Harvest Lane Cottage

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! I'll be back to blogging next week. Enjoy! Laura

Does Happy Holidays bother you? Click here. To me, that means Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Christmas, and Happy New Year all rolled into one.  If you celebrate any other holidays, I wish you happy for those, too! It was a wonderful Christmas. I'm going to try to take it easy the next couple of days. When you're a wife and mother, that's not easy. ~smile~ Then the re-cleaning,  homeschool records and planning,  and thrifty and frugal efforts must take center stage!  The New Year is coming! God bless you all. Thank you all for encouraging me relentlessly.  ~smile~ Laura P.S. If you'd like a wonderful nudge to embrace homemaking more fully, check out  Jennie's Journey  for a wonderful continuation of When Queens Ride By by Suzanne Chanis from  Blueberry Cottage.  She wrote a new installment for Christmas. 

We're down to the wire. I'm still wrapping gifts, cleaning, and planning. This morning I'll buy groceries and finish my other shopping. Being at the restaurant so much until last weekend put me behind. I'm glad that Christmas is on a Friday this year. I hope you are getting it all done and not getting grinchy or feeling fretful. Jesus loves you so very much. This is all to bring happiness not stress. Take time to sit quietly, open the Word of God, and spend some time with the Lover of Your Soul, Jesus. Merry Christmas, Laura ~~~~~ ~~~~~

Hard times don't take a Christmas vacation. Illnesses, job loss, a budget stretched so far that buying a gift or a special meal makes it snap are all cold realities for many families. A lady in our church was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. I know at least two people battling dark depression. A sweet friend went in for a routine surgery and ended up in ICU. She's home, but her recovery is slow. Another friend's husband is fighting for his life with blood clots in his lungs. Yet another dear friend's husband just lost his high level position, because the company went bankrupt. My husband and I will close our restaurant this weekend— leaving our family without income. I know several people who really stretch their money to make ends meet. There's only so much elastic in a dollar bill you know. I've been testing that stretch capacity full-time for nearly ten years now. Maybe you're like one of us. Perhaps you have another problem. Most likely y...

Read other daybooks.   My Daybook December 7, 2015 Outside my window... It's a gray morning. I am thinking... about how to get everything done I need to do this week. I am thankful that...  even if all doesn't go as planned, we will still have a happy Christmas. From the kitchen... I'll start my holiday baking. We currently have two outside events that require sweet treats. We also have our tree trimming party tonight, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to prepare for. I'll have my kids help. I also want to make Candy Cane Cocoa.   I am wearing... my old red dress. I'll change before I go out.  It's cold by the window. I am creating... nothing really. That's really strange for me. I usually make lots of things for Christmas. See the kitchen list above. I am going... just regular taxi service for the family. I'm going to have to start taking my oldest son to work because his current ride is having car problems. I r...

Happy Christmas Season Everyone! Don't let anyone spoil "Happy Holidays" for you.  Just accept the good wishes in peace! Then— wish them a happy Christmas! ~~~~~ Please enjoy more Christmas posts here. ~~~~~

"Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time."  ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder Some things just take me back in my mind to the days of my youth... Miracle on 34th Street, It's a Wonderful Life, and The Bishop's Wife  all make me think of my grandparents. I grew up in the '70's, but something about those movies makes me think of them. No one sings Christmas like Bing Crosby, but Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, and Frank Sinatra also remind me of those growing up Christmases. Nothing connects me to my growing up years like music. I think it's because my mama loved music so much. We listened to the radio, played 8 track tapes, and sang with each other at home and in the car. Music connected us. Jesus, will you please tell my mama that I miss her and I love her? Thank you.  Listening to Christmas music and Santa flight reports reminds me o...

Read other daybooks.   My Daybook December 7, 2015 Outside my window... It's a very dark night. I'm up too late writing this. I am thinking... about how to get everything done I need to do this week. I am thankful that...  even if all doesn't go as planned, we will still have a happy Christmas. From the kitchen...   I hope to make some potato soup with leftover smashed potatoes for dinner Monday night. Later this week, I might make some beef stew with leftover brisket.  I am wearing... my black night gown. It's cold by the window. I am creating... nothing really. That's really strange for me. I usually make lots of things for Christmas. I am going... just regular taxi service for the family. I am reading... I am reading  The Gift of Christmas Present by Melody Carlson. Click for more information about Carlson's Christmas novellas. I am hoping...  to find peace and joy this Christmas season. It must ...

Dear Readers, I've had to let go of a lot of my expectations for what I want Christmas to look like this year. It will be a much better month for everyone if I don't fret over it and just accept it. ~smile~ I made my big old  Christmas Bucket List , but I already know I won't do even half of it. It's okay. It was fun to make the list.  Part of growing older is accepting the changes in the way we celebrate. Perhaps the kids aren't little anymore, or someone moves away, someone is is ill , or a job is lost , or you're living in a hotel over Christmas because the sellers won't move out of the house you bought! Yep, that happened to us with a baby, two toddlers, and a ten year old. Fun Christmas that was, watching the Food Network and Home and Garden channel and not being able to bake a single cookie or decorate a tree.  It was also the year that I started new traditions that have become precious to my younger kids who are now teens. It was ...

Write my Christmas bucket list Sing Christmas carols Put up the tree Decorate the house Put lights on the house Talk to strangers Make candy cane cocoa Smile and spread good cheer Curl up with a terrific book Drink hot apple cider Tree decorating party with my husband and kids Drink eggnog Make chili Try a new soup Invite friends for soup and bread Make new Christmas decorations Go to Journey to Bethlehem Shop CBD Online Shop Amazon Online Bake Gingerbread Cookies Christmas baking Watch my daughters in church play Gaze into the fire of a candle Attend a Christmas Concert Make cocoa Bake Christmas cookies with my kids  Read Christmas books aloud Wrap Christmas gifts Listen to Christmas music Watch Christmas movies Sing Christmas carols as I shop Read Christmas books Burn cinnamony fragrant holiday candles Read by candle light and tree light Christmas shopping Christmas gathering with my CHEC moms Watch more Christmas movies Pajama Run ...