Project 365

Day 27 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

2012-01-27T01:19:00.000-05:00

Yes, I am still alive! I have just been EXTREMELY busy catching up on my Digital Scrapbooking Kit creations! I'm finally at a breathing point!

It's a good thing I have already gotten rid of ALOT of clutter because I have not done any of that since we went on vacation back on the 12th! I do have 2 frames and a decorating item that I found today to get rid of, but I don't have a picture to show you. I know none of you will want them, anyway, so off to Goodwill they go!

And since it is very late (or early depending on how you want to look at it, lol.....1:17 a.m.) and since you know I am alive and well now, I shall say.....

Until tomorrow........................

Day 18 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

2012-01-18T22:06:00.001-05:00

It has been one week since I posted a note for all of you. Only because I did not have my google password to be able to log in on Kim's computer. Guess I better get that password written down and carry it with me!

So, we left the house at 4:30 a.m. last Thursday, January 12th and arrived in Kim's area of FL at around 2:30 p.m. She wouldn't be home til around 5:40, so we went to the beach at Cocoa because Tim wanted to go to the Dinosaur store there to look at their fossils. We spent about an hour on the beach and then headed towards Kim's as we searched out Goodwill stores on the way. It ended up that we met Kim at a Goodwill near her work and then went to her house for a delicious dinner of stew that had been working in the crockpot all day! She took Friday off so we went to some more thrift stores and then Pam and Jesse and the kids came over to eat chicken lasagna. Saturday morning Pam and the kids came to Kim's and we headed to a Bible conference/fellowship meeting at Jordan Baptist Church and came back home after eating lunch there. Then we went to Pam and Jesse's for pizza. Sunday, we attended church with Kim where Tim preached. Sunday evening we went to the Bible Conference at Park Ridge Baptist Church in Gotha, FL. This conference was our reason for traveling to FL in the first place. Sunday evening we traveled the 1 1/2 hours back to Kim's to spend one more night with her before we headed back to Gotha for the rest of the conference and Kim went back to work.

The Bible Conference was great! Really enjoyed listening to the Bluegrass Boys sing once again! The preaching was great, too! Tim has been invited to preach next year, so, Kim......I imagine we will be spending some more time with you next year! :D

We left the Bible conference after lunch today and headed back home. We are in Savannah, GA tonight and tomorrow night before making the rest of the trip back to Winston Salem on Friday. Tomorrow we have reserved tickets for a Trolley tour of Savannah, GA. It will be chilly in the morning, but the temp is to warm into the 60's. A trolley will be picking us up right in front of the hotel we are staying in.....Hampton Inn.

Here's some pictures from the past week. Until tomorrow.......

One kind lady offered to take our picture while at Cocoa Beach.

We visited Pam and Jesse and the kids early Friday afternoon before they came to Kim's for chicken lasagna later in the afternoon.

Kim was given a love bird and every once in awhile, she gives her a chance to bathe in a bowl at the kitchen sink.

Charity is writing down our address so she can write us a letter. She is an EXCELLENT reader! Pam is home schooling Charity and she has started working some with little Jesse.

Kim with 3 of the 4 grandchildren.....Jesse Jr., Charity and Faith. This was the first time we had met Faith. She was totally afraid of me at first! By the time we left, she had warmed right up to us.

Hearing that Tim and I were going to be attending services with Kim on Sunday, her pastor invited Tim to preach, which he gladly accepted.

A group picture before we left church.

Kim and I in her computer room.

I took this picture on the way back to the services at the Bible Conference yesterday evening. I commented to Tim, "tomorrow we leave the palm trees behind." The weather was beautiful while there. Too bad we didn't have more time to spend at the beach!

While waiting for the ladies to get lunch put out, the preachers attending the Bible conference gathered in the front for a picture. 15 men of God under one roof! What a blessing. Afterwards, they all sang, "Amazing Grace." And it really IS amazing!

Day 11 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

2012-01-11T22:45:00.000-05:00

Not much to report today. Since we are taking a trip, I worked in the laundry this morning while I cleaned up my e-mail. Around noon, after eating lunch, I went to the post office to mail pictures to the girls (the Christmas pictures that were taken while they were here on 12-27 at JC Penney) and various other things and then I stopped at Walmart (what a surprise that is, huh?!) to pick up some things for the trip, filled the car with gas for the trip and then went back home. I was burdened about having to run around in the rain, so I prayed that the Lord would see fit to, if not stop the rain at least slow it down when I had to be out of the car. I'm happy to let you know that He answered my prayer! The downpour had slowed considerably by the time I got to the post office (I took my mail in Walmart bags to keep it dry) and even though I still needed the umbrella, I felt doubly blessed because I also got a parking spot pretty close instead of having to park at the end of the mall parking lot. And I hadn't even prayed for a close spot, just a drier walk! It was the same at Walmart for the rain and the parking spot! By the time I got done in Walmart, it had stopped raining for a bit.......so I was able to get gas without getting wet! Thank You, Lord!

Helen Steiner Rice puts it this way:
No day is too dark
And no burden too great
That God in His Love
Cannot penetrate.

Today whatever occurs, whatever burden you shoulder, keep steadfast in your trust of God. He cares about the seemingly insignificant things in our lives, too!

After I got back to the house, I worked on packing the suitcase and picking out my dress clothes I'll be wearing to the conference, and finished up the laundry. After church I washed up the dinner dishes and did some more packing and the last load is in the dryer. Now I'm packing up my stuff that will keep me busy while Tim drives and while in the hotel room in the evening. I probably won't be doing much computer work, even though I'm taking my laptop and my EHD.......just in case! But I'm taking a book to read and some crocheting/knitting to do. Hopefully I will be able to keep in touch somewhat but I don't know what internet access we will have, if any before next Wednesday evening.

So, I pray each of you have a blessed rest of the week and weekend! Until next time.......

Day 10 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

2012-01-10T20:17:00.002-05:00

The only thing I got done around the house today was the dishes and I mopped the kitchen floor tonight. We spent the day on the road.

I was up until 3 a.m. to finish this book. I got to within 16 pages and just could not focus on any more words. But I finished it this afternoon, so instead of the book becoming clutter, I will pass it on for others to read. The first one to re-read it will be one of the ladies who shared in the giving of the gift to me for Christmas. And, since I've been gone most of the day, I don't have a layout, so this picture will suffice for my decluttering today.....but I have to say that I don't really consider this sort of thing as clutter! But, I'm happy to share it! I've always known it, but after reading her story of going through the communist prison camps, witnessing the whole while, and the suffering she went through as a Christian Romanian Jew.....and her husband.....we American Christians are soooooooooooooo soft! We wouldn't survive what she went through!

That brings me to today's quote by Helen Steiner Rice:
Show me the way, not to fortune or fame,
Not to win laurels or praise for my name...
But show me the way to spread the great story
That Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory.

"To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary." Psalm 63:2
Today concentrate on ways to spread the Good News.

Our weather for Wednesday is supposed to be rainy, so while we were out making our shut-in and sick visits today, we decided that today would be our thrifting day since we are leaving town on Thursday for a Bible conference in FL.

This picture is most of the clutter I've decluttered this week and last, except for the few items Liz wanted and Kim, my sister wanted. I also added the 2 mops you see (aqua and green handles).

I found some material bargains today that I could not pass up (even tho I just said that I needed to NOT buy any more til I used what I had)! This material will be used for some of the items I make for Liz's shop. Those packs of neatly bound "fat quarters" would have cost me $12 at AC Moore. My price.......$1! Now that's what you call a bargain! It is flannel material and I am hoping to make some cute gowns and pjs with it. Haven't decided what I'll do with the other materials yet. One is a DIY quilt kit with lots of fat quarters in it, too. Lots of blues, so I'll have fun creating with it! I paid more for it than I probably should have, but since it was brand new and had never been opened, I was willing to pay the $5 for it. The other piece of material is probably 3 yards of material that I got for $1. Also, 2 5x7 frames, brand new and still has the plastic cover on them for .99 cents each. So, what you see cost us $10.

This evening we were invited to the Martin's house for dinner, members of our church. It was in the 60's today and he grilled steaks for dinner. They were delicious and we brought a doggy bag home!

Tomorrow I will be doing laundry and packing to get ready for our trip. Until then.....

Day 9 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

2012-01-09T21:55:00.001-05:00

I signed up for a newsletter from "My Simpler Life" and received a Declutter Calendar. Not sure if that was a special deal when I signed up for it or not, but maybe you can check it out if you want. It is an Adobe PDF file that includes 12 monthly calendars and each is set up with a daily decluttering item. I won't be following it specifically, but if I get stuck, I thought it would give me some ideas for items to declutter.

Today's clutter came from my kitchen cabinets: a 2-qt beverage container, 2 drink bottles, crystal candle holders, decorative pumpkin dish, fall decorative simmer pot, citronella candles and 2 sets of picnic tablecloth holders.

Once again, family, if you want any of it, first come, first served!

Well, we ate the last of the pumpkin pie tonight. I told Tim that since the pie was gone, he might as well eat the rest of the whipped cream, too. He took me at my word.......

Until tomorrow.....

Day 8 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

2012-01-08T13:33:00.000-05:00

Stop wishing for things
You complain you have not,
And start making the best
Of all that you've got.

says Helen Steiner Rice! I think the "have nots" is what gets me into CLUTTER trouble! I have to confess that when I was paper scrapping, I bought "stuff" just because it was cute! Did I use it in my scrapbooking? Very little of it did I actually use! Mainly because I switched over to all digital.........but the DUMB thing was that I still bought the "cute" stuff! Go figure! So, when we left Buffalo I gave a TON of stuff to one of the scrapbookers at Buffalo Baptist. I'm talking paper boxes full! I sure hope she has been able to put it to good use!

And now that we hit the thrift stores every week, I am buying yarn, material, yada yada yada! I need to STOP doing that, too.............at least until I use up what I already have! Liz is going to have a shop for kids stuff that I am going to start working on making items for that will use up some of the yarn and material! So, that will take care of that portion of my clutter.

Yesterday's clutter came (mostly) from the laundry room. Here's a layout I did of the "little" pile of stuff. And, by the way, I'm storing this decluttered stuff on my bench in the dining room until we can make a run to Goodwill.....I may have to make 2 trips! :D I've done pretty well this week, so I'm taking today off from my decluttering! Day 8 page is at the bottom. Until tomorrow.....

TODAY be happy with what you have - not discontent with what you don't have!

My pile consists of unused baskets, frames, a sun visor, wire hangers and a small tote bag. I was hanging laundry back up in the bedroom and spied a couple pairs of flip flops that I decided to add to the pile. I don't think I have to worry too much about anyone wanting any of this, but if you do, just let me know!

I will now show you some of the yarn and material I have to work on to get rid of! Tim's mom donated alot of it and I have used lots of what she gave me, too! But, I've added probably as much as she gave me. Here's some of it that is stored not only in the laundry room, but my computer room. I've been printing patterns galore to work up for the shop, Liz! Now, to get started on them! :D

Yarn in the computer room closet and material on shelves in the laundry room

More yarn in the laundry room in totes, on shelves and in drawers! I've got my work cut out for me! :D

And, here's my decluttering page for today.......a different kind of decluttering! I used my "Love, the Greatest of These" page kit.

Day 7 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

2012-01-07T11:08:00.001-05:00

The first week of the year will be over after today. The weather is absolutely beautiful! It is to be 65, the sun is shining and the sky is beautiful!

I told you yesterday that I was taking on a new 365 project this year of Decluttering. Here is the blog you can visit if you are interested: 365 Less Things. I have a designing friend, who has since retired from designing so that she can work in a ministry with her son's family. I read her blog and she is the one that I got the 365 Less Things blog link from. Take a look at her blog sometime. It is Living Real.

So, for my first day of decluttering, I was in the kitchen fixing dinner to put in the oven when I "discovered" my first project. Here is the layout I did. I'll post the pictures below that and give you a run-down of the items in the piles.

Credits: Bits and pieces from "A Fresh Start" kit, sampler and add-on

1st picture: glass snowman cake plate and serving knife and a biscuit basket underneath
middle picture: 3 metal picnic "tents" to keep the flies off your food, 1 pizza "stone" and various metal serving trays
3rd picture: punch bowl, cake plate, cookie plate, big Christmas serving tray.....all of these items are glass as you can see

So, if you have any interest in any of these (I'll save them for family til I see you next.......otherwise you will have to pay for the shipping) let me know and I'll save them from Goodwill for you!

One last picture to share with you. This is how Tim likes to eat his pumpkin pie.....a little bit of pie with a WHOLE LOT of whipped cream! :D

Today is laundry day, so I'm thinking my clutter will come from that room for today's decluttering! Until tomorrow.......

Day 6 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

2012-01-05T11:13:00.000-05:00

Today I begin a new adventure through 2012.......decluttering one item a day from my "stuff." I'm taking the challenge from Colleen's blog. I will share the declutter item here. If you want it, speak up before it goes in the trash or to Good Will!

My heart is heavy for my daughter today. I have a special quote from Helen S Rice for her as she is troubled about having to leave her babies and go back to work because she wants to be a stay-at-home mom so very badly. Her husband is out of work and has been for almost a year, so she has to go back two weeks earlier than she had planned. Please say a prayer for her when you think of her. Pray the Lord will see fit to give her husband a good job so she can live her dream.....all of this, if the Lord wills.

Trouble is only a challenge
To spur you on to achieve
The best that God has to offer
If you have the faith to believe!

A verse: "And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." Mark 9:24

The man in this verse had a son that had been demon possessed since he was a child. Can you imagine how hard that would be to watch your child go through? He would foam at the mouth and go into convulsions. He would fall into the fire and into the water as the demon tried to destroy him and claim his soul. No wonder this father cried out in tears. He wanted to believe the Lord could heal his son but think of all the doctors this man probably had taken his son to and they couldn't do anything.....the disciples couldn't do anything even though Jesus had given them power to cast out demons. All of this would cause doubt that your child would ever be healed, no matter what you had heard about how good your next prospective doctor (or Healer, in this case) was. As long as your child is alive, you never give up hope that something might be done some day to cure whatever ills they have, be it troubles of their own making or some dreaded sickness they had no control over. But the longer you go without answers to your specific prayer, the more doubt there is that creeps in. The good news to this story, the Lord came "just in time" to heal the child!

The Lord understands our concerns and our human limitations, that's why he didn't rebuke the man for his unbelief! I told my daughter to "cry out" to the Lord and then wait on Him to work things out in His time. He is never too late! Obviously it is not His will for her to be at home just yet. I'm praying that the Lord gives her peace and contentment in her circumstances of the moment. Will you pray with me, asking the Lord's will be done?

It is to be 60* here today! I thought I would share some "warm" pictures with you as I know some of you who will be reading this have much colder temps than that.......even snow! Until tomorrow.......

My "pinks" are blooming again! Look how green the plants are!

I haven't taken any picture of "us" in awhile, so here ya go! (I'm kind of hoping the only snowflakes we see this year are the ones on my sweater! However, I would not be upset with ONE good snow! That means 2-3 inches collected on the ground AT MOST! :D )

Our garden is still growing! These are onions! Even the frosty nights have not hurt them!

Day 5 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

2012-01-05T10:47:00.000-05:00

Guess what today is? Time to put the Christmas decorations and tree back in storage. My snowmen will stay out for quite awhile, however! I love snowmen. They will never have as much character as the crafted ones, which are the ones I love, anyway! You can keep the real ones! I prefer to look at mine and enjoy them in the warmth of my home where they can't melt all over the place! They have been my inspiration for some of the snowmen I have created for my digital kits, too! I'll have to share those with you someday.

Since Tim and I will be traveling to FL next week, we are going to eat lunch here today before we head out to our thrift stores. There are some things you just can't give up! Thrifting is one of them! :D

Those of you who are interested in knowing, the man who almost lost his leg earlier in the week is going home from the hospital today! Praise the LORD! Thanks to all who prayed! God is gracious to sinners and He is gracious to His children! I know I am sure thankful that He shows His grace to me every day! And He doesn't hold grudges! He completely forgives and throws our sins into the depths of the sea!

Helen Steiner Rice puts it this way:

We are all God's children, ***
And He loves us - every one,
And completely forgives
All that we have done.

***If you are saved, you are God's child, spiritually speaking. Those who are not saved do not belong to God's family, so they are not His children. They belong to their father, the devil. But, He does love each and everyone of His creatures, just not the sin of His creatures. Aren't you glad He forgives us when we ask?

Until tomorrow.....

What do you see in the reflection?

Ready to be boxed up and stored for yet another year, which will pass quicker than the last!

Day 4 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

2012-01-04T23:56:00.000-05:00

Woke up with a headache today (so what else is new?!) It hung around most of the day.....just a dull ache.....just enough to be aggravating! But, since I took my tylenol PMs (generic brand) it has finally gone away! Just in time for me to go to bed! At least I should be able to go to sleep with no problem!

Today I worked on a digital kit, the elements portion, of a collaboration I'm doing with a fellow designer from Digitals. She is a super sweet lady! Lives in Louisiana. She lost her husband not too long before Christmas last year. Very sad to lose a spouse anytime, but right before the holidays must really be tough! But, there is a purpose in it, even though we cannot see one! Today's quote from Helen Steiner Rice is:

We love the sound of laughter
And the merriment of cheer,
But our hearts would lose their tenderness
If we never shed a tear.

I never thought of a good reason for the need of tears before! I could still do without them on numerous occasions! I hate when the emotions are running on high gear and I can cry at the drop of a hat! Oh, well! Some day we will not shed anymore tears! What a glorious day that will be!

Today appreciate the importance of both laughter and tears.

Until tomorrow.....

Day 3 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

2012-01-03T10:49:00.003-05:00

I have one of those perpetual calendars that just has the days listed and no year. The one I have happens to have quotes from Helen Steiner Rice and a scripture for each day, along with an inspirational "action" to be taken. I love it. I believe a Secret Sister when we were at Buffalo Baptist Church got it for me. Anyway, I think after this year I will get a new one of the same type as the quotes and verses are very inspirational to me.

Today's quote is:

Games can't be won
Unless they are played,
And prayers can't be answered
Unless they are prayed.

The verse is:
"The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight." Proverbs 15:8
(The verse is not always KJV but I usually look up the KJV as I think it is beautiful and that's what I grew up and continue to grow up with.)

The inspirational "action" to take:
Today pray with a sincere heart. Pray earnestly and constantly.

Yesterday we spent all afternoon in the hospital with a family from church. Long story short, the father was possibly going to lose his leg. The doctors had many options they wanted to try with amputation being the last resort, of course. We had started the church prayer chain earlier in the day. After 2 hours in surgery, a stint was inserted and blood-flow began again to the lower part of the leg, PRAISE the LORD! Normal color and warmth began to return to the lower part of the leg. Tears of joy and a prayer of rejoicing was offered to the Lord! Praises to the Lord were offered as I notified those who had been praying throughout the day. Today the only difference between the man's 2 legs are the X marks the doctor made on the "bad" leg for whatever purposes. Praise the LORD! The LORD's will was done as He delighted in our prayers. Did our prayers change His will? No. It was His good pleasure to save the leg. It was our good pleasure to depend on Him alone to save the leg. In that total dependence, we were His delight! When the doctor talked to the mom to tell her the surgery was a success, she said aloud to the doctor, "Thank God!" The doctor replied, "Yes, thank God!"

So, today, if you have a need, PRAY!

Day 2 in the Year of Our Lord 2012

2012-01-02T22:50:00.000-05:00

Thirty two years ago today, Tim and I became parents. Nothing has been the same since. The object of our new, unconditional love, was Jessica Ann. She came into our world in a BIG way! Weighing in at 10 lbs. 7 1/2 oz. it was love at first sight! I remember dad stopping by to see me and his first grandchild on his way home from work. He cried at the joy and the miracle of it all. I didn't know how he felt until Jessica gave us our first grandchild. I cried, too! And, I cry now just remembering. The pictures have the journaling below, except the comparisons between Jessica and Thad.

I remember Tim being surprised that Jessica had her eyes open "already" like she was a puppy and shouldn't! She is 2 days old.

3 days old and a little more alert for her first "professional" photo shoot.

The night before bringing her home, we had a big snow then ice on top of it! We could not get up the driveway, so I had to walk this mess when we got home! Tim carried Jessica and Tim's dad walked me up the hill.

4 days old...what a great sleeper she was/is! :D

Look at this handsome, young man holding his baby daughter!

Here is one proud grandpa! She was 5 weeks old and dad stopped by after he got off of work at the airport.

This picture looks like Thad to me.....what do you think? Thad is below. Jessica was 6 weeks old.

Here's another one of Jessica that reminds me of Thad somewhat. Taken March 30, 1980

We didn't get many pictures of mom. And when you got them, she usually was not looking directly at the camera! This was taken March 23, 1980.

And, 32 years later, Jessica is busy with raising her boys and husband (I meant to say it that way, LOL! Love ya, Terry! :P ) Mom and dad would be proud as dad and I are and I/we love you very much, precious baby girl! Wish they could've gotten to know all of their great grandchildren! I know they loved all of their grandchildren very much! This picture below was taken 12/28/2011.

Until tomorrow.....

Is it REALLY 2012???

2012-01-01T17:31:00.003-05:00

The older I get, the FASTER the time flies by! By nature I don't like change. I like being stuck in my ruts for the most part. I think it is just a comfort-zone thing! The weird thing is that I LOVE new beginnings to some things, like beginning a new school year. But, if I had to guess, it was only because I always loved getting that brand new box of crayons, new pencils and fresh notebooks of paper and new clothes! But, I do love the beginning of a new year. The new year gives me a good reason to "forget those things which are behind, and reach forth unto those things which are before," as Paul tells us in Philippians 3:13.

There are lots of things to forget from day to day, let alone from the previous year. Sometimes it is just best to "forget it and move on" rather than dwell on the past and try to figure out the "woulda," "shoulda," "coulda" and "if only's." But there are things that you need to spend some time on to figure out why the failure happened. Like why you failed to reach the goals you set for yourself last year. Did you set unobtainable goals? Did unexpected circumstances get in the way? Have those circumstances changed and maybe you can re-establish goals for this year?

I don't set many goals for the year. That might be part of my problem, that and the fact that I'm not a goal-oriented person. Sometimes I don't feel like I have accomplished anything. Yet, when I look back over the year, I have accomplished tons of stuff! Most of the stuff just wasn't written down in black and white! This year I am going to write some things down in black and white and see what happens. Who knows, I just might become a goal-oriented person! Whatever your "orientation" is about goals, I wish you a blessed and best New Year! And by all means, don't leave the LORD out of your "plans" for James 4:14-15 says, "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that."

A New Day (insert Year instead of Day)
by Helen Steiner Rice

The dawn of a new day
means the dawn of a new life ...
Whatever our yesterdays have been,
tomorrow may be different.
Tomorrow may hold your fate ...
Tomorrow may mean your victory.
The splendor of the future
lies in the eternal tomorrow,
the day for which
life is worth living.

(Copyright Today's Scrap, 2009-2012, MCN: 306D3-D1B8C-E25C5, "A Fresh Start" digital scrapbook kit)

Merry CHRISTmas!

2011-12-24T21:20:00.001-05:00

From our house to yours, wishing all of our family and friends a very merry and blessed CHRISTmas!

Credits: Old Fashioned Christmas page kit

Silent for too Long!

2011-12-04T22:55:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know I've been absent for quite awhile now! I could say I haven't been doing much, but I'm pretty sure that would NOT be correct! But, rather than tax my tired brain and try to remember what I've actually been doing over the last couple of weeks, I'm just going to post some layouts I did tonight with my new kit that I will be putting in my shop in a couple of days.

This is yours truly from back in the day!

This is Kara kissing sleeping baby Sawyer during our Christmas gathering in January.

I stole these pictures from Liz's facebook post. Just LOVE Hannah's photogenic poses!

That's it for tonight! I think I'm going to call it a night! WOOHOO! Not even 11:00 yet, either! Better feel my nose to make sure I'm not a sick puppy! :D Have a blessed week!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T00:57:00.000-05:00

I am so thankful to have each and every one of you in my life! I pray the LORD continues to bless each and everyone of you as you make Him the center of your life! And if He is NOT the one you base every decision on, I pray you will begin today!

A Prayer:
Help us to remember that the key to life and living
Is to make each prayer a prayer of thanks
And every day "Thanksgiving."

"I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving." Psalm 69:30

My Visit with my Girls, Part 3

2011-11-19T00:00:00.001-05:00

Friday, Nov. 11th - Lots of visitors to see Thad today - Great Aunt Jennifer, Connie and Linda came, besides all the ones who were already there! Linda brought Michael over from his dad's house so he could see Hannah and Ryan. All good things must come to an end.....after they all left, Liz and I began packing up to leave. But first, I had to have a group picture with my two favorite girls.

These are the best of the best! :D

What was so funny? Don't remember! Terry probably said something goofy! :D

My favorite.

My Visit with my Girls, Part 2

2011-11-18T15:11:00.001-05:00

Monday, Nov. 7th - Just another day! I think we just hung out at the house this day, but I don't remember, lol!

We ate lunch before we left. Can you say, YUMMY?! Sawyer knows the meaning of "getting into his food!" :D

Tuesday, Nov. 8th - Jessica and I did a bit of running around while Terry was interviewing with the State of Ohio for a job. Among other places, we drove to Columbus to find out the JC Penney where she had pictures made was closed!

Who's the cute little dude in the back seat?! The star of the next "Men in Black" movie!

Thad going to town on that thumb!

Squinting at the flash!

Sawyer likes to play games with the big people! Or, he likes to move all the pieces, I should say!

Wednesday, Nov. 9th - Not much going on this rainy day today. I've been helping Jessica with some cleaning so that she won't have so much to do when I'm gone except try to keep up with the day-to-day stuff. Today I cleaned Michael's bathroom!

Just about every house in the subdivision Jessica and Terry live in has these trees. I was surprised to see that they all have their colorful leaves yet!

Thursday, Nov. 10th - Liz and the kids came later today. This morning, a photo shoot with Thad in the hat and sack I made for him.Thad was so cozy, comfy in the sack that I made for him that he let Jessica put him in any position she wanted during the photo shoot today! I think his expression in the first picture is just so cute. Like he's saying,

"What have I gotten myself into?!"

Whatever, mom!

Turn me every which way but loose!

What happened to my warm sack?!

Sawyer giving bubby a kiss.

This is definitely one of the "loose" positions! I feel like one of those babies being delivered by a stork! YIKES!

The ghost of photos past has got me!

I laughed so hard when Jessica threw the sheet over Terry's head to disguise him as the backdrop for taking pictures of Thad!

Well, the sweater outfit I made for Thad will have to wait til Sawyer outgrows it! :D

Precious baby toes!

Sawyer liked grandma's toasty, soft footies!

Aunt Elisabeth and cousins Hannah and Ryan enjoying their first inspection of Thad.

YAY! Pizza! Terry went bowling tonight, that's why he isn't in the picture!

But all Abigail got was yucky sweet potatoes and corn.....which she threw up at bed time!

Grandma's favorite thing.....holding the babies!

Holding babies happens to be something Hanna loves, too!

To be continued.......

My Visit with my Girls, Part 1

2011-11-15T10:46:00.000-05:00

My bed sure felt good last night, but I had a WONDERFUL time with my girls (and grands) over the past 2 weeks! I took LOTS of pictures! I narrowed them down to about 54 pictures to share with you over the next couple of days! I thought about doing them all in one post, but that would be too much.....for me AND for you! :D

Wednesday, Nov. 2nd - I left the house at 7:05 a.m. Did the usual gas stop in Wytheville, VA and met Liz at Bob Evans in Teays Valley, WV for lunch. We did some Christmas shopping and then headed to her house. She picked up Ryan from preschool. I stayed til I got to see Hannah after school and then left at ~ 2:30 to head to Jessica's.

Sweet Abigail at Bob Evans, 11/2/11

Thursday, Nov. 3rd - BIRTH day! I got to take care of Sawyer while mommy and daddy were at the hospital. Jessica began the induction medicine at 6 a.m. Thad was born at ~ 1:15 p.m. It was a beautiful day and I had no problems with Sawyer. He didn't understand why mommy and daddy were not at home. He kept pointing to their bedroom door and saying, "mommy?" "daddy?"

Sweet Sawyer eating a good lunch for grandma, 11/3/11

I took Sawyer outside to play. I showed him how to blow on the dandilions to make their seeds fly away. The seeds usually ended up in his mouth!

Sawyer with a dandilion, 11/3/11

Later in the afternoon after Michael got home from school, I took him and Sawyer to see mommy and baby Thad.

Jessica with her 3 boys, 11/3/11

The pictures wouldn't be complete without a tub picture of the grands! :D

Sawyer, playing in the tub, 11/3/11

Friday, Nov. 4th - Jessica let Michael stay home from school today so he could "help" me with Sawyer! The only problem I had with him was through the night. He woke up crying, so I put him on the love seat with me for the rest of the night. He went right back to sleep and slept fine.....me, not so much!

Sawyer, wearing grandma's shoe, 11/4/11

I think it was about 1:30 p.m. when Jessica and Terry got home with Thad. Jessica will have her hands full for awhile with 2 babies!

Terry, Thad and Sawyer, 11/4/11

Thad is already learning to squint with the camera flashes! :D

Thad in Michael's cradle, 11/4/11

Sawyer enjoying a bed time snack of ice cream, 11/4/11. Good to the last drop!

Saturday, Nov. 5th - It was a long night for mommy and daddy and Thad, as they get used to each other and the schedule! Sawyer slept the whole night! In the afternoon, Terry's mom, step-dad and nephew came over to celebrate Terry's birthday.

Sawyer in his Halloween monkey outfit, longing to be outside with the big boys, 11/5/11

Sawyer and Michael on the trampoline, 11/5/11

Terry and Thad catching a few winks, 11/5/11

Terry and Sawyer ready for some German chocolate cake, 11/5/11

Jessica had this picture made for Terry's birthday, 11/5/11

The HUGE chair Terry's mom got for him, 11/5/11

Sawyer likes to wear a microphone like his Bubba, 11/5/11

Some grandma time with Thad, 11/5/11

Sunday, Nov. 6th - After church and lunch, Michael, Alex (his friend) and I went to the pond at the end of the street to fish. They did more playing around than fishing, but they each caught a little bluegill.

Michael fishing at the pond, 11/6/11

Michael's one and only catch of the day, 11/6/11

I'll post some more tomorrow!

Black Cat Cuties

2011-11-08T21:55:00.000-05:00

I did another page using my kit, Black Cat Cuties, since Hannah was a cat for Halloween, too!

Thad

2011-11-07T23:25:00.002-05:00

Here's a page I did featuring the birth announcement for Thad.

Meet Thaddeus Cooper Jones

2011-11-04T00:12:00.000-04:00

Thad arrived at approx. 1:20 today. He weighed 9 lb 4.5 oz and was 22" long! Beautiful pink coloring. Long feet and big hands! A head full of black hair! Nursing very well! Here's some pictures:

'Nuff Said

2011-10-31T13:56:00.000-04:00

No more words would add to the cuteness! :D

Home Again, Home Again!

2011-10-29T01:58:00.000-04:00

After being gone a week, it is soooooo good to be back home where my very own bed awaits me! Even though the bed in the hotel was comfortable, there's nothing like your own bed! We left WV at 8:30 and the snow was coming down pretty heavily! The temperature was 32 degrees, but nothing was sticking on the road. The overpass right by the church and hotel was snow covered, however! We got home at midnight, so it was not a bad trip. This morning, while packing up the car, it started with the snow flurries. Checkout time was 11 but since we didn't have any where to go, the lady at the hotel told us we could stay til 3:30. Since she left at 4:30 that would give her plenty of time to clean our room, she said! That was very nice! I am recommending this hotel, Dawson Inn, as they accommodated us with our every need and was very clean and have wifi internet connections. Since we were staying for a week, I called earlier to see if there was a fridge and microwave in the room. They said no, but that they could put one in there for us. We also took our toaster. So, we were able to eat sandwiches for lunch and could heat up some breakfast sandwiches.

Here are a few pictures from the day and then it is bed time for me!

This was taken when we left the hotel this afternoon to go to the pastor's house to stay til time to leave for dinner.

Look how white the hills look in the distance from the snow falling.

.It had gotten cold and the snow was coming down very heavy and started collecting on the cars and in the grass some by the time church was over. By the time we got to NC, the snow had turned into rain!

Dear Friends Continued.....

2011-10-27T09:42:00.000-04:00

Here is a short synopsis of the past 28 years.

We became friends with Essie and Leon McGraw and their family when Tim was the assistant to pastor Rex Hensley at Addyston Baptist Church back in 1983. We had moved to Cleves, OH in June before Elisabeth was born in September. Even though Essie had 5 children of her own, she immediately "adopted" our children, too! The kids LOVED sitting with Essie up in the balcony where her husband, Leon, ran the audio visual equipment to record the sermons. I wonder if the candy they received from her had anything to do with their wanting to sit with her? I'm sure it did, but they all loved her besides that! Essie is one of those people that everyone loves! I am so glad to have had the opportunity to serve the Lord with her and her family from 1983 - 1988. In 1988 Tim accepted the pastorate at Grace in Milan, Indiana and we were there for 5 years before returning to ABC as members in 1993. While we were in Milan, Essie and her family left ABC and we lost track of them. Then in 1997 we moved to WV to serve the Lord at Buffalo Baptist Church. In 2008 when Tim resigned from BBC, we began the search of where the Lord would have us serve next. During the next 3 months we traveled as Tim preached in different churches who were looking for a pastor. One of those churches was Morris Fork Baptist Church near Dawson, WV. While there, Sister Glenna Daniels invited us to her house for lunch. During our conversations we discovered she was Essie's sister. WOW! What a small world we live in! In 2010 the pastor of ABC, David Pitman, a long-time mentor and friend of Tim's, invited Tim back to ABC to preach at the annual homecoming service in September. After being gone for 13 years, it was so nice to see those faithful members who were still there from our time at ABC. It was especially refreshing to see Essie and her children and their families. Essie and Leon had come back to ABC a few years prior.

It is amazing to think about the wonderful people God has brought into our lives over the years. These verses say it best: "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;" Philippians :3-4

Here's a picture of Essie and I from our visit with her yesterday.

Dear Friends.........

2011-10-26T08:56:00.000-04:00

No, that title is NOT a salutation for a letter.............today Tim and I are going to visit a DEAR FRIEND from way back in the 80's when Tim was the assistant to Bro. Hensley at Addyston Baptist Church in Addyston, OH.....She and her husband's lives originated right here in WV. Her dearly beloved has gone home to be with his LORD and she "comes home" quite frequently. Tim is preaching revival at her sister's church. I told her sister I was hoping she might be around while we were here, but her sister said she had just left. Well, the next time we saw her sister, she had discovered that she was still here and had invited us to come and see her. So, today we are going to do that. I'm going to keep you guessing for now. I'll post a picture later on to reveal who this DEAR FRIEND is!

We were supposed to have rain from today on, but they have changed the forecast and it is to be near 70 today! We shall see!

Have a blessed day!

Frog Hat and Other Things

2011-10-24T21:54:00.000-04:00

Well, it has been awhile since I posted anything here, but Tim's mom sent me something that really speaks volumes to us as Christians regarding being witnesses. So, I will post that after I give you a brief update as to what has been going on lately.

We had a wonderful time while Tim's mom was here. Jennifer, Tim's sister, brought her down and stayed a couple of days, too. We had a great time!

They arrived Tuesday evening, Oct. 12th. I had cooked roast, potatoes and carrots in the crockpot for dinner. The weather was cold and rainy all day as they traveled and was not looking good for much of the week.

Wednesday, with the weather being bad, we did not want to do any outside activities, so we hit the thrift stores in the morning and Jennifer treated us to lunch. After lunch Tim took Jennifer and I to the shooting range while his mom stayed at the house and rested. The only thing I'll say at this point is that Jennifer and I out-shot Tim! :D

Thursday, Jennifer headed for home around 8 a.m. At around 10, we went to the Farmer's Market about 20 miles away from us. We really didn't expect to find anything. But there was some fruit (pumpkins and apples) and peppers, etc. Tim's mom found some good deals on flowers. There was a nice garden store there, too, that we enjoyed.

Friday, we didn't do much but Liz came down with the kids to spend the weekend while "Gram" was there. She didn't arrive til around 6, so we waited on her to eat. I fixed spaghetti, which is always pretty safe to fix for kids!

Saturday, Mega Thrift was having a $0.99 sale on kids clothes. So, the 3 women and the kids went to Mega Thrift while Tim hit the thrifts by himself......you know.......in and out............not what we were going to be doing!! :D

Sunday, after church we went to Pizza Hut to get their $10 pizza deal on any kind of pizza you wanted! Jake, Sharon Russell's grandson, LOVED Abigail! He talked with her at church and hung out by her at Pizza Hut til his food came. He only left because grandma insisted! It was so cute! After pictures at home, Liz packed up the kids and headed back home.

Monday, we just hung out around the house and Jeanne packed up her belongings for the trip home on Tuesday.

Tuesday, we left the house around 7:15, ate lunch on the road and arrived at her house at around 4. Tim worked on her computer and we left around 5 and headed to Liz's house to spend the night before we headed back to NC on Wednesday.

Wednesday, left WV at around 8. The house sure was empty now! I worked on laundry and the computer the rest of the day. I had lots of digi work to get caught up on because we were leaving again on Saturday back to WV for Tim to preach revival beginning Sunday thru the following Friday.

Saturday, we left the house a few minutes after 3 p.m. and arrived at the hotel at around 7. Sunday was the first day of Revival. No one was there but the members for the morning services. Dinner was served at the church. The afternoon services began at 3:30. Several visitors had come.

Monday, today, the pastor and his wife took us up on the mountains to see the wind turbines. HUGE and fascinating is all I can say! You've got to see them to believe them! Noisy, you ask? NO! We spent about 3 house traveling along the ridges to see the MANY wind turbines that were up there. Then we went to the pastor's house for lunch. Then I drove back to the hotel and Tim went with the pastor to shoot their guns behind the church. For dinner, the pastor and wife picked us up to take us to dinner at one of the members' house. The revival services began at 7 and there were LOTS of visitors from area churches. It was a good service.

Tomorrow, the pastor and his wife will pick us up and take us to a flea market. Later on, I'll try to post pictures from Gram's visit and our trip here.

OK, here's the story I promised I'd share with you. ENJOY!

FROG HAT

My 9-year-old's last-second request surprised his doctor and taught me a valuable lesson about sharing the gospel....Tina Blessitt

Last fall my 9-year-old son, Austin, had his tonsils removed. Before the surgery, Austin 's anesthesiologist came to start an IV. He was wearing a cool surgical cap covered in colorful frogs. Austin loved that "frog hat." The doctor explained that he had two choices. He could either try to start the IV, or he could wait until Austin was up in the operating room. In the OR the doctor would give Austin some "goofy" gas, and start the IV when he was more relaxed.

"So, Austin ," he asked, "which do you want?"

Austin replied, "I'll take the gas."

But when the doctor started to leave, Austin called, "Hey, wait."

The doctor turned. Yeah, buddy, what do you need?"

"Do you go to church?"

"No," the doctor admitted. "I know I probably should, but I don't."

Austin then asked, "Well, are you saved?"

Chuckling nervously, the doctor said, "Nope. But after talking to you, maybe it's something I should consider."

Pleased with his response, Austin answered, "Well, you should, 'cause Jesus is great!"

"I'm sure He is, little guy," the doctor said, and quickly made his exit.

After that a nurse took me to the waiting room. Someone would come and get me when Austin 's surgery was done.

After about 45 minutes, the anesthesiologist came into the waiting room. He told me the surgery went well and then said, "Mrs. Blessitt, I don't usually come down and talk to the parents after a surgery, but I just had to tell you what your son did."

Oh boy, I thought. What did that little rascal do now?

The doctor explained that he'd just put the mask on Austin when my son signaled that he needed to say something.

When the doctor removed the mask, Austin blurted, "Wait a minute, we have to pray!"

The doctor told him to go ahead, and Austin prayed, "Dear Lord, please let all the doctors and nurses have a good day. And Jesus, please let the doctor with the frog hat get saved and start going to church. Amen."

The doctor admitted this touched him. "I was so sure he would pray that his surgery went well," he explained. "He didn't even mention his surgery. He prayed for me! Mrs Blessitt, I had to come down and let you know what a great little guy you have."

A few minutes later a nurse came to take me to post-op. She had a big smile on her face as we walked to the elevator. "Mrs. Blessitt, I couldn't wait to tell you something exciting that your son did."

With a smile, I told her that the doctor already mentioned Austin 's prayer.

But there's something you don't know," she said. "Some of the other nurses and I have been witnessing to and praying for that doctor for a long time. After your son's surgery, he tracked a few of us down to tell us about Austin 's prayer. He said, 'Well girls, you got me. If that little boy could pray for me when he was about to have surgery, then I think maybe I need his Jesus too."

She then recounted how they joined the doctor as he prayed to receive Christ right there in the hospital.

Wow! Austin had played a small part in something wonderful. But then, so did the nurses who prayed and witnessed.

I thought about John's words in his Gospel, "One sows and the other reaps" (John 4:37 ).

Austin 's experience taught me that, although we never know which role we may be called to play, in the end it doesn't matter. What's important is that we remain faithful in sharing the gospel.

Tina Blessitt, a freelance writer, lives with her husband and four children in Kentucky ...

"Don't tell God how big your troubles are--tell your trouble HOW BIG YOUR GOD IS

More Layouts with Fall Fun

2011-10-18T00:37:00.000-04:00

Here's a couple more pages I did using my new kit, Fall Fun.

Liz brought the kids down while Tim's mom was here. Perfect time to get some pictures of the 4 generations. I'll give you a run down of her visit as soon as I get a chance!

Gritts Farm - Fall Fun and Babcock

2011-10-12T16:55:00.001-04:00

I wanted to test my newest kit out, so, once again I stole some of Liz's pictures from FB. I made these Layouts using my new Fall Fun kit. It's got some fall elements to it and also some untraditional (non-traditional, maybe??) colors, but I like it!

Fall Fun - Apple Picking

2011-10-09T09:35:00.000-04:00

I know it has been quite awhile since I posted anything, but I'm working on a new kit for the store and wanted to try it out so I created this page for Jessica. What do you think? I like the colors! I'm just sayin'...................:D

Sack Lunches

2011-09-22T15:53:00.001-04:00

I do not know where this story originated. I got it from my MIL. Even if perhaps it is ONLY a story, it has a powerful message. And even if you have read it before, read it again. Then read my comments at the end.

"I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. 'I'm glad I have a good book to read. Perhaps I will get a short nap' I thought. Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. 'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to me. 'Petawawa. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we're being deployed to Afghanistan.'

After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached the east, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time. As I reached for my wallet, I overheard a soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. 'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to base.' His friend agreed. I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. 'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.' She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My son was a soldier in Iraq; it's almost like you are doing it for him.' Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, 'Which do you like best - beef or chicken?' 'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of the plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class. 'This is your thanks.'

After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me. 'I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.' He handed me twenty-five dollars. Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand and said, 'I want to shake your hand.' Quickly unfastening my seat belt I stood and took the Captain's hand. With a booming voice he said, 'I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.' I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm. When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. 'It will take you some time to reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.' Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals. It seemed so little.

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.' That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.'"

My Comments:
I'm reminded of a Savior who, at one point in his life, wrote a check made payable to the Heavenly Father for the amount to cover every one of my sins, past, present and future. It was signed with His life's blood and stamped "Paid in Full" by the Heavenly Father! And, not only my sins, but all the sins of every believer, past, present and future! He gave His all for us knowing we have nothing to offer Him in return. All He wants is our love and obedience.

Don't dishonor Him by trying to work your way into His heaven! It is by His grace that you are saved, through faith, which is also a gift of God. Faith is not found in yourself through working for it by being a good person. Otherwise, you would be able to boast and take credit for it being your salvation, not God's! (Ephesians 2:8, 9) And, if you could get to heaven on your own merits, why would Jesus have to sacrifice His life? If you are not placing your full confidence in His sacrifice on the cross for YOUR sins, you will not have an eternal home in heaven.

Fewer and fewer people are being taught the truth of repentance and faith for salvation. There MUST be a realization of sin's condemnation and the need to repent (turn away from) all sin. Romans 6:23 tells us "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" and Romans 10:9, 10 tells us "if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

Revival Begins with Me

2011-09-22T01:01:00.000-04:00

Have you ever heard the phrase, "Lord, send a revival and let it begin with me?" This is so much better than saying, "Too bad so and so wasn't here because they sure needed that message!" We all slide away from God every day because sin in our lives breaks our fellowship with the Lord. And if we don't confess that sin, we keep sliding further and further away. And I'm convinced that, since God is sovereign over all, He knows how to get the message sent to us that we need to hear that will draw us back to Himself. Tonight's message was taken from James 1 and focused mainly on the Word of God and what our response to it's instructions should be. Verse 22 is very clear, "be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only." How often do we listen to God's Word being expounded only to have it "go in one ear and out the other?" Or while reading it, your mind wonders off in all kinds of directions so that you don't get a thing out of what you just read? God gave us His Word so it can be effectual in our lives as we live and serve Him. But, it isn't going to be effectual if we aren't doers after we read it! I'm so glad He is patient with His children! The message that was needed tonight will be needed again in the near future, unfortunately!

I worked on finishing up the dress for Abigail that I showed you a picture of in an earlier post. As it turns out, I'm still not done, even though I have finished the sleeves. You cannot tell from the picture, but one sleeve (on the left as you are viewing it) has one "scallop" too many, so I'm going to have to rip it out and try again! But, here is basically what it will look like. I love it!

I had not taken a picture of Tim and myself for quite a while. And the reason I did this one was because Tim is going to be preaching revival in WV in October and the pastor wants a picture to use in a flyer. I took my glasses off because of the reflection that always is distracting. I took several with a flash first, but they all ended up with that shadow behind our heads, even though we were standing a pretty good distance from the wall.

Today we had rain literally all day long. A nice, steady, farmer's rain as Tim called it. About 5:00 the clouds finally began to break up and let some sunshine through. We are supposed to have more rain through Friday before the system moves out.

OK, that's it for tonight. Love to all.

My Intention in the First Place

2011-09-20T01:52:00.000-04:00

I should know better than to continue sewing when I start making mistakes and have to rip the stitching out and re-do it! ARGH!! Being tired was the culprit, I'm sure! BUT, alas! I DID get Hannah's skirt completed today, from start to finish!

The weather was overcast today, but it did get warmer. I could tell it was warmer in the house and really too hot for my sweatshirt and jeans I was wearing! I had to go out today and get a few groceries and a zipper for Kara's skirt. So it is finished and boxed up to mail tomorrow!

Here's a few pictures from my day. Love to all!

I gathered the waist of Hannah's skirt with elastic, but the waist looks big to me. If it is too big, we will just adjust the elastic. I did the hem differently than Kara's........I should've stuck with the way I did Kara's as it was MUCH easier! But, the skirt turned out cute, don't you think? :D

I haven't looked into it yet, but I am going to begin a compost pile. Here's some banana peels, green pepper left overs and potato skins are on the bottom. I'll let you know how the composting goes!

Can you see some yellow in the trees? Didn't take much cooler weather before the leaves began their fall changes. I LOVE the fall! Can't wait to see those reds and oranges!

I took a few pictures of the remains of summer's bounty. I don't remember what this flower is called, but you can see I didn't interrupt the fly/bee?? I don't know for sure which it is. All of my flowers are just about gone. But the LORD is good to give us some beautiful flowers all the way into fall!

And, here's the last of the veggie garden...3 green pepper plants that had been lost in the bushiness of the tomato plants. After Tim removed the tomato plants, these started growing again and blooming. Don't know how much longer they will survive, but they are still blooming! They got so tall that Tim had to stake them!

More Projects

2011-09-17T00:21:00.001-04:00

WOW! I sure have been getting stuff done lately! Here's Thursday and Friday's report card :)

Here's a picture of the cold front moving in last night. We had a high of 60 today. The temperature stayed @ 72 all day in the house. I didn't even get hot fixing dinner! :D

Here's Abigail's sweater/dress (I haven't decided which it will be yet) showing you the colors in it and how the skirt is going to look. I am making the pattern my own by changing it up a bit. We will see how it turns out and I'll let you compare it to the original pattern.

Tim said last night that since the weather was going to be cooler today that a bowl of chili would be awfully good! So, I made a big pot and canned 4 more quarts of it besides what we had for dinner and left overs! Since I was cooking anyway, I decided to make enough to can since I was already in the makings, anyway! It doesn't take much longer to fix a BIG batch compared to a normal batch. Will save time down the road!

Liz posted this cute picture of Abigail on FB today, so I just HAD to do a page of it. What a sweetie!

Another project I began today was fixing Hannah and Kara some patchwork skirts with some bits and pieces of material that I have around. This one is done except for finishing up the waist. This one is for Kara. I cut the waist to the exact size, which I should not have done because I wanted to make it a stretchy waist with elastic. Well, now I've got to buy a zipper to put in it since I cut it to the exact measurement of Kara's waist. But, I think it turned out really cute! Hannah's will be very similar, but I do intend to make hers a stretchy waist.

That's it for today! Time for bed! Love to all!

Busy-ness

2011-09-14T23:33:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted much in awhile, so thot I would catch you up with some pictures and explanations to go with them!

Saturday, Sept. 10 - A beautiful day! We attended a wedding, which was held outside. After we got home around 3 we decided we would go to Pizza Hut so we could bring the extra home for Tim watching football Sunday evening. While out, we stopped at Walmart and I took this picture of the sky. Kinda looks like God used a feather to put the little wisps of clouds in the sky.

Sunday, Sept. 11 - I cleaned up the basil plants that had run amuck and decided to dig for the potatoes. Remember, earlier in the summer I had a potato that had turned into an "eye" sore? I cut it in half and planted it in the herb "garden" as an experiment, really. Well, I either dug them too early, or they were planted too late and were not going to make it anyway. Not even enough to mess with, so they went into the trash. I'll have to learn more about them for next year's gardening adventures.............maybe!

Monday, Sept. 12 - I saw these growing out close to the road and got a few good pictures.

We had 3 tomatoes left from the plants Tim planted and they were starting to go bad. So, I decided to use them to make Chicken Cacciatore since I had a green pepper from our garden, too. While I was at it, I decided to experiment with cooking brown rice in the crockpot............and since I was going to be using 2 of the 3 crocks, I decided to add the (frozen) veggies, too. I should've added them to the pot alot sooner because the green beans were way to crunchy! But, the meal was great!

Tuesday, Sept. 13 - I finally got the sewing machine unburied and did some sewing today. This is the head to the stuffed turtle I made for Abigail for Christmas. A lady at church gave me this Sears Kenmore sewing machine as it was just sitting in her garage collecting dust since she had bought a portable one. I asked her how old she thought the machine was. She said early 1970s maybe, but her husband thought she had gotten it earlier than that! It runs beautifully!

Here's Abigail's turtle. It was very easy to make! My kind of project! Quick from start to finish! If it isn't, I get bored with it! :D

While I had the sewing machine going, I converted this bigger note holder from the thrift store into one that Tim could carry in his shirt pocket. After I finished these 2 projects, I began a sweater for Abigail. See picture below.

Wednesday, Sept. 14 - I told Brad last year that I would crochet him and Ryan some blaze orange vests for their hunting expeditions. I created a pattern and sent it to Liz for measurements. She sent me the measurements today and I started and finished Ryan's. I thought there would be more "give" to it than there is, so I am sure hoping it will fit him! I'm considering doing Brad's differently because of the fact of it not being very stretchy! I hate the thot of resorting to knitting as that will take so much longer, but we shall see!

Here's what I have done so far on Abigail's sweater. This is the yoke of the sweater. LOTS of counting to do! It is a mint green baby thread that I got from Tim's mom.

That's it for me as far as pictures goes. Other scrapbook designing stuff has kept me pretty busy, too. I'm in a designer contest this month and am still in the competition so far! Tomorrow morning I'll find out if I move on to round 3 or not.. Go to my other blog if you want to see the free kits. Love to all!

What's missing..................Faith,__________, Charity

2011-09-12T01:08:00.000-04:00

The answer is HOPE! But, Hope is not missing any longer! We have another baby added to the Brandenburg clan................here's a note from my sister, Kim, whose daughter, Pam delivered her 4th baby (3rd girl) last night. If you don't know, the girls' names are Charity, Faith and now Hope! I got the following note from Kim at approximately 12:55 a.m. this morning:

"Well, Hope was born at 10:40pm (Sept. 11). She (Pam) almost didn't make it. She had a contraction and went on her knees in front of the elevator, her water broke. She crawled into the elevator and then shortly she had her (Hope). 7# 12oz, not sure if they told them how long she was. Jesse called me at about 10:45pm and said she had the baby and I said what!! Had the kids get dressed and I dressed Faith and we went to the hospital to see Hope."

At 9:01 last night, Kim had sent me this note:

"Well, Pam has been having contractions. So it looks like Hope will be here by tomorrow (Sept. 12). They were going to induse her Monday morning at 6:30am, but looks like they will not have to. She was wanting to come on her own. So she and I both have been praying that if it was the Lords will, let her come without being indused. I'll let you know the out come tomorrow sometime probably. I'm off work tomorrow and Tuesday for grandma duties."

CONGRATS, Pam, Jesse and family! Now, that's MY kind of baby-delivering! :D Thank You, LORD, for a safe delivery!

AND..........Happy Birthday, Christmas, etc, etc to me...................

2011-09-07T21:24:00.000-04:00

I was in Penney's today and saw this marked down 50%...............so I got one! Let my children come home now! :D Sorry it is small..................I got lazy and used a picture from the internet!

My new Triple Slow Cooker Buffet & Serve. I can use one pot or all three!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my WONDERFUL M-I-L

2011-09-07T00:00:00.001-04:00

All because of you (and God, of course!) I have my WONDERFUL husband! And he is so wonderful because of your guidance! Hope you have a WONDERFUL day! Love you!

Baby Blues

2011-09-06T23:54:00.000-04:00

I finished the baby Jones blanket, all but tying the loose strands where I had to add more yarn. But that won't take long! I talked to Jessica today and told her it was almost done. The only thing I want to try to do to it is add a soft receiving blanket to the side that will be next to baby as this is acrylic yarn and not meant to caress a baby's soft skin! Hope you like it, Jessica! I love the pattern! Love, mom!

What Does Christmas Have in Common With Canning?

2011-09-04T14:46:00.002-04:00

NOTHING............other than that is what today's post is about! :D

I get a newsletter from AC Moore (craft store for those of you who may not know) with a 60% off one regular priced item for Saturday, September 3rd, between the hours of 9 and 11 am. Since I have started my Christmas shopping.............................(I'll wait for those of you who need to pick yourself back up after that amazing news :0) ...........................I knew what department I wanted to head to in the short amount of time I had for shopping on the first Saturday of our Fall visitation program.................the kids' department! And, I found the perfect gift for Ryan (and his dad).............only, it will be for his birthday, not for Christmas.

AC Moore price - $39.99. My price after coupon - $16.00! CHA-CHING!

I am wondering if my kids remember me reading the Bobbsey Twins books to you as children? Well, I found 7 books from the set (of I don't know how many) at AC Moore for $1 each! I asked the clerk if they had the others or knew anything about getting them. She said it was just a random shipment and they stuck them on the floor to sell! Anyway, I need the moms of the grandkids to let me know if these would be something that you think the kids would be interested in for Christmas gifts. If not, I'll keep them for when they come to visit. There are no pictures in these books, btw!

OK, that takes care of the Christmas portion of this post. As far as the canning is concerned, I did some canning today while fixing lunch! My, how industrious I have become lately! :D Actually, the reason I did it was because I was thinking about going to Jessica's house when the baby is due and I want to fix some things ahead of time for Tim to heat and eat while I'm gone. So, that is how today's canning got started!

I fixed a big pot of chili for lunch and decided to save some of it for Tim to be able to heat and eat while I'm gone in November. Can you believe I'm actually thinking that far ahead? 2 Quarts for future use! :D I LOVE IT!

First Christmas, now this! WHOA!! I think Jessica D is behind all of this somehow! JK! :D Now if I could just get her behind cleaning up my computer room! :D My problem is I'm too ambitious................I work on too many projects all at once! So, I hate to keep putting things away when I know I'm going to be dragging them out again sooner than later! So, they get piled............er, stacked! Oh well!

Off to WV

2011-09-02T09:09:00.000-04:00

Today we are headed to WV to the Preacher's Fellowship. It is raining this morning here at home. I have lots of computer work, so I am hoping it is totally CLOUDY for our trip today! Other than that, it is almost impossible to use my laptop cuz' the screen reflects so badly! Have a blessed day!

The way I like to can.................

2011-09-01T00:02:00.000-04:00

I remember when mom would spend HOURS upon HOURS, DAY after DAY in the basement canning green beans and tomatoes! I don't really remember that she canned anything else, but I'm sure she did! Well, that just isn't my idea of fun and it's probably about as cheap these days to just buy the canned green beans from the store! But, I have enjoyed canning the few things I have this summer. 3 1/2 quarts of sweet refrigerator pickles, 3 1/2 quarts of salsa and now 3 quarts of green beans. And Tim was the one that snapped the green beans last night while watching TV, which made it even nicer! Who knows! Maybe next year I'll even can some cucumber soup! Just kidding!

These were the cleanest, un-bug-eaten green beans I think I ever remember seeing!

I had just a few that I dared not squeeze into the jars, but put them in the fridge. Don't they look pretty?!

I have to admit, however, that even these green beans did not escape my burning touch! sigh! I don't know what it is about me and green beans, but I have to burn every batch I cook for some reason!

I am trying sooooooooooo hard to keep the top of this stove looking brand new! So, I have found that this Soft Scrub is my new best friend! I don't know how long we will be chummy, but for now this is my cooking buddy! I'm even getting rid of my cast iron skillets! Why? Because the instructions tell you specifically to not use them on this glass top! I know that is why the stove at Buffalo was messed up because the cast iron skillets were Tim's favorite skillets to use! He LOVED the way he could brown foods in them. Me.....#1 they are just too heavy and #2 I can get a nice "brown" in any skillet.............or pan, for that matter! Just look at the picture above if you don't believe me! :D

HUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM..........

2011-08-30T23:27:00.000-04:00

I straightened and cleaned out some of the cabinets and drawers in the kitchen today. Lots of stuff will have a new home after Thursday! Namely the thrift store! From there, who knows! But one thing I found that I didn't get rid of was a hummingbird feeder that I had bought before moving from Buffalo. I also found a jar of the nectar and the hanger with suction cups to hang it on a window. The question was what window to put it in as most of the ones that we would view the hummers from were in direct sunlight most of the day. So, I opted to put it in the back of the house out from my computer room. I'll hopefully be able to take pictures of our visitors soon............I have never seen any hummers around, but I've not had any nectar hanging out for them, either! I sure hope the feeder is even big enough to attract them if there are any around!

While I was out taking a picture of the feeder, I noticed the chimney swifts were out in full force. And I also noticed this beautiful sight out past the church. Love the pinkish orange! What a magnificent painter the LORD is!

Monday, Monday, so good to me......

2011-08-29T23:46:00.000-04:00

Monday, Monday
by the Mamas and the Papas
Monday Monday, so good to me,
Monday Monday, it was all I hoped it would be..........

Now I can't get that tune out of my head! And, I did it to myself! :D BUT, today WAS a good day! Lots accomplished..................

Those of you who have experienced the sound of the 30+ year old dishwasher know I am NOT exaggerating when I say it sounds like a jet engine preparing for take-off! Plus, the door is rusty and leaks water so that you have to lay a towel down in the floor underneath the edge of the dishwasher to catch all of the water that leaks out during the cycle. Well, lately, I think more water has been running out than stayed in to wash the dishes! When the church approved the purchase of a new stove they also approved the purchase of a new dishwasher! However, we brought a portable dishwasher with us when we moved from Buffalo. So, we decided we would use that instead of spending church money to buy and have installed a new dishwasher. Calvin, the church's all around go-to maintenance man, came in last Saturday after cutting the church grass to check out the new stove. While he was in we asked him how much trouble it would be to get the old dishwasher out so we could park ours in that spot. He insisted that we did not need to be dragging our dishwasher back and forth every time I did a load of dishes. So, he volunteered to convert it to a built-in. So, at 10 am this morning the process began. It was about a 2 1/2 hour process, but he gotter' done! So, I fed him some Taco soup for lunch (my new favorite soup, btw!).

Voila! Sure looks nicer than the old one! Did you notice that something else is missing now? Yes, we moved the HULK of a microwave over to the fellowship hall. The only thing we used it for was storing chips in, anyway! On a very rare occasion when everyone is here for the holidays or a visit would I use it to reheat something! I like having the open space!

OK, this is a little version of a Cuddle Blanket pattern I had. The original pattern was to be about twice as big and was a rabbit. But, as scary as it is, I made a puppy dog instead! Maybe baby Jones won't notice how scary it is! :D

And, last but not least, I'm about half way finished with the baby carrier blanket I am making for baby Jones. It is made with double strands of yarn and there ain't gonna be NO air get through it! The measurement at this point is approximately 24" wide and 12 1/2" long. I really don't want it to turn out to be square, and I think I will have enough yarn to add another 22 or 44 rows to make it longer than it is wide. That's the plan at this point! Can you make out the basket weave pattern? Each pattern is 22 rows. That's why when I add more to the length I'll have to add either 22 or 44 rows, depending on how much yarn I have left! I really like this pattern, but there is a lot of counting stitches so it takes longer and you have to pay attention! But, it will be very nice when done! I'm thinking of using this pattern for a blanket for our bed! YIKES! Did I just say that?! I didn't say what year I'd have it done, however! :P

Our Week +

2011-08-29T00:34:00.000-04:00

It has been a week since I posted here. I've been busy designing kits for the store at Faith Sisters for September. I haven't done any real designing in a couple of months, but I got lots done this week! That is the main reason I have not posted anything here.

So, on to the pictures of our week + in WV to Cincinnati to WV to NC.

As you recall we were headed to a Bible Conference near Flatwoods, WV on August 18th, so that is where my story in pictures begins. Actually, I'll begin by showing you a picture of the sky the day of Hurricane Irene. We were under clouds most of the day. Finally, at approx. 5:15, we got a heavy down pour which lasted about 15 minutes and that was the extent of our weather "problems" from Irene.

Thursday, Aug. 18 - The Bible Conference we were going to supplies the hotel for those who come from long distances. And, on Saturday and Sunday of the conference they supply the noon meal. Dinner is on your own and breakfast was at the hotel. So, knowing this, we tried to conserve on the food buying as much as possible. Even though we did not need gas, we made our regular Wytheville, VA stop, only this time it was for a $5 footlong sub from Subway. I had packed chips and snacks and drinks, so the sandwich was all we needed. We ate in the car. For dinner, we went to KFC and bought a bucket of chicken and sides to last us for our evening meals. The hotel had a microwave in the vending machine area right across from our room! And we had a fridge in the room, so it was a perfect deal! We even had chicken, etc left to take back to Liz's and share!

Saturday, August 20 - The Bible Conference was very well attended each day. And the messages were wonderful! This picture was taken Saturday of the preachers that were present.

This church is out in the "sticks." Very pretty setting! To the right of the church you can see the fellowship hall where we they served the lunches.

This is to show you that the church sits up on a hill and most people had to park down along the road.

Sunday, August 21 - The "white-out" in this picture is where I was trying to capture the fog over at the Flatwoods shopping area, but the sun was too bright.

But, I did get a good picture of the fog from that morning, in the hills beyond the shopping.

On Sunday, Tim preached at Grace Baptist Church in Buchannon, WV. It is a mission work that we support monthly. Since we were at the conference, the pastor invited Tim to stay over and preach on Sunday. This is a picture of the church. The plot of ground shown on the left of the church is going to be purchased by the church. They own the land around it and behind it already.

I snapped this picture during the closing prayer. We were on our way next to the pastor's house for a church dinner. Normally after that would be the afternoon service, but the Pastor was going to have to leave at 2 and travel to Ohio to preach, so we traveled on over to Liz and family's house to go to church with them and spend the night.

Monday, August 22 - Hannah is ready for school!

They sure love their baby sister!

Hannah wanted me to put her hair in pony tails, which is a task mommy just can't get done these days (wonder why?) :D

Precious baby feet!

Ryan playing with his moon sand. Love his sweet smile!

I sure miss living close to Liz!

We left at 8 am to travel to Tim's mom's house to fix her computer. She had accidentally hit a combination of keys with the control key and her screen went blank. Tim took it back how it was at the factory, then he had to update everything. Five hours later, he had everything working.......except her printer. And we headed back to WV.

It took me forever to get a half-way decent picture of a hummer feeding at Tim's mom's house.

Mom and son.

Tim wanted to get food to eat on the go, so we stopped at White Castles in Batavia. It had been FOREVER since we had eaten one of their sliders! I thought for sure that it would give me heartburn! But, I'm happy to report that they did not!

Wednesday, August 24th - The new stove was delivered today............with a dent! So, the store gave us $100 off if we would keep it. Good deal, Lucille! Especially since it turns out that the dent is up next to the cabinet and won't be seen, anyway! Thank You, LORD!

Thursday, August 25 - I found this car seat cover at the thrift store for $2.99. Jessica said JJ Coleman Collections, which is what it is, was a good brand. I looked it up on line and see that it costs $39.95. I would call $2.99 a GREAT, FANTASTIC deal! And baby Jones will be nice and snuggly warm in his car seat this winter!

OK, that's it for me. It's bedtime!

Bible Conference

2011-08-19T22:48:00.000-04:00

We left the house at 10 this morning to travel to WV for the Voice in the Wilderness Bible Conference near Flatwoods. We stopped at the usual place in Wytheville, VA for gas and got a $5 sub to split from Subway and ate in the car. We had our own chips and drinks, so with the sandwich we were all set! Our favorite sub is the Spicy Italian on Italian Herb and Cheese bread. Tim adds tomatoes to his half and I add banana peppers to my half. We get lettuce, onions, pickles, pepper jack cheese on all with sweet onion sauce and oregano, salt and pepper sprinkled on. YUM! I think my favorite part is the bread! :D So, it was 12 when we stopped and gassed up and ate. It was 3 approx. when we arrived at the hotel in Flatwoods. The conference didn't start til 6 pm. Before we had to leave, we went to KFC and got a 12 piece meal with 3 large sides so we could put left overs in the fridge in our room and eat again tomorrow night before the services. The church is going to take care of lunch and we will be free for the afternoon tomorrow. No evening services. We are staying here Saturday night, too, because Tim is preaching for our Missionary in Buchannan, WV on Sunday. There will be the morning service, lunch and then the afternoon service immediately following lunch. Then we will be on our way to Liz's house to spend the night. Then on Monday we will travel to Cincinnati area to Tim's mom's house to work on her computer, travel back to Liz's Monday evening, spend the night and then come home on Tuesday. That's the plan, man! Busy and lots of miles on the car! I have some pictures, but I didn't bring the cord to take them from the camera to the computer. I'll have to post them after we get home! So, if I don't get a chance to post anything else you know what we are doing! :D

A New Stove

2011-08-18T23:52:00.000-04:00

We did our usual thrift store stops and lunch, then we went to Lowe's, Sears and H.H. Gregg to compare pricing on new ovens. Hard to believe, but the parsonage oven has only one working element and the top burners have always given me fits! You cannot have 2 on HI at the same time! So, when the bottom oven element died, Tim brought it before the church and they OK'd the purchase of a new oven. Boy, am I going to miss the 40" stove with 10" of storage along the side! Oh well! It really isn't safe anymore. The insulation is gone and I'm surprised it has not caught the cabinets on fire! So, I had looked on the internet at HH Gregg pricing, so I had a general idea of what it was going to cost. HH Gregg said they would beat their competitors' price. Best Buy had the oven for $594.99 vs theirs at $599.99. So, in order to beat their price, she took $15 off of $594.99. She gave us the electric cord, which is $14.99. Delivery is $69.99 and they haul away the old stove for a $3 NC disposal charge. The $69.99 will be sent to us as a refund on a visa card that we can use anywhere! Here is what will be delivered next Wednesday when we get back from the Bible conference and Tim's mom's house with lay-overs at Liz's house!

Description:

Whirlpool 30" Smoothtop SteamClean Electric Range

(Model:WFE371LVQ)

Range features the AccuBake® temperature management system to monitor oven temperature for consistent cooking results. SteamClean option spot cleans your oven interior in less than 30 minutes. Hidden bake element creates smooth easy-to-clean surface. I believe it has a self-cleaning feature, too, which is the high temperature cleaning method.

Baby Blues

2011-08-17T23:58:00.000-04:00

I don't have the baby blues, but I do have some baby blues! :D I finished project #2 for the November baby! Sorry! Couldn't figure out how to rotate it! Until tomorrow...............

Another Day and a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

2011-08-17T00:21:00.001-04:00

Well, today I have NO pictures! I got the sleeves done on the baby sweater, but they are not sewn in place yet. I decided to work up a hat using the same yarn, so I worked on that some. I also printed out a pretty pattern for a baby blanket that I plan to knit for the baby. I also have a new girly pattern to crochet sometime that I found on the internet today. Tonight Tim and I were invited to dinner at the house of a man and woman that attends our church. They have attended there for lots of years but have never joined. I pray the LORD leads them to join. Back to knitting for awhile, but first..................

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sweet Hannah Banana who is 7 years old today! I do have a picture that I would like to post after all. This is our sweet little birthday girl when she was almost 5 months old, taken January 14, 2005. Look at those eyes! Reminds me of Elisabeth's eyes when she was a baby!

Productive Day

2011-08-15T23:22:00.000-04:00

My goal today was to make salsa from the remaining tomatoes Tim brought in before pulling up the plants. I got that done and also got lots of work done on my 2nd project for the new baby coming in November.

I actually began work on the 2nd baby project last night and was up until I couldn't hold my eyes open any longer! :D I guess it was about 2 a.m. when I finally got in bed. I got almost done with the brown section when I made myself call it quits because I was making mistakes! When I got back up this morning I worked until I got this much done. The sleeves will be inserted in the slit area. So, what you see here from left to right is Left Front (LF), Back and Right Front (RF). What I have done here is to "block" the work to the shape and size I wanted. I will be working on the sleeves after I tell you good nite! :D The size is 0-6 months and I added a little bit to the length.

Just to give you a little explanation of how I "worked" the sweater thus far, here are my "diagram" notes. In order to make sure your project turns out to be the size the pattern says it should be, the first thing you must do is check the "gauge." That basically determines the number of stitches and rows needed to obtain the proper size the pattern gives you. In the stitch pattern for this sweater, the "gauge" told me the yarn and needles I use should give me 17 stitches and 24 rows to equal a 4" square. So, I worked 17 stitches for 24 rows with the size of needles the pattern called for to check the gauge of the yarn I wanted to use since it was different from what the pattern called for. I kept track of my rows in the top left hand box shown below. Without boring you much more, the next thing you do is start following the pattern. This pattern had lots of things to do throughout, so I kept track of the number of rows and a slight description when the row called for something different, like the button hole row. Color A is the brown which was worked first. Color B is the green which was worked second. Color C is the blue which was worked third. Since I am using bits and pieces of skeins of yarn that Tim's mom gave to me, I got nervous that I wasn't going to have enough of the brown for the sleeves, so at one point last night I stopped working on the sweater and started working on the sleeves. That's why I already have some details done for the sleeves. I had plenty of brown after all was said and done, but better to be safe than sorry! :D

After I stopped working on the sweater, I began working on the tomatoes. I sure hope this salsa is good because it took me 4 HOURS to cut up all the ingredients!

I had to go to Walmart to get some tomato paste before I started cooking it. While I was there I bought some canning jars with lids and rings. I wasn't going to buy any since we don't do much of a garden to speak of, but I decided to get a dozen since they were less than $8.

After cooking for 15-20 minutes, you skim 2 cups of the water off the top, add the tomato paste and simmer for 10-15 minutes longer. In the mean time I washed and boiled the jars and lids. Then filled the jars and VOILA! 4 beautiful jars of salsa all sealed and ready for the cabinet! The recipe was for 7 pints, so I'd say that is about what I got! This salsa is different than the recipe I fixed previously. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Until tomorrow....................

Knitting for Baby

2011-08-14T21:49:00.000-04:00

Before I share today's post, I want to take care of the guessing game from yesterday. :P

If you guessed that Ryan's shoulder strap is not in place you are correct. And if you guessed that Michael's shoulder strap is not in the right place you are correct! If you guessed Hannah was not wearing a seat belt........wrong answer! Sorry! There were no winners! I think everyone said Ryan didn't have a seat belt on, when he actually had the lap seat belt on, just was out of the shoulder harness...........bad little boy! The really bad thing about this is that I "had my eyes on" Ryan and Michael just about the entire trip because they wanted to pick at one another just to irritate! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! So, while my eyes were on them, they obviously were oblivious to the seat belt issue! Here's the picture again, just so you can take a closer look now.

Now that summer is officially ending for me with the kids having spent the week and school is about to start, it is time for me to begin my projects for the new baby that will arrive in about 3 months! YIKES! So, yesterday I decided since I would be sitting in the car for 4 hours that would be a good time to begin the first project. This is a Baby Cuddle Sack. Of course Rosa is my model again! LOVIN' that little doll! :D Anyway, for those of you who know about knitting, this project was done using 2 strands of yarn and size 13 circular knitting needles and is worked in the round beginning at the top and ending with the bottom. To close the bottom all I had to do was take some yarn through the last row of stitches and draw it up and tie it off! To finish the top off and add a little bit of the contrasting color, I crocheted a row around the top with the green. I couldn't stop there. I had to make a little hat. So I found a pattern to get an idea of how many stitches wide to make it and just started knitting. Voila! First project completed! How do you like it? I'm not keeping these projects a secret because I figure Jessica will probably not be having another shower for this baby. If she does, she can act surprised! OK, Jessica?! :D

Doesn't Rosa make a nice model? She sure looks good in all the outfits I fix! :D Until tomorrow..........

A Few Tears Shed is Allowed.....................

2011-08-13T21:52:00.000-04:00

All of the little munchkins are safe and sound with family once again. Alas, the summer is gone and school begins Monday, for some! When I finally have to say our last goodbyes for awhile, I always get teary-eyed. I know, Liz..........don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened..................I'm smiling through tears, OK? :P

So far I haven't found one thing that I forgot to pack up! Unlike with Kara last week, nothing major forgotten, but still forgotten! But I worked all day yesterday trying to make sure I didn't forget anything! The kids all slept on the floor in the living room last night so Tim and I could have OUR bed back as I washed the bed linens of the guest room. We sleep in the guest room when we have the kids over so Tim can go about his daily business and the kids can sleep longer. When Tim got up at 7 this morning, I was awake with a headache. I got some excedrine and laid back down, but could not go to sleep, so I got back up 10 minutes later and got my shower and began the final packing of the kids' bags. Perfect! All clothes cleaned and folded...........except for the pjs that Hannah was wearing. The boys always just sleep in their underwear.

We left at 10 to drive 2 hours to meet Liz, Brad and Abigail in Princeton, WV at Bob Evans for lunch. Then it was back home to do some more laundry and straighten the house and get ready for SS tomorrow. Enjoy the pictures!

Now that I'm looking at this picture, I see 2 things wrong........can you pick them out?

First thing Ryan wanted to do was give his baby sister a kiss. So sweet!

First thing Hannah wanted to do was hold her baby sister! So sweet! They both sure love that precious little girl!

LOVE this picture!

Abigail is such a cutie!

She loves the little Elmo I gave her, probably because he is BRIGHT red!

OK, Liz! This one is for you. Wanted you to see the HUGE stuffed dogs Hannah and Ryan picked out at the thrift store this week! The brown one is Hannah's and the blue one is Ryan's. Ryan really wanted to take his home but I told him he was too big and he needed to stay here where he would have him when he came back to my house.

OK. That's all Folks! Sure is quiet around here! :D

The Party's Over..............

2011-08-12T23:24:00.000-04:00

Well, this certainly was a quick week! You know what they say...............time flies when you're having fun! It is always great to have the kids here. I want to create the same memories for them as my mom did for my kids. I hope they can look back and remember the fun times we had together. I know they probably expect to be able to get away with "murder" while they are here, but grandma has rules, too, that they are not too thrilled about and are surprised when I keep my word............for the most part. Like tonight when Ryan didn't want to finish his chicken and he kept "dropping" the pieces on the floor. Everyone else had finished and he announced he was full. He hardly ate anything. I told him he could get down but he was not going to get a snack when everyone else wanted one. Do you know that within 1/2 hour he was asking for a sandwich? I told him no. Later when we started talking about snacks and he wanted one I told him no again. He cried. I told him it was all his own fault. But, when the rest of us got a sweet snack, I gave him a banana. I told Tim I was a softie! Here's today's pictures.

I spent most of the day doing laundry and organizing the kids clothes for taking them back home tomorrow. So, the kids played by themselves during the morning. We had decided to take them to see the new Smurfs movie. The showing started at 12:30, so at 11:30 we started eating lunch. This is Hannah and Ryan who tried to sneak up on Michael "under cover."

After the movie, we came back home. I started working in laundry again and working on dinner. I already gave you the story of Ryan not wanting to eat. Anyway, while I was cleaning up the kitchen after we ate, I spotted the Putt-Putt ticket Liz had left with us 2 summers ago that had 5 free games still on it. So, I asked Tim if he wanted to take the kids and use up the coupon. So, that's what we did. We drove about 20 minutes to High Point where the putt-putt coarse was. Michael started out doing really well, but got worse as the game went on.

Tim made par with just about all of the holes.

Ryan and Hannah were finished before we got half way through and were basically just running around.

Hannah at one point took her ball to the 18th hole when we were on about the 5th hole, so she had to get another ball since hers wouldn't come back. Didn't look like the putt-putt lanes had been swept clean for a while as you can see by all the flower blossoms.

On this shot, Hannah and Ryan decided to make a tunnel for papaw to shoot through.

Here's the boys messing around at the 18th hole.

The whole time we were at putt-putt, the wind was blowing and the clouds were rolling in. There were even a few rain drops. I didn't mind it at all! At least it was better than being out in the hot sun! It started to rain when we were almost home. I started doing more laundry when we got home. And in between loads, we played Go Fish. Ryan lasted one round and then he went to watch TV with papaw. Hannah lasted a couple more rounds and then she was gone. Then Michael and I decided to play Kerplunk.

Even though Michael was pretty good, it was I who won both games! :D

Here's a short video of the first game Michael lost. The object is to end up with the least marbles.

And then it was time to read a book and get ready for bed. I've enjoyed reading to the kids at night time this week and last week with Kara. So, I guess I'll have to wait til next summer to read them books again! We will meet Brad, Liz and Abigail tomorrow to get the kids back.

Michael, Hannah, Kara and Ryan.................I enjoyed having you spend the week with me again this year! I love you all very much and thank God for each one of you and am praying that you will one day put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior! If the LORD tarries, one of these days I will have a few more siblings join us! Until tomorrow!

More Pool and Lake Fun

2011-08-11T22:55:00.000-04:00

We stopped by the other pool today, but their pump was not working, so no one was allowed in the pool. So, we ended up at the regular pool. At 2:30 we headed for home so I could fix chicken for dinner............except that when we got home, I found that I had stuck the chicken in the freezer instead of the fridge! After dinner and cleaning up the kitchen, we went to the lake. We actually did more at the house when we got back, but I'll explain the day as I move through the pictures. Enjoy today's review!

We normally start off in the kiddie pool and the water park, but today we started off in the big pool for Michael. Here's some pictures of the kids doing cannon balls from the edge of the pool.

I love this one of Ryan looking at me to make sure I was watching him!

I told the kids to all jump at the same time. Ryan ended up doing a dive instead. The life guard warned him about diving in the 3 ft. section.

We went back and forth between kiddie pool, water park and big pool. These are from the water park. This was such a good picture of Hannah that I wanted to get Ryan on, too. Of course, he didn't want to!

We finally got Ryan to get on, but I didn't get a good picture before the tower toppled!

Right before we got ready to leave, I told the kids to wrap the towels around them and sit in the sun to get rid of some of the water and dry off a bit. Hannah and Ryan wanted to spread their towels out and lay on them instead.

So, we got home and changed out of wet clothes and then I went to the kitchen to start fixing the chicken. I poured the oil into the frying pan, poured flour into a bag to shake the chicken in and went to the fridge to get the chicken, only to discover that I had put it in the fridge. Hannah was in the kitchen to help me so I said, "I'm in trouble, Hannah! The chicken is frozen! What are we going to fix now for dinner?" She said, "What about fixing breakfast with eggs and biscuits and gravy?" I told her that was an excellent idea! So, I cut up potatoes for hash browns and then broke the eggs so she could scramble them. It turned out to be a delicious meal!

After dinner I cleaned up the kitchen and got the dish washer started and we went to the lake to feed the ducks and let the kids play on the play ground. As we walked toward the shelter where we fed the ducks a couple of days ago, this little guy was enjoying his dinner!

Someone else was on the dock feeding the ducks, so we walked down to the water's edge. The ducks ate a few of the cheerios, but for the most part, they didn't eat any. The kids ate most of the cheerios this time!

When we headed back to the play ground, the kids threw cheerios to the squirrel. He ate them! As a matter of fact, I told them to stand still and throw the cheerios to him and he started getting closer and closer to them. They sat down on this log to feed him.

As he grabbed the cheerios, he stepped back closer to the tree to eat it.

This was a funny way to eat the cheerios!

I wasn't able to get this close, but I got a good shot with the zoom.

Finally, I told the kids to go to the play ground. There were a few kids there tonight, which Hannah and Ryan immediately started playing with. One kid even shook the kids' hands as they were sharing their names and meeting one another. I thought that was very interesting! Probably a preacher's kid! :D

Michael and I played on the swings for a bit, but other than that, we just watched the other kids.

Michael did finally decide to climb around on the jungle gym for a bit.

Before we left, we tried to find the frisbee to take with us to the lake. When we got back home, Hannah found it, so I put Hannah and Ryan in the tub to play, opened up the bathroom window so I could hear them and went out to throw frisbee with Michael and papaw.

As we were going in, the full moon was beginning to come out from behind the clouds but I didn't catch it and the kids were ready to get out of the tub, so I didn't hang around for it to come out of the clouds.

After getting Ryan and Hannah out of the tub, we played Go Fish and then I read them a book that Michael had picked out and then it was bed time! And, the same for me, so nite, nite until tomorrow..................

Lazy But Busy Day

2011-08-10T23:39:00.000-04:00

I told the kids that today was going to be a lazy day. But, it turned out to be fairly busy. The bedding didn't even get folded up from the living room floor. The main thing I could not get by without doing was groceries. We needed milk and meat and veggies. So, we headed out to get groceries. While out, I wanted to find some play money for playing store with. I also wanted to check out the price of the pool closer to us. Turns out we couldn't find any play money anywhere! The pool closer to us would cost the same as the one we usually go to. The difference would be if Hannah and Ryan were not required to wear life vests at the closer pool. But, when we stopped there was no one available to ask. We did find out the pool doesn't open til 11:30 due to free swimming lessons this pool provides. So, when we go tomorrow, I'll find out if the kids have to wear the life vests. If they do, we will go back to the other pool we normally go to as it is a much bigger pool. Enjoy today's pictures!

Of course, one of our stops today ended up being Walmart in search of the play money. Instead of the play money, I found this little sprinkler toy marked down to $3. They really didn't play in it as long as I thought they would. Michael wasn't thrilled with it at all. Can't say I blame him. There is no comparison to a pool!

I had started on a jar of salsa yesterday but didn't get it finished before we left for dinner. So, while the kids were playing in the sprinkler, I finished it. Looks pretty yummy to me!

Back outside to watch the kids play in the sprinkler. Hannah is balancing on her touche. I never could do that! You'd think as big as my touche is that it would be no problem! Not so much!

Jumping Jacks.

Ryan liked to run straddle-legged around the sprinkler.

Finally, they decided to dry off a bit.

Then they both posed for me.

When it was time for church tonight, it sprinkled some and we stepped out to go to Bible Club and saw a beautiful double rainbow. But, of course, by the time I got the camera, the double arch above this one was gone. There turned out to be no kids other than Hannah, Ryan and Michael at church tonight. They said, "Does this mean we can go back home?" I disappointed them! :D They were so good during class that I gave them a snack.

After we got back home, we played store with the play money I made and printed out on scrapbook paper. Here is Hannah the Clerk. She only charged me $5 for the items I purchased.

Michael was a thief! He took the rest of my money for the few items I got!

Then Hannah decided she wanted to watch "America's Got Talent" I believe is what she told me was on TV. So Michael, Ryan and I played some Go Fish. Ryan tired of that pretty soon and decided to watch a cartoon DVD. Then papaw joined us and Hannah watched cartoons with Ryan til time for bed. I told them they could watch cartoons in bed............if they did not play and were quiet. You guessed it, I had to turn the cartoons off and separate them from playing! :D

That's all for today! Time for bed! Until tomorrow.....................

A Trip to the Lake

2011-08-09T23:05:00.000-04:00

Well, today was the day for the lake and feeding the ducks. I was going to pack a lunch to eat there, but with as hot as it has been, I didn't feel like eating there. So we left early to get there before it got too hot. We went to Walmart for the Cheerios and then headed to the lake. When the ducks saw us walking toward the picnic shelter, they started coming. This is always a favorite activity for kids. It was for mine and is for the grandkids. We plan to go back again later this week in the evening to feed them when it is cooler and so the kids can play on the playground without dying in the heat!

Hannah is a bit afraid of the ducks, especially if they come at her. I think I remember that she got "nibbled" on last year! She is heading for shelter in this picture.

Now, here's a smart little duck who hung around after all the others were gone and cleaned up on the cheerios that had been missed by the others.

The lake looked so nice! I would love to have had a boat to take the kids out on the lake for a stroll!

Do you see who I see?

I had the kids get on the bench. Michael scoffed at the idea. I told him he didn't have to look at me............so he didn't! I think the shadows messed with the camera because this is not really a good picture at all. It is pretty blurry.

This is a great picture of Hannah, but, again the picture is all blurry!

Ryan found a millipede under some rocks. Nasty looking things!

A couple of guys were fishing off the other two docks, but weren't catching anything. I thought this picture turned out pretty good. I sat the camera on the railing of the dock, set the timer and told the kids when to say cheese!

We saw this dragon fly stuck in a spider's web, so we freed it.

I love these birds! They are just beautiful against the natural background!

LOVE these little flowers growing beside the dock near the water. It looks to me like the little yellow bulb is where the pretty little yellow petals springs forth from.

Hannah saw a raccoon track in the cement. She put her hand down and I called Ryan to come and do the same.

After we got back from the lake it was nearly 11:30, so we ate lunch and got ready to go to the thrift stores today instead of Thursday because I got a Chili's coupon in my e-mail for the kids to eat free and it was only valid for today. What a deal! So I guess on Thursday, Tim will do his regular work. Ryan wanted to snuggle with papaw because he was cold in the restaurant.

I couldn't let papaw have all the fun! So Hannah and Michael snuggled up next to me.

After we got home I baked some (and burned some) cookies for the men's meeting tonight. Then we all went outside to play. They chose to play croquet. But by the time I got everything set up, Hannah and Ryan decided they didn't want to play. So Michael and I played a couple of games without them.

As rickety as they are, Hannah and Ryan still love playing on the swings hanging from a clothes line prop.

Rosa got some attention today!

Basically the last thing we did for the evening was take all the hot wheels track outside and race the cars down it. I originally bought the track for the 4 of us to have races with, but then we decided to try hooking all the track together instead and make one long track. It got dark pretty quickly, but they had a blast!

We gathered the track and cars and headed inside for some ice cream, then story time and then bed time! Until tomorrow...........................

A Day at the Pool

2011-08-08T23:26:00.000-04:00

Let's see. Today started at 8 with breakfast, cartoons, e-mail and dishes and various other activities, including but not limited to crafts, games, bed-making, laundry and general cleaning up! Since we spent several hours at the pool, we took showers when we got home and then we went to McDonalds for dinner, got some milk and ice cream and then went to the Assisted Living services where a devotion is given and LOTS of singing is done. The kids were all very well behaved and the older folks always love seeing kids! The plan for tomorrow is feeding the ducks at the lake and enjoying a picnic lunch. Here's some pictures of our little fish and other activities from the day.

Hannah started out playing with the foam beads but then decided she wanted to write a story and draw a picture to go along with the story. She drew a picture of a pond with grass all around it. And her story reads: "I went to the pond one bay (she still gets her "b" and "d" backwards) and i cot to fish. and I wun a spric. I Loveed it. But I love my home!" She came to me and asked me how to spell "cot" and I immediately thought of a cot you lay in, but as you can see, that was the wrong one!

We arrived at the pool around 12:45. The "toddler" pool area was totally empty! And not many people were at the "water park" area, either! Actually, the olympic pool was not crowded, either. I don't know what the deal was, but it was nice not having people on top of you! I lathered everyone in sun screen and off they went! They wanted me to get in the pool, too. I told them I was going to take pictures before I got wet.

Hannah sitting on the bottom.

They didn't stay in the kiddie area for very long. I think the water was too warm. I could tell a big difference in the pool water and the water in this area. Don't know what the difference was as this area is only 1.6 ft deep at it's deepest.

I had fun watching Ryan running through the water.

This picture made me think of a jelly fish.

Michael acting goofy for a picture, as always! We finally went over to the bigger pool. Hannah and Ryan had to wear life jackets. It wasn't long before they decided they wanted to go back to the kiddie pool so they didn't have to wear the life jackets, but I said they had to stay and play in the big pool for awhile. I was sitting along the edge, not really wanting to get in..............until Michael did 2 HUGE cannon ball jumps right in front of me and soaked me from head to toe! So, I ended up getting in. I was glad I did. The water was not cold at all!

We got back to the house at around 3:45. Everyone (except Tim) took showers to get ready for the church service. But first we went to Walmart and ate at McDonalds inside Walmart, then got the milk and ice cream to eat after the church service. These 2 pictures are at the Assisted Living facility.

Tim puts the piano on auto pilot to let the residents know that the service is about to begin.

Ryan fell asleep about half an hour into the service. The singing didn't even stir him.

I had Hannah and Ryan get on the pig out in front of the building. I forget what the pig represents or why it is even there. It is so out of place, to my way of thinking.

When we got back home, I noticed the sky behind the church as the sun was setting. LOVE the colors!

Once the kids got dressed for bed, it was time to settle down...................or not!

Hannah had asked me earlier if she could call her mommy, so after she finished talking to her, Ryan talked to mommy and daddy. Soon, I made them all clean up the pillows and I made the beds, read a story to them and they were in bed by 9:45. This time it was Hannah who asked if I was going to bed, too. My answer was the same to her as it had been to Kara last week.............."No, I'm going to post pictures on my blog for your mommy." So, there you are! More tomorrow.....................

- 1 + 3 = 3

2011-08-07T22:34:00.001-04:00

Well, sadly, Kara couldn't make it through another week away from home. The morning routine was the same today as every day had been last week...............she watching Sponge Bob while drinking her chocolate milk and me checking my e-mail. Kara calling mommy.............AND also got to talk to daddy today. I think the talking with daddy may have been the difference! :D We finished getting her ready for church and she went back to Sponge Bob while I got ready. When I called for her to come and put her shoes on to go to church she was crying.............sobbing! She said she missed her mommy and she wanted to go home now. I explained to her that mommy and daddy were at church and it was time for us to go to church and that as soon as we got back from church we would call her mommy. She said, "and I can go home today?" through sobs. I said, yes, if that is what you want. I hugged her and told her it was OK for her to miss her mommy and want to go home. She made it through church OK. She teared up one time with her SS teacher when she was telling Kara how proud she was of her and how well she did during VBS. When Kara teared up, she put her hand on Kara and said, "AWWW! That's OK, Kara!"

After talking to Kara's mommy after church, we wondered if Kara might forget all about wanting to go home when I picked up Hannah, Ryan and Michael. So I had Jessica talk to her, but Kara said she wanted to go home today. So Jessica, who had just gotten seated with Michael to see a movie, left the movie and got ready to come after Kara. Jessica's mom, Joann came, too. They made hotel reservations in Durham, NC for the night. I did not tell Kara that her other grandma was coming. I made the trip to get the other 3 kids and Hannah, Kara and Ryan had a blast in the back seat of the car. We made it back to the house at a few minutes past 6:00 and rushed into the house to put church clothes on the kids, pop some items for the after-church fellowship into the oven and got in the church about 6:15 and sat on the back pew. The kids were so well behaved and I was proud of them!

We left a few minutes before Tim finished his lesson to run to the house and get the food and get it over to the fellowship hall. Kara's mommy and grandma arrived while we were eating. Kara ran and jumped into her mommy's arms. I wish I had grabbed a picture! It was so sweet. She was glad to see mommy, but then she got down and ran off to play! Jessica and Joann had a flat tire 5 miles up the road on the way in, but AAA got there within about 15 minutes, Praise the LORD!

So, I am minus one child but plus three others for the week! Not many pictures, but here's a few.

As Kara and I walked over to the church this morning, I said, "No one is here yet!" She said, "We are always the first ones here." I said, "Do you know why?" She said, "Because papaw is the preacher." I said, "Yes, and we live next door and don't have very far to go!"

Kara and Ryan playing in the fellowship hall.

The pretending has begun again! Papaw and Hannah were grocery shopping with some empty cartons and bottles that I have been saving for such a time as this! :D

Michael watching a DVD.

OK. That's all for today. Gotta get everyone's beds ready! Until tomorrow................

Catching up From the Week

2011-08-06T23:04:00.000-04:00

My feet hurt tonight! I've been cooking, cleaning and doing laundry today. Kara played so well by herself while I got my work partially caught up. I took some time in between batches of this and loads of that (cooking/laundry) to play with her. Then during her resting period, I got my SS lesson finished. After dinner she took a notion to play with Rosa, which she has not done all week. So, I did some more cooking and cleaned up the kitchen. During part of her bath I folded some laundry in the bathroom to be with her. I asked her if she wanted me to straighten her hair again tonight. "Sure!" she said! Then it was time to read and lights out. She asked if I was going to stay up again and I told her that I was because I had more work to do and wanted to put pictures of what we did today on the blog. She is really looking forward to our trip to get Hannah and Ryan tomorrow! She shows no interest in Michael, however, probably because he is twice her age. She did ask how long we would have to travel! :D Here's today's pictures.

We both slept in pretty late today.....9:30! While I was cleaning up my e-mail and after she drank her chocolate milk, she wanted to call mommy. She walks around the whole time she is talking to her!

While I was working, she wanted to take her bubbles that she bought with her VBS Fast Bucks outside. I told her she could as long as she stayed right out by the door. I got a bit paranoid about her being out there by herself after a total of maybe 5 minutes, so I went to check on her and took the camera with me. There she was just having fun blowing bubbles. After a few pictures I went back in the house and popped by the door in another 5 minutes to find her sitting on the stoop blowing bubbles until her bubble liquid was about gone. Then she came back into the house.

At 1:10 I told her I wanted her to take an hour to rest beginning at 1:30. In about 5 minutes, she announced she was going to go ahead and begin her rest. She got pretty quiet so I checked on her and found her laying on top of the couch pillows she had stacked. She looked pretty comfortable and she reminded me of The Princess and the Pea fairy tale.

After her rest, we played with the hot wheels track we bought for the VBS races, which we ended up not using since Mark had bought a bunch of track off e-bay with all the start and finish tools we needed for the races. When I took this picture, she said, "Did you take a picture of my pit?"

She collected all the balls and a few cars from our toys, added her cars she got during VBS and papaw gave us the 3 cars he is going to give to Hannah, Ryan and Michael when they get here. Balls and cars were raced down the track. She would send them down the track and I caught them in a clothes basket. Then I would put them all in her book bag she has with her and take them all to her where she would empty everything into an oatmeal box that I painted with Noah's Ark decor. Then she would empty the oatmeal box and send everything down the track again. This went on and on and on and on..............until I had to fix dinner.

Bath time was earlier tonight so she could be in bed earlier. She sure stands patiently while working on her hair. Of course, I have lots of ear ring boxes sitting right there on a shelf for her to mess in, etc, too!

I showed her how straight her hair was as I held this mirror at the right angle for her to see. Then she tried to hold the mirror the same way. Papaw teased her that all the boys were going to be looking at her beautiful hair tomorrow! She just grinned!

Have a blessed day in the LORD's house tomorrow! Until then....................

Kara's Bugs and Day 5 of VBS

2011-08-05T23:51:00.000-04:00

The day started around 8:30 for Kara and I today. I had a headache when I woke up, so I just laid there til Kara finally roused. She proceeded to the living room to watch Sponge Bob and drink her chocolate milk. I caught up on e-mail, etc, then remembered some other things I needed to get done for VBS tonight. Kara played by herself, patiently waiting for mamaw to finish so I could play with her. We did manage to get a couple of hours in today. Some spent playing "pretend" with animals and some time outside. She has changed so much since February when she stayed about 3 days with us. At that time, she needed me to go to bed at the same time as her. If I didn't, she would end up crying and I would have to quit my catch-up time on the computer and go to bed to make her stop crying. This time (so far) when I give her kisses and hugs good night and she asks if I'm staying up or going to bed, she is OK when I tell her I have to post some pictures on my blog for her mommy to see. Tonight as I left the bedroom she said, "See you in the morning!" Here's some pictures from our day.

Tim spotted this HUGE "ant" and came in the house to get Kara and I so we could see it. Isn't it beautiful? God's creation just amazes me! I had never ever seen this little creature before today...........have you? I love the internet for finding out information on stuff like this. Would you believe that this is NOT an ant? Nope! It is a wingless female wasp! Just beautiful! You can read (a very short report) about her HERE.

We captured it in this little jelly jar. Kara added some sticks and a leaf that she found. And she kept opening the lid to allow it to breathe. After we found out about it, we decided to let it go and not kill it.

So, now that the bug jar was empty, Kara wanted to look for more bugs. Well, it was a very slight drizzle that we looked for bugs in. Of course, we couldn't find any bugs anywhere! She stopped by papaw's Venus fly traps to see if any of them had captured any bugs.

After walking around to the front of the house, we went behind the church buildings and then down the edge of the yard in search of bugs. Never did find any.

So, we played with ladder ball for awhile. She threw a couple of times but then decided that she would let me throw all the time while she fetched them and brought them back to me!

Every afternoon Kara asked how much longer til time for VBS. She just LOVES it! Papaw told her how proud he was of her at how well she did at VBS! She grinned from ear to ear!

Here she is opening the door to hold for everyone as they arrived.

She greeted everyone with a sweet smile!

Not very many kids came back tonight. And there were no volunteers to help with the pledges. So I suggested the adults volunteer. First time for everything!

Penny counters/wrappers. Inflation hit the penny collection this year!

Construction of the race track for the hot wheels races tonight.

Everyone raced to see which car from opposing teams would win. This is Kara's car that won. You can't see her for the girl in the blue shirt being in front of her at the top of the track.

Here she is standing in the winners' "circle!"

Her car just barely lost on the 2nd go around.

The teachers handed out awards to all of the kids. Kara received the Powerful Smile Award and the Winner's Circle Award.

Right before time to go home, everyone spent the last of the Fast Bucks they had earned. By now, the "store" was down to the stuff that no one would take the rest of the week. What a fun and exhausting week it was!

Since VBS wasn't over til 9 each night, it was always time for bed as soon as we got back to the house. Kara would change into her night shirt and find a book for me to read. Then brush teeth, go to potty and slip on her pull-up for the night, kiss papaw good night and then me and then she would turn on her music. In about 5 minutes after I left the room, she is gone! Nitey nite, Kara and nitey nite to all of you.....

.....until tomorrow.

Time to Rest...........

2011-08-04T14:32:00.000-04:00

Today being Tim's normal day off, we decided to go ahead and make our usual runs to the thrift store. Kara was not exactly thrilled at the idea but when she wanted to take Simon the Snake and we agreed she could, she was not so opposed to the idea, especially when she learned we would be stopping at Pizza Hut for lunch! When we got back home, Tim and I worked on 5 1/2 more quarts more of tomatoes for the freezer. Since the VBS pictures would probably not be any different than what you have already seen this week, I decided to go ahead and post some pictures since I don't have any energy to do anything else................

Kara in the back seat with Simon the Snake (named by papaw).

Here was a $0.49 find that Kara wanted to paint for my flower garden!

She added gold paint for the letters across the center. Then I outlined the letters with a marker.

Yesterday Kara fell asleep right before church, so today I told her I wanted her to rest for an hour. I set the timer on the oven so she would know when the hour was up. I thought she might fall asleep, but I just heard her up, so I had to remind her she was supposed to be resting.

Here is our best find of the day............a baby toboggan. Won't Abigail look soooooooooooooo sweet sitting in this! We could NOT pass it up for.................$1.99!!!!!!!!!! Liz, I'll have it with me when I pick up the kids this weekend! If you don't want it you can give it to Jessica. Sawyer will probably be too big for it, but the new baby might be able to use it in the late winter months!

Get a load of these shoes! Would you pay $10 for these, Brad or Terry or Michael? I won't ask Nat..........I would be afraid he would say yes! :D WOW!!! There are just some things that are NOT meant to be PURPLE!!! These would fit the NOT category, if you asked me! :D

However, I did spy a beautiful pair of BLACK wing tips for Tim for $5.99! They fit him perfectly! Now, THAT was a good deal for Dexters!

Until tomorrow....................

A Chill Day and Day 3 of VBS

2011-08-03T23:00:00.000-04:00

I asked Kara what she would like to do today and she thought for a bit and then said, "How about we just hang around the house today?" So, that is what we did, which worked out well for me because I needed to get the last of the cucumbers processed! We did have to go to the store to buy a few ingredients to finish them, but other than that, we stayed here and played "pretend" and games in between batches of pickles.

Enjoy the pictures for the day!

At one point in the "pretending" game, I decided I'd had enough of it! So, I suggested us playing something different. Kara said, "You mean like something for real?" I said, "Exactly! How about a game?" She decided she wanted to play checkers. Of course, I don't have a checkers game so I made a paper board and found some punched pieces from a home made Bingo game and Voila! Checkers! She didn't know about the hopping-over-and-taking-her-man part, so we didn't play that way. She kept suggesting different ways to play the game til she finally decided she didn't really want to play any more.

Here she is spinning like a "helicopter." She "dusted" all of my floors today by crawling all over them! :D

The ingredients to these refrigerator cucumbers about killed all of us while it was cooking! I don't know if it was the apple cider vinegar or what, but it burned our eyes and about took our breath away, not to mention the nice pungent vinegar smell that hits you in the face when you walk into the house now! Even though the recipe did not call for canning, I decided to try it.................one jar at a time because I only have one wide mouth ring and one regular sized ring! I got 5 canning jars at the thrift store for $0.49 each and one mayonnaise jar for $0.29. I canned 5 skimpy quarts, 1 spaghetti sauce jar and one tall cannister of the cucumbers. The spaghetti sauce jar is going to Terry and Jessica. The tall cannister is Tim's. Tomorrow we have more tomatoes to process. I want to make some salsa. Tim froze 5 quarts of tomatoes on Monday.

Kara wanted to eat all day today! She mainly wanted to eat gold fish! But, I wouldn't let her! She drank her chocolate milk for breakfast. About an hour later she wanted gold fish. I told her she could have grapes. After eating a few of those, she wanted gold fish. I told her no and offered her some yogurt instead, which she ate. Half an hour later she was back asking for the gold fish again! She IS persistent! :D It was 11 by that time. I told her she could eat a sandwich and the rest of her grapes and then I'd let her have the gold fish! So, I offered her turkey instead of p-nut butter and honey. She ate half a sandwich, the rest of her grapes, a juice box AND gold fish! She was satisfied the rest of the afternoon until 3. She asked for another sandwich. I told her as soon as I finished the last of the cucumbers that I was going to start dinner for papaw and myself and I wanted her to wait and eat with us at 4. We had spaghetti and garlic bread and she ate a WHOLE p-nut butter, nutella and marshmallow creme sandwich, diced peaches and a drink. She ate every bite!

Right after dinner she got in the tub. She didn't play long enough for the water to even get cold, like it usually does! Might be cuz I about overflowed the tub, but I think it was just because she was ready to get out pretty quickly. I asked her if she wanted to watch more Sponge Bob while I got my bath for church. When I got dressed and went to check on her, I found her fast asleep! I let her sleep til time to go to church, and it was hard to get her awake.

I had to brush her hair again after her little nap. She still wasn't fully awake and I asked her if she wanted me to take a picture of her beautiful hair to show mommy. She said no, but I took it, anyway. I don't think she even realized I had taken it!

The sky sure looked like it could rain, but Tim said we were supposed to get rain, but it fizzled out.

The attendance was down tonight, which is always expected on Wednesdays as visiting kids usually go back to their own churches. I think we only had one doing that. Some of the others were attending a birthday party. Here are the Bubble Pops adding their pennies to the bucket. The Pod Berries won the penny contest for the second night in a row.

The kids were singing The B-I-B-L-E, but Kara didn't know the song.

Craft time. She was very neat and patient while painting her car, unlike the boys who just slop on a rush through!

After craft time, papaw played a game of musical chairs with the kids while waiting for the older kids to finish up their lessons. Kara was the first one out, but she sure had fun while the first round lasted!

More songs during the last 15 minutes.

Lined up to guess the Mystery Box. Jake guessed it before anyone else got a chance! Way to go, Jake!

That's the end of another great day with Kara and at VBS! She is having so much fun at VBS! Thanks, Jessica and Michael for letting her attend our VBS!

Fun for Kara and Day 2 of VBS

2011-08-02T23:09:00.000-04:00

Today Kara and I went to the lake to feed the ducks. That is always a MUST DO activity when she and the other grandkids visit! I was dreading it since the heat is just terrible this summer! But, the LORD blessed us with a nice breeze under the picnic shelter.............where the ducks were gathered, too! And the ones who weren't there when we arrived were there soon enough! Here's some pictures of our activities of the day.

We packed a picnic lunch to at the lake. I asked Kara which she wanted to do first............eat or feed the ducks. Of course feeding the ducks was a priority! One box of cheerios fed about 50 ducks and Canada geese. There were so many ducks that the geese didn't really get much!

Kara got a kick out of the white ducks who were totally not afraid!

There were even some black ducks there.

I managed to feed this Canada goose a few cheerios from my hand.

Time to eat! Kara ate a whole peanut butter and honey sandwich........except for a bit of crust to feed the ducks! Also most of a bag of gold fish. The "crumbs" went to the ducks!

These Hibiscus flowers were HUGE!

We walked down to the dock, where the ducks has retreated to the water. I was smart and took an umbrella today. Kara wanted to play on the playground after we ate but I told her that the equipment would have been too hot to play on. There were no other kids playing, either, so I know that is why.

After we got back to the house, we "played" Kerplunk! Mainly we just messed around!

I fixed stir fry and rice for dinner tonight. Kara came running into the kitchen and said, "Do I smell rice?" I said yes and she told me she LOVED rice! Either plain or with butter! So after her bath she wanted rice with butter on it. She didn't eat very much of it, however!

Here she is waiting with papaw for the kids to show up for VBS.

Papaw gave her some pennies for the penny contest.

I LOVE to see the kids running with excitement to VBS!

The kids were disappointed they didn't get to go out and play some last night, so we made sure they got to tonight during snack time!

Kara did as well as the older kids with the bean bag toss!

She never made a guess tonight. I couldn't help her, either, because I'm the one who knows what's in the mystery box this year!

Her craft tonight was binoculars made out of toilet paper tubes. She bought the yellow wrist band with a Fast Buck she earned!

I read her a book after she got dressed for bed and turned her music on and told her I would be up for awhile to post this to the blog. She said OK and within 5 minutes she was gone! She is having a great time! Everyone is amazed at the change in her from the first year she was with us in VBS in 2009. That year she would not go to class but stayed with me in my class. This year, she is on her own and having a great time! She's got the routine down! We are so glad she got to stay and do our VBS again this year............and we sure miss the other grandkids not being here, too! Maybe next year!

Til tomorrow...........................

We LOVE Vacation Bible School!.........................

2011-08-01T23:15:00.000-04:00

Yep! Today was the first day of VBS! It turned out to be a good time, as usual! It is great to see the kids having so much fun "learning Bible stories and the other things we do!" The first night always seems a little crazy as we try to get everyone used to the routine....singing, pledges, crafts/class, snack/games/VBS store, class/crafts, singing, skit, singing, mystery box guesses, VBS store, home! WHEW! It's a LOT of activity! But, the busier you keep them, the better it is for everyone!

After the family left yesterday, and we had church, Tim, Kara and I basically crashed! Tim was in bed by 10 and Kara and I followed very soon! Kara and I, so far, have always shared a bed when she stays with us. We talked for a few minutes and then we were both out! I woke up around 7 this morning, laid there til 8 and decided I couldn't lay there any longer. Kara finally woke up around 9:30 (not too long after I flashed the camera in her face)! :D Just couldn't help myself!

Kara drank her chocolate milk while waking up with Sponge Bob and while I was cleaning up the kitchen and some of the house. Then we got dressed and went to the fellowship hall to work to get ready for VBS. We took a break around 11:30 and went to Mickey D's for lunch, then worked some more. I gave Kara some toilet paper tubes to take home to Max, the gerbil. She was THRILLED!! Also, while cutting up some of the cardboard for VBS props, she wanted all the "spare parts" for Max. Here she is taking some of it to the house to add to the toilet paper tube bag. I told her Max was going to have so much cardboard that he was going to throw a party! So, she has been saying that off and on when she adds just a bit more to her collection! :D

I got to thinking while trimming up the cardboard props that maybe the magic marker and paint would not be good for Max to be chewing around on, so I told Kara that the cardboard pieces should probably be trimmed. So, when she can sit still for a few minutes, she does some trimming. She sure loves her Max and doesn't want anything to happen to him!

I told Kara I would let her type something to her mommy and daddy, so I will let her type and then I will "interpret" what she said.

kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaradayiru

OK, she says......................kara day i love you. (her finger was a little heavy on the "a" in her name). She said she just put the "r" for love. She "bought" balloons with her VBS bucks tonight. She has been playing with them ever since!

Well, here's a few VBS pictures for you to enjoy.

We had 15 kids tonight. Some of them were still in class when I took this picture.

Kara blowing up one of her balloons she bought.

The "front" of the VBS room showing the main prop and prizes and mystery box and items for the "store."

The balloons were a hit with the kids! They can earn Fast Bucks for attendance, bringing a friend, memory verses, bringing their Bible, winning some of the games, etc.

Ashley, the hot rod queen and her passenger, Jake, who is scared to death!

Ashley "Speed Bump" during the skit. She is an auto mechanic who LOVES racing!

Tim is threatening to use these in the pulpit!

OK, nite, nite, till tomorrow!

Bible Conference Blessings

2011-07-27T14:07:00.000-04:00

This was a conference on the theme of Hope. Hope, as it is used in the Bible, has a different meaning than the way the word is used in today's society. When you and I say, "I hope so and so happens," it is something we would like to happen but have no assurance that it will. Hope in the Bible refers to a "confident expectation" in something happening. And, as Tim brought out in his message, hope is always associated with heaven. And even more than that, hope is in Jesus; not the place of heaven, but the person of the place, Jesus! The messages we were able to hear were wonderful! I hated to have to leave! And, with the theme of the messages being focused on our eternal hope, I sensed the songs we sang as a congregation were more "spirited." I know my heart was truly blessed and instead of just singing the songs, as I sang I paid attention to the words and found myself getting very teary-eyed at a lot of the words about our Savior and all the things I have through Him because of His dying on the cross to take away my sins. And some of the songs I couldn't even sign for the emotion. Thank You, LORD Jesus!

Here's a few pictures I took while there in the mountains of WV (Talcott, WV). Don't know what will happen with the conference for next year as Bro. Stalnaker announced this was going to be his last year of hosting the conference, which he has done for I don't even know how many years.

While it was wonderful to be at the conference, there is nothing like a good night's sleep in your own bed! It was about 12:30 a.m. when we got home.

This first one is a beautiful garden spider that Tim saw as he was picking tomatoes this morning. Beautiful as long as it doesn't touch me, that is! :D

Here's the traditional picture of us standing by the Greenbrier River below the hill of the cabin we stay in when we attend the conference.

Here's an un-blocked view of the Greenbrier River. I would love to borrow someone's flat bottom boat or canoe some year to get out on the river while here. Trouble is, the river is usually pretty low at this time of the year.

After dinner on Monday, we came back to the cabin to check the air conditioner, which wasn't working very well in our room. It had rained and the fog was settling in as we drove back the lane to the cabin.

After we went back to the church, I had Tim drop me off so I could take some pictures. This is the Greenbrier as it runs by the church. Quite a bit deeper in this area. You can see the fog on the hills in the distance.

There's the canoe Tim and I need to borrow sometime!

This row of fence posts with the bird houses is back the street going towards the church, which runs parallel to the Greenbrier River.

I took several pictures of the flowers around the church, but I like the way this flower looks. Beautiful combination of colors. What an artist our God is!

Tuesday morning, the men came early to the church for a prayer meeting at 7. After the prayer meeting, Tim came back to the cabin to pick me up so we could go back to the church for breakfast. The women of the church sure cook up wonderful meals for everyone during the conference! Breakfast, lunch and dinner AND a snack in the morning and afternoon! Let's just say you don't want to be on a diet while attending the conference! :D Tim was first on the schedule of preachers on Tuesday, beginning at 9:45. Between him and the next preacher was a snack break. Felt like we were always eating!

Lunch is served at 12. After lunch is free time til dinner at 5. We came back to the cabin so Tim could take a nap as he did not sleep well last night. But, he couldn't sleep, so we took another walk over the hill to the river. Coming back from the river, I got this picture of us with the cabin in the background. It is a very nice cabin. It is not rustic on the inside as you would imagine. The walls are finished. There are 3 bedrooms and a bath, living room area, kitchen/dining area and laundry nook. Upstairs there are 2 nice sized bedrooms and a full bath. We always sleep upstairs in the room with the bath. Even though the shower is barely big enough for you to turn around in, we like it because it is private. At least it has been for us so far because, generally, no one else sleeps up stairs. The air conditioner was not working correctly in our room, however, so we had to leave the door open to the other bedroom and ours so the air from the other room could blow into ours enough to cool it a bit. But, it was having trouble keeping up with the heat, which is one of the reasons Tim could not sleep this afternoon. It was just too warm in the room.

Here's a little closer shot of the cabin. I could live out here with no problems! :D

Just Precious!

2011-07-25T07:19:00.000-04:00

I just had to share a picture I downloaded from my daughter's facebook page. Is this not a precious and beautiful child?! Of course, I'm only SLIGHTLY prejudiced! But, that's a grandma's prerogative, right?! :D If you haven't before, meet our little Miss Abigail, who is 3 months old. If you ask me, this would be a GERBER BABY winner! :D Never mind the fact that she isn't a Gerber Baby yet! I have to confess that she is only one of my soon-to-be-7 reasons why I regret living where we live! :( But, the LORD knows of my sorrow in missing my kids and grandkids and so I try not to dwell on it but think about the other blessings I have from day to day!

Blessings and hugs and kisses to all of you! Love, Mom/Grandma

How Sweet the Name of Jesus

2011-07-24T15:54:00.000-04:00

We sang a song today that I had never heard before. It was an easy song and the words are beautiful. I wanted to share it with you.

How Sweet the Name of Jesus
Written by John Newton

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
In a believer's ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear,
And drives away his fear.
It makes the wounded spirit whole,
And calms the troubled breast;
'Tis manna to the hungry soul,
And to the weary, rest,
And to the weary, rest.
Dear name! the rock on which I build,
My shield and hiding place;
My never failing treasure, filled
With boundless stores of grace!
With boundless stores of grace!
Jesus, my Shepherd, Brother, Friend,
My Prophet, Priest and King,
My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End,
Accept the praise I bring,
Accept the praise I bring.

Short and definitely sweet! I'm so glad He has boundless stores of grace, aren't you? Grace that is greater than ALL our sin! Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt! WOW!

Stuff Mom Always Said!

2011-07-23T19:45:00.000-04:00

One of the ladies at church gave a copy of this to all the ladies last week. It is SOOOOOOOOOOOO true! So true, in fact, that I thought I would share it so you could use them, too! :D

A little soap and water never killed anybody.
Leave your sister (brother) alone!
How can you be hungry? You just ate an hour ago!
There's enough dirt behind those ears to grow potatoes.
If you're bored, I can always find something for you to do.
It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that I don't trust everyone else.
Wipe your feet!
When you have kids of your own, you'll understand.
Pick that up before somebody trips on it and breaks their neck!
Running away? Don't let the door hit you in the rear.
I said CLOSE the door, I didn't say SLAM it!
Look at this room! It looks like a pigsty!
So what if Sally's mom let her do it? If Sally's mom let her jump off the Empire State Building, would you want me to let you do it, too?
Just wait until your Dad gets home.
Don't make me come in there!
I didn't ask who put it there, I said, "Pick it up!"
You're the oldest....you should know better!
Don't go out with a wet head, you'll catch cold.
You can't find it? Well, if you'd put things where they belonged, you wouldn't have this problem.
A little "birdy" told me.
When you have YOUR own house, you can make YOUR own rules!

I guess I probably had all of these directed to me from mom, however, I don't think I repeated many of them to our kids (did I?). I know for sure one that mom DIDN'T use was the one, "Just wait until your Dad gets home." Nope! She ALWAYS took care of the situation herself! I pretty much did, too! Dearest mother! How we all miss you and Dad! Can't wait to see you in heaven!

And in case I haven't said it lately, I love you all!

What I've Been Up To........

2011-07-22T02:32:00.000-04:00

My last time to post here was Kara's 5th birthday on the 11th. I actually made the post before going to bed because I knew with getting up early to get ready and head to the beach that I would probably forget to do it in the morning rush!

So, what have I been doing for the last week and a half? Glad you asked! :D I'll show you! I just happen to have a few pictures! I'll spread them out amongst the journaling!

So, Monday, July 11th, Tim and I drove to Myrtle Beach to spend the day with Liz, Brad and the kids. Of course, my main "duty" was to take care of Abigail while the others played! My kind of "work!"

Isn't she the cutest (as the rest of my grandbabies are!)? :D Here she is in her UV protective baby swimming suit. She also has an adorable floppy hat, too! Un-be-knownst to me, babies are not supposed to wear sunscreen up to a certain age that Liz told me, but I forget. I can understand that as anytime Abigail's little mouth touches skin, her tongues goes out to lick or she starts sucking!

It was very pleasant in the shade! When the 7 of us came on the pool scene, a lady spied me carrying Abigail. There was not an empty seat in the "house" so we took our bags to a fence in the shade. Liz took Abigail into the pool with her and I took pictures. In a few minutes the lady who spied me earlier came up to me and said, "I saw you carrying the baby when all of you came in and I decided when we were ready to leave that we would give you our 2 recliners so you could sit with the baby." How sweet of her! I thanked her profusely and proceeded to gather up our things by the fence and follow her to the chairs! Before long Liz brought Abigail to me and we both relaxed while Brad and Tim played with Ryan and Hannah. Here are some pool shots.

Tim coming down the slide. Caught him in the air!

There is Hannah just hitting the water with her feet.

Anticipation showing all over Ryan's face!

After playing in the outside pool, we went to an inside pool. I had so much fun just watching Ryan jumping into the pool! Between the faces he made and the "tricks" he performed he was certainly entertaining to watch!

Later on Monday, we went to "downtown" to check out a free carnival. It turned out to be only 3 of the big blowup bouncy toys and every kid in Myrtle was already there, so we just walked around and went down on the beach to walk. On the way back to the camp, we stopped at DQ. Abigail is ready for bed!

Tuesday, July 12. Tim and I got up early to walk on the beach on Tuesday morning. We walked for about an hour and a half. When we got back Brad was getting ready to fix breakfast! Tim helped him some.

YUMMY!

After breakfast we went to the beach before Tim and I got ready to come home.

Wednesday, July 13. Made a visit and Tim's cucumber plant is MASS producing! The green peppers are starting to get big, too!

I made some more Cucumber Salsa and shared it with Brad. Also made some more pickles and shared with Brad.

Thursday, July 14. Spent the entire afternoon painting for VBS.

Friday, July 15. Liz and family left the beach and spent the night. While outside with Ryan and Hannah, we saw 5 rabbits out behind the church fellowship hall.

Saturday, July 16. Holding Abigail before she leaves to go home.

Sunday, July 17. When turning over a jar to drain the contents to the bottom, be sure and twist the lid shut! Otherwise you end up with a nice mess! More VBS painting and getting crafts ready.

Monday, July 18. This in light of the Casey Anthony murder trial. Last week's sign.

Tuesday, July 19. Just need a few finishing touches after I buy gold and silver paint.

Wall mural.

Photo op.

For bean bag toss. The white circles will be cut out.

Wednesday, July 20. Worked on crocheting baby items all day.

Thursday, July 21. Thrift stores. Bought paint to complete VBS props and finished them. Also finished up the baby shower gifts - yellow sun suit with matching headband and Mary Jane shoes, blanket and matching winter hat, baby bunting.

Friday, July 22. That brings me to 2:31 a.m............right now................I will be completing the VBS crafts today. Right now I'm catching up on the check book entries. Looks like we are FLAT broke! :D

Til next time. Love you all!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Kara!

2011-07-11T06:59:00.000-04:00

Papaw and Mamaw wish you the best birthday ever! We love you very much! It is hard to believe that you are 5 years old already!

Teach an Old Dog Continued...............

2011-07-10T13:05:00.001-04:00

There were guesses of hawk, swallow, martin, mocking bird, .........and as I knew she would, Tim's mom made 3 guesses. The first guess was a..............................TADA!!! a Chimney Swift! She wins the grand prize!

I don't think I had ever heard of a Chimney Swift before this incident! Here is one blog link that talks a little bit about them. They are a little strange looking, up close and personal! The nest is amazing! Not very much of a nest, actually! And if a mother usually lays 3-6 eggs, how do they keep from rolling out? Not to mention that they must be very small in size! I've still got some more reading to do!

Here's a better picture of what they looked like as we saw them flittering around.

This is why I thought they were bats. Totally black from what I could see. And, I guess there actually are black ones. And there are white ones.

Anyway, glad I got everyone to thinking! Even some of you searched the internet to find them! Were you correct in your search results?

See! You really can teach an old dog! :D

Teach an Old Dog................

2011-07-09T21:43:00.000-04:00

I know some of you (older) people who read this blog have heard the phrase, "You CAN teach an old dog new tricks." Well, I didn't learn a new trick, but I did learn something new today!

The story begins from yesterday. While outside in the late afternoon, I believe, I noticed 2 or 3 "bats" flying around. I told Tim about them. But I kept thinking to myself, "Why are they flying around in the daytime? I thought they wouldn't come out any earlier than dusk, at least!" Then I proceeded to forget about them.

Well, today, I was headed back to the house from the church at around 4:00 and saw quite a few of these "bats" flying around again. I went back to the church and told Tim the bats were back. So he came out to take a look. They were flying all around, seemingly catching bugs or something, because they were definitely not flying from here to there, if you know what I mean. Tim finally said, "Those aren't bats." I asked him what they were, then. He didn't know, but I could tell that he knew but the name just wouldn't come. We discussed them for a bit longer and then I decided to come in and see if I could find them on the internet, which I did. When I found them, he said that's exactly what they were.

Now, before I tell you what they are, I'm going to see if you know something that I did not know. I figure Tim's mom will probably know what they are called. Anyway, look at this picture and make a guess. I'll be back tomorrow with a post about what they are. Pretty amazing!

Please notice I got this picture off the internet and give Bruce Di Labio full credit for taking the picture. They were moving so fast I knew I wouldn't be able to get a good picture, but I'm still gonna try!

The "bat" in this picture actually looks a bit larger than the ones flying around here. The ones we saw had shorter wings and "tail" area.

Remember Me

2011-07-04T11:15:00.000-04:00

Remember Our Soldiers today and every day! They are fighting for our freedom! Watch this video. It is moving!

REMEMBER ME

Happy 4th!

2011-07-04T01:26:00.000-04:00

Happy 4th to all my family and friends. Wish we could be together today! Thanks be to God for blessing the USA as a nation! A special thanks to all who served/serve this country to protect our freedom! Especially to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in giving their lives for Freedom!

What a Mess!

2011-07-02T00:00:00.000-04:00

Are you thinking................what has she gotten herself into this time? :D The answer is............................GREEN BEANS! One of the couples at church brought us a MESS of green beans they had picked! Tonight Tim and I snapped them and I "processed" them for the freezer. The process is called "blanching." Very easy to do, too! Fill a pot 2/3 full of water and bring to a boil. After the water begins to boil, throw the clean green beans into the water (I had washed them before Tim and I snapped them). Put the lid on the pot and let them boil for 3 minutes. In the mean time, fill another pot with cold water and ice. As soon as the 3 minutes are up, put the beans into the ice cold water to stop the cooking. Drain and bag up the beans for the freezer. We now have 5 quart bags of green beans in the freezer!

There were a couple more hands full of green beans that wouldn't fit on top of this bowl. And we ended up with 5 quarts shown below. Thank the LORD for His marvelous provision! I'll have to do some catching up and show you some of the good things I have made from the "fruits" of our veggie garden and herb garden!

SURPRISE!

2011-07-01T14:00:00.000-04:00

Guess you probably thot I'd dropped off the face of the earth?! Not so! Just been busy, busy, busy! Lots of things going on with me! I've got my fingers into all sorts of stuff. Been crocheting, been working on VBS stuff and been designing a little bit, too! It is the designing stuff I wanted to show you today. Digital designing, that is! Since it is a brand new month, I got a new kit done and I made my new desktop calendar with it. "Life is Good at the Pool" is the new kit and I had the perfect picture from vacation with Liz and Brad at Myrtle Beach for it. I love catching the kids in mid air and the pool and the trampoline is a great place to get those kinds of pictures. Here's one of Fearless Ryan jumping off the side of the pool towards daddy. Now that I'm looking at this, with the blending I did of the picture into the green background, it looks more like they are in a creek somewhere and not the pool! I'm thinking I might just change the green paper to a blue paper and I'll show you the difference!

Crochet the Night Away!

2011-06-24T21:01:00.000-04:00

I got totally immersed in looking for free crochet patterns for kids/babies on the web yesterday and in my searching I found some really cute things for Abigail. So, I quickly set out to work on my new found patterns.

The top shown in the picture was actually a dress and the bodice was solid, not lacey like I made mine. The bottom of the top is made of "Solomon's Knots" which I had never heard of, so I found a YouTube video showing how to make them. Very simple, but a royal pain to mess with! But, if you want the WOW factor in your project, you have to painstakingly get there! Since I was changing the pattern, I needed to find some little bloomers. These are called "soakers" and that is something else I had never heard of! I guess they are for soaking up pee that leeks out, not to mention the other grossness! I'm going to tweak the pattern the next time I make these because there is a seam in the front where you sew the crotch when you are finished. Then decided a headband and some sandals would look cute and finish the outfit! And, Voila! Here you have it!

I used my kit, Abigail, to make the layout.

It's Me! Oh, Yes it is!

2011-06-23T00:06:00.000-04:00

OK, I'm back with some more files from the dark ages, LOL! Dark, as in, black and white.............or red! Or, I suppose some of the younger generation that reads this will agree that these pictures are from the dark ages, as in, "I want to be able to look back when we are old like you guys (ha, ha!) and have great stories to tell and loads of super cute pics of us in our younger days looking so spry and happy!" Not that this offended me or anything................Liz..................but it COULD be true that we guys are GETTING older! Life has a way of doing that to you! :D

All joking aside......Liz, I really WASN'T offended! I thought it was very sweet of you to want yours and Brad's life to be as happy as we have been! I pray that for all of my children! I'm sure you realize how blessed you are to come from a home where there was love. I think part of that is due to our giving the LORD priority #1 in our home! If you haven't realized that..........WAKE UP! Because I'm telling you now.............if you want your home to be a success.........make sure you give the LORD priority #1 in ALL things!

And when you don't understand why things are happening the way they are...........just be patient and TRUST in the LORD with all your might! It will be alright!

Now that I've preached to you a little bit, let me share some of my pictures from childhood.....some of my history BEFORE your dad!

I don't know much about any of the places mom and dad lived in the early days of their marriage, other than it being in Osgood, Indiana. I know that mom was living with some friends of hers in Versailles, Indiana, a town nearby, when she met dad and they were married 3 months later on December 20, 1954 (2 days after your dad was born). I came along 9 months and 19 days later on October 8, 1955! I am 1 month and 21 days old in this picture from December 1955. Dad was working as a mechanic at a gas station in Osgood, Indiana. His boss was Ralph Schmaltz. I don't know how it happened or what the circumstances were that brought them together, but I know we spent alot of time with the Schmaltzes for as long as I can remember until we moved from the area. But, even then we or they would travel to pay one another a visit from time to time. When we gathered, they were ALWAYS playing cards! It slips my mind now what game they played........maybe Spades, or that might be one of the games they played. I'm thinking too hard at trying to remember, so I can't tell you, LOL!

Does anyone think any of the grandkids favor me in this picture at all?

Here I am at 6 months old.....that would be in April 1956.

These 2 pictures are from the summer of 1956. Dad was a Harley man! I especially like the second picture of me sitting in a pot of water! At least I'm assuming there is water in the pot! :D

These pictures are from late summer to early fall 1956. I included them so you could see that dad never changed. But, mom looks different. Maybe because she is so skinny! Dad told me one time that she weighed 108 lbs when they got married! I'm thinking the other kids in the pictures remind me of some of my cousins from Kokomo, Indiana where my mom's family lived.

1st birthday. In the bottom picture, that is my cousin, Linda, who was from May to October older than me. That is her mom, Marie Brandenburg, Uncle Hubert's wife, standing near me. I cropped most of her off, not on purpose, however!

One of many Christmases with the Schmaltzes. I think I am in a little red wagon or something. That is Darren and Renee Schmaltz behind me.

Since I had a picture of Tim on the potty, I figured it only fair to include one of me on the potty, too! This looks like it was taken when I was about a year old or so.

I almost skipped over this one. This is my Great Grandma Whitest from my dad's side of the family. The one thing I regret is not getting any family history from mom and dad.

How sweet! Here I am holding my baby brother's bottle when he was a couple weeks old. We were 18 months apart to the day. I always thought we were 17 months apart, but he was born April 8, 1957, so that is 18 months.

I skipped this one from 1956. I love the towel on my head in this one. Do you ever wonder why you do some of the things you do? I know now the reason I wrap a towel around my head after I wash my hair is shown in this picture. Because it has always been done that way! It's like the story of the lady cutting the ends off of her ham roast before putting it in the pan to bake. Someone asked her why she did it and she said she didn't know, that's just the way her mom always did it. When asking her mom why she did it she was told that her mom had always done it that way. So, the lady asked her grandmother why she cut the ends off of her roast and her grandma's reply was that she cut the ends off because her pan was not big enough! LOLOLOL! I think that is hilarious! So, girls, the reason you put your towel around your head is because that's the way your grandmother always did it! :D

I would say this picture was taken sometime around my 2nd birthday because Joey looks to be around 6 months old to me which would put this picture being taken in October 1957. He got mom's brown eyes and I got dad's blue eyes................and I just happened to think about Kara's eyes being brown..........I had always said she was the first brown-eyed person in our family, but that's not true! I wasn't thinking about Joey's eyes being brown. While mom's eyes were brown basically, most of the time they had some green to them, too. But, Joey's are definitely brown!

This was my dog, Snowball, a female Spitz. She was a couple months younger than me. I had her til I was about 12 years old. She just disappeared. We never did know if someone stole her or if she just went off to die at an old age.

I wonder what was so funny? I must be about 2 years old or more.

The note on this picture says it was taken on Easter in 1958. Looking at Joey with drool all down the front of him, I know exactly where his son got it! Andy was constantly drooling!

1961 - I look totally thrilled, don't I!

This is Easter 1962. The dresses Kim and I have on were made by our Aunt Opal, dad's sister.

This was taken in 1964 when we lived in California. How did we end up in California, you ask? Well, dad was stationed in California when he was in the army. He liked it and always talked about going on vacation out there. In 1963 we did just that. His intention was that if he found a job out there, we would stay. On the Thursday before we were to leave to come back home to Indiana he found a job in a gas station. So, we stayed. We did not enjoy it at all. It was a nice place to visit, but we didn't want to live there. We stayed for 10 months before dad decided enough. We moved back to Indiana..........however, not Osgood, Indiana. We lived in College Corner, Indiana, which was near dad's sisters. While working on these pictures, the thought came to me as to why we didn't go back to Osgood. I would say that the main reason was that dad no longer had a job with Ralph Schmaltz. So, now I am wondering if Mr. Schmaltz fired dad when he did not return from vacation, which would be perfectly legit, or is one of the reasons we went to California in the first place because dad would no longer be working for Mr. Schmaltz?? Was that the reason why he wanted a job out there? Guess I'll never know this side of heaven!

1970. Alot has happened between coming back from California to this house in Hebron, KY. The house we were renting in Liberty, Indiana was a farm house and I think we got it rent-free because dad was keeping up the farm, I don't remember for sure. But, it was affecting his health, if I remember correctly. Anyway, some how he landed a job as a truck driver for Emery Air Freight out of the Greater Cincinnati Airport, which is located in Northern KY. So, we moved to Union, KY in 1965 or maybe it was early in 1966. That's where we met Bro. Ginn and family and attended the church he pastored, Big Bone Baptist Church. We eventually ended up in a house in Hebron, KY. These 2 pictures are taken at that house. It was a very nice house.........until the tornado of 1974. But that is another story for another time. In these 2 pictures, I had gotten pretty heavy. In 1971 I got a good case of the flu or something and lost 10 lbs. I determined that if I could do that by being sick, I could loose more. I believe I had just starting going with Tim, so that was probably the biggest motivation! :D I lost 40 lbs total and looked great! I joined the track team at school, too, and that helped tremendously! Running laps around the high school after school every afternoon played a major part in my weight loss! I kept it off pretty well, too, til the kids started coming along! :D The outfit I'm wearing in the bottom picture is a skirt and vest I made in home economics in 9th grade! I was very proud of the outfit and wore it lots!

Well, just a few more pictures. These are school pictures. I have more somewhere, but didn't see them in my boxes, so they must be in a book somewhere. They will just have to wait for another time!

1st Grade

5th grade

Senior picture. Graduation from Conner Sr. High School - June 3, 1973.....38 years ago! WOW! That was a few years ago!

And there you have it! From the cradle to graduation. A few other details would include details from my spiritual life. I trusted Jesus as my Savior before we moved to KY in 1965. Harold Haynes, long with the LORD, was our pastor at a Baptist church in College Corner, Indiana. Mom, dad and I were all baptized at the same time using the baptistry at a Baptist church in Dartown, Indiana, I believe. I'll have to confirm that. I owe a lot of my Biblical education/knowledge to Bro. Ginn and Sis. Ginn. I've not always lived the way I should live for the LORD and I know I have probably been an embarrassment to Him, but thanks be to God for His mercy and forgiveness! Mom and dad were not happy that I was in love with someone who was not a Christian. They liked Tim, but they were worried about what would happen if and when we married. A legitimate worry! Tim asked me once what I thought of his going to the seminary in Louisville and I told him I didn't want to marry a preacher........how foolish! I'm sure that made the LORD laugh out loud! It is no wonder that when the LORD was dealing with Tim to surrender to preach that he did not discuss it with me. But, when he told me for the first time on our way to church the morning he had decided to accept the call and announce it to the church, I was elated! Scared, but elated! And to this day, I'm so thankful that the LORD kept dealing with Tim inspite of me! While it is true that I didn't marry a preacher.............in God's eyes, I did! Because once He begins a work in someone's life, He finishes it! So, Tim was as good as being a preacher when we got married, even though he wasn't officially! Praise the LORD!