What A Treasure!

So do any of you remember the old Fisher-Price toys?

I went to a friends thrift store this past saturday. And most thrift store can no longer (because of some law stuff) sell toys. Well while I was in there she said she had something I might like. Some one brought in TWO HUGE bags of some thing she felt bad turning away. The person was being so generous.....
Well guess what it was?

Old and like new Fisher-Price stuff!!!!!!!!!
A barn, cows ( that still had their tales!!), sheep.
The house, with a man and car,and well the list goes on.
This is a very BIG blessing and the fact that it is enough for all 5 to enjoy together just adds the proverbial Icing to the BIG cake. It also came at the perfect time since we have had 2,
and could possibly have a 3rd day of rain (in a row).

It has been nice to see things Josh and I remember playing with, bringing such joy to our own kids.
Oh and I can't believe I forgot that best part. Since the store couldn't sell them, she gave them to us.
I am trying to think of a special way to say thanks. The store gives it's proceeds to help cancer patients so maybe we can make something to donate.

I hope where ever you are you are feeling well and able to see the refreshing signs of spring
popping up around you.
Stay warm dry and peace filled
~Melly~

Oh sweet Maple Tree how I love thee!

(Dag enjoying his treat)

So today was Maine Maple Sunday!
We got to enjoy going to a Sap House with some friends.
Unfortunately the kids had more fun hiding in the (fake) well,
but that's boys for ya.
The place was really great they answered any questions we had.
They had samples of maple sugar coated peanuts,
maple butter, apple crisp(made with maple syrup) and cider sweetened with maple.

As always thanks for stopping by!
Hope you all had as lovely weekend as we did.
Stay warm and peace filled
~Melly~

This Moment!

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Check this out it was started by Amanda over at soulemama .You can also view other peoples moments by looking at the comments. It is very fun to see these little windows into other peoples worlds.

This Moment!

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Check this out it was started by Amanda over at soulemama .You can also view other peoples moments by looking at the comments. It is very fun to see these little windows into other peoples worlds.

Lovely Rainy Day!

Oh what a sweet treat, is time with my little buddy Trace!

(check out those dimples)

We went out to the thrift store for some much needed pants for this not so little buddy, Agway to finally order our chickens, and last but surly not least to indulged our selves in some choclate. In the form of milk and doughnuts. What could make this rainy day any better!

I also had the joy of starting and finishing a little project. All in one day! Amazing!

( It was very odd putting a picture into water)

I have been wanting to do something a little diferent with a few of the kid's baby pictures that I have saved over the years. So I seen some people use the printer fabric and thought I could give a go. The process was fun and simple ( simple is the key right now). Josh helped pick the picture and also helped get it printed correctly. I bought the hoop at the thrift store today (thrifting is so fun). The pink fabric was a remnant of one of her baby blankets. And the green and white fabric used as the hanger was form the binding of her toddler quilt. Oh the memories.And finally the dear picture of Aliza was taken by a good friend when she was just 2 weeks old. She is now 3. How time flies.

(So small and sweet, holding Daddies finger)

We are going to do one of each of the kids and hang them in our room!

I hope to be able to show them all as they arrive.

As always thanks for stopping by!

Stay warm and peace filled!

~ Melly~

One Moment

RUUUNNN!!!!!!!!!

(MY Moment for the week. One Picture One Word.
what is your moment? Send me a link and show me.)
P.s. they really were having fun :)

My February Change is here!

If you remember I had asked for help in figuring out my change for this month. And thanks to my dear friend Kate I have it. She, noticeing how much lovely sun my kitchen (and whole house for that matter) gets; said "why don't you grow some herbs". I thought what a brilliant idea.
So I am going to put a sweet little shelf in front of one of my kitchen windows. On it I will grow several great herbs for cooking and maybe a bulb or two for extra color. I also got a nifty idea from another blogger to have what I think she called a living center piece, on our dinning table. She had mint,and a few other things I can't remember. And she said her kids thought it was " awesome". We will have fun growing some more things there too.
I also wanted to take it one step further. I thought why not try puting some kind of a plant in EVERY room, especially maybe something with flowers. Who wouldn't love a little more color in this very dreery month of February? I know I would.
Thank you Kate for your inspiration. I will hopefully get some good pictures of all our planting fun. So check back at the end of the week.

Thanks for stopping by, Stay warm and peacfilled! Melly

FINALLY HOME MADE CEREAL!!!!!!

Hello All! I finally got the cereal made! It came out good. The one on the left is the finished Healthy N' Happy and the other is the Graham Nuts before the first baking. I and my husband liked them both the kids liked the graham nuts as a snack. Some friends and family stayed with us over night this weekend and their kids loved the graham nuts. At first they thought it was brown sugar, who wouldn't love a bowl of that for breakfast?

So any one who wants the recipes can find them both at
http://www.mrbreakfast.com
you should be able to type homemade cereal and find the list. It seemed that most of the cold cereal was nearer the bottom of the list.
I feel good having been able to fulfill my goal for January. Still pondering for February. Any ideas out there?


I also thought ya'll would like to see a few of the kids on their new family heirloom sled :). It was used by their paternal grandfather and his siblings as kids, how fun! Lets just pray for more snow soon, very soon.
And this is me in the first sweater I knit for myself. I got the pattern at http://www.ravelry.com it is the shalom cardigan. It was so fun and thrilling to make something that big, and have it look good.
Oh and I forgot to say the healthy n' happy is more like muesli less like granola, my favorite way to have it is with yogurt.
Thanks for stopping by let me know if you have any questions or comments about the cereals or the sweater. Stay warm and peace filled. ~ Love Melly~

One Small Change: My January Change

Happy New Year All!!! About a week ago I found a post by the mom at Hip Mountain Mama. She is challenging any one who desires to make one small change each month from January to Earth Day in April. The changes can be big or small what ever you feel you can handle and see them through to completion.

I have had to put a lot of thought into this idea. With Josh not working still, money is ...well not really here. During this time we are being blessed by our friends and the community. This means food and household changes are almost impossible. We already use less fuel , check . We heat with a wood stove, check. Compost, check. Recycle, check. So along with a few other things we already do to conserve what ever we can , I asked my self what is left?

I thought I could, even with small and some times non existent budget, I could try eliminating boxed cereal from our kitchen and diet. At first I thought it would be hard to find good easy to make ( specifically cold cereal). Well last night I found this great sight Mr Breakfast. It had many great recipes and a good number of them were for COLD CEREAL Yahoo !!! I am hoping that at least one of them will be liked by my picky boy, the other 4 I think would eat dirt if you made it look good (haha). :)

So this is my small change for January. I will post the recipes and pictures as we try them.
Thanks for stopping by and check out
http://www.hipmountainmamablog.com/one-small-change/
If you join in the challenge let me know by commenting on this post. Enjoy a blessed and fulfilled Year.

Much Love Melly