A Penny For Your Thoughts

  My Friday Favorites....     My new camera!  I am so loving it.  Photography is something I have always wanted to explore and I now have a camera that is not annoying and not my phone :)  I am having so much fun with it. I can't wait to have some extra time to go on the hunt for some beautiful country churches and barns.  Oh,  and of course I also wanted a pretty and unique camera strap, as well as a "retro" camera case to accompany it.  I like to name the inanimate objects in my life so the camera will fondly be known as "Stella".   The perfect pairing for fall.  Creamer is probably my favorite pumpkin flavored anything... and as we all know, everything comes in pumpkin flavor in the fall now a days.      Farming.  Well, watching The Man farm I should say.  I am so proud of his profession :)     Our little hometown grocery and their fruit dip is to die fo...

So this is what I do for the majority of the day...   Work at my desk.  A necessary evil to almost every job.   Drive around in this cool ride.  I know, you're jealous.   Read books to children...and get paid for it.   Some of my props for Stellaluna (one of the best children's books ever)....that is a bat puppet, not a beaver as my oldest thought. I also do a lot of boring day to day tasks, but hanging out with the preschoolers is pretty awesome :)

  Everyone needs a quick and easy go to for busy nights.  I am sure I did not make this up completely on my own, but it was the result of what was in the pantry one night, and I must say it is YUMMY :)     Hamburger Casserole   2 pounds browned ground beef, I brown mine with 1/2 a chopped onion   1 package cooked egg noodles, I use No Yolks noodles   1 can cream of mushroom soup   1/2 a soup can of milk   1 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese     I mix the ingredients together except for the cheese and put in a casserole dish.  Top with the shredded cheddar. Then pop it in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.      See, Yummy and Easy !!! I hope you enjoy :)         

        Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.  ~ Sir James M. Barrie, British writer 

    So far this is what October is looking like for me....     Cooking...Soups and comfort foods like Chili, Potato Soup, and Cookies.   Drinking...more coffee than in the summer and adding those yummy flavored creamers.   Pinning...Elf ideas and fall decor.  I love decorating for fall.   Crafting... Lately hair accessories again like bows and hair ties.   Smelling...Candles like apple cinnamon and maple.   Reading...The Fifth Gospel by Bobby Conway   Thanking... Jesus for a greater peace with my Mom's battle with breast cancer and the opportunity to start talking about it more and dealing with the feelings and fears it left me with.        

   Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.   ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:11     As a  mother, I know that words have the power to build up or tear down.  I believe in encouragement and love with my words.  However, I am sarcastic by nature and I also see how my sharp tongue seems to have it's own mind.  It truly  is a double edged sword.    Recently, my friend told me she finds me to be "so creative".  Who me?  I had been in a slump and her words alone, sparked me to start letting my "creative juices flow" again.  I have been trying to do a craft, write something, etc, each week now.  I am rising up to the challenge to be Creative!!   I am also paying this forward.  I am encouraging my daughters more, encouraging my husband, and encouraging my friends.   I am not giving false compliments, but rather looking for things that ...

  Crayons and Colored Pens/Pencils, and Stickers....OH MY !!!!   Art Journaling.  Have you heard of it?  I love to journal and have recently started back on a more consistent basis.  I used to journal in a very "Dear Diary" form....this got incrediably boring after my day became less "exciting"  and without the "young angst" of boyfriends, friend drama, etc.  To journal about cooking, cleaning, burping babies, etc on a day to day basis loses it's appeal quick.    I started switching from journaling to list making.  I started making "I Did" lists in the evenings instead of "To Do" list because it is much more satisfying to see what you have accomplished instead of what you did not.  But I didn't see this is journaling since I usually just threw the list away.   Then I tried scrapbooking.  Well, I decided I was more into collecting the stickers, papers, stamps, etc.  Sitting down to collage photos just di...

Happy Friday!! This is just a small window into this busy week.  Homecoming will be it's own post all together.  This is what I did post on IG this week: Our family decided to skip the football game since it was away and built a fire instead. It was the perfect night for it and there was a lot of giggling, singing along to the itunes playlist, and the girl's having to listen to Doug and I reminisce about our Homecoming Glory Days since homecoming week was coming up. Sneaking a pic of Madi in her basketball huddle, she was not impressed :) I finally did some real grocery shopping....I am now broke. Madi refuses to dress up for School Spirit Week (she is adorable and very junior highish). Lucy on the other hand was all about Spirit Week.  This was Elderly Day. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  I made this pumpkin last year (it is paper mache). My momma died 14 years ago from this horrible disease...