Part 2 of our Bake-A-Thon Saturday...

 

 

 

 

Mike's Favorite

A tray to share with our neighbors

Can't wait to turn on a Christmas movie and brew more Hot Cocoa and taste some of these from our baking session earlier today.

 

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  Joe Barge Yum!!!! :-)

   
• Beatty Shaffer I wish I was your neighbor these cookies look really good.

   

Holiday Bake-A-Thon

 The most often-remembered times from my childhood are the days when we covered the tables, chairs, counters, and every other kitchen surface with Sugar Cookies.  I loved how my dear Mother let us take over (and possibly destroy) her kitchen-- just  one day a year--- to make those buttery-sweet cookies that smelled marvelous.

Here at Blue Willow Cottage, we take two Saturdays in December to re-create those precious memories and make some new ones.  "B" has his own Chef's Cap and Apron, and we make a fantastic MESS, making delicious goodies, & all the while, hoping these special moments will stick in B's memory like the one's of my colorful childhood.

I love the rich red color of this Red Velvet Cake Recipe, passed down from my Grandmother.

This year our first Saturday was dedicated to making 10 dozen Red Velvet Cupcakes for our Doctors, Dentist, Pediatrician, and the Mailman.  We make large trays and decorate the Cupcakes with Red and Green Sprinkles...  they are Dazzling!

 

The Cupcakes are cooling and soon ready for decorating

Our Resident Chef helps in the kitchen. 

 I love that he will be comfortable cooking for his wife and family one day, because he is already at home in the kitchen at age 10!



Ready for Delivery on Monday!

CommentShare

 

• Natalie Anne Acri I don't remember that, but thanks for the pictures, and memories I can make up . it's good you have a mind of the steel trap, and I mean that in the nicest way.

   
 
• Laura J. Chapman Baker We are on our way to ark for Christmas this morning. I hope you all have a nice time this Christmas and we will see you in the New Year. We love you all very much.

   

Make Room for Reading this Season! My picks for reading to children:

I love to give “my” children a special book for Christmas. I think it is a wonderful choice for a gift, especially because it will be shared over & over again, and not tossed to the side after a few hours, never to be touched again. Here are some books on my shopping list for those cherished darlings I love: 

 

 

 

The Christmas Gift, by Emily Arnold McCully (Harper Trophy Books, for ages 3 to 6 years)- this is a wordless book about an extended family of mice. The readers are in for a treat when they open this book about when a cherished Christmas present does not make it through Christmas day before it is broken (not an uncommon event in my home).

 

 

Another perenial favorite, The Tree that Came to Stay, by Anna Quindlen (Crown Publishers), will delight ages 4 through 9 years.

 

 

Ms. Quindlen is a Pulitzer Prize-Winning columnist for the New York Times, and this is her first children’s book. I love that it is about a resourceful mother who finds a way to keep Christmas alive all year round!

 

 

 

 

The Day Before Christmas, by Eve Bunting (Clarion Books), is best for ages 5-8. All children are drawn into this story about a special day in a young girls’ life: a train trip she makes with her grandfather to see her first production of “the Nutcracker.” The paintings that illustrate this book are magnificent, and the story is touching because many years ago, the grandfather made the exact same trip with the little girl’s mother, who is now passed on. Compassion is modeled in the girl, and heart strings are tugged all around in this poignant tale.

First Snow, Magic Snow, by John Cech, (Four Winds Press), is for ages 4-7.

For me as a child, the first snow was always enchanting, exciting, and a blessed event at our house. This book is based on a Russian folk tale called “The Snow Maiden.” A barren couple’s life is changed forever when a snow girl” built by one of them magically comes to life. In the spring, when the girl-child must suddenly leave with the melting snow, their love for her leads them north to a colder climate in an effort to keep her. This book really touched my heart the first time I read it, I suppose because at one time, I was a “barren woman,”  and because I KNOW what a tremendous blessing a child can be to a family who yearns for one!

Finally, Christmas Eve at Santa’s, by Alf Proysen (R & S books, distributed by Farrar, Straus, & Giroux), is best for ages 4-8.

 

This book comes to us from Sweden. A carpenter bumps into Santa one Christmas Eve, and Santa asks the Carpenter to go and make a visit to Santa’s Children at his home!  I hope this inspires others to cuddle up on the couch with your children and READ!!  You will never regret it. 

Proper Respect




Popping in for lunch is a nice surprise and
brightens my day

"The father must manage his own family well,
and see that his children obey him with proper respect.
 If anyone does not know how to manage his own family,

how can he take care of God's church?

--I Timothy 3:4-5

Our Papa manages our family well.

 I am so grateful for this.  He reads to us from the Bible at Breakfast, consistently goes to work to make money to provide for our needs, and loves us unconditionally.

 I love his sweet, calm nature.  I love when he calls me at lunch to say "hello" on work days.  I always pack a lunch for him, but sometimes he is out and about and drops by the house while running work errands. 

I love it when I am off and there, and can make him a special lunch! 

We respect him very much.

What a day... now on to the priorities... Hot Cocoa and Marshmallows!

 

 

 

Raquel Nwokeji ---Krisselle says she misses her best friend

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  Blue BerryCottage--- awwwwwwwwwwwww. We miss you, too Krisselle! And all of you. Tomorrow will be exactly a Year to the day since we arrived here in our new home.

Job Description of a Mother

This morning, I was reflecting on my role as a Mother. 

This wonderful job requires the skills of a teacher, counselor, maid, short-order cook, nurse, party planner, financial analyst, and chauffer!   Unfortunately, the society we live in today has downplayed the importance of my role as a mom. 

  

 I was reminded of this in church, of all places!  A comment was made like, “Oh, you only work part time?  How many hours?”  Sometimes I just want to scream, “You are kidding, right?” 





 Comments like that hurt me to

 the bone.  And I only have one kid! 

Think of a stay at home mom who has several children,

who chooses to raise her children full-time and not work outside

the home. 

She works harder than anyone could ever imagine!  

 

If I want to define my role the

way God defines it, I must turn

to the only standard that really

 counts:  The Bible. 

 When those blues of

discouragement start

clouding my thoughts, I

am choosing to

that my God holds me

in the highest esteem-

 if you don’t believe

me, read Proverbs

chapter 31.  

The Last of my kale

 

 

 

Yummy breakfast burritos for supper, using up the last of my garden Kale.

Thank goodness for the Farmer's Market.

Our Blustery, Wonderful Halloween 2013

Our Front Porch on A Blustery Halloween Night,

 48 little Trick Or Treaters visiting the cottage so far.

  Little drops of rain are falling on my face as I take in the beauty and joy of this night.

 

 

  My favorite part is looking into the m...other's smiling, proud, sparkling eyes; the same the mother who painstakingly dressed her little child in the colorful costume which will remain in her memory and scrapbook forever... Right down to the little painted on whiskers.

 

It is a night I shall cherish myself for many weeks. Do you think there will be something like it in Heaven

 

The Super Hero Returns with his Halloween Booty...

"Better a Dry Crust of Toast in a Corner..."

of the kitchen than a sumptuous FEAST in the Banquet Hall of a Contemptuous Woman...

 

This is my scenic view when cooking on the stove. I made myself a little "Attitude" laminated card to read and re-read for when the deceiver attempts to get his hold on my outlook.

 Remember the warning of Jesus regarding the newly cleansed demon-possessed person in the Bible; how he was healed of a demon, but replaced it with nothing, and then 7 more new ugly demons came in and took up residence in him.

  I am keeping my "residence" full, just in case!

 Lord Willing!

 (Not that I was demon-possessed, but if you ask my husband, he might clue you in on a thing or two!)

  Read Job 25:24, another little posted scripture I posted on the sink just where I can read it when cleaning the dishes.

Jennifer Crowden Dawn you are amazing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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