Being Cinderella

A rare date night for us old folks!

It was a birthday celebration for a dear, dear friend of ours.  Lovely dinner, music, dancing, dressed to the nine's....it's been a long time since we've done any of that! 

Then the midnight bell rang,

and the fairy dust got washed off. 

Of course today, Sunday, I will be a football widow and it will be back to the usual cooking, cleaning, schooling, working....

well, you get the idea!

But it was sure fun being Cinderella while it lasted!

And a note to my Prince Charming:

You'll find that other glass slipper underneath the three piles of laundry in the mud room, I think the dog has been slobbering on it!

40 Days for Life

Because if abortion isn't wrong, 

then nothing is...

Find out what you can do in your community,

40 Days for Life

We're doomed!

After dinner one night, we all had a hankering for some chocolate. I wanted something quick and delicious, and after a brief scouring through Pinterest, I found it...

BROWNIES IN A MUG!

1/4 cup flour 

1/4 cup sugar 

 2 Tbsp cocoa (natural, unsweetened) 

Pinch of salt 

Pinch of cinnamon 

1/4 cup water 

 2 Tbsp canola oil or vegetable oil 

(NOT extra virgin olive oil, it's too strongly flavored) 

1 to 2 drops vanilla extract 

1 small scoop of ice cream or 1 or 2 teaspoons heavy whipping cream to serve

Place flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, and cinnamon in a microwave safe ceramic mug. Stir with a fork or spoon to mix well and break up any clumps. 

 Add the oil, water, and vanilla to the cup and stir until the mixture is smooth and there are no lumps. 

Place in microwave and heat on high until the mixture is cooked through, about a 1 minute and 40 seconds for a 1000 watt microwave. You may have to experiment and adjust the time for less or more powerful microwaves. If you don't know the power level on your microwave, start with 60 seconds and increase until the brownie is done. It should still be moist when cooked through, not dry. 

Let cool for a minute and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a teaspoon or two of whipping cream poured over.

Chocolatey, but not too sweet.

Easy enough that the kids can make it!

Yup, we're doomed!

Hurricane Mary

Hurricane Mary strikes again!

I put together this cozy little reading nook for our toddler, Mary Grace, in hopes she'd pull out a book for us to snuggle up with and read.  I envisioned quiet moments with me reading to her and helping her to develop a love of books. 

She loves books alright!  

She LOVES throwing them off the shelves, she LOVES coloring in them, and sometimes she LOVES ripping out a particular page to show me.

  

Yes, Hurricane Mary is definitely rocking my boat at the age of 23 months!  Maybe it's because I'm raising a toddler at the age of 44, maybe it's because of working and homeschooling that I'm exhausted most of the time, or just maybe it's that red hair of hers that makes her so wiley!

I often think of all that I went through to get her here 

(you can read my story HERE.).

 I think about how she has her father wrapped around her little finger.

I think about how her older brothers are her happy minions.

 I think about my life and all the wonderful blessings we've been given...and then I think to myself,

Yes, I can weather this beautiful storm
but Lord, give me strength!

For your viewing pleasure...

This weekend I downloaded the Lego Movie Maker for JP and Dan. They were literally locked away in their room for HOURS giggling and making movies. 
 I promised them I would show their creations on the blog, 
so without further adieu,
 here is the world premiere of their very first Lego movie:

And grab some popcorn while you watch this super feature:



 


By the end of the weekend, the boys had created several really cute movies.  I like that they were exercising their creativity and story telling abilities instead of just vegging in front of the TV and Wii all weekend long.

Best of all, the app is FREE!

So if you have budding Spielbergs in your house 
or Lego-maniacs like mine, definitely get this app for hours of creative fun!

A quick weekend project

I spent the better part of my weekend recovering from working and caring for our five extra house guests from the week, but I did find some time to do a little therapeutic sewing.  I have been wanting to make this adorable reversible wrap top for quite some time so I dove into my vintage sheets scrap pile and thought the floral print was perfect for the project.

It's a reversible, kimono style, wrap shirt.  I didn't make this one reversible because I really like the sheet print and wanted to keep it simple. 

And even though there is a spring/summer look going on here, I can't wait to make more in fall/winter prints.  I think this little wrap will be perfect over a long sleeve onesie as the weather turns cooler.  I think I'll make future versions with buttons, though.  Mary Grace really likes to undo the pretty bow at the side!

And how adorable are those flutter sleeves?  

I could eat them up!

 (as well as that little red headed model!)

To get this free pattern and tutorial for yourself, 

visit Jess at Craftiness is not Optional.

It's a boy!

...and another boy, and a little tiny boy, and two cute girls!

My dear niece is having some really serious complications with her pregnancy so the Creamer clan decided to host their cousins for the week to give her a rest.

  

Yes, we have ten kids in the house this week! 

Things are certainly....lively to say the least.  My master plan is to completely exhaust them during the day so everyone will be begging for bed by 9pm (hopefully, without exhausting myself in the process).  

So far so good, but please say a prayer for us and my dear niece.  She's got a long way to go and a heavy cross to carry.