getting creative

I have been more creative.

In the kitchen.

In my decorating.

In our home school.

I feel pretty inspired lately.

Trying to stick to my food budget, which I exceeded by $37 last shopping outing, I am using up ingredients in neat new ways. I have always wanted to learn to cook from a pantry rather than a cookbook. And I have a thing for cookbooks...especially ones with pretty pictures. We have had a variety of chili type meals, chicken and pasta dishes, and lots of various burrito combinations! It has been fun and 'mostly' tasty.I will need to shop soon, but am excited to by more staples and use my taste buds to guide me again.

I have always had ideas for decor...maybe it is the one artistic thing I got at birth from my mama...she is a lovely artistic type. My budget is slim now and I have never really had a place nor the time to decorate it when I did, so I own no great furniture pieces to speak of and no really great nick nacs nor framed art. So, I am working at upcycling what I have and redoing things I find cheap to become the stylish, but to spendy things I would like to use. It is fun and I have a plethora of ideas to use up!

Homeschooling is such a blessing for our family. This coming school year we are really going a different avenue with our style, but I am excited that it will open up the time we desire for our creativity to flow...more on those ideas later. For now, we are streamlining our studies to the basics and delving into fun reading and making notebooks to chronicle our learning...it has been fun!I can't wait to see the finished notebooks at the end of the year. I am sitting hear wondering why we didn't do this sooner!

Spring is coming...sooner for some...longer for us in the North, but the renewal is already popping up in me. I feel fresh and energized. And so ready to use it for His glory and creativity!

It is awesome to feel like I can be the steward he wants me to be and to feel like I am really on the path of the Proverbs 31 women. Making the Lord and my husband proud. Clothing my children beautifully, making my home a place of peace and renewal, teaching each little soul, and feeding their bodies well. And most importantly, pointing our children to the Father and teaching them to be lights in this dark world for Him and His Glory!