What did we ever do without Google?

What did moms ever do without Google? I think so many times a day "Oh, I'll just Google it!" (It is oh so accessible on my iPhone now too)

I am reminded that even though the internet has a ton of helpful information, some of the best advice can be from our own moms, friends at a play date or a phone call to a sister. There is nothing like real, first-hand advice from people who have experienced the gum in hair emergencies or a child taking a clonk on the head.

If mom is upset, everyone is upset

Have you ever felt down? Just plain old yucky and negative and that you just can't do anything right? I am struggling with that right now. :/ The saying is "If mom is upset, everyone is upset". I do not want that to be so in my household. As wives and moms, the truth is we do set the tone. As I was thinking about this I was reminded of the following Scripture...

2 Timothy 1:6&7
For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.

The dictionary says kindle means to start, to excite or to stir up/set going. What is kindling in me? Am I stirring up lies and negativity? Am I meditating on yuck and therefore yuck comes out? This week I am challenged to stir up what I know God has implanted in me... a spirit of power, love and discipline. Yes, this means I have to discipline my mind!

The world says if I have a reason to be upset, then be upset and let everyone know it {FB official?}. And let's just get down to it... a woman's hormones say the same thing! It is hard to meditate on the Word AND meditate on yuck at the same time. The world says we have a right to act the way we feel. The Scripture says to be disciplined and have self-control. What happens when we make that tough first step to follow the Lord? Most would say we get a ball and chain. But o'contrair! We begin to find freedom! There isn't any freedom in feeling the way we want to feel and doing whatever we want to do (sin). In fact, Jesus came to break the bond of sin. Romans 6:5-7 says For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.

So, if we are born again, believing Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior and only because of His death on the cross and resurrection we are freed from the bondage of sin, we may then die to our flesh (aka doing whatever we want, whatever feels good or feels right in the moment) and find life in Christ. John 11:25 says this - Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die."

For most people, it is easier to work in small steps so maybe ask this question... Am I showing the fruit of the Spirit? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Start with the first, love, and work on that. Then move on to joy and so on.

Is it herb or herb?

I like buying plants at Lowe's because if my green thumb is broken, I can return a dead plant that I bought there (with a receipt that you have to copy so it doesn't fade) for up to a year! With that in mind, and the fact that I was constantly buying herbs at the grocery store, I bought some herbs for home. I have a tomato plant, a cucumber plant and some flowers of Hailey's mixed in there too. So far, so good!

Balls of cake on a lolly pop stick = cake pops!

So, this was my first attempt at making cake balls. (Recipe here. I was really determined to have my cake balls round and not flattened on one side from sitting on a flat surface. So, I took a coupon to JoAnne Fabrics and bought a long block of styrofoam. Then I took a metal measuring spoon and scooped out the styrofoam to make places for the cake balls to sit.



I then covered the styrofoam with Glad Wrap Press'n Seal (I love that stuff!!) I then cut the styrofoam into four blocks so that they would fit in my freezer.




I got so into my project, I didn't take any more pictures until I was done. But this is the final project. How did I make the board the pops were sticking out of? I found a shallow thick cardboard box in the pantry. I covered it with Christmas wrapping paper but exposing the back side which was white, and then took a screw driver to make the holes for the cake pops to sit in. It held up so well that I can use it again! :)

My family rules! And we have rules too...

I love the blog Jones Design Company. She created a Family Rules art print that I would have loved to buy to support her but instead I had to be inspired to make my own. I liked the rules that she had...

Be kind
Creativity is always encouraged
forgive, forgive, forgive
Make good choices
Have Fun
give (lots of) hugs
Say your prayers
Love One Another

So I took scrapbooking paper that I already had, typed the rules in Microsoft Word in the fonts that liked. I put one rule on each page at the top. Then one page at a time, I printed the rules out on the scrapbooking paper, making each page/rule on a different scrapbook paper pattern and this is what I got...




Then I cut the paper that said "...Family Rules..." on it to the size of the frame I would use. This would be the paper that I would glue the rules onto. I cut the rules into strips of paper and glued them in order onto the Family Rules paper. Then I put it in a picture frame that I already had and this is what I got...



So, please go check out Jones Design Company's blog and all the prints she has for purchase. They are adorable! But, in case you are like me and must be crafty with the things you already have and like what she did, you now know how I did it! :)

A baby shower!

It was so much fun hosting my sister's baby shower. The little guy is going to be here so soon! We call him "Yoda" since he doesn't have an official name yet. :) My sister's invitations had a baby in a pea pod on it so I decided to stick with that theme. You could say the food theme was chocolate. Chocolate cake and cupcakes, brownies, chewy chocolate chip cookies. Yummm!!!

Re-purposing a cake stand

I love to make desserts and put them in my beautiful glass cake stand. But when I don't have desserts, I wanted to still use the cake stand as a display. I bought this bird at JoAnn's on clearance. I had the next tucked away in a box somewhere and painted wooden knobs an ivory color. Then I put them in my cake stand. How cute!!





What do you have that you could display in your cake stand?