Tea Time ~ 1/31/2024

 

Grab a cup of tea, coffee, hot chocolate or your favorite drink
while I share a few things about my life lately...

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~My sister-in-law Kelly's surgery Tuesday morning went "perfectly" according to the surgeon!  She was truly in the loving hands of the Almighty and I fully believe the surgeon was used by Him.  So many people were praying!  Kelly was sincerely afraid that she wouldn't make it through the surgery and now she is sitting, walking, talking and doing wonderfully!  We are most definitely saying prayers of thanks :)

~I signed up for a vendor/craft show that will be taking place March 16th.  I have roughly 10 days until I start my new job so I'm using my time to market prep!  This will be my first ever market/show and I'm excited!  I've been busy crocheting octos, sea turtles, leggy frogs, hair scrunchies, bunnies and still have more items that I want to work up.  I also have cup cozies, baby blankets, shawls, dish cloths and scrubbies made that I will be adding to my table.  If you can think of anything else I should make, please let me know in the comments :)

~Can you believe today is the last day of January 2024?  I can truthfully say that I'm up-to-date with my Bible-in-a-year plan.  There have been days that I've had to play catch-up but nothing too crazy.  I don't want to get behind too far and then have a hard time catching up.  I'm reading in Exodus (the 10 Plagues), Matthew (Mount of Transfiguration) and Psalms (at chapter 27).  I've never read a plan that is some Old Testament, some New Testament and Psalms/Proverbs each day but I thought I'd give it a try for something different.  So far, so good!  I'm really enjoying my reading time :)

~Laken, my baby, turns 17-years-old on Friday.  She's my little groundhog baby!  She either wants Olive Garden or Texas Roadhouse for her birthday dinner.  Then on Saturday, the 3rd, we are planning on taking her and Nate snowboarding!  They have been wanting to go so badly so we agreed to take them for Laken's birthday present.  I just pray nobody gets hurt!  That is my biggest fear with snowboarding!  Laken has never been snowboarding but Nate has been.  Hopefully he can give her some pointers.  :)

~I need to start adding more pictures to my blog.  I used to take so many pictures to share but not so much anymore.  I really need to get a new camera as my old one bit the dust.  My phone camera stinks (as Laken likes to tell me).  If you have any recommendations for a good but inexpensive camera, please let me know in the comments :)

So, what is new with you???

Colletta

Happy Homemaker Monday ~ 1/29/2024

Come join Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday. 

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Hello, and Happy Monday!

The weather outside is:

I can't talk about the weather without mentioning how absolutely gorgeous it was this past Friday her in southern Pennsylvania!  The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and the snow was melting!  Glorious :)

The week ahead is a little more wintery...sigh...

On today's to-do list: 

~Today is my sister-in-law's birthday!  I would love if you could pray for her.  Kelly is having a major surgery tomorrow on her neck and is very scared.  We're all nervous and have been praying hard that it is safe and successful.  I appreciate it :)

~Working on my new routine of early to bed/early to rise.  I did pretty well with the routine in the beginning of last week and then little by little, I was staying up way too late.  So last night I was in bed by 10pm and now I'm wide awake a little before 5am.

Happening this week:

~Laken's 17th Birthday!  My little groundhog baby is growing up.  Friday we're going out to eat for her Birthday Dinner and then on Saturday we'ere taking Laken and Nate snowboarding at a ski resort about an hour away.  I pray no one gets hurt!

~Prepping for my first ever vendor show!

Currently reading:

I did so good with my reading goal and finished "Keegan" in 2-3 days.  I then started "Small Town Shepherd" by Nala Henkel Aislinn.  So far it has been good, but I've been distracted from reading.  I've put it as an item on my daily tasks, so I'm hoping to finish this book in the beginning of the week.

Watching:

NFL Playoff games.

Percy Jackson

Youtube videos from a few favorites

On the menu today:

Stroganoff

In the Craft Basket:

I finished up the Think Pink Shawl.  Other than that I've been working on bunnies, turtles, bees and leggy frogs for the vendor/craft show.  It isn't until March 16th but I start working outside the home again on February 12th and don't know how much time I will have to craft.  I'd like to get as much done in the next two weeks as I possibly can.

Picture from the Camera

Kona Mae :)

Bible Verse

"In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch."  Psalm 5:3

Have a great Monday!

Colletta

The Good Stuff ~ Painting Party ~ 9/9/2021

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Have you ever gone to a "Painting Party"?  Not the kind where you go help a friend makeover a room, but the kind where you actually paint a picture?  I can now say that I have!

I had never...in my life...painted on canvas until Tuesday evening.  My beautiful SIL, Kelly, invited me out to a night of painting and drinking...Diet Pepsi for us... at Buffalo Wild Wings :)  Kelly is, of course, the blonde haired beauty.

We had the choice of 3 paintings to create.  The elephant looked WAY too complicated and the middle picture, while beautiful, intimidated us with all those "happy little trees".  Therefore, we decided to paint the dolphin painting.  I think we were the only 2 painters that evening doing the dolphin painting, actually.

I was worried about trying to create the dolphins, but thankfully the host already had the dolphins sketched on the canvas.  This was my starting point.

Here is my paint palette :)

Look at that face :)

Almost finished...

And...viola!  My finished painting!

I really would love to know if you've ever attended a painting party.  What did you paint?  Did you enjoy yourself?  Do you have a picture you could share...I want to see!?!

What has you thankful/smiling/exited this week?  Tell me all the good stuff! 

Colletta

The Good Stuff ~ 9/02/2021

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I've got some catching up to do!

~The Wedding!  Kaylee and Shawn's wedding was beautiful!  I didn't cry until the Father/Daughter Dance and then the tears streamed down my face.  

I was OK after that until I came home for the night.  All the preparations and changes hit me and I SOBBED!  Then I was OK...again :)  

The food was amazing and the photographer did an amazing job.  We have a full gallery of pictures.  I wish I could share them all with you but that would be impossible.  These are a few of my favorites:

~A Freshman!  Not only do I have a married daughter, I now have a Freshman in High School too!  The first picture below shows Kaylee and Laken on Laken's first day of Kindergarten.  The second picture is Laken last year (8th grade) and the next picture was Laken on her first day as a Freshman in High School.  Look how much she has changed in just a year!  I can just see the attitude oozing from her in the picture from this year ;)

~Homecoming!  Laken and her friends have decided to do the whole Homecoming "Thing" this year now that they are old enough to attend.  (There will be no boys in the group.  Thankfully, boys are still icky!)  They are going to do a fancy dinner, get photos and go to the dance.  This is the dress that was supposed to be delivered yesterday but wasn't due to the localized flooding.  Hopefully it comes today!  We're going to be adding straps and I'm hoping this model is REALLY tall and that the dress is a bit longer on Laken :)

~A New Job!  Kaylee started a new job the week after returning from her Honeymoon.  She is now working at Subway.  She's making more money for less hours so that is a plus :)

~No Complaining!  My dear sister-in-law, Kelly, has asked me to do a challenge with her for the whole month of September.  30 Days of No Complaining!  It has been 1 day and I've been catching myself more than I thought I would.  The idea is to DECREASE complaining and INCREASE gratitude :)

What has you thankful/smiling/exited this week?  Tell me all the good stuff! 

Colletta

Hey, It's Okay ~ 2/6/2021

Go visit Amber over at Airing My Laundry  to share what you're "Okay" with!

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Hey, It's Okay...

...that Laken laid the guilt trip on big time because nobody wanted to go out and play in the snow with her.  She loves the snow and is a true winter baby but everybody else would rather be snuggly warm inside the house...

...that I didn't realize my sister-in-law was turning 50 on her birthday.  I thought she was turning 49!  If I would have known it was 50 I would have gotten her something more spectacular for her gift :(

...that I love putting the edges of a puzzle together but then get bored.

...that I get really excited about turning the page on my wall calendar!  Hello, February 2021!

...for me to get excited when I see the countdowns to Spring on Facebook!

...for me to be overly anxious when my oldest baby, Kaylee, is driving in inclement weather.  I don't like it all!

...that I'm almost 43 years old and still get huge pimples on my chin sometimes :(

...to take lots of pictures of my puppies!  Kona loves to dig in the snow :)

What are you "Okay" with?

Colletta

P.S.  I hope you can stop by MY SHOP and give it some love!

Thankful Thursday ~ 2/4/2021

 

Here are some things that made me thankful/smile/excited this week:

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Kelly's 50th Birthday! ~ Last Friday, January 29th, was my sister-in-law's 50th birthday.  We celebrated with ice cream cake!  I got her 4 cases of Diet Dr. Pepper/Cream Soda as it is her favorite!  I'm sure she'll be sharing though.  Happy Birthday, Kelly!

Angel Food Cake! ~ Saturday was Kaylee's day to cook.  She made Southwestern Casserole and an Angel Food and blueberry dessert.  It was our first time to make an Angel Food cake from scratch (usually we buy it premade).  It wasn't terribly hard and turned out to be soooo delicious :)  I'm thinking of sharing "Kaylee in the Kitchen" posts if she continues to cook.  She has Enchilada Stuffed Shells planned for this Saturday :)

Blog Views!  In December I had 6232 views on my blog.  For January I had 8720 views.  That makes for a total of 2488 more views in January than December.  These numbers may not seem like a lot to you, but to me they are exciting :)

~Driving Safely!  I was so worried when Kaylee left to go to work on Monday as it was still snowing heavily.  She made it there safely and I was good until it was time for her to drive home.  Thank the Lord, she was able to leave 2 hours early and made it safely home by 10pm.  I breathed a big sigh of relief!

Laken's Birthday!  Last, but not least, was my Baby Girl's Birthday on February 2nd.  She's my little groundhog baby and I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday.  She turned 14 years old (14!) but at times she thinks she's 24!  I guess that is the way of teenagers.  We celebrated with cake and Chik-Fil-A.  Love You, Laken.  Happy Birthday!

What are you thankful for/smiling/exited about this week?  Tell me all the good stuff! 

Colletta

P.S. I love for you to stop by MY SHOP and give it some love!

Thankgiving Thankful Thursday ~ 11/28/19

 

Here are some things that made me smile this week:

 

 

~Happy Thanksgiving!  This year for Thanksgiving my Mom is handing over the cooking reins to my SIL, Kelly.  She's a bit nervous but I keep telling her it is just "US"!  No need to worry!  Mom and the girls are still making homemade noodles to take along since that is a big tradition with them.  We'll also be making pies, probably on Friday.  Mom and I usually do ALL the cooking so it ought to be a nice, leisurely Thanksgiving.  Hope you have a good one!

~2020 Pen Pals!  I mentioned this last week and wanted to let you know that I have 5 participants so far!  And the sign ups don't end until December 20th!  I'd love you to consider being a Pen Pal this coming year.  Click HERE to find out more :)

~Lunch with Kaylee!  Last Friday, we met Kaylee after her college classes for lunch and some shopping.  We went to Chick-fil-A and then Kaylee and I went to Wal-Mart to check out the clearance racks.  Kaylee got 3 new pair of jeans and I got 2 pairs of jeans.  We both really needed some new ones. I also picked up the cutest knit quarter sleeve shirt for $5!  It was nice to spend some quality time with my oldest girl :)

~Christmas Exchange!  In case you missed it, I signed up for a Christmas Exchange over at Slaters' Funny Farm.  Carol still needs people to sign up and the limit is only $10 so if you interested, please head over and join in :)

~Christmas Schedule!  This week my Mom and I sat down with our calendars and coordinated our Christmas Schedules.  We do this every year!  We made sure everything is planned and scheduled so that it doesn't get too super stressful.  We planned when to make Christmas Cookies, get our Christmas Tree and don't forget the Christmas Concert!  We also wrote down our Church events such as our Christmas Dinner, Christmas Caroling and Christmas Play.  I'm getting exited!!!!  Are you?  :)

What made you smile this week? 

Colletta

Tuesday Talk ~ 3/5/19

Things I'm thinking about lately:

~Barry.  On my mind A LOT lately has been my brother's father-in-law, Barry.  He went to the hospital on Monday with double pneumonia and in the process was diagnosed with lung cancer.  My sister-in-law is a mess and rightly so.  Their whole family has been weighing heavily on my mind and heart and in my prayers this week.  I'd love your prayers of comfort for Barry and the family.

~Instagram.  On a lighter subject, I've started an Instagram account and have been playing around with it.  I'm a bit obsessed right now.  You can find me @collettaskitchensink .  Are you on Instagram?  Leave your link in the comments or come follow me and I'll be sure to follow back :)

~Budgeting.  I've been binge watching budgeting videos on youtube!  I found that I'm already doing a lot of the recommended "tricks" but have learned a lot.  Did you  know the recommended grocery budget is $100 per person per month?  I was pleasantly surprised to calculate that we are already right on track with our grocery budget.  What are your best budgeting "tricks" that I should know??

What have you been thinking about lately???

Colletta



Thankful Thursday ~ 1/31/19

~Tuesday was my SIL's bday!  Kelly spent her birthday having her gallbladder removed :(  So the cake was put on hold until she is able to enjoy it.  Prayers for her continued recovering are much appreciated :)




~Kaylee's friend, Bree, stayed the weekend!  She lives about an hour away so the girls don't get to see each other often.  They had a great time with shopping, playing video games and loading up on snacks :)


~My Moogly CAL Block #2 was featured on the Moogly Facebook cover photo!  So exciting as there are a lot of blocks to choose from :)


~I rejoined Planet Fitness and took Kaylee as my guest!  It is so cold and icy out and impossible to go outside for a walk like we did in the summer and fall.  We went for the first time yesterday.  I'll be posting more about this over at Colletta Is Losing It!  I'd love for you to come visit and follow that blog as well :)


~Damon is a goose!  I'll leave you with this picture of him on his train with his "hat" on :)

What are you thankful for today?

Colletta