Tinkerbell Clothespin Doll

Update:
I have recently opened an Etsy shop - FairyTinkBoutique.

I also have printables on there from my Home Management Notebook.  Right now, I have a code for 50% off every item in the store.  The code is GRANDOPENING.

Is anyone out there??

Clearly, we haven't written on here in forever!  We both have been busy with little ones.  :)

Speaking of little ones, my oldest is three years old, and loves Tinkerbell.  I have never been a Tinkerbell fan, in all honesty.  She had a little too much attitude for me in "Peter Pan".  However, after watching the new Tinkerbell movies, I just think she's adorable.  I seriously don't mind watching them over and over, which is a definite plus when it comes to kids' movies.  ;)

Anyway..

My oldest daughter and I made a fairy house out of an oatmeal box one day, but we didn't have any fairies to go in it.  I looked around the stores, but they were all too big for the fairy house.  So, I decided it would be more fun to just make our own fairies!

Enter clothespin Tink!

This was only the beginning.  I also made Periwinkle, Silvermist, Rosetta, Vidia, Fawn, Terrance, and Iridessa.  We have a kingdom of fairies at our house now.

I decided to open an Etsy shop, and just listed this for sale.  I'm going to see how it goes, and then I may add other fairies as well.  If you're interested, here is the link to my shop:  FairyTinkBoutique

Y'all have a great weekend!!  :)

- Jennifer

Free Printable December Calendar :)

A humble reminder... I put up this calendar a while ago, and quickly realized that I hadn't changed the dates from last month!  I'm glad I saw that before all of y'all did.  Now you know, of course, but hopefully there aren't any more silly mistakes like that!  ;)

Hope y'all enjoy it!  (click, save, print)

Oreo Ice Cream Cake :)

Do yourself a favor, and make this cake.  Whoever came up with this recipe is a genius.

J's birthday was last week and he requested an ice cream cake.  This one was SUPER easy, and SO yummy.  In the words of my beloved mom, "I think I gained five pounds just listening to you describe it."

I made a couple of changes that I think made this even more awesome.  I only made two layers of ice cream sandwiches, instead of three.  I wanted the cake to be longer and not as tall.  I just added all of the fudge/cool whip mixture between the two layers.  Also, I added some more crushed Oreos to the top of the cake, as well as some Chocolate syrup, as if we didn't have enough calories already.  ;)

Oreo and Fudge Ice Cream Cake

from AllRecipes.com

• 1/2 cup hot fudge ice cream topping, warmed
• 1 (8 ounce) tub COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
• 1 pkg. (4 serving size) JELL-O Chocolate Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
• 8 OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, chopped
• 12 vanilla ice cream sandwiches, unwrapped

Directions

1. Pour fudge topping into medium bowl. Add 1 cup of the whipped topping; stir with wire whisk until well blended. Add dry pudding mix; stir 2 min. or until well blended. Gently stir in chopped cookies; set aside.
2. Arrange 4 of the ice cream sandwiches, side-by-side, on 24-inch-long piece of foil; top with half of the whipped topping mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining 4 ice cream sandwiches. Frost top and sides of dessert with remaining whipped topping. Bring up foil sides. Double fold top and ends to loosely seal packet.
3. Freeze at least 4 hours before serving. Store leftover dessert in freezer.

Seriously, go make this.  Just make sure you walk up a few flights of stairs for the next month or two instead of taking the elevator.  ;)


Have a wonderful Sunday!!


Linking up to Not Just a Housewife, Something Swanky

Starting Over

I realized last night that neither of us have lived in any house/apartment more than two years since we left home for college.  J has lived in nine different apartments/houses, in five different towns.  I've lived in seven places, in five different towns.

That's a little exhausting.

You'd think we'd be experts with moving by now, and that I would be used to starting over again.  It's still difficult.  J adjusts much more easily than I do, or at least as far as I can tell.  I have a harder time, usually.

This move hasn't been very difficult as far as adjusting, and I think that is because the Lord gave us time to prepare ourselves, and when J had his accident, everything else seemed pretty insignificant.

The Lord is really taking care of us.

I've been feeling frustrated about starting over in some ways, because it's difficult to get things set up again.  I won't elaborate on that, because it's small and silly things.  Yet, it's discouraging to me.  I know it's the devil trying to get me down.

I  have to fight, and have faith.

Sometimes it's easier for me to have faith in the bigger things, than it is in the smaller things.  I'm not sure why. If I trust the Lord to take care of all of the big things, such as moving us to a new home, giving J a good job, etc, then I should trust Him to take care of the little details, shouldn't I?  Silly Jennifer.

I even heard before that when we complain, it's because we aren't trusting the Lord to take care of whatever we're upset about.  Deep down I know He will take care of things, but I do complain.  If I really believe He is in control of even the smallest things, then I need to push away those complaints and know His ways and timing are best.  It's really hard, though.

Before we moved, we were excited about selling the house, and paying off some things.  That all changed of course, when J had his accident.  We knew medical bills would come rolling in.  We may have to replace broken furniture, pay for the truck damage, etc.  We tried to push those fears away though, because we knew we were doing what the Lord wanted.  He would take care of us.  He always does.  It was still difficult for me, emotionally, but I always knew the Lord would provide.

A couple of weeks ago, the bills began to roll in.  Would you believe that the very same day we received a large bill, we also received a large check to cover our damaged items??  If that check had arrived a day earlier, it might have been a little disappointing to see it all leave when the bill arrived.  If the check had arrived a day later, it would have been harder to see the large bill.  His timing is perfect.

He's provided SO much for us in every way.  Yet, I still get angry when things don't work out the way I think they should.  We can't see everything that He's doing, but we can trust that He knows what is best, and will take care of things.

I remember reading an illustration of how we see things, compared to how the Lord sees things.  I think of this example often, because it makes sense.

When I was a little boy, my mother used to embroider a great deal. I would sit at her knee and look up from the floor and ask what she was doing. She informed me that she was embroidering. I told her that it looked like a mess from where I was. As from the underside I watched her work within the boundaries of the little round hoop that she held in her hand, I complained to her that it sure looked messy from where I sat. She would smile at me, look down and gently say, "My son, you go about your playing for awhile, and when I am finished with my embroidering, I will put you on my knee and let you see it from my side." I would wonder why she was using some dark threads along with the bright ones and why they seemed so jumbled from my view.

A few minutes would pass and then I would hear Mother's voice say, "Son, come and sit on my knee." This I did only to be surprised and thrilled to see a beautiful flower or a sunset. I could not believe it, because from underneath it looked so messy. Then Mother would say to me, "My son, from underneath it did look messy and jumbled, but you did not realize that there was a pre-drawn plan on the top. It was a design. I was only following it. Now look at it from my side and you will see what I was doing."

Many times through the years I have looked up to my Heavenly Father and said, "Father, what are You doing?" He has answered, "I am embroidering your life." I say, "But it looks like a mess to me. It seems so jumbled. The threads seem so dark. Why can't they all be bright?" The Father seems to tell me, "'My child, you go about your business of doing My business, and one day I will bring you to Heaven and put you on My knee and you will see the plan from My side."

Author Unknown

Something to keep in mind.  He's taking care of us.

Free Printable November Calendar :)

I made up a cute calendar for this month, although I'm not sure why.  After all, we have a perfectly good calendar hanging on the fridge.  There's just something about adding cuteness to things that makes you want to use them more, can I get an amen?

Just for fun, I thought I'd share it with y'all, in case you want a cute calendar for the month, as well.  Hope you enjoy it!  :)

I'm sure there is a better way to do this, but if you click on the picture, you can save, then print it.  If you have a better suggestion, please let me know!  ;)

Happy Wednesday!

Weekly Menu - Halloween

Happy Halloween!!  :)  M (aka Rapunzel, although she will not be trick-or-treating this year) and I are planning on going to get some candy after her nap, just in case we have Trick-or-Treaters.  We've never had any, but we've moved so many times that I never know if we're in a big Trick-or-Treating neighborhood!  Best to be prepared, and worst case scenario, we're left with candy.  What a shame that would be.  ;)

I love to see the weekly menu plan of other bloggers.  I'm not sure why, but I always think it's fun to see what everybody else has planned for the week.  It also gives me ideas, which is always nice.  :)

I thought I would share our weekly menu with y'all.  I'm trying to incorporate new meals, since we seem to eat the same things over and over.

Monday:

DiGiorno Frozen Pizza

Really ambitious, I know, but I love a good frozen pizza.  Check out the DiGiorno Facebook page for a $2 off coupon!  :)

Tuesday:

Crockpot Pork Chops

Rolls

Zucchini Casserole

I haven't tried the pork chop recipe yet, so we'll see how it turns out.

Wednesday:

Sausage Balls

Scrambled Eggs

The best part about the sausage and pork chops is that they came from our beloved pig, Arnold.  (Maybe not beloved, since we knew all along he would become meat for us...)  ;)

Thursday:

Chicken Strips

Rolls

Leftover Zucchini Casserole

Friday:

Crockpot Lasagna

Garlic Bread

Saturday:

Leftovers :)

Hope y'all have a safe and fun Halloween!!  :)

A New Beginning... (Part Five)

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

We worked for the next week getting everything packed, which was NOT easy with an active baby girl!  She loved ‘helping’ me.  By helping, I mean, taking things out of the boxes, adding other things that weren’t supposed to go in the boxes, etc.  ;) 

Our plan was to leave Saturday, go to J’s parents’ house that night, then drive the rest of the way Sunday.  That would give us a few days to get a little bit settled before he started work.  Well, Friday we pretty much got past the point of no return while we packed.  So many things were packed that we decided it would be easier for M and I to go ahead and leave that afternoon.  I hated leaving J by himself to finish up, but knew it would be best if we went ahead. 

That afternoon, we had a pretty powerful little thunderstorm move through.  It went through fairly quickly, but we saw there was more coming our way.  So, M and I took off, trying to beat the next round of rain.  The ironic part is that we had been in one of the worst droughts ever all summer long, and THAT day it rained.  Of all days.  I was thankful for the rain, but I really hate driving in it!  The first part of the trip was okay.  It only sprinkled on me a little bit, and the worst part was that J had left the windows down in the truck so my jeans were SOAKED through.  Talk about uncomfortable, but I could either get mad, or laugh about it.  I think I did a little bit of both.  ;)

After driving for about an hour and a half though, I started hitting some major rain.  It was pouring so hard that I finally decided to pull over, thinking it was just a small storm.  Wrong.  It was a HUGE system, and it looked like I would be driving through it the entire time!  I was not happy at all, and it got dark while I was driving.  So, what should have taken 3 hours took closer to 5 hours!  I was so anxious and felt sick most of the way.  I kept thinking, “I should have stayed and come with J tomorrow.”  I eventually made it safely though, and I know without a doubt the Lord had His angels around me and our sweet girl, protecting us the whole way there.

I talked with J the next morning, and he told me he was on his way.  He was driving a huge moving truck; I believe it was 24 feet long.  Plus, he was also pulling my car behind him.   I hated for him to be driving by himself, but knew he’d be okay.

Later that morning, I was sitting in the living room at my in-law’s house talking with J’s mom and she received a call on her phone.  She didn’t know who it was, but went ahead and answered it.  She sounded very calm, and asked a few questions, such as, “Where are you?”, then she said she’d be right there.  I had no clue what was happening, but never thought she was talking to J.

She got off the phone, stood up, and said to me, “Take a deep breath.”  I just stared at her, and she told me that J had been in a wreck, but he was okay, and she was going to go help him.  He was only a few minutes away, thankfully.  She was extremely calm during the whole thing, while I fell apart.  I had to stay at the house because M was napping, so she left by herself. 

My mind was swirling with questions.  Was he really okay?  How ‘okay’ is okay?  What happened?  Was anyone else involved?  I was trying very hard to stay calm, because I didn’t want my stomach to get upset.  I talked with a few of my family on the phone, prayed, and finally decided to go outside and get some fresh air.  After just a moment, I saw TWO butterflies.  I couldn’t help but smile, and this time, I wanted to cry out of happiness rather than fear.  I KNOW that was the Lord reminding me that He was still in control, and everything would be okay.  I was just amazed, though I shouldn’t be surprised, that He would speak in a way that is so special to me. 

Later, I found out the details of his wreck.  The moving truck had fallen on its side, and he had busted open his elbow when it hit the ground.  Thankfully, he was the only one involved in the wreck. 

I finally spoke with J on the phone, and he told me he was okay.  He was going to the emergency room for his elbow.  He sounded okay, but I wasn’t thrilled that he was going to the ER, especially because I still hadn’t seen him yet.

After being seen by a doctor and getting x-rays, they decided to do surgery to clean out the wound and check the bone of his elbow.  It was a pretty big opening on his elbow, and they set the surgery for the following day.  This of course meant he had to stay the night, which is never fun in the hospital. 

The next day he went back for surgery and it went very well.  There wasn’t any damage to the bone, so they just cleaned out his wound and sewed him up the best they could.  We ended up having to stay another night and day while we waited to hear from the doctor.  We eventually got out though, and headed back to J’s parents’ house.

I know this doesn’t sound like a huge deal.  Really, we are INCREDIBLY blessed that he wasn’t hurt any worse.  Yes, the elbow wound was bad, but it could have been SO much worse.  These were the things I kept reminding myself of while he was in the hospital. 

J is my very best friend, and we complement each other very well.  Where I am weak, he is strong, and vice versa.  This kind of thing is a weakness for me.  To see my husband lying in a hospital bed, even though he was okay, was incredibly difficult.  To have to hold it together in front of him, so he wouldn’t have to worry about me, was not easy.  To try and call the right people and take care of things is not my area either.  I felt so overwhelmed.  However, the Lord again saw our need and provided.  He used this time to make J more dependent on me, while making me stronger and more independent.  He surrounded us with loving people to help us.  Family members helped in many different ways, and several people, some that I barely know, went to move all of our stuff out of the old moving truck, into a new moving truck.  We couldn’t have done all of these things by ourselves, and the Lord sent loving people to help. 

There were so many things we could worry about.  Medical bills, moving truck damage, damage to my car, damage to our possessions, etc.  I’m not going to lie, these things did make me feel overwhelmed, but at the same time, I knew the Lord would work it out.  I could feel Him with us throughout the WHOLE ordeal.  The whole time we were waiting to move, I thought that was a faith exercise.  Now, we know that the Lord was helping us practice our faith so it would be strong when all of this happened.  Isn’t that amazing?!  He is SO good! 

Have you made the connection that M and I could have been behind him when the wreck happened, which could have put us in danger, as well??  I’m pretty certain that the Lord sent us ahead for that very reason.  Sure, it was a difficult drive for me by myself the night before, but the alternative would have been much worse.  The Lord was protecting M and I.  

I mentioned this a while back, but here are two verses He sent me:

“Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and you will honor me.” – Psalm 50:15 

(We DID call on Him, He DID deliver us, and now I want to honor Him by telling y’all how amazing He was through it!)

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; struck down, but not destroyed.” – 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

(We did feel like we were being attacked by evil and discouragement, but we knew it would be okay, because the Lord has taken care of us SO many times.  All of this happened while we were in the process of following where He was leading us.  OF COURSE the devil is going to feel threatened by that!  If God wants us somewhere, then the devil most certainly does NOT want us there.  We knew the Lord would take care of us.)

We still have a ways to go, and there are still a lot of things going on, but He is still taking care of us.  I’ll keep sharing with y’all more of the things He has done!

Mainly, I'm just trying to convey how AMAZING the Lord is.  I could tell you all sorts of amazing things about Him, but I feel that telling our story speaks volumes more about Him.  We would not be where we are, or who we are, without Him.  It's my prayer that this will encourage y'all, and draw others to Him.  If you want to talk about anything, leave a comment, or email me at lovinggodwhilelivingsimply@gmail.com.  I would LOVE to hear from you.  :)  

Y'all have a happy week!!  :)