Just had to share with you :)

I just stumbled across a shop on Etsy that I love - box64studios. Her work is just perfect! I think that she and I would be great friends. :)

Kelly uses beautiful vivid colors and combines them with words from hymns and scripture in a way that creates pieces that put the old words into a fresh setting. It somehow makes them stand out more and is just so lovely.

Kelly also offers a bunch of other things in her shop, one of which is a printable baby's first year calendar that is just darling. :)



all images copied from box64studios

I've joined the flock

I know Twitter has been around for a while now, but I haven't been that sure that I wanted to be a "tweeter".
Until yesterday morning, that is.


It's actually kind of fun!

God makes beautiful things

"Beauty out of dust, beauty out of us"


amen

strawberry scones

If you've ever had your scones turn out heavy and rather unappetizing, you  might be thinking "hm, those look good but I can't make them". You can. I did. And they are sooooo light and creamy! I found the recipe over on Annie's Eats (I really love her recipes!) and have made it over and over.

The main difference between this recipe and the other ones I have tried (and I have tried many) is that is calls for yogurt instead of cream or half and half. Maybe that's what makes them so good?
These also freeze really well!

Strawberry Scones
Ingredients:
1 large egg
¼ cup plain or vanilla yogurt
½ cup milk
1 tsp. orange or lemon zest [I've been using orange and it tastes wonderful!]
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
8 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 heaping cup diced fresh strawberries [I use thawed frozen berries because they are cheaper - and because I usually have some on hand]

Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, yogurt, milk and citrus zest until blended; set aside.  In the bowl of a food processor combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Pulse briefly to blend.  Add the butter pieces to the bowl with the dry ingredients and pulse several times to cut the butter into the flour, until the largest butter pieces are the size of small peas.  (If you don’t have a food processor, you can just as easily mix up the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and cut in the butter using a pastry blender or two knives or forks.)  Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl.

Add the strawberries to the flour mixture and toss to coat.  Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and gently fold together with a fork or spatula until a sticky dough has formed.  Knead just a few times to ensure that all the dry ingredients are incorporated and the dough is cohesive.  (Only if absolutely necessary, add more milk 1 tablespoon at a time to hydrate the remaining dry ingredients.)
Transfer the dough to a well floured work surface and pat into a disc about 7-8 inches in diameter.  Sprinkle lightly with additional sugar.  Slice the disc into 8 wedges.

To bake the scones, preheat the oven to 425˚ F.  Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.  Place the shaped scones on the prepared baking sheet and bake until lightly browned on top, about 15 minutes.  Let cool a few minutes before serving.

To freeze, transfer the baking sheet with the shaped scones to the freezer and let them chill until they are firm, 30-60 minutes.  Wrap the scones individually and store in a freezer-safe bag until ready to bake.  Bake as originally indicated, adding a few minutes to the baking time (usually about 18-20 minutes for me.)

God-powered Mothering

 One of the blogs I follow - Femina, written by Nancy Wilson and her daughters/daughter in law - posted about loving our children. Not just loving them, though, but loving them with a I Corinthians 13 kind of love, a Christ-like love. I was thinking of paraphrasing what they wrote, but it's all good!
So here it is:

"1. Love is longsuffering. Moms will have plenty of provocations in this world, so they need to be able to suffer for a long time. Some of this longsuffering involves putting up with people who degrade motherhood and despise children. Moms need to think long term, give themselves a good job description, and adopt God’s view of the high calling of motherhood.
2. Love is kind. “She openeth her mouth with wisdom and on her tongue is the law of kindness” (Proverbs 31:26). Much kindness (and unkindness) comes via words. Pervasive kindness means listening, forgiving, anticipating, speaking, and doing. It includes physical comforts for your kids: giving them clean beds, warm food, soap and water. It is a LAW of kindness, which means it includes discipline and instruction that is given kindly.
3. It is not envious. Not of other mothers, not of other people’s children or their accomplishments or grades or personality. This means no comparisons with the other siblings, no complaining. Children feel their parents disapproval and it can crush them.
4. It does not vaunt (parade) itself. Moms should be careful not to provoke others to envy (or disgust or weariness) by putting their children on display in a bragging way, hijacking every conversation back to the report card or the clever cuteness. This does not mean that moms should not praise their children and rejoice in their accomplishments. But the Christmas letter should not be full of vaunting.
5. Love is not puffed up. This implies being full of oneself. And this is the kind of mom who cannot be taught by her own children because the kids are never right, and mom is never wrong. This kind of parent is full of her own authority and looks to lord it over the kids rather than love them. She demands attention.
6. Does not behave rudely (unseemly). This means improper or inappropriate behavior. We’ve all seen this at the grocery store: “You are driving me crazy! I am going to count to three and then I’m leaving you here!” Love does not threaten. Love takes responsibility. Love doesn’t over-share about her children’s needs, failures, weaknesses, or sins.
7. Seeks not its own. This kind of mom gives herself away. Home is for the family, and the schedule is for the kids, not the kids for the schedule. This means family night is not the night the kids dread.
8. Not easily provoked. This kind of supernatural love doesn’t react. It sees the big picture and doesn’t flip out over spilled milk or muddy shoes.
9. Thinks no evil. She hears both sides of the story first before making a judgment. She doesn’t believe everything she hears. She does not attribute motives.
10. Does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. When someone else’s child fails or flunks or loses, she does not do a victory dance.
11. Bears all things. Sickness. Slowness. Messiness. Childishness. She can bear these things if she has supernatural love.
12. Believes all things. She loves the truth! She lives it out and she teaches her children to believe.
13. Hopes all things. This kind of supernatural love can believe that God is in control of all things, even this sickness or this frustration or this loss. This kind of mom hopes in God and knows He is writing her story and her children’s stories.
14. Endures all things. Who can do this without the supernatural love and power of God?

15. Love never fails. This love sees the kids to the finish line with faith and courage.
Okay, so who doesn’t need supernatural love to do this? Pray to God for it! He loves to give the supply."


He does love to give when we ask (especially when we ask for things that make us more like Him), and always will.

Asking God for love like His reminded me of the verses at the end of Ephesians 3:
^"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,
  that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,
 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."

Amen and amen.


  

sweet words

I just stumbled upon Banter Banner. It's such a fun company! They make a variety of banners with different phrases, all reflecting the company motto: "because we should celebrate everyday".

And one of the great things about these banners? They're each just $10. :)

ah, commitment. and love that's been tried and found true.

this couple is just darling! they honestly recognize each other's faults, but then love them anyway. day after day, and year after year. that's what a lasting marriage takes!

a summer sunday morning

The tree outside our window.

This blog post by Ann Voskamp spoke to me, especially these lines:
"The most enchanting days never cost a thing, only that you pay attention.
I slow down and open the eyes wide and dig deep into the pocket of me.

I'm thinking now is worth all I have."

Ian is wearing a romper/faux suit that Mimi gave him at the shower and Emma is wearing a romper that Grammie bought while she was here. They looked so cute!

Emma wanted her picture taken, but wasn't quite so sure about smiling.

oh, this was funny!

maybe I can reconcile myself to driving a minivan?

this moment

A few pictures from this afternoon when Emma was napping:

Also, there's a woman that writes a blog that I follow who wrote a good - and really long - post the other day about parenting. Here's a snippet:


"Fear based parenting ... is when parents motivate their children to do what is "right" out of fear. Just plain fear. ...
Fear is sin. I do not want to parent my children based on my fears.
I do not want to raise fearful children either. I believe if we parent this way we can hinder our children from understanding who God is.
...
There are a few different types of fear based parenting possibly?
-parenting according to what we FEAR others will think of us.
-parenting where we actually plant FEAR in the hearts of our children [ultimately not trusting the Lord].
-over protecting out of FEAR.
-motivating our children to behave the way we want them to out of FEAR of us, or fear of hell, or fear of punishment.
...
I think fear based parenting is something that can easily sneak into our relating to our children without even realizing it."

There's a lot more too, just her recent thoughts on being a godly mother.

just to let you know ...

... the sweet and talented Lisa Leonard is having another giveaway!

new project

more photos and instructions over here

something pretty

I just posted a pictorial tutorial for how to make the little fabric flowers that I wear over on the market blog. :) And you can buy them here, if you'd like.

free coffee and stewardship

Darcie's post - all things to enjoy ... richly - got me to thinking about that verse. I had to get out a concordance to find it, though! Our wonderful God has given us all things, for us to enjoy! So amazing.

Starbucks is giving away cups of coffee today. They are trying to promote Earth Day and respect for our environment, so if you bring in a reusable mug they will fill it with free coffee. Nice! I love free coffee!

I appreciate it when businesses offer incentives for people who are trying to be good stewards of what God has entrusted them with. At the same time, though, I try to remember that we are commanded to master the Earth (Genesis 1:28-30), not the other way around. It can be so easy to develop selfish and wasteful habits, but it is also easy to lose focus and allow our efforts to be good stewards to rule us.

So, if you are out and about today and would like a little pick-me-up, take a thermos into Starbucks and enjoy some free coffee as you save a paper cup.


"Instruct those who are rich in this present world [as Americans, we are wealthy, even if our income is below the poverty level] not to become conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy."

-I Timothy 6:17

random pretties

Have any of you seen these tea cups at Starbucks? Super cute. I think I might end up using the biggest one for eating out of if I got them though - I love using small bowls for my cereal, soup, etc. :)

recipe: Island Spice Pork

I found a recipe a few days ago for a pork tenderloin that looked really good.

Normally I steer away from pork recipes because I'm not that fond of pork, but recently we have been buying it because it's cheap (and cheap is good). We buy tenderloins (quite a sizable portion of meat!) at Sam's Club and John cuts them down into chops (much more our size) and freezes them in packs of three or four. It ends up being an economical way to get good protein in our diets, and allows us to experiment with recipes we might not otherwise try, not wanting to ruin a large piece of meat.

I found this recipe on the blog "Annie's Eats" (which has some very good recipes and nice pictures of those recipes ... makes your mouth water :)) and the only modification that John made when he cooked it was that he used pork chops instead of a tenderloin. It was so delicious!!! As Annie mention in her post, it is an odd combination of spices, but it works well. Really well!!!

Ingredients:
For the spice rub:
2 tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 pork tenderloins (about 2-2½ lbs. total) - we used 4 pork chops instead and had some of the rub left over
2 tbsp. olive oil

For the glaze:
½ cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tbsp. (2-3 cloves) finely minced garlic
1½ tsp. Tabasco sauce

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Combine the salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder and cinnamon in a small bowl. Stir together with a fork to blend. Pat the mixture over the pork tenderloins.

Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Place the tenderloins in the skillet and brown on all sides, turning occasionally, about 4 minutes total. Remove from the heat, leaving the pork in the skillet.

Stir together the brown sugar, garlic and Tabasco in a small bowl until blended. Spread the mixture evenly over the tops of the tenderloins.

Place the skillet in the preheated oven and roast about 20 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center of each tenderloin registers 140˚ F. Loosely tent the skillet with foil and let stand 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

such a fun giveaway

Lisa of Lisa Leonard Designs is having a fabulous giveaway over on her blog ........................ oh, I'd love to win!!!!!!!!!!

some pretty spring things

blooming lattice cardigan

So, the new Anthropologie catalog came the other day. And some of the new spring things were so .......... pretty.

dewbud tee

magnified geranium blouse

javanica tote

foliage bag

Yes, so pretty. And so out of my price range. :) A girl can dream, right?

spring is coming!

and there is a new post up over at the market blog.

new favorite knitting book

new favorite knitting book, originally uploaded by Lizi Beth.

and the beginnings of a sweater vest for Emma (using yarn from a cotton sweater that was just too short on me for my liking).

This knitting book - Essential Baby by Debbie Bliss - is just too sweet! It's projects are all classic and timeless, and range in time consumption from itty-bitty socks to a jumper or lacy blanket.
And the instructions are clearly written, too (a HUGE plus in my opinion!).