Happy Christmas!

Happy Christmas to all the readers of my blog. I am delighted to have made so many fantastic friends this year. You have all been so welcoming to me!




I am very proud of our tree this year. For me it signifies all that is good about my family. We are creative and bright and our love produces beautiful things! May you all have a peaceful holiday full of the joys of our Lord and the goodwill of all men!

I know that Christmas is a busy time for many people and I myself may not be blogging for a few days. So, this is to wish you all a very happy Christmas and to let you know that I will be back in touch in the new year!

Christmas Cake

The Christmas preparations are well underway in our home and the latest news is that I have finished our Christmas cake! Phew!


We are having twenty one people in our house from Christmas day so there is much to be done! The cake is quite an important job which I am glad to have completed. I used a traditional European recipe for the cake itself. I picked up the lovely tartan ribbon from the local thrift store and the topping is made up of things I found in my own garden! I spray painted some of the leaves gold, I used snow spray on other leaves and some are in their natural state. I think it makes a beautiful centrepiece!

My next job is to prepare for the mulled wine reception that we are having in our house tomorrow night for all members of the local ballroom dancing club. I'll let you know how it goes!!

Geography for Toddlers!

A friend of mine sent this video on to me to show that it's never too early to start teaching your kids geography! It's a pretty impressive party trick too! And the thing about two year olds is that they dont even realise that they're learning - it's like a game to them! I've started to teach my two year old where all the states in America are and she absolutely loves pointing them out!

Here is the video that my friend sent me. Really shows the potential of the little mind!

Back to Posting....At Last!

Apologies for not having posted in such a long time. We have been so busy recently! Not only have I been trying to get our family home ready for Christmas, but then my sister announced that she is engaged and is to be married in the Summer! It is so wonderful!

My sister is in her mid-thirties and has always declared that she is happy being single. Myself and my family were not convinced, however, and we always felt that she would be happier with a partner that she could share her life with and grow old with. Therefore, we have been praying that she would find someone that she could be happy with forever. Our prayers were answered two years ago when she met Rob, her darling husband to be. It turns out that Rob had also wished to find someone that he could share his life with and always wished to have some children of his own. He, like us, had also been praying! And so the two met while doing volunteer work in South America. At first, my sister began dating Rob's brother who was also working on the volunteer project. However, this relationship came to an end when they returned home. She remained in contact with Rob, however, via email and telephone and last year the company that he works for moved to a city very near us. Clearly the work of Him. With Rob living so close, my sister and him formed a very close bond and a very strong relationship. And now, a wedding!!

We have all been so excited about the wedding that myself and a few of my sister's friends have been out with my sister to try on wedding dresses. We found the most beautiful vintage shop an hours drive away from my house. They specialise in finding one-off wedding gowns from the 20s, 30s and 40s and team them up woth modern accessories to create the perfect look for a special day. Where were these guys when I got married?!

Here is the interior of this gem of a shop:

We want to make a scrapbook for my sister and her husband showing the whole run up to the wedding in the Summer. So I took some artistic shots of her trying on some dresses. I think you'll agree that these works of art are only divine!!

Wonderful Surprise!

Upon visiting Julies blog this morning, I was delighted to discover that I have been made the featured blog of her Spotlight Saturday!

Thank you for this honour Julie. As a relatively new blogger, I look forward to meeting (in the virtual sense!) all the new blog readers that will be directed here from your site. Your Spotlight Saturday is a great idea and a fantastic way to share great blogs with others. I know there are loads of interesting blogs out there that probably we're missing out on!

In other news, myself and the children designate Fridays as our "Art and Craft Day." We often do art on other days but we have specifically designated Fridays so that we never let a week go by without fitting in some creative activity!

Yesterday, we took some hen eggs, used a pin to make a hole at one end of the egg and extracted the gooey inside through this hole. We then had much fun painting the eggs. I was quite surprised at the fantastic results that my children (ranging in age from 2 to 12) produced! I think you'll agree that they make beautiful home decorations.

And we didn't let the egg whites go to waste either! After all that hard work, I baked meringue for dessert. Much enjoyed by all!

Typical!

Myself and my husband decided to leave the peace of the countryside and journey into the city at the weekend, to spend some quality time together, and this happens!




On our way into the city, we were stopped at traffic lights when the car coming up behind us drove straight into the back of us! I was completely shocked. It wasn't too big a bump but it was enough to leave me quite shaken. Just as my husband was getting out of our car to talk to the driver behind, the cops pulled up - perfect timing! They took both of our details and descriptions of what had happened. They then proceeded to question the other driver futher and, after a few tests, they concluded that he was over the alcohol limit for driving. No wonder he drove into our stopped car!!

It makes me so disappointed that people continue to drink alcohol and drive. We were lucky that ours was only a minor accident but this man could easily have injured a child walking near the road or even worse! Some people are too selfish and do not think of those around them. I hope that at least this man will learn to become more responsible!

Tea and cake

This months meeting of our Feminine Womanhood group was held in my house. Our group meets once a month in a different members house. During our meetings we discuss the bible, we debate the role of women in society today, each month we choose a different famous woman who we feel is a good role model and (the best bit!) we drink tea and eat cake! You can't imagine how excited my kids were at the prospect of everyone coming to our home!! They were really keen on baking something themselves so I helped them to make a fruit cake to have with our tea.

The cake was so delicious I feel I just HAVE to share the recipe with you guys!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chopped cherries
1 1/2 cups coconut
2 1/4 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
6 egg whites

How to make:

Prepare fruits. Measure the sifted flour and reserve a few tablespoons to dredge fruit. Sift remaining flour into a bowl with baking powder and salt. In mixing bowl cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in sifted dry ingredients, alternating with the milk. Beat well and add the dredged fruit.
Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into batter.
Line a greased loaf pan with waxed paper or parchment paper and grease the paper. Spoon batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 300° for about 90 minutes. Enjoy!

While our meeting was held indoors, we were blessed with fantastic weather and I was able to give the ladies a tour of my garden. I know it looks like the sun is shining in this photo but it was REALLY COLD! Winter is on its way to the Mid-west!

What food do you serve to guests in your home?

Apron Making

I have recently become very interested in making aprons out of old, unwanted material. I like to use a different apron in my kitchen nearly every day so it's great to have a variety of aprons to suit my mood! Here is my first attempt at apron making.

I was at the local thrift shop last week and picked up an old, floral blouse, which I subsequently transformed into this pretty little apron! It was a fun excercise in recycling. I usually head to the thrift shop about once a month to see what I can find. And I nearly always turn my purchases into mini projects to transform them into something nicer / prettier / more useful! Have you ever picked up something old and turned it into something new?

In other news, we received a new member at our feminine womanhood society this week. She is a young woman who was a feminist until recently when she got married. After her wedding she realised how important it is to serve her husband and has spoken to us of her ignorance before her marriage. She is grateful that her eyes have been opened and all of us in the group are also thankful for this. Marriage is such an important sacrament.

Bedroom furniture

While browsing for bedroom furniture recently, I found this fantastic set. It may not be to everybody's taste but I think it's only wonderful.




I am considering buying something like this for my own bedroom. What do you HONESTLY think?! :-)

First post in my new blog!

After reading so many wonderful blogs online, I have decided to set up my own. I look forward to meeting lots of likeminded women through this medium. First I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Laura. I live in Michigan with my small family in our big new house! I used to teach in the local high school but have given that up to be a full time homemaker!!

As I am relatively new to this whole homemaking "business", I am looking forward to getting to know people in a similar situation with whom I can share tips and ideas! So if there are any of you out there, feel free to leave me a message. Looking forward to reading all of your blogs too!

Here is our lovely home. We built it just two years ago so there is still so much to do inside, but we're very happy with it!

In my next post I will put up photos of some of the rooms that I am doing up at the moment. And perhaps people will share ideas on what I should do with the rooms!