Candle By Night

I made it ! Barely, but I did make it before the deadline. :o) If you remember in this post my room wasn't looking so good. You have to walk through the center of this room to get from the front room to the dining room and to the Bathroom and basement stairs. So...in a way this room is divided into two because of the "walk" area. On the left I had my sewing and crafting area. Although you can tell from this before picture that not much sewing and crafting was going on. Then on the right I had a chair next to the "fake" fireplace and the piano was a "catch all" area (not to even mention the floor!). But take a look at it now! ;) Before: There was no way I could do any sewing or even get to my yarn stash to crochet something! After: Now, I have my yarn neatly tucked inside the totes next to the wardrobe and my scrap fabric contained in a clear tub. Before: Another gruesome picture of my unusable area. After: Now I have my sewing desk cleared off and a ...

Welcome to "Show and Tell Friday!" Do you have a something special to share with us? It could be a trinket from grade school, a piece of jewelry, an antique find. Your show and tell can be old or new. Use your imagination and dig through those old boxes in your closet if you have to! Feel free to share pictures and if there's a story behind your special something, that's even better! I know it has been a while ago, but I believe Kelli showed some "glimpses" of a book called Foods and Homemaking . I remembered that I had that book too. Hubby found it years ago at an auction along with a book called A Girl's Problems in Home Economics . The book in the center, I believe, belonged to Hubby's grandmother. I really need to try making something from this cookbook ( The Victory Cookbook ). I got intimidated when I saw bread call for a "cake" of yeast. At the time I had absolutely no idea what that meant. So anyway, I thought this would make a ne...

I wanted to take time to show off the outfits I made for Big T and Little E that I mentioned the other day. When I was making the pants for Big T the whole time I was afraid that they might be too tight. They ended up almost 4 inches too big! He doesn't even have to undo the button and zipper to get them off....without a belt they fall down to his ankles. Oh well...it was my first time using the pattern. I will know next time to go down a size and go up a size in length. Little E's overalls are so cute too. I think the only thing I would change would be the length of the straps. Everything else seemed to be pretty good. :D And I also thought I would show the fingertip mitts that I made for my sister. I think it is an Alexander Henry print. Aren't they cute? :D

Wanna take a tour of the gingerbread house that we finished. I am pretty proud of the way it turned out since it is the first one I have ever done. :D I hope to make some gingerbread men (to eat) with the children in the next week or two. I think we will be making a gingerbread house next year too. :D

"I am giving us an opportunity every Monday to not only count our blessings, but to share them with others. This is a way that we can encourage one another. Make a post on your blog telling us about your blessing. Please put a link back to this post. You can add the URL of your blog post on Mr. Linky below. Many of our blessings we will have pictures of and we can share those as well. I think that many times we forget that it is a blessing to be able to breath, to get out of bed, to hold a baby... Share your blessings with us. They encourage others. We can share so many other things.... special gifts, recipes, let's take the time to share how God has blessed us!! - Marci " I don't really have anything to "show" today, but I just wanted to share. My family may not be "rich" in the worldly sense of the wood, but we are rich in many other things. Today I wanted to thank the Lord for the skills he has given me. now..by no means am I great at any of the...

Welcome to "Show and Tell Friday!" Do you have a something special to share with us? It could be a trinket from grade school, a piece of jewelry, an antique find. Your show and tell can be old or new. Use your imagination and dig through those old boxes in your closet if you have to! Feel free to share pictures and if there's a story behind your special something, that's even better! Today I am taking part in Kelli's Show and Tell and her Giving Thanks week. Last Saturday I had the chance to do something I had never done before. I put together a gingerbread house with my MIL and my children. My MIL made the gingerbread and then she had me help her assemble it and then decorate it. We didn't finish it all, but we hope to finish it this afternoon since she has the day off. I am pretty proud of myself. Next year maybe the children and I can do this as a school project/activity. So...here is the gingerbread house in all it's glory. I hope to post a finished ...

Today I wanted to share something else I am thankful for. How many of you have kitchen appliances that dance? You don't?! Well I do! Check out this video. Crazy Huh? It does it every time I make my bread. This is definately a time that I do not walk away. This thing has come close to ending up on the floor so many times. So here is a pic of the end result. I know it's huge. Instead of making 2 smaller loaves I decided to make one giant loaf of bread. It gets quite the reaction from people. :D I am so thankful that I am able to have a grinder so I can grind my own flour as I need it to make such healthy bread for my family. And I am so thankful for my dancing mixer too. ;o)

Today I thought I would share my menu. If you even want to call it that. On Thanksgiving day we will be going to my sister's house to have my side of the family's get together and then on Saturday we go to my In-laws for hubby's side. So I just thought I would share what I am going to bring. :D On Thursday I am bringing whole wheat bread, white rolls, and.....a two layer chocolate cake with ganache (Sp?) icing!!! My mom wants pumpkin pie, but I know not everyone will be in the mood for pumpkin or they may want a taste of something else. Hopefully I will remember to take a picture to post. On Saturday my MIL asked that I bring a salad. Not sure exactly what it will be yet, but I bet it will have onions and/or garlic. :D To join the Giving thanks week go over to Kelli's at kellishouse.blogspot.com :)

Today I decided I wanted to share a recipe. I know most people don't think of hummus as something that is typically on our Thanksgiving table, but my family loves it so much that we will eat it any time of year! So...here is my recipe that I use for our wonderful hummus (compliments of Hubby's Aunt J. :D) Aunt J's Hummus 1 can of chick peas (15 1/2 oz) 2 LARGE cloves of garlic 1 tsp. salt 1/3 C. fresh lemon juice 1/3 c. Tahini olive oil paprika minced fresh parsley Directions: 1. Drain the chick peas and rinse them under cold water. Save a few for decoration later. 2. In food processor, chop the garlic. 3. Add the chickpeas, salt, lemon juice, and 2 T. cold water. process until very smooth 4. Add the Tahini and process until well mixed. 5. Spread the hummus in a shallow serving bowl. 6. Drizzle the top with olive oil, then sprinkle with the paprika and parsley. Serve at room temperature with wedges of pita bread or slices of fresh bread. Yields 2 1/2 cups.

"I am giving us an opportunity every Monday to not only count our blessings, but to share them with others. This is a way that we can encourage one another. Make a post on your blog telling us about your blessing. Please put a link back to this post. You can add the URL of your blog post on Mr. Linky below. Many of our blessings we will have pictures of and we can share those as well. I think that many times we forget that it is a blessing to be able to breath, to get out of bed, to hold a baby... Share your blessings with us. They encourage others. We can share so many other things.... special gifts, recipes, let's take the time to share how God has blessed us!! - Marci " I "forgot" to do this last week....guess my head was somewhere else. ;) Anyway...I have been thinking a lot lately. God has been speaking to me about my attitude. I am not always content with where I am at and/or what I have. I need to thank the Lord for all my blessings. I have a washing ma...

They are having giveaways all the time it seems like but check them out now especially. There seems to be some big giveaways right now. :D I added their "button" to my sidebar. ;)

Unfortunately I don't have anything to update on. We have had such a terribly busy week. I will have something to update next week. I promise. ;) How many of you have taken large boxes or baskets and labeled them keep, donate, toss, relocate and possibly sell in order to do your sort? This is important to doing an effective quick sort. Without giving it too much thought start tossing things into the applicable boxes. The purpose of this is to do some initial weeding out and getting all the “toss” stuff out the door as soon as possible. This will give you some more breathing room and allow you to focus on your keep pile which you’ll now want to go through again to reconsider why you may have chosen to keep the things you have. I’ll post more about this step next week. This is on my to-do list How many of you have designated a certain length of time each day to tackling your project? Nope..haven't done that but is a great idea. :D How many of you want to run rig...

Welcome to "Show and Tell Friday!" Do you have a something special to share with us? It could be a trinket from grade school, a piece of jewelry, an antique find. Your show and tell can be old or new. Use your imagination and dig through those old boxes in your closet if you have to! Feel free to share pictures and if there's a story behind your special something, that's even better! I got some more sewing done this past week. I am so proud of myself. :D Sweet E had a jumper that I really liked so I made my own pattern from it and made her two jumpers out of some fabric I found in the clearance section at JoAnn's. Pictures are not the greatest, but you get the idea. The dark brown is a corduroy with embroidery and the other is a twill with pink plaid flowers. I really like how they turned out. Next time I will lower the neckline. Gotta lover her pink boots! I also got some more sewing done for myself. It's a terrible picture but I wanted to show that I made ...

Yes...I am still alive. Although...after the long weekend I had I am amazed that I am even functioning. And to think..this week is half over! We had a family get together on Saturday to celebrate 4 birthdays and then another family get together to celebrate Christmas. Yes..you read correctly...Christmas. My grandparents go to Florida for the winter and so my Mother's family likes to have the family get together before they head south. Then at home it has just been trying to catch up with various things. My MIL's bday was on Monday and I had the privilege of making her cake. I meant to wish her a happy Birthday here on the blog, but Monday has come and gone in the blink of an eye...along with Tuesday and Wednesday. ;) Anyway...when I put the cake in the oven I had to rush outside to do some speed raking as the "leaf truck" was coming down the road. Then I made it back inside just in time for the timer to go off letting me know the cakes were done, but I ended up having...

Marci at Down on the Farm gave me this award. You are so sweet Marci. Thank you so much for giving this to me. :D

Welcome to "Show and Tell Friday!" Do you have a something special to share with us? It could be a trinket from grade school, a piece of jewelry, an antique find. Your show and tell can be old or new. Use your imagination and dig through those old boxes in your closet if you have to! Feel free to share pictures and if there's a story behind your special something, that's even better! I showed this project earlier in the week, but I also wanted to feature it for Show and Tell today. This is a dress I finished for Sweet E last weekend. I am really happy with how it turned out. You can see more pictures in this post .

"Sometimes we get so overwhelmed with what needs to be organized in our surroundings that we don’t even know where to start. This challenge is a perfect opportunity to help you FOCUS in on one room or space. Pick one area to organize in your house this month and make the COMMITMENT to yourself to get it done within the next 30 days. Concentrate your efforts one step at a time and you WILL get it done!!! I’ll be rooting you along as we move through the month of November. I want you to feel that high sense of accomplishment that comes from turning clutter and chaotic into purposeful and calm. I want that for you. What do you say, are you in? Join me over the next 30 days and turn your goal of an organized space into a reality!"-Laura I decided that this is probably the motivation I need to get things done. We don't have a ton of extra space in our home and my sewing/crafting area is getting way out of hand. I just don't seem to have room for everything. I need to mak...