Category: Family Holiday Traditions

Shopping - Dyeing Easter Eggs - Bathroom Renovation - Easter Sunday Dinner - Happy Easter

4/2/2021

Hello everybody! I hope y’all had a great Easter. It sure has been busy around here. We did a little shopping at one of my favorite stores… ok we were at a lot of my favorite stores recently. Party City is at the top of my list of favorites. They have so many neat party supplies for any event imaginable. I just love browsing through that store. I guess I just love throwing parties! They have a HUGE selection of party themes, plates, napkins, tableware… balloons galore… all of the entertaining essentials a person could ever want or need.

My kids love it because they have lots of costumes and accessories galore.

We also went to Tractor Supply to check out their clothing. I love their t-shirts! I am and will forever be a country bumpkin girl at heart. It’s in my blood. My beloved childhood memories were lived and breathed outdoors.

I need to buy Linn the shirt that says,"I'm nuts for fluffy butts"... ha ha ha ... perfect for her and her love of chickens.

They had a lot of chicken and rooster yard and garden decorations. Linn would love this stuff.

Bathroom Renovation Motto - “Make a bold statement”

Not a problem! Clint did a great job painting the main bathroom “cedar chest”... it’s part of the red collection. It kind of reminds me of cinnamon. It’s bold, dark, rich and earthy. I really like how it turned out.

Let the Easter egg dyeing tradition begin! Friday night pizza / egg dyeing party.

A little Rummikub game-time fun. I beat their butts twice! :o) Just sayin. :o)

Clint baked his traditional carrot cake for Easter. He let me have the fun of decorating it with little icing mounds of carrots. I roasted the pecans to give them a crispy, buttery crunch before using them to garnish the cake. DELICIOUS!

Syd and I had fun making paper napkin bunnies for the dining room table. So cute!

I made some monkey bread for a special Easter breakfast.

Easter dinner - ham, cheesy scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole, pickled beets and eggs, scalloped pineapple, carrot cake

May your Easter baskets be full of joy, happiness and peace! Happy Easter from our family to yours!

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Saint Patrick's Day Celebration - Shamrock Sugar Cookie Recipe

3/17/2021

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Hello everybody! Today we celebrated Saint Patrick's Day with a little history lesson, a fun breakfast, an easy, festive lunch... AND... we made some shamrock sugar cookies. I'll show you some of the things we did. Get your green on and come along.

But first... a brief history lesson on the patron saint of Ireland.
SAINT PATRICK
"Born in Roman Britain in the late 4th century, he was kidnapped at the age of 16 and taken to Ireland as a slave. He escaped but returned about 432 CE to convert the Irish to Christianity. By the time of his death on March 17, 461, he had established monasteries, churches, and schools. Many legends grew up around him—for example, that he drove the snakes out of Ireland and used the shamrock to explain the Trinity. Ireland came to celebrate his day with religious services and feasts." (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Saint-Patricks-Day)

For breakfast I made a St. Paddy's Day Parfait. Simple to make, fun and festive to eat. Just add a few drops of green food coloring to your favorite yogurt. Top it with your favorite fruit, add some walnuts for crunch. Finish it off by adding some real creamy goodness, whipped cream, and sprinkle with green sugar. How easy is that? "Leprechauns and four-leaf clovers have nothing on this."

Luck is in the air and now it can be in our snack too. Let's bake some Shamrock sugar cookies!

Basic Sugar Cookie Recipe
Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour

Directions:

Beat butter and shortening on medium to high speed 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder, and a dash of salt. Beat till combined, scraping bowl. Beat in egg and vanilla. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour. Divide dough in half. If necessary, cover and chill dough for 3 hours or till easy to handle.
On a lightly floured surface, roll half at a time to 1/8 inch thick. Use cookie cutter, cut into desired shapes. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 degree oven 7 to 8 minutes or till edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned. Cool on a rack. Frost with powdered sugar icing.

Basic Powdered Sugar Icing Recipe
Ingredients:

1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon milk

Directions:

In a mixing bowl combine powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. Stir in additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, till it reaches drizzling consistency. Makes 1/2 cup.

Delicious and festive!

Time to make a festive lunch that's worthy of a jig. Instead of corned beef and cabbage why not serve "corned" dog and "corned" chips. :o) As long as you throw in that traditional shamrock shape somewhere in the meal it's going to be festive, right. No pot of gold on hand... no problem... substitute with a pot of celery. :o)

"May the luck of the Irish be with you!"

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February Update: A New Year, New Car, New Bedroom Renovation, New Semester, Birthday Celebration, Valentine's Day Party

2/19/2021

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Hello everybody! We have been really busy around here. I am thrilled to announce that we were able to purchase another car, praise be to God. We were looking for good quality, reliability and longevity, and we found it. A 2015 Toyota Camry with only 33,000 miles on it. Slap a bow on that baby, we'll take it!

It has been a bit of a challenge having only one car among the four of us the last three years, let me tell you. Adding another vehicle has made all the difference in the world for the kids and I. Now we can use the Honda, which is still in GREAT shape, to get to dental appointments with ease. I don't have to take Clint to work anymore in order to use the car. Aaron can get to work without needing rides from sister Linn all the time, bless her heart. I can get to the Post Office or the grocery store at the drop of a hat. What a huge blessing it has been!

Now Syd and I can drive to a variety of different walking parks to get our walking / jogging PE time in.

Beyond blessed, yes we are! Now that I have transportation, I can be out shopping for lots of new home decor. ;o) Hardy har har! This can't become my new habit, but I did get the green light to do it this time.

Since we are in the process of painting our master bedroom and bathroom, I was out purchasing all new bedding and decorative pieces for the dresser to match the new paint job.

It's not finished yet but here's the progress we've made so far. Clint is doing such a good job with the painting. I look forward to sharing the before and after photos here soon.

We started a whole new semester and it is keeping Syd very busy. The unit in physics is going to be interesting and challenging.

Abeka Academy Homeschool Grade 9 Science Matter and Energy Mr. Vinaja

So many equations... so little time to commit them to memory.

Mr. Bucy is going to be the death of Syd. He assigns a lot of homework practice in grammar, a lot of reading in literature and a lot of spelling & vocabulary practice and memorization. Algebra with Miss Smith has it's own set of challenges too, but Syd is doing a great job with handling the course work. She just doesn't have a whole lot of free time right now. :o)

Abeka Academy Homeschool Grade 9 English Mr. Bucy Algebra Miss Smith

However, she is really enjoying Health class with Miss Burns. She's interested in learning more about how the human body functions. She's especially interested in learning about the heart. Her dad works in the cardiology department at Wellstar so she must get her medical smarts from him. :o)

Abeka Academy Homeschool Grade 9 Health Miss Burns

We celebrated Linny Lou's 28th birthday on February 7th! That girl is getting old! :o) We had a "nurse" birthday party theme since she's going to be starting nursing school this month. She requested an angel food cake with whipped cream topping and fresh fruit.

She's my ray of sunshine! Happy birthday Linny Lou!

Clint made a special Valentine's Day dinner for us, a copycat Chick-fil-A crispy chicken sandwich.
For dessert he made a homemade chocolate silk pie. It was out of this world delicious!

I hosted a delightful Valentine's Day party for my sweeties.

My sweeties got some treaties! :o)

Abeka Academy Homeschool grade 9 Health Class Miss Burns

I got some sweet treats from them as well!

Linn made me a beautifully decorated teacher's pencil name plate for Syd to give me as a "teacher" gift.
I am her mom, but I'm also her teacher onsite and at heart.

Grateful heart = happy heart! Thanks for stopping by! Talk to ya soon!

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Shopping - Dyeing Easter Eggs - Bathroom Renovation - Easter Sunday Dinner - Happy Easter

Saint Patrick's Day Celebration - Shamrock Sugar Cookie Recipe

February Update: A New Year, New Car, New Bedroom Renovation, New Semester, Birthday Celebration, Valentine's Day Party

Tracy Carothers

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