Pumpkin Spice Love

I got this recipe on Pinterest, my new obsession. I have tried to make many pumpkin spice latte recipes, but NONE of them work out too well. Until this one! This recipe for Pumpkin Spice Syrup has made my fall. With a gluten allergy, many, many things bother me. Including one of my favs, the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte! It pains me to speak it out loud. When fall comes around, I CRAVE an S-bucks Pumpkin Spice! I tried this fall, and well....you don't even want to know. So, I have been on the hunt for a new way to satisfy this craving. Pinterest has been an addiction lately, and it has brought such great recipes and ideas. This is one of them! Yum!!! Here is the recipe...

Pumpkin Spice Simple Syrup

1 1/2 c water
1 1/2 c sugar
4 cinnamon sticks
1/2 t ground cloves
1/2 t ground ginger
1 t ground nutmeg
3 T pumpkin puree

Combine water and sugar in medium pot over medium heat. Cook until sugar is dissolved.
Whisk in remaining ingredients. Cook for about 6 minutes, stirring frequently. Do not bring to a boil

Strain in cheesecloth. (I did not have cheesecloth, so I used my French press)

So, another way to use this syrup is in a martini!! It was yum...I already tried! Mix equal parts with your favorite vodka or vanilla vodka, the syrup, a little cream or a little Bailey's....it is soooo good! I am sure you could find lots of ways to use this stuff!

Enjoy!

Reminders of Grace:1000 Gifts

From a Vintage Towel circa 1966:

Lord, bless this food that I prepare
And bless the chores I do;
And as I serve the ones I love
May I remember You.

Then when I bend my knee to scrub
Or face a task with dread
May I remember that's the time
To life my eyes instead

For everything is there to see
And all around us lies
The mud that's tracked in underfoot
Or rainbows in the skies

So may I choose the good to see
The beauty in each day.
And may a song be on my lips
At work and rest and play.

I read this on The Contented Sparrow and loved it.


As I search for a rhythm to my days, my heart chooses to be grateful...my list goes on.

#157-164

a day at home-ALL DAY
reminders of GRACE
hearing voices of friends from Maryland
remembering that it's ONLY by grace I have been saved
a loving and faithful husband
quiet moments at home
seeing my kids learn & grow
a loving God who sustains and uses ALL for His glory

Mikey's 10th:1000 Gifts

I cannot believe Mikey is 10! It flew by and seems like yesterday he was delivered into our arms. This crazy kid has been the sweetest, most challenging person in. my. life. Maybe because we are so much alike, or maybe because he is the middle, or maybe just because. He has had to face many challenges in his young life...a sick and often impatient mama, which for an extremely sensitive kid, is a very hard thing to take. It breaks my heart whenever I think of how tired and impatient I have been with him. He has been quite sick himself. As a very young baby/child, we spent many nights in the hospital, awake every few hours with breathing treatments...I think he had about every virus and illness a young child can possible get. Then the lyme disease. Oh boy....to see your child in rage all day, or try to physically hurt you and threaten to hurt himself.....I can't tell you how difficult some years were. But, God IS faithful and He is calling our young man to Himself. I see how he is growing, and I often have to remind myself that he is God's first. He is becoming quite the leader amongst his peers. He knows how to take charge when things are getting out of hand with his buddies, and he is quite the athlete. I can't wait to see what God is going to do with his life, and I pray for patience and grace to raise this strong young man in a way that honors God. Happy Birthday Bubba!!! I love you!



So with the hope Christ gives and a VERY full heart, my list continues:

#152-156

kids to run around for
a home to return to
a loving hug from a friend
my boy...growing in grace
His many provisions