before pinterest

Posted on April 30, 2015 by Shanda

Dear Friends,

Yesterday Sarah fell in the stream.

It was such a glorious, dare I say, WARM morning that the 8 of us went outside; the dog, the four cats, the rabbit, Sarah, and I. Sarah played by the rabbit cage with her little toy animals, a bowl of water for a lake, and a piece of wood to be the land.

I set up a lawn chair with my bag of outside goodies; old magazines, scissors, glue, pens, books, camera, coffee, sunglasses, and a blanket in case of chilly winds. A feeling of contentment was all around us but soon Sarah wanted to make mud pies instead and I readily agreed.

In order to make mud pies she went away down the hill to her sandbox and trucked water back and forth from the pond, to the sand. Every once in a while I would look up from my book and watch her. She was so cute with her short blond hair flying behind her as she ran, so busy, so carefree. She ran up to me once or twice to show me how dirty she was getting.

Time went by. Eventually, I stopped reading my book and listened. I thought I heard something. I thought it was music and started to read again. The music got louder. I thought Sarah was in the garage, singing. The music got even louder and only then did I realize it was the distressed sort of “singing”, it was screaming and crying, actually.

If a child has the energy and will to cry really loud then I do not worry, but the children have a talent of getting me to run. I couldn’t see her at all so I was able to use my amazing imagination to convince myself she was broken and/or bleeding. I couldn’t get to the stream fast enough.

I knew she was fine as soon as I saw her, and laughed. She was standing in the rushing waters on a huge rock, wet from waist to toe. She was frozen in terror. I picked my way down the bank cursing the ticks to offer her my motherly hands. I got her safely up the bank and she stopped sobbing. I thought it would be funny to *not say a word* to see what her first remark would be after her adventure.

We walked hand in hand while she sniffled and finally gave up this remark, “sniffle sniffle, well, I AM glad I washed my feet. My feet and my hands. sniffle sniffle”

You can’t help but admire a thankful heart. By the time we got to the porch she was talking about how much she liked “jumping in the stream” and wanted to put on a lifejacket and sunscreen and go swimming. (the answer was no–too cold–go change your clothes)

I had to get a bug from my coffee.

“April is a chancy month here. Bitter knife-cold, oven-warm. Rainy. Sunny. But always the feeling of spring, the definite excitement of things growing. Such a wonderful month, promise of richness to come, restoring faith in the good bounty of Nature. A bouquet of violets to you, my dear.” ~ Gladys Taber to her friend Barbara, in Stillmeadow and Sugarbridge

The twentieth time reading an LM Montgomery book is just as good as the first. When I was a teenager I was very protective of my paperbacks and used to reinforce the corners and binding with tape. However, the best loved books ended up looking similar to this copy of Anne’s House of Dreams. This book is extra special because it’s the only one I accidentally dropped into a bowl of leftover chicken soup after an late night excessive indulgence of reading, and there it stayed until morning. Every time I pull it from the shelf I think of chicken soup. I still grieve.

Anne’s House of Dreams begins at Green Gables in the midst of wedding preparations. Anne and Gilbert are married in the garden and move away to Four Winds Harbor, near Glen St. Mary, a town by the shores. They live in a darling house, which Anne declares is their House of Dreams. LM Montogomery was so clever in creating unique and delightful characters and in no time at all the reader meets the captivating Captain Jim, Leslie Moore, and Cornelia Bryant. Every page is a delight.

I’ve been in a “feathering the nest” mood this week, hence Anne’s House of Dreams on my reading list, and have been working on completely finishing up my own personal scrapbook of home inspiration. I spend more time on Pinterest these days than looking at magazines, but way back many years ago BEFORE PINTEREST when I was a young thing with no internet, I absolutely delighted in pouring over magazines with a pair of scissors dreaming of what I could do in my home. I’ve been working on this scrapbook for over 10 years……going back to it the last few days was like visiting an old friend.

I love the country mix and match eclectic look, with browns and yellows. And books everywhere.

Everything about this kitchen is perfection. I love the railing behind the stovepipe for towels, the color of the walls, the little cupboards and shelves, red floor.

“The walls of this house must be sorter soaked with laughing and good times.” Anne’s House of Dreams pg. 38

flowers, chair with lovely pillows, quilt, kitchen sink, baskets, plants, painting, dishes

“Anne looked about her with bright, appreciative eyes as she followed Mrs. Doctor Dave upstairs. She liked the appearance of her new home very much. It seemed to have the atmosphere of Green Gables and the flavor of her old traditions.”

Another room that I love everything about….wicker side chair, all the pillows, the blue ship painting, no curtains on the windows, flowers……the colors…..

This is my Home and House board on Pinterest: click HERE. It’s much easier to pin photos online now and…… I have let my Country Living magazine subscription lapse. But I hope I never stop taking the time now and then to sit “the old fashioned way” with scissors, glue, a scrapbook, and a handful of dreams á la Anne Shirley Blythe.

inside/outside good to be home

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Shanda

flower for a thank you

asking for a belly rub

cookies one and two

impromptu cookie jar

so happy to find a screen cover @ Pier One Imports 13 dollars

lily’s dress

really great soup recipe

He shall sit up on the arm of the couch in a sunbeam.

He shall sleep & stretch under the coffee table….not doing a great job of hiding from us.

poetry comes to life: “her early leaf’s a flower, but only for an hour” Robert Frost

moss growing on a fallen tree

blue sandwiching green

I shall sit in the woods and watch the hens scratch with purpose.

Back inside: nature bits gathered from the woods.

W H I T E T U R K E Y C H I L I

1 T. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped (about 1/3 cup)
2 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped up fine
1 lb ground turkey
salt and pepper to taste
1 can cannelloni beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
1 16 ounce jar salsa (your choice)
1 15 ounce can tomatoes with garlic and onion (or add extra seasonings if you only have plain)

In a skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until translucent, add turkey and brown, salting and peppering to taste. Add the rest of the ingredients and heat till bubbly and completely heated through.

I triple this for my family, so we can enjoy leftovers. I use mild salsa, the guys pass around the Franks Red Hot.

This recipe is from a cookbook that has literally changed my life, Saving Dinner, by Leanne Ely. It contains recipes for delicious main dishes for each week (6 days) of the year WITH the complete shopping list (!!!!). It is organized by season. All the recipes are as healthy as can be with typically a fish, beef, chicken, slow cooker recipe, meatless, casserole. Each recipe includes side dish recommendations and nutritional content. I don’t use the cookbook every week, but I’ve used it a lot over the last couple of years, (all spring this year so far except the 2 flu weeks). This week I am making Chicken Parmesan with steamed broccoli, Mexican Lasagna with a salad, Beef and Spinach Pitas with baby carrots, Chicken Broccoli Soup with a salad and rolls, Halibut Piccata with steamed broccoli, sweet potatoes, and baked potatoes, and lastly, Greens and Beans with a side of brown rice. Buy it! 🙂

recovering!

Posted on April 21, 2015 by Shanda

Good morning! I was awakened this morning by Jacob knocking at my door at 6:21 in the morning because I had promised to write him a check for seventy dollars for the prom. As soon as I stood up, the all too familiar chills and flu headache appeared. I wrote the check and tortured myself by stumbling back to bed even though I knew I couldn’t sleep anymore…I had to wake up Seth and Caleb.

So here it is several hours later. The smell of roasting chicken is in the air, as I am getting a head start on dinner later which will be Chicken Divan. Little Sarah is pattering about upstairs getting dressed.

I was sick an entire week and indeed, I am not yet quite well.

However, God is to be praised and glorified because He delights in caring for His precious children and I felt his love so much over the last week. Rich had a business trip from Tuesday to Thursday and I was so sick I had to send out a distress call over Facebook. My friends came through for me in such generous ways! By eight that morning four of the children were taken away……Caleb and Seth to my friend Diana’s house, and Grace and Sarah to my friend Heather’s. And each of these ladies had four children of their own at home, too, not to mention one year old baby boys. Heather took the girls to the Science center and gave me a candle, card, and jelly beans (which I gave to Jacob to take with him to his track meet). Diana had the boys spend the night and when she brought them back she also gave us dinner. Which reminds me, I really need her bread recipe.

My friend Barb came over with essential oils and took the boys to their orthodontist appointment. She bought me a box of tissues.

I carry the baggie of oils around with me, they are so very therapeutic! My sense of smell is returning!

Last Monday for whatever reason I very dumbly decided to go for a walk with the children. My only excuse is that I had taken three ibuprofen and felt that I was getting better (oh how I laugh now) …. anyway, the reason I went was because Grace came to me and said, “Mom, I thought I heard ducks but it was really frogs. They’re back.” Namely, Spring Fever.

The happy frogs were down by the rushing stream in a quieter tributary, laying eggs. I’m not sure what type of frog they were, they were NOT the bullfrogs. Once we were that far, we decided to keep on going and walk up the dam trail.

David was jumping on the trampoline being unsociable and Ethan was at practice, so it was Jacob, Emily, Grace, Caleb, Seth, and Sarah.

Jacob shot a tree with an air-soft gun (I know, this was bad of him) and we all ran over to taste the sap. He looked around for a Maple tree but could not find one.

It was a little cold for Sarah so Jacob and Emily left with her and Seth. They also had bare feet and the grass was hurting them. Grace, Caleb, and I continued to the old beaver pond in the woods to search out some more frog activity.

We saw a new bird species as we entered the woods by a tiny stream. We didn’t notice it at all until we were almost upon it, it was so well camouflaged. The pictures I took are truly pitiable. If you lean in very close to the computer screen you can see it…a small bird about the size of a bantam hen, with an upturned tail, black eyes, and long beak.

You may have to take my word for it. It flew away reluctantly in three brief flights; the third one being the last attempt we made to “get a little closer”. I looked it up later on and decided it was perhaps a Water Rail.

We sat down by the beaver pond to watch the frogs. Grace was right next to me. She had bare feet and said, “What in the world is under my toes.” It turned out to be a tiny tree frog. Then, she climbed a tree and just as she settled in the branches she saw a red spider. Nature loves Grace.

Dear Caleb. He proudly wears his waterproof boots.

Eastern Skunk Cabbage blooms. It really does smell like skunk…the kids call it stink weed.

bright green moss on a boulder in the woods.

Skunk cabbage growing through a leaf.

Walking with boys ALWAYS involves a few battles with sticks.

Heading home. Caleb was our silent third party while Grace and I chatted and laughed all the while…….

When I got home I decided to open the last bottle of blackberry/sage Kombucha. It opened like a shot and Kombucha pulp sprayed all over the ceiling. I had to walk around on the island with clorox wipes to clean it off. If the cork wasn’t held on to the bottle by metal hardware I would be typing this blog post with only one eye.

I never even drank it. I could not taste it and couldn’t be sure that it wasn’t spoiled. I’m sure it wasn’t, but after cleaning up all the pulp I lost my appetite for it. It sure got fizzy, right?

After Monday I didn’t pick up my camera again for four days (this is impressive for me). I did have my phone so I took a few pictures with it:

I was in the cupboard trying to find something to snack on when Grace saw the word flu. We had to laugh at the irony.

Jacob and David, I’m so proud of these sons of mine.

Caleb after a few days of neglecting to gather the eggs.

The glorious sky on Friday which prompted me to touch the camera again. The day was dark and gloomy until the very end when the sun came out briefly. I love the dark sky and the sunshine trees.

Snickers asleep on the porch.

Seth playing football by himself.

On Sunday I thought I saw the football down by the pond but then realized it was a Muskrat of all things. It sat at the edge for a while, I think it was eating, sometimes the force of it’s digging made its long tail come out of the water.

walking away

Lastly, I took this picture of Rich reading to our youngest two last night before bed.

*******

I have two book recommendations for you, if you are interested. The first is titled A Room with View, written in 1908 by Edward Morgan Forster. It’s a free download on the Kindle. After you read it you can watch the lovely movie adaptation.

The second book is one that I am currently reading. It was written by a Romanian Lutheran pastor who was imprisoned for 14 years of his life in different prisons because of his Christian belief. It’s titled In God’s Underground and was written by Richard Wurmbrand and is a one dollar book on Kindle. Here is a quote:

“The prison years did not seem too long for me, for I discovered, alone in my cell, that beyond belief and love there is a delight in God: a deep and extraordinary ecstasy of happiness that is like nothing in this world. And when I came out of jail I was like someone who comes down from a mountaintop where he has seen for miles around the peace and beauty of the countryside, and now returns to the plain.”

That’s not to say that he did not experience satanic temptations, torture, and deathly illness, because he did. But in the midst of it all he experienced over and over again God’s amazing sustenance. What a beautiful testimony this book is and I think EVERY Christian should read it to get yet another idea of how awesome God is, and what is available to us as believers.

Here is just one more quote and then I will close this post for the day.

“Words alone have never been able to say what man feels in the nearness of divinity. Sometimes I was so filled with joy that I felt I would burst if I did not give it expression. I remembered the words of Jesus, ‘Blessed are you when men come to hate you, when they exclude you from their company and reproach you and cast out your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!’ I told myself, ‘I’ve carried out only half this command. I’ve rejoiced, but that is not enough. Jesus clearly says that we must also leap.’

“When next the guard peered through the spy-hole, he saw me springing about my cell.”

Dance for Jesus today, my friends! Rejoice and leap for joy!

spring table

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Shanda

Monday was my sister’s birthday and we met each other and some friends for lunch.

After lunch I took her home and she gave me a birthday gift (which was last month…we hadn’t seen each other). I opened the package to find beautiful April Cornell napkins and a tablecloth. It’s funny because I had already eyed these things at one of our mutual favorite shops (Marshalls).

The colors match my much-loved Fiestaware.

And it’s perfect for spring!

****
“I like to think my domestic style is a statement of my ultimate aspiration to create a welcoming, lived-in, loved, used and abused space for living.” Jane Brocket

mascara: observations of a four year old

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Shanda

Yesterday Sarah was standing by my side, intently watching me put on mascara.

“Are you putting black on your whiskers?” she sweetly asked.

When I began to laugh she quickly corrected herself.

“Wait. Are those eyebrowls?” (guide to pronunciation: rhymes with growls)

****

Can you tell she’s all about animals these days?

New England Music Festival (with Grace)

Posted on March 22, 2015 by Shanda

The music for this post is a rendition of the song “The Road Home”, which was one of the pieces sang this weekend at the New England Music Festival. Unfortunately, I do not have video of the actual performance, but this is one from youtube, which gives an idea of the caliber of singing we enjoyed from Grace and her peers. (they sounded just as good if not better)…….

Grace and Her Weekend of Singing

My daughter Grace is 15 years old now and in the 10th grade. Recently, she tried out for the New England Music Festival and made it, so she has been extra busy with preparations for this important event.

We have three teenagers involved in High School extracurricular events and I feel as though I miss seeing Grace the most. Her older brothers are involved in sports which means during the competitive months I see them performing on a constant basis. But Grace is in music and drama both of which do not have as many performances, but a rather lot of practicing— so I don’t see her until about 6:30 or later every school night. I do miss her very much at times, but Grace is the type of individual who thrives on being busy. She is very much like her Dad in that way, but she seems like more of an extrovert. Although she does like reading and writing, she comes alive around her people, especially her role models (teachers and older students and friends).

I watched her get on the bus Thursday morning at 6:30 for school, with Jacob carrying her suitcase for her, and I felt a little anxiety knowing I wouldn’t see her again until Saturday. Thursday was the day she and the other students travelled to Keene, New Hampshire, for the music festival. She doesn’t have a cell phone so she would only be giving us brief updates using a friend’s phone.

It is amazing to me how much the dynamic of our family changes with just one person away! Each one of our children is a perfect fit into our family, we love them so much and thank God continually for this stage of life when all seven are still under our roof.

I prayed continually, asking the Lord that she would do well and that her cough (left over from a resent bout with the flu) wouldn’t be a problem. He answered those prayers and more; the girls stayed with a host family and one of the girls there was a believer. Rich received a text message from Grace that told us that she and her new friend talked about the Bible and sang together with two other girls. They tried naming the 12 tribes of Judah, sang camp and Sunday School songs, went through all the contemporary Christian songs and artists that they knew, and generally had a wonderful impromptu Bible study during one of their free evenings. Oh it just thrilled my heart to hear all about it later on. There is another girl from our town that Grace loves, her name is Isabella, and she is a believer also, and was on this same trip staying in the same home as Grace. God is so good in these small but oh-so-important ways!

Despite the fact that Grace is busy, she is faithful to attend the boy’s sporting events whenever she can. I thought it was only fair that with all the support the boys get from their parents and siblings with their sports, we should ALL go and support our dear sister/daughter in this special concert that she auditioned for, so I wrote a check for 96 dollars in order to purchase 8 tickets for Rich, myself, Jacob, Ethan, David, Caleb, Seth, and Sarah. We all eagerly awaited the day when we would take our little trip to New Hampshire, and Grace was happy and secure in knowing that her family would be there, enjoying the program.

Rich got a new watch that keeps track of his exercising and also gives him his text messages– and it came in the mail on Friday, which was a huge annoyance because he spent all Saturday morning not getting excited about the day trip, but silently in the corner trying to get his dang new watch all set up! It was a much needed lesson of patience for the rest of the family. Finally he got himself dressed and we got the children ready to go, too. We left the house at about noon and stopped for lunch on the way, at Crackerbarrel. My Facebook friends already saw the picture Jacob took of Rich and I together at the table. While we were sitting there at the table Rich asked me to text him…so I did…and his watch never received it…(can you believe it? after all that!) he was so annoyed. Thankfully, at the time of this writing it is working better, although still not quite right. (technology saves times and wastes time).

In any case, at the Crackerbarrel, four of us ordered breakfast and four of us ordered lunch. I had a chef salad and coffee. Caleb bought himself a new stuffed cat from the gift shop and named it “SeaCat” because it’s fur is blue and green like the sea. It’s one of those Ty stuffed animals that have HUGE glittering eyes. Those are all the rage in my house lately with Seth, Sarah, and now Caleb. Sarah has about six–all cats–, Seth has two dogs. They play together with them and it’s the cutest thing.

David bought jelly beans because he made a candy dispenser out of legos and wanted to try it out. It’s the neatest little thing. You have to insert a coin to get your bean out.

Jacob got salt water taffy.

Then we were back in the car on our way. The whole trip was only about 2 hours. I thought I had downloaded two new books to my kindle but alas when I went to read, I found that they did not download after all, so I passed the time by my iPhone and/or doing nothing. Rich brought his iPad and had the kids watch an inspirational message given by a military man.

We arrived in Keene with 45 minutes to spare and found a delightful BOOKSTORE of all places! We love bookstores and this one was perfectly charming, independently owned, containing new AND used books. I bought a few charming used children’s books (one of which was titled The Doll’s House, and was illustrated by Tasha Tudor). Then we went to the school to find our Gracie-girl again. I could not wait to get my eyes on her.

We already had our tickets, so we got in line, and I kid you not it was probably a quarter of a mile long. We were behind about 200 or more other people waiting to get into the auditorium for this choral concert. David almost died. But once the line started moving we were in there quickly– in the very back of the auditorium, second to the last row. Rich and I sat with Sarah between us and of course her little feet were in the air because she wasn’t heavy enough to keep the seat down. I had her on one side and Seth on the other and it was all I could do not to get irritated with them BOTH asking me questions DURING the gorgeous songs. I finally got through to them that the could not talk during the performance, bless their hearts, the music wasn’t moving to them, but I had tears on my face throughout all the pieces, it was just so beautiful.

I saw my daughter the moment she came into the room. All of the singers filed in quickly and she was the last in line on the stage bleachers. (there was another set of bleachers on the floor) I thought I had missed her and didn’t know how I could have, I thought my motherly eyes would recognize her even from such a distance away. The room was large and we were in the back, but then I saw her and my eyes teared up. Someone had braided her hair for her and she looked so pretty and energetic. She was wearing her glasses, I had been worried that she didn’t have them with her, but she did, and she looked beautiful, even Rich turned to me and said so. We were proud that she was in such a nice big group of singers from all over New England. We were happy for her in achieving this experience.

The music began, and like I said before, the pieces were beautiful. There were God honoring songs, to glorify Him, and then the last piece, a fun and happy number “Skip to my Lou” that made us laugh. They clapped during that song, I don’t know how the conductor kept the beat with all the rhythms going at once.

Speaking of the conductor, I noticed Seth (he is six) “conducting” in his chair as he watched the performance and it struck me that when I watch, I usually see the concert through the eyes of one of the SINGERS, but my small son would have none of that. HE was THE CONDUCTOR! I love it. I never pretended to be a conductor. The pianist, yes. A singer, yes. Conductor, no.

All too soon the concert was over and so we filed out of the room to wait in the hall with about a thousand other people. Finally I saw Grace heading toward us and the first thing she wanted me to do was take her picture with a set of twin boys. The boys were singers who were homeschooled and Grace loved them (in a friendly sort of way). Then she bid me to follow her back into the auditorium so I could meet the manager of the entire festival, who has a deaf daughter. Grace wants to be a deaf interpreter so she immediately began a friendship with this man and they signed to each other. He wanted to show her a video that his daughter’s deaf camp put together of the song, “Happy”. We all stood around and watched it on his iPad and then it was time to say good bye. He said he would be looking for her next year.

I took a picture of Grace with the conductor, Jerry Blackstone, too. He was a grammy award winning musician and from what I heard was very good with the kids. He certainly got them singing beautifully in only two and a half days of work!

Grace chatted to us all about her experience on the way home. We only stopped twice…once at a gas station to take advantage of New Hampshire gas prices and another time to pick up a pizza closer to home, for dinner.

Pictures

the text Rich received from Grace

Jacob and Parker, on Saturday morning before we left….hanging around waiting for Dad to get off his watch.

Ethan petting Sherlock right before we left for our trip.

New Hampshire mountains

the bookstore we found

just a small section of the audience waiting for the singers to enter and the concert to begin

Caleb, Ethan (with headband) and Jacob, three of Grace’s brothers

the program

The last pose of the last number, “Skip to my Lou”

official portrait-time

Grace and I meet once again.

Grace with the twins

watching “Happy” with the festival manager

Grace and the Choral conductor, Jerry Blackstone

Grace’s pretty braid

proud parents

scandinavian blondies on the first day of spring

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Shanda

(music)

Scandinavian Blondies

4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon almond or lemon extract
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup sliced almonds (optional) (I used slivered because it was what I had)
Preheat the oven to 325. Lightly grease a 9 by 13 pan.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat the eggs well, until light colored and thick.
Add the sugar and salt, continuing to beat until shiny and pale yellow.
Add the extract, melted butter, and 1 cup flour, mixing it in gently.
Mix in the remaining 1 cup flour.
Pour batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with the nuts.
Bake the bars for 30 to 35 minutes, until the edges are pulling away from the sides of the pan and they’re a very light gold color. Remove from the oven and cool before cutting into squares.

As we waited for them to cool, we read a few library books……

Then, we went into the kitchen to cut into the cookies. They had baked nicely into a soft, cake like bar, and the smell of almond was like aromatherapy. Unfortunately Sarah wasn’t partial to them. But her Dad and I liked them very much. (the other children are at school, so I don’t know what they think of them quite yet) I especially liked the almonds on top. Because they weren’t mixed into the batter they stayed nice and crisp, as a nutty nut should be.

This recipe is from the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion cookbook, page 191. (doubled) ******

Happy first day of Spring!

The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month. ~Henry Van Dyke

Snow is in the forecast!

handmade (day 4)

Posted on March 12, 2015 by Shanda

With fingers shaking with exhaustion, I bring to you day four of our admiration for all things handmade. Yes, I am tired, but it is only the common tiredness of motherhood, so I am thankful. For instance, it’s taking a long time for Seth’s amazon.com order to come. He asks so much for his little dog Duke which he ordered days ago. Seems like forever. And another boy is having a little trouble, and another one (a girl) doesn’t get home until way after dinner is over, and a couple others stay up too late playing video games, and another one forgot to do his homework, and another one was so grumpy…..and several are still coughing. But, it’s not a big deal, the sun is shining and soon the snow will be gone along with all the problems. LOL

I read Seth and Sarah Curious George and the Pizza this midmorning which gave Seth a powerful hunger for pizza of our own. Did you know that when a child is recovering from being sick you’re supposed to do whatever they ask? Me neither, but in this case it seemed good and proper so we got in the kitchen, argued about who was going to stand where, and made HANDMADE pizza and they were so cute that I had to document the process with the camera.

Seth was telling her that his was going to be better but she didn’t care.

She was busy spreading around sauce and she was entirely capable…. sauce sauce sauce, rub, pour, slap, sauce.

And then when it came to the cheese…..she put a tiny bit right in the middle. Very amusing.

What she really wanted to do was eat all the dough raw but we talked her out of it.

Seth’s was stuffed crust.

We each made our own pizza and we all exchanged slices with each other.

Seth, can I have a piece of yours? Sure!
Do you want a piece of mine? Uh…. Okay!
Try mine!

She had to blow on her pizza a little bit and we made up a song about it.

I was pretty proud of mine, too! We were all proud of our pizza.

Talking to her brother….

quick and easy pizza dough recipe here. (SO SO GOOD!!!)

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

MORE HANDMADE:::

On Saturday, my Mom and Dad gave me a handmade wooden box , and they also gave me this handmade trinket hook board.

I hung it up today, it was obviously made for the wall above my sewing table. It should have only taken two holes in the wall, but of course it took me four since it was a struggle for me to get it straight…….(don’t tell Rich)…..

They decorated it with buttons from my childhood clothes. I loved these heart buttons then, and I still love them now. (first day of Kindergarten dress)

They used other little odds and ends, too. I hung some of my necklaces from the hook on the left.

And a beaded necklace, with a paper heart made by Dawn, was hung on the hook on the right.

The two metal pieces are an “S” for my initial, and a “38” for my age. Everything was meaningful……

Even the board was from my Grandfather’s chopper (farming machinery).

zzzzzzzzzzzzz

I’ll be back tomorrow with no words, for a “this moment” friday post.

handmade (day 3)

Posted on March 11, 2015 by Shanda

Good morning! The sun is shining, my house is relatively clean (miracle), I have two delightful children by my side (one is getting over the flu) and there are strong, talented construction men in the bathroom making much needed updates and repairs. All is well. God is so good to us, filling our lives, which can be so very very dreary, with many blessings and encouragements. I am so thankful to belong to Him, thank you Jesus for your care and guidance and love.

TODAY, on “handmade”, day NUMBER THREE, I share with you a photo of a very little something I made for my dear mama recently. It is a small wall hanging made of scrappy pieces, and embellished with lots of sewing, some beads and buttons (NOT plastic, just because mom and I love heavy glass beads and old buttons)….snips of ribbon, and my very first humble attempts at crazy quilt embroidery.

I actually forgot to take pictures of it before I gave it to her. This is a phone pic that I had sent to Joanna and Dawn asking for their opinions on it. Dawn suggested buttons and I did sew some on (after I took the photo). I placed vintage white ones down the flowery red ribbon.

I sewed a metal ring to the top, just below the edge so it was hidden, for her to use in which to hang it.

I’m anticipating making another! It was a perfect little project for my busy life, because it’s small, unfussy, there is no pattern…… it’s almost instant gratification.

Here are a few pictures of the photos which inspired me on pinterest:

THEY are handmade by MANDY PATULLO, and she calls them textile collage strippies

I LOVE them, they are so pretty and creative. I’m thankful for the inspiration on pinterest and the blogging world! In the spirit of such, how about (pretty please) sharing your favorite pinterest or blog links, featuring handmade crafty sorts of things, in the comments?

Happy Wednesday, friends!

handmade (day 2)

Posted on March 10, 2015 by Shanda

“she painted the world with her love”

An absolutely lovely handmade gift arrived in my mailbox on Saturday.

It was thoughtfully created by my friend Dawn, of the blog 4:53. Dawn has been an inspiration of mine for years and is constantly working on the most beautiful little crafts of all sorts. She sews, works with papers, paints, embroiders, and loves so many of the same things that I do, including our Savior and Friend Jesus, that I consider her a Kindred Spirit of the very best kind.

It was such a pleasure snapping pictures of the loveliness, but first I had to politely ask kitty Sherlock to step aside. He thought the pretty thing covered in flowing ribbons was a cat toy.

Don’t worry, dear Dawn, there was no harm done by the naughty cat.

The journal was held together by an elastic which had a fabric flower glued to it (the back of the flower was covered with felt to make it look neat). Once the flower was off, I eagerly opened the book, which was bursting with pages upon pages of pretty touches.

Most of the pages had a folded-over edge, with an embellishment such as a tag, quote, playing card, or doily sewn to it. The ends of the threads were left long, making for delightful dangling out the top and bottom of the book.

two favorites: books and Jane Austen

In truth

a family is
what you make it.

It is made strong,
not by the number of
heads counted
at the dinner table,
but by the rituals
you help
family members
create,
by the memories you share,
by the commitment
of time,
caring, and love
you show to one another,
and by the hopes
for the future
you have as
individuals and as a unit.
~Marge Kennedy

Thank you, Dawn, for this beautiful gift. I’ll cherish it always, and very much enjoy adding some of my own *jots and tittles* to it, too.

For more information on this journal and a peek at many of her other works, visit Dawn’s lovely site. She would be more than welcoming to see any visitors that might happen to drop in. You just might want to pour yourself a cuppa something’ hot before you do, so you can pleasantly linger. 🙂