A Morning prayer

I love the kind of morning, where I can sit with a cup of coffee and admire God's creation. To see the sunrise with it's purples, reds, yellows and oranges shine down on the light snow that fell last night. The world seems so at peace at this time of day, oh how I wish it would stay like that all day. It's a time to prepare my spirit for the upcoming days challenges.

We received a card in the mail with a prayer you can pray in the morning and flip it over and has one for you to pray in the evening. I wanted to share this prayer with you. This is from Intouchministries.

   Father, I thank You for awakening me to this new morning!Please help me begin this day with rejoicing and with praise to You on my lips for keeping me through another night. I also praise You for the promise of your Word Lamentations 3:22-23 that Your loving-kindnesses never cease. I rejoice that Your compassion never fail but are new every morning. I commit this day to You. Help me to keep You first in my thoughts, and help me magnify and glorify Your great name in all I do and say. I pray this in the powerful name in Jesus. Amen.

I hope this prayer brings you peace for the day to come like it does me. Hope you all have a wonderful day!

~ Katie

It's seed time!

I love this time of year! The seed catalogs come pouring in and my mind goes in so many wonderful places! What should I plant!  We still have a big garden we are doing while friends of ours are still away we get to use. So I want to get a decent haul this year since we won't have that garden next year. We don't have much room at our house for gardening, so we will be doing a lot of container gardening. I am also looking forward this year to add to our berry patch some blueberry bushes. Does anyone have a breed of blueberries they love and would recommend? I will be also buying some vegetables in plant form at our local hardware store closer to spring/summer. Since in our house we don't have alot of room to start seeds.
     Have you gotten any seed catalogs yet?! What are you planning on growing this year? I would love to know! Have a wonderful Day!

23 day frugal Challenge

I am preparing for the 23 day frugal challenge. :) I am excited for this to challenge myself and my family to be more frugal. I have begun to stock up on meats, pancake mix, rice, noodles, cheese, etc.with the gift cards we got for Christmas, so I don't need to run to the store as much. We are really working on pinching pennies, so we can save up for things we would like to do to the house and to save for the farm. :)

Are any of you doing this challenge? What are you doing to prepare for the challenge? For those who don't know about the challenge and want to know more go here http://frugallysustainable.blogspot.com/2011/11/23-day-frugal-living-challenge-join-us.html. Come join the challenge! :)

Cheese Giveaway!!

The Woodwife's Journal is giving away a cheese kit! head on over and see her blog and while you are there enter her cool giveaway! :)

Propane or no propane?

That is the question going around in our minds here. As you know we are finishing our unfinished basement and are thinking of a heating source other then oil (which is ridiculously high!). So we first  thought of a wood stove, but we would then need to put a chimney up through our house so that was cancelled out. So our next thought was propane. We could use the propane for a fireplace downstairs and then also get a propane stove (yes I must say I squealed a little at the thought of not only a new stove but one that wasn't electric! )  So we  still have a lot to do downstairs before even putting one in, but you know me I am a planner. So I was wondering if any of you have propane? What are your pros and cons? Is it cheaper then oil? Any suggestions on what kind of tank? Anything would be greatly appreciated! :)

On another note.... Christmas is so close! I am finishing up my Christmas shopping this week. I know, I know. I am not usually one of those last minute people but this year it really snuck up on me. I don't know if it because I have a 4 yr. old and a toddler, or I really need to clear my schedule more. But slowly but surely the shopping will get done and the homemade gifts will get finished and ready for Sunday.  Anyone else still need to do Christmas shopping or finishing the homemade gifts?

I found a lot of great things on Abbi's blog http://proverbs31living.blogspot.com/search/label/frugalityhttp://proverbs31living.blogspot.com/search/label/frugality
She is so creative and makes me not want to waste anything. There is a use for everything. So if you are looking for any last minute homemade ideas there are plenty here! Check them out! :)
If I don't blog before then, I want to Wish Each of you A Very Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!!
And most importantly REMEBER THE TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS!

~Katie

Great craft/ christmas present idea!

Hi Everyone,
I will post pictures of our progress on the basement soon I promise. This afternoon when I had a 4 yr. old on my leg saying "What can I do?", with that I am dying of boredom look on his face. haha You know the one I am talking about!  :)  I didn't want him to watch tv, we try to keep weekends tv free. :)
I was trying to think of things to do with the boys ( mainly Kyle) and found this!
Thought this was a great idea for a craft for you to do with the kids or even Christmas gifts for kids!. I found it at this link:
http://tammysrecipes.com/homemade_play_dough_winter_themed_scents_colors

I have followed Tammy's blog for over a year now and I love it! Such a wonderful Godly woman, a wonderful mom, wife and most of all she has some awesome recipes and great tips! Check her blog out!
 So do you have any fun ideas or crafts to do with your kids? I would love any ideas so I can have a long list of things to do with them during the winter. :) Because we all know that if we don't have a list ready of things to keep them busy it will be a LONG winter! :)  Hope everyone is doing great! Till next time!
Keep being frugal! :)

~Katie

It's that time of year agian!

Christmas is upon us again! I love this time of year and not because of the presents or the Christmas dinner! haha I love Christmas because it is such a wonderful time to spend with my family again and to celebrate the birth of Christ together. That to me is the best gift in the world!
   It also is a bitter sweet month for me and my family. We lost someone in December of '03 who was a huge part of this family and made a huge impact on me , even though I was on a wrong path at the time, this person was my grandfather. He was an amazing, solid Christian man. Every December I think about him and how much I miss him. I wish he was here to ask , what should I do?, What do you think about this?. He is the person I think my mom and I got our love for farm life from him. I know he is proud of me and the dream of having a farm is bringing a smile to his face. :)

On another note about Christmas. Presents: this is a part of Christmas I find myself getting caught up in. I find myself going oh I would love this or oooohhh I want this so bad. And really I don't need it. We have been working on asking for things that would could really use and not just feel like we need. We are also working on giving more homemade gifts this year. I think they mean so much more then something bought.

What are you guys doing for Christmas presents this year?  Are you doing homemade?? What does Christmas time mean to you? I would love to hear and any great ideas for homemade gifts! :) Have a wonderful Friday and weekend!

~Katie