Hearts in Service

"Industry, thrift and self-control are not sought because they create wealth, but because they create character."  ~ Calvin Coolidge It's Thrifty Thursday and today I want to talk about our attitudes towards frugality.  I have to be honest and say that I don't always have a good attitude about it.  Sometimes I get tired of counting every penny and not being able to purchase even the smallest unnecessary item. However, when my attitude stinks, the rest of the family's does too.  If I allow myself to feel deprived everyone else starts to whine about it.  When I'm positive and upbeat and make a game out of it, the rest of the family follows suit. I love this quote by Calvin Coolidge because it's true.  These things do develop character.  As you learn to be content with what you have you are developing peacefulness.  When you live within your means you learn to make do and have patience.  When you come up with a creative, inexpensive way ...

Today is Day #3 of "Operation Celebration" and it is Emily's 13th Birthday!  It's hard to believe that my baby girl is a teenager.  She is such a joy to us and makes us laugh every single day. She got up this morning and opened her birthday cards from her grandparents.  Part of the surprise today is that I'm cleaning her room from top to bottom and leaving a bag of candy on her pillow, attempting to finish a dress I'm making for her, and making her favorite dinner tonight. Her main gift from us is coming on Sunday on the last day of "Operation Celebration." Happy Birthday, Sweetie!  We love you! Total Cost (not counting the food for dinner which is stuff I already had) - $1.50 for the bag of candy/

Today was day two of "Operation Celebration."  The kids had an extra day off school because the school district hadn't used their snow days this year.  So that in itself was a reason to celebrate! :-) However, once she got up this morning we headed out for the next part of her week long celebration.  As she walked out the door she said, "This is so exciting!"  That, of course, is the goal of this week. The first stop was a trip to the library.  She loves to go there and play on the computer.  My computer is so old and slow that it's not much fun.  So she got to spend an hour on the computer and then pick out a few books.  Then we hit the ice cream shop for a cone. This afternoon was a visit from Emily's kindergarten teacher from the Christian school she went to for K-2nd grade.  This was her favorite teacher so this afternoon was a wonderful surprise.   What was even nicer was Mrs. Lee brought along a gift for Emily.  In ...

Over the years I've agonized and been so anxious about the people my children would turn into.  I really wish I would have spent my time more wisely. As they have gotten older they have developed character traits that are admirable. Things like... Joyfulness. Resilience. Faithfulness.   Responsibility. Creativity. and Resourcefulness. I think it's going to be okay!

My baby girl turns 13 years old on Wednesday and I've been feeling a bit low lately.  Not because she's becoming a teenager, even though that's a milestone.  Mostly because we are so tight right now that we don't have any money for anything. However, after an hour or two of complaining to myself (blush), I pulled myself out of my mood and tried to think about how I could celebrate this event but do it in a way that cost little to nothing.  So what I came up with was doing something special every single day this week for her (Monday-Sunday).  Some of the things are bigger and some are little but, all are a way to acknowledge this meaningful milestone and make it fun for Emily. So today is Day #1 of "Operation Celebration".  I'm not telling her what we are doing so it makes it that much more fun. Today we took her to the Appalachian Trail and went hiking which she loves to do.  We started on a section of it that we've never been before and it ended...

I promised Angela that I would post the recipe for Puerto Rican Rice & Beans.  Dan & I did ten years of inner city ministry and a few friends of mine from Puerto Rico would make this dish.  Nathan & Stephen grew up eating rice and beans and they still love it to this day. Angela asked me if I use sofrito sauce.  According to About.com, "Sofrito is a fragrant blend of herbs and spices used throughout the Caribbean, especially Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. It’s used to season countless dishes of stews, beans, rice, and occasionally meat. In most cases, it is the foundation upon which the rest of the recipe is built. Sofrito mixtures range in color from green to orange to bright red. They also range in flavor from mild to pungent to spicy." I don't purchase sofrito in the jar but just make my own.  It's cheaper and fresher as the who knows how long sofrito in a jar has been sitting on a shelf! Sofrito (enough for 1 recipe) ...

Things seemed to settle down this week so I was able to get quite a few items finished to put into my Etsy shop in between planting my garden and driving teens to appointments!  The kids are off school through Tuesday so I'm looking forward to a nice, quiet holiday weekend! I love this apron I made this week.  Daisies are one of my favorite flowers so I enjoyed working on this one and loved the combination of blue and yellow. I also made some more tea totes in two different fabrics. What are you working on?

It's Thrifty Thursday and I wanted to talk about some frugal meals.  This has been a humdinger of a week in the financial department and I don't mean that in a good way!  However, it's been fun (somewhat) to see how I can do in pulling together meals from my freezer and pantry.  I did hit the market on Saturday to pick up some fruits and vegetables, but the meat and other things I pulled from what I had.  One thing about being frugal is that it does require creativity and resourcefulness which can be exciting.  The other thing about being frugal is that your attitude has to be good.  If my attitude stinks (and believe me, it does sometimes) I notice Dan sinking down into the black hole with me!  So, I try to be upbeat and positive and make meals well-rounded with dessert at the end since he loves dessert.  Anyway, I need to get through Tuesday on what we have in the house.  Fortunately, when I see meat on sale and I have the money, I'll...

It's Loving Our Children Tuesday at Kate's blog today and I've been enjoying participating in this.  It's a way to think about my parenting style and my children in a deliberate way each week. Do you walk on egg shells around your children?  Are you afraid to say, "No." or to disappoint them in any way because of fear of a temper tantrum?  And yes, teens can have tantrums too.  They may not be ranting and raving, but pouting, whining, and grunting answers at you are all forms of having a tantrum. The problem with this is that parents are being held hostage by their children!  And, when you don't work on these attitudes in the midst of disappointment, than you are setting your child up for failure down the road.  Do you think a boss is going to give in to the employee that continually throws a fit when things don't go their way?  More than likely, that employee will find himself or herself on the unemployment line. What about marriage?  D...

Today I received a very special gift and it came at just the time I needed it.  This morning was Youth Sunday and also the closing program for my 3D Girls' Club.  The entire service was led by the youth from the prelude to the sermon.  My son, Stephen preached and he did such a good job!  He's definitely a natural at public speaking. I struggle at times with feeling like what in the world are we doing here?  It feels like no one is growing, no one is coming and no one cares one way or the other.  So I can start to feel frustrated and wonder if it's time to throw in the towel.   And I honestly try not to let my mind go down this road too much because it's hard to get back up out of THAT pit! So back to the gift....at the close of the service today, the girls came up to me and handed me this plaque as a gift.  My two adult helpers had a hand in it too. This is what it said.... The Starfish Story One day a man was walkin...

This happens maybe twice a year, so I took a picture to enjoy it!  Stephen dressed up and looking handsome.  He was off to the prom with his date last night.  They both looked so cute. My kids are growing up so fast!  Nathan turned 21 two weeks ago and is finished with his occupational school in June, Stephen is graduating in June and is off to college in Sept., and Emily turns 13 in a week and half!  They aren't babies anymore.  SNIFF!!!  Pass the tissues!

I decided to forgo the link-up for Crafty Things.  No one was participating and I started feeling like the unpopular kid back in high school!  LOL!!!  I'd rather just create my things and show them as I can.  It's much better for my sanity. :-) This week I did a custom order.  I made a table runner and 8 placemats for a friend who just moved into a new house.  She picked the color scheme and I thought they turned out very nice. Here they are! Close-up. I love how the yellow border brings out the yellow in the flowers. I also cut out 4 aprons for gifts for the girls in my 3D Girls Club.  Their closing program is Sunday and we are giving them aprons and a cookbook of the recipes they made this year. What have you been up too?

I know so many of you have been reading my blog for a very long time and you probably think you have a good picture of who I am.  It's easy to get a mental picture of the writer of the various blogs you read and I do it too.  However, the person is always much more complex than you may think. Today, I thought I would give you a glimpse of who I am by reciting the alphabet!  I didn't want to just give you the good side though.  I thought I should be honest and give you a bad trait as well so you can get the whole picture.  It's a fun way to show you a glimpse into my personality.  Let me just say, it wasn't easy coming up with 52 things! A Able - I'm pretty good at doing most anything.  I love to figure out new things to do and then try my hand at them and they usually turn out pretty good. Anger - I do have a quick temper and I'm working so hard at getting it under control.  More often than not, it's my family that gets the brunt of it....

It's Loving Our Children Tuesday at my friend Kate's blog today.  Feel free to join in the fun! Ever since she was born, this girl has been crazy about animals.  She would be happy with a houseful of them!  And they are just as crazy about her.  I remember going to a barbecue at someone's house and all the children were running around and playing.   Emily was 3 and I couldn't find her.  When I finally did, she was standing in a pasture, petting a cow and the thing was licking her! The only problem is that she is highly allergic to EVERYTHING.  Cats, dogs, feathers, horse, and so on.  But no matter how hard I try, I cannot keep her away from them.  It seems like everywhere we go, she finds some animal to pet and love on.  Of course, it always ends the same way....itchy eyes, watery nose, sneezing, eczema flare-up, hives and sometimes wheezing.  But she keeps on touching all those silly animals. I've kind of given up on ...

I had such a wonderful weekend.  It was relaxing and the weather was perfect.  Hanging out with Dan & the children was on the agenda for the entire weekend.  Here are some signs of Spring in my neighborhood. Pot of fresh planted herbs. The first jug of sun tea with fresh mint. Flowers in my garden. The air was full of the smells of spring.  The rain is back today and tomorrow so I was so glad that I took time to enjoy the warm sun and fresh air.

The winner of the drawing for Elaine W. Miller's book, We all Married Idiots: Three Things You Will Never Change About Your Marriage and Ten Things You Can is... Lisa Church Congratulations, Lisa!!!!  I'll contact you privately for details. Thank you to everyone who entered.  I'd encourage you to purchase this book on your own.  You'll be glad you did! Happy Mother's Day to all!

First of all, don't forget about my drawing.  There are two days left.  You can find out how to enter here. It's Crafty Things today and I'm a bit embarrassed to say I have nothing to show!  This is the first week in months that I haven't completed a project.  What did I do instead? ♥ I participated in our church's craft fair and tag sale on Saturday. ♥ In between the other things I did this week, I lay around in agony because of throwing my back out at the tag sale & craft fair.  It's still not right. ♥ I attended church on Sunday. ♥ I threw a birthday barbecue for Nathan on Sunday with 30 people here. ♥ I've had friends over for lunch on Monday & Wednesday. ♥ I've had friends over for tea on Monday & Wednesday. ♥ I listed a bunch of items in my Etsy shop.  Normally, this would go faster but my computer is ancient and everything takes 4 times as long! ♥ I did some straightening in my sewing room, though to the average on...

This is late today because I was working on a project all morning that took up every ounce of mental ability and time I had.  :-)  Today I wanted to talk about frugal gift giving. I really hesitated even bringing this subject up because it just sounds like I'm cheap! The reality is that we have zero discretionary income for gifts so I have to be very thrifty and very creative.  Thrifty doesn't mean thoughtless though.  I really try to put a lot of thought and meaning into the things I give others. Some people appreciate it and others don't.  Unfortunately, there are people out there who think gifts need to be big and expensive to be meaningful.  So no matter how much I try, my gift won't cut it for them.  Oh well!  It's their loss. Being frugal in this area will take some planning ahead.  I always scope out the after the holiday, marked down items at different stores.  You can get some really cool deals there.  Like the time I...

It's Loving Your Children Tuesday at my friend Kate's blog and today she is discussing nostalgia. I thought I'd take a trip down memory lane with her. Here are some of my favorite memories of my children from when they were little.  Some are funny, some are sweet, some are bittersweet. ♥ Nathan wearing a bright yellow fireman hat and jacket and sitting in a toy fire truck and making authentic sounding siren noises.  Who would have thought that years in the future he would be on the fire department! ♥ Emily playing the piano and singing at the top of her lungs at the age of 18 months. ♥ Getting the news that my unborn baby was diagnosed with Trisomy-18 (Edwards Syndrome) and being given the option to abort.  Because that is not an option we would ever consider clinging to the Lord during that time.  My sweet daughter was born perfect! ♥ Stephen, age 3, dragging a hippity-hop ball (the ones you sit on and bounce around the house) up the stairs and then th...

 According to my friend, Elaine W. Miller, we all did!  Elaine is the author of the new book, We All Married Idiots: Three Things You Will Never Change About Your Marriage And Ten Things You Can .  Before you get too excited about that word, here is the book description: I married an idiot--and so did my spouse. The word, "idiot" is derived from the Greek word meaning "common man." Aren't we all common man? In fact, there is only One who was uncommon man--Jesus Christ.   Elaine W. Miller encourages couples to keep their eyes fixed on Jesus and run a marriage marathon like an idiot, but not like a fool. An idiot may stumble or fall, but a fool runs the wrong way. We All Married Idiots  teaches husbands and wives to stop concentrating on the three things you will never change in your marriage and begin focusing on the ten things you can. Then, you will esteem your mate as a gift to treasure, not as an idiot to...