Birthday Party

Gracey's birthday party was tonight after our Spanish class. She really liked her cake - or maybe I should say the icing... I don't think she got as far as the cake. She ate each flower first. :)

I finished her hat and purse set and gave it to her for her birthday. She really liked them. Here she is trying them on!


This little one sure has grown since I last posted a picture of her! I babysat her today while Regina got things ready for the party. She is soo much fun! It won't be long before she is walking! Here I am trying to keep her occupied while big sis opens presents! (I don't think she ingested any of the ribbon - I was watching closely!)


Here is a detailed picture of the purse - I just knitted a long strip, like a scarf and brought it to a point at the end, then made the loop. I made the strap on my nifty little tool!



And for those who want to see a few more pictures - here is the album:

Gracey's Birthday

Happy Birthday...

Gracey!!!

I can't believe my little friend is turning three already!!! She is such a sweetheart, and growing soo fast! :)


I made a little cake just for her, to compliment the big one her parents got for her. (Regina wanted her to have a personal one, so I offered.)

I think it turned out pretty good. Her theme is pink butterflies.

Here it is in the design stages:

In progress....

The finished product!!!

I've Been Tagged!!!!

Ok, I guess it's my turn, huh? Thanks, Jenn! :) Well, here it goes.... seven things most people don't know about me... think, think, think....

1. I love old time radio, like Father Knows Best, Cavalcade of America, Jack Benny, The Great Gildersleeve, etc...

2. My husband, Mark, is the only guy I ever dated!

3. I had a terrible case of chicken pox at 16. (Mothers, please expose your children early or get them the shot!!!)

4. I've never learned how to swim.

5. I've done a lot of traveling out west: Grand Canyon, Pacific Ocean, the Redwoods, Seattle and Puget Sound, San Fransisco, and so on - My grandparents live in Idaho.

6. I have been friends with Melissa ever since she was born! (Not many people are blessed with life-long friendships! Oh, the stories we could tell!) :)

(Why is the last one the hardest??)

7. I have a weakness for books - especially children's books! We have boxes and boxes, and no bookshelves yet!

I now tag: Melissa, Jennifer G., Stephanie, Candice, Shari, Linda, and Elisabeth!

Yummy!!!

I tried out a new recipe yesterday: Gingerbread Scones. I love scones and this was my second try at them. It's a wonderful fall smell! :)






Gingerbread Scones

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
  
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  
• 1/4 cup cold butter
  
• 1/3 cup molasses
  
• 1/4 cup milk
  
• 1 egg, separated
  
• Sugar

Directions: In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, ginger, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, combine the molasses, milk and egg yolk until smooth; stir into the flour mixture just until moistened.
Turn the dough onto a floured surface; knead gently 6-8 times. Pat into an 8-in. circle; cut into 12 wedges and place 1 in. apart on a greased baking sheet. Beat egg white until frothy; brush over scones. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 400° for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan to wire rack. Serve warm. Yield: 1 dozen.

They were very good... especially with coffee. I got the recipe from Taste of Home... I love their recipe site and having my own "recipe box." (direct link to recipe here.) The picture above is theirs as well. I didn't think to take any of mine... and they are almost all gone now! :)

Happy Fall!!!

Today is officially the first day of fall! I love this time of year! I hope that we have as pretty a fall as we did last year... Yes, we DO have seasons in Texas for all you yanks! The picture was taken in Texas, not too far from here. The days are starting to get a little cooler. Tonight we enjoyed grilled hamburgers on my parent's patio - the weather was just right! :) Thanks to my parents and Angie ...and a little shopping here and there... I have a bunch of new fall decorations for our house! I am enjoying being able to "redecorate!"

Anyway, I am still alive and kicking! I spent most of this afternoon cleaning up the yard. Why is it that the grass thrives - in the FLOWER BED?? :) I finally got all of it pulled out and now I want some flowers there - probably pansies. I pulled up my impatients that I planted in May, they grew pretty well, but weren't putting out a lot of flowers, I think they got too much sun. I had bought dianthus for the kids to plant for Bible Club craft (we are studying Creation) and had some left over. I hope they grow fast! :) I had a difficult time pulling the impatients, even though I knew they wouldn't last much longer. So I transplanted a couple into pots. Oh, and I also bought some mums last weekend. I'll try to post some pictures when everything is blooming nicely! Here is a link to a previous post that shows the front of our house.

I've been doing quite a bit of knitting, but it is still top secret! Christmas will be here before we know it! But my next goal in knitting is to learn how to do cables! I have always loved cables and I want to try a hand at it.

Well, I'd better get going. Sundays are busy days now that we have Bible Club before church in the evenings. That is going well. We had our biggest group for regular Bible Club last Sunday! Hopefully we can get all of our regulars back... this is the forth Sunday. It is going well over all. I am getting the hang of it! :) I'm open for any tips, especially with helping them learn memory verses and making it fun!

I Pledge Allegience...

I thought about posting this on Veterans Day, but it is too good to wait. However, today in 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote the words to the "Star Spangled Banner." I hope y'all enjoy it!

"Red Skelton's "Pledge of Allegiance" was first introduced on the Red Skelton Show on January 14, 1969. It has since been twice read into the congressional record of The United States and has received numerous awards."




We need more public figures with this view - especially that last line... "Wouldn't it be a pity..." I wonder if he had any idea of what America would be like in thirty years?

Help Wanted!

Dear Friend,

Are you ready for a change? Do you desire to be in a place where you can really make a difference for God? Do you have a heart for ministry in a growing local church? How about a desire to work with children/teens/adults/seniors/Hispanics/etc.... ?

I have just the place for you! Come to beautiful East Texas! Our church is on the launch pad, ready for take off!!! God has been doing wonderful things for us recently! Our beautiful church building for one... with basically no debt! And the different people from the community that have taken interest in attending our church. (I don't have room for everything here... please reply for more information.)

And the town? Known for beautiful flowers both in the spring and the fall. It is hard to describe the beauty of the area... rolling hills, towering pines, wonderful fall color, and breathtaking spring flora. We have a large medical community (three major hospitals) and many other job opportunities! There is already a busy mall, and rumors of a second to come soon. Several major department stores, a zoo and THREE Wal-Mart Supercenters!! :)

All interested parties please reply to this post for further information!
Thank you for your consideration!

Birthday Week!

Well, the last week has been quite busy! Angie, Dad and I all have birthdays within a week! Angie's as you know was Tuesday, mine was Saturday and Dad's on Monday. My Grandmother's birthday was the 29th... it's hard to believe she has been gone almost four years! We still miss her.

Friday night we had Angie's party. Everyone dressed up as an historical character and we played 20 questions to try to guess their character. We had a lot of fun with that. Wonder if you can guess who I was? :)

Saturday we just had a little get together for pizza and cake at our house. I told Mom that after the big Bang the night before, I would be satisfied with a little "pop" that day! :) So we had my family, and Mark's family and our adopted grandparents, Bill and April.

Dad said that millions celebrated his birthday... it was Labor Day! :) He wanted to get together with people. We had a hot dog roast and a bunch of other great food at my parents house and invited people from church. We had a fun time with everyone!

So here are some of the pictures from the past week. If you want to see more indepth, just go to my public gallery.

Birthday Week 2007

Happy Birthday....

Dad!!!!!
our favorite Confederate




Hope you have a wonderful birthday.
We love you!
Mark and Chari