Drawing Heaven

Simply Amazing!

Cherry Dump Cake

My mom has been making this yummy dessert for years. It is so simple and so delicious, yet oh so rich. My mom really despises cooking, but this is one of her specialties. :) I love her lasagna as well! I didn't decide to blog about this dish until half way through so I missed getting a picture of the first step.

Ingredients:

2 cans of cherry pie filling

1 box of yellow cake mix

1-2 sticks of butter

Preheat oven to 350. Spread the cherry pie filling in the bottom of a 9x13 dish. Sprinkle the yellow cake mix over the top of the cherries. Cover the cherries completely. Then slice up the butter and spread the pats of butter over the mixture.

Put in the oven for 30-45 minutes. Basically you are waiting for the butter to melt and the cake mix to become golden brown. The cherry will start to bubble through as well. Enjoy with a cold glass of milk or perhaps even ice cream (although I've never tried that so not making promises on that one!) Enjoy!

"Home" for the Holidays

We have traveled to Colorado to be with my parents, sister, and BIL for Christmas. We have been looking forward to this trip for a while. Relaxing in the mountains and God's beautiful creation is one of our favorites! And another one of my favorites is to be at my parent's home during the different holidays...especially Christmas. My mom decorates for each holiday from St. Patricks day to 4th of July and everything in between. But, Christmas by far is the best. I tried to capture some pictures on my phone so that you could see some of the joy that is Christmas that we experience. As you walk up the sidewalk there is a tree outside decorated with ornaments. And as soon as you enter the door oh the smell...it is grand. Tons of candles were burning, wassail was on the stove, Christmas music was playing, and every nook and cranny is decorated. It is cozy. Makes me want to curl up on the couch with a mug of wassail, look out the window at the mountains, and soak it all in. Bliss, pure bliss.

These pictures don't do it justice, but we will try to give you a slight glimpse into our Christmas environment this year. And, I couldn't get these pictures to upload in the order that I wanted so just bare with me here.

This is one of the nightstands in the kids' bedroom. We each get our own bottled water in our bedrooms. And, of course notice the snowman and the Moose book (just to remind you that you are in Colorado).
This is TW and I's bedroom. That bear is a body pillow. Love sleeping with that guy! Oh and those little piles on each side of him...we each had little pre-Christmas surprises. A few sets of matching Christmas pajamas, an annual tradition, and a couple other goodies.
This is the cute tree by their front door. Again, pictures don't do it justice, but the ornaments are whimsical and colorful and oh so cute.

This is the mantle. I'm still curious to see what the presents are. Not sure if they are just for ambiance or if something is in them...I guess we will find out. And the Santa's on either end are really cute.

This is the bench in the entry way. A yummy smelling candle, a really cool ceramic Gingerbread village (it lights up and moves...this is one thing I have picked out that I want passed down to me when my mama is done with it), and a bucket of Christmas books.
A reading table up in the den. Of course adorned with a couple Christmas trees.
This is one of my favorite nooks. It is sitting next to the coffee pot. The tree and that little Santa are really sparkly and I just love sparkle.

Here is the window I will be staring out of while sipping on my wassail.

There is so much more I wish I could show you. But there is a small, small glimpse into our world. Merry Christmas to you and yours! May it not be about the presents, but about His presence!

Handmade Christmas

I have been a little more crafty this year in the gifts that we are giving. I have been getting a little more in touch with my creative side by trying out new crafts. I have gotten pretty good at replicating (is that a word) what I have seen others do, but I haven't tapped into the part of my brain that comes up with ideas on it's own. But nonetheless it has been fun, challenging, rewarding and time consuming (I promise I will never make another scripture box again). I have wanted to post pictures of the many things that I have made, but I also don't want to ruin the surprise. So, pictures will have to wait. Except for this quick crafty gift I threw together tonight. I love it. If I had more time I would make myself some. But, that will have to wait until after Christmas. This idea came from a blog one of my friends introduced me to. I love all of her crafty ideas and her great photography. The link to this specific project is:
And, here is my final project:

First Time For Everything

Today I went to an antique store for the first time. I have been to a few thrift stores and have some friends who like to do thrift shopping. This has seemed more appealing to me now that we are on the "seminary budget". I have noticed this little antique shop that is in our neighborhood and I decided to stop in there today. I thought I might be able to find a unique Christmas present for my sister and my friend. Little did I know the prices weren't all too low. I then realized an antique store and a thrift store have got to be different things. :) Nonetheless it was a fun experience. The moment I stepped into this old little corner shop near downtown it was like a step back in time. The smell....the smell...indescribable really. Smells old and a bit musty. Smells have a way of taking us back in time to memories stored in our brain. And that is exactly what happened. The memories of being a young girl spending time at my great grandma's house flooded my mind. She lived in the same house for years, decades more like it. The screened in porch had a water well in it, which was super cool to play with as a kid, so that tells you how old this house was. She had a detached garage. And, that garage did not hold a car. No, she never drove. Her whole life she never drove. Instead the garage housed many collections of things she had gathered over the years. Some visits we would just go through her stuff out there. Pretty sure during those moments I was ungrateful, annoyed, wishing we could be anywhere else but there, rolling my eyes, thinking it was super uncool to be spending my day that way, and on and on. I wasn't the nicest adolescent on the block. Oh how I wish I could now go to that garage with a whole new set of lenses. I would spend hours in there. Asking her questions about the different things. From books to violins to buckets to dishes to pictures. I am pretty sure there would be a lot of treasures in there that I would want. But more importantly I would love to have the conversations with her. Ok, back to the point. I was at the antique store. It reminded me of my great grandma. I had fun browsing through the interesting finds. Doilies, bags of match books, small dishes, pastry cutters, furniture, embroidered dish towels, old doors, signs, jewelry, paintings, buttons, thimbles, old metal containers that used to have spices in them, and the treasures are endless. One could spend hours in a place like that. I only had 30 minutes. I found several things I would have bought, but my favorite was this.

I would drink some yummy coffee or hot tea in this precious, dainty cup and curl up on the couch under my favorite blankie while watching a good show.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Oh how I love this season! My favorite part of the year is September through Christmas. I love the weather. I love the home decor. I love the recipes. I love it! The beauty of the change of seasons is a daily reminder of God's beauty and power. We have been counting down the days til Christmas in our preK class. 19 days left. I am so excited for Christmas, but at the same time I hate that there are only 19 days left. I kind of go through this slump after Christmas. It's like there is all of this build up and the day is fun and full of memories and then you wake up on the 26th and it's all over. All the cooking, the gift giving, the pine and cranberry candles, the Christmas movies, the music, the baking, driving around to look at Christmas lights, and on and on. It's kind of like a wedding. You have all of this anticipation and build up of emotion while you are planning and then you have the big day. It is special. And then, in a wink of an eye it's over. So, for now I am going to soak in the next 19 days. I am going to try and concentrate on the blessing of the Lord which is the present. The day we are residing in. Not looking forward or looking back. But being present in the moment. I will snuggle under my Christmas blankie a little longer. I will burn my candles all day. I will choose to not be stressed in the million and one things that I have to get done before we leave the state next Friday. Yes, feel free to remind me of that when you see me acting otherwise. And, I can almost guarantee you will. :) What are your favorite Christmas traditions?

Artist

So...the girls walk in the bedroom to go to bed and they come out and tell us that someone has drawn on the wall. Wonderful (said just the way my Grandpa does)! This isn't like our kids to do, but at the same time I wouldn't put it past them either. We did watch a little boy this afternoon so of course my first thought was it was him. AAP told me that he did draw on the wall while he was here but that she erased it off. Well, Bubby fessed up. I will be "that mom" that blames it on the other little boy. He did it first and then Bubby did. However, that does NOT mean that it is ok for Bubby to do it. The old saying, "If your friend jumps off the bridge will you?" So, clearly he shouldn't have done it. He did get in less trouble because he told the truth when asked if he did it. Nonetheless...here is his new mural.