Special thanks to Sandra for hosting!

The weather in my neck of the woods:
Rainy, cool morning. We've had sun so infrequently over the past few weeks, and much cooler temps - the plants in the garden are way behind schedule.

One of my simple pleasures:
Walking out to the herb garden and clipping something to add to supper. Last night, I clipped some chives to add to our grilled potatoes and carrots.

On my bedside table:
I'm saving the next three books in the Neta Jackson series (#5-#7) until I get up to the lake in two weeks. I plan on spending a lot of time reading up there. I did just finish Tracie Peterson's A Love to Last Forever.

On my TV:
Nothing much - summer seems to be a time away from the computer...although we do want to watch Top Chef Masters on Wednesday nights

On the menu for tonight:
We cooked a ham on the grill last night, so will have leftovers for the next few days. I have to cook up the ham bone and make some split pea soup. For tonight, I may do some scalloped potatoes or omelets.

On my To Do List:
Put away rugs/blankets washed over the weekend
Clean TJ's room
Work on office
Brad rented out the other half of our building, so we have all the painting to get done before June 27th

New Recipe I tried last week:
I tried this Cream Cheese Carrot Muffins recipe from Taste of Home that is also posted on Sandra's blog...I made some modifications to it just to tweak it for our family...
I doubled the recipe so how they look may not be exactly right...I had to guess at how much I needed for the base vs on top of the cream cheese. I sliced and cooked large carrots (not baby ones) and then pureed them with my magic bullet. They were a bit chunky so I mashed a bit more with a fork. I did two cups per batch. I used all whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose, and used only 3/4 cup of cane sugar. Next time, I will most likely make with 1/2 cup applesauce and 1/4 cup sugar. I typically substitute applesauce for sugar when possible, but didn't have any thawed. I used olive oil instead of canola. I also used the entire single batch of filling for the double batch of muffins - make sense? I wanted to cut back on that aspect of it, and it seemed to be plenty of cream cheese. I also didn't use quite as much sugar in the filling and I added more cinnamon as well b/c it seemed to not be quite enough. The muffins are probably more heavy due to the whole wheat, but I wanted to be able to use them for a breakfast muffin, and I still like them this way (we typically use whole wheat across the board whenever possible, so the texture isn't a biggie for us. Yummy!

In the craft basket:
Again, just continuing with my gardening
Putting together a Father's Day photo album for daddy

Looking forward to:
Date with my daughter tomorrow
The lake in two weeks
Playing golf with Brad on Thursday
Coffee/lunch with a friend in the next week

Homemaking Tip for this week:
When baking bread, if your recipe calls for an oil and also something sticky, add the oil first and the molasses/honey will come out of the measuring cup very easily

Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other):
I had a few favorites this week, so am having a hard time choosing. I have so many blogging friends that I enjoy reading, that I am not going to be able to pick a stand out favorite this week. I made the mistake of traveling to a few other links through blogs this week, finding more that I wanted to come back to, and promptly didn't add them to my list - so now I can't remember who they were! UGH.

Favorite photo from last week:

Lesson learned the past few days:
Children tend to miss their parents the most at night and when they are overtired. Plan ahead and make sure they get enough sleep, and offer the opportunity to sleep closer to you, or wherever they feel more safe.

On my Prayer List:
Our pastor
My oldest son, that he would continue to seek God in his life
Our military

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:
"But the wisdom that comes froms heaven is first of all pure; then peaceloving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness." James 3:17-18