Dreaming of Spring

I can't wait for some sunshine and flowers! We've been flipping through the garden catalogs and trying to decide what we want to plant this year. I'm sure we'll have tomatoes and peppers like we did last year, and maybe we'll expand our garden area a little to make room for more variety. I would also love to plant another couple of rose bushes and maybe a grape vine. Our old house had two grape vines and we loved them, even though I made the mistake of spending hours (and lots of sugar) making jelly only to have it never jell. I think the grapes were too ripe...lesson learned.

I'm looking at these pictures from last year with freezing fog outside my windows...sigh. I have to remind myself that Spring is just around the corner!


"For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time has arrived for pruning the vines,
And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.
The fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along! "
Song 2:11-13 (NASB)

Chicken and Noodles

I made The Pioneer Woman's homemade chicken and noodles Saturday night and they were delicious! Just the thing for a cold winter weekend spent mostly indoors.

I did have to venture out to buy groceries on Saturday with everybody else in town (I could hardly get my basket down the aisle), but other than that we had a nice weekend. How was your weekend?

Old Movies

We watched a wonderful movie last night called Mrs. Miniver. Alison at Brocante Home mentioned it a few weeks ago and it sounded like something we would enjoy. It won 6 Academy Awards in 1942 including best picture and best director. Mrs. Miniver is a British housewife who holds her family together during WWII which was of course still going on at the time this movie was filmed. It's definitely on my list of favorite movies of all time!


What are your favorite movies of all time?

Snow Day

No work or school for us today. The roads are too icy.

So we go outside to play until we are frozen...

Look at my poor rosemary plant.

The kids were "ice skating". I was just praying no one wound up with bruises or broken bones (which would have been a certainty if I had been sliding around out there).

Then we come inside to warm up...

Something warm to drink.




Some delicious scones


A warm fire.


And some good music

3 Cheese Baked Penne

This is one of our favorite weeknight meals. It's quick and easy and serves 6 generously.




* 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I use the dried kind)
* 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
* 2 cups part skim ricotta cheese
* 1 jar spaghetti sauce
* 1 lb ground hamburger
* 1 egg
* 1 lb Penne pasta
* 2 tsp dried parsley
* 1 tsp dried basil

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In medium saucepan, cook ground beef until browned; drain grease and add spaghetti sauce. Meanwhile boil pasta according to package directions.
2. In a medium bowl, combine ricotta cheese, half the mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, egg, parsley and basil.
3. Lightly grease 2 1/2 quart baking dish. Layer pasta, sauce mixture and cheese mixture. Repeat layers. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella cheese over top. Bake 20 minutes until hot and bubbly.

Enjoy!

Organization Challenge - Priorities

Now that the Christmas season is behind us and our decorations are (hopefully) all put away we can get back to our weekly organizing. This week we are going to focus on setting priorities and make thoughtful and realistic choices about what is important.

This picture is just a reminder that having our priorities in order helps us to find time to do the things we want to do.

Goals for the week:

1. Ask yourself some questions. What is important to me? What do I want to accomplish? What have I always wanted to do? Maybe you could even write a mission statement for yourself and/or your family. When you have the big picture in mind it's easier to know how the little things will fit into it.

2. Make a list of your top ten priorities and keep them in your journal or somewhere where you can see them regularly. I know we all have these in our heads, but I think it's a good idea to actually write them out and look at them. Most of these may be serious but don't forget to include fun in your list.

"...look first for the kingdom of God..." (Matthew 6:33)

3. Make a list of all the activities you currently participate in and compare them to the list above. Which activities need to stay and which need to go? What you don't do is as important as what you do. Be realistic and realize that you will also need some free, unstructured time in your day. Not everything has to be preplanned.

As your life changes, this list will change. Your priorities now may look different than they will down the road. Revise your list every 6 months or so as needed.

Week 1 - Your Mind
Week 2 - Your Schedule
Week 3 - Cleaning Schedule

Cleaning Up Christmas

Anyone else still putting away Christmas decorations and vacuuming pine needles out of the carpet? I have the majority of it done, but I still need to take down the small artificial tree in the kitchen and my Christmas village.

I'm trying to make sure I put everything in the attic in an organized manner to save myself some aggravation next Christmas. I'm also planning to browse the 75% off decorations. Most of my lights finally gave out this year (as you can see if you look at the big dark spot on the tree in the Christmas morning pictures) and I know I won't want to buy them at full price next December. Might as well plan ahead.

This is also the time of year when I desperately need to clean out the refrigerator. I baked and cooked (and ate) my way through December and there is no telling what leftovers and gunk I'm going to find. I'm pulling out a trash bag and my rubber gloves this afternoon. If I don't come back send a search party!