Emmanuel, God With Us

 

Thank you LORD for being God with Us.

Praise you Jesus!

Happy Christmas everyone.

God bless you as you seek Jesus.

Laura

Don't Blow Your Budget!

Banana bread from my oven

Many of us are called upon to give small gifts in exchanges at the office, with friends, at a club or party... the list goes on and on. Many of these gifts are supposed to be $5 or $10.

Why not shop in the comfort of your home—from your home? Go on a treasure hunt. We all have things that are nice that we don't really use. These would make a perfect gift to help round out your shopping list. Don't be shy about it, either. This year thrifty is in!

You're not a grinch if you are blessing from your stash. My stash includes things bought on sale through the year, yard and thrift store finds, and things that I've made. I also love to give gifts from the kitchen.

One of my friends, Joyce, often says, "Do with what you got."

Blessings to you all!

Laura

Keeping Jesus as the Center of my Season

Shared at The Homemaking Party

I've Been Doing This for 16 Years!

   I cannot believe it. It's been sixteen years since I wrote my first blog post. When I started, I had four children at home. Now, they're grown, they've flown the nest, and my Amy has added a husband and son to our little family. Much has changed, but I still love my husband, Lowell, my savior Jesus Christ, my family, and life in our little town. Just for fun, I'm including a copy of my first post dated December 13, 2007. 

Dear Reader,

I’m so happy to spend a few moments with you as this old year is preparing to change to the new.  Change can be an uncomfortable thing, but it’s often a good thing.  I love the assurance of knowing that GOD works all things together for those who love HIM who are called acording to HIS purpose.

This blog is one of those changes for me.  I’ve read blogs for years, but I’ve never had the courage to write myself.  Well, I plan to change that with the LORD’s help.  I hope you’ll visit me often as I build my little blog home.  I have many interests, as I’m sure you do:  Christian living, frugal living, cooking, writing, raising children, discipline-theirs and mine, loving my husband, caring for my home, scrapbooking, sewing.  Oh, the list goes on and on.  Won’t you join me as I begin my blogging journey?

Happy at Home,

Laura

Regarding Santa Claus...

 

What do you call people who are afraid of Santa Claus?

 Claustrophobic.

A Small Town Christmas Parade

Hello everyone!

Happy Christmas to you!

Last evening, I made a quick supper of salmon patties and creamed peas. Then my Lowell and I headed downtown to enjoy the lighting of the mayor's Christmas tree and the annual Carthage Christmas Parade. Thousands of twinkly lights adorned the square, and lots of happy people turned out for this fun event.

We found a parking spot just off the square. It was perfect. We were able to stand by our car and watch the parade go by just feet away from us. We were even able to exchange Christmas greetings with many people in the parade as they passed by. 

So often, during the Maple Leaf Parade, we find ourselves sitting in a spot where the band marches by in between songs. Last night, they were playing Christmas tunes as they cheerfully marched by us.

I think my husband's favorite part was watching the old cars go by. There were some real beauties. 

My husband drove an old Nomad station wagon when we were first dating. It was nothing like this one! 

What Christmas parade is complete without a Santa? Unfortunately, we missed the one at the end of the parade... I'm not sure how. This one shall suffice. 

I think that this float was the cutest of all. I remember that my kids loved to sing Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer to their Grandma Judy when they were little. She got so tickled, and they loved it. I took pics of the display, but they were blurry. ~sigh~ 

I don't even know what this one was supposed to be, but the sheer number of lights was dazzling. 

The best display was done by Carthage Water and Electric Plant. They had two electric poles mounted at opposite ends of the float. There were electricians hanging on the poles like they were fixing the electricity! If you look closely, you can see the poles at the back of the float.

It's always a bit of a challenge getting off the square after events.

 We took side streets and passed Sparkle in the Park. One of these evenings, we'll go walk through. I've heard it's a whole different experience when you're immersed in the lights. 

It's now Tuesday morning. I'm off work today, and I've dedicated this day to Kringling. That will include:

• This blog post
• Baking cookies
• Christmas cross-stitch
• Sewing
• Hand quilting
• Writing at least one Christmas card
• A Christmas crafternoon with my Amy 

So, I'm off to heat up my drink and start those cookies. I'll make chocolate chip pecan this time. I was given a big bag of milk chocolate chips. I used some last week and was surprised at how delicious they are. 

Enjoy the day ladies!

Laura

Happy to Kringle

Cozy, Snowy, Warm and Muffins

Photo by Simon Schoepf on Unsplash

"They were cosy and comfortable in their little house made of logs, with the snow drifted around it and the wind crying because it could not get in by the fire."

Laura Ingalls Wilder

   We've had our share of cold days and nights here at the cottage the last few weeks. We're staying warm with blankets, space heaters, hot drinks and warm robes. 

   

   My husband slept late this morning. We're going to watch church online this morning since we were up rather late with grandbaby last night. Momma and daddy went to dinner then a walk through Bethlehem event. When Lowell came in, I said, "I'm going to finish this blog post and then...." Lowell heard "muffin". We both had a good laugh. Then we laughed and said I should write about "muffin". So, here we go! Just for fun! 5 minutes writing about "muffin".

   Go!

   We've eaten a lot of muffins in over the years. The first muffins that I had were Jiffy blueberry muffins. They came in a box and made 6 small muffins. As kids, my little brother and I thought that they were the cat's meow!

   When I grew up, we went through a stage where we were trying a low fat diet. That was the thing in the nineties. I've lived long enough now to know that there is always a thing. I tried making some bran muffins that had everything in them that was healthy and not so much that was yummy. Um... pass!

   When the kids were little, I found a recipe in my old Betty Crocker cookbook for French Puffs. They were a plain muffin, rolled in melted butter then rolled in cinnamon and sugar. Oh yum! We still enjoy those. 

   The best muffins were those we served at our restaurant years ago. Miss Peggy came in just to make fresh muffins for us. They were big, full of flavor, and oh so good!

Stop

   Well, that was actually fun! I may have to do something like that again soon. Stream of conscience is a great way to get the writing gears moving. 

   Well, I finished the big gift part of my Christmas shopping online this morning. I don't really like to go our shopping anymore, so I asked Amazon for help. They were so glad to oblige!

   I may pick up a few more little things. We'll see. Tomorrow, I turn to sewing gifts. I'll be back to visit with you soon. 

  Won't you say hello? I've missed our time writing to each other. 

   Be blessed, 

   Laura 

P.S. I found the recipe for French Puffs online at the Betty Crocker site.