Photo by Alicia Hicks www.aahphotography.net
Our son just celebrated his 10th birthday on Sunday. Yep, he’s a Valentine baby. {smile}
This year we discovered the joy of a simple birthday.
Pizza and salad after church.
Family gathered around to sing to the birthday boy and a whole set of R. M. Ballantyne books that everyone gave him.
I’ve started an new blog at Beautifully Feminine!
Here’s a portion of the about page:
This is a place where I want you to find encouragement to enjoy being a woman. I’ll share practical tips on how to apply makeup, find frugal fashions, budget friendly spa recipes and so much more.
To kick off this new blog I’m hosting a giveaway for Pretty Stinkin Green.
Hannah and Deb are giving away this beautiful red rose pillow!
Here are the new cupcake paintings I just finished yesterday!
It can be used on any print in the store!
The code is: TRUE LOVE (hurry because it won’t last long).
I’m joining in with the pillow party going on at Rose Colored Glasses!
I’d like to introduce you to my new favorite pillow and her creator…
Rose Red the pillow and Hannah
Hannah and her friend Deb (Deb is the co-owner) make one-of-a-kind pillows and scarfs from reclaimed wool. Beautiful and eco-friendly, a win-win. (See her shop here.)
Take a look at one of her beautiful scarves…
Handmade and only $25!
My 3 year old daughter walked up to me and said…
3 Year Old Speak: “Mama, I need some lotion on my arms because I have ruffles.”
Grown Up Translation: “Mama, my arms are rough and I need some lotion.”
Don’t know about you, but I like the ruffles better! 
Dear microwave maker,
Why do you make the microwave door close so loudly? Do you not understand that I need to make a late-night snack for my husband and myself?
When the loud beep signals the end of the warming cycle, I can’t shut it off fast enough. I have sleeping children just down the hall! Please look into making a quiet door and a way to turn off the loud beeping.
I really enjoy making these late night snacks. I just don’t like thinking about having to tell my children why I’m holding a bowl of ice cream and hot fudge at midnight.
My sincerest thanks,
Laryssa
I grew up eating wild mushrooms called Morels. They are some of the most delicious things you will ever put into your mouth!
They grow better in the Northern states, but we still find a few in Middle Tennessee.
This is Matthew, our son, holding a Morel mushroom we found in our yard last year. One of two…not quite enough to eat!
I had been doing some research on edible plants and mushrooms in our area, so Matthew and I went on a search in the woods around our house to see what we could find. We found a tree that had fallen, but the large stump was still standing. On that stump we found… Oyster Mushrooms! There are no look alikes in the US, so we were sure that we had the real deal.
This is what we harvested…about four pounds of free, tasty, gourmet mushrooms!
The best way that we have found to eat Morel and Oyster mushrooms is to gently pan fry them in butter.
After we harvested them, I put them in salt water to get rid of any bugs. I rinsed them off gently and carefully. Next I put them into a zip-top bag and coated them in flour. Then I fried them in butter and salted them to taste. They were so good!
The next time you go to the grocery, look at the gourmet mushroom mixes. I bet you’ll see small oyster mushrooms in there!
For more information check out these sites:
(Time for the disclaimer: Do your own research. Make sure you are harvesting in a clean area, not by a road, because mushrooms absorb heavy metals and toxins. Don’t eat any mushrooms that you aren’t ABSOLUTELY SURE are safe.)
Nester from Nesting Place is having a wonderful giveaway day!
L. Herbert Designs is being featured as well as other fabulous businesses.
You can see the giveaway post about my art here and there is other good news about my artwork…I have my Cafe Press shop open!
I’m adding new products this week as well as lots of new summer art so stay tuned!
Here is a little taste of what’s to come! (These prints are already in the shop and ready to come home with you.)
My husband and I have had busy weeks lately and we were feeling very drained. So, we stayed up till 1 am.
Seems like the perfect solution, right? If you are really tired, just get less sleep. Uh, no. Why did we stay up so late?
Because we were doing something we needed more than sleep….we were laughing.
We snuggled, watched funny You Tube videos and laughed until our sides hurt and there were tears in our eyes. After laughing and enjoying being together, we felt like the weight of the world was off our shoulders.
” A joyful heart is good medicine, but depression drains one’s strength.” Proverbs 17:22
Do you need some refreshing too? Here’s one of the videos that we enjoyed. Have fun!
My Dad emailed me this funny story…hope you all laugh as much as I did!
“Clutching their Kohl’s department store shopping bags, Ellen and Kay woefully gazed down at a dead cat in the mall parking lot. Obviously a recent hit…no flies, no smell. What business could that poor kitty have had here?’
murmured Ellen. ‘Come on, Ellen, let’s just go.. ‘But Ellen had already grabbed her shopping bag and was explaining, ‘I’ll just put my things in your bag, and then I’ll use this tissue.’ She dumped her purchases into Kay’s bag and then used the tissue paper to cradle and lower the former feline into her own Kohl’s bag and cover it.
They continued the short trek to the car in silence, stashing their goods in the trunk. But it occurred to both of them that if they left Ellen’s burial bag in the trunk, warmed by the Texas sunshine while they ate, Kay’s Lumina would soon lose that new-car smell.
They decided to leave the bag on top of the trunk, and they headed over
to Luby’s Cafeteria. They went through the serving line and they sat down at a window table. They had a view of Kay’s Chevy with the Kohl’s bag still on the trunk. BUT not for long!
As they ate, they noticed a woman in a red gingham shirt stroll by their car. She looked quickly this way and that, and then took the Kohl’s bag without breaking stride. She quickly walked out of their line of vision.
Kay and Ellen shot each other a wide-eyed look of amazement… It all
happened so fast that neither of them could think how to respond. ‘Can you imagine?’ finally sputtered Ellen. ‘The nerve of that woman!’
Kay sympathized with Ellen, but inwardly a laugh was building as she
thought about the grand surprise awaiting the female thief. Just when she thought she’d have to giggle into her napkin, she noticed Ellen’s eyes freeze in the direction of the serving line.
Following her gaze, Kay recognized the woman in the red gingham shirt with The Kohl’s bag hanging from her arm. She was brazenly pushing her tray toward the cashier. Helplessly they watched the scene unfold. After leaving the register, the woman settled at a table across from theirs, put the bag on an empty chair and began to eat. After a few bites of baked whitefish and green beans, she casually lifted the bag into her lap to survey her treasure. Looking from side to side, but not far enough to notice her rapt audience three tables over, she pulled out the tissue paper and peered into the bag.
Her eyes widened, and she began to make a sort of gasping noise. The noise grew. The bag slid from her lap as she sank to the floor, wheezing and clutching her upper chest. The beverage cart attendant quickly recognized a customer in trouble and sent the busboy to call 911, while she administered the Heimlich maneuver.
A crowd quickly gathered that did not include Ellen and Kay, who remained riveted to their chairs for seven whole minutes until the ambulance arrived.
In a matter of minutes, the woman with the red gingham shirt emerged from the crowd, still gasping, and securely strapped on a gurney. Two well-trained EMS volunteers steered her to the waiting ambulance, while a third scooped up her belongings. The last they saw of the distressed cat-burglar was as she disappeared behind the ambulance doors…………….the Kohl’s Bag perched on her stomach!!”
