thankful thursday

I'm so very thankful....

• for God's provision! We have lived here in Ohio for about a year and have managed with just one vehicle for that entire time. That has meant a lot of rides to work for Josh from his brother and days stuck at home for Sydney and I. It hasn't really been a big deal and we're so grateful Josh has had the ride to work and we've been able to work that out for so long!! Recently it's been pretty clear that we need a second vehicle as where they work changes with what house they're working on and we definitely wanted to get something before the baby arrived. Well, after a couple of weeks researching, looking, test driving, and the like we purchased a van yesterday!! We are so thankful that God has provided transportation this past year, an opportunity to buy a vehicle, and the right vehicle to buy!
• for spending the holidays with family! It is such a blessing to live close enough to see everyone around the holidays. Josh, Sydney, and I will be heading to Indiana tomorrow and then Pennsylvania soon after that. We're so thankful to no longer have 10+ hour drives to see everyone!!
• for the little kicks and jabs in my belly that let me know our little guy is growing and lively! Now, I'm not so thankful for when they wake me up in the middle of the night but that's ok, he might as well start interrupting my sleep now as there's lots more of that to come!!
• for the Christmas season and the great reminder of all Christ has done for us! It's hard not to get caught up in the shopping, baking, gift giving and decorating. So, I just want to take a second to remind myself of what it's really all about. I'm so thankful for Christ, who humbly came to this earth as a baby, died on the cross for our sins so that we could be saved, rising from death, and giving us the opportunity to repent and be forgiven and redeemed. What a priceless gift he has given!

Merry Christmas to you and your family. I pray you each are blessed through this season!!

Here are a couple of my favorite verses from "O Holy Night" that have really been standing out to me this year. Blessings to you!

"Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn."

"Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His Gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His Name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy Name!"

cookies for dark chocolate lovers....

I love dark chocolate. I'm not a huge fan of milk chocolate and honestly have to be in the mood for it, but I LOVE dark chocolate and can't recall a time I've ever turned it down. I was going to make a dessert for dinner with some of our family tonight and I was just craving dark chocolate. After searching the internet for a recipe I had the ingredients for, here's what I came up with and they are DIVINE!!! Enjoy!!

Dark Chocolate Crinkle Cookies:
(adapted from this recipe on Allrecipes.com)

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 tsp instant coffee (optional...but recommended as it enhances chocolate!)
1 cup powdered sugar (in separate bowl for coating)

In a medium bowl, mix together cocoa, white sugar, and vegetable oil. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the cocoa mixture and mix on low speed until smooth. Add dark chocolate chips and instant coffee and mix together. Cover dough, and chill for at least 2 hours.               
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or lightly greased foil. Roll dough into one inch balls. (works well using two spoons...one to scoop, one to scrape off) Coat each ball in confectioners' sugar before placing onto prepared cookie sheets.               
Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Let stand on the cookie sheet for a minute before transferring to wire racks to cool.               

thrifty tip tuesday...

Here are a few good deals I've found...

FREE 4x6 flip book from Snapfish (you just pay 1.99 shipping) with coupon code HPFREEBK  at check out.

$2 medium drinks at Caribou Coffee with this coupon  (tomorrow only!)

Very cheap Playtex sippy cup from Target with two coupons  (see this post from Totally Target)

Free item of your choice with a purchase of $10 or more at Bath and Body Works (online or in store)

Text discount rental coupon from Redbox for the until 12/24. Just text FUN to 727272

$10 off $20 purchase at Smokey Bones Restaurant with this coupon

Free sample of Nescafe Peppermint Mocha instant coffee (facebook sample, "like" Nescafe and fill out form)

what we're eating this week....

Tis the season to try new recipes :) Well, if your pregnant and bored with the usual food it is! So, that's the plan this week to try a bunch of new things (and apparently use my crockpot almost every day, not sure how that happened in my menu planning...hope the old pot is up to the task!)!! Here's what's on our menu....

Monday: Easy Crockpot Potato Soup
Tuesday: Slow Cooker Coconut Chicken Curry
Wednesday: Creamy Tortellini (the only not new recipe)
Thursday: Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff
Friday:  Caramelized Baked Chicken Legs
Saturday/Sunday: Not sure what the weekend holds yet :)

And some treats I'm going to try....
Homemade doughnuts from canned biscuits
Microwave Peanut Brittle
Two Minute Mug Brownie

family visit...

My mom, grandma, and brother visited this weekend and although the visit went by way too fast, we had a great time!! Here are a few photos from their time here...

Syd and her Gigi

Syd and her uncle PC (aka Nick)

 

Sydney and her Nana

and now some Christmas tree pics...

 

funny faces

Josh was the photographer for the other pics, so here he is with my bro

a fun photo shoot

and then Sydney got a hold of the camera when we were done ;)

Christmas Ornaments

Sydney and I had a great time yesterday making Christmas ornaments! Below are pictures of the fun we had making Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments and Salt Dough Ornaments......

She did such a good job, I hardly had to help
her at all!

And to continue the homemade Christmas fun, here are pics of the Sweater Stockings I made for us this year....

Now I just need to find the motivation to make the last one for the baby so I don't have to worry about making it next year :). Once we decide on a name for the baby I'm going to get some kind of letter ornament on each of them.

In the next couple weeks I'm going to try and conquer making homemade goodies and candies with lots of new recipes I haven't tried before...we'll see how that goes :)