A Special Day --- Homemaking Link-Up Weekend & Pink Saturday

Welcome to my Pink Saturday friends!  I'm excited to be Beverly's Featured Blogger today! 

Check out Pink Saturday---what a blessing that community has been to me!

It's been a happy week around the Coller house!  Miss Avalon Grace turned 3 years old on Thursday!

We did a Raggedy Ann theme.

It's always a special day when Grandma Christy comes to visit!

I made Avalon this cute Raggedy Ann tote bag for her books!

In other news, sweet Kynthia Joy is just about crawling!

And...I got some cool mail!  Check out this envelope dressed up like a tea bag...adorable!

I got this sweet bunch of goodies from harleygirl at Just a Country Girl.  I first met her through SwapBot.com and she's since become a good blogging friend too!  Thanks so much for bringing a little spring to my front door!  Take a minute, if you can, and stop by her blog to say Hi!

Did you know my March Giveaway Jubilee is going on RIGHT NOW?  Did you know I'm giving away 4 great prizes (one of them being a Etsy-wide gift certificate)!!  There are others who are offering giveaways too and more will join up throughout the month. Click the button below to check it out and YOU could be a winner! :) 

So...now it's time for the Homemaking Link-Up Weekend!  Several people have asked me if their post "counts" as homemaking.  When I set up this party, I tried to pick a very broad topic.  To me, anything you do that has even the remotest connection to your home/family/food/gifts/yard/crafts ETC is acceptable.  In fact, anything is acceptable...as long as it's not X-rated!  So, join up! I'd love to have you! Also linking with:

Girls Day Out and Homemaking Link-Up Weekend

Hello!  Welcome to another great Homemaking Link-Up Weekend!  I sure hope you've had a lovely week!  I don't know about you, but I am SO ready for some relaxation time!  Here is a cute ATC I worked on late last night.  I was ready for bed but knew I had this swap to do and wanted to do ONE more productive thing...so I made this!  The lace at the top was hand-crocheted by a Finland friend's great-grandmother and the feather was found by one of my sweet kids!

Today, Lynzie, Selah, and I went for a LONG shopping day in Eastern Washington!  The girls wanted to dress up like Anne of Green Gables and her friend, Diana Barry. 

While we were in Michael's Craft Store, I came across this cute craft made from terra cotta pots!  Adorable!

However, this awesome microwave at Target takes the cake!  Isn't this adorable??  I wonder how much convincing my husband would need.... (ETA: wouldn't you know it---I told my husband about it and now he's like "GET IT"!!! Ha! Gotta love someone who appreciates my weird quirkiness! :)

Don't forget the quarterly Giveaway Jubilee for the month of March! Would you like to participate as either a giver, a winner, or both?  Click my adorable new button for all the details!



And...now it's time for this week's Homemaking Link-Up Weekend!

Would you like to participate in the party each week but just can't remember to link up?  There's a couple things I can do to help you out with that!  First, there's a cute button at the top of my sidebar that you can put on your blog to serve as a reminder for you---and an advertisement for me!  Secondly, I can send you an email reminder!  I send out a short email to participants who've requested one on Wednesday nights to remind everyone about the party.  Please let me know in the comments below if you'd like me to do that for you!


I'd love to have you link up your homemaking posts below!  Hope you have a GREAT weekend!

Also linking with:

Groundhog's Day and Homemaking Link-Up Weekend

Photo courtesy of Urlesque.com

This morning, my step-dad left some cookies on our porch.  Mom had written a note that said, "Happy Groundhog's Day, Love Grandma".  I read it to the kids and quizzed them about Groundhog's Day.

Me:  "Does anyone know what Groundhog's Day is?"

Michael (10): "A Chinese holiday?"

Me: "No"

Michael: "Well that's what Lynzie said!"

Lynzie (12): "Oh, maybe it was Japanese."

Me: "No."

Lynzie: "Well it's SOMETHING."

Michael: "A day that has something to do with groundhogs."

Me: "ha ha ha"

Michael: "A day to RESPECT the groundhog."

Me: "no."

Cainan (7): "A day to give each other cookies?"

I'm SO very excited to announce my Giveaway Jubilee for the month of March! Would you like to participate as either a giver, a winner, or both?  Click my adorable new button for all the details!



And...now it's time for this week's Homemaking Link-Up Weekend!

Would you like to participate in the party each week but just can't remember to link up?  There's a couple things I can do to help you out with that!  First, there's a cute button at the top of my sidebar that you can put on your blog to serve as a reminder for you---and an advertisement for me!  Secondly, I can send you an email reminder!  I send out a short email to participants who've requested one on Wednesday nights to remind everyone about the party.  Please let me know in the comments below if you'd like me to do that for you!


I'd love to have you link up your homemaking posts below!  Hope you have a GREAT weekend!

When Mommy Gets Sick --- Homemaking Link-Up Weekend

Part of good homemaking involves delegation and training.  Delegating (and rotating) chores so children can learn them, and training children in the proper way to do household tasks, really pays off on days like today!

I woke up early this morning to a full blown case of the flu!  It's going on 16 hours now and I'm still feeling lousy!


What a blessing and a relief I felt when my husband said, "stay in bed---we'll handle it!"  I'm so thankful for my sweet kids who were so willing to help Dad pick up my slack.

My sweet husband had to leave for a couple hours to go pick up the company laptop so he could work from home tonight and take care of things.  He even stopped by the store to grab me 7up, ice cream and chicken noodle soup!

Now that I think about it, being sick does have it's benefits!

Would you like to participate in the party each week but just can't remember to link up?  There's a couple things I can do to help you out with that!  First, there's a cute button at the top of my sidebar that you can put on your blog to serve as a reminder for you---and an advertisement for me!  Secondly, I can send you an email reminder!  I send out a short email to participants who've requested one on Wednesday nights to remind everyone about the party.  Please let me know in the comments below if you'd like me to do that for you!

I'd love to have you link up your homemaking posts below!  Hope you have a GREAT weekend!

Kids' First Stitches Display Project

This year's Christmas was a crafty Christmas at our house.  Each of the older kids (5 to 11) asked for different items for crafting.  Lynzie, 11, received some supplies for ribbon embroidery, a book on how to make stuffed animals from the Peter Rabbit series, and a bunch of yarn and Aida cloth for various projects. 

Cainan, 7, really wanted to learn to cross stitch so he got a starter box of needed things for that. Elisha, 8, has been begging me to teach him to sew, so he got a box of sewing supplies and a promise to raid my box of scraps.  I wanted to teach Selah, 5, to stitch a straight line, so we got her a small sewing kit as well.

Here is Selah working on her first stitching project!  I drew lines on a piece of cloth and she stitched along each one of them.  After that, I wrote her name and she stitched over that too!  She has really enjoyed practicing on her little pieces of cloth---the other day she taught herself to sew on a button!

I used the same idea with Elisha.  He stitches like a pro now!

After Elisha finished his first little sampler, he was ready to move on to making a pillow!  This has been a dream of his for most of this last year!  I'll post pictures when he gets all done with it.

My husband, Jamie, bought me this pretty scrapbooking paper for Christmas---it's Victorian themed.  I made this display to show off the kids' hard work and stitched the words, "First Stitches" along the bottom.  You can click on the picture to see it more closely.  I plan on using this paper in several projects this winter and spring, as I transition our home out of Christmas decorations!

Linking with:  

Show Off Your Cottage Monday @ The House in the Roses

Peaceful Changes

A few days ago, I blogged about my New Year's Resolutions.  I told you how my main goal this year is to not do things that I don't want to do.  Of course, we all know that this is an impossible task, but let me clarify:

I, like most well-meaning women, have a tendency to take on way too much more than I can handle.  In my effort to do all the things I think God wants me to do, I end up doing a lot of things that he doesn't want me to do and I put off the things that he really does want me to do.  (Does this remind anyone of a Bible passage?  Romans 7:15, perhaps?)

This year, I'm resolving to stick to the plan:  God's plan.

God has created me to be a wife and a mother.  He has called me to homemaking and homeschooling.  He is encouraging me to prepare healthy meals for my family, to keep my home clean and beautiful, and to use the knowledge, creativity, and talents that he has given me to bless my husband and children.

God usually uses the Godly people in our lives to help encourage us in our walk with Him.  I have been blessed to find Godly counsel right here in my own home.  First and foremost, my husband is more than happy to help me find direction and steer me clear of things that would distract me from God's priorities for me.  Just yesterday he helped me out of an overwhelming task that I had taken on without first consulting neither the Lord nor him.

Secondly, God has led me to some very inspiring bloggers who have been springboards for positive changes.  You will see some of them listed on my sidebar under "Blogs That Inspire Me to Greatness".

Mrs. Jennie Chancey of Sense and Sensibility Patterns gave me the idea to honor my marriage by using my married "title", Mrs. Sarah Coller.  Another thing I did to honor my husband's name was to buy napkins monogrammed with a letter C at Christmas time.

This morning, I read a post by Darlene of Time-Warp Wife on boosting self-discipline.  One really great tip that I implemented today with great success, was to put a notepad and pen in my apron pocket for writing down notes throughout the day.  It really helped me not to stress out this morning as I came across things I keep forgetting to do---I just wrote them down and put them out of my mind!  My husband said this would serve to help me not get distracted as well.  I can continue with the task I'm on and just make a note to do the "distraction" later.

A third blog is my most favorite blog of all, The Legacy of Home.  I value that blog so much that I've made it my homepage!  Just about every morning, I wake up to Mrs. White's encouraging wisdom regarding running the kind of home that I desire and being the wife and mother that I want to be.  I've taken a couple of her ideas for making my kitchen a place that I desire to work in.  I recently rearranged my counters to make room for a pretty little lamp that I turn on in the evenings while I'm doing my kitchen work.  I also asked my husband for, (and received!) a kitchen stereo for Christmas.  Now I can listen to uplifting or soothing music while going about my kitchen responsibilities.  It's getting to be a really relaxing place to be!  Next, I'm going to make pretty tags for my canisters from the Victorian paper that Jamie got me for Christmas.  Then I want to paint the antique dresser that I've got in there that is holding my aprons and other kitchen supplies.  I even saw a blog recently where a girl had tole painted her microwave!  Hmmm.....maybe!

A final change that is blessing our family is the changes we're making to our diet.  My friend, Krystal from A Blessed Journey has been posting about some of the nutritious things she's been making her family and it's inspired us to get healthily creative in the kitchen too!

I hope you'll take the time to check out some of these blogs that I've mentioned here.  Maybe you'll be inspired too!

I'm praying God's blessings on you and your family today!

Our Day Today Homemaking Link-Up Weekend

Have you entered my newest book giveaway?

Today, I thought I'd share with you all a little from a typical day at our house! There's always something fun and crafty going on around here---especially when we're taking a holiday break from our homeschool! 

A few days ago, 5-year-old Selah surprised us all by sitting down and flawlessly playing, "Up On the Housetop"!

Her three oldest siblings have been taking piano lessons but we weren't planning on her having lessons for another few years!

Apparently, one of her big brothers took it upon himself to get her started.  Now she's playing all kinds of things from her siblings' older books!

Kynthia Joy, who turned 4 months old on December 2nd, rolled over for the first time today!

We've all enjoyed playing with sweet Kynthia as she's starting to explore her home!

I made this yummy pasta dish for lunch.  I am trying to use up the things we've got in our freezer and pantry this month and start the new year out with a newly-stocked kitchen so this was a hodge podge of ingredients that turned out really great!  I'll try and put up the recipe later this week.

Yesterday, 11-year-old Lynzie made another cute rag doll.  She has always been into the American Girl dolls and recently read about the 1856 doll, Kirsten, who had a little doll of her own named Sari.

Lynzie decided to make her own Sari doll and asked me to help with the hair since I'm not comfortable with her using a hot glue gun yet.

Here she is with her sweet new dolly.  I'm so glad my young lady has retained her childlike spirit this far!  While she could easily run this entire household, including care of the children, she still finds joy in childhood past times like dolls, dress-up and playing make-believe games with her younger siblings.

I've tried, on many occasions, to interest Lynzie in using my sewing machine, but she is more comfortable with her needle and thread.

Her hand-stitching rivals my machine stitches any day!

I think I did her hair pretty cute!

I hope everyone who celebrates is enjoying getting prepared for Christmas!  I can't believe there's only 10 days left!  I've got quite a bit of sewing to do myself this next week.  Liam is getting a "big boy pillow" now that he's almost 2 so I'm sewing him a cute pillowcase with lions on it.  Baby Kynthia is getting a quilt I'll make from pieces from my fabric stash and a Sunbonnet Sue block that was found in my grandmother's things after she passed away.  I've gotten everyone marbles so I'm wanting to make them some simple felt bags to store them in and I have a canvas book bag to decorate for 2-year-old Avalon Grace.  I think I'll use some of the printable fabric that Jamie got me for my birthday last year and find her some pretty vintage image to put on the front of the bag.  She loves going to the library and will enjoy having her own special bag for books.

What kinds of special gifts are you giving to loved ones this year?

I'd love to have each one of you link-up with my Homemaking Link-Up Weekend this weekend!  It's so fun to visit so many creative and encouraging bloggers!  In fact, I'd like to introduce one of my favorite bloggers from last week's party:  Shirley of Sweet Romantic Notions!

Shirley decorated this gorgeous silver tree with special handkerchiefs and handmade ornaments!

I was just really taken with the beauty of this tree and asked her if I could please, please share it with you all!  If you've got a minute, stop over and visit Shirley at Sweet Romantic Notions and tell her you "met" her here!

I've just been so blessed this week as I've gone about making my home a happy and comfortable place to live! What sorts of things have you been doing around the home this week?  Please, share below!  Have a lovely weekend!

Also linking with:

Beverly's Pink Saturday
Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Best Friends --- Homemaking Link-Up Weekend

I've got some great PINKS in my Etsy shop for Christmas! This French Ballerina Pillow would be a sweet gift for someone---like yourself!

How about some PINK wrapped carmels?  I also wrap them in gold and red!  Visit my shop today to order lots of yummy treats!

I had every intention on doing a great Christmas decoration themed post tonight but, as I was going through my pictures, I found these and just had to share them!

Our oldest son, Michael, celebrated his 10th birthday on December 3rd.  On Tuesday, he had his best friend Jonathan come and stay the night for a friend party.  L-R: Michael, Jonathan, Elisha, Cainan, Selah, Avalon (all are ours except Jon)

He was pretty excited with the Nerf-like gun that Jonathan gave him!

The thing I just love about these guys is that they treat each other with such kindness.  They are true friends and show Jesus' love to each other whenever they're together.  It is such a joy to have Jonathan over and Michael is such a kind boy.

Michael is the kind of kid who just loves life.  He's loving and patient with all his other seven siblings and does his best to please his Daddy and I.

Happy Birthday dear little boy!

Please feel free to link up your homemaking-related posts here!  Homemaking Link-Up Weekend runs every weekend from late Thursday night until late Sunday night!

Also linking to:
L.A.C.E. @ Lily-Rose Cottage
Beverly's Pink Saturday