my father's day gift to my husband

My husband has wanted to cut a certain tree in our backyard down since the first day we moved into our home.
I have not wanted him to cut it down.
He has been so unwavering with his desire to cut it down . . .
so for Father's Day, I gave him my blessing.

It will make me happy to let him cut it down even though I really like the tree.

I am actually kind of excited to see what I can do with the empty space.

I don't have a great "before" picture.

Here is one . ..  the tree is on the left of the pool.

I'm sure the tree will be coming down very soon .. . before I have a chance to change my mind.

Not that I would do that . . .

:)

gluten-free cookies for my dad

I wanted to make my dad a special treat for Father's Day.
He only eats gluten-free food, so I made these peanut butter cookies.

I don't usually think gluten-free food is delicious, but these are delicious!!
I promise.

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups peanut butter (I used Trader Joe's Organic creamy)

2 cups white sugar (I used 1 cup white and 1 cup brown)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 eggs, beaten

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans (optional ~ I used walnuts and they tasted great!)

1/2 cup coconut (optional, but highly recommended!)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheet. (I highly recommend using parchment paper instead)
2. Combine sugar with baking soda and salt. (dry ingredients)
3. Beat eggs with vanilla.
4. Combine peanut butter, egg mixture, and dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Mix in coconut and nuts. (mix by hand, not a mixer)
5. Roll into balls (not too big).  The dough will seem very gooey, that's OK. Put some sugar in a bowl and roll the balls in the sugar.
6. Put balls on cookie sheet and press down with a fork to make a criss cross pattern.  (After this step, I also sprinkled the cookies with a little more sugar ..  . can never have enough sugar, right?)
7. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before placing on cookie rack.

Enjoy!!
Happy Father's Day, Dad!!

kitchen cabinet inspirations ~ white or cream?

I am ready to start painting our kitchen cabinets!
Here are some of my inspiration pictures.
The big question for me is white or cream??
Even though I love cream so much, I think white is winning so far.

my sweet savannah

source

the lettered cottage

source

centsational girl

What do you think?

White or cream??

i love summer

Happy Monday

Lots of this going on lately . . . and I do mean lots.

I'm not complaining, though.

I love to watch my Jake and I love the excuse to sit and talk with the other moms.

The kids don't mind it either . . . they get to play with great friends at the games.

There is also a lot of soccer.
I love that, too. :)

The kids are out of school for the summer and I couldn't be more thrilled.
We have been so busy and I am looking forward to . . .
lazy days in the pool,
fun days with friends, and
creative play days in the house. 
I'm also looking forward to getting rooms organized and doing a few other projects (like painting our master bedroom and the kitchen cabinets).

I LOVE this summer list that Amy wrote about here.

 The kids and I will be sitting down to make one of our own today.
Oh . . . and by the way .  . one of my favorite bloggers, Val, from ValSoCal is hosting a giveaway in honor of her one year "blogiversary". 
Stop on over there and enter to win. 
She has the best recipes . . . I have tried many and have never been disappointed.


Have a great Monday everyone!
thanks for stopping by!
~cheryl

~Happiness never decreases by being shared.~ go share some happiness!!

simple teacher gift idea

At the beginning of the school year, the teachers at our school were asked a few questions about their "favorite things".
Favorite drink, color, candy, etc . . .
I saved the answers and I gathered a few of those things and put them in a brown paper bag, tied it up with string, and gave it to a very wonderful teacher.
She loved it.
So simple.

This year, our school's musical was The Sound of Music . . . so I thought it was very appropriate.
Thanks for stopping by.
~cheryl

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please pray for pinny

A friend of mine from college has a beautiful niece named Pinny.
Pinny needs your prayers.
Please check out this blog and join me in prayer for this sweet baby and her parents.

Thank you.

"…The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (James 5:16).