Called to Mind

Someone dear to me is going through "a sweet and bitter providence," so I sent this Scripture to that friend. A lot of times we need to have Scripture called to mind, don't we? This passage is so encouraging in any season of life:

Lamentations 3

19 Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! 20My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. 21But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

22The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."

Color and Clowns

The nursery (Clara's room at the present) is now full of color, real blinds, AND decorations! I am loving walking in there with a bright cheery orange and sunlight coming through the open blinds. We used to have the temp blinds up, and they were not so temporary since they were up for over a year! All of the clown decor is up. I don't think the pictures do the room justice. Most of the clowns on the walls or the figurines have orange in them, which is where we got the color for the walls.

Justin & Izzy working on putting up new blinds (see those temp blinds we had?):

The two metal clown wall hangings were from my Grandma Moyer. The picture in the middle was from Justin's mom! We bought the hoosier and turned it into a changing station before Izzy was born. All the clown figurines were mine growing up.
The blue clown hanging was given to us by Justin's Grandma Joyce, and the black and gold one pinned to the valance was from my mom when she traveled with Grandma Moyer to Ireland.

The red clown was $3 at the MOPS auction. Nobody wanted it but me. haha.

Clown from Ireland:

Blue Clown:

Sweet Clara can now look around at bright colors and clowns!

XOXOXO

For Valentine's Day, Justin (and Izzy) surprised me with a red Camelia to plant! I have wanted one since we left my first one at the old house. I am sooo excited cause we can train it up the side of the house. :)Hope your V-day was special and spent with the ones you love. After morning church, we had heart-shaped pasta with our pork roast and parmesan garlic roasted asparagus! In the evening, we went back to church and then over to eat breakfast for dinner with our wonderful friends, the Fowlers.

Redneck sledding!

My mom's house got 20" of snow last weekend. Then while they were here in Charlotte, her house got 16" more! She thought she'd missed it, but CHARLOTTE got snow the last night she was here! Our house got 4-5" of fluffy snow, and it was so pretty. Izzy moved the S in snow to the end of the word, so she kept saying "now-s." Does that make sense? (Pronounce it like snow but with the S at the end.)

Friday night:

Aunt Lizz, Clara the penguin, and me Saturday morning before they left:
Saying goodbye:

After they left, we went redneck sledding... in a laundry basket! It was so much fun!!!

Play this video to see Clara, Izzy, and me in action:

Nan & Yizz Visit Charlotte

Aunt Lizz (Izzy says Yizz) and Nana (Izzy drops the second A) drove down to Charlotte on Monday, but it took them extra long due to the snow they received last weekend in PA and northern VA. The traffic was backed up from the plows removing snow from the burm! The roads had been cleared, but you know how traffic piles up when any cop or accident or plow (in this case) is along the side of the road. Anyhow, they made it Monday night. Tuesday-Thursday were spent painting two bedrooms, relaxing, painting, reading, painting, playing with the girls, and painting. I got to try some new recipes on Aunt Lizz and Mom... I love doing that. I'll post the painting pictures in a couple days. I just haven't taken pics of the end products, and Clara's asleep now in her room. On Friday, we went uptown and toured a really good history museum, and then went out for lunch. I will miss having extra hands around next week!!!

Clara eating her first orange (she has only had rice cereal and a little banana yet):

Sisters in front of the Cotton Gin:

Izzy loved turning on the train. I told her to look at the camera, so she moved her head, but those eyes were fixed!

In front of the really cool textile mill replica:

Will you come back SOOOOOOOOON!??

Visiting Grandma Joyce

Justin's dad's mom (Grandma Joyce) cooked up a meal for a bunch of us to celebrate Justin's mom's and two of his aunt's birthdays! We had a good evening in Ft. Mill, SC. :)

4 generations:

Aunt Sandy, Aunt Terry, Trish
Izzy loves her new Cheerleader doll from Aunt Sandy! She was scared of the cheers at first, but now she LOOOOOVES them.

Opening the cards and gifts:

I don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich.

~Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford, "Identity Crisis," M*A*S*H

Skoooool?

In the mornings while Clara takes her 9 o'clock nap, Izzy and I head up to the 3rd floor to do "Skoooool." She asks for it! Anyhow, I have my lesson plans taken from several different places and all mixed together. They're organized by week and day in a binder. We sing an alphabet song with the letter sounds and listen to a chapter of the Bible on cd each day, but the other days we vary between counting, shapes, colors, Science (mammals, sea animals, plants, etc.), geography, and history. Each week has a theme... C for cow, cat, caterpillar. We read books on the life of a caterpillar, make butter out of cream, watch a clip about a baker for letter B, and so much more. She thought Herod was "cary" (scarey) on the cd, and she loves to draw "cirsees" (circles). We have our routine down for the hour of school, and she makes sure that I stick to it--the crayons have to sit in the exact same place on the desk each morning, I can't forget to count the numbers on the number line hung on the wall, etc. Fun, fun!

Impress your friends kinda recipe

I'm posting this recipe cause a friend has asked for it. I want you to PLEASE TRY THIS!!!

Two Thanksgivings ago, my dad and some of his brothers came into town. One evening, we had this meal. It was a real winner. Then I served it to a family from church one Sunday afternoon, and again it was a winner--even for one of the sons who doesn't normally like grits. (I'm not sure why, cause his mom's grits are pretty good.) Seriously, this recipe might not sound amazing, but when you take your first bite, you will be in heaven. And your friends will think you're the best cook ever!

Sausage and Peppers over Smoked Gouda Grits

both recipes and picture from Southern Living

Grits

6 c. low sodium chicken broth

2 c. milk

1 t. salt

1/2 t. white pepper

2 c. uncooked quick-cooking grits

1 2/3 c. shredded smoked Gouda cheese

3 T. unsalted butter

Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil in a medium saucepan, and and gradually whisk in grits. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occassionally, 5-10 min or until thickened and not too soupy. Add cheese and butter, stirring until melted. Yield: 6-8 servings.

Sausage & Peppers

1 (19 oz) package sweet Italian sausage (can use turkey Ital. saus.)

3 red, yellow, or green bell peppers, cut into strips

1 large sweet onion, cut in half and thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 to 2 t. Italian seasoning

1 t. salt

1/2 t. garlic powder

1/2 t. pepper

Garnish: shredded Parmesan cheese

Remove sausage casings and discard (or use ground Italian sausage). Cook sausage and next 7 ingredients in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring until sausage crumbles and is no longer pink and veggies are tender. Serve over the cheese grits. Garnish, if desired. Yield:4-6 servings.