Happy Thanksgiving!

Give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever.
Psalm 107:1

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
Psalm 100:4

FREE Printable Thanksgiving Place Cards

HGTV has a FREE set of Thanksgiving Place Cards available to download & print.

Happy Fourth of July!

Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him!
For  He spoke, and it came to be;
    He commanded, and it stood firm.

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
    He frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
the plans of His heart to all generations.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom He has chosen as His heritage!

Psalm 33: 8-12 (ESV)

Happy Father's Day!

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise: that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.

And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

Ephesians 6: 1-4 (NKJV)

Celebration at the Station 5/27

The largest FREE Memorial Day Weekend event in the Midwest returns for its Tenth Anniversary! The Kansas City Symphony, led by Music Director Michael Stern, performs patriotic favorites against the backdrop of Kansas City's historic Union Station on Sunday, May 27 at 7:30PM.  Celebration at the Station concludes with the most blazing fireworks display of the year!

Schedule of Events:

• Grounds open at 3:00PM for this FREE community event.
• At 4:30PM, pre-show entertainment begins with the United States Air Force Brass in Blue.
• The Symphony takes the stage at 7:30PM
• 9:15PM Fireworks display over the National WWI Museum at Liberty Memorial

Celebration at the Station will be broadcast live again this year on KCPT Channel 19 starting at 7:30PM on Sunday, May 27. As well live streaming on www.CelebrationAtTheStation.com and www.kcpt.org. A rebroadcast of the concert will be scheduled to air over the 4th of July Weekend.

Crockpot Corned Beef & Cabbage Recipe

Crockpot Corned Beef & Cabbage

2lbs. Corned Beef Brisket

1 medium onion, cut into wedges

3 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered

16 ounces baby carrots

2 cups water

2 garlic cloves, minced

2/3 bay leaf

1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon cider vinegar

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 small head cabbage, cut into wedges




DIRECTIONS:


Place the onion, potatoes and carrots in a 5-qt. slow cooker. Combine water, garlic, bay leaf, sugar, vinegar, pepper and contents of spice packet; pour over the vegetables. Top with brisket and cabbage. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours or until the meat and vegetables are tender. Remove bay leaf before serving.


Serve with:

Irish Soda Bread

Crazy Leprechaun Hat Cookies

Leprechaun Punch

This post is linked to:

• Tuesdays at the Table
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
• Tasty Tuesday
• Tuesday's Tasty Tidbit
• What's Cooking Wednesday
• Ultimate Recipe Swap

Leprechaun Punch Recipe

I made this punch recipe for Connor's birthday this year (& called it camouflage punch) and it was a big hit at the party.  I received several comments on how good the punch tasted.  Since the punch is green, I thought it would be perfect for St. Patrick's Day.

Leprechaun Punch

• Green Hawaiian Punch (Green Berry Rush Flavor) **
• Pineapple Juice
• Gingerale
• Pineapple Sherbet (optional)

Mix together equal parts green Hawaiian Punch and ginger ale. Add pineapple juice to taste. If serving in a punch bowl, you can add some scoops of pineapple or lime sherbet.

**This is the Hawaiian Punch that I used for this recipe.  I found it in the juice aisle at Walmart & Hy-Vee.

Crazy Leprechaun Hat Cookies

Crazy Leprechaun Hat Cookies

• Green Candy Melts
• Large Marshmallows
• Vanilla Wafers (or sugar cookies)
• Black Decorator Icing (I used store bought since it takes a small amount.)

First, melt the green candy melts.  I have a  Wilton Chocolate Pro Electric Melting Pot that I purchased at Jo-Ann's (with a coupon of course) and I love it! It melts the candy quickly and keeps them at the perfect dipping consistency. You can also melt them in the microwave or a double boiler.

Next, use a fork (I used the set here) to dip a marshmallow in the green candy melts. Make sure to completely cover the marshmallow. Now dip the top of a cookie in the candy melts. Place the dipped marshmallow on top of the dipped cookie and set on wax paper to set. Your hands will be green, don't worry it washes (or licks) off easily! Let the hats set for at least an hour.

Once the hats are completely set, use the black decorator frosting to create a hat band.

Last year, Connor & I had fun making 200 Crazy Leprechaun Hats for the kids at our church!

This post is linked to:

• Tuesdays at the Table
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
• Tasty Tuesday
• Tuesday's Tasty Tidbit
• Momspiration Monday
• What's Cooking Wednesday

Happy Leap Day!

Today is Leap Day!  What are you going to do with your extra day this year?  Does anyone have a 2/29 Birthday?

Happy Valentines Day!

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
I Corninthians 13:13 (NIV)

Today is Groundhog Day!

Don't forget that today is Groundhog Day. Go here (live @ 7:25am EST) to find out if Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow.

Update:  Phil saw his shadow this morning so there will be 6 more weeks of winter!

Groundhog Day Fun

Thursday February 2 is Groundhog Day! The official Punxsutawney Groundhog Club website has lots of information, activities, pictures & videos to celebrate Groundhog Day.

I also found this cute Groundhog craft here.

On Thursday 2/2/12 at 7:25am EST you can watch Punxsutawney Phil live in Pennsylvania here. I will post a reminder Thursday morning.

(If you are reading in a RSS Feed or e-mail, click here to see the video.)

Here are some fun books for Groundhog Day:

Groundhog Day by Gail Gibbons

Substitute Groundhog by Pat Miller

(This one is a favorite at our house!)

Groundhog Day (Rookie-Read About Holidays) by Michelle Aki Becker

Groundhog Weather School by Kristin Sorra

 Double Trouble Groundhog Day by Bethany Roberts

Mr. Groundhog Wants the Day Off by Pat Stemper Vojta

Happy New Year!

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-26

Frugal Friday: Fun & Cheap Halloween Decorations

Several years ago I bought some Halloween spider webs and plastic spiders on clearance ($.10 a package) and so we decided to use them and do a little spooky decorating this year.

Connor and I had a lot of fun stretching out the spider web and spreading it around the house. I have a funny feeling that it will be like Easter grass and I will still be vacuuming it up in July! 

We also made a Spider Tree. I used a topiary that I already had and then we covered it with spider web and plastic spiders.

We purchased an old glass juice jar at a garage sale for $.10 and used spray paint to make the lid black. Then we did a search on Swagbucks for free printable Halloween labels and found this Fur of Werewolf label. We printed it on old yellowed paper and distressed it. Can you guess what we put in the jar? It is the contents of my vacuum canister! I know, it's disgusting. We have a cat and therefore a lot of cat fur. Hey, it was FREE and it's recycling right??

We printed a few other Halloween labels and put them on jars and bottles I found in the basement.

We also put a few labels on wine bottles.

My favorite project was the Spooky Black Curtains we made for the dining room. Can you guess what they are made of? Crepe paper & black paper napkins! I got the idea from a video at MarthaStewart.com.

Martha Stewart made these from a kit that you can purchase at Michael's. I did not use the kit instead I purchased 2 rolls of black crepe paper at Hobby Lobby ($.60 each after a 40% coupon). I cut crepe strips the length of my regular dining room curtains and then attached the strips to the curtain rods. I distressed the crepe paper strips for a spooky, weathered look. Then I took black cocktail napkins (purchased at Wal-Mart for $.99), distressed them and hung them over the curtain rod as a valance.

This post is linked to:

• Frugal Friday at Life as Mom