Things I Love: The Side Dish that Saved Thanksgiving

It was a hard Thanksgiving.  There, I said it.

I mean everyone tells you the first year after the death of someone significant is rough and I'm hear to say, those folks aren't kidding.

Imagine this.  I'm in my sister's kitchen sautéing diced onion and celery in sausage drippings for stuffing and this memory hits me like a ton of bricks.  For nearly three decades I'd walk into the kitchen while my mom was making stuffing for Thanksgiving and I'd reach into the saute pan, pull out a piece of onion, celery, and browned sausage and pop the trio of yumminess into my mouth.  Mom would give that "mom" look, and keep right on sauteing.  When I'd try to re-commit the crime she'd lovingly bat my hand away with a bamboo spoon and say, "hey, hey, you get out of here!"  This thought, this memory, this realization that she'd never say or do that again--well, it nearly had me crying over my sister's stove (thank goodness I could blame the onions ...).

It's funny the memories we don't think twice about until they are all we have left.

Like I said, Thanksgiving was hard.  But there was something that made it a bit better.  Sweet potatoes. You probably thought I was going to say tequila. Wrong-O!  It wasn't alcohol that saved Thanksgiving; it was candied coconut sweet potatoes.  I turned my sister onto Our Best Bites about two years ago and she found this recipe.  Hallelujah!

Sweet potatoes. Coconut flakes.  Brown sugar.  Butter, butter, and more butter.  What more could you ask for?

Photo from Our Best Bites

Seriously.  So GOOD.  These are totally going to make an appearance at my house for Christmas.

What I Think About: Mom Guilt {gulp}

Prepare for a good laugh.

When I decided to stop working to stay at home with my children, I actually thought that I would, ahem, stay at home and the house would be clean and I'd craft all the time and read.

Bwahahahaha!

Turns out that "stay at home" doesn't actually translate into "tons of free time to read the books in your book stack while blogging and creating inventive dates and craft ideas."  In fact, "stay at home" is actually defined as: madness created by cleaning, gardening, errand running, nose wiping, diaper changing, oatmeal cleaning up, laundry folding, freezer meal making, play group planning, life group leading, should kids get vaccines or not? agonizing, and "I think that mom just judged me" musings.

I'm not saying women who work outside of the home aren't working hard.  What I'm saying is that I work twice as hard as a stay-at-home-mom than I did when I was teaching (I blame my Type-A personality).  I mean this job is 24 hours a day.  It's exhausting.  And I swear that dust bunnies and smudged stainless steel appliances never bothered me when I worked outside the home but if I have to look at it all day, there's gonna be problems.  But what's more overwhelming than trying to keep the house tidy after chasing a tornado two-year old through the house is the guilt I feel when I don't want to chase said two year old.  Or push him in the swing.  Or share the last cookie.

Confession time:

• Sometimes, I just want a break from my kids.  And I feel guilty for it.
• Sometimes, I just want to read a book (alone) and not play.  And I feel guilty for it.
• Sometimes, I just want to get my chores done during the day so I'm not folding laundry until 11:00 pm.  And I feel guilty for it.

Mom guilt: the scourge of moms everywhere.  

Do you ever have moments like this?  Guests are coming for dinner.  You are busy juggling the flight of the bumble bee clean up while tossing a Caesar Salad, baking homemade rolls, and trying to explain to your mother-in-love (again) that it is possible to type into the address bar of the internet browser.  Suddenly your five year old appears and pleads with big brown eyes, "read to me, mommy."  

My dilemma--Guests are coming.  I committed to entertaining.  I want to help my mother-in-love.  I value education and that little girl is only little for so long so .... what do you do?  What do you do?  Well I get off the phone, finish dinner, and promise to read at bed time.  But the guilt.  Ohhhh the guilt!

Is it necessary, this guilt?  Once I was sharing this with my friend and she told me that guilt is of Satan; conviction is from the Lord.  Why would I feel guilty?  My child is fed.  She is healthy and happy.  Having to post-pone play time or reading time for an hour surely won't cause her the sort of psychological harm that will have her naming lint balls.  Why then, do I feel guilty?

I don't know why.  I just know that I do.  And this mom guilt, it sucks such joy out of life.  I hate feeling compelled to do things or worse, feeling ashamed when I don't do them. When I feel like someone would do it better.

I know there is no answer for this but what I think about mom guilt is it SUCKS!

How do you handle mom guilt?  Anyone?  Anyone?  Buellar? 

Thanks to Shell at Things I Can't Say for hosting my random Wednesday rants!

Days of Play: Advent Calendars

The Advent season is nearly upon us.  Today, may I suggest creating, buying, or finding an Advent calendar for your family?

Last year I used cheap $1/8 cards activity advent calendars for my children AND my husband (Matt is looking forward to his advent calendar again this year.  Right now the ribbon is hanging up ... just waiting for 24 envelopes filled with compliments and activities ...).  You can read more about how I made my Christmas Countdown Advent Calendar by clicking the link.

Of course you could check out Pinterest to find a cute and easy Advent idea.  I thought this one would be quick and it's adorable, too!

Source: laclassedellamaestravalentina.blogspot.com via i'm a new momma on Pinterest

If you are looking for something meatier--perhaps with a devotional, an activity, prayer, and scripture then the blog A Holy Experience has just the thing for you! The Jesse Tree Advent Calendar is free to download and print in its entirety.

Enjoy this countdown :)

Music Monday: Suddyn(ly addicted to this band!)

I love music.  Love, love, lovey love it.

Imagine the thrill I got when the lead singer of Suddyn, a band from Montauk (and a Ireland, a little bit.  It's a long story and not mine to tell.  The end.) contacted me to tell me about his band.  Did you imagine me smiling a big smile and doing my silly happy dance?  Oh good.  You know me well.

I stole this photo from Suddyn's webpage.

Anyhoo, the e-mail had links to some songs and a video.  So the darling husband and I dropped everything we should have been doing to sit in front of the fireplace and give Suddyn a listen.

We wanted to hear the songs before the video because somehow seeing a musician before hearing him/her seems wrong.  It's like eating an Oreo whole without at least twisting the top off and licking the frosting.  It's wrong but then I repeat myself.

Back to the fireplace, the laptop, SoundCloud (don't make me list why I love SoundCloud) and Suddyn.  

Each time we listened to a song we stated, "Oh that was so good.  That one was my favorite."  Then we'd listen to the next song and say the same thing and not because we are an easy audience like that but because we big fat loved this band!  Seriously their sound is something between Airborne Toxic Event, Snow Patrol, and Coldplay.  My ears were in ear heaven (which makes no sense but you get what I mean, right?)

So today, I suggest you give Suddyn a listen.  Start with Side Arm (<--- Go ahead and click that link.  You know you want to AND I'll be here when you're finished.  It's okay).  Then go to Brighter Star.  Don't over look In Flagrante Delecto (rambling side note: Matt talked with a judge once who told him this funny story about catching some co-workers "in flagrante delicto."  We had to giggle over that story while listening to this song.  Aren't you glad I share this random nonsense with you?).

Finally, watch a couple of these videos.  I'm not gonna lie, someone should make a "literal video" out of the Nothing Lasts Forever.

Nothing Lasts Forever (except zombies. Obviously).



Gravity



Letting Go (Fan made video sucks but song is super romantical. If you're reading this Matt, this song should make "the" list.  You know what I'm talking about *wink wink*)



On my Christmas list this year: Suddyn!

{Group} Date Night In: Minute To Win It

Last week my brother-in-law and I cooked up a surprise for my sister.  As in a surprise birthday party.  She came home from dinner with friends to a room filled with crepe paper, balloons, loved ones, screaming, and an air horn (blame the husband for that one).

While Jeff did an amazing job cleaning and organizing food and drinks, I was in charge of games.

Now some people might pull out Apples to Apples or Rock Band but that is not the way I roll.

For this party, we played Minute To Win It.  What I love about this is the games are super interactive, you can't help but laugh, and you probably have everything you need stuffed in a cupboard somewhere (unless, of course, your family doesn't use toilet paper).

We played a series of 5 games and then went into "The Skittle Round" where points were tripled.

We played:

• Dizzy Mummy
• Hanky Panky
• This Blows
• Blow Me (each player gets 1 minute to chew a piece of BubbleGum and blow the biggest bubble possible)
• Balls in a Bowl--blind fold players--they have to scoop cotton balls into a bowl using a spoon and scooping motion (no scraping spoon along ground to find cotton balls)

For each of these games, the winner got 100 points, second place got 50 points, and all other teams got 25 points.

Skittle Round:

• Game #1--Have a bowl full of Skittles, a spoon, and 5 Dixie Cups.  Contestants get 1 minute to sort Skittles into cups by color.  Team with the most sorted Skittles wins.  If a WRONG color goes into a cup, ALL Skittles in the cup go back into the bowl!
• Game #2--Have one partner hold a Dixie Cup and another holds a bowl of skittles 5-10 feet away.  Contestant throws the Skittles to cup (person with cup CAN move it to catch the Skittles). Team with the most Skittles in a cup wins.
• Game #3--One partner holds a cup 10 feet away from a table.  Other partner stands at table with bowl of Skittles and a straw.  Person must suck a Skittle onto the straw, run to partner, and drop Skittle into cup.  Team with most Skittles in the cup wins.

Skittle round points are tripled (300, 150, 75).

Whoever wins the Skittle Rounds gets an additional 100 points.

When we were finished playing we added up points and handed out prizes.

• Last place team got hand sanitizer because they needed to "Clean up their act!"
• The team with the best sportsmanship got chocolate for "Being so sweet."
• First place team got gold Christmas ornament stars for being "The stars of the night."
• Everyone else got a ball because we sure hoped everyone "Had a Ball!"

Gather your friends for some healthy couples Minute to Win It fun.  Losing is never so enjoyable (not that I'd know--Matt and I took first place!)

Things I Love: Gearing up for Thanksgiving

Awww, it's that time of year again.  You know, when stores skip Thanksgiving and put up snowflakes, Christmas trees, and snowmen as soon as that last "Trick or Treat" hype slides out the door.

I love the holiday season.  I love it.  I just love it so much I don't want to skip any of it.  So instead of listening to Christmas music and putting up the tree November 1st, I like to reflect on Thanksgiving.  Thanks and Giving.  How is combining those two attributes NOT the best holiday of the year?

If you are like me and you want to savor this season of being thankful and giving, please enjoy some of these crafts and recipes.

The Thankful Tree <--click that link for directions

Grateful wall hanging

Source: beckyhiggins.com via Reagan on Pinterest

Amaretto Cranberry Sauce

From Frontier Kitchen

Sweet Apple Cinnamon Brie en Croute

Christmas will come.  Today, reflect on how you can be thankful and how you can give.

What I Think About: The Breaking Dawn Soundtrack

Am I one of "those moms" that got sucked into the Twilight craze?

Guilty as charged.

However, my expectations for Breaking Dawn I are quite limited given the fact that I found the entire book Breaking Dawn to be literary crap (but apparently that kind of crap can make you millions whereas my criticism gets me nothin').  Nonetheless, for my sister's birthday I am taking her to a Twilight Marathon.  We will watch ALL of the previous three movies and then at midnight on the 18th, we'll see the premier of Breaking Dawn.

To rev myself up for the movie, I bought the new soundtrack.

Here's the deal--even if you don't like Twilight, the first three soundtracks were dead on.  Muse, Linkin Park, Death Cab for Cutie, Band of Horses, Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, Sia, Florence + the Machine, The Bravery, Metric ... this is like the dreamiest conglomeration of musical genius ever.  Even my husband who is on "Team guy who almost ran Bella over" can't deny that the Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse soundtracks are pure ear candy.

Imagine my disappointment when I learned that Bruno Mars was the main headliner for Breaking Dawn. I nearly cried, except I almost never cry and when I do cry, it's got nothin' to do with Bruno Mars.  Anyhow, ick.  That was my main thought.

But I'm a girl who likes to gamble so I bought the soundtrack.

My gut reaction to the soundtrack is "eh."  Yep.  That's about all the excitement I can muster.

Don't misunderstand me, there are good songs on the soundtrack.  Iron and Wine re-envisioned Flightless Bird, American Mouth and somehow its mournful sound is even more romantic.  Christina Perry's love ballad is catchy and teens everywhere will no doubt make out to it.  Northern Lights by Cider Sky has a soothing rhythm.  The sweeping analogy Turning Page by Sleeping At Last was by far my favorite song on the album.  There are good songs on the album.

I love that the creators {mostly} gave the spotlight to independent artists; however, I'm disappointed that this album ignores its predecessors' amazing alternative/indie roots and leaps straight into the tween pop scene.

What I think is the Breaking Dawn I soundtrack is worth a listen but since you have to buy the whole album, I'd go halfsies friend and burn a copy.

Have you heard the soundtrack?  Your thoughts?

Days of Play: Pilgrim Hats

So this idea is actually from my sister who, despite having four children aged 11-2 still finds time to be amazing, look amazing, and do amazing crafts with her kids.

Point in case: Pilgrim hats

For this activity you will need:

• terra cotta pots (enough for each child)
• black paint/paint brush
• white foam
• glue gun
• flower arrangement foam ball
• fake flowers (you could use real if you want to :)

To Make:

• Paint the pots black and let dry
• While pots dry, cut out foam for the hat band/buckle
• When pot is dry, glue foam hat band/buckle to the pot using hot glue gun
• Put foam ball into pot
• Arrange fall flowers/foliage

Music Monday: Young the Giant

Young the Giant (n.): A completely under-loved American Alternative Rock Band.

Listen. You'll love them and then they'll be less under-loved and my life purpose won't be affected at all but at least I will have introduced you to some great music (and maybe helped these guys sell a $1.29 song on iTunes).

My Body



Cough Syrup



Apartment

Friday Fashion: Socks

Thigh highs. Over the knee socks. Knee highs and legwarmers with boots.

I love them. I loved them last year and I love them this year. Trust me when I say this is a trend worth trying!

Oh, and today is 11/11/11.  Bet you thought you were finally gonna read a blog post that didn't get all gushy about that, huh?  Sorry.

Things I Love: My Sister

Today is my sister's birthday. {Happy Birthday!}

She the first one to have a birthday since my mom died.  It is bittersweet.

To help make the bitter a bit more sweet, here are 36 memories that make me thankful for my sister.

1. I'm thankful she got caught sneaking out first.  The girl saved me some trouble.
2. I'm thankful for the top-secret, sisters only photo I have of her.  It's wildly unflattering.  The blackmail possibilities are endless.
3. I'm thankful for the nights we used to watched "Sisters" together in her room.
4. I'm thankful for that time we danced in cowboy boots and dad's boxer shorts.
5. I'm thankful for the laugh I still get when I remember how a Charlie Horse knocked her to the ground like she was doing an air-raid.
6. I'm thankful that she is willing to watch Easy A over and over with me.  "We must be related."
7. I'm thankful for appletinis served in wine glasses.
8. I'm thankful for x-rated madlibs and the completely inappropriate conversations that follow.
9. I'm thankful for evil plots against Javo.
10. I'm thankful her Camero was low to the ground. Trust me, it came in handy the time I jumped out of it while she was driving.
11. I'm thankful for fights over the proper application of eye-liner.
12. I'm thankful for motel rooms attached to strip joints.
13. I'm thankful for being the dance club in Portage la Prairie.
14. I'm thankful for playing "house" in motel rooms.
15. I'm thankful for black naugahyde furniture to watch cartoons on.
16. I'm thankful for a Kids, Inc. watching partner.
17. I'm thankful for Twilight marathons.
18. I'm thankful for Black Friday, 5 am shopping.
19. I'm thankful for the Tilted Kilt.
20. I'm thankful for pink mustangs.
21. I'm thankful that I don't have to listen to her crappy hip-hop music anymore.
22. I'm thankful for the bathroom incident in her puffy wedding dress.
23. I'm thankful I got to be her matron of honor, which coincidentally goes hand-in-hand with the bathroom incident.
24. I'm thankful for that beer hunting episode (and her constant retelling of me running up and down stairs like a gerbil on meth).
25. I'm thankful for inside jokes.  Holy Mole-y!
26. I'm thankful for a "puss this long!"
27. I'm thankful for haircuts with horns.
28. I'm thankful for birthday weekends in Rapid City.
29. I'm thankful for The Color Purple on Christmas Eve.
30. I'm thankful for present snooping.
31. I'm thankful for Foster.  Okay, this is a lie.  I hated that dog but at least I know I never, ever want an English bulldog.  Ever.
32. I'm thankful for hard egg sandwiches when you're sick.
33. I'm thankful for sledding down stairs.
34. I'm thankful for going to the bathroom together on the phone.
35. I'm thankful for someone to call and talk to about nothing and everything.
36. I'm thankful for how often I see mom in you.

Happy Birthday Randeaner Beaner Weiner!

What I Think About: Regret

On Saturday I went to a book sale and they had these great voice-recordable books for sale.  

I burst into tears.

It seems so stupid now but here's the thing.  Last Christmas my husband's grandmother bought one of these books for all of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  So in fifteen years when Nana is in heaven, our kids will hear her read them stories about the birth of Christ and Humpty Dumpty.  Truly these are a priceless gift.

I was determined to get two books and have my mom read them so our kids would have her voice.  When I saw the price of each book was $30 I staggered and, being the cheapskate that I am, decided I'd get them when they were on sale.  The sale never happened.  My mom died.  And now I wish with everything in me that I would have bought those stupid books so I could hear my mom's voice.

Regret.  

Regret sometimes sounds like "I shouldn't have" but other times, it sounds like "I wish I would have."

Regret.  I wear it like a heavy load on my back. The "What ifs?" the "If onlys."  

How I am haunted by regret.

I was at a Living Proof conference and was so convicted of my regret.  I cling to regret.  Sometimes I cling to it because I believe remembering what I shouldn't have done will keep me humble and dependent on God.  In reality, those regrets make me live a life of fear and self-condemnation.  Regret is a shroud of shame placed on me by myself, my enemy, and others that keep me in bondage.  

Don't misconstrue what I am saying.  I've done wrong.  I've made mistakes.  But I do not have to cling to them ... how much more powerful am I when I repent, accept grace, and walk in freedom?  When I refuse to be chained to regret? 

What I thinks is I can't cling to regret and walk in freedom.  How do you hold onto something and let it go?  You simply can't do both.

These thoughts tumbled about in my head and the worship team started singing.  I knew He was speaking to me when the singers proclaimed, "I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way He loves us."

Regret (n.): A heavy burden made lighter when I choose to believe that He loves me more than my mistakes.

Days of Play: Freeze Dance

I'm not gonna lie.  At our house, we like to shake it.  We've been known to turn on tunes and boogie around the living rooms.  We're famous for leaving a meal half-eaten so we can get up, and get down to a favorite song.  If it involves music and dancing, we are in!

Embrace the love of music and dancing with your kiddos today (singing optional but suggested).

When you have a spare 5-10 minutes, turn on some music you can dance to (for us, this is anything from "Are you gonna be my girl" and "Girls just want to have fun" to "Pop goes the Weasel").

Now, explain to your kids that you are going to dance like wild while the music plays but when it stops, they have to "freeze" into a funny position.  They can get going again when the music starts up again.

I want to tell you this activity is great to help children learn to have self-control and to listen to directions but I don't know if it's true or not.  I DO know that your kids will like it and sometimes, that's the most "developmentally appropriate" option.

Music Monday: Song Crushes

Ahhhhh .... I've had a great relaxing break from life and blogging lately.  Cabo San Lucas, movies by the fireplace .... it's been fabulous.  But I'm back and ready to kick it in gear.

What a better way to start than to share my current song crushes.

Now for me, a song crush is more than I song I like.  It's a song I like so much that I read the lyrics online, watch videos for free (even if they are fan made), and listen to them over and over and over in the car.  So when I say song crush, it really means that if the song was a person, I'd be stalking him.

Lucky for me, there's no law against song stalking crushing.  So, enjoy my latest loves.

All I Ever Wanted by The Airborne Toxic Event (still my fave band!)



I Can Breathe Again by Baywood



It's Not Me It's You by Skillet (because hardcore Christian is right up my ally!)



Tonight by Seether

Dinner Revolution {FREE}

Free.

Bet that caught your attention, huh?

Well Chef Jeff sent me an e-mail offering my readers a free electronic copy of his newest DinneRevolution cookbook.  YAY!

{This means that you get a $27 cookbook for free just because you are awesome.  And I love you.  And Chef Jeff wants to get you and your family out of the burger joint and around the dinner table tonight!}

Photo From DinneRevolution

As you know, my family and I sit down to a homemade meal every night.  Every. Night.  This is one of those traditions that I simply will not allow to go by the way-side in my house.  If you do this, or would like to do this but feel crunched for time, check out this cookbook.

The recipes in this cookbook are outstanding and cover everything from comfort food to vegetarian dishes to gourmet entrees.  The recipes require less than 10 ingredients and less than 30 minutes to make.  The recipes are healthy, tasty, and family-friendly.

Some of the 200 dinner possibilities include:

• Vegetarian Pad Thai
• Coconut Curry Shrimp
• Lasagna Roll Ups
• Caribbean Chicken Quesadillas
• Southwest Turkey Burgers

If you are interested in checking out Chef Jeff's DinneRevolution, please click here (<----yes, click that) to receive your free e-cookbook.

Revolutionize dinner at your house!

Date Night {OUT}: Can You Hear Me Now?

My husband, who refuses to blog, took me out on this date last Friday.  It was totally random and totally fun.  That's what I call success.

DATE PREP

Before the date, which was incredibly spontaneous, he sent me an e-mail telling me to make a multiple choice quiz ABOUT me for him to take.

The quiz had to be 10 questions long and each question needed 3 possible answers.  5 questions were things he didn't know about me and 5 were about my passions.

Some of my questions were:

(Reading--my passion)
What's next on my reading list?
A.  Shipbreaker
B. Eli
C. Sarah's Key

(Something he didn't know about me)
What was our family "code phrase" growing up?
A. Elvis Presley
B. Ignore Keith
C. Uncle Tom

So, for your date BOTH you and your spouse need to make a quiz about yourselves for the other person to take at the end of the date.

As the date planner, you also need to come up with 3 secret "prizes" for the winner.  Write the prize on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope so the winner is surprised.  Prizes could be: coupon for 15 minute back rub, getting to sleep in both days on the weekend, getting out of laundry for a week, etc.

DATE TIME

For the date itself, do something silly and random.  We walked around a music store, went to The Buckle, sauntered through Target, and then went and had a drink.

Now here is where it gets tricky ... during the course of the date, you have "slip" the answers to all of your questions into casual conversation.  At the end of the date, you get to "test" each other's listening skills and any answer you don't fit into a conversation gets thrown out.

At the end of the night, take each others' quizzes.  The winner gets to pick an envelope prize and the "loser" must deliver.

If there is a tie, then as the date organizer, declare your spouse the winner and let him take the prize.  Of course you could each pick one prize ... your call.

{Fall} Things I love: Pumpkins

To me there is nothing that says fall quite like pumpkins.  

I've already confessed to a some-what obsessive relationship with Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes but it gets worse.  And by worse, I mean so. much. better!

If you are like me and those orange balls of delight take you back to whimsical days of carving pumpkins with your mom, putting pumpkin seeds on salads, smelling that pumpkin pie smell, or doing fun crafts in school, then please sort through these lovely photos, recipes, decorations, and craft ideas and get that warm-n-fuzzy fall feeling that only pumpkins can give.

Source: williams-sonoma.com via Reagan on Pinterest

Source: boards.weddingbee.com via Reagan on Pinterest

Source: ohhowposh.com via Reagan on Pinterest

Source: designspongeonline.com via Reagan on Pinterest

Source: blissfullydomestic.com via Reagan on Pinterest

Source: ourlillpeanut.blogspot.com via Reagan on Pinterest

Source: simplysuzannes.blogspot.com via Reagan on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Reagan on Pinterest

What I Think About: That Last Summer-feeling Fall Night

Purple pink sky gives way to black expanse.

A wind blows across the night bringing the scent of a fire pit from some family laughing and eating s'mores.

A strand of hair brushes my cheek and won't be tucked away.  A rebel.

The crickets start their harmony, soothing my heart with each strum of their strings.  In the distance a dog barks out his solo, long and mournful.

Gooseflesh on my legs, I tuck sweatered arms around my chest and breathe deep the last smells of summer.

Soon these summer smells will give way to the aroma of moist dirt and decaying leaves.  These pink skies will turn dark gray and crimson leaves will fall from the trees, no longer trusting the arms that hold them.  Crickets will turn to geese that honk in triumphant Vs through crisp skies with wispy clouds.

Summer days will disappear deep into the fog of fall and I'll long to conjure memories of laughing children with dripping popsicles.  Tonight I'm glad I've had these days but I'm also glad cold days are ahead.  The death and chill that accompany fall are welcome--can we truly appreciate the life-giving spring without the death-filled fall?

This time.  This place.  These smells. Those sounds.  They are were not guaranteed.  They are but a mercy and in my sorrow and in my shame and in my brokenness I am grateful for new life from death. As I sit chilled on this last summer-feeling fall night, I think everything is grace.

Even missing my mom.

Days of Play: Moon Sand

Raise your hand if you love moon sand?  Yep, that's what I thought.

Now, raise your hand if you love paying for moon sand?  What?  No one loves shelling out that kind of dough for uh, dough?

Shocking.

Or maybe not so shocking.

If you like moon sand but not paying for it, here's a simple recipe to make your own that I found at the A.MAZING blog Play Based Learning <---click that link and go.  Now.

4 c. sand
2 c. corn flour
1. c water

Mix everything together and get ready to live!

Photo property of Play Based Learning

This won't be exactly the same as the "buy at Target" variety but trust me, your kids won't know the difference.

Now, go make yourself a nice moon sandcastle and think about a trip to Mexico.

Music Monday: Singers and Standards

In the fall I love to cue up a good "singers and standards" station on Pandora and bake away to the crooning of Sinatra and Buble.

So today, enjoy some singers and standards!

The Way You Look Tonight



Save The Last Dance For Me



Unforgettable