five favorites

5 Faves: Christmas Cookie Contenders

/ CAstfalk / 8 Comments
5 Faves

The list of Christmas cookies I bake includes a couple of “must-bakes.” Those would be butter cookies (or cut-out cookies), the buttery shapes we frost and decorate. Our shapes include Christmas trees, Santa with his pack, bells, stars, and a few train engines. My other mandatory treat is fudge-full peanut butter bars. Aside from those, there are a half-dozen or more recipes we rotate in and out. Those include chocolate biscotti, rum balls, and various drop and bar cookies. Nothing too fancy, but always tasty!

My oldest daughter and I have sifted through recipes, looking for something new (to us) to try this year. Which recipe do you think should make the cut?

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5 Faves: Clean Romances with Pro Athletes

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5 Faves

I’ve been thinking about re-reading Amy Matayo’s The Thirteenth Chance – and that’s saying something because the book only came out yesterday! I breezed through my advance copy, but I find myself wanting to go back and savor it. It got me to thinking about other books I’ve read that involve professional athletes as main characters. I could think of quite a few books with high school and college athletes, but when I tried to think of pro athletes only, I came up with the Becky Wade books below but not much else. I scanned my Goodreads list, and it jogged my memory about two more. But that’s it.

Clearly there’s interest in professional athletes as leading men in romance novels, as evidenced by a glut of mainstream romances and erotica with half-naked athletes on the cover, but they seem to be underrepresented in Christian fiction and clean romance. Huh. Hard to believe no one has fictionalized Tim Tebow. Yet.

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#5Faves: Summer

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Five FavouritesWhile summer technically only began two days ago, it’s felt like summer since the kids got out of school and the temperatures have stayed consistently above 60 degrees. Here are five of my favorite things about summertime! It’s a bit tough to narrow the list to five. Even lightning bugs didn’t make the cut.

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#5Faves: Bookends

/ CAstfalk / 6 Comments
Five FavouritesWhile many of our books are sadly relegated to boxes at present, I dream of someday having a full wall of shelves on which to display our beloved books. When that happens, our sets of bookends will resume their rightful place holding up said books. These Roman pillars are the plainest of the bunch but they do the job. And what’s not to like about a classic? Following are my five favorites. Special thanks to my book model, The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, which arrived on time, never complained, and was, thankfully, not the least bit temperamental.
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#5Faves: Kitchen Stuff

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fivefaves

There is little I like about our kitchen itself. So, to find the joy in the kitchen, I have to look to gadgets and other “fun” stuff. These are five of my current kitchen faves.

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Banana Hanger

I often wonder if I’m raising a troop of monkeys. Poo flinging, nitpicking, and other monkey action aside, the sheer number of bananas consumed is staggering some weeks. Finally, instead of multiple bunches littering our limited counter space, they hang above it. I don’t know whether it has any effect on their ripening or shelf life, but it’s a space saver.

Banana Hanger

Also keeps small monkeys from snatching fruit from the counter.

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#5Faves: Driving With the Windows Down Songs

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fivefaves

Spring is just around the corner, so saith the illustrious Punxsatawney Phil. At this time of year, when 55 degrees feels balmy rather than chilly, I’m eager to roll down the car windows at the first glimpse of forsythia – long before the parking lot snow piles have melted. Granted, rolling down windows held more excitement when there was actually rolling to do and my vehicle was something other than a minivan, even if it was my parents’ Chevy station wagon. These are five songs that, to me, are the perfect accompaniment to the windows-down ride.

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#5Faves: First Communion Ideas

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My oldest daughter will be making her First Holy Communion this year, and we just purchased her lovely dress last weekend! Early in our marriage, before I’d ever been pregnant, I longed to see my children receive their First Communion. It’s such a special day, not only spiritually, of course, but also as a happy family celebration. Here are five items for gift-givers that can make the grace-filled day even more special!

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Journal

My First Holy Communion Keepsake Journal is the most inventive First Communion gift I’ve discovered. If your daughter likes to write, doodle, and dabble in journals, this is the perfect gift! This isn’t primarily a spiritual journal, more a journal to help remember the details of the day. Recall who came to your celebration, design a dress, color the rosary, etc. *My First Communion Keepsake Journal

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