favorite link friday

I missed last week and didn't even think about it. Probably all the Thanksgiving turkey.

Christmas is upon us. That means craft time and baking time. Here's some links for ideas.

*Wintery mobile from the $ tree - I'm doing this one for sure

*I love how cute this Christmas countdown is. So creative.

*Cute cookie labels for all those Christmas cookies.

*Bento boxes are all the rage. If only I had enough spare time to whip this up.

*If you are adventurous to make your own gingerbread house - go for it ladies!

*I'm a sucker for all foods Asian. This looks great. I think I'll have to try it with peanut sauce.

Enjoy the weekend! Maybe some will get snow!

2nd Annual Wreath Making

Last year my life-long girlfriends got together to make wreath's at my parents farm. We all grew up in Puyallup (just south of Seattle) and our parents still live in town. Seems to be that Thanksgiving is the time we can all rally together for a day or two.

This year we had even more fun with more kids. There were treats, tractor rides, feeding the cows, pumpkin tossing, and a big warm fire.

The beautiful mountain in the background makes this day even better

then and now

When Dave and I had our first Christmas I was all about making our house look picture perfect. My parents brought us a beautiful tree. In fact, it was so beautiful, you couldn't even touch it. It was a Colorado Blue Spruce. Great color. VERY prickly needles. My hands were near bleeding by the time I finished putting the lights on.

The colors had to be matching and everything had to have just the right balance. My mom joked often about how it looked like a department store tree.

This year, 7 years later, the tree doesn't look as picture perfect. I had 4 tiny hands help me decorate and I was less worried about the look and more worried about my ornaments making it from the box to the tree without breaking.

But it's beautiful. I love the ornaments we have collected over the years. The blueberry fairy, the snowbabies that the girls now call snow fairies. The white polar bears and the crystal snowflakes. I picture many more ornaments to come, some homemade and some bought.

I don't miss my perfectly matched tree one bit.

thankfulness

The last week or so I've been giving thanks each to the Lord for all he has provided for our family. Here's my top 5:

1. 30 little fingers and 30 toes with smiles and giggles and kisses and hugs

2. For a roof over our head and warm room to sit, when the rain outside is pouring down

3. A husband that loves and a seeks to serve me and love me the way God designed it to be.

4. A mother and father who are helpful, loving, and able to help in any way possible

5. For plenty to share with those that have less. For full cupboards and tanks of gas.

God is so good and I'm thankful that I am saved by His grace.

Happy Thanksgiving to so many of you who make my life sweeter and richer just by being my friend. Many blessings to you all.

recipe time

I've been cooking more these days. Planning has been the key to my sanity. And I've also started cooking again for the family I was cooking for previously. So I need to make sure the meals work with both families. This is one I've made a few times and the kids tend to like too. It's a good one dish, quick meal. It's from Healthy Cooking by Taste of Home (my favorite mag).

Nacho Beef Bake

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef (90% lean) - We use ground Turkey
  
• 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 envelope reduced-sodium taco seasoning
• 2 tubes (8 ounces each) refrigerated reduced-fat crescent rolls
• 1 cup (8 ounces) reduced-fat sour cream
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
• 4 ounces baked nacho tortilla chips (about 2 cups), crushed
• 3 cups shredded lettuce
• 3 medium tomatoes, chopped

Directions

• In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the beans, water and taco seasoning; mash slightly. Cook and stir for 4-5 minutes or until heated through; set aside.
• Unroll crescent dough and press onto the bottom and up the sides of a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray; seal seams and perforations. Spoon beef mixture over dough. Spread sour cream over beef mixture; sprinkle with cheese and chips.
• Bake, uncovered, at 375° for 18-22 minutes or until cheese is melted. Top with lettuce and tomatoes. Serve immediately. Yield: 12 servings.

Enjoy!

Favorite Link Friday

These are the things I'm searching for this week:

*fellow moms who experience the same thing, including bribery.

*cute Christmas crafts - that I may or may not do.

*helpful to-do lists

*honey beer bread - easy and delicious.

*chocolate banana bread - this looks delicious too

have a great weekend!

princess thoughts

Being the mom of two girls, it's hard to avoid the princess stuff. At first, when I just had Eloise, I almost insisted that she avoid princess anything. Why such the aversion? Two reasons:

1. Pink. It's alot of pink. Guess what color my girls love--pink and purple. Eloise takes pink, Lily takes purple. I just didn't like pink. Now my life is filled, overflowing, in fact, with pink.

2. the story line of most princess movies. I have a strong reaction to the 'follow your heart for the one true love' story line. When this involves disobeying your parents, I'm definitely not down with that. But I just don't want my girls to grow up thinking that finding that 'one true love' is the be all, end all. I love my husband very much, but he's not number one to me, the Lord is.

With the two above reasons, I threw out a bit of the baby with the bathwater. One thing that little girls love is character's that have a special abilities. It's the fascination with things we can't do. Fly, swim underwater as a human, and twirl with a big dress in a beautiful castle (mama is the princess on the wall in our house in my wedding dress).

Eloise and Lily love Tinkerbell and have mentioned a time or two wanting to watch the movie. We have yet to delve into full length movies, besides Jonah, and I was a little hesitant. I'd never seen Tinkerbell and didnt' know much about the story line. Finally, after much deliberation we decided to rent the first Tinkerbell. And the weird part is, I felt a bit guilty. But I felt guilty b/c I had other people's standards running through my head and had yet to figure out my own.

(cheesy mom moment here) I can honestly say that it was the cutest thing ever to watch the two girls see Tinkerbell for the first time. It was like they were seeing magic come to life right before their eyes. It was heartwarming a bit to see the excitement in their eyes. To see a little bit of their imagination come to life (see I told you, it was cheesy).

So I know there are many varying opinions on watching movies, especially amongst Christian culture, but I've got to tell you, it was super fun and I'm really trying to put aside other people's standards on this one. Each family chooses what is right for them.

Do I love pink? Not really. Do I love princess culture? Not so much. But for my girls, they love the beauty and mystery of it all and if that is all there is to it for them, then I love it. I'll evaluate each movie as it comes.

I'm pretty sure if I had boys first I'd be talking about swords and guns, but since I have girls first, Sam is stuck with the pink. He sure looks entertained here. (not the best pic - something's going on with my camera)