Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

"O Give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good: His mercy endureth forever."

~Psalm 118:1

As you all enjoy a wonderful and cozy Thanksgiving today.....

Take a moment to stop and thank God for all His many blessings! I'm sure if we were to 'count our blessings' as the song goes, we would be astounded at how good God has been to us. I did this very thing just the other day and was amazed at how many things I take for granted; like chocolate, the details of a flower, the beautiful view of the mountains I have from my bedroom window, the oppertunity to take a hot shower at night.

What I am most thankful for this Thanksgiving, is the chance to adopt my little brother Isaac! I love him so much already, even though I've never met him.

Count your blessings today, friends!

As we realize how much He's given us.....

we realize how ungrateful we are.

Thank the Lord for all His bountiful blessings today! He is

so good!

And of course ~ Happy Thanksgiving!

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Hearty Eight-Layer Salad

Now this is what I call a salad.

Mmmmmm.....one of my favorite salad recipes!! This layered salad is a meal-in-one so it makes an easy lunch or dinner.

All the yummy layers stacked up.....

Everyone is sure to love this salad because of all its delicious ingredients! If certain family members don't care for peas, you can simply substitute with a bag of mixed vegetables, or try broccoli.

Hearty Eight Layer Salad

1 1/2 C. uncooked small shell maccaroni

1 T. olive oil

3 C. shredded lettuce

3 hard boiled eggs, sliced

salt and pepper

2 C. julienned fully cooked ham (we just used cooked turkey or chicken)

1 10 oz. package frozen peas, thawed

1 medium red onion, sliced thinly

1 C. mayonnaise

1/4 C. sour cream

2 T. Dijon mustard

1 C. shredded Colby or Monterey Jack cheese

2 T. minced fresh parsley

Cook maccaroni according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cool water. Place shredded lettuce on the bottom of a large salad bowl as the first layer. Toss maccaroni with olive oil and evenly spread over lettuce. Top with slices of hard boiled eggs; sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Layer ham on top of eggs. Next spread the peas out evenly on top of the eggs. Add onion rings. In a small bowl, mix sour cream, mayonnaise, and mustard well. Spread evenly over top of salad. Chill until ready to serve. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and parsley just before serving.

Enjoy!

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Getting Ready for Christmas.....

And with Christmas comes the fun of.....gift-giving!

Now I don't know about you, but lying in bed at night and coming up with ideas for everyone's Christmas presents is such a fun, cozy, exciting thing to do. For me at least.

And after reading Miss Jen's post about a Homemade Christmas, I thought that I would share with you one fun idea for Holiday gifts......

Decorative Jar Mixes!

A decorative jar mix makes a great gift for friends and family.....it is very easy to do and looks so cute!

If you'd like to read more about jar mixes

and how to assemble them, feel free to take a look at

our canning website here.

Here is one that I assembed this afternoon.....a yummy pancake mix. This recipe, Chocolate Chip Pancakes, happens to be our favorite way to have pancakes!

Decorative yellow ribbons.....and a cute card attached with directions about how to make the pancakes.

And you can use any fabric you like for the top, of course.

Anyway.....there are many many delicious recipes for a variety of dry mixes.

Take a look at a large list of them here!

And finally......here is the recipe for Chocolate Chip Pancakes!

For the Dry Mix:

2 C. oats

1 C. white flour

1/2 C. chocolate chips

1 C. whole wheat flour

1/2 C. brown sugar

1/2 C. dry milk powder

1 1/2 T. baking powder

1 T. cinnamon

One at a time, layer the ingredients in order into a clean (and dry!) quart jar. With each ingredient, take time to pack down tightly and evenly. As you add each layer, press the sides down with your fingers and make sure the layers are even. It will be a tight squeeze, but all of this will fit into a quart jar!

Add a lid, band, and fabric circle to the top of the jar. Attach a decorated notecard with these directions:

To Make Pancakes:

Mix 2 C. of Chocolate Chip Pancake Mix with:

1/3 C. oil

2 eggs

1 C. water

Drop by spoonfuls onto lightly greased skillet. Cook until evenly browned on both sides. Serve warm with maple syrup.

I hope you enjoy this fun Christmas gift idea as much as I do!

And remember.....you do not need to can these mixes. They are dry ingredients, so they will not spoil.

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Another.....

.....tag!!

Yep, here it is! I've been saving this one for a while - but here it is! Thankfully, this is a short one.

1. Have you ever ridden an elephant?

Absolutely not. I stick to safe activities.




2. Have you ever eaten squid?

Nope - and I don't plan to, either!! I am not a seafood person.


3. What is something crazy you have done with your best friend?

Well....I don't really think I've ever done anything "crazy" with my friends, but I have done a few pretty silly things with my siblings before. Examples? (please remember that all of the following examples are from years and years ago. Ahem.)

Together, all four of us have:

~Held a presidential election meeting in the basement of our house.

~Dressed up as homeless people,

~Run a pretend shoe store in our living room

~Played "pharoah/slaves"......yes, we did. We dug a mud pit and made mud bricks and pretended we were all slaves under the evil rule of pharoah (a.k.a. our Dad.)

~Tried to make our mom a special breakfast in bed and accidentally sprinkled chilli powder on her toast instead of cinnamon/sugar

~Re-inacted the movie "The Grinch" and raided the kitchen cabinets of all food on a very early Sunday morning, much to the chagrain of our parents.

~Spilled wood stain (alot of it) on our brand new tile floor only days after we'd moved in

~Devised a plan to cut electricity bills and family expenses so our family could adopt a little girl (which still hasn't happened)

4. Have you ever held an alligator?

Held an alligator? Are you kidding???



5. Have you ever let a snake slither through your fingers?

No comment.



6. What is your first and foremost dream in life?

I have a lot of dreams...but my TOP one is definitely knowing and doing God's will; having a close relationship with Him, serving Him with my life, etc.




7. What is your dream vacation?

Going to China.....ahh...what bliss!!



Oh, wait a minute - we're going there anyway.


8. What is the funniest movie you have ever seen?

Funniest movie would have to be Huck Finn (our version, anyway.) Besides those, we love the Andy Griffith Show!! (And yes, I have to admit - all four of us kids were pretty near hysterics the other day when we reviewed our "Winnie The Pooh" movie the other day....for the first time in proably 5 years!!)



9. What is your favorite song?

Favorite? I go through "phases" on this one. Right now I'm currently enjoying the songs that are on my blog, "On Faith Alone" and "Blue Skies".


10. If you could change the world in one way, what would you do?

Make everyone a Christian!!

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Awarded!!

I am honored!!

Haley over at Haley's Happenings gave me this award!!

It also "comes" with a tag, but since I just did one, I'll save it for later.

*Thanks, Haley!!*

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I Tag.....

Lindsay
Joanna
Jen
Courtney

....and anyone else who hasn't done this tag yet!! This particular tag has been circulating alot lately, so I was trying to think of girls who haven't done it yet. The three above where all I could think of - if you want to do it and I didn't tag you, go ahead!!

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I Got Tagged!

I got tagged by Hannah! This is a 38 question tag, so hang on!

1. Do you like to write?
Yes, I do - especially journaling and articles.

2. Favorite books?
Hmmm. Over the years I have found many good books - although my favorites would have to be Edge of Eternity, Raising Maidens of Virtue, Case for Christ, Case for Faith, and the Elsie and Millie series. (oh and of course the Bible.)

3. Do you compose music/write songs?
Uh - no.

4. Do you like poetry?
Again, no.


5. Love someone so much who made you cry?
My parents and Jesus.


6. Broken a bone?
Thankfully, no!


7.Been in a police car?
No way!! I am not a criminal!

8.Been on a boat?
Nope. I would worry about getting sea-sick.

9.Fallen asleep in school?
I can honestly say I never have - if I'm tired, curling up and CLOSING MY EYES is what puts me to sleep, not schoolwork!

10. Did you sing today?
Yes! During church!

11.KFC, Popeyes, or Church's?
Never had any of those foods! Although my Dad tells some pretty disgusting stories of when he was a chef at greasy, unhealthy Denny's resteraunt years ago.


12.Chick-fil-a or What-a-burger?
Yes, been to Chick-fil-a once (I think I was seven) but whats "What a burger"?? As you can tell, we don't eat out much - we eat such good healthy food at home!!

13.Starbucks of McCafe?
No. Coffee tastes pretty good with lots of creamer and sugar, but caffeine keeps me up all hours of the night!!

14.What's your favorite time of year?
Definitely the time we're in right now - fall. I just LOVE the "winding down" season of the year, when things start to look (as I would say) "Thanksgivinig-ish" or "Christmasy". I love warm fires in the fireplace and steaming cups of hot cocoa!

15.Do you ever talk to yourself?
Oh yes - usually when I'm mucking out the goat shelter in the evenings. I usually talk to God then too!!


16.Do you have a favorite treat you like to buy on occasion?
You bet!!
Can you guess?
Anything chocolate. I really don't care what it is, as long as chocolate is one of the ingredients.


17. Do you believe the Bible is the literal Word of God and is infallible?
YES!!


18. What's your favorite sport?
Sport? I don't really do sports, although swimming is fun during the hot summer months!!

19. What color is your ipod?
I don't have an ipod. And I don't want one, either. :)

20. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
China - to go bring my little brother home! Fortunately, we're going there anyway....

21.If you could go to any fictional place, where would you go?
If my siblings were answering this post they'd say Narnia in a heart beat - I guess I'd go there too.

22.Do you love to write or do you just like writing? Or do you write at all?
I like to write. That's all.

23.What do you want to be when you’re a grown up?
Definitely a wife and mother (while we're on the subject I'd also like to have a few goats and dogs, maybe some chickens), although I think being a mid-wife would be fun, as well. But most of all what I want to be is close to God!

24.Favorite animal?
Willie, my dog.

25. Favorite song?
I can't think of one right off. But as far as the type of music, definitely Christian praise!!

26.Do you like school?
Yes.

27.Are you a people person?
Oh yes!!

28. Do you like to talk?
Do I like to talk? Can't you tell from this post? I can ramble quite a bit!! Yes, I like to talk.

29.Favorite food?
Thanksgiving dinner - that and anything chocolate.

30.Hobbies?
Crafting, sewing, blogging, reading the Bible, and baking. (Emphasis on baking! - much to the chagrain of my Dad....)

31.'Favorite author?
No.

32. Favorite weapon?
Favorite weapon? I wonder if a boy created this tag.

Ahem. The only weapon I can say is my "favorite" is the Word of God!

33.Is this a fun tag or are you getting bored?
I think this is fun - but it is going on for a while.

34.Do you like Hannah Montana and all those girly people and movies like Highschool Musical?
No - I think they lead worthless, immoral lives. Most of the girls wear such heavy make-up it looks like they got punched in the eye, and the boys look like absolute slobs. (Besides that, it's getting hard to tell who is a girl/boy these days!)

35.What are you scared of?
A lot of things! But God's Word has a lot to say about that. I try to focus on that rather than my fear.

36. Favorite flower?
No - they're all nice.

37.What is the expression on your face?
If you were to look at me right now you'd see my mouth moving becuase I tend to mouth the words while I type them!!

38. Color of your eyes?
Brown - just like my brother's and my dad's!!

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More Giveaways!

Does everyone know that marie-madeline-studio is having another giveaway? Isn't that exciting? Head on over there to enter! They are giving away a pattern and fabric - how fun!!

And for those of you who may not know, Miss Jen at Blessed Femina is having a giveaway as well. She has made a darling fall apron - make sure you enter!!

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Dogs, Aprons, and Vacuums

Hello everyone! It's been a while since I've posted...so here are a few pictures of what we've been up to lately.

Here is one spoiled dog getting way too much attention (but deserving every bit of it).....

Awww....puppy love.....

Here is the new apron I finished! I love the half-apron pattern from marie-madeline-studio, but why spend the money when you could come up with a pattern of your own? I enjoy "copying" patterns I see....so, here is my version of the "Chic Sisters Apron"...... (made into a half apron, of course....).....

What a fun project.....!! I love crafty things! As I was gathering fabric for this project, I kept thinking, "I really don't need another apron....we already have so many!", but I can't resist sewing up something fun and pretty.

Thismorning I caught David vacuuming -

"Mr. David Krause, reporting for duty, ma'am!"

In action

"Want me to do anything else? Need a bathroom cleaned? Toilet scrubbed? Just call me Mr. Clean."

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Blog Giveaway!!

Here is a very fun giveaway at marie-madeline-studio!!! They are giving away one of their CUTE aprons....so pretty and very practical. Head on over there to check it out!!

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Blog Giveaway!

Hello everyone!

Just to let you know, there is a really FUN giveaway at Tinker Girl's Blog! I'd encourage you to enter - it's very easy and the prizes are very nice.

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