Hearts in Service

We had planned our annual holiday open house for month and Saturday, the day we scheduled it for looked clear and nice.  Then a few days ago, they changed the forecast. We ended up with this... Since the majority of our guests were coming over a mountain and the snowplows tend to take their own sweet time, we ended up postponing the party until today. I was disappointed because a number of people were no longer going to be able to come, but I ended up spending a nice relaxing afternoon drinking tea and watching birds out my window. It also gave me a couple of extra days to prepare.  So this afternoon we will have Take #2 of our holiday open house.  I've been busy baking and cooking to get ready. I plan on putting things out at different times since the open house is from 1-9 p.m., with people stopping by at different times.  We're having the following dishes/appetizers: Veggie platter with spinach dip Crackers/bread & cheese Garlic cream cro...

I like looking back over the past year and seeing how many things I accomplished in the craft department.  Of course, this past year I opened my Etsy shop so I did more than I ever would have in the past. Rather than show them all, I'll just touch on my favorites from each month: January A table runner for my sister. I liked this one because it's in my favorite color. February Another table runner. March     April I loved the fabric on these two aprons.   Tea totes.   May   I made these for a friend and thought they turned out cute.   Curtains for Emily's room.   June Kitchen hand towels.   Bib apron in paisley.   A shirt for Dan. August A baby blanket.   Table runner.   Apron.   September Cards.   October Burp cloths and wash cloths for a baby shower.   A tote bag. November Another bag.   Cards.     December...

All the way up until Christmas, my plans to bake cookies never happened.  This was the first year that I can remember that I only made one batch of Christmas cookies.  My "get up and go" had gotten up and went.  So we were cookie-less this Tuesday.   However, we are having an open house here on Saturday so I knew I was going to have to get out of my baking slump and make something.  I've been running a cookie marathon the past two days. I've made the following... Mexican wedding cakes Cocoa snowflakes Biscochitos Snickerdoodles Gingerbread cut-outs Date nut balls Creme de menthe chunk cookies Minnesota munchers Today and tomorrow morning will be spent in shopping and pulling together appetizers for tomorrow's party.  Now if I could just get the weather to cooperate we'd be all set! :-)

I was reflecting back over 2012 and I realized that if one word could sum up this year it would be milestones. #1 - I turned 50 years old in January.  I certainly don't feel 50, but it's official.  I'm half a century! ;-)  Dan threw me a surprise party. #2 - After counting my blessings for over a year, I hit the 1,000 mark and decided to continue on. #3 - Nathan turned 21 years old. #4 - Emily turned 13 years old.  She's officially a teenager! #5 - In June both Nathan and Stephen graduated from high school.  Technically, Nathan had finished the year before and finished up one more year in the technical school he was attending and Stephen graduated in the traditional way. #6 - We had a graduation party for both them. #7 - Both boys got their driver's licenses in the summer - Nathan in July and Stephen in August.  Look out drivers! #8 - Stephen began his life as a college student.  He loves it and is doing well and just fin...

I thought I'd post some pictures of our Christmas Eve. We had a wonderful Christmas Eve Service and this year it just seemed to be more meaningful than some in the past. As always, I took a picture of the three kids together.  They are growing up so much. Emily is looking more and more like a young lady and less like a little girl. Dan & I took a picture together. This picture made me laugh because they look like they belong to a mob! Emily sang a duet with her friend, Sarah and they did a great job. It was such a wonderful Christmas and it was one of the more relaxing we've ever had.  I hope you all had a nice Christmas as well.

I promised you all that I'd let you know what Dan's secret gift was.  First of all, this picture cracks me up.  Trying to get him to pose and smile normally is next to impossible! lol  I usually have to wait and catch him when he's not looking. Okay, now on to the gift. Dan has been working on a used laptop for the past three years.  About 7 months ago it died totally.  He has been handwriting his sermons and trying to squeeze in time to type them on my computer when he can.  It hasn't been ideal, but he never complains.  So this was something we really wanted to do for him.  That's why I struggled when we gave away the money I had saved.  I had so wanted to give him something he could use and would never expect to get! It was wonderful to see how God provided the funds again for us to do this for Dan and it was really fun to surprise him this way.  The boys got it all set up for him and he's as happy as a clam!  It has...

My children and husband look forward to Christmas every year, mainly because I try to serve food that we normally don't have.  It's hard to come up with new things each year that don't require me to spend my entire day in the kitchen!  This year I wasn't really feeling very inspired, but finally settled upon the following menu plan.  A lot of this is just prep work ahead of time. Here is the menu: Christmas Eve Baked shrimp scampi Lemon saffron rice Homemade garlic breadsticks Parmesan crusted roast asparagus Pear and greens salad I'm skipping dessert as we have a Christmas eve service with all kinds of goodies afterwards. Christmas Breakfast Cinnamon rolls Scrambled eggs Bacon Hash browns Christmas Dinner Lasagna Homemade Italian bread Tossed salad White chocolate peppermint cheesecake Sparkling Cider Other than the shrimp, there is not a lot of expense involved and yet, it will be different enough that everyone will be happy.

There have been lots of crafty things going on around here the past few days and weeks.  The sewing machine has been humming. Here are a few things that have been created. A friend ordered a couple of adult protective coverings. Another friend called and asked if I could make her a Christmas tree skirt.  She gave me the dimensions as well as the colors. The back is lined with red felt. I had these cute buttons that matched it perfectly. I liked it so much that I made another one. This one is lined in blue and both skirts are reversible. I made a shirt for Dan.  It's awaiting the buttons. Emily is making a quilt for her friends (sisters). I've also been making a paper chain scarf for one of Emily's friends. So as you can see, its been busy, busy, busy!!!  The next few days will be spent baking so they will be equally busy.  I love this time of the year!