Happy Birthday Pie and Smoothies = Great Candles

We had a rather late birthday celebration for my Christian last night. We ended up having birthday pie (real pie) at nearly midnight when the birthday girl was conked out! We managed to save a whole pie as the little ones were playing video games and the rest of us were way too full on cheese enchiladas and beef tacos to indulge. Then there were the smoothies!

Since we had four birthdays every two weeks from February until yesterday, Christian decided that she wanted to have a pie for her birthday instead.

So today, my candle inspiration is pie and peach smoothie. I'm gonna get breakfast (late) and some coffee (Starbucks just tweeted that their House blend is in the house until noon). Then I'm gonna make a pie and smoothie candle. The pie, I've done a number of times but this will be a first for the smoothie candle, and I've already got an idea as to how I'm going to do it. Stay tuned to our tweets to find out our newest candle releases. We just did a tart melt version of the Edible Arrangement earlier this week so the smoothies will be posted there. You can find us @everythingdawn on Twitter or visit our Facebook Page and like us there.

God bless!

There's No Place Like Home

Home...there's no place like it. It's the place where my children throw their toys in the foyer, knock over their drink and wipe up half of it, placing a towel over the area so that no one will slip on it, and where the toddlers scream and leave fingerprints pretty much everywhere.

Okay so it's not a perfect home but it's home. Sometimes, when it's quiet, i think about all of the in things that make my home a "home" and I'm convinced that there's nothing like it. I miss the noise. I miss the sticky little fingers, and I definitely couldn't begin to imagine how much I'd miss those sweet little hugs and kisses that I always get from my little ones. If it were any different, it wouldn't be home.

Real Dessert Please

At six and a half months pregnant, I've been having crazy cravings for turnip greens and kit kat bars (not at the same time). So my candle creations this week have been centered around chocolate. I suppose if there were turnip greens that could be turned into some kind of tempting dessert, I would have figured it out by now but when I imagine turnip greens, I imagine them cooked in ham juice with bits of ham. I just can't see how you could make that into dessert.

Yesterday, as I was working on the hot fudge brownie sundae candle, my eight year old son comes up to me and says, "I should've never come over here." I couldn't help but laugh. The children are loving these dessert candle creations but they wish Mommy would make some real desserts.

My house smells like a combination of chocolate, vanilla, caramel and apples right now. It's not working well with the pregnancy but nobody else seems to mind. My first project for the morning was my white chocolate/strawberry/fudge cupcake candle. Then I decided to do an apple caramel crunch cupcake candle. Still no real food.

I've learned that candle designs and real baking absolutely cannot happen at the same time lest you end up with yucky candle tasting real food. Oh well, the little chilies will have to wait a bit for the real cupcakes...maybe the weekend?

Peace When the Enemy Tries to Steal It

Holidays are very special days. Easter is particularly special because it's a day when we commemorate the rising of Jesus Christ as Savior. It's a true acknowledgment of who Jesus really is. It's not accepting Him as a prophet but the true, living son of God.

Yesterday was a very difficult day for my family. There's not enough in the budget to do what's necessary. There were disruptive and self centered attitudes and complete disregard for what we were celebrating in the first place. As Christians, every day should be a day where we think about what Christ has done for us personally. If we are truly living a lifestyle as followers of Christ, we will be able to understand that each and every day there is a necessity to serve The Lord wholeheartedly. However, the enemy always has a way of distracting our attention from what is really important and getting us to think about the things that are not so important. It was a difficult day for my family.

There is, however, a peace that comes with knowing who Christ is. It's that peace that enables you to go outside of yourself and seek Him despite how you feel or how someone else tries to ruin your day. Then, once you have sought the Lord, you will find that He sustains you and He will righteously deal with the situation at hand. There is an evil in this world that only Christ Jesus can fix. I'm so glad that I have Him in my life to help me through the times when the enemy wants nothing more than to kill, steal, and destroy.

May the peace of Christ be with you this Easter holiday and throughout the rest of the year.

Life is Short

Today is the beginning of a new week after some some wonderful and not so wonderful events of last week. We lost a dear friend to our family last week, a loving husband and father to six children whom I've grown to love over the years. Remembering the wonderful times of fellowship our families have had together brings me such happiness; but the sting is when I think about today, reality.

On the other hand, I realize my brother in Christ is rejoicing with the Lord. I knew him to be a firm believer in Jesus Christ so we do have a sense of comfort that our brother in Christ is with the Lord. However, it will be a long road ahead and my dear friend, her mother in-law and the children will continue to need love and prayers throughout this difficult time.

Also last week, my sweet, little Celina turned one. We gave her a birthday party on Saturday. It's always fun to see the little ones' reaction to the birthday songs and cupcakes. It didn't matter that the candle was still lit in the cupcake, my little one tried to work around that. After three times of holding her little hand back to avoid a possible burn (or the whole candle tipping over and igniting the table), I just took the candle out. It was a great celebration and she enjoyed the fuss over her. I think her favorite was the helium balloons that she watched with amazement as they floated to the ceiling.

Celebrating earthly life and home going in the same week can give a reality check on how short life is. We never know when we'll be caught up so we need to live to the fullest for Christ.

It's Not the Guns - It's the People

Life has been so busy in our home that I've barely had time to post. Then there was the shooting of those poor babies recently that really penetrated my heart as a mom. My heart sincerely goes out to those parents who've lost their babies. That one incident seemed to bring so many hearts of compassion together. It's awesome to see people come together in support of those who need it.

On the down side; however, the event seems to have sparked some sort of anti gun rampage where people are blaming guns for the behavior of people who have been overcome by evil. Realistically, guns don't do anything, people do and its always been evil that motivates evil acts.

So now there are celebrities stepping up and protesting guns. Well I'd like to see how many of them would give up a payday by not accepting a role in a violent movie that certainly has the propensity of placing grand schemes in the minds of the wicked. I'd also like to see how many of them would volunteer their paychecks to increase security in schools, which, unfortunately is needed. It makes no sense to support an anti-gun campaign when you're making movies that promote the very same.

 As this country strays farther and farther away from God, more wickedness will begin to rear its ugly head. 

My Position on Staying at Home

My post,"SAHM Movement Rocks Feminism" seemed to get some interesting feedback so I thought I'd take a moment to clarify some things. I'm not, by any means, affiliated with any movement that looks down on people who choose not to stay at home. In fact, it appears that the more I have defended the position of choosing home as a necessary place of employment, the more there seems to be a rebellion against it.

I find it pretty sad that where it was once considered a normal thing for a woman to be employed by her home, to begin her day with an early rise with a mind to keep to her household schedule, to tend her little ones during the day and prepare her home for her husband's arrival is now considered stone aged and unrealistic. My position is by no means puffed up with pride. However, I come from a place where I've experienced the verbal sarcasms and even the downplay of the position that I've chosen at home, and I find it to be degrading. Therefore, although you may sense the strong feeling on the subject, my posts reflect my position of defense for those of us who do chose home as a place of employment.

I speak of my job as a homemaker very highly because I believe that it's God's calling and I embrace the high calling of God to be a keeper of my home. With that, I eagerly welcome and encourage others to experience the joy that comes with being employed at home rather than choosing to bash those of us who choose to by deeming us unintelligent and worthless. I think that anyone who loves their job tends to speak about it with passion but I would never tell someone that they're sinning if they're not a stay at home mom. I just understand that we live in a society where things that God looks highly upon are minimized  and those things that are abominable to Him are glorified by people, and this is my opportunity, a place to speak on my beliefs about that.

I'm not standing in judgment of anyone here but I do have strong opinions on feminism. So in my posts, I may mention some of the things that we as Christian women have allowed into our hearts as a compromise between godliness and feminism but it is solely one's own convictions that will determine what they do with that. The one thing I will definitely state is that any woman who has questions about what God wants for her that she should, indeed, seek the word of God and allow Him to reveal His individual plan for her.