Lately...

It has been a while since I blogged. Just been busy and haven't taken the time to stop and write. We have been busy getting ready for the grandparents visit. They will be heading this way tomorrow. We haven't seen them since March so we will be glad when they get here.

Here is a photo of Noah sleeping on his bean bag with his teddy. He was getting comfy, waiting for the Polar Express. But he fell asleep before it arrived!

Yesterday was our Christmas tree trimming day. We always put up our tree the first weekend in December. This year we put up two trees. Simply because we had two trees and we had the room to do it. We have had the 7ft tree for several years, but when we moved back into the city of Little Rock a couple of years ago, we moved into a smaller place and didn't have the room for the larger tree. So we bought a smaller tree. Since moving to North Carolina we have a larger place so we decided this year to put the larger tree in the living room and the smaller tree in the dining room.

This is the smaller one. When we bought it a couple of years ago, we bought all new ornaments, red and gold. When we use to use the larger tree, we had blue and silver. But after a couple of moves and Noah...a few of the ornaments got broken. So the girls went yesterday to buy some blue and silver to add to the larger tree. But like trends go, this years blue isn't the same as the blue several years ago...because of this, the ribbon we had on it no longer match and the other blue ornaments don't go with the new blue...so the tree looks pretty naked right now. I am going to have to go to Hobby Lobby this week and buy new blue ribbon and a few new blue ornaments to completely dress the tree.

Here is something that has been taking my time away from blogging. I have become obsessed with crocheting again. I haven't done much of it in a few years, but this scarf got me pumped again...

It is called the Claudia Scarf. I found it here.

I just fell in love with it. So I tried my hand at it. Only in a different weight and color. Mine is black and done in 100% cotton yarn. It is a worsted weight instead of the fingering weight the pattern uses. But I really do love it. I am working on a couple more now in different colors and weights.

At Thanksgiving I found a recipe on the Cooking Light website for a lighter version of Sweet Potato Casserole. And I have to say it was delicious. I didn't get much chance to gorge on it, because others thought it was good also and it went very quickly. Here is a link to the recipe.






I was in Fayetteville on my own doing a little shopping early one morning and decided to stop in at Goodwill, or GCF as it is called. I used to go to Goodwill weekly in Little Rock and find all kinds of bargins...Since moving here I have picked up a few items, such as a wooden bird cage that I use to decorate my front porch. I also picked up a new dehydrater and some crafting materials. I usually don't buy clothes from there, but happened by and saw this gray fleece, hooded American Eagle pullover hanging out of place on the end of a rack...it looked brand new and looked comfortable. So for a couple of bucks I bought it. It has now become my favorite thing to wear around. It is warm and fuzzy! But on this particular morning I happened upon this...



I have an eat-in kitchen area that has been pretty empty and needed a table. I looked around for one, but didn't want to pay several hundred dollars for one. Thanks to Goodwill, I didn't have to pay but $59.00! This almost new, no scratches, dings or dents, looks like I just bought it new...all we had to do was clean the cloth seats with the steam cleaner to get the coffee stains out. Now they look like new.

It fills the space perfectly. The table came with four chairs but unless I need the extra seating, I just keep two out. It is the perfect spot to sit first thing in the morning and watch the sun rise in the window. It was an awesome deal!

Believe it or not, I had just gone to the bank before going to GCF and I withdrew some cash. For some reason I chose to withdraw $60.00...I usually don't carry much cash, instead use the debit card. However, that morning I just punched in $60.00 and when I got to GCF I knew why God put it in my mind to get $60...GCF doesn't take debit cards...only cash or check. I later realized that I had written my last check at church the night or two before and hadn't put more in my checkbook. Because of the trip to the bank, I had just enough cash on me to buy the table before someone else came along and snagged it. So I am very thankful that God not only takes care of our big things, but he is concerned with the little things that make up our lives also.

On a final note...here are Noah's latest masterpieces...I have them displayed on the wall by my desk in my creative space.