Humor for a Woman's Heart Book Review

I finished book number 3 of my 5 book goal and it was good.  One of the reasons I liked this "easy" read is because it was a series of short stories/essays by various writers.  I enjoyed reading one or two entries before bed each night.  Many were humorous and a few were heart warming but they were all good.  I would recommend this book - especially if you don't have time to read a whole novel!!  Keep it on your desk at work, your nightstand, or the back of the toilet (yep, I came from one of THOSE families!) for a short read. 

I also thought I would add What I'm reading now to this post.  I love to read . . .L O V E to read.  I take 15 minutes out after the kids go down for naps just so I can enjoy my love of reading.  Currently I am reading a series call The Elm Creek Quilters.  My mom introduced me to the set and they are, quite honestly, not my normal read.  It is a modern story about a group of women connected by a family history of one of the main characters and their love of Quilting. 

I have already read the first three books and am working on the next three (each set of three my mom had in one large book).  I would highly recommend this series of books to anyone.  I have a hard time putting them down.

Finally, I was looking for humorous pictures for this post and I must say, some, are disturbing but I saw this and thought it was too darn cute to pass up!

To think, that tiny thing grows up to be so big and ugly! LOL

Enjoy and don't forget to READ!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 11

Day 11 - Favorite TV Shows
This is an easy one, I'm just going to list them and you can judge me as you wish :-) These are in no particular order

1. Survivor
2. Biggest Loser
3. Amazing Race
4. NFL Football
5. Modern Family
6. 19 Kids and Counting
7. Diners, Dives and Drive-in's
8. Dancing with the stars
9. The Good Guys
10. Food Network Star
11. Design Star
12. Funniest Videos
13.The Middle

We use our DVR to its fullest, needless to say :-)  Than we can watch what we want, when we want to watch it! 

Check out more over at http://katieslifejourney.blogspot.com/

My Own Little Bag Project

Here's my latest craft project - this one is for Josh!

Josh needs his own little bag to carry some wipes and a diaper when he goes to the nursery or just somewhere 'by himself'.  Because he and Nate don't always go into the same nursery now, depending on what church we go to, I can't always use one diaper bag so this is perfect and he can carry it!

You will need: Stencils, Paint, Brush or sponge, buttons, and a bag - my mom gave me this one awhile ago and it was perfect for this task!

First, I used packing tape to mark my line placement as well as to hold the bag to the table.

I lined up the stencils and painted away.  I decided to use a big button for the "O" in Josh.

Sorry this is sideways but you get the idea :-)

And the final product - buttons for both "O"'s as well as two buttons by the handles.  Now, I don't have to worry about the bag getting lost - his name is very clearly identified!

I think I need to make another one for our library books . .. and maybe for church . . .and . . .so many ideas!!

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 10

Day 10 - Something you are afraid of
I am enjoying doing this 30 day blog challenge sponsored by Katies Journey.  It's fun coming up with some of this stuff and I'm enjoying reading what others post too!

So this post - something I'm afraid of . .simply, it is this.

Thunderstorms

and

Tornado's

and

Go Carts

Ok, the first two make sense.  I don't like the thunder and lightening - it freaks me out.  I've gotten better about his over the years as I no longer need to hide under the bed but I still don't like them.  And tornado's - yes, I am the one that when my county is under a warning I think I should be in the basement EVEN when the tornado is on the other end of my county and is not heading to me.  It just makes me so nervous!!!

But the last one is just dumb LOL  It isn't the Go Carts that I'm actually afraid of . . it is driving them.  I won't go on a Go kart course for anything even though my husband enjoys them.  Maybe if it was just family - my brothers, husband, nieces, nephews - I could do it but with strangers who might hit me?? Are you Crazy? LOL

Do I have bigger fears, sure, but I try to give those over to God as much as possible or they become worries more than fears.  :-)

Classic Peanut Butter Cookies

Don't these look good?  Well, mine look like this but this is a generic picture since I forgot to take one!  I haven't posted recipes lately because every one I tried lately has been bad!! YUCK!! So, here's a "classic" for you!

1 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon Vanilla

Cream together butter, peanut butter and sugars.  Beat in eggs.  In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Stir into batter.  Put batter in refrigerator for 1 hour. Roll into 1 inch balls and put on baking sheets.  Flatten each ball with a fork, making a criss-cross pattern.  Bake in a preheated 375 degrees oven for about 10 minutes or until cookies begin to brown.  Do not over bake.

This recipe make a TON of cookies!!  Also, I did not refrigerate mine for an hour (I actually didn't even know the recipe said that until I typed this up!) 

Enjoy :-)

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 9

Day 9 - A Picture of Your Friends

To think, this is the hardest one so far!  It isn't that I don't have friends but rather, that I don't have pictures!  So lets see what I can do :-)

Well, my best friend is this wonderful man - yes, my husband! :

Isn't this a cute picture?  It is from our recent visit to the Cider Mill.

 Another friend of mine is Aimee and yes, I think this is the only picture I have of her.  And too think, I take well over 2000 pictures a year!!

I don't have any current pictures of other friends but I do have them, friends that is! :-)  Several that I've had since high school and one, Kelly, who I have known since elementary school.  She used to come to my house to catch the bus!  I guess I need to work on getting some more pictures of my friends!

Remember to click here to read more!

Week 3- Making Your Home a Haven

These weeks challenge for Making Your Home a Haven is to clean up your clutter!  It is actually two-fold.  1) Clean up the Cutter in your home.  This is a project that I started in January.  I am not a pack rat nor do I consider myself a clutterbug but I found our home was being taken over by stuff.  Something, many things, we didn't notice or use.  So I, as I've talked about in other posts, began going room by room, closet by closet, shelf by shelf - asking myself  a) Do I love it b) Do I need it and c) Do I use it.  I have cleaned out tons and tons of stuff.  It not only cleaned out my house and helped me earn some money through a garage sale; it also taught me something about spending.  Be careful what you spend your money on because it will end up given away or sold some day.  It makes me stop and think before I pull out the money - before I buy something, I ask myself similar questions such as a) Where will I put it and what will it replace? b) Do I already have something like this? and so on.  Trust me, I still buy things - I just try to be a little more cautious.  Even with my latest crafting trend - I surprise myself sometimes by finding things to use up at home instead of buying something else.  Even though I have a good handle on clutter, in a small home, I find that I always have to be cleaning up those "hotspots" where stuff gets set down, like the dining room table!!

So the actual challenge is to list a few spots in your home that make you visually stressed because of the clutter; now figure out how to organize it or clean it. 

2) Clean out the clutter in your spiritual life.  This fall I joined an accountability group with 5 other woman across the country called Good Morning Girls (You can find more info here)  We "talk" once a day via our own little private blog and talk about what we are learning in our quiet time as well as prayer requests and just what's going on.  It's been a great thing.  For the first time in a long time, having a quiet time seems "normal" to me.   The challenge today is to rid yourself of spiritual clutter.  Take time to repent daily for your sins.  As I build my prayer time, this is something that I am also doing.  I have to start with me first and let God do the rest!

Check out more of this weeks challenge at http://www.womenlivingwell-courtney.blogspot.com/

So, my candle is burning and I'm praying for peace in my home.  I love to see and smell that candle and prayer is always a good thing, is it not? 

I hope you take up this challenge too; it really will make a difference in your heart and home.