Y’all, we’ve been having some long, hard days around here. When that happens….it’s time to find some funny videos. Enjoy!

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.

How do you celebrate birthdays at your house?

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!

Visit Beautifully Feminine to enter to win!

Here are the new cupcake paintings I just finished yesterday!

In honor of Valentine’s Day I’m offering a 15% off coupon code.

It can be used on any print in the store!

The code is: TRUE LOVE  (hurry because it won’t last long).

Click here to start shopping…

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!

Be sure to check back here soon (or better yet, subscribe!) because I have a wonderful surprise giveaway in the works just for you!

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:

General Mushroom Info

Edible Wild Mushrooms

(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.)

For more real food fun visit REAL FOOD WEDNESDAY!

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!

How do you enjoy life when it gets hard?