Living as a Victorious Christian Woman

We've had the new puppies for almost two months now, and it's so much fun to watch them grow into their personalities. It's much like meeting new people - the more time you spend with them, the more you get to know all the little things about them. Danny always says they get their subtlety from me. This look says "Mama...you do understand both of my bowls are empty, right?" Yep, not difficult to translate. There's a special time at night when they all give up and crash. Hard. This is the best cuddle time of the day, mostly because they've stopped running. And chasing. And chewing. And barking. Everything except breathing and snoring. And it's during those times we can get some one-on-one time in with each of them. Until they doze off in these adorable positions. But once they're awake and going again, their personalities shine through. The babies love to do everything together, and if one has something, the othe...

My last trip to the local craft store was specifically timed for the day after Valentine's Day. I don't normally go there by myself - for obvious reasons - but this time I wanted to check out the after-holiday specials. I walked away with some beautiful papers, stickers and embellishments to turn into this one-of-a-kind paper bag album. It's a work in progress, but I've already attached the patterned papers to each page. When you fold the bag in half like this, the bottom of it makes a flap that's perfect for decorating. One new idea I had for this album was a few file folder tab pages spread throughout. This gives front and back spaces for more pictures and journaling, plus room for two more patterns of paper. To make the file folders, I cut a piece of cardboard slightly smaller than the paper bag page. With a pencil, I drew two lines to make the shape of the tab. You can freehand it if you want, or you can copy it from on...

  When Danny makes something special in the kitchen - which is every time he cooks - I just have to share it with you. The rest of this post is from him. Enjoy! This is an amazing dish and is as delicious as it looks! There is a lot of “wow” factor and yet very simple to make. No stranger to the kitchen, I came up with the idea because I love pizza but wanted something more than just crust and toppings. I suppose you could say it is inspired by Chicago-style pizza pies.  Sorry New York fans, hahaha!  So, lets get started, shall we? Ingredients: 2 canned pizza crusts 1-2 lbs italian sausage ( I prefer hot, but you can use whatever flavor you like) 1 jar pizza sauce fresh spinach shredded mozzarella cheese shredded parmesan cheese minced garlic coarse black pepper to taste pinch of salt Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large skillet (I prefer cast iron) brown the Italian sausage and set aside. Place one of the pizza crusts in a 10” deep dish pan and ...

It may sound silly, but I love looking at trees. This is probably a good thing because two-thirds of our property is wooded land. While most of us would say fall is the best time for tree watching, we can see the skeleton of the trees best in the winter. This tree, one we can see from the dining room bay window, has always been one of my favorites. It was perfectly symmetrical and full of bright green leaves - until a storm came through and took out the largest branch on the righthand side. I still love it, it just looks a little lopsided now. Some of our trees drop their leaves completely before winter, while others hang on to them all year round. The squirrels hang out in this tree a lot, using the leaves for warmth and the seeds for a little extra nutrition. Do you know how to tell if the nest you're seeing is a bird nest or a squirrel nest? For the most part, birds make their nests from twigs and other thin material, while squirrels use leaves. Go c...

 A Great Dane and two 8-month-old puppies in the house. It's not even 8 a.m. and I've already said... * Seriously? Stop! * Diesel Mac! Stop chewing on your sister's leg! * We just got back inside - you don't need to go again. * Please don't bring sticks in the house. * Molly, the babies aren't chairs. Don't sit on them! * It's a squirrel, not a burglar! * Oh look, I walked through pools of water around the dog bowls again. * We should have purchased stock in carpet cleaner companies. We'd be rich. * Off the counter. I don't care how cute you are. * Callie Dee, your brother is not a chew toy! * Stuffing goes INSIDE the pillows! * This is the living room, not a demolition derby course! * Come here. Come here. HERE! * Now that my shoulder is dislocated, will you stop pulling on the leash? * We have the best puppies in the whole wide world.

There is so much sickness going around our area right now - and it probably is where you live, too. Unfortunately, many people are just passing it back and forth between their family and coworkers. It would be nice if we could just shut down the whole state for a week, let everyone get their illness out of their system and then try it again. But since we can't, let's talk instead about why it's so important to have our homes as germ-free as possible and what steps we can take to stop sickness in its tracks. When someone in your family is sick, there are going to be germs and bacteria everywhere. Not a pretty picture, I know, but it puts the spotlight on how thoroughly you clean. Spreading this nasty stuff is so easy, and short of wearing a HASMAT suit, disinfecting every way you can is the best way to fight back. So what are some simple, practical ways to keep germs at bay during and after a sickness? 1. Wash the bedding. This includes on the beds, the couch and a...

Let's make this Valentine's Day one to remember by mixing and matching our sweet treats. All you need are a few baked goods in contrasting colors and a variety of your favorite decorations.   Pull out a couple of heart shaped cookie cutters, then cut your cake in half. Cut a heart out of the top half and use frosting or jam to seal them back together. These strawberry cake hearts have strawberry jam between them and are filled with sprinkles. You can do this with cupcakes, too. Slice the top off right at the wrapper line and use a tiny heart cookie cutter to make the opening. Cover the bottom cake with frosting and put them back together. Then you can fill them with sprinkles or colored sugar - the frosting will hold it in place. My favorite mix and match is to use cookie cutters on both flavors of cake and swap out the parts. A little bit of frosting will seal them together and hold on any tiny hearts you want to put on top.

Beautiful Valentine's decorations don't have to cost a lot to be special. Put together this love-inspired centerpiece with just a few dollar store items, and you'll have a piece you can use for years to come. Start by filling a clear vase with white pebbles. Then cut apart two or three bunches of silk flowers, arranging them from largest to smallest. Evenly place the largest flowers on the bottom and in the corners, then layer up and top with jeweled, sequined or sparkling hearts. 

When it's a tool to keep your dog from eating too fast! While the girls are a little more delicate in their eating (as delicate as a Great Dane can be, I suppose), Diesel is like a vacuum cleaner. He doesn't even stop to breathe, let alone chew before he swallows. It hasn't been a problem for him health-wise yet, but it definitely could be. Unchewed food can expand in a dog's belly and cause indigestion. This is definitely not good for the puppy or the person who has to clean up after him. One way to slow down a dog's eating is to put a ball in the food bowl. When we do this with Diesel, he has to push the ball around to get to the food. It's not a perfect solution, but it definitely hinders him enough to make him slow down. Hopefully it will help in the long run. Plus, his sisters will come get the ball out when they're done eating so they can play with it. Food and fun! What does feeding time at your house look like?

We're so excited about the new handmade pen and greeting card sets we'll be releasing over the next few weeks! Here's just a sneak peek from our most recent kit order.  Think about Mother's Day and all those spring birthdays. And you don't need a special occasion to show your patriotism. And you can share your faith in so many ways. We create more than pens - try a stylus, teacher's set or one of our other hand-turned gifts. You'll be the first to know as each set is released, so check back often!

This beautiful flower fold was in our hotel room the last time we traveled, and I very carefully unfolded it to learn how the housekeeping staff made it. It's adorable, and I'm putting them in all of our bathrooms! Fold in the middle of one side of the washcloth, keeping the points standing up. Repeat on the opposite side. Then fold down the top, spreading out the petals.   And bring the bottom up, fixing the petals. Add anything you'd like to the center: a silk flower, a mini bar of soap or some other travel-sized treat.

I've been saving boxes in the garage for months to be able to make baskets out of them. I'm not sure why it took so long, but it's an adorable upcycing project and so easy to put together. Just make sure you have a ton of hot glue on hand before you start. You're going to need it. I started by cutting off the box flaps. A thinner rope is easier to keep in place with hot glue, but it also means you need more of it to wrap all the way to the top of the box. Keep this in mind before you begin. I cut a piece of leftover fabric large enough to fit loosely inside the box and overlap the top. As you wrap and glue your rope, catch the edges of the fabric to hold it in place. If possible, keep all your end pieces on the back of the box. It took two rolls of rope for me to wrap it completely, so my four ends are all on one side.  My box is big enough to hold plenty of ... stuff! I'm excited to see what you'll fill your box-ba...