: Life is hard. God is good. We need each other.
If you visit Disney World, you can visit the Beast’s castle and try the grey stuff atop The Master’s Cupcake at “Be Our Guest” restaurant.
But if you want to try it at home, I’ve got an easy recipe for you to try.
And it is delicious!
— Don’t believe us, ask the dishes!
I recently hosted a bridal shower for my niece who is a big Disney fan. Each table had a theme, and the dessert table was ‘Belle’.
While we never really subscribed to any one philosophy of homeschooling, the closest we got would have to be the Charlotte Mason method. I was always drawn to her belief in educating the whole child through discipline and exposure to art, music, nature and great writing.
My boys had a heavy phonics background in their time at the local charter school they attended. My eldest finished fifth grade and my younger third when we decided to homeschool. They were both strong spellers.
So when we began homeschooling, I was looking for a spelling program that built on the foundation they had.
What we landed on was Spelling Wisdom by Simply Charlotte Mason. We used the downloadable version, and only printed what we needed.
As described on their website:
I love using things in ways they weren’t intended for. Besides being conversation pieces, it makes your home personal to you. It adds character. And it can save you a lot of money!
You don’t have to be a designer or skilled in construction to create something unique.
I assure you, I am neither.
It does help that I am not a perfectionist, I will admit.
When we moved into our current house, the previous owners had begun a number of remodels that they hadn’t finished. One was tearing out a peninsula counter/cabinets in the kitchen. We loved how open it made the kitchen, but it left me with very little counter and cabinet space, and just one cabinet drawer.
I began looking at islands. Did you know that
Also, I saw that they all kind of look the same, and I wanted something a bit more unique. So I thought about trying to re-purpose something to create my own island. I looked at workbenches, dressers, and other furniture before finding a hutch that would work.
In short, we used the bottom of the hutch as the actual island and turned the shelves that sat on top of the original hutch upside down to use as storage. I’ll walk you through how we did it.
Having two sons is fantastic. But I do miss out on a lot of the ‘girly’ things. So when I get an opportunity to do it, I do it big! Especially when it involves things I love – in this case: themed entertaining and my niece.
We are definitely a Disney family. My husband has been a huuuuuge Dis-nerd for as long as I’ve known him. And my appreciation has grown significantly over the years for all things Disney. We even focused our homeschool studies around a trip to Disney World several years ago. Awe-some!
I love for guests to get a little taste of what’s in store for them even before they come inside. So just outside the front door, they were greeted by this “Be Our Guest” sign.
I’m a sentimental.
Being the only female in the house, I feel it’s my duty to expose my sons to the full range of female emotion.
They see me laughing (a lot). Certainly they’ve seen me frustrated and angry, but I hope they’ve seen more kindness and gentleness. They’ve seen me swoon when my husband enters the room and dance to “Mom’s Morning Dance Music” (yes, I have that playlist).
And they’ve seen the quiet moments.
The times when I’m not reading or working or on any device, just looking out the window.
The times when they see me crying because it’s just one of those days and I need some reminiscing music.
Before I became interested in herbal remedies, I had never heard of a tincture. Maybe you haven’t, either.
Don’t let the alcohol scare you, though. It’s so concentrated, you only take a teaspoon of it at time. And if the alcohol is a real issue for you, tinctures can also be made with glycerin. I’ll give you instructions for both.
The general rule is that a teaspoon of tincture is equivalent to a cup of brewed tea.
Although I enjoy a good cup of tea now and then, it’s not my preferred method of taking remedies. I’d rather just git ‘er done, as they say.
Plus, with this Sleepy Time Tincture, I am usually using it or giving it in the middle of the night. When you’re trying to get to sleep, quicker is better.