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
Cranberry Orange Rolls
Hello there! I have one last holiday goodie to share with you today. For the six months before Christmas, I'd mostly given up gluten and sugar. I felt great! The cravings pretty much went away but every now and then I would tell my husband that I was really wanting to sink my teeth into a warm fluffy cinnamon roll and that it would be one of the treats I was going to enjoy making and eating during the holidays. Then, by the time Christmas rolled around, I was in a very cranberry mood and decided it was a cranberry roll I wanted! So, one day between Christmas and New Year's when my husband was out and the kids were down at the creek, I went into the kitchen and started to experiment. I ... Read more
Christmas Memories 2021
Hello, friends! I got behind in my holiday posts due to illness in December, so today I'm going to try and quickly wrap up Christmas and New Year's in one clean swoop of a post. We began decorating the weekend following Thanksgiving, but it took me a few days to really get into it and finish it all. I don't like to get too themey with Christmas--I mean, Christmas is a theme in and of itself, right?--but the last couple of years I've gone with more of a natural, woodsy vibe. I adore the outdoors and the woods behind our house, so it just felt very natural to use evergreen garlands, pinecones, and starry twinkle lights. Last year I used blue for my main accent color; this year I went ... Read more
Teach Them Tuesday: Thumbprint Angels and a Christmas Story
Yesterday I mentioned a Christmas party we had with our homeschool friends. My friend, Kelli, hosted the event and did an amazing job planning and orchestrating a rotation of activities to accommodate our large number of kiddos! She arranged areas around her home for four stations: story, craft, cookie decorating, and games. She took care of the story time and asked three more of us mamas to take the other stations. I was assigned the craft station, so I planned a craft that would go along with the book Kelli would be reading in her station. The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree, by Gloria Houston, is a heartwarming story about a little girl, Ruthie, and her parents living in the ... Read more
Italian Cream Cake
One evening last week, the mothers and daughters from our small group got together to celebrate the upcoming arrival of the baby of our friend Rivers. This family has been such a blessing to our group so we ladies wanted to celebrate with Rivers and her two sweet girls. We planned a meal of salads, followed by a few desserts: Italian cream cake, raspberry white chocolate almond bars, brownies, and coffee. This Italian cream cake is my most requested cake by my family or when I'm asked to bring a dessert to a special occasion. It suits any holiday or celebration any time of the year! It's unique from most other Italian cream cakes in that it doesn't call for pecans or coconut, so ... Read more
February Fun
I’m late on completing a couple of posts I have in the works, one of which is my son’s birthday post from two weeks ago, but I wanted to pop in and give a quick hello. We are eagerly anticipating another birthday this weekend (my daughter is turning 21!) along with Valentine’s Day! The plans are low key, yet special, and it's always fun to plan menus and movies and bake festive goodies, no matter the occasion. So, in addition to our regular schooling and activities this week, the youngest two and I have been birthday shopping, gift wrapping, cake and cookie baking, and Valentine making!! After school today, we're getting out to make some early Valentine visits to the grandparents. Can't ... Read more
Red Velvet Pound Cake with Cream Cheese Filling
Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching so I thought today would be a good time to share a lovely red recipe. Red Velvet Pound Cake combines two Southern classics--red velvet cake and pound cake--into one sweetheart of a dessert! I shared this recipe several years ago on my old blogsite, but I think it is definitely worth repeating. And I can’t remember exactly where this recipe originally came from, but I’m guessing Paula Deen...maybe. Red Velvet Pound Cake Cake ingredients: 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened 3 cups sugar 5 large eggs 1 tsp. distilled white vinegar 1 tsp. vanilla extract 3 cups all-purpose flour 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 ... Read more
An Alabama White Christmas
In Alabama, we rarely have snow, but we do have the white sands of our beautiful beaches! Our family headed to Gulf Shores, Alabama a couple of days after Christmas for a 50th birthday getaway for my husband. We could not have asked for a more gorgeous week to be there! We've always preferred to travel in off-seasons, no matter where we go, when crowds and rates are at their lowest. Even for a winter beach trip, there is plenty to do to make it an enjoyable vacation. We had no agenda, but just went from one leisurely activity to the next. Walking on the beach is a must for any season. My girls and my son did swim in the ocean one day, and had a great time, but my husband, my ... Read more