Happy 4th of July & WLWW Link-Up Party!

July 3, 2012 by Courtney 20 Comments

The 4th of July Party preparations are in full swing here at our house!

My 4th of July wreathe is up!

The annual making of the Dirt Cake is done – Lexi chopped all the oreos for me – the kitchen is a mess but it’s done .

The slip and slide is ready!

In the morning, I’ll be spray painting a twister board like this for all the cousins (and maybe some adults too!) to play a HUGE game of twister on.

Soon Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Grandparents will stream through the door! And the fun will begin. The night will end with viewing fireworks that display over a local lake from our backyard! LOVE that!

If it rains and it’s cancelled – that’s okay – we already saw fireworks this past Saturday at a Carnival – here’s a few pics from the carnival:

Happy 4th of July! God Bless the U.S.A.

_________________________________________________________________________

And NOW…

It’s Living Well Wednesday – Link-up time!!!

If you have never taken the time to check out these other bloggers – you are missing out! The ladies that link-up below are amazing writers and creators and I just know that one of them is going to encourage you today! So you’re invited to come on in!

Join the fun, do a little blog hopping and don’t forget if you link-up below -please add the Women Living Well Wednesdays button to your post so your readers can find us here! (Posts can include the topics of marriage, parenting, homemaking, homeschooling, finances, recipes, organization and more!)

To find the code go to the sidebar – or right click and “save as” the button and then upload it into your post!

Walk with the King,

Filed Under: Holidays, Women Living Well Wednesdays

Our New Years Eve Traditions

December 30, 2011 by Courtney 39 Comments

In my 36 years of life, I have never celebrated New Year’s Eve without sauerkraut and cabbage rolls! Since I was born, my extended Hungarian family has gathered on New Years Eve and eaten what we call “Pigs In the Blanket“. About 9 years ago, I inherited the holiday as mine and I love making cabbage rolls for the entire extended family.

(pictured above – cabbage roll, sauerkraut, creamed corn, mashed potatoes, homemade crescent roll, apple sauce)

I know the plate lacks color lol! But in this home – this is comfort food and we love it.

Every year my sisters come and help me make my pigs in the blanket while the kids play together. This is a picture from last year’s cooking day.

And party time!

I am so blessed to have wonderful sisters – We do have fun together!!!

Another tradition is to make a Time Capsule. I take a Quaker Oats canister and turn it into a capsule!

From the youngest to the oldest, every single person in attendance at our party puts something into the Time Capsule to remind them of the past year. Some of the things that have gone into the Time Capsule over the years are ultra-sound baby photos, business cards to new jobs, vacation photos, school papers, Binky’s, match box cars, sports memorabilia, and much more! And I must admit, I have NEVER made it through the passing of the capsule without crying!!! It always touches me deeply to see how much God does in just one year in all of our lives!

After putting our items in, we open a capsule from 5 years previous and reminisce

Then we watch the ball drop and kiss into the New Year. We each kiss every single person there – so that takes a while to make the rounds!

Then we pour sparkling grape juice – someone makes a toast and we drink to it! Oh it is truly a blessed night to go into the new year with my favorite people on earth!

So that’s what we do here in our home! What are your New Years Eve traditions?

Walk with the King!

My Pigs In The Blanket recipe:

1 pound hamburg
1/2 onion cut fine
1 cup rice
salt and pepper
dash of sugar
1 tablespoon of water
1 head of cabbage
1 Jar of sauerkraut 32oz.

Mix all of the above ingredients except the cabbage and sauerkraut in a bowl.

Put a pan of water on to boil. Cut and core the cabbage. Place the cabbage in the boiling water, core face down, and let the leaves come off one at a time.

Take a large pot and put a layer of sauerkraut along the bottom. Then roll a small amount of filling in a leaf. Make a layer of cabbage rolls and then layer it with sauerkraut and then a second layer of cabbage rolls. And top it with sauerkraut.

Fill the pan with water – sprinkle the top with pepper and let it come to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer until the rice is done and the meat is cooked through (around 3 hours). Enjoy!

When I make my pigs, I triple this recipe and get around 26 cabbage rolls.

Filed Under: Holidays

A Modern Version of the Christmas Story

December 8, 2011 by Courtney 11 Comments

I posted both of these videos last Christmas season and I thought I’d post them again because they are so well done.

They tell a modern version of the Christmas Story. Enjoy!

Walk with the King!

Filed Under: Christmas, Holidays

My Christmas Mantel

December 5, 2011 by Courtney 24 Comments

The above picture is NOT my mantel lol! This was my inspiration for my Christmas Mantel! Melissa from the Inspired Room shared her mantel above and I {swooned} and dreamed and thought – hmph – wonder if I could do something like that? (By the way, her mantel was featured on HGTV and in Cottages and Bungalow Magazine and she’s a contributor over at RooMag.com with me!! This girl has talent!)

So I went to my favorite stores…like Target, JoAnn’s, Walmart lol!…and dug through my old Christmas items…looking for something similar to the above. And here’s how it turned out…(since my fireplace has darker wood it doesn’t look quite as similar as I had hoped…but I tried )

I found the snowflake hangars similiar to Melissa’s at Target – hooray! And the white stockings were at Walmart for $6.97 each – FAB!

While I was at Target I found these – so simple and cute – the green wall needed some color:

But after I put them up it looked terribly lopsided and boring because I was too cheap to buy a second red tree for the other side lol!

So I stood back and pondered…what can I put on the other end of the mantel? And then it came to me…my Dayspring Set of 2 Glass Hurricanes that say “Giving Thanks”.

Voila! Done!

Edith Shaeffer says in the Art of Homemaking

“If you have been afraid that your love of beautiful flowers and the flickering flame of the candle is somehow less spiritual than living in starkness and ugliness, remember that He who created you to be creative gave you the things with which to make beauty and gave you the sensitivity to appreciate and respond to his creation. Creativity is his gift to you and the ‘raw materials’ to be put together in various ways are His gift to you as well.”

Enjoy decorating your homes! You reflect the image of our creator when you create.

Walk with the King!

Courtney