Hi there! Today I have some snapshots to share from a week that included a birthday, a bridal shower, and Valentine's Day! Birthday Girl Our firstborn had a birthday last weekend and it's so hard to believe the little girl in this photo is now twenty-three! This photo was taken the Easter she was just three years old and I had made her dress and hairbow to match her doll's. Too bad her doll isn't in the photo. Such memories! Look at that sweet face. We didn't get to see her on her birthday this year since she and her husband are living in Texas, but we had a fun FaceTime call with them. ***** Kitchen Shower My sisters and sister-in-law and I threw a kitchen bridal ... Read more
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Hello and happy Valentine's Day! I have a few photos to share from our homeschool Valentine party with our field trip group. In addition to our monthly field trips, we also have holiday parties and one service project each year. February was my turn, with my friend Ahsley, to plan our gathering. We decided to combine our Valentine party with our service project for the year and put on a Valentine's brunch for a group of widows. Ashley works with a widow's ministry through her church which sees to the needs of widows throughout our city and proposed that we help the children host the leaders of the group (also widows themselves) who work tirelessly to minister to so many other women. We all ... Read more
Snapshot Saturday
Hi, friends! We've been busy around here finishing one month and beginning another. Here are a few snapshots from our week. Birthday Trip! January ended with our son's 12th birthday and a special overnight trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in LaGrange, Georgia to enjoy their indoor water park and slides! More on this adventure next week but here's a sneak peek. We all got complimentary wolf ears at the lodge which my son just had to torment the poor cat with. But I must say, it was pretty hilarious how long Floyd left those ears on Our cats put up with a lot! ***** Blogiversary Also at the end of January was my blog's 4th anniversary! You can read my very first post ... Read more
Our Valentine Baby
Not only is today Valentine's Day, but it was 22 years ago this very day that my husband and I brought our baby girl home from the hospital, and we’ve called her our Valentine Baby ever since. And now she's getting married in four months! Four. months. people. Our daughter is not only planning a wedding, but she's finishing her last semester in college and is neck deep with her classes, music ensembles, an internship, senior thesis and defense work, and senior recital prep. When we asked what she'd like to do for her birthday, this tired girl said she just wanted to come home for the weekend and eat gumbo. She couldn't even think of anything past that, so we decided to keep it restful ... Read more
February Feels
Good Monday morning! I'm just jotting down a few simple blessings from my weekend. Just some sweet tidbits.On Friday, what started as "Mom, can you please look over my essay with me?" turned into the picture you see below! My girl and I often make tea when we go over her assignments for her composition course, so we decided to make some tea first, and since it was raspberry truffle tea, we thought chocolate raspberry chocolate chip scones would go perfectly with our tea. One thing led to another and viola! Friday afternoon tea party--delicious! Saturday night, my husband and I went on an early Valentine's date! It's really hard to work in date nights these days, but we've ... Read more
Raspberry Sweetheart Pie
Today I'm concluding my Valentine's menu with the prettiest pink pie! The original recipe is simply called "Raspberry Cheesecake", but for Valentine's Day I'm calling it "Raspberry Sweetheart Pie". We ended our special lunch last year with this sweet, creamy, fruity pie along with an individually wrapped chocolate placed at each place setting. This is a dessert that truly speaks the language of LOVE! Raspberry Sweetheart Pie Crust: 3 c. graham cracker crumbs ½ c. sugar ¾ c. butter Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix dry ingredients together and blend with melted butter. Press into the bottom of a 9-inch pie dish (deep). Bake in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes. ... Read more
Valentine’s Day Pasta Dinner
Yesterday's post was all about my favorite love language: FOOD! As a follow up, I'm sharing some recipes from a Valentine's lunch we enjoyed last year with my mother-in-law and my daughter's boyfriend (now her fiancé! Talk about love!). This is a menu I've made for different occasions but found it to be perfect for Valentine's Day. I've not made these recipes in a year, and last night when I pulled the cookbook off the shelf to work on this post, I noticed something really special. The title of the cookbook is The Gathering of Friends, which I had remembered. But what I'd never noticed, was the very small subtitle which reads "Let's make food your love language"! This thrilled me since ... Read more
The Love Language of Food
Oh, my friends! My HEART is so happy it’s the first day of February! My girl and I will be putting out our few little Valentine's decorations today. Nothing over-the-top, just some kisses of red and pink around the house. And since this month is all about love, I'd like to share one of my favorite love languages. I'm sure most of you are familiar with Gary Chapman's five "Love Languages": words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch, gift-giving, and acts of service. I can most certainly identify with more than one of those languages, however, I'd like to propose another love language: FOOD! And maybe it’s not really it’s own separate love language but rather it encompasses ... Read more