Our little girl

We'll our little girl got a big girl haircut and man she now looks her age (19 1/2) . We have so enjoyed having her home and being a family that plays Wii together. Yes, we are addicted.

We all laugh how daddy boxes. We had to make him move back a bit. Thought he was going to hit the TV.

Well, our girl goes back Sunday and it's going to be a tough one. I'm just going to miss her so much and her little fella too. Yep, she met a boy and he is so sweet. He will graduate this May and lives an hour away so it's the perfect relationship. No really he is a treasure and it's been fun getting to know him. So, I will be back working and volunteering and keeping busy. I know time will go quickly but I think it's going to be a tearful goodbye.

Back to carpet cleaning and organizing!!

Out with the old

The tree is down and Christmas is put away. I like to keep a few snowmen up but with a new year I like to put the old stuff up. My hubby's birthday is New Years day and we are busy preparing for that.
So while putting everything up I wanted to have a little Christmas reflection.
*I loved baking with my daughter
*delivering goodies to people
*gathering with friends
*my birthday
*having our daughter home and spending time with her very special guy
*seeing my boys face when they got the Wii game
*Christmas Eve service
*special gifts from friends
*wrapping presents
*my dad getting good health news
*working for Dr Jay
*my house looked very inviting and smelled oh so good
*my new camera
This Christmas was a whirl wind and went by so quickly. I enjoyed it but I am looking forward to the New Year and all that God has in store for us

Merry Christmas !!!

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas !!

Remember no matter how big or how small your celebration may be, you have already received the greatest gift of all. That's right you know it....GOD's Love. It came in the form of a man called Jesus.

Enjoy this day and celebrate his love.

Tina

What a blessed woman

I am such a lucky girl. My birthday isn't until tomorrow but friends and family have already spoiled me with 2 special celebrations.

Friday night some girlfriends gathered for dessert and the watching of Mamma Mia. We had so much fun. One of the best parts about the DVD is the sinbg along bonus. We had so much fun singing along and being silly. I felt 16 again. Awesome friends, thank you.

Yummy family dinner Saturday night. We had yummy pork loin, green beans, loaded mashed potatoes, salad, rolls, and cheesecake. Hubby and family did all the clean up. We laughed so hard and had such a good time. I'll post some pictures later.

I'll be another year older tomorrow and the forties don't bother me, it's the time flying by that bothers me. I don't know about you but this year has flown by. I hope the things I've done have been pleasing to the Lord and that I have honored him in the way I live my life. I look forward to waht he has in store for me this year and thank him for another birthday shared with family and friends.

I am so very blessed.

Praise

Good news faithful friends...they got all the cancer and it has not spread. This is such a miracle for my dad. I want to thank you all so much for praying for him and our family.

Ezra 3:11-13 11
With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD : "He is good; his love to Israel endures forever."

Busy Bakers

My friend Melissa told me about using the little pretzels for dipping and they work great!!

Cinnamon snowflakes with cinnamon icing, oh so yummy.

This is yummy peppermint chocolate drizzled popcorn, easy and so good.

How cute are these sugar cookies?

My daughter and I finished up our baking and she was such a big help. She did such a great job on the sugar cookies. We made truffles, puppy chow, pecan choc chip cookies, graham cracker cookies(those are easy and good,)peanut butter blossoms, peanut butter reeses cup, gooey sugar cookies,yummy white choc drops and rice krispy bon bons. We like to give these to teachers, friends, family and our pastors. Everything tastes pretty good too.

Hope you are all ready for your holidays .

Happy Holy Days!!!

Wintery Days

This picture isn't that great but wanted to share some more wintery decorating. This is in the landing and if I haven't mentioned I love snowmen.

I also got some need ornaments from the ornament exchange I did with the Beth Moore Siestas group. My camera is just not cooperating with me. I wish you could see them, they are so neat. I also got a willow angel and I love those. These came from Jennifer at http://www.emmalkittredge.blogspot.com/ the spirit of truth. If you haven't been to visit her yet take a quick minute and see what she's up to. I love that God connected me with such an amazing woman. I am lucky that way. He fills my life with the coolest women.
Keep warm and take time to enjoy the week before Christmas!!

Spreading the Cheer

Here are a few things I've been working on. It's a must to spread the cheer at my hubby's work so mugs for the girls and warm socks and gloves for all the hard working guys.

I also made some snowmen hats to give to a couple of my friends . They are so cute, a friend gave me the pattern and I just loved it.

Now, this year a couple of my friends and I did a cookie dough exchange and the buckets are my dough. It was so fun to come home with dough to bake at my leisure. We have always done a traditional cookie exchange and I really like the dough idea. Tomorrow is baking day and I love that because my kids help and we listen to Christmas music and just have a great time being at home and being together.

Hope whatever you're working on brings you lots of joy!!

Recipe

So sorry for the delay.

white chocolate peanut butter drops of yummy

2 lbs white chocolate almond bark or candy coating(it's by the chocolate chips)
1 cup peanut butter
3 cups rice krispie cereal
2 cups dry roasted peanuts
2 cups mini marshmallows

Place chocolate in bowl and place in microwave @ 50% power for 4-5 minutes. Once totally melted mix in all ingredients. Drop by tablespoons onto wax paper(I use my pampered chef mini scoop) This makes a lot about 10 dozen if you get the size right.
Yummy and have fun!!

Holiday Cheer

It is the time of year that sometimes doesn't bring out the best in people. I believe this is an opportunity to spread some holiday cheer or what I like to call show some Jesus love!! What have you done this week ? It can be simple. My mom always carries candy canes and passes them out to store cashiers, clerks, gas station attendants just about anyone she runs into. I always try to keep little goodies in my car and by my front door to just give someone a little holiday cheer. This week the boys and I dropped off 2 boxes of books at Children Services. Foster homes are in need of so many things, maybe check with your local agency to see what you can do. I did speak to the Children's Bureau at the conference I went to and they are really trying some different ways to make a little extra money for the kids. They collect old cell phones and ink cartridges. We all have all have those. Isn't that awesome? And please remember all those single moms out there. Just be on the look out for a way to make someones day.

Dad Update

Thank you all for your prayers. My dad's surgery went well today and he is at home resting. It will take about a week to find out if they got it all or if the cancer has spread. We are hopeful. I am so lucky to have great friends that I can call on for prayer and now with the blogging world I have another extension for prayer warriors. I am so grateful.
Last week was crazy but Friday night I was able to connect with the girls for dinner and fellowship. We usually have a cookie exchange but with money tight and time slipping away we chose to just be together. Sometimes we tend to think things have to be grand when really the best part of any gathering is time spend with good friends. I am so lucky to have many amazing women in my life.
Our girl is in her finals week and we are praying her through. She's feeling good about chemistry and that is answered prayer.I know it's important to weed out students that are pre-med but do they have to strip away all their confidence? We had a little talk about capabilities and how God has made her so capable.It made me think of this verse:
Philippians 4:6-8 (New International Version)
6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
This really applies to my dad, my daughter , my life. May you have peace this week!
Tina

Easy Gifts

We put together these mugs before Emme went back to school for her to give to her friends. The candy cane cocoa is at Sams club and it's only about $10 for 24-30 packs. It's cute and yummy. There are so many cute candies out there to fill it up and pretzel rods from Target are cheap and good. They have all different kinds and you get 12 for $3. I love to use cellophane bags for all my packaging. I get them through Nashville wraps. They have great tissue and all kinds of bags. I always wait for ribbon to go on sale and Hobby Lobby and Michaels are great places for cute ribbon.

Not the greatest pictures...hoping Santa brings mommy a new camera!! I've been good.

I also made the white chocolate peanut butter treats and I will share the recipe.

Hope everyone is keeping warm and enjoying the season. It's so hard to believe it will be here in a flash.

Conference Update

I am back from my two day conference Kids Count In Indiana. I attended some great sessions and met some interesting people that love working with youth. Heard two great speakers Walt Mueller and got to meet Ken Carter of the movie Coach Carter. He was powerful. He even asked for a high five from me and I have his picture on my phone. My boys thought I was a rock star. Wanted to share a view interesting points he made.

Punishment lasts an hour, a day, a week...Discipline lasts a lifetime!!



If you are in a funk ... get a funk buster



This thing called life...you have to live it...you can't get out alive



BIBLE stands for Basic instruction before leaving earth..I love that.



He allowed questions which was really cool and one person said who inspired you and without hesitation he said Jesus Christ. Isn't that great? He spoke a lot about his faith and he didn't care who was in the room and who would be offended. Loved it.

Coming home after two days to a sick boy and lots of errands but all in all my hubby and boys did a great job.

Hope you are having a wonderful week!

Tina

In the Mood

A little of this ...get's you in the mood to work on this. Trying to get the house holiday ready.