people are characterized by grateful words, while ungrateful people are given to griping, complaining, murmuring, whining.

Some grumble at why God put thorns on roses, while others wisely notice- with awe and gratitude- that God has put roses among thorns. Hear what people are saying when they talk about the everyday events of their lives, and you'll see in an instant the difference between gratitude and ingratitude.

Do you spend more time counting and recounting your blessings or your problems?

Belle & Boo

I just love these mugs! There are many other sweet little things at this etsy shop.

Happy Saturday!

The container dilemma

I bought a pot at Hobby Lobby a couple weeks ago when they were all 50% off. I had no idea what to plant in it though! I really don't have a 'green thumb' but I don't always kill the things I plant. =) After having an empty pot on our porch for several days, I got the May issue of Better Homes and Gardens in the mail. On the cover it said "so pretty, so easy" "Dazzling containers to dress up your patio"...and I thought, perfect!! For their basic design they said to remember three words "THRILLER, SPILLER, and FILLER. They have many creative ideas for containers here.

I put Begonias, Swedish ivy and Goldilock filler in my container. I needed plants that would survive in a mainly shaded area and these are perfect! Here is a picture of one of their containers and then my version. It's not as complicated as I thought! Thanks to BHG for their advice!

Giveaway over at Life of Bliss blog!

Check out the giveaway that Julie is having from her Etsy shop here.

Strawberry season

Strawberries are at their peak April to June. Walmart had strawberries for $1.50 a pound this week! Take advantage of the cheaper prices and make some strawberry delicacies. Martha Stewart has a TON of recipes on her blog. Check them out HERE.

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

As I was telling you in my previous post...the easy bread recipe recommendation came from Creatively at Home. You can find the "Master Recipe" that I used from the book here and if you are interested in purchasing the book you can look here.

Some of my favorite blogs...

I love to look at all kinds of different blogs out there and get ideas for decorating our home and preparing tasty meals. Some of my very favorite ones are Less Than a Perfect Life of Bliss and Creatively at Home.

I have gotten a TON of craft ideas from Life of Bliss and I just tried a bread recipe that I found on Creatively at Home. It's been fun to be a little more crafty than usual and also try my hand at baking my first loaf of bread! If you have time, check out these blogs...you won't be disappointed. What are some of your most frequented blogs? Do tell... =)

Luke's first birthday

We celebrated Luke's first birthday on Saturday. He had fun with his little friends and trying his first taste of a chocolate cupcake. =) Here are some pictures of the special day.

Hot Cross Buns

On Sunday, Chase took us to Panera for lunch. I saw that they had some Hot Cross Buns for sale and it made me think of the little children's song. I don't think I'd ever tasted them so we got a little box to try. They are just sweet yeast rolls with raisins and candied orange peel. Panera used some icing to make the crosses on top of the buns....very yummy! I didn't know the history behind these rolls though. It's very interesting! If you have a minute you can read a little bit about them below or you can find more details at www.wikipedia.com. And if you want to try your hand at baking some of these rolls on your own, I found a recipe at www.allrecipes.com. Go here to get it.

Hot cross buns,

Hot cross buns,

one ha' penny,

two ha' penny,

hot cross buns.

If you have no daughters,

give them to your sons,

one ha' penny,

two ha' penny,

Hot Cross Buns

"In many historically Christian countries, buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday, with the cross standing as a symbol of the crucifixion. They are believed by some to pre-date Christianity, although the first recorded use of the term "hot cross bun" is not until 1733..."

According to cookery writer Elizabeth David, Protestant English monarchs saw the buns as a dangerous hold-over of Catholic belief in England, being baked from the dough used in making the communion wafer. Protestant England attempted to ban the sale of the buns by bakers but they were too popular, and instead Elizabeth I passed a law permitting bakeries to sell them, but only at Easter and Christmas.

English folklore includes many superstitions surrounding hot cross buns. One of them says that buns baked and served on Good Friday will not spoil or become mouldy during the subsequent year. Another encourages keeping such a bun for medicinal purposes. A piece of it given to someone who is ill is said to help them recover.

Sharing a hot cross bun with another is supposed to ensure friendship throughout the coming year, particularly if "Half for you and half for me, Between us two shall goodwill be" is said at the time. Because of the cross on the buns, some say they should be kissed before being eaten. If taken on a sea voyage, hot cross buns are said to protect against shipwreck. If hung in the kitchen, they are said to protect against fires and ensure that all breads turn out perfectly. The hanging bun is replaced each year.wikipedia

Circus

We had the opportunity to take Emma to the Circus on Friday. We got a babysitter for Luke and enjoyed going out with only Emma this time. We asked her what her favorite part of the evening was and she said...'the elephants!!!' =)