Sunday, September 22, 2013

Pinned it, Made it! Monday ~ Week 57 ~

Hello friends!  I did better last week!  I actually fit in three posts!  Now to get to visiting all my blogging friends......

It's time for Pinned it, Made it! Monday again!  And this week, Luke and I had more fun with food! My friend from the foothills of the Ozarks, Betty, has been sending me lots of great fun with food projects because she knows we like stuff like that!  :)  Thanks, Betty!

This week we made "Spooky Spiders".  All spiders are spooky to me!  :)  But these were edible....and they sweet and salty....a favorite combination of mine!

Source
Ingredients:

Double stuff Oreos
Pretzel Sticks
Chocolate Frosting
Small round candy



Arrange double stuff oreos on baking sheet or serving plate.

To create spiders, insert 8 pretzel sticks into filling of Oreo, 4 per side, for legs.  Using a dab of chocolate frosting, attach 2 small candies per cookie for eyes.


Okay, as usual I adapted ours a little.  :)  We had a little bag of squeeze yellow icing.  We used that for the eyes and then cut salted peanuts in half to use for the eyes (a half for each eye).   Again, I just raided my pantry for what we had that would substitute and work.  :)



I think they turned out cute.  Luke loved doing them.  And a sweet and salty snack is always a winner!  :)



Oh yeah, and at least one of the spiders got a bath in milk before being eaten by Mr. Luke the Emperor.  :)

It's your turn!  I hope you'll link up your Pinterest project too!  And thanks for joining us today!

**PLEASE NOTE** I am taking the next two Mondays off from Pinned it, Made it! Monday.  We will be in Disney World...headed there this coming weekend and coming home the next.   Yay!  I'll resume with Pinned it, Made it! Monday on Monday, October 14th. 

Have a great week!
♥ Tammy ♥

  

Saturday, September 21, 2013

♥ It's That Time of Year! ♥

It must not take much to get this country girl excited!  Strolling down one of the main aisles at our Walmart today, I saw a big beautiful display of Glade fall room sprays!  I tell you I think my heart skipped a beat!  I LOVE this stuff!  Last year someone (a blogger) got me hooked on it.  Last fall I was crazy about Maple Pumpkin.  I also liked the Nutcracker Crunch for a cozy winter scent.

This year there were four fall scents......and I picked up two of the four......Toasted Marshmallow & Orchard Apple Cinnamon.  I hate making decisions so I must have looked funny standing there in Walmart, "air testing" them trying to make up my mind which ones I would take home today.  :)  Luke helped me out a little!  His favorite was the Roasted Marshmallow.  :)



But you can bet the next time around in Walmart, I'll be bringing home the next two.....Fall Hayride and Pumpkin Spice!

Fall is my very favorite time of year anyway and there's something so cozy about filling up my home with these aromas!  Isn't it funny how a smell can be cozy?

So now go on and get you one, or two, or three, or four.....but be sure and leave me some!  :)

Friday, September 20, 2013

Faithful Friday - "Trials and Temptations"

It's still Friday....and I'm so happy to join in with Joy's Faithful Friday today! (I always feel defeated when I miss it!)    :(

This is what's on my heart this evening!


Sometimes it just plain hard being a Christian in this world.  Let's face it!  We face trials.  We encounter temptations.  It's easy to think, that as Christians, we should be "above these things", as in not having to deal with them.  Our family was just discussing this the other day.  God never said being a Christian was easy.  If someone says it is, they are misleading you!

The devil works hard and overtime on Christians using trials and temptations.  And it's easy to get down trodden when these things come our way.

The only thing that comforts me in all of this is that even Jesus, as perfect as He was, was tempted.  And we definitely know he faced trials.  So it just makes me think if Satan takes time to pick on a Christian with temptations and trials, he/she must be doing something right for God's Kingdom.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James 1:2-4 (NIV)

And Jesus showed us the way to combat and deal with these temptations - with God's Word.  Jesus threw scripture right back at Satan.  So that's what we can do!  We simply come back with scripture, God's Own Words of promise and comfort.  It reminds me of that quote, "When Satan reminds you of your past, you just remind him of his future!"

One of THE hardest temptations and trials to deal with is thoughts.  Like Joy said the other day when we were talking about this, "you can't get away from your thoughts."  And boy, does Satan try to use that to bog us down.  But....we even have a scripture for that too!

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)

So if we allow Him, Jesus takes those thoughts and binds them up right then and there.  We just ask Him to take those thoughts to be submissive and obedient unto Him.

And that's not to say that there won't be more thoughts, more trials,and  more temptations because we are constantly "fighting the fight" and "running the race".

BUT......we just keep on keeping on because we have Jesus and His Word.  We never fail when we start over fresh each time with Jesus because He forgives and extends His grace and gives us the sword, His Word (the Bible) to fight off these temptations.  

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

2 Timothy 4:7 (NIV)




Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled round your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Ephesians 6:10-17 (NIV)  


Be Encouraged!
♥ Tammy ♥ 


Sunday, September 15, 2013

Pinned it, Made it! Monday ~ Week 56 ~

I have been telling myself that I will do better each week with updating my blog and before I know it, a week has passed again!  And my Faithful Fridays....no excuse!  I am going to try to do so much better!  Time truly flies!

First of all, I want to thank everyone that participated in Pinned it, Made it Monday last week.  We had a great party.  I thoroughly enjoyed all those projects!



This week I'm sharing a quick and easy project but a great idea......ice cream on a stick!

Here's the original pin:

Source

This was a last minute project as we were only trying a few (not for a party) and so I used what I had on hand.  I love the multicolored sprinkles, but all we had in our pantry was green sprinkles, so that's what we used.  :)  And I didn't have ice cream spoons, so we used craft sticks.  I can see where the ice cream spoons would be a little sturdier as they are wider at the base and shorter which adds more strength.  The craft sticks worked fine as long as we didn't stick them too far into the ice cream.  And I should have chilled mine longer so they were firmer before rolling them, but they still worked okay.

Ice Cream Scoop on a Stick

Make multiples of these scoops-on-a stick and you won't have to spoon ice cream, one serving at a time, in the middle of a party.  Using a small (1 1/2 inch) ice cream scoop, dole out balls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Insert a craft spoon into each, and place in the freezer.  Chill until hardening.  Roll scoops in sprinkles, toasted coconut, or crushed nuts or candies, and store them in the freezer on a freshly lined baking sheet.

Here's ours:




It's your turn to link up a project......go ahead.....Inspire us!  :)

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week!  

♥ Tammy ♥

Monday, September 9, 2013

Pinned it, Made it! Monday ~ Week 55 ~

Monday means it's Pinned it, Made it! Monday time!



This week I have a yummy recipe to share.  This is most definitely one I will be making again and again and it will probably make its way to our Christmas dinner menu as well.  I make a corn casserole, but I like this one better!

Source
Now in one place on this pin, it mentioned eggs and no cheese, but I added the two eggs plus the one cup of cheese.  So I'm going to list the recipe exactly like I made it.

Corn Casserole 

1 box jiffy corn mix
1 can cream style corn
1 can whole kernel corn (drained)
2 eggs
1 stick butter
1 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Mix all together, adding the sour cream last.  Bake at 350 degrees about 45 to 55 minutes (depending on your oven).  I baked mine for 45 minutes and finished it up in the microwave for another 3 minutes or so.

Can double or triple if needed.

And I almost forgot to get a picture of mine, so please excuse the already dipped into corn casserole dish!


Yummy!  Loved this!

Your turn!  This is your personal invitation to link up your Pinterest project below!  And thank you in advance for linking up or just stopping by today!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week!  :)

♥ Tammy ♥

Friday, September 6, 2013

Faithful Friday - "The Way, the Truth, and the Life"

Hi there!  It's still Friday, so I'm sneaking in my Faithful Friday post!  I sincerely apologize for missing the last two Fridays.  Gosh, time just gets away from me!  Thanks for sticking with me!  :)


There's a song by Christian Contemporary artist, New World Son, that I just love.  As usual, the tune got my attention first, and then I really focused on the words.  And these words I've read in the Bible many times and heard spoken in sermons, but something really clicked with me one particular time I was listening to it.  The name of the song is There is a Way.


It was like a light bulb moment for me as to what those three words really meant to ME.  First of all, Jesus is the (only) Way.  If you don't know what to do, which way to go, what path you should take.......Jesus is the answer.  To me, not only does this apply to Him being the way to salvation (to heaven), but also in showing us the path He'd have us take in this world, even in the little things.  God's Word says Jesus is the Way. Wow!  It's as simple as that.  We can pray and trust in Jesus because he IS the Way!

Next word......the Truth.  In this world we live in, there is so much surrounding us that's not real.  People will disappoint us; people are dishonest; they let us down, and they hurt us.  There's just a lot of deception out there.  But again, we have the privilege of turning to Jesus, because He IS the (only) Truth!  Another big Wow!  We can depend on Him (and only Him) for truth in every situation.  He won't disappoint, deceive us, or let us down....EVER!

And then the third word.....the Life.  That's the best one yet!  He is the (only) one that gives us life.  And the life He gives is the only life worth living!  And because the life He gives, when we accept it, we have an eternal home in heaven!  That's not just happiness here, that's forever happiness!  :)

See how loaded those three words are!  Maybe you have already experienced the fullness of those words, but it was one of those "aha moments" for me at just how powerful those three words that describe Jesus are!  I worry too much, when I have the Way, the Truth, and the Life right here with me everyday!  :)

Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life.  No ones comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:6 (NIV)

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a great weekend!  :)

♥ Tammy ♥

Monday, September 2, 2013

~ Pinned it, Made it! Monday ~

Hi friends!  I meant to let you know last week that I was taking this week off from Pinned it, Made it! Monday since it was Labor Day.  We have been out of town since last Thursday and just back home late this evening!


I'll be back on schedule with Pinned it, Made it Monday next Monday.  And I'll be back soon with another blog post!

Hope you all have a blessed week!  Thanks so much for stopping by on Mondays!  Sorry I forgot to let you know last week!  :)

♥ Tammy ♥