2012

Just a quick note to say I'm still alive! Reading everyone's blog (sorry for the lack of comments)! I'm having some technical difficulties with my blog, computer and camera - it makes for some interesting posts, or should I say lack of posts! I'll be back real soon

Moving

It has been a long time since I last posted. It seems like I keep saying that! However, I have been thinking about blogging and decided that it is time that I get serious about my blogging and pin point what areas I would really like to talk about.
After a lot of thought, I kept coming back to the idea of being "domestic" and making my house a home.

So......... I would like to introduce my NEW and hopefully IMPROVED Blog The Art of Domestic Living. Please join me as I make this move. This will likely be my last post at My Cup Overflowing.

Winter Pics

In my last post I mentioned that I would post some pictures, so here they are!

This picture was taken off of our front porch. Notice the snow on the shrubs and window box. If you look carefully you can see the snow piled high on our neighbors' vehicles.



Here is the snow on our deck. I couldn't open the slider door because I was afraid the snow would fall into our dining area.



Last week I had a shortened schedule because of final exams, so I made cinnamon rolls. If you need a great recipe I strongly suggest making these from Pioneer Woman's website. They are so good!! I did cut back on the amount of butter that was used. A friend was having a bake sale and I was able to get rid of most of them that way. It is hard to have these yummy things around the house.



This is a picture of my Steel Cut Oats! I got hooked on these a couple of years ago. They are very different compared to your traditional oats. I have a Weight Watcher's recipe that you make the steel cut oats in a crock pot overnight. Let me tell you, there is nothing like coming have a warm cooked breakfast ready for you in the morning when it is 0 degrees outside!

Winter

Winter is here. We just heard that our area has received over 80" of snow this season, so far!!! This is my first year that I'm actually enjoying it. Of course, I haven't had to shovel that much - thanks to a great husband and a great snow blower!

When the weather turns cold and snowy I just want to be inside, cuddled under a blanket, and watching a fire. I have found that I have certain things that I really like to do when the temperature turns cold. Cooking, especially using my crock pot, knitting and reading are on the top of my list. Unfortunately, the exercise turns to the low point on my list.

I hope to post some "winter pictures" and some of my recipes real soon! Hopefully I will be back to blogging on a regular basis!

Cookie Exchange

Take 14 women, 1008 cookies, a couple pots of coffee and some breakfast food, what do you get? One very yummy Christmas Cookie Exchange!

Yesterday morning I hosted my third cookie exchange for the neighborhood ladies, which I consider my good friends. By no means am I an expert at hosting the cookie exchange, but I have learned a couple of things over the years:




First of all, purchase an assortment of food handler gloves. With the cold and flu season every before us, everyone seems to appreciate the use of the gloves.

Secondly, encourage everyone to bring a separate container to bring cookies home it. Note, I have ziploc freezer bags on hand if needed.



Personally, I love to serve breakfast casseroles, fruit and an easy quick bread. This means all my preparation is done ahead of time. The casseroles smell great and they serve a large number of people.

Over the last couple of years questions arise about food allergies and recipe request. To these questions I have no great answers.

Here I am with friends just hanging out and enjoying the Christmas festivities.

Christmas Countdown

Courtesy of Better Homes & Gardens

In just two weeks Christmas will be here! How are your to-do lists coming? Every year I think I am going to be ahead of schedule, so I won't have to stress about all the activities that Christmas brings. I'm still not ahead of schedule but, I feel like I'm managing. Also, I'm enjoying all the outings, parties and concerts that are family is involved with.

I would have to say I'm 90% finished shopping, 50% done with baking, 0% of gifts wrapped, 95% done with the gifts I'm making, 100% decorated and the Christmas letter - up to my husband!! Can we get an amen for delegating!

This next week I do need to make three different dishes for three different parties and I'm hosting the neighborhood / friends Christmas cookie exchange this Saturday. Again, I'm taking it one day at a time. I will post about that a little later.

Here is a picture of a home featured in Better Homes & Gardens that was inspiring to me!

Use What You Have

I'm almost finished decorating for Christmas, thanks to my sister-in-law who has the gift of decorating! She came over the other night to help "tweak" my decorations. I told her to find things around the house and use them.

With difficult economic times, I'm trying to balance my love for decorating at Christmas time without spending extra money. So, I'm using what I have and trying to use things that can be used throughout the year. I have a number of red decorating accents in my home, so it is easy to decorate and add things for Christmas.

Here is one of my favorite things in my house. My old window! This window was weathered the old fashioned way, by staying in the outdoor elements for years. It came from my parents farm. Every season I just change the wreath around. My friend Laurie also did something special with her window that she can use all year long.


This crystal bowl was one of those wedding gifts that I received and I wasn't sure what to do with it. Well my sister-in-law said, "fill it with candy!" Notice that the bag of Hershey Kisses hasn't been opened. In our home, they wouldn't last if they were left open, and in sight.


The cupboard in our half bath has been empty for a long time. I just added some red and green covered books (not even Christmas related) and I rolled up some colored wash clothes and towels that I had.


Our fireplace mantle is almost finished. I have to put some fresh greens on top to fill in some spaces. Here I'm using a vase that is out all the time, just added some red berries. With the winter sign and "red" additions I will be able to use these things throughout winter, not just for the month of December.


The last thing I wanted to show you is my tree skirt. They can be expensive, so I found a round tablecloth, a few years ago, and I cut it down on the one side. It makes a great tree skirt for a little cost and a little work.

Advent

Today is December 1st! So, we put up our new advent calendar. FYI I purchased it last year for $5 at the Pottery Barn Outlet. We have been trying to teach our girls about the true meaning of Christmas and I thought the advent calendar could point to Christ's birth.

My question is, if you have an advent calendar, do you put a small gift in it every day? And what types of mini gifts do you use? I haven't been on "top of things" so the girls got Hershey Kisses. I'm looking for some good ideas!

Growing Up

I had to be twelve to get my ears pierced. My younger sister was ten and now my oldest daughter got her ears pierced at the ripe old age of six!! She wanted to get them pierced so her Daddy and I decided that she was old enough. She was such a brave girl and she didn't cry. Thankfully Libby Lu does both ears at the same time. Enjoy the pictures.

Gift Giving

Over the past few days I have been taking things "easy" as my knee gets back to normal. Monday I started back to teaching, which I am very thankful is part time, so I can come home and "rest" during the afternoon hours.

One of my sweet neighbors found out that I had surgery so she volunteered to watch my youngest daughter for an afternoon! That is no easy task. It is just so wonderful to live in a neighborhood and have friends who can help you out in a pinch.

This makes me think of the morning I woke up and my "water broke" with my youngest daughter. We called upon our neighbors at 6:00 AM to take care of our oldest daughter. Again, so thankful for friends that can help out.

With this in mind, today I was able to drop off some homemade peach jam and a tray of frozen apple crisp to my neighbor who watched my daughter last week. It was great that I had these things on hand - with the mindset to use as a gift or for a time of need. Food always seems to make the perfect gift!

Barbie

You know you are a Mom of two girls when all the band aids in the house are of Barbie! Here is a picture of my knee - can you believe this picture was takin just two days after surgery!

Saturday's Job

Last Saturday I defrosted and organized our garage freezer. I had been so busy cooking meals to freeze that I was running out of room because of all the ice build up. I don't think I defrosted it since we moved five years ago - yikes! But now look at how nice it looks and I had enough room to get all my meals in order.

I love having the prepared food around and it has especially come in handy this week. You see I had surgery on my knee yesterday. Thankfully it was minor and I'm recovering just fine. But it is so nice not to have to plan any meals for the next few days.

What is This?

One of the teachers that I work with has been telling me about this item. Some people think it is from the bottom of the ocean. Some think it is the newest Christmas decoration. Although these are good guesses, the answer is this is

ROMANESCO! You still might be confused about what this is - it is actually a vegetable! I did steam in for dinner and it taste pretty good. It is an Italian Cauliflower with a lime green color. If you ever see this at the store - buy one, break it apart, steam it and serve with a little salt & pepper. No need to add butter.

By the way, this wasn't purchased at the local grocery store. It was purchased from a local organic farm. One I'm going to look into next Spring.

Apple Day

I had off the past two days from my teaching job and I returned to my summer ways of domesticity. Lets just say that I've been cooking up a storm. In my freezer I have 4 meals of sloppy joes, 3 meals of Whiskey chicken, 3 meals of chicken cordon bleu, 4 meals of seafood stuffed shells, and 12 pans of apple crisp.

Yesterday was spent with my friend, Jen. We had two bushels of apples between us and we went after then in full force. We made 22 pans of apple crisp and I canned 9 quarts of apple butter for the first time. Both of us thought it was a lot easier to tackle a big project with the help of a friend, especially when you are questioning the "why" behind what you are doing.





The majority of my recipes came from, Cooking Among Friends. A big batch cookbook, written by a couple of local gals who also happen to sell the tin foil pans by the case. I purchased a case of 500 six years ago, and I'm finally getting low. I did divide up the tins with some other women - they freeze well, stack well, cook in them then throw them in your recycling bin (for easy clean up!)



The other inspiration for a lot of my recipes (especially the apple butter) are from the www.reluctantentertainer.com website. She is great and so inspirational with her ministry of cooking and hospitality.

By the way, I'm not pregnant! I'm just sticking out my gut! I don't want to start the rumor mills!

Pretty In Pink

When people do laundry some have a dark load, some a white load, some a load of towels and some a load of jeans. At our house we should have a load of pinks! My girls both love the color pink and it makes up the majority of their wardrobes.

The funny thing is that when my oldest daughter was born, my husband was adamant that she was not going to wear pink. That only lasted for a few days and now he is surrounded by pink. Funny how things like that turn around!

Fantasy Girl!

Now that I got your attention, I want to clarify things! First of all this is a family blog, so don't worry!!

I just wanted to share with you one of my hobbies - that would be fantasy football. You see my sweet husband loves football and I have to admit that I have always enjoyed it! It is my favorite spectator sport. so, a few years ago (six to be exact), I remember carting around our newborn baby daughter to a fantasy football draft. I had no idea what to expect. We showed up late, grabbed some pizza and started drafting. I was so new to this I didn't have a list of top players, or any idea of who and how to draft. Now, six years later I have a little more idea of who is playing and it brings watching professional football to a whole new level.

Welcoming Fall

Fall is my favorite time of year! There is something about the cool crisp temperatures, beautiful colored leaves and the smell of apple crisp baking. I just love it! Today is one of those days when the temperature is in the upper 50'S with a light rain and it makes you want to curl up with a good book and a cup of tea. So, that is exactly what I have been doing this afternoon.

Recently I have been reminded that we are humanBEINGS not humanDOINGS. So many times I place my own worth based on what I have gotten accomplished for the day - how many loads of laundry, food that has been prepared, cleaning, errands run, etc. Sometimes I just need to allow myself to be and not be so busy.

Here are a couple of pictures of my fall decorating to put you in the mood for welcoming in the fall weather.

Blogging Hiatus

I know I have been MIA lately. Sorry about that! Some of it is just getting back into the groove of teaching and starting off the school year. Most recently it is because of my health. I have been struggling with a "bad knee" since May (actually for the last 19 years from a down hill skiing spill). Anyway, I've had a couple of X-rays and I'm now signed up for an MRI. It is amazing what some good drugs can do for you LOL. Plus, I now have a cold.

Okay - enough complaining about all my failing ailments (I'm starting to sound old). Hopefully I will be back on track real soon.

First Grade

Two missing front teeth - what more can one say about the start of First Grade!

Workout

Recently my sister got me the Biggest Loser Workout video, let me just say, "it is an awesome workout!" I had sweat rolling off my nose. My youngest daughter even worked out with me, and commented that it was a great workout. She told one of my very slender neighbors, "You should do the Biggest Loser". Thankfully, my friend didn't take any offense to the comment.

In regards to exercise here is a great quote, "The difference between good and bad habits is that the reward for a bad habit is temporary and is often followed by negative consequences, and the reward for a good habit can be more long lasting and is often followed by positive results." Think about that one as you are debating between eating that extra brownie or working out.