Happy Homemaker Monday - 02/24/2014

Good morning ladies, how was your weekend?

Mine was quite uneventful, as usual, and just the way I like it.  I do have a bit of a busy week ahead, but as always I look forward to getting through it with a smile on my face, and I hope you do too.

Come on in and sit with me a little, as I type up my post, I have fresh hot coffee and Pound cake :)

As I look outside my window:::
The most beautiful sunrise.  It's been a while since I've seen it because I've been lazy lately and have been sleeping in until 8am.  It's currently 36 degrees but should reach 57 by this afternoon, and the rest of the week is looking about the same.  I'm so ready for Spring kind of weather :)

Right now I am:::
Drinking a hot cup of coffee, still sitting in my pj's and chatting with hubby as he gets ready for his first day of work.  So excited for him :)

Thinking and pondering:::
On my brother and his family moving out in a few days, and what I'm doing with the house afterwards.  We've only been in this house alone for two weeks before they arrived, so I never really got to set up the house for just our little family.  Will be moving a few things around, adding something here and there etc.  Excited about that!

On my bedside table:::
Looking through the cookbooks from the library as I set up my menu.
Reading The Tattered Quilt by Wanda Brunstetter, and also reading a few books for review.

On my tv tonight:::
Last night's Call the Midwife and The Musketeers.

Listening to:::
Mix 106 Radio

On the menu for this week:::
I don't have the menu in front of me at the moment, and I can't for the life of me remember what I have for Thursday or Saturday.  Goodness!  I'll come back later and edit it.

Monday - Chicken a La King with Mashed potatoes
Tuesday - Creamy Rotini with Ham and Asparagus
Wednesday - Bifes de Cebolada with Rice
Thursday -
Friday - Pepperoni Pizza
Saturday -
Sunday - Baked Beef Ravioli, Garlic Bread

On my to do list:::
Ironing
Homeschooling
Study for Written Test
Wash Tae Kwon Do Gi's

Happening this week:::
Still potty training and babysitting the puppy while mommy and daddy are at work
Starting my Herb Garden
Helping my brother and sister in law prepare for their move

What I am sewing, crocheting, knitting or creating:::
Working on my Crochet Mood Blanket. 
Also started a new blanket using a different kind of color combo and loving it already.

My simple pleasure:::
Waking up very early, enjoying the sunrise and the quietness before the day starts. 

Lesson learned the past week:::
That we always make things seem a thousand times worse than they ever are. 

Looking around the house:::
Lola is asleep on my lap with her face ON my laptop LOL  Hubby is getting his paperwork ready for work, Nicholas is upstairs playing on his laptop.  I need to vacuum the carpets and do some dusting today, but other than that, the house is clean.

From the camera:::
The sunrise this morning, so pretty

Prayer List:::
My husband as he starts his new job this week
My brother and sister in law as they move into their own house and prepare for the next chapter in their lives.

Bible verse, Devotional:::
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13 NIV

PLEASE, don't add links to this list that are not part of the Happy Homemaker Monday. I've asked numerous times, and I'm frankly quite tired of having to remove links to other posts that shouldn't be in this list. Please be respectful of my request!

As I get older, I get more emotional.....

It's just the plain truth!

Having moved back to where my children were born, and where I first started my life as married woman AND in a new country, has been a blessing, and a joy......and extremely emotional.

For so many years I envisioned coming back *home*.  I even had dream after dream where we had moved back into our old house on base.  Every dream a little different.

Either the house was exactly the same but the area had changed, or the house was now haunted, or it was completely changed, or I found items that I had left behind when we moved to Arizona.  It was all very strange, but I think subconsciously, I was yearning to return.

And we did, and here we are.

The first time we drove back through the base, I felt this overwhelming feeling of joy and happiness, nothing I can really put to words.

But it was also very surreal, it almost felt like the past 7 years spent in Arizona had just ceased to be.

Things weren't all the same though, a lot, and I mean a LOT of things have changed on this base.  Our housing area is gone and in it's place, just a trees, lots and lots of overgrown bushes and trees, makes quite a sad sight.

 

That was the first time that I felt a tug at my heart and an overwhelming feeling of sadness.

But where I'm noticing the biggest struggle, seems to be at the commissary.  I know that sounds quite ridiculous and if I was reading this on someone else's blog I would be mighty confused, but let me explain.

When I go grocery shopping, I am right back in the commissary where I first shopped for my house as a married woman, and where I bought the first groceries to fix a meal for my husband, and where I later shopped while pregnant, and then a few months after with a newborn in a car seat, and then eventually with a newborn in the car seat and a toddler holding my hand.

So many memories, so many joys and just so many feelings attached to those thoughts.

And this is where I'm noticing just how emotional I am getting.  I find myself looking at these young military wives with their infants or toddlers, young mothers doing their shopping, their grocery carts filled with diapers and baby wash and formula.......and my heart aches because I miss that so very much.

My children are no longer babies, they are teenagers and don't get me wrong, I'm very happy with where we are right now, but I still can't help but feel melancholy when I see these young mothers.

It takes everything in my not to burst into tears.  Quite a sad sight if I were to give in to those feelings, I'm sure.

It just really makes me realize just how far we've come, and that no matter how much I am loving being back in this area, it never is the same, and never will be.

But that's ok, lesson here is to embrace all the changes, good or bad and to remember that just because something is not exactly how it used to be in the past, does not make it a bad thing, just makes it a different experience in our ever changing journey through life.

And now I'm going to go look through old photos and reminisce back to those days, not with tears in my eyes but with joy in my heart.

Week Round Up!

Hello my dear friends, how are you?

It feels like forever and a day since I last updated my blog with a good ol fashioned homey post, you know the ones where I tell you what I've been doing, what I've been seeing and I give you a bunch of photos to look through.

You all know how busy my life has been, but just for one more week, because guess what???  Both my husband and brother have started working, AND, my brother and sister in law just got a house today to move into, so they'll be doing that on the 1st of March.

It's such an exciting time for all of us, not just because it's yet another chapter that is opening for them, and the final step to really starting their lives here in the States, but also because both families will finally have their own space.  As much as we love each other and the time we spend together, everyone also misses the family time spent with the spouses and children.  So it's a good thing...a good exciting thing.

Here in 4 months, my little family will also be moving again, and we're hoping and praying that it will be the last time.  Fingers crossed that we can buy a house and not have to rent and move again in another year.

Anyway, now that the news is out of the way, let me show you what I've been doing this past week.

Monday



A big pan of fresh hot cinnamon rolls for breakfast.



The start of crocheted face scrubbies, love these :)

Tuesday

Continued with my face scrubbies...



Very quick to make, love that they don't take much cotton yarn and they look adorable in a mason jar in the bathroom.

Wednesday



Loads of ironing to do



Schooling with the kiddos.



Lots and lots of rain





A taste of home....Koeksisters.


Thursday



Scrummy appetizer while we wait for dinner. Chourico, a glass of wine and good chats with the family

Friday



The newest member of the family. We got my brother and his family a Dachshund Puppy. He is adorable.



The start of another blanket, this time a Happy Flower Blanket using a different color combination. I am loving it so far :)

And that is what has been going on here lately. Lots of homey stuff, lots of busy stuff, and lots of yearning for some me time and bloggy time. I can't tell you how excited I am to start posting daily again from next weekend.

Now, I have to run and get dinner started before everyone gets home from work. I'm running a little behind today but I wanted so badly to come in and say a big hello and let you all know that I'm still here, and I'm still fine.

Until next time, have yourselves a blessed weekend!

Beat the cold season with Lysol!!!

 
As a mom I am well aware that my kids transfer germs like little germ making machines. It's no easy task trying to keep a clean healthy home, but I do believe that Lysol helps immensely.

Here are some interesting facts from Lysol:

Most families think they can fight off infection with hand washing, cleaning commonly touched surfaces and flu shots – all of which is great, but based on the data below, the question is are they truly aware of – and doing – all the things they can to be healthy and safe?

· Cleaning and disinfecting aren’t one in the same: cleaning only removes germs from surfaces, whereas disinfecting actually destroys them. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) The flu virus can live on surfaces for up to 48 hours, so it’s important to disinfect regularly.

· Talk about another reason to disinfect those surfaces regularly: children can touch and retouch more than 300 surfaces in just 30 minutes. Imagine how much you could protect them – and prevent them from spreading germs – by switching from cleaning to disinfecting! (CDC)

· Frequent hand washing is a key way to preventing cold and flu. However, one study found that the majority of respondents (53%) only wash their hands for 10 seconds or less after using the toilet when the optimal time for washing is 20 seconds. (Global Hygiene Council)

I have always relied on the Lysol products to help me keep the germs at bay and to keep my home clean.  There is always a bottle or two of the Lysol Disinfecting Wipes in the bathrooms and the kitchen....

a No Touch Hand Soap Dispenser also in the bathrooms and the kitchen,

 

 and then of course my Lysol Disinfectant Spray which means I'm usually spraying anything in sight.

It works wonderfully.

Kills 99.9% of mold and mildew*
Kills 99.9% of bacteria on soft surfaces* as a spot treatment
Kills 99.9% of odor causing bacteria*
Kills 99.9% of viruses and bacteria*
*When used as directed

A week or so ago, I was asked by Lysol if I would like to try out a few of their products and for a week, to watch and chronicle my family's habits.

It's not easy, at the moment we have 8 people living in this house and 3 dogs, which means that there is bound to be messes, germs and the near impossible task of keeping surfaces clean and germ free.

But I took on the challenge.

When I received the package, my niece was actually starting to come down with a cold, and today, I'm the one starting to feel unwell, so this was the perfect time to really beef up my efforts in averting the cold season from hitting this house.

You know how it is, when one gets sick, it spreads like wildfire.

By using the No Touch Hand Soap dispenser in the bathrooms, the kids have really been washing their hands the correct way.  They love to use the dispenser, they find it cool, and therefore make it a point of washing up every single time they go into the bathroom, for whatever reason.

The Lysol Wipes that reside in the bathroom, are used by everyone to wipe down the sink area and the toilet seat after each use.  A little too much?  Maybe, maybe not, I do believe that there is no such thing as TOO clean.

During cold season, I make it a habit to really spray everything from door knobs, to trash can lids, to counters, cabinet doors, phones and remote controls and everything that little hands can touch.

And it definitely helps.  I'm not saying that we never get a cold, we do, but they don't usually last very long and they don't tend to spread to everyone else in the house, we are able to keep it contained pretty well.

The Lysol website contains a myriad of important and helpful information, and I especially like their Allergen Trackers as my son, my brother and I, both suffer from allergies. 

Thank you Lysol for providing me with a sample pack to help fight the cold and flu season.  All opinions and thoughts stated in this review, are mine alone.

Happy Homemaker Monday - 02/17/2014

Good morning my friends, I'm hoping you had a good weekend.  Mine was very good indeed and we were so busy that I feel I didn't step foot in my house for longer than an hour or so.  Craziness!

Alright, let's get on with your Happy Homemaker Monday, hope you have a great week of work and school ahead :)

As I look outside my window:::
Had some sun for a few days but today we're overcast and sitting at 36 degrees.  I do feel that the worst of the winter is finally gone and we can start looking forward to Spring :)
  
Right now I am:::
Typing up this post and waiting for the fire to start warming up.  We've started turning if off  more as it's not as cold, but boy does it get chilly at night.   
 
Thinking and pondering:::
About my driver's written test.  I have to go do that this morning and I think I'm just as nervous as I was when I took it the first time.  LOL  Praying I pass as it's been so long since I first took the test.  
  
On my bedside table:::
Still enjoying all my cookbooks from the library.  Also still reading Love by the Letter by Melissa Jagears on my Kindle.
 
On my tv tonight:::
Not sure, I have such a huge list of shows to catch up on.  Last night I watched the When Calls the Heart movie but was not impressed with the ending at all.  There's nothing I like less, than a movie that ends without really ending or telling us what happened, annoying. 

Listening to:::
The fire crackling

On the menu for this week:::
Monday - Barbecue Chicken, Mac and Cheese
Tuesday - Gourmet Beef Noodle Casserole
Wednesday - Portuguese Oven Chicken and Rice
Thursday - Pasta Alfredo
Friday - Chicken a la King, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans
Saturday - Cheese Burgers, Fries, Onion Rings
Sunday - Beef Curry

On my to do list:::
Take written test to get my Idaho Driver's Licence
Homeschooling

Plans for this week:::
Potty training a 6 week old puppy
Schooling with the kids
Hubby starting new job
Driving kids back and forth to dance and tae kwon do

What I am sewing, crocheting, knitting or creating:::
Working on my Crochet Mood Blanket. 

 
My simple pleasure:::
Shortbread, the buttery yummy, melts in your mouth, kind of shortbread. 

Lesson learned the past week::: 
Not myself, but my husband learned AGAIN that when you put your trust in God and let things go, that He comes through in a big way. 

Looking around the house:::
Kids are all still asleep.  My brother is off at work, my sister in law is getting ready to leave for work.  I need to tidy up the living room a bit, and the kitchen. 

From the camera:::
My brother and sister in law's newest family member.  6 week old Jax, a Dachshund puppy.  He is just adorable :)

Prayer List:::
Me, praying that I pass the written test for my licence
My husband as he starts his new jobs this week
My brother and sister in law who are looking at a house tomorrow, hoping it's the one they like

Bible verse, Devotional:::
The greatest in the Kingdom of heaven is the one who humbles himself and becomes like this child.
Matthew 18:4

PLEASE, don't add links to this list that are not part of the Happy Homemaker Monday. I've asked numerous times, and I'm frankly quite tired of having to remove links to other posts that shouldn't be in this list. Please be respectful of my request!

One door closes, two more open!!!

Our God is an awesome God!  There is nothing else to say to that.

You know over the last few months we have been shown over and over just how gracious and amazing He is.  We struggle and we cry and we want to hide our heads and never come out, but one thing we know for sure, and that is that God is always there.

The hardest part of all this is knowing and trusting in the fact that even if we don't see Him at work, that He is indeed working on our behalf.

So we go for a job interview, and we think it went great and we have this feeling that we are going to get it, only to be told that they decided to go with someone else.  It's a strike to a person's ego, for sure.  You feel unwanted, you feel neglected, you feel that you aren't good enough and the human reaction is to lash out and withdraw into ourselves.

But you see, I have learned over the years that, that same reaction is exactly why things don't happen.  The minute we snap out of it, and decide "right, this is in God's hands and the job we want is out there and will come when HE sees fit", that is when the doors start opening.

Oh and do they ever open, and just to really reiterate the fact that we NEED to trust and have faith, not only does one little door open but more than one and more than what we ever expected.

I've been very vocal about my husband's struggles since retiring from the military.  It hasn't been easy, but I'm not going to repeat that again, I've stated that here on the blog ad nauseum.

But here's the thing...he was starting to feel overwhelmed and helpless, and the more he felt that way, the more he withdrew into himself.  I was worried that he was heading into a depression, until last week when I finally took him out of the house and had a very serious talk with him.  I needed him to focus on the good, and stop focusing on the negative.

He didn't exactly take my words very easily, it's not easy for a man to do so.  But he listened and realized that what he needed to do was stop fighting, stop pushing, stop panicking and START trusting that God was working on is behalf.

 And did he ever. 

Last night, he was offered two jobs, a full time management position and a part time position at our local base.  Are you kidding me???

THIS is what I was trying to tell him all along.  The minute you give up and give in to God, that is when you'll see things happening.

So now, my husband, after these few months, has two jobs lined up.  I couldn't be more proud, because he'll be working two jobs as well as going to school full time.

It's not going to be easy, it will be long hours, it will be sacrifices, but it will be worth it in the end.  And to see my husband happy and relaxed and with a smile on his gorgeous face, is all that matters to me.

To you my dear friends,  I give my heartfelt thanks for all the support, all the words of encouragement and the relentless praying.  We may not know each other in real life, but I have made lifelong friends through my blog and I'm proud to call you all my friends :)

Moral of the story?  Let go and let God.  I know, easier said than done, but when He's shown you over and over that He always comes through, it's quite ridiculous to keep fighting isn't it?
 

Happy Homemaker Monday - 02/10/2014

Another Monday, here we are plodding right through February. 

Had a good quiet weekend but just wish it had been longer, I really would have enjoyed another day of doing nothing and watching my favorite shows.  Oh well.....

As I look outside my window:::
The sun is shining brightly outside which makes me so very happy.  I've had just about enough of snow for now and am really wishing for Spring.  The train is going by just down the street, I do enjoy seeing the train, not the noise so much but the train itself :)
 
Right now I am:::
Sitting up in my bed, trying to get motivated to move and get dressed and start my day, but I'm not very convincing at the moment.  Hahaha 
 
Thinking and pondering:::
On our move and the search for a new house.  Folks, I'm so tired of moving around and just ready to settle down, but alas, I believe that we are where we need to be at the moment, so we will just go with the flow.  
  
On my bedside table:::
Library books, started "We had everything but money" and am finding it very interesting.
On my Kindle I'm reading Love by the Letter by Melissa Jagears.
 
On my tv tonight:::
Yesterday's Call the Midwife and The Musketeers to catch up on.  Also been watching "A Place to call Home" which is an Australian Period Drama.  Very good. 

Listening to:::
The symphony of my husband and pugs snoring hahah

On the menu for this week:::
Monday - Cheesy Chicken Fettucine
Tuesday - Gourmet Beef Noodle Casserole
Wednesday - Spaghetti a la Carbonara
Thursday - Barbecue Glazed Drumsticks, Macaroni and Cheese
Friday - Homemade Pizza
Saturday - Fish and Chips
Sunday - Vetkoek and Mince

On my to do list:::
Laundry, Iron, put away
Homeschooling
Lucky Leaf Review

Plans for this week:::
Nothing really, I think it's going to be a quiet one.

What I am sewing, crocheting, knitting or creating:::
Working on my Crochet Mood Blanket. 
Also started another blanket, and have been making some granny hearts for a Valentine's Day garland.

 
My simple pleasure:::
Researching history, right now I'm once again fascinated with The Great Depression, so I'm enjoying all kinds of books and shows on that subject. 

Lesson learned the past week::: 
That I have so much yet to learn.  Plain and simple.

Looking around the house:::
Sister in law and brother are off to work.  It's just me and the hubby and the 4 kids.  Boys are awake and having some breakfast, the teenager girls are still fast asleep....of course.  The living room needs a little tidying, I have to vacuum as well. 
Kitchen needs a little clean up and the dinner dishes need to be put away to make room for the breakfast dishes...it's never ending is it?  

From the camera:::
Garlic growing on the window sill.

 

Prayer List:::
My husband, he has another job interview tomorrow morning.  Praying this is the one.
For our upcoming move, just asking God to really guide us and lead us to our forever home.

Bible verse, Devotional:::
Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
Psalm 42:11

PLEASE, don't add links to this list that are not part of the Happy Homemaker Monday. I've asked numerous times, and I'm frankly quite tired of having to remove links to other posts that shouldn't be in this list. Please be respectful of my request!

Playing St. Barbara by Marian Szczepanski - TLC Book Review

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: High Hill Press (August 1, 2013)

In the Depression-era coal patch known as The Hive, miner’s wife Clare Sweeney keeps secrets to survive. Stripped of her real name, she hides her friendship with a town pariah, haunting guilt around the deaths of her three infant sons, and determination never to bear another. She defies her abusive husband and the town’s rigid caste system to ensure a better future for her daughters, who harbor secrets of their own.

Deirdre conceals her attraction to a member of the despised Company police. Katie withholds her plans for a college education—and the convent—from her high school sweetheart. And Norah suppresses the cause of her mother’s frequent miscarriages, the devastating memory of one brother’s death, and her love for a married man.

The four women’s intertwined lives eerily mirror the 7th century legend of St. Barbara, patroness of miners, reenacted annually in the town pageant. Each daughter is cast as St. Barbara, but scandal and tragedy intervene, allowing just one to play the coveted role. In turn, they depart from The Hive, leaving Clare to endure her difficult marriage—till a mine explosion rocks the town. Forced to confront the ghosts of her past, she faces a life-changing choice. Her decision will test her capacity to forgive and challenge her to begin a courageous journey to self-redemption.

*****************************************
About the author:

 

The granddaughter of immigrant coal miners, Marian Szczepanski grew up in southwestern Pennsylvania and lived as a young child in the Jamison Coal Company house where her mother and aunts were raised. She holds an MFA in fiction from the Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College and has won awards for short fiction and magazine feature writing. Playing St. Barbara is her first novel. She lives in Houston, Texas.

Visit Marian at her website and connect with her on Facebook.

***********************************************

My Thoughts:

Where to start?

There is just so much going on in this book and so much I enjoyed, it's going to be quite hard pinpointing just one thing, so I think I'll skip that and just say that overall, I enjoyed this book immensely.

Historic fiction at it's best.

I love anything about the Depression era, I find it fascinating and what this book did for me was actually make me go by my local library and pick up some Depression era books to read and look back through as I read through this story.

There are so many characters that it's quite hard at times to keep it all straight, I did find myself getting a little confused at times, but the best part is that, that is when the author came in to save us.  Marian provided us with a PDF download of the characters.  A way to help us keep it all straight.

That is when I really started appreciating the intricate relationships between these characters.

My favorite had to have been Clare, an extraordinary strong woman who is just trying to survive and do the best she can.  She is surrounded by this cloud of doubt hurt and grieve, she fights with everything she has.

Her daughters lives were quite interesting too.  To me though, the whole mining era, mining town, the poverty that surrounded these small towns and the families living in them, was palpable.  Marian did an excellent job of weaving all these personalities into one single book.

Lastly, I really wasn't familiar with St. Barbara but it was quite interesting learning about her and what she did and how he legend plays into the town festivities and the women's lives.

Stunning novel!

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for providing me with a review copy.

Relentless!!!

This snow, it just doesn't let up does it?

I would have been happier with it around Christmas time, that is when I wanted to see it turning the whole world white.  That is when I wanted to feel the bitter cold and enjoy a cup of hot cocoa while watching the flakes floating down by the light of my Christmas tree.

Not now.

Now I'm ready for it to disappear and not come back for a very long time.  It doesn't help that I was looking through my blog earlier this week, and looking at this time last year I was already talking about my vegetables growing and the sprinkler going.  Wow, what a change!

This one doesn't seem to thrilled with the weather either, but he/she ventures out there anyway for a little munch here and there. I do so love watching them from my deck, and as long as I don't make any sudden movements, they are quite happy just watching me back.

But back to what I was saying about the growing plants etc. Even though I can't plan anything outside (owners don't allow it), I continue to grow things inside the house.

Or rather, regrowing things. I've talked about it before here and here on the blog.

I do have to get the celery into soil very soon or it won't survive.  I'm also, for the first time, trying to regrow onions, I know you can do it but I've never attempted it before so we'll see how that goes.

Yesterday I started my second crochet blanket. I shouldn't get into any other right now because I don't want to get overwhelmed, but I couldn't help it. And I do love this new color combo, it's not my usual colors, I'm more into the pastels and Cath Kidston inspired colors, but though this one is very unlike any of my previous choices, I'm still loving it.

And because I obviously don't think I have enough going on, I am also making some cute little granny hearts out of my cotton scraps so that I can do a little garland for Valentine's day.

Just something quick and not complicated that I can whip up fast.

It's been a bit of a tiring day for me, I did manage to get all my laundry washed and then ironed. A few loads worth of laundry to iron but it wasn't so bad because I caught up on The Musketeers and last night's Reign episode.

Now, my dear friends, I'm enjoying the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony on TV, while working on those crochet hearts and pretty soon I may just be heading to bed.

The snow is still falling outside, it's very cold in this house and I'm just plain tuckered out.  Not quite sure what I'm doing this weekend but I'm sure with this storm we have going, it will be spent indoors.

How is the weather where you're at?  Are you as tired of the snow as I am?

And down it comes......

Slowly, whizzing around the sky, sometimes slow, sometimes fast, but always there.

Remember when I was back in Arizona and I used to say that I missed the snow??  And that I missed the cold weather, and the different seasons??

Well......I missed, and missed being the key word, because at the moment I'm quite sick of it and ready for it to go away.  LOL

Quite easy to forget the cold and the gloomy skies and how irritating the snow can get, isn't it?

But one thing I'll say, it does make for some great snuggling and crocheting time.

Just look at how big my blanket is getting?  I'm so in love with it, the colors, the squares so simple but so pretty when lined up and joined, and the joining method.....oh it's scrummy, my favorite yet.

January is now finished and it's a huge blanket already.  According to it's current size, to fit my queen bed, I'll only have to go until March, so basically a 3 month blanket, which leaves me plenty of time to start another and if I make one this size every 3 months, I'll have 4 beautiful crochet blankets by the end of the year.

Oh the possibilities, I'm super excited about this.  The next ones will be completely different patterns and different colors, one will be for my girl and one for my boy and two will be for my bed.  :)

This morning before the snow started coming down, hubby and I ran out for some errands.

You know the funny thing is that even though things are not easy right now, we are loving all the moments we spend together.  Grocery shopping at the nearest base commissary has become like a date, we head out, make a few stops here and there, grab the groceries, grab a little lunch and then come home.

It helps so much to be able to have these alone moments to reconnect, to talk, to exchange ideas and to come up with a game plan for our lives and what is up ahead of us.

It also keeps us grounded and when one of us is feeling especially stressed or overwhelmed, the other steps in and talks and calms and brings the other back to reality and to the fact that we ARE doing ok and much better than others out there.  We need to keep remembering that.

This is what my living room looked like this afternoon during school time.  4 kiddos, super cold, trying to stay warm under their blankets while doing their work.

Is there anything better than doing school this way?  Makes me wish that homeschooling was an option while I was growing up, I would have loved this.

Now, I'm sitting in bed waiting on Ghost Hunters to start.  Hubby has gone out to fetch the kids from Tae Kwon Do and I have this wonderful stack of library books sitting next to me.

We stopped at the library this morning and of course, as usual, I grabbed enough books to fill my arms with, because you know, you can never have just one.

On my stack is:

Great Depression Cookbook by Mark Nichols
I love history and I am particularly interested and curious about the Great Depression and how so many families survived through such hard times.  I'll be telling you more about this book as I get into it, but here is the dedication which I found very fitting....

Dedicated to you individuals who are not too proud to stoop and snatch up a dime lying on a sidewalk.

Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters
The 150 Best Slow Cooker Recipes
Williams-Sonoma Cooking Together
Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day
We had everything but Money - Priceless memories of the great depression
Unexpected Afghans
The Tattered Quilt by Wanda Brunstetter

A little bit of everything in there, some historic goodies, some cooking and baking, some crocheting and even some Amish fiction.  I do believe I have enough to entertain me for a while.

Now it's time to get started on my square for today and get reading.

Have a blessed night friends!