Jesus Loves Me...

It's been a very long time since I've posted here...with illnesses, tent meetings, Bible schools, doctor visits, revivals, and just plain old tiredness...I've been too busy to do so. However, today I really just wanted to share this video of my sweet "Sissy" singing one of her MANY favorite songs. She has a cheerful spirit about her that will brighten any gloomy day...and at 3 yrs old...she has just the right words to say when you need to hear them. If you do not hear her singing...she is probably sleeping! I believe that God has great plans for my girl...if nothing more than to make her Momma super happy! I hope you all have a great day!

(and yes...I know that this video is super huge...I have NO idea how to shrink it! But to view it full screen to remove the distractions...scroll to the right and click the fullscreen button. So I'll apologize in advance for it making my page look strange!!!)


"And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein."
- Luke 18:15-17

Cinnamon: The Fragrance of Love

Earlier this week my husband and I entertained a few of our friends (including a newly engaged couple...Matt & Kayla...Congrats!) with a fish fry and fellowship. We fried up loads of bass and some good ole' hushpuppies and sat around talking for a little. The guys got bored so they took the kids outside for some bubble blowing, football throwing, horseshoe flinging fun. So us girls took advantage of the empty house and began cleaning up the kitchen. Inspired by all of the frying and oil splattered all over the stove I decided to go ahead and try a dessert recipe that I saw on a friends Pinterest board. (Since we'd already greased up the kitchen and killed our healthy eating for the night...Why Not?...Good excuse right?) Kayla and I thought it might be a nice surprise for the guys. *And I cannot resist a snickerdoodle flavored anything!!!*

Here's the link to the recipe: http://www.ohbiteit.com/2012/12/snickerdoodle-poppers.html 

I checked the fridge for flaky canned biscuits (which is jokingly a 'sin' to buy in our family)...we actually had some! The week before, my hubby bought some in hopes that I would get the hint and make "doughnuts"...didn't happen! Then I checked for pudding...SCORE! White Chocolate Jello Puddin'...it SERIOUSLY tastes like cake batter! I *always* have cinnamon on hand so now I know I'm ready to start cooking! Mix puddin', cut dough, roll dough, drop in oil, dip out, roll in cinnamon/sugar, and squeeze in puddin' (I used a pastry bag and medium piping tip).

The windows were open in the kitchen to let out some of the heat and apparently...to men...the smell of hot oil and cinnamon is like the smell of clover to a bee. They came flying in the house..."What's that smell?" It's true...the house smelled like pure love! There is just something about the smell of cinnamon...it evokes a happy, lovey feeling when it is warmed up.

Here's the first 1/2 of the batch!

They popped them left and right with a glass of milk and went on and on about how they really shouldn't have another...(while stuffing their mouth with...just one more!). My word...those little things were good! I enjoyed mine with a nice warm cup of coffee...the guys had milk with theirs.

I realized just how enticing they were when Matt asked Kayla (his soon to be bride) if she paid CLOSE attention to how I made them ;) I guess they were a hit! This got me thinking about the effects of smells..."aromatherapy" is a real thing...smells trigger memories, thoughts and feelings. To this day, the smell of plumeria takes me back to being at my babysitter's house when I was a little girl...old musty books remind me of the Joanna Library...CoolWater cologne for men takes my mind back to my first sweetheart...the smell of burning wood makes me wanna curl up on the couch...honeysuckle reminds me of playing outside in the summer as a kid... lavender makes me tired and the smell of cinnamon makes me want to kiss my husband ;)

Upon further research...I found that cinnamon is mentioned in the bible for quite a range of things. Solomon speaks of  cinnamon in the 4th song when describing his lover as a garden of rich spices. In Exodus chapter 30, God commands Moses to use pure myrrh, cinnamon and calamus and cassia then mix in olive oil to make holy anointing oil. In Proverbs chapter 7 there is a warning to young men of temptations of a harlot that uses cinnamon to fragrance her bed to seduce and tempt. And in Revelations chapter 18 there is mention of cinnamon as one of the great merchandises or luxuries of great value that will be consumed when the city of Babylon is cast down.

It appears to me that cinnamon has great power over the desires of man's heart. Maybe I'm reading too much into it but thats why we are all  instructed to do our own studying and research?

"Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.

A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.

Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard,

Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:

 A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon." 

-Song of Solomon 4:11-15

uh oh....

For my followers...I had a health scare yesterday and I was told to get much rest so I'll be away from the blogosphere for a few days! Hopefully I'll be back to crafting and posting in no time! Thank you in advance for your patience :)

Forget Gangnam Style...its Bee Style now!

So yesterday my son comes into the living room laughing and wiggling his little hiney on my leg...over and over and over. I asked him to stop and he says "I can't...I'm communicating with you! Bee's dance on each other to communicate, so that's what I'm doing!" I laughed like crazy and said "Well, I don't speak bee so what are you trying to communicate to me?" he simply says "I love you!" and flutters off. It was so cute...I absolutely could not stop laughing! Well, in honor of my little honey bee...tonight I baked a Honeylicous Honey Bee Coffee Cake and thought I'd share it with y'all! So here goes...

Ingredients:

      1      9oz package of white cake mix
                (this particular box was 15oz so I used a little over half)
         1     egg, room temp
               (I don't have time to wait on one to come to temp so I placed it in a                     cup of warm water)
1/2 cup     milk, room temp 
     4oz     cream cheese, softened (or in my case...zapped for 15 seconds)
 4 Tbsp     sugar
1/4 cup     honey
 2 Tbsp     butter, softened
 1/2 tsp     almond extract
1/4 cup     chopped almonds
 2 cups     crushed Honey Combs cereal (I let Morgan do the crushing ;) I put a bunch of cereal in a gallon freezer Ziploc...pushed all the air out...zipped it up...then turned her loose with a rolling pin while I prepared all of the other ingredients.

-Preheat oven to 350*F.
-Lightly grease a 9-inch square pan
-Beat cake mix, egg and milk for 2 minutes and pour into pan
-In a small bowl, mix cream cheese and sugar until smooth
-Spoon cream cheese mixture onto cake batter and spread evenly

-In a large bowl whip together honey, butter and almond extract
-Add crushed cereal and almonds; mix well

-Sprinkle cereal mixture over batter & cream cheese in pan
-Bake for 25 min or until golden brown and center springs back when lightly touched

(optional: drizzle honey over top after baked)
*Best when served warm*  

This was delicious and I enjoyed it with a nice warm mug of coffee on this absolutely freezing "Spring" night!

I hope you try this out and enjoy it as much as I did...if you do...come back and tell me how it went :)

"But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people,"

                                                            -Leviticus 20:24

              

I have an addiction ;)

My name is Savannah and I've been an addict for most of my life ;) I'm a jar-aholic! I love any kind of glass vessel...but mostly Mason jars! As a kid...I collected all kinds of glass bottles and jars...coke bottles, pickle jars, apple juice bottles, baby food jars, even peanut butter jars. We drank from Mason jars, collected lightening bugs in pickle jars, stored small items such as buttons or safety pins in baby food jars, organized pens and such in peanut butter jars and there is a really funny story about an apple juice bottle (when used to be sold in little glass bottles) that I MAY share with you one day...just not today...lol. I'd find old liquor or wine bottles on the side of the road and I'd take them home, wash them, remove the label and stick a flower or rocks in them just to decorate my room. Now that I'm "grown" I still have an obsession with glass bottles and jars. We have remodeled our kitchen recently and I've decided that my decor theme will be Mason Jars...and of course I've picked a theme that you can't buy pre-made decor for so I'm improvising. So over the next month I'll be posting randomly about my Mason Jar kitchen. Today I'll share with you how I customized a few jars to match my color scheme PERFECTLY. All I needed was my jars, the left over paint from the wall trim, a long paint brush, a cookie cooling rack and some Dollar Tree flowers.

 I poured a little paint in the bottom of the jar, spread it out all over the inside of the jar with my paint brush, turned it upside down on a cheap old cooling rack with (newspapers underneath) and let it dry overnight. The rack isn't technically necessary...I just didn't want a pool of paint in the bottom which would occur if it was left upright to dry. So I flipped it upside down to let the paint drip down.

It may not look clean from the inside but the outside is virtually perfect and since I'm putting flowers in it, those imperfections will be covered up. Now with this technique, obviously, you couldn't put real flowers and  water in it but for artificial flowers...its perfect! Real flowers do not fare well in my home so I tend to go fake :) If you put artificial ones in a clear jar...you can still see those ugly plastic stems. But with painting the inside, instead of the outside, you get the color you want and still see all the beauty that the jar has to offer.

I bought cheap flower bunches at the Dollar Tree in creams and whites to compliment my kitchen colors, cut them off at the base, and arranged them like a bouquet and then just dropped them in my pretty little jars! I made 2 of them to put in the empty corners of my counter top. I love them but my husband thinks I've gone Mason Jar Mad! 

I would also like to share with you how I keep Raylan protected, during my crafty moments, from Rowdy Wyatt (who has never learned to WALK and seems to think that running is the best way to get around). I've had a few people ask me..."How do you do it? How do you find time with a new baby in the house?"

...Well, I keep him close to me at all times ;)

By the way...I'm sorry for the long delay in posts :( But please excuse me...It was a holiday weekend ya know ;)

What...No Candy?

Getting a little jump on today's post...guess that morning Butter Pecan flavored coffee gave me just the boost I needed for the morning! I better keep that pot filled today because it certainly was a long night. Anyway, as promised yesterday, I'm sharing with you my Easter egg fillers. I like to put non-candy things in my eggs...What? No Candy? You may ask yourself if I'm off my rocker...got screws loose...one crayon short of a full box...Bless her heart, she has left the farm!!! Ok, so here's the deal...I'm not a no-sugar nature nugget who never gives her children sugar and deprives other children from the joy of a good ol'fashioned sugar rush but, from October to December my children are LOADED down with candy. Between birthdays, parties, festivals, and stocking hanging, we have LOTS of candy. I put it in a big box in the top of my closet and my children BEG me daily for candy. I really just think that (maybe) there are other parents out there like me that love the fun little egg hunts and favors but dread the massive amount of gooey, delicious, ant bait that their sweet little dirty faced, sticky fingered kids will bring home. And the funny thing is...as much as we dread it...we are guilty of filling those eggs with the same stuff, right? 

I mean...those eggs are so small...what else can you fit in them? And sometimes you have to fill SO many that it could get expensive to fill them with anything else, right? WRONG! Think outside the drugstore candy aisle and more toward the dollar stores...or even think a year in advance (again, back to my "I'll need it one day" mentality). Last year, Walmart had some little stretchy rubber bunnies on the seasonal aisle $1.97 for 16 bunnies...I thought that was a pretty good deal so I bought a pack and filled some of my eggs with them...they were a huge hit! After Easter, I found them at 75% off...I'm not one to pass up a deal like that, so I bought 4 packs!  

The dollar stores usually have a party aisle with little toys for birthday party goodie bags...it's like a goldmine for occasions like this. I pick up stickers, bouncy balls, silly bandz, necklaces, and little things that will fit inside those little plastic treasure eggs. Here's the loot for this year...

If I've learned anything through motherhood (and even remembering my childhood) its that the simplest things can mean so much more to a kid (and these won't give them a belly ache or rot their teeth)! But the cool thing about my kids is that it doesn't matter if there is actually anything IN those eggs or not...they just love the hunt! For weeks after Easter, we are still hiding and hunting eggs in the house or the front yard...empty...and still just as fun :)

Easter 2012

Sometimes things are better empty anyway!!!

Matthew 28

King James Version (KJV)

In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

² And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.

³ His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:

⁴ And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.

⁵ And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.

⁶ He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

⁷ And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.

⁸ And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.

⁹ And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
¹⁰ Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.

¹¹ Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done.

¹² And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,

¹³ Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.

¹⁴ And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you.

¹⁵ So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.

¹⁷ And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.

¹⁸ And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

¹⁹ Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
²⁰ Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, 
lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Yummy Treats...

I'm preparing for our family's Easter Picnic this weekend and I always like to do something special for all the kiddos...usually special snacks packaged in some kind of cute little way. So while browsing the store the other day I happened across these super cute little "Bunny Grahams". They're like Teddy Grahams but shaped like bunnies instead...oh then the ideas started flooding my mind! I picked up 2 boxes of Bunnies, a bag of pretzel bits, white chocolate M&M's and my favorite...Peanut Butter M&M Eggs :)

I'll make a "Sweet and Salty Mix" for the younguns...but how will I package it for them? For me...the way a gift is packaged is just as important as the gift itself. I looked at printed cellophane bags, cupcake boxes, cookie tins and printed ziplocks...but it just didn't do it for me :( I'd all but given up when I went in search for some more plastic eggs to fill with non-candies (I'll share my ideas on that in tomorrows post). I found these adorable little "eggs" with flat bottoms so they'll stand up right!!! PERFECT!!! They were 3 for $0.97 at Walmart....I could not resist and I could not wait to get them home and start filling them with my yummies!!! 

I got a big ol' mixing bowl and started pouring in the goodies (...not without quality control tasting of course...this is a must...DO NOT skip this step ;) Doesn't this look like a yummy treat?

Not only do I love to package things in pretties...I love just as much to present them in super fun ways :) I found a basket in the back of my "save it cause you'll need it one day" section of my supply closet. (I've been saving this basket for over 3 yrs...lol...it was part of a baby shower gift from my cousin when I was preggers with my now 3 yr old daughter). So to my husband, "Yes, I will have a use for it eventually!" But I did not have any grass and I was NOT about to make a trip back to the store for plastic string! I remembered having saved (yet again) those little plastic leis that we used as party favors for my babies' birthday party this past year. I cut them in half and unraveled them and it made this really cute curly looking stuff...perfect! All piled together in the basket looked just like green grass.

Ok, so...yes...I know that up there ^ its purple...but I forgot to take pictures of the process in green (I just got too excited in the moment) So I went back and for all of you...demonstrated this process in purple, per request from Sissy (for those that do not know...this is what my daughter thinks her real name is).

I hope the kids love their bunny treats as much as I do! I know that Bubba and Sissy are dying to get their hands on them...

Even our demon (cat) Sundae got in on the lei action today. Wyatt said it was cold today and she needed a scarf...so here she is for your viewing pleasure...

(please excuse the dust...my husband has been doing some sheet rock work

and apparently has no idea how to hang plastic to protect the rest of the house

and keep it from looking like a winter wonderland!!!)

You don't need expensive things...

My little girl is 3 years old and wants SO bad to be big like her 5 year old brother. He starts school this year and loves everything about learning! He knows how to write his ABC's and Morgan tries so hard to do it too but hasn't quite mastered the shapes of the letters. So the other day while Wyatt was up in his room playing, Morgan asked me to help her "make letters" like Bubba. She knows her ABC's but hasn't learned to recognize all of the letters yet, but she insisted I help her write them. I tried showing her but she got frustrated not getting the results she thought she should have and cried that she was just too small and couldn't "make letters". 

I thought to myself, there must be something I can do to help her. Maybe some flash cards or one of those books that you trace the letters with. Then I remembered "tracing" shapes with dry beans in kindergarten when I was a little girl. But there is NO WAY I'm giving that child dry beans for ME to have to clean up out of my floor, under (or in for that matter) my couches, or for the cat (demon) to find and play with in the middle of the night sounding like a wild cougar. NO WAY! I almost gave up the idea. But wait a minute...don't you have a box of old pompoms stashed away in the back...far back...in the 'I know I'll need them for something one day even if I have no idea for what right now' section of your craft closet? Why yes, yes I do! And the clouds broke back and I heard cathedral music!

So this is what I came up with...

 

*terribly sorry for the typo ^ there...that is to be 'yields' not 'yeilds'...but I was not going to redo that whole photo for one horrible, shameful, elementary, no good, rotten  mistake ;)  *

Supplies:
13 sheets of paper (or cardstock if you want it to last longer)
Scissors or paper trimmer
Marker
PomPoms or cotton balls (at least 20)

Cut sheets in half and write one letter on each one...

(preferably in purple marker on lavender paper ;)

Give pompoms and papers to child...

and show her how to do it...

...then sit back and watch her swell with pride and burst

with excitement when she finally gets to "make letters" on her own!!

She played with this for over an hour!!! So I'd say it was a complete success! (And Mommy got a little coffee break in the meantime too)...

So here's my lesson for the day...I was completely prepared to head out to the dreaded Walmart to purchase flash cards or books or something in the "learning" section to help my little girl feel bigger. But with a little imagination (and thankfulness for my craft supply hoarding tendencies) I spent no money and became an Insta-Hero! My alter ego Super Save-The-Day Mom resurfaces once again...hold on a second...I need to tuck my cape back in...and we all are once again (in the words of Phil Robertson) "Happy Happy Happy!!!"

It comes from the unexpected...

"I will cling to the old rugged cross and exchange it someday for a crown..." you could catch my Granny Broome singing or humming this song everyday. The words ring clear and true in my mind and I can still see her smile that big ol'smile every time I hear it. I learned about faith in God from her, not from church or books or teachers, but a little heavy set woman with grey splashed auburn hair and soft little wrinkles. She faced many troubles and trials throughout her life but she ALWAYS laid her faith in God. Just watching her cry while singing songs to me, or reading the Bible to me as a small child. I miss that woman more than anything in this world, she passed away in Aug 2004 and it gives me great solace to know that one day I will be reunited with her and other loved ones that have gone on to that great "exchange desk" in Heaven. I won't need to bring a receipt, Jesus already has it. He holds a book that has "Paid in Full" stamped beside my name. He'll say "Come on my child, lay down your cross and pick up your crown." If not for her showing me her faith and love of God, I may not have been as receptive to hearing the gospel when preached in May of 2005! I may have walked out of that church thinking those people were CRAZY! But thanks to my Granny's faith, the Holy Spirit's convicting power, and God's Grace and Mercy...I got washed in the blood of Jesus...and I've been born again! I pray that I'll have a testimony like that for my children and grandchildren one day...that through my faith and trusting in God...they can see that Jesus is the ONLY way!

I had planned on posting today about a little activity that I did with Morgan last week but God changed my plans. I was getting ready to enter a chance to win 1/2 off a photography session with a local photographer Jeff Woollam. The instructions were to go to his webpage...look through his photos...pick out my favorite and post a link to his facebook page on my timeline. So I hurried off to this site thinking I already knew which one I was gonna choose (my friend's little boy wearing a superman cape, seemingly flying through the air...adorable!) and it would only take a minute. Then a barn caught my eye and I started browsing through some of his other albums. I happened across the most simple photo...yet stunningly beautiful...a warmth came over me and I felt tears stream down my face. Here is what lead my mind to that old song Granny used to sing and the meaning behind that "Old Rugged Cross"...

...It truly captures the essence of living in WNC. You see...here in the buckle of the "Bible Belt"...these crosses stand on roadsides, hilltops and in yards across the valleys of this great land and serve as a reminder to me and all that pass that "...God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life...For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."- John 3:16-17

So, I'll say "Thank you, God, for giving me a blessing in an unexpected way...and for changing my plans for my blog post today!" and Thank you Woollam Imaging for giving me permission to post your photo.
(I would also like to add that this in NO WAY increases my odds of winning that session because it is totally random!)

Let me introduce myself...

 Good evening! For those that do not already know me...My name is Savannah Lynn. I grew up in an abandoned old mill town in the piedmont of SC. Lived the life of a small town girl and learned very early as an only child that if I wanted to stay entertained...I'd have to get creative. I was always making something out of nothing...clover flower jewelry...honeysuckle crowns...cardboard castles...bed sheet forts...chocolate mudpies...magnolia berry soup...hand drawn birthday cards...model cars with my daddy...painting with my aunt...you name it, I was probably making it. My Granny Broome instilled a love of photos and albums...you know...GASP!...the self cling ones. But the only way you knew who they were or what they were doing was if she was storytelling :) And a lot of those stories disappeared when she passed away.

a two year old me around 1987

Then, as a teenager I discovered scrapbooks. I saved movie tickets and party napkins and photos and some of the most random things you can imagine, took picture after picture of everywhere I went and everyone I was with and kept them in a box until I could glue them down on paper. And in one little 3 ring binder with cardstock and page protectors I kept my life experiences. With dollar store stickers and Elmers glue sticks I was on the way to preserving my memories. And that created a brand new kind of monster :) The older I got, the more advanced (and more expensive) the supplies and techniques got. I then discovered Michaels Arts and Crafts. And I became a scrap addict. Yes, an addict, it was like a gateway drug. I began making elaborate layouts, then greeting cards and somehow that lead to hand stitching on my cards and layouts so that lead to learning how to sew on a machine and that lead to a fabric obsession and that lead to making a purse and then to wanting to learn to crochet...the list goes on and on!!!

Me in 2004 

Flash forward to 2013! I live in the beautiful western mountains of NC with my husband and our three adorable babies...5 year old Wyatt, 3 year old Morgan and 6 week old Raylan. With the birth of our first child...my crafting obsession became even more ridiculous! If the store didn't have something I wanted in the theme or color I wanted...I would MAKE IT!!! Because nothing was good enough for my little man. Then came our sweet princess...she needed the cutest stuff on the planet but we couldn't afford it...so I would MAKE IT!!! Now we own our very own home sweet home and we've been updating, renovating, refurbishing and decorating. But with our new family completing baby here...the budget is even tighter, so when I find something old that needs an update and doesn't quite fit my themes...I MAKE IT fit!!! And when things get boring around here and my kids get rowdy...we MAKE IT fun and entertaining!!! And through it all I've realized that Life is only what you MAKE IT!!! :)

Me, Morgan, Wyatt & Matthew Oct 2011

Raylan last week :)

Well, I've done it...I am officially a blogger! This is all completely new to me because until a few days ago I did not know a thing about blogs. A friend of mine brought it to my attention that I'm always posting my crazy endeavors, crafty items, kid projects, and refurbishing things on facebook and the same ol' people were seeing my things..Why not share with others? Well, I thought, I know nothing about blogging but I'll give it a shot. So hang with me while I figure this out :)