Ornament Tradition.

{Via}

Just in case you couldn't tell, I am a HUGE fan of the Disney Family Fun website. Totally sharing my secrets of the trade here. 

That can be blamed on a free subscription to their magazine which I got for a year after collecting pop tarts tokens. 

Personally, I work better with the website. You can sign up for emails & they will send you great craft projects. If you're going to be with kids during the winter, they have awesome crafts to keep you all busy.

My plan is to have a new special tree ornament every year. Last year we bought a 'First Christmas' ornament from Hallmark. 

{Via}

I am thinking of making a time capsule ornament for each year from now on. Writing the year on it and either adding little things from the year or just 2 photos. I bought the clear ornaments from Michaels for 60c each...awesome!

I can't wait to make the ornament before our tree goes up on saturday.

Do you guys make ornaments or have special ones every year?

Much Love,

L

Sparkling Lanterns from Tangled.

These are so easy to make it's ridiculous.

If you have kids, you will definitely want to make these with them.

{Via}

 Sparkling lanterns. 

Yes! Like the ones from Tangled.

{Via google}

Makes for an awesome garland in their room.

Or just cool decorations in the house.

I am thinking these would look cool for Christmas across our living room.

Much Love,

L

Thankful.

What a wonderful day.

I had no set plans to celebrate Thanksgiving this year, A was working so I figured I would chill out at the house, hang out in my PJs and try and recover from this terrible chest infection I seem to have developed. (Yea...sorry for the lack of posting)

Well....instead I was invited to a friend's house for Thanksgiving with her family.

We had a blast!

What a fun time hanging with her kids, family. We watched the game....

We ate a delicious dinner together.

We made homemade ornaments! (Awesome tradition idea)

We bounced on the trampoline (yes, the adults).

We played football. I was afraid it was tackle. It wasn't =)

We hung out some more & ate pie.

We watched Elf & cleaned up! Then had backrubs!

What an awesome day!

And the plus side is even though I didn't get to catch up on all my messages, returns everyones calls and organise things. I had a super awesome day! I even don't feel as sick! Awesome!

So yes....

I thought I would end with things I am thankful for. (This list is by no-means exhaustive!)

I had the book 'One Thousand Gifts' By Ann Voskamp recommended to me by a friend, and found it in the local library. It is about being thankful on a daily basis. So I am hoping to continue the idea of Thanksgiving into a daily thing. 

1. Thankful for sweet friends & dear friendships. 
2. I am thankful to God for His Word, His presence, Love & Awesomeness! 

3. Thankful for awesome food every day - not just today. 

4. Thankful for a beautiful home to live in & beautify with projects =)

5. Thankful for good health.

6. Thankful for this awesome man!

7. Thankful for phone calls with family, near & far!

8. Thankful for cars to drive around (& sometimes fix!)

9. Thankful for beautiful kiddos to watch!

10. Just thankful for too many things to count!

My plan is to write out 1000 things I am thankful for. To remember that each thing is a gift from God because He loves me so much. This includes 'falling asleep to the sound of rain'....mmm. 

To create an attitude of thankfulness on a daily basis.

What a beautiful day!

Much Love,

L

Happy Birthday E!

On the occasion of a dear friend's birthday today....

You can find me over on:

http://sweetnessitself.blogspot.com/

Much Love,

L

A different sort of focus.

Wedding Day

 I'm taking a little break today to focus on something more personal and on my heart.

In her book, Authentic Beauty, author Leslie Ludy describes an interesting scene of a young, excited bride-to-be at her wedding shower. Older married women were present giving her advice on marriage. I am a HUGE fan of this idea. I had some wonderful godly women give me incredible advice at my own shower of a similar nature. 

In her book, the scene is perhaps not quite what the bride would have expected. A lot of the advice seems kind of negative. As though it is more important to have 'realistic expectations' and realise that you will spend the rest of your marriage getting your husband to notice you after your honeymoon. 

I completely agree with Leslie that while the banter may seem harmless, did it affect the bride-to-be as she was embarking on what she expected to be a beautiful time in her life. 

If God is capable of writing a beautiful love story during our time of getting to know each other, then why would He not continue to write us a beautiful story after we say 'I Do.'

During the short 16 months we have been married. Rather than be discouraged with the way our love has become, my love for Andrew has grown immensely. 

We certainly did not have the first year of marriage I thought we would. But God's ways are higher than my own, a very good thing.

If anything, I understand Andrew a whole lot more than I did before we got married & truly love him for it.

He is an incredible man who works hard at his TWO jobs! He provides for us, we have a wonderful home to live in. He is caring, a wonderful listener, a thinker and always seeing the good in others.

I am proud to be his wife. 

I suppose I could choose to see his irritating habits and grow discouraged because I feel he is unloving at times. That would not be loving him the way I am called to love him. I am learning how to be a grace dispenser and not just a grace receiver. (Perhaps more on this some other time)

He has wonderful goodwill toward me as his wife & I can choose to believe that he never purposefully chooses to hurt me. This saves a lot of silly arguments and allows me to focus on his good qualities. 

Here's to growing intimacy with the coming years and praising God for a wonderful husband.

If you don't yet have this kind of relationship in your life, remember what Christ has done for you & how He is able to fill you completely. Completely. 

A relationship with someone on earth is secondary to this love. 

I am not trying to point out something you do not have, merely express my thankfulness for one of the many blessings in my life.

Much Love,

L

P.S. Check out the new button link to Sweetness Itself to the Right. 

 

Our Courtship or 'Getting to know each other' Days

A year of marriage.

Dining Room {Gussy Sews LinkUp}

Source: hgtv.com via Ronda on Pinterest

With a few changes I think the above dining room arrangement could be my ideal picture of a dining room. As much as I admire and love the eccentric looking dining room ideas I can find on Pinterest, I am more of a classic look person. (I'm still working on how to make classic mix well with eccentric in a lot of areas)

Source: bellevivir.blogspot.com via carma on Pinterest

I am so thankful for our home. 

Since having my sister & her fiance stay for a few days though, I am dreaming of a dining room for all of us to enjoy eating & spending time together. 

Our home is perfect for the two of us most of the time, but there simply isn't room for a large dining room table, we have rearranged our kitchen in the hope of making more room for the table in the meantime.

I am sure we will eventually move and when we do I have a desire for dining space.

Preferrably a combined dinning/living room or just open planned for those two rooms. 

I love the feel of being part of the rest of the house in a dining room.

Source: houzz.com via Lisa on Pinterest

I think my favorite attribute of the first picture is the fireplace. I am a huge fan of them, although I can't decide if I prefer them in a dining room or living room. Or perhaps both? 

Especially if you live in a place where the winters are cold. 

Either way, I would be all about decorating the mantle area.

Source: lovely-nest.com via Lisa on Pinterest

Well that's my two cents for today on dining rooms. Any thoughts?

You guys should check out the rest of the links on Gussy sews.

Much Love,

L

Growing our Home {Link Up}

Every day I have the wonderful priviledge of being this man's helper.

Yeah ok he looks funny in this picture, he is and thats TONS of fun. 

I decided to post today and link up with http://www.growinghomeblog.com/ about how we have grown our home this week.

Just like most weeks, one of the ways we work on our relationship is to read good books together.

We are currently reading 'Love & Respect' by Dr Emerson Eggerichs. I can't highly recommend this book enough! It has truly taught me how to better love my significant other.

I am very thankful for him. 

Enjoy all the other Link-Ups!

Much Love,

L

x

Halloween Candy.

So if any of you have kids or have been around kids during Halloween, you'll appreciate this video.

It's so mean really, but actually hilarious! 

I have come to really not like Halloween, I was never allowed to celebrate it when I was young either. My parents didn't agree with the glorification of evil aspect of the holiday, which is a little big to forget with all the 'cute-ness' which is thrown into the celebrating.

This past week I have caught five kids sneaking candy, so I'm a little frustrated at the amounts of candy handed out also.

So enjoy!

Much Love,

L

DIY Canning with Apple Butter {Guest Post}

Source: recipetips.com via Jillian on Pinterest

The harvest season brings crisp air, cascading leaves and a hint of the winter to come. As we prepare to hunker down for the snowy season, thoughts turn to preserving the bounty of the fall harvest. Canning autumn fruit is an excellent way to capture the season's best produce so that you can enjoy it through winter and beyond.

One of the easiest autumn fruits to can is the apple. Thanks to its relatively high acid level, you can use the simpler water-bath method of canning which saves you from having to buy a bulky and expensive pressure canner. While you can preserve applesauce, a better option would be to turn the applesauce into apple butter. Apple butter intensifies the flavor of the apple, and is not only a tasty spread, but also a wonderful gift.



Ingredients and Tools

9 quarts of unsweetened applesauce, preferably fresh. My favorite fall activity is apple picking, which bodes well for this recipe, but you can purchase apples at the grocery store. Try Gala or Honeycrisp.


2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon


1 teaspoon ground cloves


½ teaspoon of allspice


4 cups of white, granulated sugar


Crock pot that holds 6 quarts


Ladle


Ball Home Canning Basics Kit or equivalent: 21 ½ quart enamel water bath canner, canning jar rack, 10 pint mason jars, 10 lids and rings, lid lifter, funnel, jar lifter and plastic spatula



Directions

Pour 6 quarts of apple sauce into the crockpot and add spices. Add about 2 cups of sugar or an equivalent. Set the crockpot to low, prop the lid so that the steam can vent, and cook down the apple sauce for 6 hours or until it is reduced by half. Then, add the rest of your applesauce and sugar, adjusting to taste, and let it cook for another couple of hours until it reaches your desired consistency. If it gets too thick, add a bit of apple juice to thin it out, and cook it more to thicken if it is too thin.

At this point, sanitize your jars and lids by placing them in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Remove the jars and lids with the jar tongs and lid lifter carefully. Pour the hot apple butter in your canning jars (using the tongs!), leaving one-quarter inch of airspace. Wipe the rim clean, and place the lids and rings on the jars and tighten. Place the jars in water bath for 15 minutes. Once they are finished processing, pull them out of the water with tongs, and let them cool. To make sure they’re sealed, press the center of the lid to make sure it does not “pop.”

You’re almost done! If you really want to make it a nice keepsake of the season or holiday gift, consider making your own custom canning labels. These labels can contain whatever you want, but should have a description of the contents of the jar, your name and the date on which it was canned. To make a really beautiful gift, cut out a circle of festive fabric and rubber band it around the lid of the jar, and put one of your custom labels on the jar's main surface.


Guest Post By Jessica Wiener

Jessica is an expert in the online printing industry. 
When she is not learning about new labeling applications 

and technologies, you can find her experimenting with 

new recipes in her kitchen and feeding them to whoever 

comes through the door.