Life as Mrs. Emerson

Remember the best things in the world are the things which can't be bought.   I picked up a soil probe from our county extension office to take soil samples from our garden.  I will drop off the soil and it will be sent (FREE) to a lab to be tested for various nutrients.  Last year I learned that my main garden plot was very deficient in various nutrients. I made bread in the crockpot.  Neat huh? My sweet mom gave us a cooler full of beef.  We have been enjoying lots of roast, steak, and hamburgers.  Yum!  What a treat. We attended a retirement party for a friend.  My mom picked up a nice mug for me that said Happy Retirement.  I placed that in a fancy cellophane bag I had on hand from my Stampin' Up days.  Then I added two bags worth of gourmet chocolates and truffles.  I tied it with red ribbon that had been used on a a Christmas gift we received.  I wrapped it with a gift bag and tissue paper we had on hand. I c...

The simple valence I sewed for Eva's room.  She has such a nice view from her bedroom! Last Week's Goals:  Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals Take Elijah to swim lessons.  He absolutely loves going to swim lessons and I really enjoy watching him.   We went and it was very memorable.   Write a love letter to Brandon.- oops totally forgot about this one!   Help my mother clean/organize one afternoon this week.   I am so glad I was able to help out this week. Homemaking Goals Sew a simple valence curtain for Evangeline's nursery.  I have had the fabric for 6 months now so I really want to check this one off my list soon!    Hooray!  I was able to sew and hang up a simple valence this week.    Finish compiling all of our receipts and paperwork to file our taxes.  Then drop off everything to my favorite CPA.  This will happen this week!   Clean out my dresser and closet.  Give lots of things a...

The weather had been so bad all week that I wasn't sure if I was going to actually be able to go on my trip until the day before.   When I received an invitation for a baby shower 4 hours away and out of state for a sweet friend of mine my heart longed to go.  I set it aside thinking it was just too crazy.  I have a 4 month old nursing baby, an active 4 year old, and numerous responsibilities.  My sweet hubby had other plans though and encouraged me to go!  He kindly watched Elijah for me all weekend.  As a nursing baby Evangeline is my constant side-kick so we set out on our mini road trip early Saturday morning. We had a lovely time driving south and stopped for lunch with my sweet friend Sarah Watkins in Barbourville, KY.  We were college buddies and both share a deep love of history, missions, and teaching Bible Studies.  Such a blessing to see that sweet girl!  I'm now kicking myself for forgetting to get a picture.  (That...

We had a great week and a lovely day celebrating Valentine's Day as a family.  Here are some of the frugal things we did last week: I appliqued the above shirt for Eli using a small bit of fabric and Wonder Under I had on hand.  I also sewed a simple skirt for Evangeline that matched.  I had purchased the turtleneck last summer at a yard sale for a quarter.  Her skirt is just a simple square really with a hem and elastic waistband.  I added rickrack along the bottom.  If you would like more specific directions let me know.   We continued watching the Olympics this week.   The happy hubby (who isn't smiling) holding his Valentine's Day cake.   The hubby and I decided not to exchange expensive gifts this year.  Instead we are putting the money towards a FamilyLife Weekend to Remember conference in a few weeks.  The hubby did make me a really sweet card and we enjoyed lunch out as a family.  I baked him a non-Trim H...

The pile of tax information and receipts that needs to be organized this week. Here are my top 10 goals for this week:  Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals Take Elijah to swim lessons.  He absolutely loves going to swim lessons and I really enjoy watching him.   Write a love letter to Brandon. Help my mother clean/organize one afternoon this week. Homemaking Goals Sew a simple valence curtain for Evangeline's nursery.  I have had the fabric for 6 months now so I really want to check this one off my list soon!  Finish compiling all of our receipts and paperwork to file our taxes.  Then drop off everything to my favorite CPA.   Clean out my dresser and closet.  Give lots of things away that I am no longer using or save them to re purpose into something else.  Personal Goals Eat healthy and exercise 3 times this week. Attend a class on growing a market garden.  Read 5 chapters of Found in Him  by Elyse Fitzpatri...

It's hard to believe it's time to write another update on our sweet little Evangeline Grace.  She is now 4 months old and is growing fast.  She now weighs 17lbs and is already twice her birth weight.  I'm not sure how long she is but we have already had to move her up a size to 6-9 month clothing.  She is quite the rolly, polly little girl!  I just love it. If you look closely at Eva's eyes it almost looks as if they are thinking about turning brown.  Yesterday she rolled over from belly to back which was incredibly exciting.  We have been watching her like a hawk for the past two weeks hoping that we wouldn't miss it.  She was kind enough to roll over in front of all three of us.  She is either being lazy or she forgot how to do it because we have yet to coax another roll out of her.   She is continuously watching big brother Eli's every move.  It is such a joy to watch them play together.  Eli continues to be such...

The Valentine's Day canvas I made last week. Here are a few of the frugal things we did last week to save money:  We decorated our home for Valentine's Day.  We hung up a hand-stitched banner, wreath, love banner, and wreath Eli made.  In our family we love Valentine's Day.  What a wonderful time to reflect not just on the love that we have for one another but on the great love that Jesus has for us.  I also made a Valentine's Day Decoration using the Word Collage cartridge.   I taught a class on preparing for the ACT at our local library.   I made homemade kefir and yogurt.   We enjoyed watching the Olympics at home.   I went on a fun mini road trip with Baby Girl this past weekend.  I made the above canvas using my Cricut and the Cricut Word Collage Cartridge .  I used a "Kiss Cut" for the first time and it worked great!  I also used transfer paper for the first time with great success.  The above canva...

If you are a Trim Healthy Mama skip this post.  These are definitely not healthy but they are oh so yummy and easy to make.  I made these for the hubby last week and he was so impressed.  (I get bored making regular brownies.)  You can make these with or without the chocolate topping on top.  We have had them both ways.   In a small bowl combine: 2 c. sugar 1 1/2 c. flour 1/2 c. cocoa 1/2 t. salt 1 c. oil 4 eggs 2 t. vanilla Spread in a 9x13 lightly greased pan and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  Cool. Then mix together the following: (this is the cookie dough part) 1/2 c. butter (softened) 1/2 c. brown sugar (packed) 1/4 c. sugar 2 T. milk 1 t. vanilla 1 c. flour Spread over the cooled brownies.  You can enjoy the brownies at this point or make a chocolate topping by melting together: 1 c. chocolate chips & 1 T. coconut oil.  Spread over top and enjoy!

Keeping track of the "frugal things" I do each week really encourages me to keep pushing and saving our money for what really matters!  The original inspiration came from The Prudent Homemake r.  This is something I have been doing for quite a while on my first blog .  Here are some of the frugal things we did last week to save money: We attended a fun birthday party where our friend's twins turned 1!  I talked with their aunt and found out that they did not have anything in their room with their names on it.  I made them each a canvas with their name on it.  They were 11 x 14 canvases that my mother-in-law gave me when we were visiting.  These were fun to make!  Eli enjoyed helping me make them and helped with each step.  He even asked for his own canvas to make them a gift.  He was insistent that I also give them the canvas that he made!  For Eli's canvas I used Cricut Plantin' Schoolbook Cartridge and cut the letters at ...

I came across this idea on Pintrest for a cute Valentine's day decor last year.  I had trouble finding the wooden hearts last year so my sweet mother-in-law mailed them to me.  Life happened and I ended up not getting it finished.  A year later we have another one in our family!  If you look closely you will notice that the hearts are actually two different sizes.  I could only find 3" hearts this year so I made the hearts for Eli and Eva 3" instead of 4". This was a really fun project to do and I love how it turned out!  Elijah and I had a lot of fun working on it during Evangeline's nap time.  He painted the blue heart and I finished it.  ;) I can't believe how simple this project was.  I simply painted each heart twice with paint that I had on hand.  Then I used the Cricut Cartridge, Songbird to cut out each name.  They are all cut at 1.5 except for Mom which is cut at 1.25.  Then I painted each heart with sealer. ...