Visions Of Sugar Plums.....

......danced in their heads!

Merry Christmas~

What I Love........

A New Christmas tradition this year in our home was to decorate a Jesse Tree! Reading the Old Testament stories each day and adding a ornament that represents the scripture that was read.
One of my church friends (also with 6 kiddos) made the ornaments for me a few years ago but this was the first year we did our tree and read the scriptures! (Maybe next Holiday I will post each ornament! They are very cool!)

This is one of my favorite ornaments......made by one of my kiddos while staying with some of our home school friends. (Hubby and I were at Children's Hosp. with Noah(5mo. @ the time) for his surgery. Noah is now my 7 yr old home schooler!I love my home school friends!
This is a New tradition @ My Blue Bird Cottage (what we call our home)

It is a Heirloom Oak (there is a number on the bottom) nut bowl and cracker/pick set! I bought this @ Hubby's work auction for $5.00! There are slots in the bowl for the tools!

We ALL love the Christmas oranges.......easy to peel and fun to eat!

I love my hound dog......but I'm still waiting for Jacob to give him a bath!

I love dressing the girls up in their Christmas dresses. Lace socks and hair bows.....what a great time!

Merry Christmas!

Georgiann

Just Relaxing~

Well there is only 2 more days until my In Laws get here! They will be sleeping in the "N" boys room.....so I will be tidying it up and changing the sheets today. The boys can start sleeping in there alternate spot tonight!
This year is the first year the kiddos drew names to see who they would buy for and do random acts of kindness...(in secret). We are doing the straw in the manger thing as well. For every act of kindness the kids do they put a piece of straw in the manger getting ready a spot for Jesus birth!
My To Do List For Today~

• Today the youngest 3 will be wrapping presents they bought (I gave them each $10.00 to spend on their person)
• Make CHEX mix with the kiddos
• 6 Loads of laundry
• Play wooden trains with the kids
• For lunch broccoli cheese soup,bread and oranges
• Clean the Bathrooms
• Make tater-tot casserole with the kiddos (tonight's dinner)
• Load the bread makers
• Read the kiddos some stories
• Put the kettle on for my afternoon tea and snacks
• Feed & Water our many animals (I do that every day AM & PM)
• Give the girls a bath
• Remind Jacob to bath the dog
• Go outside and take a deep breath of fresh air and remember there is still about 6 days until Christmas to get ALL my other stuff done.
• Go to bed early, read my novel and sip my herbal tea!

Did I tell you I still have not even started to wrap presents?! (For about 15 people)
Its hard to do when you have at least 2 little shadows all day.......now I'm not complaining. I love my kiddos. I like them wanting to learn and to WANT to be near me.....but it make Christmas surprises hard to pull off!
Its hard to pace the cleaning because its only stays nice & clean in a house FULL of 8 people for about 1/2 a day!
My In Laws will be here for about 12 days and my hubby has the week off (Christmas to the new year) so I will not be blogging as much.
Blessings and Prayers for a
Merry Christmas!

In Love,
Georgiann

When I Saw This......

.....my heart skipped a beat!

Birds of a feather flock together~

This is the fabric I was so excited about! I really love

birds and when I saw this fabric I knew I had to have it! I was in JoAnn's Fabrics store to pick out material for a quilt......I will now be making two quilts. A bird one and one with the other fabrics I shared last week on my blog!

Look here to see a picture of a real bird I saw in my neighbors yard....looks just like the bird in the berry tree on the fabric!

So sweet!

Blessings,

Georgiann

Gifts From The Heart~

This year Noah (my 7yr old homeschooler) is making gifts with air dry clay by Crayola for everyone. He is busy painting some of them now! He made about 8 things so far and I think the recipients of his gifts will be pleased!

Blessings,

Georgainn

Scented Playdough~

Homemade Play Dough

• 1 package unsweetened Kool-Aid (we chose red cherry)



• 2 cups water



• 2 tablespoons veggie oil

In large sauce pan,over medium heat stir together the water, drink mix and oil until boiling!

Then in a medium bowl mix together the following:





• 2 cups flour



• 1 cup salt



• 4 teaspoons cream of tartar




Add the dry ingredients to the boiling liquid over medium heat. Stirring constantly until it forms a ball. Remove form heat! Let cool completely and store in air tight container. Old yogurt containers work great!

The play dough smells wonderful enough to eat.....but has a high sodium content so its not recommended






This play dough makes a great gift to take to a birthday party or even Christmas....just add a few cookie cutters to the top of the gift instead of a bow!

The Kool-Aid was 25 cents. The salt was 68 cents for a box! (enough for 4 batches)

The cream of tartar was about $3.00 for a bottle, but I have enough to make quit a few batches of dough.

It cost me about .75 cents to make 4 cups of play-dough!!!!!!




Blessings,

Georgiann

Name That Bunny~

We have two new bunnies and they need names!

Bunny #1 above^ and Bunny #2 below.

{ Front and Back of same rabbit}

These two bunnies were given to us by our friends a few weeks ago and still have no names! Both bunnies are said to be female. {we are not planing for baby bunnies!}

Can you help us think of possible names for our bunnies??????

Blessings,

Georgiann

Did I ever tell you.....

I love birds? Well I do!!!!!!

I just happen to see this bird in my neighbors tree! I always have my camera handy and was overjoyed this bird did not fly away as I took several pictures of it!

Nature brings such JOY to my heart!

Blessings,
Georgiann

The Christmas Party~

Hi there.....well these are the Christmas party pictures I promised!
If you were one of the lucky/unlucky ones to see and hear me on my first ever very bad video before I deleted it.....this is me and what I wore to the party!
I went to Walmart and got black slacks and a long sleeve dark gray top.
Oh Amy....I will not be cleaning in these pants! and I am working hard to change my ungreen bleach cleaning habit! I actually have been making some of my own cleaners and have a cool book with recipes I've been reading! I hope to post about it soon!
(I do love the smell of bleach)

There was food and fun for all!

Big brother helping to open a candy cane.....it took 5 minutes!

Oh the Christmas cookies...................

Crafts................. Calender Candy Countdown to Christmas!

Gifts from Santa for all the kiddos!

Oh and I did good at the silent auction...... I only spent $13.00 and came home with all my Christmas gifts (to me) valued at about $200.00!

Tomorrow I will show you the one thing I got for the house (from the aution) to have around as a new Christmas Tradition!

Can you guess what is is?

Blessings,

Georgiann

A Day Of Silence~

These are the flowers my oldest son Jarett left for J on her porch. The boy in the picture is my son's friend M . M went with us to take the flowers over.......as he remembered and shared his feelings of when his father died 7yrs ago! Our home is open to many teenage kids many whom have working parents or parents that don't seem to care enough about them. These kids come to our home for a warm loving environment and a meal!
My kitchen(The Garden Cafe) is always open! And this home is full of LOVE not judgement!

The four slain officers in my state are being laid to rest today~

The funeral is on TV here and.....it is BIG!


These four fallen officers have left behind a total of 9 children!

My oldest son Jarett is good friends with J the daughter of one of the officers killed~
Jarett is not sure how to comfort his friend.
My oldest son and I have been having many heart to heart talks.....I have never felt so close to my oldest son (15yr) as I have this past week.

Six of my sons friend's have dad's that work in the police or sheriff dept.

It was just last month that my son Jarett went to the movies with J....the daughter of one of the fallen officers.
My son met J's mom and dad. He shook her dad's hand!(as the dad checked him out.)
J's mom and dad gave them a ride home!

J and her 2 brothers will be speaking at the service today to remember their dad.
There are over 2000 vehicles in the 10 mile procession that took 4 hours.
There are 20,000 family members and officers in the Tacoma Dome.
There are four over flow locations to watch.
I am watching from home here......and taping it......the service may last about 4 hrs more!
What a L-O-N-G day for these families!

We are in such disbelief!

Last week our family dropped off paper products (Costco size plates,cups,utensils etc.) to help them with meal clean up during this time!
My son will drop off flowers for J today.....on her porch.
All our hearts are heavy!


Please keep our community in your prayers!

Its For The Birds!

Most mornings you will find me sitting in my kitchen, staring out the window into my backyard. As I sip my coffee (extra strong with french vanilla creamer), daydreaming of what fun things I will cook with the kiddos,the lessons I will teach or the chores that lay a head I watch the birds come for their morning breakfast!

I love to watch the birds play tag and eat the seeds I left for them in my garden! All sorts of birds come to sing and flutter from dead flower to old moldy corn stalks bringing LIFE and BEAUTY to my other wise half frozen and very brown garden! My beloved sunflowers are now dried and withered....but food for the birds! MY birds! Oh how I love the birds!

I hope you will enjoy watching the winter birds of my garden as I do each morning!

It is now snowing here in my corner of the woods tonight! Yah

Blessings to you all, and my you all feel the LOVE and share the HOPE this Advent season brings!

Warmly,

Georgiann

The Basket~

My craft basket is heaping with delectable fabrics!

I'm not sure if its the cold weather or what?... but I'm in the mood to sew a few quilts.
I'm still designing my blocks so it might be a bit before I dive in.
(Later this month I will be showing more fabics I bought for yet another quilt, so keep checking back....you won't want to miss it!!!!) 


Right now I'm getting ready to recycle some old sweaters into pants for my girls!


For Christmas I will be making pillowcases for the boys! (the girls will have to wait!)

Blessings for a Peaceful Holiday season!

Thanks for coming by~
Georgiann

For The Love.......

        ......of books and the children that read them!


Blessings,
Georgiann

Tea Time~

Tis the season to slow things down and relax with a cup of hot herbal tea and a good book!
Ok and maybe a sweet or two~

Thank you to all my blog friends that come by to say hi~ I love and cherish all your comments!
I will be in and out of blogland from now to the end of the year and will  be posting from time to time but not very often.
                           Things I will be doing

• My In Laws are coming for Christmas so I will be preparing for their arrival.
• Olivia whom just turned 2 in Oct. has been potty training herself. It keeps me quit busy as she is still working on things and it can get a bit messy at times. Over all she is doing great! I'm so proud of her!
• I will hopfully be doing some sewing projects that have been on the back burner for a while~
• I will post when/if time allows but for now I'm just not going to stress about it!
• I will be decluttering the girls room and getting the laundry room organized.
• Making my own laundry soap.
• Sending out Christmas cards.
• Reading to the kiddos all our new Christmas stories (hard bound) I got for our holiday selection.
• Go Christmas Caroling.
• Taking kiddos to the dentist for cleaning.
• Going to bed early....so I can read my novel!

Blessings,
Georgiann

And The Winner Of My Thanksgiving Giveaway Is........

~~~~~~Grammy K!~~~~~~
Thanks to all those whom joined in on my Thanksgiving giveaway~
I really had a great time reading all your comments, recipes and traditions.
 The winner was drawn this afternoon out of a large stock pot by my sister! (she came over for lunch)

A new tradtion I plan to start this year is to get my older teens involved in a fast moving card game called APPLES TO APPLES ! I bought my game at Walmart for $18.00 last week! I have yet to play
but after purchasing my game I saw over at another blog someone else rave about how fun it is! I'm glad I bought it! I will let you know how it goes!

Today I had my sister over for a Thanksgiving Lunch.
My youngest three kiddos whom I un/homeschool helped me cook and set the table to get ready for Auntie's arrival!
We My sister and I feasted on a Turkey breast stuffed with cornbread stuffing and topped with a fruit glaze! (COSTCO  bake and serve!) We also enjoyed organic green beans,mashed potatos and homemade butter rolls.....oh we can't forget the sparkling grape juice~the kids favorite!

For dessert I dished up a yummy Berry Buckle Cake~and coffee!

This Thanksgiving my family(just the 8 of us) will attend Mass to give God thanks and praise....then all come home and  work together to cook up the usual Thanksgiving  day grub! I see a nap and a movie(DVD) some where in my day! I might get a chance to read my latest library books!?
In the evening we will eat more food and settle in for a game of Apples to Apples!
EAT~LAUGH~PRAY

Happy Thanksgiving!

Warmly,
Georgiann

A Pro Life Site Is Having A Giveaway~

My new friends over at
 Handmade for Life  are hosting a nice giveaway
for a handmade sign~
So go check it out! Giveaway ends on Friday~

Don't forget you have until Midnight on Nov.22 to enter my Thanksgiving Giveaway....posted under this one!

Thanksgiving Giveaway~

Hi to all (ok the few) that come to read my blog~

I am having a giveaway!

Open to US residents only~

One Blessed person will win a.......

Pumpkin Scone Recipe dish towel....

To enter:

Leave me a comment telling me about your favorite

Thanksgiving recipe
              OR
Tradition

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````
To get a second entry: become a follower and leave a separate comment. (If you are already a follower just leave a comment saying so)

To get a third and forth....yes that's 2 more entries! Just blog about the giveaway and let me know!

``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

The giveaway starts tonight

and ends Sunday Nov. 22

@ Midnight Pacific time!

Blessings,

Georgiann

Autumn Pumpkin Bisque~

Autumn Pumpkin Bisque~
1 sweet potato (chopped and boiled)
1 small onion (chopped)
1/2 red bell pepper (chopped)
1 cup pumpkin (canned or homemade puree)
1 carrot (chopped)
1 celery stalk (chopped)
4 cups chicken stock (or veggie stock)
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning (I use a large freeze dried mix) sage,thyme,rosemary etc.

In a large stock pot saute chopped veggies in about 2T olive oil or butter until veggies are soft.
Add remaining ingredient except heavy cream and simmer for about 10 minutes.
With a hand blender, blend soup down until somewhat smooth or desired consistency.
(I like some chunks left)
Add heavy cream.......stir and serve!
I dished out mine with a grilled cheese sandwich on my homemade wheat bread!
This bisque would be a great Thanksgiving Day starter~
You could even serve it up in a large hollowed out pumpkin~boy that would be a show stopper!
Or give each guest their own small mini pumpkin filled with bisque!
Tomorrow..........
I will be hosting a giveaway so come back and see what I'm givin' away!
Here is a hint* it has to do with Autumn!
Can you guess what it could be?

Nothing Better.....

....than a good story and Daddy's lap!



********************Go here to look inside!********************


Blessings for a beautiful day~

Georgiann

Giveaway and Writing 101~

> Raising Arrows is having a giveaway. It ends tomorrow so hurry over and check it out!
Amy is also giving another lesson in creative writing Monday Nov. 9.(tomorrow)
So pop on over and join her!

Blessings,
Georgiann

Taking Time.....

to enjoy the beauty in the scenery....

...as I travel down the tracks of my life!

Blessings,
Georgiann

Taking A Break...

Hi to all my blog readers,
I will be taking a short bloggin' break!
Feel free to read though my archives.
I will be reading my comments so feel free to leave one!
I hope you like the song I'm leaving you with! hee hee LOL

I will be back soon!

Blessings and Love
Georgiann

Striving To Live Simply.....

one chore...I mean choice at a time~




Hi to all that came by to read my lil ole blog~
Today's to do list:

• Do 6 loads of laundry~
• Nurse my toddler
• Make 2 different batches of apple jelly
• Build a fort in the living room
• Run the dishes
• Snuggle and read a few stories to the kiddos
• Dye some organic cloth diapers with beet and cabbage juice
• Play with the Linkin Logs
• Vacuum and tidy the living room
• Drink some coffee and watch the kids play
• Load the bread makers
• Work with Noah on his church workbook
• Empty bathroom trash cans

My natural mothering comes first.....then other chores will get done if/when time allows!
I'd rather be snuggling the little ones~
Blessings for a great weekend~
Georgiann
PS....My computer time has been limited...... I maybe taking a blogging break soon!?

More Christain Films~

After I posted yesterday, I got a email from Rich Peluso Affirm Films/Sony Picures...

I was so delighted that Mr. Peluso wrote and shared links for veiwing other CHRISTIAN based FAITH filled movies.

Here is a copy of the letter and the links.....I wanted to pass them along to my readers~

His letter reads:

Dear “Faith Like Potatoes” supporter,

Affirm Films extends to you a sincere "Thank you” for your recent mention/coverage of our film!

Your interest and willingness to include information about the “Faith Like Potatoes” DVD in your blog/website truly helped us exceed all
expectations in creating awareness and impacting far more people than we ever imagined. Thank YOU!

Affirm Films' mission is to present quality entertainment that encourages, uplifts, challenges and entertains by providing family
films, thought-provoking documentaries, children's entertainment and timeless stories that will move and inspire viewers and deliver on the
promise of wholesome and trusted entertainment. Thank you so much for spreading the word about “Faith Like Potatoes” as you have become a valuable extension to our efforts.

Family Christian Stores also joined the campaign this year by creating the “Faith In Action: Angus Buchan Story” DVD for their James Fund ministry, "to look after orphans and widows in their distress" (James 1:27). This special DVD raised tens of thousands of dollars destined to directly benefits orphans through the James Fund and Angus Buchan’s Shalom Ministries.

In helping to provide additional content for your blog, we thought you would especially be interested in accessing the NEWwww.YouTube.com/affirmfilms channel in which you may more easily access all of the Affirm Films trailers and embed those of your choice into your blog when you share information of these new films with your readers. We trust this new tool along with the below social media lists will prove helpful to you as well!

www.youtube.com/affirmfilms
www.twitter.com/affirmfilms
www.vimeo.com/affirmfilms
www.tangle.com/affirmfilms
Be sure to join the Affirm Films Facebook fan page for the latest updates!
www.facebook.com/pages/Affirm-Films/125700724885

Thanks again for your support and interest in Affirm Films projects!

Rich Peluso, Affirm Films/Sony Pictures
affirmfilms@gmail.com

~~~~~~~*******~~~~~~~~~********
*********~~~~~************~~~~~~
I can hardly wait to snuggle in with my family and watch many of these wonderful films!

I can just see it now.....me.....my family...lots of blankets, lots of kids and quilts, popcorn......and maybe some Raisinettes? Yah... for sure some Raisinettes...oh and some cola to wash it all down!

The movie The Note looks like a really good movie.....A Old Fashioned Thanksgiving was on TV a few years ago. I really like that one. I truly enjoy Christian based movies!

The films I believe can be down loaded from the link (site)....I'm not sure if there is a cost.

I hope you will go over to the link and check out these wonderful christian based movies..

then leave me a comment....

What movie would you like to see first?

What are your favorite movie snacks?

Blessings,

Georgiann

Faith Like Potatoes~

When you PLANT a potato......

......you must have FAITH in something you can not see!

Deep down you must TRUST that things are growing.

It is not until HARVEST time...... that the Truth is revealed!

****Remember to silence my music before starting the clip****

I saw the movie and the message was very powerful.

It is a tear jerker though.....someone dies so just beware if you are already grieving.

The begining of the movie was slow moving.....but once the story got going it was pretty good. I give it 3 1/2 stars!

I hope you enjoy ~

Blessings,

Georgiann