Knocked Out Of The Saddle, But Not Taken Down

I don't know if anyone missed me or wondered where I've been for the past few weeks, but I've been sick. Very sick. A week before Christmas I came down with what I thought was the flu. After a few days and no improvement I knew something was not right. I usually bounce back from the flu in a few days, but I continued to get sicker and sicker. Finally on Christmas Eve with foreboding thoughts I called my oldest son for help. He called his mother-in-law, who is our neighbor and she came to check on me.

I had a fever, hurt and was extremely nauseated and very weak. She loaded the girls and I in her car and took me to the ER. I ended up being admitted and spending almost a week in the hospital and was diagnosed with COPD and Pulmonary Hypertension. I feel better now, but am still feeling weaker than my usual self. Hard to believe just a few weeks ago I was going strong and now I have two very serious diagnosis. I was also septic which at the time had me more concerned.

So first plan of action is to see my pulmonologist and see where we go from here. I see him for asthma which I have suffered from for years. I'm praying it is all a misdiagnosis.I refuse to believe the pronouncement from the PA that took care of me in the hospital that not only did I have COPD, but also Pulmonary Hypertension and that I was dying. As far as I'm concerned that PA does not orchestrate creation nor my appointed days  on earth. I will be called home when the Lord ordains it and not a moment before. I will be here for many years to come God willing.

In the meantime I will be checked out and trust that I am in the hands of the Great Physician. I would appreciate prayers for my family and myself. May the truth of God's sovereign healing be revealed and this time of illness be used to build God's Kingdom.

Christmas Plates: Gift Idea For The Grandparents

We came up with a great and easy idea for gift giving and we want to share it with all of you. It's something the kiddos can do and make by themselves with minimal help. I found some ceramic plates at the thrift store and it got me to thinking. Why not make these into gifts! So we made this super simple and easy craft and the girls loved it. 

CHRISTMAS PLATES USING SHARPIE MARKERS

CHRISTMAS PLATE SUPPLY LIST

1. White ceramic plates from the thrift store or you can buy new
2. Set of Sharpie markers - fine point 
3. Oven

We began this craft by first making sure the plates were clean. Next we got out our set of Sharpie fine point markers and went to work creating. The girls chose to draw on their plates, but I decided to put a Bible verse on mine. After we were finished we put the plates on a cookie sheet and put them in a 250 degree oven for about thirty minutes to set the marker. We then turned the oven off and let the plates cool in the oven. Ta Da, an easy peasy Christmas gift with a personal touch and frugal to boot!

I'm sure you could decorate white cups the same way if you would rather go that route. The baking in the oven is suppose to set the marker so they can be washed. Suppose to, but I will admit we haven't washed ours so I can't attest to whether or not that is fact.     


                                                   Have fun and Happy Crafting!

Giant Stained Glass Sugar Cookies For Christmas

GIANT STAINED GLASS SUGAR COOKIES

Yesterday was baking day! I tackled a project I had had in mind to do with the girls for awhile. We made giant stained glass sugar cookies. I found a new sugar cookie recipe that doesn't need to be chilled and it is so YUMMY! It's going to be my new, all time favorite sugar cookie recipe!  We had so much fun making and baking these. We will definitely be making these again. 

 Supplies you will need besides the baking supplies and cookie pans and of course the rolling pin are miniature cookie cutters. I also had a cookie cutter with a removable round center piece that I used for the round shapes. To make the giant cookies I used the lid from a large container of baking powder that I bought at Sam's Club. Probably any extra large lid 5 or 6 inches across would work. Also make sure to bake these on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper so they will be easy to remove.

BEST SUGAR COOKIE RECIPE EVER!
 credit given to Katrina's Kitchen for this wonderful recipe

Yield: 3 dozen large cookies
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 6-8 minutes
Total Time: 38 minutes

Soft cut out sugar cookie recipe that keeps its shape and dough does not need to be chilled before baking- perfect edges every time!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of butter, softened
• 2 cups of granulated white sugar
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon of almond extract
• 2 eggs
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 6 cups all purpose flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. In the bowl of your mixer cream butter and sugar until smooth.
3. Beat in extracts and eggs.
4. In a separate bowl combine baking powder with flour and add a little at a time to the wet ingredients. The dough will be very stiff. If it becomes too stiff for your mixer turn out the dough onto a countertop surface. Wet your hands and finish off kneading the dough by hand.
5. DO NOT CHILL THE DOUGH. Divide into workable batches, roll out onto a floured surface and cut. You want these cookies to be on the thicker side (closer to 1/4 inch rather than 1/8).
6. Bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet until firm enough to transfer to a cooling rack.

Notes:

• If you must chill the dough just leave it on the countertop for 10 minutes before rolling or work the dough with your hands for a few minutes.
• I hesitate to put a recipe yield on cut out cookie recipes because the yield varies with the size of cookie cutters being used. This recipe makes a LARGE amount of dough. It can easily be halved to meet your needs.
• You can omit the almond extract if you do not have it available, however the taste is really fantastic with the hint of almond.

I do want to point out that when you make these it is very important they not be too thin. The dough also needs to have nice clean cut edges so the candy doesn't wick up into the cookie as it melts.  These giant cookies are approximately 5 inches across and at least 1/4 inch thick. Also this is very important. When you make these bake the cookies for 6-7 minutes, then remove them from the oven and add the crushed candy to the cutouts, then return to the oven and bake for another 6-7 minutes or so more. Otherwise the candy melts too much and will either burn or run everywhere. Trust me I know from experience! Also it's hard to tell when the cookies are done. Don't wait too long or they will be too done!  Total baking time for us per pan of cookies was about 12 minutes, but that may vary for you depending on your oven. Also this recipe makes at least a dozen giant cookies. We also baked the cutouts and they made nice size cookies even though we used miniature cookie cutters for the cutouts.

Have fun and enjoy baking and creating with your little ones and older ones too!

WATERLESS SNOWGLOBES. A FRUGAL AND VERSATILE CHRISTMAS CRAFT

WATERLESS SNOWGLOBES

I have another fun Christmas craft for you today. Waterless snowglobes! They were so fun to make and the girls had so much fun helping me. The girls loved the little trees and how they looked in the jars. For this craft I went around the house picking and choosing from jars I already had. I also picked up a few more jars from  the thrift store in town. Then the girls and I added fake flaked snow and trees or snowmen or other Christmasy type things.

This craft can be used all winter and for other holidays. All you need to do after you make these is change out the scenes if you want. I plan on using them  for New Years and Valentines Day. I'm lovin this craft already. All that's left now after I've decided how I want these waterless snowglobes arranged is to put my Christmas tablecloth on the table and make my tablescape. Kind of think I want a different look that the world map that is on our dining room table right now. Ha, Ha, imagine a homeschool mom having a world map on the table!

WATERLESS SNOWGLOBE SUPPLY LIST

1. Ice Flakes or Sparkle Flakes from Walmart
2. Jars of various sizes and shapes including lids
3. Small figurines and bottle brush trees to put in the jars
4. Hot glue gun and hot glue sticks 

We started this craft the night before by washing the jars and letting them completely dry inside.  The girls and I then chose what we were going to put in the jars. We were careful not to get our fingerprints all over the glass. I helped the girls shake just enough of the sparkle flakes or ice flakes into each jar to cover the bottom well. We shook the flaked snow into the apothecary jars and placed our figurines or the nativity on top of the snow and then placed the lid on top. The salt shaker and canning jars we hot glued the figurines to the lid first. Then we shook snow into the jar and placed the lid with the figurines attached on the jar and screwed the lid on. We didn't glue the lid on. That way we can reuse the jars for other scenes later. Once you have you snowglobes made you can display them as a beautiful Christmas tablescape. The girls and I are thrilled with how ours turned out. 

                                                    Have fun and Happy Crafting!

Cinnamon Stick Trees. An Easy Christmas Craft

We are on a crafting craze around here these days. The girls and I have been at it again, this time making cinnamon stick trees. If you are looking for a quick craft this is it. No glitter this time! We happened to have everything on hand that we needed for this craft, but if you don't the items needed are easy to find.  This craft was super simple, fast and easy and the girls loved how they turned out. I think they are extra cute too! Notice the little ladybug climbing up the trunk of one of the trees? That was McLarin's special touch! She insisted there had to be a ladybug on hers.


CINNAMON STICK TREES SUPPLY LIST


1. Old Pine Garland
2. Long Cinnamon Sticks
3. Hot Glue and Hot Glue Gun
4. Thread For Hanging- if you want to make these as ornaments
5. Embellishments- such as buttons, snowflakes, small beads, gingerbreadmen etc
6. Gold Star For The Top Of Tree
7. Snow-Tex- for texturing the trunk of your trees
8. Scissors

Before you begin this craft take the pine garland and cut three to five pieces for each tree. I began with a cut piece about 3" and graduated the size of the pieces so each piece was a little smaller. The garland is a little hard to cut so you will need some sturdy scissors. Once I had the garland cut the girls then began gluing pieces of the cut garland to the cinnamon stick. Make sure your little crafters leave enough cinnamon stick at the bottom for the tree trunk. Little ones will need help with using the hot glue gun.

Once the garland pieces are glued on embellishments can be added as you like. After adding embellishments the girls added a gold star to the top of their trees. To add a little whimsey we added some snow-tex to the trunk of each tree. I bought the jar we have at Hobby Lobby several years back. Last of all was gluing on the gold string to the back of the tree to make a hanger. Start to finish this craft probably took us 30-45 minutes max.  Super simple,  hardly any mess and so cute. Have fun crafting with your kiddos! 

Melted Snowmen. A Fun Craft For The Holidays

MELTED SNOWMEN!

 We made the cutest, easiest and fun craft tonight. Melted snowmen! They were so easy to do and they didn't take long at all. Little ones will need help because this craft makes us of a glue gun and glue sticks. The girls has so much fun creating their own version of a melted snowman that we wanted to make sure and share it with you. We will definitely be doing this craft again!

MELTED SNOWMEN SUPPLY LIST

1. Aluminum foil
2. Hot Glue Gun
3. Glue Sticks
4. White Glitter
5. Black Buttons - two different sizes
6. Tooth Picks
7. Orange Magic Marker
8. Pieces Of Cloth -for snowman's scarf
9. Piece of Wire - or something to use as a hanger 
10. Embellishments - if you want. We used really small artificial snowflakes 

I started by giving each of my girls a piece of aluminum foil. This is what they squeezed the hot glue onto. Before we began I broke off the tip of a couple of toothpicks and colored them orange. These were used for the Melted Snowmen noses. I also cut a piece of cloth or felt for the scarves and clipped the ends to make them look like they had fringe. Once they had the glue squeezed onto the foil and their melted snowman was in the shape they liked they placed buttons on for the snowmen's eyes and mouth. 
One of my daughters wanted to use googly eyes. It gave her melted snowman a surprised look and made it uniquely her own! They also arranged the tip of the toothpick I had colored orange with the magic marker before we started. Once the face was on the girls sprinkled the white glitter into the melted snowmen while the glue was still warm enough for it to stick. Next they placed the fabric scarf on the bottom of their melted snowman and placed the hanger in the top, making sure it was secure. The last thing the girls did was to add embellishments to their melted snowmen. They chose to use very small artificial snowflakes. Some were white and some were clear.

A FEW THINGS THAT WE FOUND THAT HELPED
 
A few things we discovered that helped was to squirt the hot glue in a back and forth motion. That way it doesn't end up in a big wavy lump. You can also use the tip of the hot glue gun to smooth out any ridges when you are making the melted snowmen.

It's also a good idea to work fast so the buttons and other snowman parts will adhere well. Otherwise the glue will begin to harden and you'll find like we did your buttons or embellishments will fall off and have to be reglued.

For the hanger I had some tiny candycanes made from wire that we used. They made the perfect hangers. Once your melted snowmen have been created you'll want to peel the aluminum foil off the back. That is easier said than done! We found it makes the job a lot easier if you place the melted snowmen in the freezer for a few minutes. Also using heavier duty aluminum foil helps. The thinner foil tears too easily.

                    Hope you have fun and enjoy making your own melted snowmen!

CHRISTMAS FREEWRITING FREEBIE

FREEBIE ALERT! Free writing resource brought to you by Homeschool Adventure Co.  If you are like me any help with writing is a blessing. Sometimes I get a bit writing fatigued, and that's one reason why  I am so excited to try this wonderful tool out. I'm sure you'll enjoy it and it's FREE!

From Home School Adventure --

Writing can be hard work. Good writing most often results from much rewriting, and much rewriting can make a writer weary.