Author Archives: ~~Rhonda

Living in a small town, I share my life with my husband Russell (married in 1977), five children (one still at home), and six cats (one indoors, the others outside).

I teach an online class called “The Christmas Notebook” which is about all things holiday prep. The many facets of celebrating Christmas comprises one of my favorite hobbies. Other favorite things include gardening, reading, cooking, and scrapbooking.

7 days of shooting

February 2, 2012 – 10:32 am

Over the holiday season, I neglected the two flickr groups I enjoy the most. One is Macro Monday, to which one or two macro photos are submitted each Monday according to the week’s theme. The other group is 7 Days of Shooting. There is an overarching weekly theme and, also, daily themes that have to […]

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menu plan monday ~ january 30, 2012

January 30, 2012 – 11:33 am

We were highly entertained Sunday afternoon watching the twins wrap “presents.” They spent over an hour cutting gift wrap, pulling tape, wrestling with the packaging…so much fun! Pa got a bow, Ma got a box of cereal, Auntie got a box of tea and Sissy got a bowl of chalk. Serious business! They (and we!) […]

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chicken taco chili

January 28, 2012 – 9:07 pm

This Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili was a new recipe for me. See the link for the original recipe. I did change some things, so I’ll show those changes below. I had planned to make the chili in the crock pot as the original recipe does, but didn’t have all the ingredients in time to […]

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menu plan monday ~ january 23, 2012

January 23, 2012 – 2:21 pm

Happy birthday to my sisters, Mary and Margaret! I hope you both have a lot of fun celebrating your birthday today! Our son’s family came over for dinner yesterday. Afterward, the twins helped Pa make cookies. There was a little taste-testing going on, too… It’s 45* today, but windy. A good day to stay inside […]

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chicken linguine…with spaghetti

January 20, 2012 – 2:39 pm

I’ve been trying some new recipes and gave Chicken Linguine a try last night. Everyone gave it a thumbs up, so we’ll be having it again. I did make changes to the recipe, though. You can find the original at the link, and I’ll post what I did below. Spaghetti with Chicken and Broccoli (See? […]

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spring, is that you?

January 19, 2012 – 10:24 pm

No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow. ~ a proverb I know the winter hasn’t seemed that long or harsh this year, but I am so ready for spring. The daffodils are already three inches tall, which is about two inches taller than this time the past few years. And soon, […]

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menu plan monday ~ january 16, 2012

January 16, 2012 – 5:22 pm

The three grands stayed over night Saturday. The twins spent a lot of time cutting with Ma’s scrapbooking scissors. They had a ball! It was interesting to watch their totally different approaches to cutting. Always fun to have the grands. Following is the menu for the week. I’m trying a couple of new recipes. I’ve […]

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decoupaged ornaments tutorial

January 13, 2012 – 9:16 pm

In my last post I shared some of the decoupaged ornaments I’ve made over the past few years. This post is a tutorial to explain how they’re made in case you want to try them yourself. Here’s what you’ll need: Clear ball ornaments Paper Scissors Mod Podge (or white craft glue, mixed two parts glue […]

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decoupaged ornaments

January 12, 2012 – 3:21 pm

I’ve made several different decoupaged ornaments over the past few years. I enjoy crafting them and I keep thinking of new kinds to make. Here are a few samples. These are ornaments I made for the Christmas Notebook ornament exchange in 2006. They were decorated with pictures of our home decorated for Christmas and pictures […]

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house concert 2011

January 10, 2012 – 1:02 pm

During December, we were delighted to host Nathan George, Ross Sermons, and Mark Stoffel for the fifth year as they presented a house concert of wonderful Christmas music. Nathan With 62 guests, some had to find seats on the staircase, which is actually a great vantage point. After the concert, guests had time to speak […]

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