Happy Anniversary!!!

To my Mom and Dad!!!

Thank you for your wonderful example of loving
commitment in your marriage.
We love you very much!


Love,
Mark and Chari

PS~ See the lamp? Dad is full of bright ideas! Sorry, I couldn't resist! :)

Finished Object Friday

It's Friday! I hope everyone has had a good week. I have, although I've been busy, but that's half the fun! :) I have done so many various and sundry projects recently. (over the past month or so, not just this week.) I never knew that I would become such a "crafty" person! And I probably never could have guessed that I would enjoy sewing as much as I have. But surprise! I've been sewing again this week. Wednesday feels like a sewing day to me for some reason.

Anyway, here is what I did:

The motivation behind this project is that I'm almost out of the Mary Engelbreit napkins I picked up for $1.00 a package several months ago. I thought that we would try the cloth napkins. My grandmother sent me this material for my birthday last year. I'm finally getting around to using it!


They match my crepe myrtle perfectly!

That's my finished object for this Friday. So here's the deal. I thought it would be fun to share our finished objects! Just do a blog post of your craft - it doesn't even have to be finished, maybe you've just finished a big step of your project! It can be any and all crafts: knitting, crocheting, scrapbooking, sewing, magnets... the list could go on... It can also be anything you have done at any time - not just from the past week. (Just as long as it's clean. I reserve the right to remove any links at my discretion.)

How to:
1. Write a post on your own blog. (Include pictures, please!) :)
2. Link back to this F. O. F. post in your post. (guess that really goes with #1, anyway, on to 3!)
3. Link to Mr. Linky below, using the permalink - the link for that specific post.
4. Enjoy looking at everyone else's projects! :)

Once Upon a Time...

there were four little Rabbits, and their names were - Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter...

Many children have grown up with the adventures of Peter and friends. He has become a household name since his popularity with the first published book in 1901. Gracie, my "adopted niece," really enjoyed Peter for a while, and still does. I think she was always a little afraid of "Mr. Gregor." :) I have collected a few various items relating to Peter and Beatrix Potter.

The dress and the book at the far left were mine as a little girl.

I love this set of books. They are just the right size! They are also very similar in size and setup to those that were originally published by F. Warne & Co. in the early 1900's.


I found these two Peter's at a garage sale and couldn't resist them! :)


I love the movie Miss Potter. I don't own it (yet) but I did find this book at a discount book store. It has a lot of interesting facts about Beatrix's life as well as about the movie.


Renee Zellweger as Beatrix Potter
(Image Source)
Speaking of the movie, I highly recommend it! I have enjoyed it multiple times. It is very beautifully filmed and is mostly accurate. I think it is very true to the person of Beatrix Potter and how her personality might have been.

For more Show and Tell visit Kelli's Blog.
Thanks for dropping by! Feel free to look around while you are here.

Blessings!

Crafts, and other news...

I left a hint in my post on Saturday about projects I was working on. I know you are all anxiously awaiting my next crafty production. Ok, maybe not. :) But just for fun, I'll share!

I have been wanting to make little magnets for a while. I did make these a while ago, but I wanted to make others using this tutorial. (Great tute by the way!) They are fun to make! Here are the ones that I made for myself:

Didn't you know they would be Coke? :) The pictures are from a tear off calender that I had a few years ago. and, yes, I can tend to be a pack rat, but, Hey, it came in handy! :)

The other ones I made were for our friend Bill. He and his wife, April, are our "adopted" grandparents.

Bill turns 80 this week and his daughter planned a surprise party for him Saturday at a local restaurant. We had a fun time. Here is the link to pictures:

Bill's 80th

So, for the craft... Bill is a rock hound. He is the former president of the local Gem and Mineral Society. I wanted to give him something fun, and a little useful, too. Hence the magnets! :)

First the container... I covered a small tin, recycled. (Told you I'm a pack rat.) Here is the top:

And inside:

And put these in it:

In case you can't tell, those are pictures of Mark and I. They didn't have time to dry completely, and thus fell apart. :( Helpful hint, make them the day before! The Coke ones worked great. It's also hard to leave something alone while it dries. I always want to see how it's progressing. :)
But, Bill liked it, and that's what's important!


So, til later!
Blessings!

PS~ Happy Birthday, Bill!

Sunday Blessing

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my yeilded heart to Thee.
Let me know Thee in Thy fullness;
Guide me by Thy mighty hand
Till, transformed in Thine own image
In Thy presence I shall stand.

Come, Thou Fount
by Robert Robinson
3rd stanza alt. 1931

I trust everyone had a nice Sunday. The picture above is of our church steeple. We have been very blessed with a beautiful church building! Our pastor designed it and we have built it bit by bit. The carpet was put in two days before Mark and I got married! :) Three year later, we are still working on it, but it looks great... the Lord has really blessed us!

I hope everyone has a great week!
Blessings!

The Wall

Once upon a time, our house had beautiful landscaping. However, most of it was done with timber that, although treated, in time tends to rot. There is so much to be done when you own your home! Mark's latest project has been replacing a retaining wall with beautiful stone!

It has taken him a while from tearing out the rotten timbers to laying the foundation stones, to (today) finally laying the capstones!! Yay! :)

He has done a good job and I am proud of him. His method of doing a project is to research (go Google!) :) and research and buy materials and carefully finish the job.

I think it looks just great! Here it is in relation to our house!
Excuse the mess... I really need to pull some weeds!

Oh, and the bush to the right needs to be trimmed to the ground.

Anyone have any tips on care for Red-tipped Fotinias?

Have a great Saturday, everyone! I'm off to do some projects! (I'll share later!) :)


Blessings!

Arbitrary Friday

This is going to be a pretty random post, so please bear with me! :)

First of all....

I've mentioned Tip Junkie before. My apron tutorial was featured yesterday in the "Teach Me Thursday" post! :) Fun!

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Second little bit...

I have really enjoyed this blog by Sheila Wray Gregoire, Christian author and speaker:


I encourage you to check her out. She writes some great articles on parenting, marriage, and current social issues, as well as other things. She is also having a giveaway right now!

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Thirdly...

I have been tagged for a meme by Tammy, a fellow Texan serving the Lord with her family in Guatemala! It seems like I just did a similar meme, but it was actually way back last September. (Whew, time flies!) So I will repost a few of the facts from last time and a few new ones. :)

Oh, the rules:
1) Link to the person who tagged me.
2) Mention the rules.
3) Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about myself.
4) Tag 6 other bloggers by linking to them.
5) Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that lets them know they’ve been tagged.

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

2. I've never learned how to swim.

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

4. I have a weakness for books - especially children's books! We have boxes and boxes, and not enough bookshelves! I think I have at least six boxes of children's books, not counting the books that I actually have out!

5. I have recently discovered that I enjoy sewing. No patterns, though... Just making it up as I go along...

6. I love OLD songs... like Stephen Foster and Daniel Decatur Emmett styles and old cowboy songs. There is something charming in the simplicity of those old ballads. Part of this interest was formed by listening to Wee Sing growing up. (Remember those, Melissa?) :)

As for tagging others, I guess I'm going to break the rule! :) But feel free to play along if you would like and consider yourself tagged!

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Well, that's it for a very random Friday! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Keep smiling!

Stopping Assumptions

When thinking of Texas many people automatically think of this:

(Image Source)

This misconception became evident when Mark and I attended Bible College in the midwest, especially when we got to know Mark, a friend from Great Britain, whose dream of traveling to Texas was to go to El Paso. But there is so much more to Texas. Texas is BIG! :) Many regions have their own geographical identity.

THIS is East Texas!

Ok, so it looks a little like desert in front, but that's a work in progress... keep reading! :)

I know many of you have probably been to Texas, or heard me talk of it. Allow me to state once agian - it is beautiful here! :) I'm just a little proud. Anyway, the pictures are of a piece of property that my parents own way out in the boonies of East Texas. (Seriously!) It is absolutely beautiful up there. We were out on Monday, Dad had a road built and an area leveled out. Hopefully there will be a cabin up there someday. For now, maybe just a picnic or so. The view is outstanding!

...and so was the climb!

boy, that's a jungle on either side!


Black-Eyed Susans along the road.

The puppies evidently thought they might be good to eat. :)

These little guys were so cute - and friendly! They enjoyed visiting with us.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the little East Texas tour! I enjoyed being out there with the rest of my family (Mark had to work.) It was a wonderful day. We had some rain and it wasn't hot while we were there. Good thing too... that hill is steep!

Til later!

Sunday Blessing

I then shall live as one who's been forgiven
I'll walk with joy to know my debts are paid
I know my name is clear before my Father
I am His child and I am not afraid
So greatly pardoned, I'll forgive my brother
The law of love I gladly will obey

I then shall live as one who's learned compassion
I've been so loved I'll risk loving, too
I know how fear builds walls instead of bridges
I'll dare to see another's point of view
And when relationships demand commitment
Then I'll be there to care and follow through

Your kingdom come around and through and in me
Your power and glory let them shine through me
Your Hallowed name, oh may I bear with honor
And may Your living Kingdom come in me
The Bread of Life, O' may I share with honor
And may You feed a hungry world through me

I Then Shall Live
lyrics by Gloria Gaither

I know this isn't an "old" hymn, but it is a song that has meant a lot to me. I guess it is sort of my creed. I hope you enjoy the lyrics. (The picture is from my rose bush. My second bloom this season! It is now on my kitchen window sill for me to enjoy.) :) I hope everyone's week is off to a good start!

Blessings!


This is a very enjoyable version of the song. So beautifully done by the Gaither Vocal Band and Signature Sound.

Apron Strings

Ready for something else black, white and red?? Why it's an apron, of course! :) It will soon be mailed off to a friend that got married today. (Congrats to Janae and Cameron!!! Married this afternoon in Indiana.) I finished this up on Thursday and Angie agreed to be my model. :)

I found the fabric when I was looking for material for my curtains.


Of course, it just had to be an apron! :)
To make the apron, I just cut around one of my favorite cherry aprons, made the ties and used bias tape all around it.

We had fun with our photo shoot. Mom even brought out another prop - I'm glad we don't have to use it to do laundry anymore!



A couple more pictures, just for fun!
(Swatting at mosquitoes!)


Isn't she beautiful!!

Fun with Knitting

Several months ago I asked for your opinion on what project I should do next. Well, I recently finished the project that nobody voted for! :) I saw a few of these at Homestead last year and thought they looked like such a great idea. So I was thrilled to find this pattern. I finished it very quickly! It is a very easy pattern to follow and moves right along! :) So here is the finished product:

(Please pardon the self portraiture. It isn't a very flattering photo!) :)

I also have another project that I just finished and am very excited about! However, it is a secret... shhh! I am hoping to see the intended recipient soon and then I will reveal it! :)

Til later!



Oh, for those one or two on Ravelry, here is a link to the Coif in my projects.

Our Fourth!

Today in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read publicly for the first time. (It wouldn't hurt each of us to read over it every now and then. Click on the link for the text of the Declaration.) In a letter to George Washington enclosed with the Declaration, John Hancock wrote:

That our affairs may take a more favorable turn, the Congress have judged it necessary to dissolve the connection between Great Britain and the American colonies, and to declare them free and independent states; as you will perceive by the enclosed Declaration, which I am directed to transmit to you , and to request you will have it proclaimed at the head of the army in the way you shall think most proper.

(From the book 1776, by David McCullough, page 135-6.)

So in the spirit of the season, I am posting my patriotic pictures! :) My parents, Mark and I, and Angie all went up together to spend the Fourth with Mark's family. We had a great time - ate lots of great food, played games, and watched fireworks. Here are the pictures. I hope you enjoy them!

4th Weekend Fun

My mother-in-law has quite a knack for decorating. She decorates for (almost) every season. She had some cute things set out for the Fourth, and she said that I could share them with you here.

Mom's Patriotic Decor

I hope everyone is having a great week! I hope to post some knitting pictures tomorrow, so stay tuned! :)

Blessings!