In the blink of an eye...

From this beautiful little angel...

To this delightful DIVA...

In the blink of an eye!

Oh, how fast two years have gone.

Living the Liturgical Year

Happy feast day of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary!

I surprised the kids this morning with a small deviation from our normal homeschooling routine.  We usually do religion lessons and prayers first thing, but today we had a lesson on the history of Our Lady of the Rosary and the miraculous Battle of Lepanto.

After our lesson, the boys each made a rosary out of mini marshmallows and Hershey's kisses.  We talked about the beauty of the Sacred Mysteries and how we meditate upon them while praying.  It's like we are sitting at the foot of Our Mother while she teaches us about her Son.

It was a very thoughtful and sweet morning.

But some of us were only in it for the chocolate!

A Peck of Pickled Peppers

I tend to leave my peppers on the plant a little longer because I just love the different colors of red and orange that they turn.

I left these peppers on the plant longer because I simply 

forgot about them!

I've learned that sometimes the garden likes a little bit of neglect.  I'm ok with that!  Especially since this summer has been so hot and dry, good thing that peppers like that kind of weather.

So one morning I hauled in this pepper stash and spent the day pickling.  Let me tell you, processing any kind of pepper is dangerous work.  You should definitely wear gloves and possibly eye protection, the fumes from the cut peppers and brewing pickling liquid can fire you up.....and not in a good way!

But the end product is delicious and oh, so pretty!

Pints of pickled peppers lining the pantry shelves makes me happy, and the boys, too.  My older boys eat these peppers on everything.

The weather here in Texas is turning cooler and I'll probably only get one, maybe two, more harvests from the garden.  Hopefully, we'll be enjoying these peppers well into winter to warm us up!

Here is the super simple recipe I use but I like to add double or triple the garlic and a bit more sea salt.

Enjoy!

Stevia 101

I've had stevia growing in my herb garden for two years now and I've never been really sure what to do with it.  When you chew the leaves, it is very sweet, but drop those leaves into tea and not so much!  Making a stevia extract can be quite labor intensive so I just bought the little packets of "Stevia in the Raw" to sweeten my tea.

Until now.

I recently read an article that told how they put stevia through a 40 step process to extract the sweetness from the leaf by relying on chemicals like acetone, methanol, ethanol, acetonitrile, and isopropanol. Some of these chemicals are known carcinogens (substances that cause cancer), and none of those ingredients sound like real food,

do they?

So after a little research, I found that drying and grinding dried leaves works just fine.  There's really no need for a fancy extraction process.

I picked some fresh stevia stems from the garden and put them in the dehydrator for about 4 hours.

I placed the dried leaves in a mortar and pestal (you can also use a spice grinder) and ground them into a fine powder.  The dried leaves or powder can be stored in an airtight container.

I used about a teaspoon and a half to sweeten my tea.  The powder does not dissolve into the tea like sugar or stevia extracts, so it looks kinda weird and leaves a residue on the inside of your cup.  It does sweeten my tea nicely though, and I'm very happy using it.

Stevia is an excellent sweetener for diabetics like me because it does not raise blood glucose levels.  Stevia leaves have also been shown to help with insulin resistance, lowering blood pressure, and can help combat certain types of cancer 

(you know, like the cancers caused by using processed stevia leaves!).

And yes, I know I'm putting homegrown, organic, natural goodness into a Sonic iced tea.
Don't judge me until  you try it,
it's DELICIOUS!

Playin' hookey

We've been homeschooling pretty hard for the last five weeks.  Today we ditched the books and headed to Houston for a day at the park and zoo.  

I completely believe that taking a day off every now and then to refresh your spirit is a very good thing, especially for busy mothers.

And watching this little face delight in all around her definitely restores my soul.  

Coming home sweaty and smelling like elephant poop...not so much!

For those in the area, the Houston Zoo hosts free admission to the zoo after 2pm on the first Tuesday of the month through May.

For large families like ours, it's the only way we get to go!

Check out all the great activities at the Houston Zoo HERE.

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.

Back to (home) school

We started back to homeschooling yesterday.  It was pretty easy to slip back into our routine, and to tell the truth, I think the kids like their days structured, too.  Our first day went pretty smoothly we started off with kolaches from a local bakery, delish! 

Then onto our school day:

Discussion of current events

Catechism/Bible study

Math

Spelling

English

LUNCH BREAK

History

Science

Daily chores

We also have two new students in the Creamer family, Doug and Ryan now are enrolled at WCJC!

Ryan is studying cosmetology (note the purple hair), and Doug is going to become an EMT/Paramedic.

Ryan is not quite sure what he wants to do yet, and I'm a firm believer that you don't have to have your whole life figured out at 19. So for now he is in cosmetology. He will have a trade skill he can use to earn income while figuring out what he wants to do in life, plus, FREE haircuts for the whole family for life!  I'm totally down with that!

 Doug says he feels "called" to become a medic, so who am I to mess with a man's calling?  He's seeing how tough it is going back to school at a late age.  He's also doing it while working a full time job and a half and tending to the needs of a large family.  Oh, how I wish he had found his "calling" 25 years ago!

So education is the name of the game this year in the Creamer household.  Big plans and big changes coming....I hope we are up for the challenge!

Pray for us!

Pallet Art

The other day I was browsing through PINTEREST and came across an adorable piece of pallet wood art.  It was a rustic American flag painted onto the pallet.  We have LOTS of pallets and I knocked out the above piece in about 15 minutes.  

I put it on the side of our storage barn to weather.

I love it!

But then Kyle shows me up one....

 He made a Texas flag with the Texans Bull.

Football fever has officially taken over the men of the house.

Yes, it's that time of year again,
*sigh*
GO TEXANS!

#FootballWidow

Saintly Sewing

I was looking for a quick sewing project to keep myself occupied on a recent trip to Dallas.  I came across some adorable saint patterns on Waltzing Matilda's blog.  Kyle re-worked the St.Clare pattern into a St.Faustina image and voila:

I was embroidering this sweet little saint in no time!

I pondered whether to sew the image into a pillow or quilt but finally decided Mary Grace would enjoy her more as a doll.  So I found a scrap of material and stitched a small quote from our beloved saint...

Mary Grace loved it right away!

I was so happy because you never know with toddlers.

I see many more of these sweet saints in her future, maybe in the form of a quilt next time.

St. Faustina, pray for us!

If you'd like to download one of her many patterns, 

check out Waltzing Matilda's blog HERE.