February Hot Happenings

It is hard to believe that one day makes all the difference, but February has lived up to its standard of being the shortest month of the year! It is hard to believe that it is already over and it is time to plan for March. But before we do that, lets review what February looked like at our home.

We have kids around here that are growing like weeds! We celebrated Justin’s 15th birthday, and Stephanie celebrated her 19th from afar. Despite the changing ages, things proceed normally around here…

Judah is now 3 months old, and developing his own personality. He broadcasts it every day! He does a great job with his hands and already loves to “play” with toys. He gets frustrated if he can’t reach things. His sisters can make him laugh quite often and he has discovered Sheba...he just can’t wait until he is big enough to really play with her!

He loves to read books...it is really quite something. He will normally sit and let you read an entire book to him! Oh, and look...he already loves this special book I picked up:

Speaking of reading, I’ve been doing some of my own reading this month (continuing my practice of 2 books per months for this year)

Gift from the Hills is a unique book, but one I have greatly enjoyed! It is the story of a small handcrafting school in the hills of North Carolina, how it came to be, the many people that made it possible, and fun, one-of-a-kind stories that could only happen in the NC hills. :) Take this excerpt for example:

“We were sitting on the long front porch when one of the men inquired quite innocently if any of us girls had ever been snipe hunting. None of us had.

“It ought to be a good night to go,” the young man observed. I felt suspicious of a certain tone in his voice, but I looked at dependable, loyal old Mr. Wyatt, and when he spoke I knew I had been wrong to suspect the visitor.

“Yes,” Mr. Wyatt agreed, with a drawl, “this ought to be a good night for ‘em to be runnin’.”

“The men told us that we should hold the tow sacks with our lanterns at the mouths so that when the snipe came down they would see the open mouths of the sacks and run into them in the belief that they were escaping into dark caves. (!!!!) So they hunted up the sacks and we trudged down the hill. With absolute faith in Mr. Wyatt’s solemnly proclaimed view on the fitness of the night for snipe-hunting, we took our places in the old road. The men went off to chase the snipe down to us.

Well, we stood there, bent over, holding those open-mouthed tow sacks until our backs ached and our arms were numb. Finally it began to dawn upon our trusting minds that the joke was on us, and we decided to take our bags and head for home.

That was my first and last snipe hunt.”

Consider yourself forewarned! :) (Who knew that snipe hunting existed in the 1920’s??) That and many other delightful tales make this book extremely interesting and fun to read. There are some great historical facts and details about things in the Mitchell and Linville counties that I never knew before! I enjoyed reading about the details of hand weaving and how this small, “hick” school kept that tradition alive!

The other book I read this month was “Overcoming Being Overcome,” an up-beat, encouraging book written by a Pastor’s wife here in Nova Scotia. Written to women in any walk and station of life, this book helps us to take whatever life throws us, whatever we face even in the mundane day-to-day, and use it to make us overcomers for the cause of Christ! It is a book I would recommend especially to any ministry lady as a great source of encouragement. This neat passage was a blessing to me, even though I am not yet a mother:

I Corinthians 13 of Housecleaning

If I live in a house of spotless beauty with everything in its place, but have not love, I am a housekeeper - not a homemaker.

If I have time for waxing, polishing, and decorative achievements, but have not love, my children learn cleanliness - not Godliness.

Love leaves the dust in search of a  child’s laugh.
Love smiles at the tiny fingerprints on a newly cleaned window.
Love wipes away the tears before it wipes up the spilled milk.
Love picks up the child before it picks up the toys.
Love is present through the trials.
Love reprimands, reproves, and is responsive.
Love crawls with the baby, walks with the toddler, runs with the child.
Then stands aside to let the youth walk into adulthood.
Love is the key that opens salvation’s message to a child’s heart.

Before I became a mother I took glory in my house of perfection.
Now I glory in God’s perfection of my child.
As a mother, there is much I must teach my child,
But the greatest of these is love.
Author Unknown

Isn't that sweet?

I have continued the practice of reading a chapter to my siblings at each noon meal, and we are all enjoying it! In fact, they get quite put out if I am not home for lunch on any given day. ;) Here is what we have been reading:

 We finished "Nancy and Plum," and we all enjoyed it. The girls got quite angry at some of the "convenient" places that I left them hanging! (Thats the fun of it, right?) This is a delightful kids book.

When we finished that, we started "Farmer Boy," the next in our series of Little House books. I just love reading about Almanzo's family and how hard they worked to provide everything they needed to survive. It certainly carries some appeal with it! They worked unbelievable hard, but were rewarded with everything they could want in bountiful supply.



There were a lot of activities that went on in February!

We celebrated Justin's birthday
And Valentines day (including my Pinterest Project)
(Holly and I tried to help some of you fellows out for the big day.)
I've been doing a whole lotta sewing (and loving it)
I took my brother to a winter retreat (where we actually saw some snow)
I contemplated joining Google+...and I still haven't, BTW. One of these days.
The 40 days of Lent began this month.
I re-organized my "nightstand"
And I tried to stay warm!
Oh, and we had a flock of these on our front lawn:

Yup, those are Robins! Hard to believe, in February! That is just how warm its been. I'm hoping they don't get snowed on!

February was full and busy and fun, and I am sure March will be the same. Crossing my fingers for WARM WEATHER! Wouldn't that be fantastic?

How was your February? Any big plans for March? Who else is excited for SPRING???!!!!

My "Nightstand" Organization

About a year ago, I showed you my lack-of-room-for-a-nightstand dilemma and how I solved it with a $2 Wal-mart purchase and a little ingenuity. I’ve always loved my little basket and how well it works in such a small space, but it was clearly time to rethink the function of the whole system.

So yeah, normally the cough drops and dry skin lotion are not there, I have a cold, so bear with me, ok? Still, the space was lacking a little of the function and organization it once had. Here it is on a good day:

I do a lot of writing and planning while perched on my bed, so a while back I had added the cocoa tin of Sharpies because I use them in my Planning Binder all the time. The books you see to the right are the current books I’m reading and my notebook holding my 1,000 gifts list. Those need to stay handy as well. The precious basket was holding pens and highlighters, sticky notes and a calculator, and my headphones. It turned out to be a little awkward, because the sticky notes and such were always laying on top of the pens and everything was all tangled in the headphones. I found myself taking out the other stuff and setting them to the side when I needed to use a pen, so the whole thing was a messy disaster.

I brainstormed for a while how to get the function back to the space while still having what I needed at my fingertips, and here is what I came up with:

The snowflake hook, no matter how cute it is, wasn’t accomplishing anything and was usually hidden behind the curtain, so it had to go. I added another cocoa can and popped in some colorful pens and highlighters. In the basket went the sticky notes, calculator, headphones, an eraser, and a pair of scissors. Not only are things better organized, but I was able to add some things that I often need over in that corner of the room! AND, the two cans of writing utensils give better balance, anyway! Win, win!

In the future I may cover the cocoa cans in some pretty paper, but for now, I’m kind of a fan of fun-looking original tins. Wait, I’ve never showed you the cool tins I hoard collect? I’ll have to do that! They are very useful creatures, those tins. Anyway, this quick project (took me all of like 10 minutes to get it the way I wanted it) is proof that you can do a lot with a very small space and just some basic things from around the house. Just don’t judge me if it is all covered in cough drop wrappers and crumpled tissues by tomorrow, ok?

Do you have a certain item that you love to organize with? How do you make the most of small spaces? Any tips on how my space could be even better? (Besides painting that window trim white...hopefully this summer!)

Knowing God: A Study of the Godhead

I mentioned last week that I am reading the book, "Knowing God" by J. I. Packer as I prepare my heart and mind to recognize Christ's death, burial and resurrection. I'd love to have you all read along, as this book has already been an incredible challenge to my own heart! Since you all can't, (and since copyright laws don't permit me to just blab the whole book to you) I will periodically be posting a few of my favorite quotes here for you over the next 35ish days, and also tweeting some different, brief quotes each day. Follow me on Twitter so you don't miss any of them! Here are a few of my favorite passages so far:


“Would you lose your sorrow? Would you drown your cares? Then go, plunge yourself in the Godhead’s deepest sea; be lost in his immensity; and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest, refreshed and invigorated. I know nothing which can so comfort the soul, so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead.”

Charles Spurgeon

“When Paul says he counts the things he lost dung (Philippians 3:7-10) he means not merely that he does not think of them as having any value, but also that he does not live with them constantly in his mind: what normal person spends his time nostalgically dreaming of manure?”

J.I. Packer

“Nor, I think, would many of us ever naturally say that in the light of the knowledge of God which we have come to enjoy, past disappointments and present heartbreaks, as the world counts heartbreaks, don’t matter. For the plain fact is that to most of us they do matter. We live with them as our “crosses” (so we call them). Constantly we find ourselves slipping into bitterness and apathy and gloom as we reflect on them, which we frequently do. The attitude we show to the world is a sort of dried-up stoicism, miles removed from the “joy unspeakable and full of glory” which Peter took for granted that his readers were displaying (I Peter 1:8) “Poor souls,” our friends say of us, “how they’ve suffered,” And that is just what we feel about ourselves!” J.I. Packer


I'd love to hear what you are doing to observe Lent and/or prepare to observe Resurrection Sunday. What specific things has God called to you attention already in the first few days of this season?

Gifts and Goals for the Week

This last week began the 40 day period typically called Lent, preparing to recognize the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. If you missed my thoughts on the matter, you can go here to read them. I am enjoying this practice once again! Taking extra time each day to, this year, focus on the attributes of God has already been beneficial to my walk with the Lord. I look forward more and more to the observance of Resurrection Sunday! This week, I am going to try adding to this practice the memorization of a verse that goes along with what I am reading. We’ll see how it goes!

Here are the additions from this week to my “1,000 Gifts” list:

230. Having the supplies for a project
231. Special treat for lunch
232. Justin’s birthday party
233. Caramel Syrup in my coffee
234. Knowledge to fix serger (it stopped working in the middle of a project - I was sweating for a while! So thankful that God cares about the small things!)
235. Hot lobster sandwiches
236. Games on the Wii
237. Rest


This was one of those weeks that “life” got in the way of my to-do list, but I certainly don’t mind when it is things like pizza, birthday parties, and holding a sweet baby that is growing up way to fast! (Not necessarily in that order, mind you ;) Here are last weeks goals:

And here are the ones for this week!

I really need to get that bookcase cleaned and organized, because in the last few weeks it has been quite warm and I’ve killed several silverfish near the books. NOT good! Hopefully a nice clean bookshelf will deter them. I also am pumped to participate in the Project Pretty link up party at the end of the week...now I just have to decide what I am going to “pretty up,” haha!

What projects will you be working on this week? Anyone else getting your pretty on this week and linking up?

Preparing to Celebrate Christ's Resurrection

Last year, through the ministry of Nancy Leigh Demoss and Revive Our Hearts, I started the practice of observing Lent, or the weeks leading up to Easter Sunday. My denomination does not traditionally practice Lent as some do, but I felt compelled to start the practice in my own life, not because of the tradition or symbolism, but simply to set time apart to focus on Christ.  We spend sooo much time getting ready to celebrate Christmas, the birth of Christ, and during that time I try to make ways to focus on the real meaning of Christmas. Why should His death, the very thing that purchased my salvation, be passed over any more lightly? No, we don’t need to focus on the commercialization of the holiday to a greater extent, but I do believe we should prepare our hearts and minds to be changed and impacted through this time.

The practice I started last year is to read an extra book during the Lenten season to focus my thoughts on Christ and what He did for me. Last year I read The Incomparable Christ, and was deeply moved! This year I chose the book, “Knowing God” by J. I. Packer. It focuses on several aspects and attributes of God, and I am sure it will be a great study!

The book has 22 chapters, so I will just split most of those up into two separate days and be able to study the material in depth. I am excited to learn more about God and how that knowledge can change my everyday life.

The 40 days of Lent actually started on Wednesday...so yeah, I’m slightly behind in bringing you this post. :) But its not too late….I’d encourage you to set the next few weeks apart in some way, allowing yourself more time to focus on Redemption and making conscious decisions to do so. It does take some purposeful planning, but it isn’t very hard to come up with ways to observe this time.

I’d love to hear what you are doing to observe Christ’s death and Resurrection this year. Do you typically observe Lent? What things draw your heart and mind closer to Christ?


For further reading or ideas, I found Nancy’s post and Lindsay’s post helpful.

Click It Handwarmers

A couple Christmases ago, my mom gave me these Click It Pads as a gift. What are they, you ask? Well basically, they are like HotHands on steroids. :) I used to have a serious addiction to HotHands, the hand warmers fllled with activated charcoal that can be purchased in pretty much any checkout aisle. The trouble with those is that they are only good one time!

When my mom saw these, she knew they would be perfect for me since I am always cold. The best part is that they can be used again and again! Here is how they work:

They start out as a small gel pack, small enough to hold in your hand:

To activate the heat, you just "click" that tiny tin button you see inside. This causes some type of reaction in the gel that changes it to a crystallized form and produces heat. Don't ask me how they do it, but they do! Here is a little video I made to show you how the transformation takes place: (please don't mind the wigglyness, I had a bit of trouble doing it with one hand!)

Here is how it looks all crystiallized:

Isn't that the oddest thing? But it actually works! To reuse them, you have to boil them (I know, this gets weirder and weirder!) and they return to their gel state. All you do is bring your water to a boil, lay a cloth in it (to keep the plastic from melting, I suppose) and then put your click it pads on top of the cloth and boil! It takes about 10 minutes for them to completely return to gel. Don't leave any crystal at all, or they won't work!

And then, they are ready to be used again!

I love using these on cold days, or when I go ice skating or some other cold activity! They are a fantastic solution to cold hands! And they last for an hour or more, which is fantastic!

I have been unable to locate a site for these exact heat pads (the website on the material that came with them no longer exists) but I found these which appear to be the same thing, only a different name. Check them out!

I'd love to hear your options for staying warm during these chilly winter days! I guess we've come a long way from heating potatoes for our pockets, don't you think? =) Have you used HotHands or a reuseable pad like these? Which do you prefer?

Coffee Chats: Blogger or Wordpress?

So, we both have blogs...I guess you guys already knew that...but we also both use different platforms. And that is what we'd like to chat about today!

Holly: So which Blogging platform do you use?

Nicole: I use Blogger. You?

Holly: Wordpress all the way. What made you choose Blogger?

Nicole: Well, when I started my blog (back in 2009, I believe) I didn't know a thing called Wordpress existed. In fact, I pretty much knew nothing about blogging other than I wanted to try it! I had seen Blogger used, and it looked fairly easy, so that is what I went with. So, you could say it was just out of pure ignorance.

Holly: That's actually how I started with my first blog back in spring of 2007. I think most bloggers start out that way.

What features make you stay with Blogger?

Nicole: Probably ignorance there, too!  I never minded using Blogger, and really felt that I was doing everything I wanted to in the arena of blogging, so I had no need to change. Just when I was getting to the place where I was contemplating Wordpress, Blogger made some changes and I liked it way better. So, I kept it. Making the switch seems like it would be such a hassle, and for now I am happy with things the way they are.

Holly: Nice!

Nicole: What made you decide to go with Wordpress?

Holly: I switched over to Wordpress when Blogger was in the middle of a lot of changes. I wasn't happy with all the transition stuff, and I loved the customization that WordPress was giving me. Plus, I needed to make a switch in my blog and write for a bit where no one knew I was writing. That didn't last long, but it helped me get back to blogging and I've stuck with WordPress ever since.

Nicole: We're glad you started blogging again! The customization of Wordpress does seem like a great feature.

Holly: The themes and widgets are great. However, it does take more technical skill to get it truely customized. {Thanks to my husband, and lot of patient teaching, I'm finally getting it.}

Nicole: Yes, that seems like the scary part! Were there any other features of Wordpress that were calling your name when you started this blog?

Holly: Honestly? A big part of it was that I wanted a challenge. I was kinda bored with Blogger and wanted to make my blog look a little cuter. Plus, we bought my domain name which made it easier to go with WordPress.

Nicole: How fancy-schmancy!

Holly: I know, right? Not!

I guess the biggest thing that scares me about Blogger is that Google has a lot of control. I had a friend that almost lost her whole blog because Google shut it down for a day or so. She got it back {and promptly switched to WordPress!}, but it's still scary!

Nicole: Yikes, that doesn't sound so good!

I am not a huge fan of some of the changes Google is making (no more friend connect? Seriously?) but specifically with Blogger, I like it the way it is now. *Knock on wood* When they made some changes, they added some more features, cleaned up the dashboard and other windows (LOVE how clean and streamlined it is now!) and I find that pictures load way faster, etc. Then recently they added threaded commenting, so now I am completely happy with it.

Holly: They seem to be making a lot of strides in the right direction to keep up with WordPress, for sure! I do know that people are not happy about the Friend Connect thing though, so I'm surprised they're still doing away with it, given the backlash.

Nicole: They just want us all on Google+!

Going back to Wordpress, now that you've been using it for quite a while, is there anything you wish was different/better/easier?

Holly: I wish that I had the time to really learn to customize sites with CSS better. Andrew thinks it's funny, but I can only really customize the theme I have and I'm scared to work on any others. Guess I'm in my comfort zone or something. I'm starting to get better at it, but I do wish it didn't take so long to learn. WordPress has been making some changes too that are making it easier than ever to blog, so that's a plus in their favor!

Nicole: That must be good for you! Learning new things like that always takes a ton of time and research, I find.

Holly:They do, but it's worth it, especially since I've been able to help other bloggers figure stuff out too. I enjoy it once I know what I'm doing!

Nicole: That is great! And what’s not to love about blogging, right?

Holly: That's right!

Nicole: Thinking back, are you glad you started with Blogger, or would starting right off with Wordpress have been better?

Holly: I am glad I started with Blogger. I think new bloggers would be in over their heads trying to figure out WordPress and blogging at the same time. I would recommend that any new blogger start with..well, Blogger.

Do you think you've learned a lot more about the behind-the-scenes of blogging since you started blogging?

Nicole: Oh my stars yes. I knew absolutely NOTHING when I started...now I'm having a blast making my own headers, buttons, and anything else I have the time for! I even have a basic (basic, basic)  understanding of HTML and how to use that to customize things...still have a ways to go, but I'm learning! That is part of the fun, I guess, learning new things.

Holly: It is! Playing around with headers and buttons and stuff is probably my favorite part.

Nicole: There is so much satisfaction in figuring something out and seeing how fantastic it looks on your blog. (especially when I didn't have to ask your husband for help, lol!)

Holly: Absolutely! We never stop learning, even after graduation, and blogging is just another way we can keep learning and growing.

Nicole: Before we end here, what would you offer for advice to a fellow-wordpresser?

Holly: Don't look at other fancy and famous WordPress blogs {most of them designed by professionals} and feel inadequate or jealous. Take your time to learn what you're doing and enjoy the process. It's *your* blog!

And for the Blogger users?

Nicole: I would also say "don't compare", but also to use it to keep learning and growing and who knows? Someday you may end up with a fancy-pants blog because of the hard work YOU put into it!

Holly: Amen, sister.

We're hoping that this chat will be a help you any of you that are thinking of starting your own blog or switching from one platform to the other! If you have any further questions for either of us, please leave us a comment below! We'd also love to hear from you other bloggers...which platform do you use? Do you customize it? Why do you love it (or hate it)? Chat along with us in the comments section below! Happy blogging!

Happy Birthday Justin!

Happy Birthday to my brother Justin! He is turning *15* today, and I can't believe it! Seems like yesterday he was a little boy!

Like the girls, he too got his pictures taken recently to document this birthday! Photo shoots with a teen boy are slightly different than with the drama-queen females in this family, so it was....interesting to say the least. It went something like this:

Me: "Here, stand here with your basket ball and put one arm up against the tree."

Him: "This feels awkward."

Me: "Yeah, it looks awkward too. It would help if you smiled a little bit more."

Him: "How can I smile when the sun is in my eyes??"

Me: "Ok, stand here instead. Now smile bigger."

Him: "I am!" (raises eyebrows)

Me: "Raising your eyebrows is not smiling bigger. Smile with your cheeks."

FINALLY!!!!!

Totally the best one yet, don't you think???? =)

I would be remiss to not include some of him with his brother:

And him and his dog:

As usual, I'd love to hear your favorites! Of course the ones with Judah are the best, but I also kind of like the one up near the top right under the word "finally." although it doesn't really matter which is my favorite...once he sees these on here, I'll be dead anyway. (Hee hee!)

Happy Birthday!

Carrie

I told you that along with taking Rachel's pictures, I took some of Carrie as well! Her 8th birthday was back in October, and normally her pictures would have been taken then, but we waited to do it now. I don't know if she is just more photogenic, but we had no outtakes after all of these! They all just came out good!

Gotta love that toothless grin! Lets play the favorite game. I'm digging the fifth one down (or sixth...I can't make up my mind!) although the ones with that long hair are beautiful as well! Which one (or two, or three) are your favorites? Leave it in the comments below!!