Halloween Treats

Because we live in a rural area we don't see a lot of kids traipsing around on Halloween.  We do get a few folks who know us and bring their kids by, so I try to have something around.  A couple of years it was candy, but then there's leftovers and my will power around mini candy bars is close to nil.

Last year I made sugar cookies and spent the afternoon with YouthGal (aka- GTot's favorite baby sitter) and GTot decorating them.  I wanted to do it again this year but just didn't have the energy to do the whole shebang  sugar cookie - cutting- baking - frosting mess.  So I improvised.  I made a batch of my favorite sugar cookie dough and a batch of the best Chocolate Sugar Cookie dough.  I colored the plain dough orange (well, as orange as I could get it with very little red food coloring in the house) and we cut out pumpkin faces with the chocolate and put them on top of the pumpkin cutouts before we baked them.  We used a pastry cutter to get the zig-zag affect which made the mouths super easy.  They turned out pretty cute and tasted pretty good too!

We didn't use much of the chocolate dough, but that's ok because there's a bake sale I'm going to have to do something for later this month and this dough freezes beautifully!

Sunday Sunshine

Practicing contentment by remembering thegraces of the week and practicing gratitude through giving.


This picture to the left is what we woke up to this morning.  It was an amazing winter wonderland and the absolute perfect snow in our area.  It didn't accumulate enough on our driveway to need to shovel and it was mostly melted by tonight.  It brought with it a pristine blue sky and moderate temperatures.  It was a gorgeous morning!


This week has brought time with friends, and some fun evenings out. Other friends stepped in to watch GTot for our evenings out which is always such a blessing to us! 


I read a quote this week on my friend's blog that I absolutely loved: 'Anyone who doesn't treasure my kids, doesn't get to have them'. We are so blessed to have a lot of wonderful folks who truly treasure and enjoy spending time with our daughter and that is the most amazing gift anyone can give the parents of young children!


This week brought the end of soccer season for HandyMan.  While I know he will miss this time with his team, I'm looking forward to having him home a little bit more in the coming weeks. 


This week was not without its trials and challenges, but even through those I'm learning how to be a better mother, wife and friend.   


Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.” (James 1:16 -The Message) May the light of the Father brighten your week!

Sunday Sunshine

Practicing contentment by remembering the graces of the week and practicing gratitude through giving.

I've not had much time to blog in the last month, but it was time to center myself this morning and focus on gratitude.  So much has gone on since I last posted, but here are a few of the things  that I'm so thankful for today:

:: Movie mornings with G.

:: Donations of time and supplies to aid the flood relief efforts in our area.

:: Fun evenings out.

:: Surprises.

:: Projects for work.

:: Caramel popcorn.

:: Freezer meals.

:: Coffee & dessert dates with friends.

:: Surprise helpers at my door.

It has been a long couple of weeks, and just when it looks like life may settle down, something else comes up.  Life is full.  We are blessed!

Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light.” (James 1:16 -The Message) May the light of the Father brighten your week!

Book Review: The Corruptible

The Corruptible by Mark Mynheir is a solid who-done-it with a bit of a film-noir feel.  A private investigator is retained by a very wealthy client to track down a data storage device which contains information which is invaluable to his client.  Mix in a missing person, a murder, and a police officer of questionable character and the mystery evolves.

The plot was solid and held my attention but the character left me scratching my head.   I think that the main character reminded me of a combination of multiple characters I've encountered on TV and in other books.  the combination in this new main character didn't sit well with me.

I can't say that The Corruptible was one of my favorite reads, but I can't pin down what was the turn-off. 

Disclaimers: I received a complementary copy of this book from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review as part of the Blogging for Books program. The opinions and thoughts of this are my own and are not influenced in any way. 

Hello, Sunshine!

This morning I was dragging myself out of bed and to the shower.  The thought of having only two more "wake-ups" until a much needed 4-day weekend helped to pull me through my shower.  I welcomed in the little guy I babysit and lit up the pellet stove to take the chill out of the house.  Seated with a cup of coffee I was greeted by this wonderful image when my desktop weather application opened up.

Hallelujah!  After a month of clouds and rain and floods and more clouds and more rain - this is such a welcome sight!  I hope everyone has a great week!