jennifer, Author at Hopeful Homemaker

Aim Higher: Drops of Awesome

February 2, 2013 jennifer Musings on Life and Beauty, Simple. Quality.

Earlier this week I linked to an amazing post that I read a week or two ago. It’s really impacted me for the better and I wanted to find a way to share it with my family.

Then I remembered these vintage medicine dropper bottles that I picked up at a yard sale a few years ago. I’ve considered getting rid of them several times but never did. I dug them out of the box they were in and was thrilled to discover I had ten. The perfect number!

Out came some ribbon and tiny tags, and soon I had a “drops of awesome” bottle for each member of our family.

I shamelessly patterned our lesson after the one I’d read about in the post , using a pitcher of water to overflow the bowl when my children were sure we’d never get there with our little drops.

We talked about how every drop of awesome we put into life brings joy. It makes us want to work harder. And it’s an invitation to the Lord to step in and do something awesome with our efforts, things that only He can do.

Now we have ten bottles around the house in bedrooms and other locations as reminders of what we’re after.

A few of the questions I’ve asked my children since our discussion:

“What can you do to add a drop of awesome to this assignment?”

“Have you noticed others putting drops of awesome into life? How did it make you feel to see them?”

“Did you notice the Lord turning any of your drops of awesome into something bigger?”

We talked about drops of awesome when my boys had to shovel somewhere around 15 inches of snow off of 8 driveways this week.

We talked about them while cleaning, doing homework, playing instruments.

I hope that “drops of awesome” can become code for “aim higher.” My children know I’m a fan of excellence, and several of them resent my discussing it.

But drops of awesome are different. They come just one drop at a time, and I guess life is more manageable for all of us when taken at that rate.

I love what she writes at the end of the post: “Small and simple. Tiny drops. Go forth. Be awesome.”

This just might work. For all of us, myself included. And I couldn’t be happier!

What will be your next drop of awesome?

Jennifer

2 comments goals, parenting

Lemon Crisp Cookies

January 31, 2013 jennifer Desserts

I made these cookies for a cookie exchange during the holidays. I’m a firm believer that lemon is a great taste any time of year!

This is one of those recipes that has only 5 ingredients and you can prep them in about 5 minutes, making them a go-to cookie for me. They’re also easy for my children to mix up, and who doesn’t love baking with Mom?

Lemon Crisp Cookies Ingredients:
1 lemon cake mix 1 cup crisp rice or puffed rice cereal 1/2 cup butter, melted 1 egg, beaten 2 tsp. grated lemon peel In a large bowl, combine all ingredients until well mixed. (The dough will be crumbly.) Shape into 1 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until set. Cool for 1 minute before moving cookies to cooling racks. Cool completely before serving.

Note: My balls are usually a little bigger than one inch around, and a batch yields 2 dozen cookies for me.

I hope you’ll try them. Enjoy!

Hopeful Homemaker

In the sewing room, no. 4

January 30, 2013 jennifer Quilting and Sewing

What a great week it’s been! We had blue skies and sunshine on Monday – such a gift – and 11 inches of snow on Tuesday. As for sewing, Saturday was a quiet day and I was able to put together this:

It’s the back for my Choreography quilt top , and I think I like it every bit as much as the front. I used an Ikea print for the top and bottom and the center section is made using the remainder of my “arrows.”

I’m really excited to put this quilt together. I want to push myself in quilting it, and am tossing around a few ideas. I (who am HORRIBLE at free motion quilting) spent some time playing with an idea. This is also one of my goals for 2013, to pay the price and put in some hours learning to FMQ. Here it is:

It definitely needs work, but I might like it. I always have this inner battle over finishing a quilt quickly using quilting methods I’m comfortable with, or letting it be a “slow craft” as Denyse Schmidt calls it (I wrote about it here ) while I learn to do new things. I’m trying to take the slow craft approach with this quilt, telling myself I’ll love it even more if I do.

I made six more blocks for my Scrappy Trip quilt. I now have 18 done and am half way there! I’m still really enjoying this quilt. One thing I’m learning is that my fabric stash is pretty shallow on yellows, and I’m wishing I had a few more yellow strips to add. Interestingly, I read Joanna Figueroa’s thoughts on yellow in her book With Fabric and Thread.
She writes, “I would like to share with you that yellow goes with everything! Many years ago, I heard another designer say this in a workshop on brights and contemporary fabrics. The same principle has translated very well into vintage color combinations. There is no color on the color wheel that looks bad with yellow…Many of the most classic color combinations are paired with yellow…and yet somehow many people seem to be afraid of this wonderful color” (p.66). While I’ve never had an aversion to yellow, I haven’t really been drawn to it, either. Right now I’m wishing I had a lot more yellow in my stash… perhaps it’s time to consciously watch for yellows I like.

Speaking of yellow, I started working on my Sawtooth quilt, which is my first project using yellow for the background. I’m really loving this happy, sunny color and hope the quilt is as cheery as I think it will be.

My Scrappy Swoon quilt is coming along:

I discovered that when cutting all my squares I went a little crazy with the pink fabrics and have way too many. Rather than pack them away, I’ve used this little stack to plan a little Valentine project:

I’m thinking the pink will look pretty with some gray. I hope to piece it right away!

I guess that’s it this week. Can you believe the month is already over? I had hoped to do more, and yet I’m also grateful for all that has come together so far. February will be great.

Have a beautiful week, Jennifer Linking to Freshly Pieced

5 comments in the sewing room, quilting

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