Advent-day 1

Advent Calendar 2009, originally uploaded by *nichole*.

This is our Advent calendar. A couple of weeks ago I was in the thrift store and found this large quilting hoop. It had a small crack in it, but I wanted to buy it nevertheless. I got up to the register (determined to pay cash on this particular day) and once everything was added up-well, the sales total was over my cash budget. I told the cashier to keep the hoop and then I proceeded to purchase the rest of my items, but when I got to the car I still wanted the hoop. So I began looking around my car for loose change and I came up with enough to go back in the store to purchase the hoop, yay!
So for this calendar I simply took some fabric placed it on the hoop along with some ribbon material, tightened the hoop up (I had to use my glue gun to fix the cracked area of the hoop). Then from the ribbon I hung the cardstock numbers (which are from last years calendar) with small clothespins.
For our first night of Advent we read Luke 1, Mary's Song-in which Mary reflects about the Lord's goodness for she is chosen to give birth to Christ. What I like so much about this passage is that it shows how God can use everyday people to serve His purpose-the only requirement is that one just has to be willing.
After our reading the girls got a small lollipop and a tiny tree growing kit. We will water the seeds nightly and maybe we can grow our own Christmas tree (:


To be perfectly honest, it has been a bit of a struggle for me to get in the holiday mood. Yet when it comes down to it I know that beyond the tree, the lights, the many decorations (which I do immensely enjoy) that the reason to be full of cheer this season is that daily I see God's grace and mercy in action, and for this I remain both hopeful and thankful.

What to do on a Tuesday night? How about making some fruitcake~

Today was an extremely long day which included grocery shopping, picking the girls up from school, running to piano practice, figuring out dinner, then heading out for tutoring-yes a long day indeed. So why in the world, would I (especially since I got home close to nine o' clock) have the urge to make fruitcake? Really I'm still trying to figure it out myself-but I think I have a clue. In the recent issue of Sauveur magazine there is a picture of a Swedish fruitcake that looks absolutely beautiful. It doesn't have that dense, heavy look that is often associated with the fruitcakes we often see this time of the year. So what I did was I went ahead and made a "tester" and if the cake turns great, I know we have a keeper on our hands. Now mind you, I know that I can't make a "tester" for every treat I see-otherwise we would have complete sweet tooth overload over here :) but I do like to at least test a couple of new holiday recipes this time of year.




note to self:Fruitcake and coffee=tomorrow's breakfast

I did finish the Advent calendar today. I used the same cardstock numbers I made last year. I'll post some photos of the calendar tomorrow and share a bit of what we did for our first day of Advent.

Hope you had a great Tuesday, and remember anytime is a good time for fruitcake!

giving thanks and Advent

~flowers on the table


~pecan pie

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend with our family. Lots of food, laughing, and noise (of course with plenty of kid cousins running around my sister-in-law's house). I am very grateful-for so many blessings seen and unseen. The Lord has been good to my family and I hope to keep in my heart a song of praise and a song of gratitude.

For the last two years we have started the tradition of an Advent calendar. Last year I used cardstock to make our calendar.

~a snapshot last year's calendar


Right now (ok December 1st is tommorrow right?) I need to come up with something fast. I think I might just take what I did last year and change it up a bit-since I like a little change. Usually for Advent we share a verse from the Bible with each other (in the evening, before bedtime) and then I give the girls a small treat like a journal, pens, stickers-which I purchase from the dollar bin at Target or elsewhere. Other nights the Advent treat may include baking something simple, making hot cocoa, or doing a small craft.They are looking so forward to tommorrow night and so am I.

reading and dreaming

I love books. I buy a lot of books, and have a huge pile of them on the floor beside my bed. In the photo above are a couple of things I've been reading through (one a magazine, one a book) which make me yearn for some type of farm life. Yes I've have probably romanticized living on a farm (with bees and chickens, mind you) to some degree-but I have a dream, a dream of at least giving this type of life a try in some type of way that works for us as a family. Really the book I have been reading about bees is pretty fascinating. Bees truly work as a unit, each type of bee has a purpose, function, job which totally relates to keeping the hive thriving- its amazing. Reading, dreaming, doing, then adapting if need be seems like a pretty good formula to me (and it doesn't necessarily have to be in that order you know?)
But of instead of reading about bees I think its time to crack open a cookbook. Pie crusts need to be made because I know Thursday will be here in a jiffy!

thrifty Wednesday and holiday thoughts

thrifty Wednesday, originally uploaded by *nichole*.

Did some thrifting this morning and found all sorts of little treasures~napkins, a book, a potholder and some wool yarn. Really I love finding craft stuff at the thrift store, but at times it just reminds me that instead of just obtaining craft stuff, I actually need to make something with this stuff. I've been trying to find some more time to craft and knit lately, usually right before bed-and truth be told, sleepiness seems to overwhelm me after only a few stitches have been knitted. I know if one really wants to do something he or she will make time for it, so that's why I'm making time to sleep (:
The holidays are fast approaching and I've been wondering what my take should be on gift giving this year. Most likely it will be the same as last year-making those on my list something to eat-homemade candy and cookies-just trying to keep in line with my ideals of homemade, handmade goodness. To me buying people gifts is a bit tricky, but hey-giving them something that they can eat-well to me that is a win-win! I have some craft ideas brewing too, but I'm not going to be overly ambitious with anything. I want things to be manageable and doable, so that I am able to avoid being a grump for the holiday season. For Thanksgiving next week and we are headed to my lovely sister in laws house for dinner-my contribution will be pecan pie and this. I can't wait to see everyone and enjoy the laughing, talking, and wonderful chaos of family togetherness.

macaroon madness

Today I whipped up some macaroons and of course I just had to fiddle around a bit with this recipe (I don't think I handle simple recipes well, I'm complicated so I added a bit of vanilla extract and a small amount of flour). I also ended up using these huge coconut flakes. Well maybe I should have just stayed on course. These macaroons are tasty nevertheless, but the bigness of the flakes make them very chewy-great for exercising the jaw muscles I suppose.
Do you like macaroons? And if so share your foolproof recipe with me-I won't change it up, I promise (:

turkey

This is a turkey that my daughter made in her kindergarten class (I don't think he has a thing to worry about, even though Thanksgiving is fast approaching :)

Have a great weekend!