The Twelfth Night

 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The arrival of the three kings mark the beginning of Mardi gras that ends on Feb 17 th . With the start of Lent season. 

So let the good time roll! 

Mardi Gras Scrapbook

 Mardi gras season officially starts in Louisiana 

Monday at home

Welcome to my home

{ Happy Homemaker Monday - 01/05/2026 }

It's the first Monday of January and a new year. Have you made any plans for 2026?

Weather

• 70
• 72
• 73
• 70 rain
• 72

As always South Louisiana weather changes by the hour. We have had lots of fog, warm days and cold nights with lots of rain.

Meals 

Breakfast toast and coffee. Lunch ham and cheese grilled sandwich.

• white beans,rice,ham
• lasagna, salad, homemade bread
• meatball gravy, and mash potato
• gumbo, rice , potato salad 
• Shrimp creole  

It's National Soup month. Hobby month.

Plans for 2026

i am cleaning and organizing the craft room.putting away Christmas.

Going through closets cleaning out old clothes,and items to donate.

Making plans for Chinese new year, Mardi gras and Valentine's 

Reading now

i always enjoy taking part in this reading challenge. Our book club will be joining me this year.

Read books with titles matching the alphabet. 

In my Community 

Library weekly events and daily homework help. 

Weekly events: book club, home school meet up, hobby clubs

MWGC  meeting and volunteering nursing home.

Church: weekly service, fellowship and Bible journal. Volunteering at food bank Visiting shut ins.

From my yard...

My roses bloom year long here. 

My word for 2026 is Teach!  In honor of my son starting student teaching. 

New Look- Star GARDENfeature 1/5/26

 

WELCOME to the first week of the January 2026 "You're the Star" Blog Hop!

Before we continue onto the Linky party I wanted to share from my blog:

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WELCOME to GARDEN feature week of the January 2026 "You're the STAR" blog hop!

Meet all of your Hosts

This week is GARDEN feature week
Swing by the Hosts blogs:

Angie @ God's Growing Garden
Colleen @ Butterfly in the Attic

Bev @ Eclectic Red Barn
Michelle @ Moms Are Frugal

Lisa @ At Home With Lisa

Kris @ Kris and Larry . com

This is a month long Linky party featuring YOU!

There will be 4 different features each week and 4 different feature categories.  Just to be clear - this is NOT a themed party - you may link up ANY family-friendly blog posts any day of each month. 
The "theme" occurs in our weekly features:
WEEK#1 GARDEN - gardening, homesteading, recycling, outdoor activities &/or preserving (this can include any type of green living,  repurposed ideas, outdoor concerns, posts relating to farm animals etc all while remaining family friendly)

(These features were chosen from the December 2025 "You're the Star" blog hop)

Fall Leaves Garland in a Living Plant by Cindy's On-Line Recipe Box

Red Cedar & American Holly by Old Rock Farmhouse

7 Non-Food Gifts To Make & Give With Love by Scratch Made Food

Lion's Den Gorge by Amy's Creative Pursuits

If you've been featured then please grab a STAR button below:

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All Hosts/CoHosts will post this blog hop on every Monday of each week.
Please link up your family friendly blog posts below!
It wouldn't be a linky party with YOU!
(IMPORTANT NOTE: by linking up you understand that you might be featured next month and if so, we will use some of your photos from your post - rest assured - we will always link back to your lovely blog.  We might also share your fantastic posts on social media.  Also, you may link up as many family-friendly posts as you like & YES - other blog hops &/or giveaways are welcome {giveaways and blog hops will NOT be featured though}  Thank You & ENJOY! )

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Chicken and Rice Soup

 Happy Monday! 

My whole family has been fighting a cold for the last week. I am making comfort food for supper....

• 5 cups chicken broth
• ½ onion, chopped
• ½ cup sliced celery
• ½ cup sliced carrots
• ⅛ cup snipped parsley
• ¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• ½ bay leaf
• ⅜ pound chicken, cut into cubes
• 1 cup cooked rice
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• lime for garnish

Directions

Combine chicken broth, onion, celery, carrots, parsley, pepper, thyme, and bay leaf in a Dutch oven; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer until the onion and celery begin to soften, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in chicken; simmer until chicken is no longer pink in the middle, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaf. Stir in rice and lime juice; cook and stir until rice is heated through and grains separate, about 1 minute.

Sunday at church

It's Community time at our local church. Our church fellowship hall is filled with church members, good food and classes for all .

And our Bible journal class is working through January Bible reading. 

Saturday : Books and crafts

Welcome to Saturday library post. I spend Saturday at our local library volunteering . We have circle time with little ones, book club for adults and craft time for everyone to enjoy. It's a time for the community to come together for a good time.

Today's books

And our crafts is : snowflake  coffee filters made with basic supplies. 

tip: the library runs on a small budget from the town. Everything is run by volunteer's and donation.

2026 cozy mystery challenge 

Join our Saturday book club to fill the soup pot.