Bea-ing green.

I do not so much like the term being green as I do being a good steward for what God has given us. I am tempted to make cloth shopping totes at some point but for now I will enter THIS contest and so can you! Hurry, this ends soon!

Bowl Full of Goodness!

Oh how we love strawberries. We finally made it to the u-pick stand this morning and now I am in heaven with the smell! Next comes jam, shortcake, and I just might have to try this recipe here.

Hello...ello...ello...ello...

Well, I am not going to try and give an excuse as to why I have not posted in so long...life gets away from me sometimes.

I want to give a big thanks to Mother Hen over at Ship full 'o Pirates, I have won her last two contests ( I am never one to win contests). I entered the newest one she has but i am afraid of what may happen if I win again LOL. I won two wonderful books from Vision Forum. I LOVE these books, I wish I could buy them all! For now I have these two.

The best lemon cookies...EVER!!

I found this recipe at Cooks.com and they are the closest thing to a store bought child favorite. Home made of course is always better! Here is this the recipe...

Lemon Snowball Cookies

2 Sticks butter (softened)
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
2 cups flour

Coating:

1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon Kool-Aid lemonade unsweetened drink mix powder

mix these together in a bowl.

Cream butter, sugar, and both extracts together. Add flour and mix until a thick dough forms.
Roll into 1" balls and bake 1" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet at 350F for 15-18 minutes.( they will not brown on top )

When cookies are just barely still warm toss them in coating and finish cooling on a plate. Makes about three dozen.

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For some reason when my husband or I cook the kids like to lay around and do nothing...on our floor. At least they like being with us. I can't tell you how many times we have tripped though! :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Raspberry cream cheese coffee cake, elf shoes and kids in front of the Christmas tree...
I love this time of year. I don't particularly like the fact that we have six inches of snow and another storm coming tonight! At least it should be a white Christmas!



Here is the recipe for a family favorite. I have been making this once or twice a year for many years now. I had it posted on my old blog "Morgan's Musings" but I am not blog savvy and did not know how to transfer things over. Since it is that time of year again I though I should re-post. This is very unhealthy but one of the most DELICIOUS things I have ever tasted.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Cake Layer:
2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. almond extract
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup sour cream
1 egg

Cream Cheese Layer:
8 oz. cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup raspberry jam
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Grease and flour bottom and sides of a spring form pan. In a large bowl mix flour and sugar together. Using pasty blender cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 1 cup of mixture for later.To remaining mixture add baking powder, baking soda, almond extract, salt, sour cream and egg. Blend well and pour into greased pan., spreading out evenly and bringing batter about two inches up the sides.In separate bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and egg. Blend well and pour into batter lined pan. Carefully spoon raspberry jam over cream cheese mixture.Combine remaining crumb mixture with almonds and sprinkle over top of jam. Bake at 350F for 45-55 minutes or until cream cheese is set and crust is golden brown. Let cool at least 15 minutes.




I have been Elf-ing around with these...aren't they adorable? I got the idea here.



At least they all look happy!

Off to more projects...see you soon! Merry Christmas!

Playing catch-up for big Thank yous!

First of all I want to say a big thank you to my new friend Rebecca over at Renaissance for sending me some of her home made grape jelly along with a couple of other goodies and a beautiful note. We are enjoying the jelly!!!

Next Thank you goes out to Marianna at Cardinal Acre for being my swap partner for a napkin swap that took place at Down-to-Earth. I had lots of fun with this and the extra goodies were a wonderful surprise. I love the hand embroidered roses...she knew what she was doing. Chocolate is always a safe bet and lavender dryer sheets...how did you know lavender is one of my favorite scents???The vanilla cupcake candles smell like the real thing. Yum! Thanks again!

Lastly I wanted to share my last roses of the season... 'til next summer this picture will have to do.

God in Mathmatics...

Hi everyone, I got this sent from a friend and I thought it was
interesting.....

This is fascinating. Be sure to go all the way to the end.

Absolutely amazing!
Beauty of Math!

1 x 8 + 1 = 9
12 x 8 + 2 = 98
123 x 8 + 3 = 987
1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321

1 x 9 + 2 = 11
12 x 9 + 3 = 111
123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111

9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

Brilliant, isn't it?
And look at this symmetry:

1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111=12345678987654321

Now, take a look at this...

101%
From a strictly mathematical viewpoint:

What Equals 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?

Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?

We have all been in situations where someone wants you to GIVE OVER
100%.

How about ACHIEVING 101%?

What equals 100% in life?

Here's a little mathematical formula that might help answer these
questions:

If: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

If:
H-A-R-D-W-O-R- K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

And:
K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

But:
A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%

THEN, look how far the love of God will take you:
L-O-V-E-O-F-G-O-D
12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4 = 101%

Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that:
While Hard Work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will
get you there, It's the Love of God that will put you over the top!