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10 Cups Fresh White Snow (avoid brown or yellow)
1/4 C. Sugar
1 Can Coconut Milk
Whisk it all together. Work quick, snow melts quickly at room temperature.
Tip: Put your coconut milk in the fridge for about an hour ahead of time, to get it good and cold.
Optional: Crush up dye-free candy canes to sprinkle on top. We love the YumEarth brand.
Welcome, Sweet Friend.
First of all, I’m so honored to connect with you in this space. While I occasionally do want to ditch social media from time to time, I’m also not ready to give up on the relationships we’ve made here. I enjoy this space and the joy it brings to my life.
I’m invested in you. I hope that comes out as genuine care, and not creepy. You are important to me. I value the time you spend on the content I create.
I’m just as grateful for the new faces here as I am for those that have stuck with me since my password-protected blog was called Lucky Ducks back in 2006 and the password was “baked beans”. Yep, it happened.
I want to give you a peek at what you’ll see from me in 2022, yet I’m not even sure what the year will bring. I’m grateful that I don’t have to have that all figured out today. God already knows what is to come.
I do know I will be putting a focus on gentle restoration of the mind and body. No sales or memberships, just me, sharing how Jesus redeemed my physical body and mind from a near-death experience.
I’ll be sharing what I’ve invested in for my health, sharing why and how we home educate our children, and whatever else the Lord puts on my heart to present to you here. Of course, there will be plenty of food mentioned, because I’m a momma of 4 and I handle 21 meals a week for 6 gluten-free and mostly dairy free people.
This is and always will be a competition-free zone. I want to be your cheerleader and encourage you in the areas you need it most.
What is on your mind as we head into a new year?
2022 First Quarter Focus Word: CONNECTION
It is two days post Christmas. I’m laying in my bed, sad. This is the first time in many years that I have given in the commercialization of the holiday and while the shopping was fun, it doesn’t feel good today.
I feel physically sick at how emotional I am over this.
I didn’t get to go to the candlelit Christmas Eve service at church and feel the community around me. I didn’t sit in a church pew and feel the comforting weight of hearing the story of our Savior’s birth.
Rather I watched parts of the service on my phone while waiting in line for the car wash bay to open up on the unseasonably warm December day, then arrived later than we expected at my husband’s family Christmas.
The Christmas gifts we gave were investments into health, a sauna for Chad and I to share, clothing, audiobooks and players, paint and canvases, upgrading things that we decided last year no longer served us well (toxic nail polish, etc.) A TV and a couch for our family room, to allow for greater crowds to gather more comfortably in our home.
Small toys that were intentionally picked for the way they spark creativity and free thinking.
Then, after all the gifts were opened, I surprised my husband with a Playstation 5. This may sound fun, but it does not align with our family values. I spent too much on it, and we had already talked about it and decided it wasn’t best for our family.
We’ve had a similar video game system with hundreds of dollars invested into games, and I donated it when it became a problem for our family.
I knew in my heart this wasn’t a gift that would serve us, and I gave it anyway because I liked the wow factor.
If you have one and it works for you or your family, that’s great. I’m glad you can set healthy boundaries and feel it serves you.
To me, it’s invasive. It’s another thing to pull attention away from things that are more productive and bring value to our lives.
It’s the fact that I went against my husband’s wishes, and I’m disappointed in myself.
It’s not just that device weighing on me. It’s all the things that are out of place in our home because we opened new gifts that don’t have their resting places in our home yet.
We are off routine. I ate a whole candy bar over the weekend… twice (too much sugar makes me weepy), and I still don’t have the gifts figured out for our next family Christmas gathering in 2 days.
That’s all.
I’m fine, but I’d like to feel better than that.
My youngest daughter celebrated her half-birthday while we’re safe at home during this coronavirus pandemic. Half birthdays are a big deal when you #CelebrateAbsolutelyEverything like we do.
In an effort to save money where we can, not overwhelm the shipping warehouses and delivery drivers, and create a unique gift that wasn’t just another toy, we used what we had on hand to surprise her with a little something special that is just her style. My craft-lovin’ girl really appreciated this!
This idea was inspired by a rock painting set that she was given by her church grandma, Kathy. Thanks, Kathy!
My girl has the biggest heart and will not keep anything for herself, so when she opened the rock painting kit right away she started making plans for all of us to use the set with her in a “BEST EVER ROCK PAINTING SESSION!”
It really was the best!
We gathered additional rocks from around our home’s landscaping, some big, some small, and all got to work on our own painting projects.
I used Folk-Art acrylic paint (I most of picked ours up from Wal-Mart back at Christmas, some bottles we’ve had on hand for 8 years or more, some was given to me by my mom) and what we had on hand for paintbrushes (we have a lot as our two older kids get new brushes their used ones are handed down to the two younger ones to use for painting on the sliding door with water or for small crafts). You really only need a couple of brushes for this project, and you can use the back of the brush as a dotting tool if needed for adding details.
HOW TO:
You can get as detailed as you’d like. I am so not an artist, so I just painted until I felt like I had enough and stopped. Us non-crafty people are just that way.
When your rock looks how you’d like it to wait a while, or a few days, and hot glue some pieces of scrap material to the back to protect the playing surface. We used felt, and when I say “we” I mean I asked my oldest daughter to do it. She IS creative and loves using a glue gun, so it was a win-win.
I think it’d be fun to design rocks to look like cars or animals as well. Hey mom, will you do this for your favorite grandkids?
We’re making the best of this #SafeatHome movement, and pray you’re doing the same
Truth be told, I am not a big Halloween fan. I don’t like the scary aspect of it, the ghosts, vampires, zombies, etc. BUT I do love playing dress-up, and I love getting to use my creativity. This Scarecrow costume is my old standby. If I can’t come up with anything else (or don’t have time), I always have this one to fall back on. The whole make-up could be done in just a few minutes, add a plaid shirt, and a hat if you have one (a stocking hat could be cute too).
All you really need to pull this off is some black eyeliner, but if you have some eyeshadows, blush, and lip color you can make it extra fun!
Tip: Dampen your makeup brush before you put it in your powder and dab it on to apply. It will appear more vibrant and stay on longer.
This costume idea works great for kids in cooler weather because they can conceal sweats under a plaid shirt.
Hat optional.
You can take a peek at the video below for extra help, or just look at the picture and try to replicate the look for yourself. I swear this is soooo simple, and it would work for babies, toddlers, boys, girls, women, and men of all ages.
Happy Fall, Dear Friends!!
If you do use this tutorial I’d love to see how it turns out for you! You can e-mail a picture to me at aslightlybetterwife@gmail.com that I will feature here on the blog, or through social media (with your permission, of course).
This recipe was born out of a desire to eat my weight in cheese dip during a past Super Bowl, without sacrificing the quality of the food I was putting in my body. I think it’s only fitting to share it now, as we embark on another Super Bowl! Go, Patriots!
The fake cheese in the box has its place, and that’s left on the grocery store shelf.
I started playing around with different cheeses and add-ins to get this “just right”.
Throughout my experimentation, Mr. Awesome and our kids have eaten a lot of cheese dip and given me a lot of great feedback. I’m so appreciative of their willingness to QC my recipes, and I bet after you try this recipe for yourself you will be too!
The way I’m showing you how to do this today is in it’s simplest form. You seriously just toss all the ingredients you see in the picture into a slow cooker, or heat it up in a pan on the stove.
I often double the recipe or just add another brick of cream cheese to stretch it a little, depending on how many people we’re hosting.
This has been my go-to potluck appetizer for the past year, so I’m super excited to share this with you finally!
I’ve found the difference between making this with the store brand or name brand ingredients to be so minimal that I don’t bother spending the extra change on the “good stuff”. Whatever is cheaper at the time works just fine. Stock up a little on these ingredients when they are on sale and you’ll be even better off!
This recipe is easy to tweak to use whatever you have on hand. Sometimes I like to dice real tomatoes and onions, other times I only use canned tomatoes with onions. You can’t mess this one up, I’m sure of it!
The most hearty way we like to make this dip is with a few big scoops of ground hamburger from the meat locker, and some diced tomatoes and onions from the garden. It’s a summertime favorite that is so filling we sometimes just all it supper! Let’s be honest, the delicious really starts with a warm pot of cheese. mmm-mm-mmm!
Cost Break Down (for my fellow math geeks):
$1/box of Cream Cheese (recipe calls for 2)
$2/brick of Cheese
$1/can of tomatoes
$2/bag of Chips
You can serve a crock pot of warm gooey cheese dip + chips to a crowd for about $6! Cost effective, simple, and yummy! That’s a win in my book!
I forgot to hit publish on this one over a month ago!
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I’m savoring sweet sweet Sundays with my girls. ❤ Since the sewing machine was still out from last week when my 11yr old son begged to stitch up his favorite sweatpants -bless his frugal heart-, we bought some fabric and started on birthday + Christmas gifts. I thought my plate was too full and I couldn’t take on even an hour of this, but as it turns out, this is just what I needed to feel refreshed. It also helps that I did 8 loads of laundry and cleaned the kitchen and floors this morning. Once the momentum starts, it doesn’t stop quickly.
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My 32-year old hands love to create and my wandering heart is so happy each time I get another craft-like project started. Lately, I’ve been too busy for creating and it has sucked the joy right out of my journey. No more of that! <- I said out loud. I have to learn to prioritize what matters, and moments like these with my children matter a whole lot.
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There’s just something about your oldest child getting a driver’s license that just makes you realize how short a childhood really is.
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Moms + Dads, don’t waste it, don’t wish it away. Savor it all. ❤ Do the messy stuff, do the things that take a long time, and do the things they ask to do over and over before they stop asking at all.
If only I could go back in time, I think I’d live a few years of my life in a much different way and with greater persistence. Nevertheless, I’m here, and it’s here and now that I’m listening and creating.
As I held the phone in my hand talking to the receptionist and looking at my calendar I held my breath and tried not to let my worry show through the phone lines when she gave me the next available appointment date.
My words said “Great, I’ll take it, thank you”, but my heart said, “Oh no! Why so long!”
We’ve shared with our family and many of our friends, now we want to share with all of you too. About 3 months ago I scheduled my youngest daughter’s routine appointment with her cardiologist. We can typically get in to see him within 2 weeks, but because of some unforeseen circumstances, their calendar was booked out quite a ways.
I hung up the phone and sat down and prayed. The baby was crying, the big kids wanted me, but I needed Jesus so badly in that moment that I just paused and prayed, or I would’ve been bawling too.
I cried out to God and told Him I was SO.WORRIED. I couldn’t imagine waiting 3 months to get in. Even though it was a routine appointment, I like to have the most up-to-date facts, and I wanted them right then. It’s so hard for me to give up control. I begged God to take away the worry since there wasn’t a thing I could do about the wait.
A couple weeks later we visited our favorite pumpkin patch and our kiddos got a bounce house all to themselves while there was a lull in visitors. Best day ever for any kid, right?! Well, you see, our sweet girl NEVER gets to go in bounce houses, because it’s hard for her to keep up with the other kids, and you know, all those stinkin’ germs. So it really was a dream come true for her to bounce alongside of her big brother and sister. She STILL talks about it, months later!
The bad part:
Later that evening and for the next several days she just sat, completely exhausted. She had bounced and bounced until she couldn’t bounce anymore, and now she was paying for it. She didn’t run and play, she didn’t get excited over anything, she was just so calm, but almost seemed limp and pale. She asked to be held and kept her hand near her chest feeling her heartbeat and asking me to feel it often too. It broke my heart.
As much as I want my kids to stand out for their greatnesses, I don’t want them to stand out for their weaknesses. I don’t want anything to slow them down or hinder them from reaching the desires of their hearts.
I knew we couldn’t get into her heart doctor, and even so, what would they be able to do? We prayed.
Fast forward to just last week… It’s late, I’m in bed nearly asleep and Mr. Awesome comes in and asks what time we need to leave for the cardiologist appointment the next day. “What? THAT’S TOMORROW?”
If you know me at all you know I am a planner. I should’ve had outfits laid out, snacks packed, and water bottles filled and activities to keep us busy while we waited. I have calendars and reminders everywhere, and I had somehow (through the grace of God) forgot all about this!
I am so grateful that the weight of the worry was removed so I could just enjoy the days and months leading up to the appointment, rather than looking for all the signs that something was wrong like I had done in the past.
At the doctor’s office what I expected to hear were the words we often hear and are grateful for: “No change, but we will see you in a year”. That’s been fairly typical since we graduated off of every 3-6 month appointments. It sure beats hearing that things are worse.
What we actually heard was something like this: “I am going to dismiss you as a patient, as far as I’m concerned, you are healed”.
What?! Seriously God? You did that? For our sweet girl? For us?
THAT was the new best.day.ever. And I think it may take quite a while for anything to top that.
What the doctor explained typically could heal itself around the age of 15, had healed at age 5! FIVE! I feel like 10 years of waiting and worrying were wiped clean!
Now it doesn’t mean her condition has totally disappeared, but it as not anywhere near a place that surgery would be considered a necessity, which we had thought at one point as we held her in his office when she was an infant.
She’s to go on and enjoy life. No problem, enjoying life is what this girl does!
Friends, I have said I’m giving things to God before, but I can be a bit of a control-freak and take it right back. This time, I gave it, I trusted Him, and I didn’t turn back.
What a gift it was to follow through, and to feel His blessings poured out on us.
We explained what all the doctor talk meant, and asked our girl how she wanted to celebrate, letting her know that ANYTHING was game. Her choice, MCDONALDS for the “expensive ice cream”. Oh, my heart! I love her to pieces!
You know we love to Celebrate Absolutely Everything, but this thing, this sweet and glorious thing, really deserved celebrating.
Please, celebrate with us and head out for ice cream soon. You can tag us on Facebook or Instagram, and use our hashtag #CelebrateAbsolutelyEverything.
Need a last minute snack idea for the super bowl, but short on time, or maybe ambition? I’m guilty of both this year! Well then give this little shortcut a try!
It’s still creative and cute, and will impress your guests, but you won’t have to go to much fuss at all. Yeah! That’s just my style!
What you need:
Not that you even need directions for this, but let me provide them real quick anyway.
First I dumped two bags of the party mix into a big bowl.
Then I measured 1 cup of mix into each baggie. I should’ve used snack sized bags, but I didn’t have any on hand, so I used sandwich bags, zipped them, folded them in half, and put a small piece of tape on the back side to make it appear like it was totally intentional.
I made up these little tags (that you can download below), & cut them down to size with my favorite paper cutter (a scissors would absolutely work too).
Then I hole-punched them, and used the ribbon I had on hand to tie them onto the bags. To be sure they didn’t slip off I added another small piece of tape to hold the ribbon onto the bag. If you’re keeping them at your house on a platter or in a bowl, you could totally omit that last step. We were taking some of ours to a bake sale, so I wanted to be sure the tags stayed on during transporting.
There are two sets of tags, one with allergy information, and one without. Free for you to use for personal use only. If you’d like to share this idea, please link back to my post here. ENJOY!
Super Bowl Snack Mix With Allergy Alert ASBW
~What is Making YOU Smile Today?~
Last week I shared this image on my Facebook Page:
With the caption:
Is there anything more glorious than a brick of new pencils? Yes there is, getting to sharpen them! I’m a self-proclaimed office supply addict, so I get that you all may not be as excited as I am over this sight. I’m sharing anyway, because new pencils make me smile!
If you find yourself in need of 144 #2 pencils, click that link above and order yourself a box!
For 15 years I have thought the only pencils that performed well were the expensive name brand pencils that the popular kids carried in their book bags in high school. I was wrong. These are just as good!
I definitely think there are some cheap pencils out there that do not write as smooth, or show up as well on paper, but I can assure you you will not be disappointed by these.
I believe life is about Celebrating Absolutely Everything. For me, that means I am smiling and finding joy in a brick of new pencils. Yes it’s no big deal, I get that, really I’m not some crazy that thinks everything is perfect and life is a breeze. I choose JOY though, because it’s a whole lot better than the alternative.
Dear Friends, would you please choose joy also? It would mean so much to me!
Blog Reader Preview: I have a new website that will very slowly be launching (life is busy), and it will be all about celebrating the mundane moments of life. Start looking at the ordinary as an opportunity to seek joy, and be on the look out for a place to share that joy here soon!
