man down

yesterday, henry wasn't feeling the greatest.

apparently, woody had a headache, too.  :)

last night, his brother and sisters were feeling bad for him, so they got to work.

it was a blessing to see them coddle him, and take such good care of him.

the pictures they made for him are exactly what he loves, and only they would know that.

a.  buzz lightyear

b.  nascar {orange=henry's fave color}

c.  spongebob and patrick

d.  the steelers

he always teases us that he doesn't like the packers, and that the steelers are his favorite.

{note:  his dad really, really likes the packers}

he is such a tease.

it was nice to be reminded that, despite the seemingly endless bickering and arguing,

our kids really do love each other.

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and, thankfully, he has perked up a bit today!

2. today i am thankful for brotherly love.

have an awesome weekend everyone!

xo

so much to do

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hey, friends.
i am just bursting at the seams with ideas of fun projects and things to do,
but not enough time to do them all!
have you seen all of the overwhelming pinterest ideas?!?
what's a crafty, crazy busy mom to do?
whoa.
overload!
i'm certain that you all have the same problem at times.
right?!
please? :D
between school, piano lessons, 3 meals a day, and the daily routine of life, there just isn't enough time.
well, there is enough time, but just not always to do the frivolous,
not as important tasks, that i sometimes push to get done.

some of the things that are going to get done, however, are...
i have committed to writing a thank you  note to someone who has been a blessing to me each wednesday in the month of november.
truthfully, this should be each wednesday day #fortherestofmylife.
i am excited to think outside of the box and send my love and gratitude to those who have blessed me.
on paper.
written by hand.
the list of recipients is a mile million miles long.

i also want to participate in the happy day project next week.
i feel like this is an awesome way to bless others and get my children involved.
i'm really excited about it!

with all of this holiday hustle and gratefulness of heart, i don't want to get so caught up in it all that i forget to thank the One who gives me everything.
Jesus, my Redeemer and Savior, Who makes all of this possible.
without His shed blood on the cross,
i wouldn't have a whole lot to be thankful for.
He is my {healthy} Hope.
so, my first letter of gratitude goes to Him.


1.  thank you, Jesus, for willingly shedding your blood, dying, and rising again, for me, so that i can spend eternity with You.   i am so unworthy.


i will still be sending a hand written letter to someone this week,
 and i will tell you about that when i get it done.


with all of the cute projects and thanksgiving goodness floating around out there, 
i found something that we are definitely doing.
it's simple, adorable, and totally doable.

simply vintage girl

seriously now, how awesome is this tree?

the kids are going to have a blast!

eeep!

love it.

so, do you get overwhelmed like me?

i want to do so much, but being a wife and mom is my first calling, 

so i really have to step back and make sure my priorities are in alignment with His.

and that's hard sometimes, friends.

for me, anyway.

i sure like to push past the work{laundry, grading school work, etc} and get to the fun stuff!

speaking of fun stuff,

my new friend, abbie, has a fun little party that i am going to link up to this week.

the theme this week is my favorite color.

bet you can't guess what mine is right now.

yes, it changes.

:D

well, here are some fun things that have caught my eye recently....

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ok, ok, so there you have it.

a few of my 'ofthemoment' favorite color items.

i really do like lots of colors, but this one speaks to me now.

am i a trend follower?

great.

:D

i hope you have a lovely day.

thank you so much for stopping by, friends.

i am thankful for you!

xo

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happy accident and an awesome challenge!

don't you love it when a happy accident occurs?
last night, i got the hankerin' for homemade pizza.
on our way home from piano lessons, i stopped at the local market and grabbed some pork sausage, fresh onions, and a hunk of mozzerella
i already had pizza crust and sauce.
perfect.

*note* i was trying to make something out of things that i already had in the house, but i guess my craving took over and i justified my dinner choice  having only {two} of the needed ingredients.  :D

well, it's not like homemade pizza is hard or anything, and i wanted to use the crust mix that i had recently bought at a discount market.
aka. bent and dent store.
discounted foods, whatever.
it wasn't out of date and there was nothing wrong with it.
awesome!
it looked health{ier} than just a regular 'ol crust, so i started adding the needed ingredients.
water.
oil.
upon closer inspection of the mix, i found out that it was gluten free.  good, right?
hmmmm....
it was made out of rice flour and when i stirred the mix together, it was like runny cake batter.

*insert panic and grumbles*

i was seriously hungry for pizza, and this was jeopardizing my chances of satisfying my pizza craving.
or so i thought.
i kept mixing, and poured the dough  in the size pan it called for{very important} and pre-baked it, like the recipe said.
soon emerged from the stove an amazing aroma that i had never smelled before{when baking pizza}.
the crust was  seasoned with amazing smelling spices{i dug the package out of the garbage, so i know}.  :D

anyway, the crust came out looking a little like the picture below{but puffier...i poked it down}.
and smelled wonderful!

i excitedly proceeded to add the sauce, had my daughter grate the cheese,
add the yummy sausage, and top it off with loads of onions{our my favorite}.

{yes, i am a dork}

we baked it again for 15 minutes and it was p.e.r.f.e.c.t.i.o.n.
and not by my doing, mind you.
the only problem with this whole situation is that there wasn't enough!
well, there was, but a few leftovers would have been nice.
leftovers?  what's that?!
seems like an eternity ago since we've had those.
my kids are a growin' and they love to eat!

our family agreed that it was the best pizza we had ever had.

moral of my story...

happy accidents are good!

i am so glad i didn't trash the crust when it looked like runny cake batter.

we would have never known how yummy gluten free pizza crust is. :D

now i just need to figure out where to find that crust again.
oy!

and if you ever see NAMASTE FOODS pizza crust...buy it{lots} and hoard it!

gotta love that kids expression!

::::::::speaking of food:::::::::

so, in other news of the day, i was perusing my favorite blogs this a.m., and was totally inspired by 

Mandy, from biblical homemaking.

she has issued a challenge for the up and coming holiday season{s}.

here is what she had to say...

"My friends, we are going to be holding feasts in the next few weeks. To us they are important, wonderful celebrations of joy and thankfulness. We have traditions of all kinds, more gifts given and received than any of us can count, and we love it. I love, love, love the holidays. Cool weather, warm fires, yummy foods, family, and all the fun things that come with the winter season- we have been given such wonderful gifts.

But for so many people, the holiday season may be much different. For the poor it's a reminder of what they don't have.  For the disabled, the holidays might be a lonely time. For the bitter, it’s probably a time of misery. For the single, it can be a time of great sadness. For those who are grieving this year, it may be the hardest season they've ever experienced.

I think Americans have done a good job in providing food for the poor on each holiday. Many have a place they can go eat a warm Thanksgiving meal for free. But how many have a warm and happy home they can go to as well?

That's why I'm excited to bring you guys a challenge this season.

If you're in, you have over seven weeks to accomplish your mission.

Are you ready for it?

Invite someone you wouldn't normally invite to your feast this year.

Share your feast with someone who doesn't have a loving and living home.

It's really that simple.

I’m calling it the “share your feast” holiday challenge!"

isn't that amazing?

she also said...

"Show them- show them the love of Jesus firsthand by loving them and welcoming them into your life. Money doesn't change people's lives. Free food doesn't change people's lives. Jesus does. And He wants to do it through us."

amen!

"I can’t wait to see what our Father will do when we work in unity for His name! Oh, please, please pray for this you guys- pray that His will be done and His glory will be made known among the people this season!"

are you in???  

head over to Mandy's blog for the full post and details.

this may bring us out of our comfort zones, friends, 

but think of the blessing we could be to one person{or more}.

showing the love of Jesus to them in a tangible way this holiday season!

if you're in, head over to Mandy's blog and sign up ASAP!

start thinking of who you can invite into your home.

i've got my gears turning, that's for sure!

bless and be blessed!

happy day, friends!

xo

next up.....the happy day project!

harvest blessings

welcome, november!

i had to bring out the big guns today, friends.

my BIG coffee mug wrapped in warmth with a cozy sweater made by my daughter, elly.

i love it!

we had some friends over last night and we had such a great time with them.

we all went to bed really late, 

hence the ginormous coffee mug this a.m.  :)

{we watched the movie elf the other day...so funny!}

they have six kids.

we have four.

our kids are all very good friends and their ages are almost identical.

i cannot express what a b.l.e.s.s.i.n.g. it is to have such wonderful, God given relationships.

they are the kind of friends that you can talk the night away with,

and the time seems to pass far too quickly.

we snacked on candy and drank lots of coffee.

we talked, laughed, even cried a little, and there was lots of activity in between.

trying on dress up clothes.

shooting little beads from little boy pirate ship cannons.

{picking up hundreds of little beads}

two pots of coffee.

two quarts of apple cider.

lots of knitting.

piano playing.

movie watching.

internet surfing for home decor.  eeep!

ikea, restoration hardware, and country living magazines were all present.

it was awesome.

since our family does not celebrate halloween, i decided to have a harvest themed evening.

a time to thank the Lord for the many blessings that He continually lavishes on us.

a time to be thankful for His love and sacrifice, family, food, the little things, our home, and of course, friends.

we have never celebrated  halloween, and our kids have never went trick or treating.

they don't know what they are missing, and we don't think that they are missing much, at all.

the kids and i spent about an hour making buntings and little monogrammed flags for place settings.

we had some old fashioned candy from the market and a vintage table cloth i picked up from the thrift.

so simple!  so fun!

did i ever mention i love a quick, cheap free project? :)

i cannot keep my hands outta the yogurt covered raisins! :)

amazing sesame seed candies!  love them!

of course, i forgot to take pictures when the company was actually here.

i don't know what i was thinking, except that maybe i couldn't hear myself think.

10 kids=a lotta happy noise!

we all slept in a little today and it was slow going at first, but we perked up.  

thank the Lord for afternoon cinch tea breaks.

now i have to go and start thinking about what i am going to make for supper...already...again.  oy!

any suggestions? 

i hope you have a wonderful day, friends!

we'll talk again soon...with coffee{or tea}, of course. :)

blessings,

heading over to amy's for more coffee and chats.

heading over here, too. :)