i have to say...

be back soon...

Pressed for time. 

That is how I feel.  There is lots of loving and good-byeing going on here and I am not able to find any minutes to sit down and visit and say "hi" to you, my friends.  Next week will be better, I am sure.

For now I am going to set the blog aside and give it a rest until things settle down a little bit.   Just a few more days and life will be back to normal.

I appreciate your prayers and notes of encouragement more than you know.  Times like this make me glad to be a part of this community.  You have blessed me tremendously this year and I look forward to more of this goodness in 2009!

See you all soon!

the official after-christmas picture!

I have been very slow at getting the Christmas picture taken this year.  Three days late in fact!

Since the kids have gotten bigger (and more likely to complain about the picture-taking session!) I try to get it done in 5 minutes or less.   Everyone stays happy this way!

This years pick (the one at the top of this post) is filled with too much light and half of our faces are shadowed, but it works for me.  Below you can see the full-sun-in-the-face pose that we tried and that did not work.  It makes me laugh, though!

A family that puts a smile on your face is a good thing!

This week will be busy with preparations for my girl's moveout.  My oldest is leaving on Thursday to Hawaii for a Y-WAM discipleship training semester and she will be gone 6 months.  My next gal will leave on Saturday for her apartment in the big city of Denver. 

Ah, this part of motherhood doesn't feel like a good fit to me.  I am having to put one foot in front of the other these days and trust God for the rest.  Really, I know that this is actually a good place for me to be, although I can't say it is comfortable.  He is going to walk me through and show me how to do this.  I know this because He has been faithful to guide me through every other phase of motherhood, and this one will be no exception.

Your prayers would be appreciated during this time.  My heart needs the extra support.

Thank you, friends!

shop notes: fairy tip toes

Fairy Tip Toes by Tina Givens is in my shop.  These fabrics are gorgeous and loaded with color!

Have a lovely weekend!

the christmas recap

Christmas was lovely!  A truly special year for us. 

I am, however, glad to be done with this busy,busy week.  Last night I crashed-and-burned and felt really glad to be done Christmasing!  Now we can spend the rest of the weekend relaxing and spending time together.

Christmas day always looks like a Lego factory in our home. This is the first year that Aubry participated and I was surprised at her stick-to-it attitude when it came to the pages of directions and the 700+ bricks that needed to be assembled.  Halfway through she asked for help and she ended up with a cute little red-roofed house.  A mechanic's shop and a Mars Rover also were completed:

It is hard to get photos of teenage girls on Christmas morning!  That is OK since I don't happen to be very cooperative either when it comes to being in front of the camera:

Another unwilling photo participant:

Some sledding with friends rounded out our day:

I hope your Christmas was a good one too!

Enjoy the rest of this weekend with your loved ones!

it's so very close!

I really can not believe that Christmas is only a few days away!  My to-do list is fairly small, mostly fun things are on the schedule this week, so there is no sense of urgency or stress.  Yeah! 

Candy making starts tomorrow (Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a few batches of Chocolate Covered Caramels!) and I have a Christmas shopping date with my hubs on Tuesday.  I told him that since it is Christmas he is not allowed to get that glossy-eyed look while he drapes himself over the shopping basket as he contemplates how much longer we have to shop.  Once a year he gets to be patient about the whole thing!  Lucky for him, shopping is not on my list of hobbies.

My girls are beginning to pack their things for moving out the first week of January.  There is such a bittersweet feeling in this for me: excitement for what lies ahead for them, but the sadness of knowing they are slipping away from me for good.  Not in relationship, but in vicinity.  My emotions are in high-gear these days and I find myself wanting to be on the other side of this so that I can know that all will be well once they leave.  Because it will.  I know it.

I am not going to checking in to my blog before Christmas, but I will surely be around to visit. 

My wish for you is that this week is bright and full of smiles, and that you share the love of the One who came because of His great love for you and me.

Merry Christmas!

shop notes: darla

I have a gigantic crush on this fabric line!  So bright and vibrant and adorable.  After Christmas I am going to be making some dresses for my girl and some totebags and some aprons and some quilts etc., etc., etc!  I can't wait to use it!

Also in are Tina Given's Fairy Tip Toes and David Walker's Robots.

it's that time of the year again...

...when colds and flus make their annual visit! 

Medicinal herbs are a hobby of mine.  My kids have gotten used to teas and tinctures when they get sick, and sometimes they even request them.  Aubry is the most adventurous of all of the kids and I can always count on her to really chug down the brews that I make.  To be fair, I always try to make the stuff taste good!

Right now a stomach bug is visiting, and I can't do much about that, but when colds come, there are all kinds of remedies that work.  I have never been a fan of medication in it's typical form, but I love learning about herbs and their uses for sicknesses.  They really do work if you use the right ones.

This recipe is one of my favorites when we get coughs and colds.  This cough syrup tastes good, is less expensive than Robitussin or Dimitapp, and I fell good about using it.  You can also make it into a nightime version by adding 2 teaspoons of valerian root to it.

Expectorant Cough Syrup

Use for children over one year old

4 teaspoons dried cherry bark
2 teaspoons echinacea root
1 teaspoon licorice root
1 teaspoon marshmallow root
1 teaspoon pleurisy root
8 cups water
1-1/2 to 2 cups honey

Combine herbs and water in a pot.  Simmer for 10-15 minutes partially covered so that steam can escape, do not allow to boil.  Continue simmering until liquid is reduced by half (this takes an hour or two).  Remove from heat and strain.  Return to low heat, slowly stirring in honey until a consistency of watery syrup is reached.  Remove from heat.  The syrup will thicken as it cools.

Keep stored in refrigerator.

Dosage--4 times per day:
under 20 pounds   1/2 tsp.
20-40 pounds         1 tsp.
40-75 pounds         1 to 1-1/2 tsp.
over 75 pounds     2 tsp.

The syrup is thinner than store-bought syrup, but the kids (and adults) will like the taste.  When a dose doesn't quite do the trick, I generally give more to my kids.  This is not like over the counter meds where you will have bad side affects if you take too much.  For my husband and I, we take 4 tsp. per dose.

***Email me if you have questions!

I buy my herbs at our local health food store. They sell one-ounce packages of loose herbs and I keep lots of hand for those times when we need them.

Is anyone else interested in herbs?  I could post more often about this if anyone is interested!

home building

We do this every year! 

We gather way too much candy, make super-sticky frosting, add some friends and some milk cartons, and we build houses. A fantastic neighborhood full of them.

I am always amused by the creativity and the diversity found after things are all done, and it seems that each year it just gets better.  This year our neighborhood had a two car garage, a courtyard, smoke pouring out of a chimney, and, of course, our family's house had it's usual deer (complete with droppings) in the yard.  That is, and always has been, my husband's favorite addition. 

A friend of mine who has been a missionary in Morocco added a clothesline on their roof, just like they remember when they lived there.  I love it!

If you have never made a gingerbread house, do it this year. Yes, it is sticky and messy and way too sugary, but it is a tradition you will return to each year.  Happily.

***We start with a milk carton and use frosting to cover it withe graham crackers and then we cover the crackers with candy, so I don't know if this is technically called a "gingerbread house", but "graham cracker house" just doesn't have the same charm!

brrrr!

Brrrr! It is cold today!  2:00 in the afternoon and the temperature is at 0 degrees! More snow is in the forecast for tonight, and I am thinking that a White Christmas may actually be in store for us this year.  Good stuff!

This afternoon I am crafting and trying to finish up Christmas goods (almost there) and then I have to head to the store.  I am procrastinating to avoid being cold.  It is so cold that nosehairs seem to freeze once you start breathing the frozen air, and that feels too weird!

Posting may be a little slow until after the holiday due to busyness (the good kind!), but I won't stay away completely. Just enough to get things done and enjoy!

Happy Monday to you!

shop notes

Hello!

Just a note to let you know that I have started a Flickr group called Fresh-Squeezed Projects for items made with fabrics and patterns from my shop.  I thought it would be a fun way to inspire one another and get new ideas for crafting.

Click here to visit the group.

Have a nice weekend!