Thank You, Winners, and Peach Cake!

Good Friday morning, my friends! Thank you so very much for all the kind and thoughtful comments on my anniversary post. I enjoy this community so much and am grateful for all the wonderful people I have met here. I wish every single one of you could have won! This morning, Steve and Mocha helped me choose the winners in a very scientific way ~ choosing random numbers to correspond to each person ~ and the winners are:

Amazon Gift Card ~

Amy

Yankee Candle Gift Card ~ 

Karen

Dunkin' Gift Cards ~ 

Jenny from NC

Mo

A Joyful Chaos

Please email or message me, and I will send your gift card right back to you!

Again, thank you all. And because this is so fun, I am putting a reminder on my phone to do it again in the fall. Because what better reason to celebrate, right???

Lastly, I must share this delicious fresh peach cake with you! Peyton dropped it off for Steve this week because it was one week since our Kirby left us. She is so thoughtful and a fantastic bake too. If you want to try it, she found the recipe HERE.

Have a wonderful weekend, my friends. We are celebrating Kyrstin's birthday with Steve's homemade fried rice and some time on the lake. Thanks again for visiting!

Billie Jo

Happy 11th Birthday, Little Blog! And A Giveaway!

Eleven Years? Wow! When I began blogging so many years ago, I had no idea the positive impact it would have on my life. I am thankful for this place where I can share, save, and document the important and ordinary days of our lives. I have made many special friends; some I have met in person, others I feel as if I have. To celebrate eleven years of blogging, I am sharing one random photo from each year. My, life passes quickly!

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

Also, in honor of YOU, my friends, I am having a fun little giveaway to thank you for reading and sharing all these years. If you want to enter to win one of five gift cards...one Amazon, one Yankee Candle, and three Dunkin'...simply leave a comment below. I will randomly select the winners and post them Friday. Please enter by 12:00 AM Friday, August 4, 2023. Thank You, my friends!

BillieJo

Monday Morning Coffee Talk And Winners!

Hello! Happy Monday! That weekend flew by, didn't it? Mine was a good mix of rest and productivity. Not at all equal, but... still. I packed up Valentine's Day and am getting used to the clean, bare look. I plan to enjoy it for a few more weeks until it becomes Easter eggs and bunnies.

Thank you for all the comments on Friday's post. Flynn drew two names from the comments and replies, and each will receive a copy of both books.

 The winners are...

J. Mehall

and

Betsy

Congratulations!

Please email me your information, and I will send your books out to you!

Leaving you with a few favorite memes courtesy of Pinterest. 

Happy Monday, my friends!

Have a cozy day!

Hope they gave you a smile!

Favorite Recipe Friday and a Giveaway!

Hello! And Happy Friday, my friends. I hope you had a lovely, cozy week. We passed a touch of something around here this week and therefore spent an inordinate amount of time sleeping. The symptoms were mild: a quick bout of sweating, dizziness, exhaustion, and a stuffy nose. Thankfully, we all feel better, no doubt in part to the excellent care we experienced. Rhett's girlfriend Kyrstin made us a delicious dinner Monday night, and Madison brought another delicious meal for us on Valentine's Day. And now, the windows have been opened, the sheets changed, and the Lysol sprayed. 

I'm sharing this recipe from a couple weeks ago, and I may have shared it before, but it is easy and delicious. It is Enchilada Casserole, and I will link the recipe down below. 

I also wanted to share two beautiful books I recently read and loved, written by two lovely Blogging friends! Each of these books is beautifully written and filled with helpful advice and heart-touching words that you will reach for again and again. 

Mrs. White has a beautiful blog right HERE. I have been a reader and friend for years.

Debbie is a new blogging friend I am so happy to have met. Her beautiful blog is found HERE.

I would like to gift two of my readers a copy of both of these books. Please leave a comment below letting me know you are interested, and I will draw two names from that list and announce the two lucky winners Monday! 

Well, Mocha and I have a few things to do today. First, though, I am pouring another cup of coffee. Have a cozy weekend, and thanks so much for visiting. I am always happy you do!

Billie Jo

ENCHILADA CASSEROLE

Monday Morning Coffee Talk And Winners!

Good Monday morning, my friends! I hope your weekend was everything you hoped it would be. Here it was HOT. Saturday, I did nothing. Literally nothing. Well, I did shower and make a grocery list. But other than that? Nothing. Madison found this somewhere on social media, and I absolutely love it. 

 

So, in fairness, I guess Saturday I accomplished every single one. 

Sunday, we celebrated the birthday of a very special young lady, Rhett's lovely girlfriend Kyrstin! Rhett planned an awesome party with all of us and her family too. We ate, visited, played a trivia game, and enjoyed pie for dessert. Happy Birthday, Kyrstin!

In other news that you really don't need to know, I got my hair done for the first time in a while. I went to a new salon and had a fresh-out-of-school stylist. It was fun, and I think she did a great job! She added dimension and toned it to get rid of the yellow. I just relaxed and let her do her thing! 

Finally, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the kind comments on my last post celebrating ten years of this little ole blog. I read and reread every single one. I am so happy to know we are all connected in some small way here and can share a little bit of time together. 

Using his random number generator, Rhett helped me choose the giveaway winners. I honestly wish everyone could have won! Below are the names of the winners. Please email me, and I will send your prize right back to you! Thank you all again!

Congratulations to the winners!

Amazon Gift Card:

Pam

Yankee Candle Gift Card:

  Ellen

Dunkin' Gift Cards:

   Mellie

Lori

    Kelly t

Have a wonderful day, my friends!

Billie Jo

Happy Tenth Birthday, Little Blog! And A Giveaway!

 

Us ~ October 2012

Ten years! Today marks ten years since I began writing about my life here in this little space. Ten years ago, I knew next to nothing about computers, blogging, or uploading photos. I did, however, desire a place to document the daily activities of our family life as well as read about and learn from others who shared my love of home and family. My daughter Madison encouraged me that summer afternoon so long ago, and I am forever thankful that she did.

This blog has enabled me to share special moments, recipes, traditions, and, perhaps most importantly, pieces of our ordinary days. I have learned from and been inspired by so many friends over the years, women I would never have had the opportunity to know had this wonderful world of blogging not connected us across the miles. I have even met some of these incredible women in real life and now consider them and their families lifelong friends. 

Ten years. Three graduations. Two weddings. Two amazing sons-in-law. And a lovely girlfriend of Rhett's too. Countless holidays. Two new houses. One new puppy. Endless desserts. Joyful days. Sorrowful ones too. Pumpkins and colorful leaves. Snowfalls and Christmas trees. Anxiety and OCD. Yankee candles. And, of course, Halloween. 

Thank you for sharing all that and more with me, my friends. I am truly blessed to know each and every one of you. Please know how much I appreciate you and what your friendship means to me. I enjoy reading your blogs and look forward to sharing your lives with you each day. Thank you again!! And because a birthday should be celebrated, I am celebrating YOU! I am having a small giveaway to thank you for being a part of my afternoon coffee and evening tea these past ten years. If you would like to be entered in the giveaway, simply leave a comment below by Sunday, August 7th, at noon. I will then have my assistants, Rhett and Flynn, draw the winners, and I will post them on Monday, August 8th. What can you win, you ask?

One winner will receive an Amazon gift card.

One winner will receive a Yankee Candle gift card.

Three winners will receive a Dunkin gift card.

Good luck!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Billie Jo

Happy Pics And Winners!

Summer Smoothie Time! And A Giveaway Reminder!

Celebrating One Million!

The very first picture I posted on my blog...A teeny tiny Flynn Grace.

August 3, 2012.

Snow, Ice, A Few Laughs, And A Giveaway!

Winners On A Wednesday!

That you all for the kind words in honor of my six years here in Blogland! I am thankful for each and every one of you, my friends. We did indeed choose two winners for the fancy schmancy giveaway, and here they are...

Happy 5th Birthday Little Blog...And A Giveaway!

Five years. Five years ago I hesitantly joined a group of women who shared pieces of their lives in this little world of blogging. I knew next to nothing about blogging or computers, but I quickly found  help and friendship, as well as a sense of belonging. Things have changed through the years, and many of the women I read and interacted with have abandoned their blogs for one reason or another. I miss the friends I made that are no longer writing, but am happy that I continue to make new friends along the way. I am blessed to have developed and experienced true friendships with some of my dear blogging friends, and I will be forever grateful to this small piece of the internet for introducing me to these amazing women, all of whom share my love of home and family and faith and life.

But enough about me! I am celebrating YOU. Blogging is wonderful in itself, as it creates an amazing scrapbook of our lives. To have others read and comment, however, makes it all the more worthwhile and fun. So, in celebration of you, I am having a state of the art giveaway. Simply leave a comment down below, and I will place your name in a really clean, big bowl. Then one of my assistants/children will draw two names and they will be the lucky winners! The first name drawn will win one of my very favorite holiday items...

The Yankee Candle Twelve Days of Christmas votive set!

Love this combination of two of my favorite things: candles and Christmas. : )

The second name drawn will win another favorite...

This sweet smelling Vanilla Birthday Cake Body Wash and Shower Gel!

 I will accept comments/entries through 6:00 P.M EST Sunday, August 6, 2017.

The winners will be announced in my Monday post.

Again, Thank You for reading, and good luck!

A New Favorite Book...And A Giveaway!

When Madison moved to Denmark, she immediately fell in love with the lifestyle there. She told us there is an actual word used to describe the cozy, simplistic concept that is a part of the Danish life. It is called "Hygge", pronounced /Hoo-gah/ or / Hue-guh/ ,which is very hard to pronounce correctly. Trust me...I've tried!

According to the author of my new favorite book The Cozy Life: Rediscover the Joy of the Simple Things Through the Danish Concept of Hygge, Hygge is defined as "The Danish concept of coziness...the art of creating warmth, comfort, and wellbeing through connection, treasuring the moment, and surrounding yourself with things you love."

I love this concept, and I love this book. It is an easy read, full of ideas, recipes, and illustrations to help bring Hygge into any home and any life. I know it will be one I will return to time and time again. Because I love this book so much, I'd like to gift one to one of my lovely readers.

But not my copy.

It is a bit beat up loved.

If you would like to be entered into my super high tech drawing, just let me know down below.

I'll put all the names into a bowl and have one of my assistants choose one on Sunday, May 14th.

The winner will be announced later that week.

Have a cozy, Hygge filled day, my friends!

Weekend Plans...And A Winner!

As the darkness comes earlier and the air turns brisk, I begin to get that feeling. You know...the Christmas feeling! Yes. I am one of THOSE people...the people who are so obsessed with Christmas that they whip out the garland as soon as the pumpkins are packed away! Ok, maybe not that early...I mean, I do take a few days to dust and vacuum...So this weekend it begins. Our Christmas Season. : )

Friday we kick it off with our long standing tradition of Ornament Day. We will travel to the mall and stroll through Hallmark as each of the kids picks out an ornament. It is always a favorite day, and we look forward to it each year. This year my Danish student Madison will not be with us, but I am planning on picking one out for her. : ) We are also planning on visiting with Steve's Mum in her nursing home. She is slowly progressing down that sad pathway of Dementia, but always has a smile for her baby Steve.

Saturday my men are taking one last shot at archery hunting, and the girls and I are going to start decorating!!!! I have learned through the years that doing a little at a time is much more enjoyable. For all of us. We will attend Mass and pick up some dinner before coming home and relaxing with some blankets and TV. The perfect Saturday night. : )

Sunday we have no plans. Other than putting up our family Christmas tree! Because. Christmas! We will put on some music and take our time decorating and rearranging until we get it just right. Dinner will be baked ziti with some garlic toast, and hopefully one of Peyton's yummy desserts. We will finish our weekend with The Holiday Baking Challenge, followed by The Walking Dead. After our littlest is off in dreamland.

Before we head off into the weekend, let's take a quick look back at the week that was in our house.

Last weekend was beautiful, and we enjoyed every minute of it before we headed to Saturday evening Mass.

We changed out Flynn's pajama drawer. The only thing that could make me happy after packing up the Halloween ones is getting out the Christmas ones!

And I finally bought Steve and I some new sheets. Do you do that too? I have so much fun shopping for the kids that I never think of getting for us! But I found these sheets in the Pottery Barn catalogue, and fell in love. They aren't flannel, but rather super soft and really cozy. And soft. : )

Our" Just Voted" selfie.

And although our home will be all about Christmas, we decorated the schoolroom for November with all things Thanksgiving.

It is cozy and warm. : )

Last week was all about corn...We read about the Pilgrims and how they learned to plant it...

We did a super fun experiment with baking soda and vinegar...

And watched as our prediction came true!

We learned about volume and mass using popcorn...

By measuring equal amounts of unpopped and popped kernels...

And had to eat it afterward, of course.

And yes. We school in jammies.

Homeschool perk. : )

Art class was a fun project making colorful Indian Corn. : )

And thanks to all of you who entered the drawing for this sweet Thanksgiving candle.

And the winner is....

Yay!

Please email me with your information so I can get it out to you as soon as possible. : )

Congratulations!

Have a wonderful, cozy weekend with your people, my friends!

Thank you for visiting.

Always.

(Pinterest for the last one.)