Last night I put the last coat of polyurethane on my dresser project. First time I’ve ever tackled a refinishing project like this, and I’m so impressed! Now to find the perfect handles!

I’m so excited to have this dresser done. Wish I had a before pic for you, just imagine it painted a black paint/stain with gaudy gold-plated handles. As I worked on this baby, I fell in love. Each scrape of the putty knife sliding old paint away revealing wavy grains–each rubbing with steel wool and fine sandpaper heightened my anticipation to get the job done! I mused about where I’d place this antique that my husband’s grandfather built in his young adulthood.

I love antique dressers more than anything else furniture-wise. Especially the ones up on pedestal legs. I can’t bear to waste them on clothing storage! This dresser’s former glory was as winter gear storage on our back porch, right next to the kitchen entryway. One drawer for gloves, another for hats, yet another for coveralls, etc. That was fine then, but…

It’s got too much of *me* in it now to subject it to my family’s daily abuses! (Sorry, fam!) When the light bulb moment came I about spilled my can of stain/varnish. MY KITCHEN! Perfect place to put the microwave–at head height, no more bending over punching in times and start buttons.

Other pluses–Plenty of huge drawers to hold my generic brand George Foreman grill, and my Pampered Chef mini-4-in-one-loaf pan–both items have been hogging space on an end counter b/c they’re too large for my other kitchen drawers (or maybe it’s because my other kitchen drawers are already fully occupied!). So now they’ll be out of sight! I plan on using one of the smaller top drawers for my great-aunt’s silver, tablecloths, placemats and cloth napkins. Which will in turn give me more space in the hallway linen closet for the girls’ puzzles! I have a zillion cookbooks, they’ll go spine-side up in one of the drawers so I can grab the ones I want easily and not forfeit any more counterspace to all my favorites!

So tell me, do you like my “kitchen dresser” or do you think I’m crazy for putting a microwave atop something so stately!?

What pieces of furniture are your favorite and why? Got any stray dressers you could put to practical use while showpiecing them, or maybe you do already?

While toting rocks across our property in the bucket of my hubby’s CAT (landscaping project of the moment), I got to thinking more about our housekeeping thread in the comments of my First Impressions post. Several of us were throwing out descriptions of homes, such as “filthy” or “lived-in” and now I’m wondering, just where does the line blur between the two? (Not that it matters, right?)

To me, filthy is stepping on some sticky, dried-on mess and not knowing what it is, only that flies are living off of it and probably have been for a few hours or more. Filthy is not realizing that your kitchen floor tiles were originally white. Filthy could be a moldy-smelling laundry room with no visible floor space under all the mounds of clothing. Or a back porch full of shoes and dirt and dust on everything you touch (raising hand sheepishly on this last one, this has been my back porch on more than one occasion!).

Lived-in, however can include many things. Toys on the floor. Clutter on the end tables. Clean laundry on the couch or bed waiting to be folded. Fuzzy lint on the carpet. A little toothpaste scum in the bathroom sink. All forgiveable, right? (Unless this is your version of filthy. Do tell in comments!)

What are your definitions of “filthy” and “lived-in” as regards housekeeping, just for the fun of it?

After two days of being busy outside, and because of three girls keeping busy inside…my house was a wreck! My oldest has discovered the joys of sewing Barbie clothes…so she’s all set up with my sewing machine on the card table (thread and fabric snippets everywhere) having a BLAST…and her little sisters turned the living room and kitchen into “Barbie resort land”–actually, they had two things going on at once, Barbies b/c of all the new clothes big sister was turning out, and babies b/c that’s their ultimate when it comes to playing together…so anyway, can you imagine? The funny deal is, we usually have them pick it all up before supper, but last night with a storm rolling in, I was up to my elbows in garden dirt with my rock project, hoping to get done before the dark skies and lightening unleashed their fury overhead. Dh, similarly, was working with our oldest on getting our big inflatable pool set up. (We had no idea it was going to storm, it really caught us off guard, going from ninety-some degrees to 67*F in less than an hour!) So by the time we got our respective projects wrapped up, and ran for the house…the electricity was flickering and then poof, lights out. So tripping over baby dolls and chair forts, we made our way to the matches and candles.

Fast forward to today. Too muddy and humid outside to want to paint, etc, besides, my poor house! If any of you had dropped by I would have been mortified. Eek! The real problem was the toy mess, which somehow morphed into a disaster that took us ALL day to clean. My oldest was only concerned that it meant putting away the sewing machine (grin, she’s my #1 helper when it comes to clean-up time) but my younger two were so sad to have their glorious play-area eliminated. 3 yo was in tears. So what does a mommy do?

She throws a tea party. (Hands up in the air) We had an early lunch, called it a brunch and served it with English Breakfast tea in the teapot and mommy’s fancy teacups and real silver. What a mood booster. Then the younger two had a half hour to play one last time in their chaos of make-believe, while oldest and I split up the kitchen, bathroom, and chicken duties. Then it was *get serious* time on the girls’ bedroom. Everyone pitched in, we unloaded bookshelves, rearranged beds and dressers and gasp(!) I even condensed the overflow bulge of drawers full of clothing to the point that now my middle and youngest can share a five-drawer dresser! We even turned up a missing ice pack and youngest’s favorite mini-dog (stuffed, I assure you).

This was a room definitely past the blur of lived-in to filthy, and we try to clean it every Friday…but yeah, we’ve been busy, what can I say?

So, it’s time to share your thoughts. What is “filthy” to you? What is “lived in”? Are you harder on yourselves in this area than you are on other people? I sure am!

Looking forward to your thoughts on this!

Donned my painting clothes yesterday morning, determined to get back in the house-painting groove. Yes, the vacation is definitely over. *smile* Is there any other chore more tedious to home-owners than painting? Or scraping, preparatory to painting? If there is, please let me know in comments, it might help me complain less!

It’s a long nasty story, but I’ve been trying to get my house painted for at least 7 years now. It wasn’t a priority to Hubby, and then when it was, he wanted us to spray the paint on, but our sprayer is very touchy–it’s definitely a two-person job. Have I mentioned yet that my hubby hates painting? He and I spray-painted one side of the house about four years ago, and another side two years ago. So this last May, I decided to start painting with a paint brush and I’m gettin’ her done! Eight hours slapping paint just today, Woo-HOO!

With every brush stroke I’m loving this house more. Its tattered exterior has long been an embarrassment to me…so to see pristine whiteness take over the weathered gray is magical. I find myself strangely exhilarated. Hubby is even impressed, and has forgiven me for resorting to a lowly paint brush.

How many times have I talked myself out of extending hospitality because of the sad shape of my siding? Too ashamed to count… Why do I worry so much about what people think? It really boils down to “first impressions” doesn’t it? We want our best face forward when we invite people over. Especially people who haven’t seen our home yet or who live in “House Beautifuls”. So we either dither ourselves into a panic over clutter in the corners or, like me, peeling home exteriors and falling-down barns, or we shrink back within ourselves and wave limply at the nice hospitable thought as we say bye-bye to an opportunity that could have blessed both parties. Us and them.

It’s really crazy that we worry about it at all. Here’s a question for you, do you really *care* what your friends’ homes are like when you walk in the door to visit them? If they look lived in, doesn’t it instantly relax you? It does me. One of my best friends is exactly like me. Her home was an old farmhouse till they built new last year, and her back porch and mine could have been twin sisters–they both looked like a twister had ripped through the night before. And we laughed about it. It bonded us. Silly but true. (So quit worrying about your houses!)

I’m so glad our Heavenly Father isn’t concerned with first impressions. If He was, good night, who could stand? His first impression of all of us? Black with sin! Yet He loved us sinners so much that He gave up His only son for our salvation. That’s amazing. We didn’t have to clean house first, or dress in white linen and go through a ceremony. Nope, He took us as is. Even when we continue in sin, He still loves us and forgives us and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. Best of all, He doesn’t see us as sinners once we accept His gift of salvation. He sees us through the filter of His holy Son. That is grace. Grace we could learn a thing or two from.

So extend grace on yourselves and try not to let your lack of House Beautiful keep you from enjoying life. Here’s a little secret: I’m more in awe of friends who welcome drop in’s despite their messy houses, than I am of friends who have impossibly clean homes. Now doesn’t that make you want to invite the neighborhood over ASAP?

I found this recipe two days before our camping trip in a Country magazine at the library…it sounded fantastic so we zipped over to the grocery store and bought the ingredients. Turned out to be even more delicious than I hoped! And perfect for fixing ahead and packing the canned goods along to add at the last minute. Just don’t forget to pack a can opener!

Kettle Cooked White Beans with Rosemary

• 2 cups mushrooms, quartered
• 4 slices bacon, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds, crushed
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 Tablespoon tomato paste concentrate OR 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 15.5 ounce cans butter beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 15 ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• kosher salt, optional
• 2 Tablespoons virgin olive oil

In a large skillet, cook mushrooms and bacon over medium-high heat, stirring often till bacon begins to brown around edges and mushrooms are tender, 3-4 minutes. Drain most of fat, leaving one tablespoon.

Stir in garlic, fennel seeds, and mustard seeds. Cook until fragrant, about one minute. Add tomato paste and let cook for 30 seconds.

***the above I did ahead of time and froze for the camping trip in a small Gladware container–then I just took the rest of the ingredients with me and added them to it when we were about ready to eat***

Add undrained tomatoes, rosemary and balsamic vinegar. Bring to boiling. Gently fold in the beans. Reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for ten minutes. Remove rosemary, season to taste with salt and drizzle with oil. Serve or pack in a gallon sized ziplock and keep chilled. Makes eight 2/3 cup servings.

I doubled the whole recipe, wanting enough to feed the five of us and the eight in my friend’s family. Our plan A was to camp together, or at least have them come to our campfire for one of the meals. Alas, the rain kept us from camping, but we enjoyed the beans anyway…along with bacon cheeseburgers, salad and watermelon! And for the record, I’m pretty glad it rained. The nearest campsite to our friends was forty minutes away, and we girls wouldn’t have had near the capacity for heart-to-hearts…not to mention the time and gas wasted in commuting to and fro.

Anyway, this would be a perfect side for a fourth of July picnic!

Warning! At the end of this post is a pic of me with no make-up. It’s only fair to give you advance notice…just so you don’t spew coffee all over the keyboard or something. J

Jessica over at Farm Fresh came up with this voyeuristic idea…that we moms need to give a grand tour of what life is like at our house. The tour includes pics of the following, so without any further ado, come right on in!

First Stop: My bathroom and the toilet…

This is our one and only bathroom–Thank God. I’m thrilled to pieces to only have one bathroom to keep up with! I love dark brown, and dh thought I was crazy for choosing it in a small room like our bathroom, but we love how it turned out. The wainscoating is tongue-n-groove siding that we pulled off of a falling-down building on our property, I sanded it, coated it with primer and paint and dh threw it on the walls.

As you can see, the toilet is back in its own little alcove, as is our bathtub. Check out our old-fashioned heat resinor in the wall. We have one or two of those in each room, it’s what our hot water heat (from the outdoor corn stove) travels through to toasty-warm up our house in winter.

On to the Laundry Room:

Very little to see here I’m afraid. Yes, I painted this in the late nineties. (Dh swears it looks like doctor’s office colors) I’m thinking of a redo of coral and tan maybe. Haven’t decided yet, and that would definitely be a project for NEXT summer! Meet the twenty year old washer we brought with us from our first home…the dryer bombed last year, thus the two colors. I’m a white appliance lover. The washer keeps holding out. I actually was all caught up on laundry (pretty much) the day we took all the pics…except for the covered basket you see in the pic which contains hand-wash items and a few tie-dye shirts that I still wash separately.

To the kitchen–meet my refrigerator and sink…

We had guests yesterday morning so my sink was still clean! Whoopee, but does that mean I fail this “real-life” test? Just look over at my magnet/craft covered refrigerator, what a hodge-podge! And we’d just finished a supper of leftovers, can’t get much more “real life” than that, right? My desk, in the background, is covered with tardy birthday presents for various of my nieces, and magazines and books on their way out to the car and back to the library! Still playing catch-up after being sick and then going on vacation!

Check out two of our closets…

This first one is in my hallway right next to the bathroom. The drawers on the bottom contain play-dough, paper dolls, wrapping paper supplies, etc. I used to have all the games on the top two shelves, but early this week I moved all the kid games to the bottom shelf. It’s summer, they need to be within reach!

The one on the right is supposedly a coat closet for company, but it’s by the front door, and ALL our company comes to the back door, of COURSE! So this closet is a mess of card table/chairs, the girls Indo-boards, boxes of videos we never watch, and all our stamping/scrapbooking supplies. Strange collection there, isn’t it? Oh for a craft room.

And the Living Room…

It wouldn’t be real life if I moved the exercise equipment out of the way, though I normally exercise and then scoot the Gazelle off the center rug and out of traffic. Don’t ask me why there’s a plastic bag hanging on the coffee table…it’s probably a hammock for one of my three yo’s dollies. There’s a handkerchief tied to the TV table in the same manner with something sleeping in it. The laundry basket is full of library books, renewed in the nick of time.

Those horseshoe tables were made my by fil, we love them, and have several horse pictures on the walls. My attempt to underline hubby’s passion in life: horses. Though the way things are going, maybe I should be framing pictures of dogs.

We’re also supposed to be posting pictures of what our children were doing while we put this post together.

Mine were catching crawdads. What else is there to do in the country after a big rain?

And finally the picture you’ve all been waiting for of me bare-faced and dull at the end of a day…

Oops. The digital camera’s batteries died before I could upload it. Truly sorry! I do promise a raincheck though! As soon as possible, of course! (I really would have, honest, I just don’t feel like robbing batteries from my youngest’s playtoys)

Thanks, Jessica, for a fun party! It’s Real Life, any of you want to participate? I’d love to come peep in your windows! Be sure to check out Jessica’s, she did an awesome tour of her life, as did many others!

Nothing says time, love and tradition like a quilt. I’ve heard it said that blankets may wrap one with warmth, but quilts envelop you in love.

I’m in love with quilts. I wish I had a dozen more in my home to cherish and display. Shown here, in my bedroom, are three of mine. The pink postage stamp one at the foot of my bed was quilted by my great-aunts on my mom’s side. Mom will hopefully share more of its history in comments. I was honored to receive it for a wedding gift in 1993.

The blue and cream double wedding ring was a gift from my mom, a wall hanging she worked on while traveling one summer. It’s my keepsake especially associated with the birth of my firstborn. Mom let me pick out all the contrasting fabrics and choose the style. I’ve always loved the double wedding ring pattern, and this one is my absolute favorite. I have it hanging in the living room usually.

The quilt on my bed is simply a Target special…they sure have some pretty ones available, as my 7 yo will attest. She chose a lavender and tan Target quilt with satin ribbon work for her bed last year. Two other heirloom quilts I keep packed away…one is a crazy quilt passed down from my maternal grandma. The satins and velvets are cracking and unraveling, but the overall condition is what you’d expect for it being an early 1900’s quilt. I want to unpack it and take a picture for you guys. It has a “Ladies Aid Society” bookmark embroidered into the rest of the fabrics, kind of adds to its sense of community. My other quilt belonged to dh’s great-grandma. Other than a huge discoloration in one corner, it’s in great shape with whites, tangerine-oranges and light greens blending together.

My own quilting experience has been limited to one autumn leaf wall-hanging (pictured rolled up in a basket in my header) which I LOVED making, and three baby quilts. If I had a sewing room…I’d make more!

I love how women throughout the ages have found ways to meet and share life. Quilting bees, socials, baby showers, Bible studies, coffee at Starbucks and over the kitchen tables across this land, or behind computer screens…blogging. In the quilt of my life, each of you own a special square.

Here are some quotes for the quilters out there, may they brighten your day as they did mine!

• May all of your ups and downs in life be with a needle and thread.
• Friends are like fabric - you can never have enough!
• When life goes to pieces - Try Quilting!
• I am a quilter and my house is in pieces.
• I am a material girl. Wanna see my fabric collection?
• Blessed are the piecemakers.
• Blessed are the children of the piecemakers for they shall inherit the quilts!
  

A brand new week has arrived–and early June means summer vacation for most of us, which, hopefully, translates into extra time for those projects we’ve been putting off dreaming of accomplishing! For me, that would include, in order of importance, of course:

• finish planting the garden (gasp, YES, I know how late it is!!!! I’ve been BUSY people!)
• finish painting the house (I’ve been plugging along at it for a month now, it’s lookin’ good!)
• scrub and bleach the back porch now that the chicks aren’t calling it home (sigh, can I hire someone to do this? it means moving furniture, etc, outside, taking down the mammoth venetian blinds…)
• power wash the exterior of our chicken house, primer and paint it (i’m rubbing my sore shoulders already–between this and the total gym, i’ve got it made)
• help hubby build a chicken run that is varmint proof
• put in some new flower beds at the back of the house (which means a ton of rock hauling)
• finish the deck. we’ve got an unrailed ramp leading off the deck out to an elevated play area with a slide and climbing wall…all of that needs railed and roofed, and another set of steps built. (totally up to hubby, and he’s getting behind on his own projects so this might take a back seat) But I’m here to help, hon, whenever. you SAY the word!

If I get all of the above done…LOL…whew, here’s hoping…then I need to get around to some indoor projects, like sanding and repainting my kitchen cabinets and trim. Something I did ten years ago and don’t relish doing again. That’s removing hardware times forty-seven cabinets and drawers (yes, I counted)…sanding them all, primering them all, and 1-2 coats of paint? But sadly, it needs done and we never hire anything done that we can do ourselves. (Yes, that means I get to sanitize our back porch all by myself. woo. hoo.)

But guess what? I’m glad it’s not at white-glove-test-perfect currently, because we’ve got a new tenant! Three days after we moved the chicks outside, we moved the most adorable Australian Shepherd pup in! Her name is Guinnea and she belongs to my 7 yo. If you remember, 7 yo is the one that’s good at saving her money. She bought a trumpet last fall, and now she buys a 7 week old pup. Guinnea is just in the house for the time it will take for these two girls to bond. We’re so EXCITED! Now we’re in the Border Collie business as well as the Aussie business! The two *smartest dogs in the world and you’ll be able to buy them both here (as soon as dh finds a worthy male pup to invest in)!

Pictures coming! I promise! (We’re in the middle of a flu epidemic currently)

E.T.A. I added a picture of our puppy–isn’t she precious?!?

What projects are you hoping to accomplish in the coming months? Share in comments!

*technically, Border Collies are the smartest in the world. Aussies aren’t in the top ten…but this pup is smart, she’s already figuring out that she needs to trot to the door when it’s time to relieve herself outside, and she comes to her name being called! Yep, she’s a 7-week-wonder that girl! And SO fluffy!

Nothing like a kitchen fire to instigate a thorough spring cleaning!

Thursday morning dawned lovelier than predicted, so my girls begged for a morning outside. Since I had two batches of croissants to roll out and bake, I gave them the thumbs up. The living room needed dusted, our ceiling fan in particular, so I began attacking all the surfaces from top to bottom–taking breaks to brush the rising croissants with egg wash, etc.

Croissants are full of butter. You’re really supposed to bake them on baking sheets with sides, but I’ve a plethora of those flat Air bake cookie sheets, so of a necessity, I end up using a couple of those. Normally, I have no problems. But this time, on the very first pan, the butter oozed out over the sides and caused an oven fire. As the kitchen filled with smoke, I was blithely assembling the vacuum cleaner…thank God for the sense of smell!

Nothing major came of it, the croissants even survived, not a one blackened, though some tasted “smoked”…as in barbequed. But my kitchen! In a haze of smoke, I flipped the exhaust fan on and dragged the big oscillating fan down from upstairs. I opened a kitchen window in an effort to direct the smoke outdoors, not remembering till an hour elapsed, that it was a window with plastic over the screen outside. Sheesh!

And to think, the day before we’d had weather in the 70’s, and I’d opened all the non-plastic-covered windows to let in the fresh air. All for what??? So I opened them all again.

Eventually the kitchen aired out, the rest of the croissants were baked in a smoke-filled oven. Finally, I turned the oven on self-clean and washed all the curtains and windows and finished making two pans of Texas-style lasagna to go with the croissants and salad I’d made that morning. By this time, it was nearly 4 P.M., and the girls were still outside. I’d thrown together a “picnic” lunch for them and did manage to get three year old down for a nap…but I still needed to get to town to deliver half the food I’d made to a friend (the rest was for the next day’s Bible study/lunch with my parents), pick up dog food before the grainery closed, and get back in time to feed everyone and get to Bible study on time.

So after a quick shower I did all of the above, except for getting to Bible study on time. Here’s where I can blame dh…I called the girls in to supper and fed them, all the time wondering where he was…finally I hollered outside, asking him if he’d remembered about Bible study…um, nope! So we got a late start. But all’s well that ends well.

I did have to get up early early the next morning to get finished in the living room before my 9 A.M. Bible study guests arrived…and the girls had to double up on all their subjects since they’d missed the day before…

But at least my kitchen was clean!

Today’s post is a ramble about my small home here in the country…two bedrooms, one bathroom, living room, kitchen, laundry room and back porch. We are fortunate to have spacious rooms, and the promise of someday being able to spread upstairs…

In our older home, the upstairs is closed off and only accessible via a door in the kitchen and a narrow, steep stairway leading to two large rooms and an attic storage area. Hubby hasn’t wanted to branch UP with our family yet, not until he figures out the most economical way to heat and cool the space up there. We’re talking major insulation issues, not to mention no ductwork, etc.

Bedrooms

Each Friday’s goal includes a major cleaning of my girls’ bedroom! If you can imagine, three girls sharing a bedroom 24/7…they have so much stuff in there we can barely see the baseboards. A fact that causes me no end of frustration!

A playroom would be nice…but it’s not only toy items, those are actually pretty easily maintained, it’s all their craft projects/supplies. Perhaps I’ve become lazy, but I’ve found it’s just easier on everyone to let the girls work perpetually on their different projects w/o daily pestering them to “finish it up”, “clean it up”, and “put it away”–when it’s not even done to their satisfaction yet! So on Fridays…they know it’s got to be dealt with!

Kitchens

Functional countertops won out in my recent poll concerning kitchen counters. That’s great by me, I like having stuff on my counters…it’s homey…as long as it’s not dirty dishes or crumbs or…broken kiddie crafts needing glued, etc. I have no appliance caddy, or pantry, or islands. You can see my main workspace above left. It’s gloriously cluttered functional! The opposite counter top, not pictured, is the one upon which our home schooling materials seem to accumulate in between mealtimes. I have no dining room, so the kitchen is probably our highest traffic area.

Living Rooms

I have a curious question to ask of you ladies. I’ve always assumed that those of us who live in small houses say goodbye to the baseboards at some point or another, but Juli recently sent me some Valentine party pictures taken in her home, and I was in awe of the sheer space I saw there. We’re talking a living room that would be a delight to vacuum! I’m just guessing, but I’d say Juli’s square footage is limited, and taking into consideration that she’s raising four children and homeschooling three of them…well, somehow, she keeps clutter-free. I asked her to share her thoughts and this is what she said,

“I do like to live semi clutter free. I have found that in our society we tend to accumulate many things. (like toys, clothes, shoes) What I try to do, is keep the things that mean something to me deeply, or that we use often. I would say once every six months, we go through our things, and give away what we are not using, or clothes that the children have out grown. I really think too many things have a way of zapping our energy, and make us unhappy. I try to buy only what we need, and not more. (our closet space is limited) There is a book I love called Shelter for the Spirit, it is such an inspiration to me. I guess I think in many ways less is more.”

I for one, am inspired to do better–thanks, Juli, for the encouragement and for the nudge on the book.

Our living room is around 16′x23′. In this space we have five medium-large windows and three doorways–one to the hall, one to the kitchen, and one to the small entry foyer by the front door. We also have a massive limestone fireplace (pictured here, sorry for the dim quality), sandwiched between windows and three resinors (old fashioned hot water heating vents that we still use for heat). Okay, that’s all the non-movable stuff.

We have two bookcases, a piano, a computer desk, a humidifier, two recliners, two end tables, a coffee table, a couch, a wooden bench in front of the fireplace, a stereo system with two large speakers and an antique dresser which holds blankets in one drawer, DVDs/movies in another, and toddler toys in another. Oh yes, and a quilt rack. And a basket full of library books. (Anyone else feel like humming the Twelve Days of Christmas after that long line-up?)

So a question to satisfy my burning curiousity:

Are you crowded? If you’re not, I’d like to hear from you too!

While we’re at it, feel free to scold me for accumulating so much stuff. My goal for 2008 is to get rid of some of it. Sometime.

Don’t we adore, more than anything, to cause the light of appreciation and happiness on the faces of those we love the most?

Holidays really bring that out in a woman, I think. Every little girl remembers the magic of Christmas Eve, the flurry of gift wrapping and candle lighting…the festivity of mothers staying up late into the night, stuffing stockings, setting the table for Christmas breakfast, doing whatever it is that mothers do best.

My mom’s baking specialty, hands down, will always be her French croissants. All my childhood friends are sure to remember them fondly, as well as the various church families to which we belonged. They graced every holiday feast and many school faculty break room tables. The eighteen hour process behind their creation isn’t at all hard to comprehend when you’re sneaking one warm from the cooling rack, or peeling back one of the many flaky layers that mom’s floury hands folded in with love.

In today’s world…it is still women’s business to make life better, to make tomorrow better than today.” Helen Thames Raley

The croissant making tradition is one that my mom passed on to me. I just finished rolling and folding my butter-layered yeast dough for the third time, and have put three batches worth “to bed” for the night. Tomorrow morning will see me using every baking sheet in the house to find enough square inches of rising space for the hopefully 6-7 dozen crescent shaped rolls.

My husband will come home after a morning’s work in freezing weather and he’ll scarf a dozen down without trying. Our girls will have one or two small ones before remembering that they’ll get more later at my in-law’s Thanksgiving get-together…

As for me–I’ll sneak one of the crooked ones, and remember a yellow-tiled counter top in Texas, a mother who loved me, who wanted all my todays and tomorrows to be as special as they could possibly be.

“The spirit of tradition is one way that knowledge is passed from generation to generation. It has filled our lives with many ‘rare and beautiful treasures’ over the years and we have tried to pass those treasure on to our children. We share and celebrate our special ways of doing things, many of which come from the traditions that shaped us.” Emilie Barnes

Thanks Mom!