Symphony of Grace

Life is like a symphony
It's depth we'll never understand
We feel it as it moves and flows
We'll soar to heights, walk desert lands
Each instrument that's played, unique
And beautiful and free
With eyes wide shut our ears may see
The vision through the melody
Some may lead and some support
Some resound, some contort
Our idea of what should be
But through emotion may we
Be fully trusting and contented
The symphony has been invented
Imagined, spoken, created, played
By the Lamb of God who was slain
And who could orchestrate such a plan
None, other than the Son of man
Who bore the shame that we should face
Took God's wrath and gave us grace.
The music is not ours but His
So for His glory may we live
And thank Him daily on our knees

For our part in His symphony

Popsicles!

Yay for warm weather!!! One of the fun warm weather things I loved doing when I was little was making our own popsicles. But it can get pretty messy. Grape juice melting all over perfectly good clothes. Spilling on the floor and making one big sticky mess... So what a wonderful invention when they started making slow melt popsicles! Same deliciousness but no sticky hands... or less sticky hands anyway. Then I had an epiphany! Why not have the fun of homemade and the no mess of the slow melt. 

So yesterday the kids and I took a trip to wal-mart. Picked up some popsicle molds and a package of cherry jello. I just poured a little of the jello powder in a bowl, poured in about 1/4 C boiling water and stirred till dissolved. Then combined with the Apple-Grape juice we had in the fridge, poured into the mold, placed the tops on and spilled the entire thing all over the cluttered counter, down the side of the dishwasher, the floor and myself... no joke. (hindsight: definitely should have taken a picture of that) But!.. I had mixed plenty more than I needed so after banning the children from the kitchen, cleaning up the sticky mess and changing my clothes I re-poured the molds and transferred them safely to the freezer to chill overnight. 

So we wake up this morning to GREY skies :( and a bit of drizzle :(( Normally I would love this but bummer because it's just not as fun having a popsicle in the misty midday as it is in the noonday heat. But when you're a kid, who cares?! B and A definitely didn't. :)

Totally successful on the slow melting, by the way. Not a drop! And they were quite delicious. The possibilities are endless with all the different jello flavors, juice flavors. I may even try it with some fruit puree in the future. Mmmmmm, strawberries. Lets make that a definite yes on the future pureed fruit-pop! I'm thinking pineapple juice and pureed strawberries with a little kiwi jello, maybe. Y-U-M!

Projects that Pamper

I try to be as resourceful as I can. One of the ways I do is in making gifts. Almost everyone knows how it is to be a young poor family. But I love to give. So christmas time can be a little tricky. A few years ago I was blessed with an abundance of yarn so that year everyone got scarves. The next year I went on a baking spree and each family got a Christmas tin of goodies. Last year I received an email titled "48 Gifts in a Jar" and I was inspired! Guess what everyone got for Christmas. ;)

The men and kids received Hot Cocoa jars.

I accidentally deleted the picture of the ones I made but this is similar.
I tied mini candy canes to the rim instead of crushing them inside.
 I found the recipe (and picture) here.

 The ladies received a combo of different sugar scrubs, bath salts, and bath soaks.

Orange Lemon Sugar Scrub

The Orange Lemon Sugar Scrub was my favorite recipe of the ladies' gifts. It is super easy and turned out really nice. As with anything, presentation is key, so with some handmade tags and pretty ribbon these were a real winner. I found the recipe here and then added some drops of Orange Essential oil as well. 

Some of the other recipe's I tried were:

• Oatmeal and Cinnamon Bath Soak
• Sweet N' Spicy Brown Sugar Scrub
• Lavender Bath Salts

Gifts don't need to be expensive so next time you need one, try whipping up one of these! You probably already have the ingredients in you pantry. And if you begin to save you glass spaghetti sauce jars, peanut butter jars, etc. then you save even more! Or if you prefer you may purchase one from me. :) They are great for Mother's Day, birthdays, valentine's day, christmas, shower prizes. The possibilities are endless!