Some House Pictures and a Yummy Recipe

 Happy Wednesday Friends! And Happy Day-after-the-election day! Praise God for putting President Trump back in the Whitehouse! As Christians we must remember that those who mock God will not prosper. God will not be mocked. For those who feel differently, I understand your disappointment, but believe it or not, I want the best for you. 

Now, moving on...

This week I took some pictures of our new home. I'm just now getting more pictures hung around the rooms, but here are a few shots of what I have so far.

First, I snapped a shot of the rain and sun coexisting. And I thought about life and how we can experience something beautiful and at the same time, struggle with something not so sun shiny. 

Here's my kitchen. Plenty of counter and cabinet space, for which I am SOOOO grateful! I was existing off of a tiny kitchen in the lake house, so this is such a great space for our family.  

My DIL's and I were talking last night about having things out on the counter vs. having things put away. Everyone has their preference. As you can see, I'm on the "leave it out" team 😅

This little island is a work in progress. It serves great as a dessert bar on family dinner night. I have all of my paper goods and the kid's sippy cups stocked underneath. It's great to have this extra counter and cabinet space. 

The lighting is not great in some of these pictures, but the walls are pure white. Nice and clean. 

I love this little corner. This has become the kid's table on family dinner night. It's working out great, having the extra seating. I actually collect these enamel top tables. This is my 3rd one. The other two are in my office. 

I call this area "the library." I love to sit here and read. You can see my stack of library books on the corner of the book shelf there. 

I'm enjoying decorating my mantel too. 

Through those double doors is the family room. It's still a work in progress, but pictures will be coming soon!

For family dinner last night we had Frito chicken Casserole, which was delicious! I served it with a side of pinto beans, guacamole, salsa and taco sauce. For dessert Morgan made some amazing cookies and of course, I had ice cream in the freezer. 

Before going in the oven. 

I forgot to take one after baking, but trust me...

it was so yummy!

Well, there's the partial house tour. There's a lot of work going on in the guest room and I'm waiting on curtains for the family room. These things take time and money, so sometimes it's a slow go, if you know what I mean. 😀💰

Today we have the appraisal on the house we are selling. I hope that means the closing is coming soon! One can only hope. 

I hope you're having a wonderful week! Can you believe there's another hurricane out there? Thankfully it's not coming here!

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Some Foggy Mornings and It Looks Like Rain

 Happy Wednesday, Friends! 

We've been waking up to some foggy mornings, here in Texas. On Monday there was a slight breeze and the leaves were falling over the yard. 🍁🍂 I wanted to catch a video of the leaves as they were coming down, but I had a little visitor coming that morning, so I left it for another day. But I did manage a few foggy pictures of the front yard and driveway. 

I am one of those strange people who love the leaves to cover the yard. It just speaks of Fall to me and I want to appreciate the season of leaves. My husband is just the opposite. He tells me that the leaves need to be raked, to which I say absolutely not! Where's the fun in that? How can you crunch leaves under your feet and see all the pretty colors, if you're too busy shoveling them into a garbage bag? Let nature do it's thing. 🍁🍂☔☔

In other news...we had Family Dinner last night. I made a huge taco spread and I may have gone overboard, but the kids all raved and said it was so nice, and that's all that matters. I had crispy taco shells, flour tortillas, cheese dip, taco meat, tomatoes, lettuce, chips, salsa, mexican corn, sautéed onions, grated cheese, sour cream and Alex made some "green sauce", which is my favorite. 

For dessert I had individual ice cream cups, some chocolate chip cookies and some mini chocolate chips to go on the ice cream. That was a hit too. Some little sugar babies wanted a 2nd cup of ice cream, but we tried to distract them with toys and games and they finally gave up. 😅

Today I'm returning some books to the library and choosing a few more to bring home. I love my trips to the library. It's nice to bring home at least 3 or 4 books, just in case I open one and can't really get into it. I know I have more to choose from. 

I have some regular chores to do, such as laundry, vacuuming, washing towels and emptying the dishwasher. I will probably continue with packing up clothes that need to be donated. I plan on making the donations next week. 

Yesterday I had a few phone calls that perked me up. One was to my mom and another to a friend who has moved away. I'm always so blessed when I can share my heart and have my fears and worries calmed by friends and family. I also had a nice text with one of my sisters. It reminds me of how important it is to reach out and just talk to those you're close to. Even just voicing things outloud can do wonders for your soul and put your mind at ease. 

Well...I'm off to eat some breakfast and get ready for my day. I think we're getting rain for the first time in at least a month, so I'll dress comfortably and ready to be out and about, in case water starts falling from the sky. ☔☔☔ One can only hope.

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

How Was Your Weekend? - Surrounded by Girls

Happy Monday, Friends!

How was your weekend? 

Saturday we celebrated with our kids, with a little baby "sprinkle." Just some close family and friends, blessing them with diapers and wipes, as they get ready for baby number FIVE! They are having their 4th girl (Calem is the only boy). As you can see, we have a good combination of brunette, strawberry blond and blondie, so I'm curious to meet the newest baby - Eden - and see who she looks like. All the girls look so different and yet, have the same smile 😀

Ella (7), Alex, Addie (5), Me, Emmy (9)

(Calem - not seen - (2)

 

Here's my other DIL - Morgan (Asa's mommy), Ella, Alex, Me, Emmy

Morgan is due just a month after Alex, so we will be welcoming two new babies very soon, just in the heart of the holidays!

I can't think of a more festive time 😀

This was the majority of our day on Saturday - setting up and cleaning up.

After that I came home and did a few loads of laundry and took it easy the rest of the afternoon. 

On Sunday, as much as we wanted to go to church,

David wasn't feeling 100%, so we watched it online instead.

I was ok with that too, because I think being sick all week had left 

me with not a lot of energy. I guess steroids and antibiotics will do that to you.

I did perk up as the day went on and was able to pack some of my MIL's things away.

Now that she is in a nursing home, she will be limited on what she can have in her room.

This means that it's finally time to clean and purge her things, which we've moved so many times over the years.

I am reserving some change of season clothes for her, but otherwise,

her clothing has to be donated. She was a collector of clothes and had every single drawer

full of clothing, not to mention, her closet was wall-to-wall clothes. 

She could probably have gone 6 months without ever wearing the same outfit!

This will take me the rest of the week and then we will make the donations and safely store her sentimental items in the garage. 

On to today...

Today I am having Asa over while his mommy goes to the dentist.

I'm sure my morning will be filled with Thomas the Tank Engine, goldfish, apples,

toys, and hopefully some snuggles in the big, cozy chair. 

Asa is a runner and an explorer. 

Everything is fascinating to him,

so this Millie will be busy trying to keep up.

We might take a walk outside to crunch on some leaves that have fallen.

🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂

The rest of this week I think I will try and hang some more pictures.

I love my house to be full and colorful, with so many fun things

to look at. Well, since we moved in, we haven't really had time to put things on the walls

and make the house feel as cozy as I like.

So hopefully that can happen over the next week

and this house will really start to feel like home. 

🏡

I will attempt to take more pictures this week and get back to 

sharing my home on the blog.

I miss it.

😀

Here's wishing you all an amazing week!

May you feel God's presence and his peace upon you

each and every day. 

It's priceless.

Until Next Time...

Blessings! 

An Honest Post About Slowing Down

 

SLOW DOWN

Over the past week, slowing down has been forced upon our household and truthfully, we needed it desperately.

Not only did I get sick, but last week my husband was given some health news that rattled us, to say the least.

All of this was brought on by extreme stress in our lives and I'm here to say, it wasn't worth it. 

In the past few months we've worked endlessly moving to a new house, moving his mom (again), first to a hospital, nursing home, here for only 2 days, back to a hospital and now she's in her long-term care home and all while taking care of a full time job, family, and all the normal life things that come up. 

What it resulted in was my husband being barely able to walk and me breaking out in hives, due to stress.

We've been at home together this week and though it hasn't been a vacation, by any means, it has been a great wake-up call for both of us. 

We need to slow down.

For years now, my husband has had a very stressful job. Much of this is due to his own personality, which is that he works with extreme excellence and basically kills himself doing it. As a result, the stress has finally caught up with his body. 

I've been telling him for years (so have the kids), that he needs to slow down, relax, find the joy in his daily work and not push himself so hard. But you know how those conversations go...agreement and then back to the daily grind.

Well, sometimes I think the Lord says "Enough!" and does the slowing down for us. Such is the time we're currently in now. 

SLOW DOWN

Over the years, I've compared our lives to others, but not in the way of envy over things, stuff, or vacations. It's been more of a realization when looking around, that other people have more fun than we do. We tend to mostly work.

We've always bought houses that were in need of fixing up. Why? Well, we used to like that sort of thing, but what it amounted to was working all week, only to have to work on the house over the weekends.

As my husband's job got more stressful, he didn't even have the physical energy to work around the house anymore, but that also left little energy for play time either.

What I've realized over the years is that we don't really play in life anymore. We don't travel, we don't have friends over the way we used to, we don't really have outside hobbies anymore and that is not ok.

None of that is ok.

There was recently an article in Reader's Digest that talks about why hobbies are so powerful in our lives and I wholeheartedly agree.  Hobbies give your mind a break. They give you joy and let your creativity come out, which is extremely healthy for your brain. Hobbies and creative endeavors are vital to mental health. 

So is connection with other people. 

A friend and I were talking at church one day about this season of life we're in and how we don't visit like we used to. When we were younger, we all got together several times a month and just shared a meal in our homes, with all the kids running around like crazy. Those were special times and hold dear memories.

Now we all seem too busy to get together and yet, we both expressed how lonely that feels. The irony.

SLOW DOWN

David and I have had a lot of time to talk this week about slowing down and how it's going to make a difference, from here on out. We've got to do it.

No job is worth your health. It's just not. 

Working with excellence can still be done, but with healthy boundaries set in place to protect your body, mind and soul. 

Connecting with friends is a must too. We need to get back to relaxing enough to enjoy the people in our lives. 

And doing more fun things together. Whether he goes outside and works on his old jeep (total hobby) or we take a weekend trip to see family or go antiquing or just get away for the day. 

When did we stop doing those things and why? Was it worth it? 

I can tell you...no...it wasn't. 

I felt like sharing this today because I know we can't be the only ones grinding away at life. I know there are those out there who work hard and don't play anymore. And I want more for all of you!

I think they call stress "the silent killer" (or maybe that's something else, but you get the idea). Stress is one of those things that will slowly chip away at your health, until it's no longer hiding, but right in your face, screaming at you. 

Well, we hear you! And we're heeding the call to slow down.

Life perspective changes as you get older. The really important things tend to become more clear and the frivolous things you used to think were important, become all the more clearer too. 

That's where we are. And I'm giving thanks for God reminding us of what's worth tending to.

Thanks for listening.

Until Next Time...

Blessings! 

A Little Post About Gift Giving

Good Morning Friends!

I thought I should come on today and redeem this space from my sad birthday report a few days ago. The good news is that I'm feeling much better. The other news is that I still look like I have hives. But, I'm on the mend and that's what counts.

However, in other birthday news, I wanted to share some thoughts on gifts that I received and what a blessing they have been this week. 

I've learned, as I've gotten older, that when someone asks what I want for my birthday, I would rather tell them what I want, instead of having them waste their money on something random. This works out for everyone. I also prefer to ask my kids what they want, because then I know I am truly blessing them with something they might not buy for themselves. 

So this year, when my kids asked what I wanted for my birthday, I told them I really wanted a subscription to my favorite magazine...Daphne's Diary. 

Every so often I go to the book store and look for the latest issue, but you just never know if you will find it. Sometimes the store has plenty, and sometimes the store is late on getting the next issue on the shelf. 

The subscriptions are expensive, due to the content of this magazine, so I've never bothered buying a full year's worth. But if the kids wanted to go in halves on my gift, it would be the perfect gift and very affordable.

Last week, when we had family dinner, we celebrated and they gave me exactly what I wanted - money to pay for the subscription. What a great idea! 😉

The next day, I wasted no time before getting online and ordering the magazine. However, as I was looking around, I realized that the back issues were about half the price of the upcoming issues and that I could buy all the 2024 issues I had missed, for the same price as the next year's subscription and they would all come at the same time. Plus, I had enough money to include one of her fun activity books too. 

So that's what I did and was pleasantly surprised when they came in the mail this week!

Now I have a year's worth of magazines to read and work through (they are full of activities and crafts) and I don't have to go looking for them at the book store. 

This turned out to be one of the most fun gifts I've received!

Likewise, when my mom asked what I wanted, I told her about a puzzle I had saved on my Amazon Wish List and a few days later, it arrived in the mail. Thanks mom!

Find Puzzle HERE

I know some may think this kind of gift giving spoils the element of surprise, but I think it's a win-win for the gift giver and the recipient. 

Have you ever bought something for someone (after agonizing over the entire thought process) and watched as they tried to pretend they liked it? 😅 It's painful for everyone!

If someone is taking the time to ask for ideas, give them a few honest answers and let them choose. This makes gift giving fun, instead of a dreaded task of guessing. You're still surprised when you open your gift and see the thing you've been wanting. In fact, it's so much more fun to see something familiar, than something random. Or at least those are my thoughts.

How do you feel about asking people for ideas? Do you do this or would you rather just do your own thing and hope it turns out to be something they like? (I'm kind of scared to hear your answers 😅)

Well, that's all for today, friends. 

I hope you're having a blessed week, so far. Mine is getting better and better and for that, I am so thankful. 

Until Next Time...

Blessings! 

Some Blog Changes and My Not-So-Fun Birthday

 

Good Monday morning everyone!

Well, I wish I could say that I had a wonderful weekend, but that would be a lie, so I might as well tell the truth. 

Yesterday was my birthday and instead of spending it celebrating, I spent the day going to the emergency room because I was (am still) covered in hives, from head to toe. Apparently I have a strep rash (accompanied by tonsil yuck😷), and $500 later, I'm home. Steroid shot, pills, antibiotic and lots of Calamine lotion!

Not exactly my idea of a good time. 

Nevertheless, I had my birthday and today's another day. Hopefully all the meds will kick in and it will be smooth sailing from this day forward. 

Since we've moved, I just haven't been feeling my blog title anymore. We no longer live in a cozy little cottage on the lake, so the name just doesn't fit. However, what does fit is that I have an extraordinary life (thank you, Jesus), a beautiful family to share my life with and I needed a title that expresses just that.

It's an ordinary life, but because of all the blessings, it's also EXTRA ordinary. 

So for today's post, I'll share this little story with you...

Find it HERE

I wish you all a great Monday!

Until Next Time...

Blessings! 

Wednesday Hodgepodge

Good morning everyone!

This morning I thought it would be fun to participate in the Wednesday Hodgepodge link-up. You can find it HERE.

1. How did you meet your significant other? If you don't have a significant other, tell us how you met your best friend. 

My husband and I met during a hurricane. He was a news photographer and I was working in a hotel on the coast. Our hotel was one of the few hotels open during the storm, so we were housing all the visiting news teams. When he passed by the gift shop, where I worked, he made a lame excuse of needing to buy something and we stood around and talked for hours. Afterwards he asked me out for a drink, to which I said "Yes, but I'm driving so I can push you out of the car if you're a weirdo." And we've been together ever since. 

2. It's Department Store Day (October 16)...do you still shop in department stores? If not do you miss that kind of shopping experience? Do you have a favorite department store? Any fun memories of department store shopping when you were a child? 

I miss shopping in classy department stores. I grew up shopping in Sears, Montgomery Wards, JC Penny's, Foleys, and Joske's.  We would go to downtown San Antonio and see Joske's decorated lavishly for Christmas. It was just like in the movies. Everything had class back then. When I was a senior in high school, I worked at Foleys in the monogramming department, where you could buy a polo shirt and have it monogrammed right then and there. I also worked in the stationary department, where people came to order wedding invitations. 

3. Something you're currently nuts about? 

Something I'm currently nuts about has now ended...it was rewatching the series Gilmore Girls. I have finished the series now and will have to revert back to Dancing with the Stars for my lunchtime entertainment. 

4. What's your favorite nut and is there a favorite recipe where this nut is used? 

My favorite nut would have to be pecans. I was raised on pecans (hello South) and there's nothing like a homemade piece of Pecan Pie. 

5. On Wednesday we officially reach the '70 days until Christmas' mark. Have you purchased any gifts? If you don't celebrate Christmas then how about Hanukkah presents? 

I am an "after Thanksgiving" shopper for Christmas. If I shop any earlier than that, I will totally forget what I've bought. I like to savor Christmas during the actual season. Starting too early just makes you sick of it by the time it really comes around. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

Gee, I have so many random thoughts! Every day I think about things I would love to tell the world, but then I would sound like I'm always telling everyone what I think and who wants that?

However, recently here are some random thoughts I've had:

1. Yoga pants aren't pants. They are basically like having your body painted and thinking you have clothes on.

2. When you go to Walmart and they have 50 checkout lines, but only 2 cashiers working. Yet, you look around, as you're standing in line, and there are other employees just standing around, over by the self-checkout, and other random places, and you're wondering if they see the long lines of people waiting to be checked out by 2 cashiers. So you finally move to the self-checkout and it takes you a while because you have a basket full, and I'm wondering why I'm not getting paid to do their job, while they are being paid to stand around. Things that make you go hmmmmm. 

Well, this was fun! I'll be linking up with From This Side of The Pond for this one.

Thanks for stopping by!

Until Next Time...

Blessings! 

Getting Used to the New House

 

Pioneer Woman's "Monster Cookies"

Happy Tuesday, Friends!

It's week 3 in our new home and the first week that feels somewhat normal. I've been learning to cook with the oven, which seems to be a convection oven. Everything cooks in record time and gets brown very quickly. If I master this situation, I think I will appreciate it in the long run. The first few times I used it, things came out very well done, and that's not always a good thing. 😅

The decorating is coming along. We've hung quite a few things on the walls and the furniture is all in place. The only room that's incomplete is the big family room, which needs a piece of furniture, but I'm not sure what. I think it will take me a while to get that room done. 

In the meantime, we are in the process of selling our little lake cottage, so more house business to be done yet. 

On the mother-in-law moving in situation, it's been a disaster. Just being honest. We had to take her to another facility where she could get some intense physical therapy, in hopes she can learn to stand up and walk again. She was walking and taking care of herself before going into the hospital in July. She will (at some point) be going into a nursing home full time. There is a lot more to the story of her two-day stay here, but nothing I feel like sharing, so I'll just leave it at that. 

On the upside...we are having our first Family Dinner in this house tonight! We are also celebrating my birthday, which is on the 20th, and Calem's 2nd birthday, which was this past Sunday. Alex is cooking and all I've had to do is supply the drinks and paper goods. That's my kind of dinner 😀

Today I'm heading out to see if I can find a Blue's Clues balloon for the birthday boy and maybe slip into a little boutique along the way. My wardrobe is in serious trouble these days! I'm down to t-shirts and jeans, with a few nice blouses, but not many. David and I are sharing a closet these days, which is good! It helps keep shopping in check. 

As you pray this week, please keep us in your prayers. We have several things going on that we need help with - David is having some walking issues, due to his back being in bad shape. We need some miracles getting his mom to the right place and need to sell our other house quickly, so we're not paying two house notes. (Our neighbors are actually buying it, but we need it to move along quickly). 

If you do pray for us...thank you from the bottom of my heart 💛 It makes all the difference. 

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Welcome Home

My new backyard 🌳

Happy October, Friends!

I don't know about you, but I'm glad for a brand new month, with the possibilities of cooler weather and the promise of holidays around the corner. 

As you might have noticed, I made a few changes to my blog title, as well as the layout for now. Not sure if it will stick, but I'll try it for a few minutes and see how I like it.

In the meantime, David and I are still in the process of moving stuff over from the lake cottage to the new house. Thank goodness it's literally just down the road! We're exhausted! I honestly never want to move again. 

However, from the first night we slept here, we felt like this was meant to be our house all along. That's a great feeling!

A cozy little spot by the fireplace and bookshelf. 

The fireplace won't be used, but it's still a cozy spot. 

 

We still have lots of little things and half a storage shed to empty, so hopefully that will happen this weekend. We're also in the middle of real life, which means work must go on, grand babies, moving David's mom into the house and all the chores of every day life. I'm hanging on for dear life and counting my blessings all at the same time. 😅

I have to share something that my son Ted said, as we were talking recently. We were talking about God's timing and how, when he gives you something, you have to trace all the steps, miles, hours, weeks, years, etc. back to where you are now. Then they make sense. You see, we lived in our little dream farmhouse for 13 years, but we left it behind in 2017, after Hurricane Harvey devastated our area. 

From 2017 until now, we have moved several times, never feeling settled, never feeling like we were in the right place...until we bought this house.

But as Ted so wisely pointed out, when I questioned why God couldn't have just moved us from the farmhouse to this house, instead of taking us around the world, mistake after mistake...this house wouldn't have been available back then. It wasn't available until the previous owners were gone and the house was put up for sale. And that made so much sense to me. 

God's timing is everything, because with his perfect timing, all the pieces start to fit together. That doesn't mean we don't still have questions or things we don't understand. It just means that he truly does work all things together for the good of those who love him. 💚 He's a good, good Father.

If you are questioning God's timing in your life right now, I encourage you to be patient. It's the hardest thing in the world and seems so cruel sometimes. But all of these trials build faith and when that missing piece of the puzzle is put in place, you can (and will) look back and see that God was taking care of everything for you, all along.

As I close out this post for today, I pray that you know Him and that you feel his presence in your life. There's truly nothing like living with Jesus as your savior. Truly nothing. 

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Blogging Break

 

Hello Friends!

I'm taking a blogging break for a bit. I will still be checking in with all of my favorite blogging friends, so I'm not disappearing, just focusing on other things right now. 

Have a wonderful weekend and hopefully I'll see you soon!

Until Next Time...

Blessings!

Catching Up and Lots of Family Time

Good Tuesday Morning, Friends!

Last week David was off for a few days and we spent those days moving the rest of his mom's belongings out of her apartment and into our storage building. On Thursday David and I did get away for a bit, about an hour or so down the road, to a town called Kemah. We indulged ourselves in a full lunch, complete with an appetizer, salad, main dish and dessert, just so we could sit and enjoy being away for a few hours. It was really nice. 

After that, it was back to work, moving, visiting with his mom, keeping Asa while Collin helped David move things and doing all the normal daily things around the house.

Saturday Collin, Morgan and Asa came back over to hang out. I mean, when your DIL calls and says they want to come hang out, you never say no to that! It's always fun conversation and built-in entertainment with Asa running around. 

Sunday they came back over for lunch and we had a lazy day drinking coffee, talking and just enjoying a  day at home.  I made chicken fried steak, rice and gravy and green beans. It was so yummy!

I snapped these silly pictures of Morgan and Collin. They are the mini-version of David and I, which makes us laugh all the time. 

I love getting to hang out with my big kids! I don't take it for granted, ever. 

In the meantime, our other kids are currently in Scotland. They spent last week in London and then moved on to Scotland. They are having such a great time. 

In this picture they are standing in front of Abbey Road Studios, the famous music studio where the Beatles and many other famous musicians recorded music. This was a dream for Ted to go to Abbey Road because he actually partners with them in his own business. He has been working with them for a few years now, but on this trip he actually got to meet the man he works with and the whole family was able to take a tour of the historic building, which is not open to the public. What a dream for Ted to be able to do that and have his family along too. 

They will be coming home at the end of this week and boy, have we missed them!

As for the new house news...we were waiting on the appraisal, hoping it would be favorable and it came back yesterday and it was great! We are so excited! I will continue to update you on that, as it moves forward.

Today Morgan and I are having a girl's day out and I expect a pedicure, some lunch and who knows what else is on the schedule. I'm looking forward to a fun day. 

For the rest of the week, I think I'll start packing a few things in boxes. I'm getting excited! Moving is a pain, but the setting up of a new house is always enjoyable. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week and hopefully I'll be back soon!

Until Next Time...

Blessings!