A Little Creative

Sometimes the Blossoms get a little creative with dog treat dough...

Fantastic Festive Food

This is my contribution to our cookie swap.  The Blossoms and I were itching to try out a chocolate cookie press cookie.  We decided that they tasted like brownie in a mug in cookie form!!

I've never done a cookie swap before, but this one was a blast!  Our cookies were gone by day #2.  The most unique cookie I tasted was a Lemon Coconut Snowball.  It's a hit with me!  It was that perfect something different kind of cookie that December needs!

I normally do a tray for the Rugged Mountain Man's employees.  This year, I went more for a snack tray, rather than sweets tray.  It was a bit quicker to put together and was a hit with everyone.  

"...She works with her hands in delight." 

Sometimes we work with our children... 

sometimes we enjoy each other's handiwork... 

sometimes we enjoy quick and easy handiwork.

But we do it with delight.

Dominique

Proverbs 31:13, NASB

"Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB),
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,
1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation 
Used by permission. www.Lockman.org"

Truly Tea Time

I do love a good tea time.

My sister likes to make my birthday special by putting in the time for all those extra special touches.

Sumptuous table cloths, cheery candles, divine Christmas china...

Food that delights the tea-loving soul:

~ BLTea Sandwiches

~ Finger Sandwiches

~ Nutella Mousse in Chocolate Shells

~ Berry Lemon Curd Cups

And all you can drink tea of your choice.  

Sitting around the festive tea table with our Blossoms and Sprouts was a truly a splendid birthday treat.

Is He Really?

Have you ever thought your hope was in God? 

You find yourself amidst a stinky we-live-in-a-fallen-world kind of incident, like a cuddly rabbit biting your Blossom4, and you comfort yourself with things like,

"It'll heal alright.  We've cleaned it up well."

"I put Vaseline on it multiple times a day, just like Google said."

"She's resilient."

"Little kids' skin heals magnificently."

Then you read this,

"You ALONE are my hope."

I sip my black tea, curled up in my chair and ask myself, "Are You alone my hope?"  That's what quiet time is for; to ask the hard questions and listen for the real answers. 

There's nothing wrong with Vaseline or natural remedies or countless other good things that I often utilize and am thankful for in prosperous America, but...

Where does my hope lie?  What is it that makes me lay my head down and sleep soundly?  That's the thing that I've put my hope in. 

Probably a rabbit bite doesn't seem like a big deal to you, but surely there's something in your own life where this can be applied. 

In all things, in all situations, with whatever that is available to us,

can I truly say, "You ALONE are my Hope?"

Dominique

Psalm 71:5, NLT, my emphasis added
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

A Local Museum

Our homeschool group did their most recent session as a session of field trips.  

What a fantastic idea! Our portfolios are looking spiffy at the school year halfway mark.  

This impressive mural surrounded the display that commemorated trench warfare.  Since our guide was a chemist, we learned a lot about the evolution of chemical warfare.

This local military museum tour was well tailored to all the age groups, which is something we all appreciate.

We enjoyed seeing all the military vehicles and weapons.  Blossom4 especially loved the jeeps!

I'm pretty sure the part of the field trip devoted especially to the history of tanks was the favorite though.

The monuments were solemn and the scenery was lovely.  We do live in a splendid part of the Northeast.  

The ice cream afterward was a huge hit too.  I love it when a day of learning can be fun, scenic, yummy AND educational.