Lucchese Boots on Zulily!

  As I opened my Zulily email this morning the first thing I saw was, "LUCCHESE" boots! Ciao Bella, can't believe they are on Zulily!!! Such a steal of a deal for the regular price on these beautiful boots! 

  I was first introduced to Lucchese by ThePioneerWoman's blog. I kinda fell in love with the idea of owning a pair of these beauties one day...thank you Pioneer Woman.

  Check out Zulily for yourself, and definitely check out Lucchese on there! They are most definitely a statement piece to add to your wardrobe.


Blessings~Heather

Every Good Thing

  Listen to this song...does it speak to you like it did me? I've heard this song many times on the Christian radio station here in our town...but never heard the lyrics so clearly as I did tonight while I chopped Romain Hearts for our dinner. Lately I have noticed the Lord speaking to me through song. This may be because life is just busy. Baseball has all but consumed our lives as of late...not leaving a lot of down time. It makes my heart smile that the Lord is still allowing me the pleasure of thinking of Him and worshiping him all through music, reminding me to put Him first.

  Did you listen to this song??

"I tend to be busier than I should be"
"I tend to think that time is going to wait for me"
"You're the reason for every good thing...every heart beat"
"You always make beauty from a heartache"
"You're the reason for every good thing...every heart beat"
"You are here in every moment"
"You're the reason for every good thing"
"You make life so sweet"

  Every Good Thing. How many times have we/I complained about circumstances, yet I'm still alive? How many times do we/I complain about the food we have to eat, yet we have full stomachs? How many times have we/I complained about the noise our children are making, yet we have the blessing of being a parent? How many times have we/I thought why Lord, yet we are privileged to be in communication with the Almighty...we have hope? Every Good Thing comes from HIM. We are the vessel that decides what we do with Every Good Thing. Wow. That is powerful. HE has given us free will....what will you do with yours?

James 1:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

2 Corinthians 9:8 (NIV)

⁸ And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

 

This was the lovely song playing on KLOVE online this morning...it gave me the burst of energy I was needing to begin the crazy schedule that is ours for the next 4 days! Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice!

My Favorite FREE iPad Apps

 

"Goodnight Safari" is absolutely adorable! The trees in the Savannah shake when you touch them, and the mama giraffe twist her neck and lifts her legs, while you help the baby giraffe feed on the leaves of a too tall tree. You give a baby rhino a bath and help a baby zebra find his mother. Our 3yr old LOVES this book. You can choose to Read Alone, or Read to Me. You can purchase more Learning Activities...but I'm good with free. ;)

The "Endless Alphabet" is my FAVORITE! It is so educational. You choose a letter and the monsters run through the word and all your letters get scrambled! Then you must fill the word back in. I love that when you touch the letters they make the letter sound. So as they add them back, not only are they spelling the word, but they are learning the sounds to read. Once the letters have been replaced to their original places, they cheer and take you to the next page where they read the word, and act out the meaning of the word, then give the kids the definition. Super cute! All of our kids love this app, and beg to play it.

The letter wiggle, stretch, and make the silly sounds.

New words are added weekly! 

 

Such a FUN, & EDUCATIONAL App! 

 This "LEGO" app is cute. Best for a young audience, but our older kids still play it. You build a lego truck and as you speed down the road, you pick up lego pieces, and earn new vehicle pieces...like a helicopter, or new pieces to your truck. Very simple, but the kids seemed entertained by it. So I guess that is the most important factor when picking an app for your kiddos {after your approval of the app, of course!}. :) 

Hoping that these come in handy during our flights in the next week! We have the blessing of heading to Hawaii for 3 weeks on Monday! So very excited to have the homeschooling trip we've always wanted to take our children on. We will be hiking to waterfalls, volcanoes, and to the beach! Many memories will be made on this trip...one that will not soon be forgotten. {And I'm so thankful my work travels with me! Another reason I love my job...I can do it as needed while I'm gone.} We will get to tour coffee plantations, wildlife zoo, and even get to volunteer with a non-profit org, helping people with disabilities and their families enjoy a day at the beach, for a snorkel day! It will be neat to see our children serve others and see the change in their hearts because of it {and Bob & I as well}. 

So that is what we will be up to in the rest of this month! 

Blessings ~ Heather

Lookin' Good!

Source: toostinkincute.blogspot.com via Heather Messner- on Pinterest

   These looking so amazing to me! I cannot wait to make and try them out. A bunch of good for you veggies, wrapped into a delicious package with peanut dipping sauce.

Yummo~
Heather

Sugar Cookies

Thursday night after our family watched another Hallmark Christmas movie...I decided to bake some sugar cookies for a "midnight" snack! Not the wisest of choices when you start them at 8pm...they really did turn into a "midnight" snack. ;) But, they are ever so worth it. Simple, quick, and they turn out almost perfect every time. 

Here is the recipe:

SUGAR COOKIES

3/4 cup Butter, at room temperature
1 cup Sugar
2 Eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
2 1/2 cups Flour 
1 tsp Baking Powder 
1/2 tsp Salt 

*Whip butter until creamy. Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla; mix well. 
*Add flour, baking powder, and salt. 
*Form into a ball.

*Wrap in lightly floured plastic wrap.
*Chill at least 1hr (this is the secret to perfect sugar cookies).
*Roll dough on floured surface, cut, and bake at 400° for 7-8 min.

Makes about 2 dozen...depending on how thick you make your cookies. 


I double my recipe! (And since no one ever has a big recipe and I have to do the calculations myself while baking, I'm adding the double recipe for big families) :)

Sugar Cookies-Doubled

1 1/2 cups Butter, at room temperature
2 cups Sugar
4 Eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
5 cups Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt

*Whip butter until creamy. Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla; mix well. 
*Add flour, baking powder, and salt. 
*Form into a ball.
*Wrap in lightly floured plastic wrap.
*Chill at least 1hr (this is the secret to perfect sugar cookies).
*Roll dough on floured surface, cut, and bake at 400° for 7-8 min.

Makes about 4 dozen...depending on how thick you make your cookies. 

Buttercream Frosting  

12 oz Butter, at room temperature
1 lb Powedered Sugar, sifted
1 - 1 1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

*Cream butter with the paddle attachment in your mixer. 

*Add the sifted powdered sugar ... once the mixture has come together, stop and scrape the bowl and paddle attachment. 

*Turn your mixer up to medium speed and paddle for about 5 min to make the mixture light and fluffy. 

*Turn mixer to low and vanilla and if you want to add any other flavorings; once incorporated return mixer to med speed and continue to paddle for 2 more minutes.

~I use little plastic containers to divide up the frosting and add the food coloring. If you're like me and want a lot of colors to choose from, be wise in your coloring choices. By that I mean...you don't want to have to make a ton of frosting just to have color options. So for me, I frosted all the Christmas trees first with the green, and a few mittens. Used up as much green as I was going to, then added a few yellow and red drops, to get brown for the tree trunks & gingerbread men. Make sense? Any other time I would have just made brown to begin with, but then you're left with a lot of wasted frosting...that adds to the expense, and the waste...not good. So make a plan! :)

Here are a few pics:

Don't mind the white ones...those were the "midnight snack" ones. ;)

Hope you enjoy these as much as our family does~ 
Heather 


 

The TomKat Studio Party Shop

This morning as I was doing an online search for gumballs in tubes...for Christmas...I stumbled upon The TomKat Studio Party Shop. I think I'm in love...with the party favors that is! This is the cutest shop ever.  I made my order and cannot wait for it to arrive. 

These are the items I ordered:

Christmas Adhesive Tags:

Source: shoptomkat.com via Heather Messner- on Pinterest

Shimmer Gumballs in Tubes: {Yes, shimmer!!} {For the Girls}

Source: shoptomkat.com via Heather Messner- on Pinterest

Gumballs in Tubes: {For the Boys}

Source: shoptomkat.com via Heather Messner- on Pinterest

Striped Party Straws: {For Peppermint Hot Chocolate}

Source: shoptomkat.com via Heather Messner- on Pinterest

And check out this Mermaid Birthday Party:
{Absolutely Adorable...I want one...but I'm 31yrs old..and my hubby would make fun of me!}

Source: thetomkatstudio.com via Heather Messner- on Pinterest

Her Blog here. Check it out and tell me you don't love it as much as I do! ;) Don't forget to follow her on Pinterest: The TomKat Studio

My thought was to give the gumballs to all the kiddos on Christmas Eve, but I might just keep them for New Year's Eve...since my brother and his family {making 11 kids in our home for the holiday} will be here from Christmas Eve through New Year's...it might be a bit more holiday cheer stretched over the season, instead of just one day...Oh, I Can't WAIT!

Blessings~Heather