Catherine Love~ Ramblings from my Heart and Home

Random Ramble

Did you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving?  Our family did.  It was a bit different this year.  Our little family stayed at home and celebrated together.  Most years we have travelled to at least one family gathering, as well as having a lunch or dinner at our own home most of the time.  I love having a houseful of family and friends; but this year Carl wanted it to be a quiet "just us" thing. This was fine with me, because this apartment gets full quick!  We will have our annual Christmas Eve gathering coming up before we know it anyway.   The girls and I began cooking on Weds.  We made cornbread, toasted bread crumbs, made Cranberry Sauce (found the recipe on the bag of cranberries LOL), and pumpkin and pecan pies.  On Thursday, I got up and put the turkey in the oven at 7 a.m., then went back to bed for a little power nap!  Then, I got up and got busy- making dressing, gravy, sweet potatoes with honey, butter and cinnamon, potato salad, peas, and rolls.  We sat down and prayed together and thanked the LORD for his wonderful blessings this year, and then ate way too much!  My sister-in-law stopped by for a visit and then we took the girls out for a walk.  Mostly so they could run off the sugar from the pecan pie, and I could walk off all that dressing!

On Friday, we put up the Christmas tree, put the lights on it and began decorating.

We went to Homestead Heritage for the Children's Craft Fair, which was a lot of fun.  The girls (and us grownups) petted the sheep, goats, and puppies!  Then, we watched the craft demonstrations.  They make the most beautiful things there.  We saw soapmaking- a craft I'm determined to try at least once.  Also, candle dipping, which the girls want to do.  Let's see.....knitting, quilting, woodcrafts, painting, leather crafts, food of all kinds.....oh all sorts of things.  It really is a wonderful place.  If you're ever in central Texas, be sure to visit.  You'll be glad you did!

Saturday was my 39th (sssshhhh) birthday.  As usual, my family spoiled me rotten!  Carl made breakfast while I went for a lovely walk.  It was a gorgeous morning, cool and just slightly foggy.  The early morning light and the fog made the yellows and oranges of the fall leaves almost glow.  The rose bushes are all blooming it seems, too!  After breakfast of French Toast and Coffee, we got ready to go to my mother-in-law's house for my birthday lunch.  On the way we stopped in Salado so I could take a quick peek into a store I like there.  Then, on to MIL's house for Chicken Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Brocoli & Cauliflower, and birthday Cake....yummy!  Carl cooked dinner for me on Saturday night- Grilled Chicken Salad...Southwest Style.  It was very good- grilled chicken, spinach, baby field greens, tomatoes, green onions, black olives and avocadoes, topped with Spicy Ranch Dressing and tortilla chips.  My husband is a very good cook by the way!  Then, he and the girls gave me my birthday presents.  From the girls, a huge bag filled with new kitchen gadgets, yea!  I love to cook and kitchen stuff is always a welcome gift.  They gave me a green pyrex bread pan, a set of springform pans, a big stainless mixing bowl, biscuit cutter set, and new sets of measuring spoons, cups and serving spoons.  Some people would not be thrilled with this assortment of "tools"; but I love it.  Carl gave me a beautiful wooden plaque I have had my eye on for some time.  It has a sparrow painted on one side, a nest and branch with pink blossoms on the other and in the middle says, "Be Still and Know that I am God".  I love birds, and seem to be getting quite a collection of birds and words!  I noticed that all througout our home I have placed "words"... above the kitchen sink is a small ceramic sign that says "simplify", the 23rd Psalm is above the homeschool shelf, in the living room is Ecclesiastes 3:1, the theme continues on to the bathroom and even into the bedrooms... there are words everywhere (and quite a few birds, too)!  Carl also gave me some other little things- a cute coffee cup that looks like a terracotta flower pot, rosewater and glycerin lotion...  But, the most special thing he gave me was this:  a pen.  Sounds odd, doesn't it?  Yes, a writing pen.  It is green, my favorite color by the way.  It also has some nifty replacement cartridges in different colors and a PDA stylus (which took me a bit to figure out what it actually was LOL).  The thing that makes it special though, is that on it is inscribed the following (more words): 

a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised Proverbs 31:30

That touched my heart more than anything he could have possibly given me.  He knows how much I love to write, and though I fail miserably many days...I do try to be as much of a "Proverbs 31 Woman" as I can possibly be.  Sometimes the seemingly little things have so much meaning, at least to me. 

OK, enough rattling and rambling from me for now ... I'm off to have lunch and take the girls for a walk before it gets COLD.  85 today...29 on Thursday...Texas weather for ya!  I've also got to get some exercise.  All that good food has added an extra pound or 5!

Untitled Comment

9:42 AM, Saturday, December 2, 2006 .. Posted by kimmie

were not going to talk about weight are we??? LOL