April Flowers

FFA Wa-High Greenhouse

Last week I went on a field trip with my 1st grade daughter and we walked though this greenhouse.  The minute I stepped in, the sights and smells brought me clear back to my childhood.  When I was a kid, my parents owned a hardware store.  In the Spring, I would always go on trips with my mom to go pick up flats of flowers from very large greenhouses to sell at our store.  We even had a little greenhouse of our own in front of our store for the plants that needed the extra warmth.  I have such wonderful memories of going with my mom on those trips, and then helping her water the flowers when they needed it.  It makes me smile to think about it, and share it here.

Today's Small Thing  over at Home Sanctuary is to celebrate your history by finding an object in (or around) your home that brings a sweet memory to mind. 

The above picture is what came to mind when Rachel Anne talked about sweet memories.  It's been 25 years since we closed the doors to our store, but the memories will remain in my heart forever.  Now I have children of my own, and I love to take them with me to our Dollar Plus store.  They help out in any way they can and we are making memories of our own.  I hope that one day, they will look back and smile on these days with fond memories of us building something together.

Why not join us for Company Girl coffee today and share some sweet memories of your own? 
Blessings,
~Melissa

Rachel Anne Ridge Art and Home

My wonderful friend, blogger, and artist, Rachel Anne Ridge is having an open house over at her new website this week!  You can visit her over at www.rachelanneridge.com and view all of her beautiful work.  In addition, she is running a special this week, through Monday that gives 15% your purchase of a canvas, and if your order is over $100, shipping is free!  Use code OPENHOUSE. 

Her canvases are an expression of her faith and would make a great addition to any home.  I have one of her originals hanging on my wall that I won several years ago at Home Sanctuary and she is having another giveaway in honor of launching her new business.  You can get the details here.

 Whether it's a piece for your own home, or a gift for a friend or family, you'll love what you see at Rachel Anne Ridge Art and Home, so let's get shopping!

Spring Break

This week we're on Spring Break. We spent 5 days on the West side of the mountains with family. Even though it was raining most of the time, we still had lots of fun. We stayed one night at my sister's house, and three nights at my mom's. 

We arrived home yesterday, just before my DH got home. The kids were so happy to see daddy pull in the driveway, they didn't even let him get out of the car before giving him huge hugs! :)  I kept forgetting my camera everywhere we went, but here are a few photos.

View from Grandma's House

Me, My Sister, and my Grandma

Cousins with Great Gram

Indoor recreation - Coloring Grandma's table cloth

Fields of Daffodils

Then we came home to this!

Is this Spring Break, or Winter Break?

A Foundation that Lasts

What's a girl have to do to find the right foundation?  There are so many brands out there, and then within those brands, there are so many choices.  You have to be careful to buy the right color that blends with your skin tone.  Then there's foundations for dry skin, oily skin, old skin, spotty skin and more.  There's liquid foundation, tinted moisturizer, and perfect match.  With all of the choices out there, it's no wonder that I just don't wear it at all. 

But I'm not just talking about makeup here.  In fact, I'd like to address a different foundation all together.  A foundation that lasts beyond any other.

Jesus talked about foundation in Luke 6:46-49:

 "Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great."

There are three things I'd like to point out here that lead to a solid foundation in Christ.

1.  First you have to come to Jesus.  Have you accepted Jesus into your heart as Savior?  If not, I would encourage you to do so.  Romans 3:23 says "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  Accepting Christ into our heart is the way we receive forgiveness for our sins.  Revelation 3:20 says "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me."  All you have to do is say a simple prayer and invite Him in. 

2.   Hear His words.  Reading God's Word on a regular basis helps us grow.  My kids are in Awanas and one of their Discovery lessons was about why God gave us the Bible.  There are many reasons (I won't go into them all here), but one of them is so that we can know how to live.  Psalm 86:11 says "Teach me Your way, O LORD, and I will walk in Your truth; Give me and undivided heart, That I may fear Your name."

3.  Act on His words.  James 1:22-24 says "But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was."  We can't just read His Word, we have to apply it to our lives on a daily basis.  We have to allow it to change us, making us more like Christ.

Come, Hear, Act.  These are the three invitations of Jesus in this passage.  When we do these things, we will build a foundation that will last forever.  A foundation that will not be shaken.

Psalm 62:6-8

He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.
On God my salvation and my glory rest;
The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.
Trust in Him at all times, O people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us.
                       
 

Rainy Day Fun

The sun did not shine. 

It was too wet to play. 

So we sat in the house

All that cold, cold, wet day."

-The Cat in the Hat, by Dr. Seuss

Here's a little of what happens at our house on a rainy day...

A little 3-D entertainment

Monster Cars and Lincoln Logs

Our very own book fair

Reading Time

Squishies vs. Ninjas

Ninja's Prevail!

Menu Monday

It's been a while since I've done Menu Monday again, so I figure it's about time.  One of these days I'll become more organized and store all my menus and recipes in one place.  I have about 8 weeks worth of menus plus grocery lists in a binder from one year when I got really organized.  I'm not sure what happened, but I lost my motivation.  I guess we all go through seasons!

Here's this week: (I've already been to the grocery store.)
Monday: Crock pot chicken stroganoff over wide egg noodles
Tuesday: Chicken Enchiladas
Wednesday: Sausage Rice Casserole
Thursday: Baked Potato Bar
Friday: Bacon-wrapped Chicken in the crock pot
Saturday: Pizza
Sunday: Leftovers or Breakfast

I'm so excited for Spring, and garden planting!  We don't have much room, but tomatoes are a must.  Beyond that, I don't know.  I am anxious to see if my grapes come back this year.  They should start showing signs of leaves here soon.  (Although it's still getting down to freezing temps at night here.)

Anyone else out there starting their Spring planting?

My March Project(s)

One of my favorite bloggers, Rachel Anne, over at Home Sanctuary, is encouraging her readers to "March to the Finish" in March.  At the beginning of this month she asked us to join her in picking one project that has been put off and take steps to getting it done.  My first choice was the garage mess that has been haunting me since we moved in last June.  We unpacked everything we needed, and the rest of the boxes got stacked in the garage to be gone through at a later date.  We also inherited 50 boxes or so of a game that my husband created with his best friend several years ago.  A lot of them sold, but now there is the question of what to do with the ones that didn't.

Anyway, I've made a little progress on emptying out some boxes, getting rid of trash, and general cleaning.  My next step will be to start opening up boxes and take a good chunk of what we don't use to a local charity.  I wish I could say that I pounded it all out in one weekend, but that would be impossible.  I will say that this project inspired me/my husband to work hard last weekend and get some other things off our list.

1.  He primed our bold blue guest room to ready it for a fresh coat of paint, hopefully this weekend.
2.  We planted some starters for tomatoes and peas.
3.  I raked up the massive leaves pile in our front yard, which filled a large waste can and four more bags.
4.  My husband sprayed around the outside of the house to rid of the annoying box elder bugs and defend against other pests.

In general, we got a lot accomplished around the house.  It was nice to work together as a team and get things marked off our list.

Other things I want to work on this Spring (not necessarily March):
1.  Re-paint the boys' dressers and install new hardware.
2.  Put a splash of color in my daughter's bedroom.
3.  Decorate the downstairs.  (There is currently nothing on the walls.)

I suppose I better stop adding things to my list before I get overwhelmed!  This house is bigger than our last, so I sometimes have a hard time just keeping up with the general housework, let alone getting extra projects done start to finish. 

What projects are currently on your list?  Is there something you need to start, or simply put the finishing touches on that you could mark off your list this month?  I'd love to know.

Have a great weekend!


~Melissa