Sunday Blessing

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
E'en though it be a cross that raiseth me;
Still all my song would be nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,
Darkness be over me, my rest a stone;
Yet in my dreams I'd be nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

There let the way appear steps unto heav'n;
All that Thou sendest me in mercy giv'n;
Angels to beckon me nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

The with my waking thoughts bright with Thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs Bethel I'll raise;
So by my woes to be nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

Or if on joyful wing, cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot, upwards I fly,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

from Nearer My God To Thee
by Sarah F. Adams

Valentine's Tea

The ornaments of your house will be the guests who frequent it.

~Author Unknown

I have been planning to host a Valentine's Tea since... well, way before Valentine's Day. :) But due to various circumstances, the tea party kept getting postponed - until today!! I had Regina and her girls, Mom and Angie over for a tea party. I didn't do a whole lot of prep work or stress out about everything being perfect. The goal was to have a fun time! Here is the big people's table:

Note the sippy cup and extra setting for the littlest one - what was I thinking?

And the little people's table:

Only two place settings?

When the came in, the littlest one promptly settled in right there.

See the stroller in the back? It was for her. :) She is getting so big so fast!

They all had a fun time sipping tea (or milk) and eating scones.

Here are the big girls getting ready to enjoy their tea!

I don't think you can tell in this picture, but the whole time we were enjoying tea, a gentle snow was falling outside!! Perfect weather for a winter tea party! :)

We all had a very enjoyable time! We ladies decided that we should be doing this more often. It's so enjoyable to get together and visit and enjoy good food!

On the Menu:
~Tea - Berry and Manderine Orange Spice flavors
~Fruit salad - I put a little cherry jello in the cool whip to make it pink - it was also a little extra yum factor! :)
~Quiche - Regina made this - super yummy! We won't talk about how much I ate!
~Lemon Scones with lemon glaze. These scones are pretty sticky so I end up cooking them like drop biscuits instead of cutting them into triangles. The last few I added dried cranberries. I was wishing I had added them to the whole batch - very yummy! ( I love cranberries!) I used this recipe - without the poppy seeds and lemon curd.

Sunday Blessing

Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of all nature
O Thou of God and man the Son
Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor
Thou, my soul's glory, joy and crown.

Fair is the sunshine, fairer still the moonlight
And all the Twinkling starry host
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
Than all the angels heaven can boast.

Beautiful Savior, Lord of all nations
Son of God and Son of Man
Glory and honor, praise, adoration
Now and forever more be Thine!

from Fairest Lord Jesus
by Munster Gesangbuch; trans. by Joseph August Seiss

~Thanks to Angie for letting me use this picture for Sunday Blessing! (No it isn't current... although I have seen some daffodils in bloom!) :)

Spring is coming!

and I have cookies to prove it:

heehee... I couldn't resist buying these yesterday! I love spring time!

However, the cookies aren't the only way I know spring is on it's way... it has been an absolutively gorgeous day!! My tree is loving this weather.

Actually my bonsai thought that spring was here weeks ago when it began to leaf out! :) I'm so happy it's still alive. It was looking rather bleak this winter. I guess it just needed a rest.

I'm taking advantage of the lovely weather to get some spray painting done.

I've had some windows open and am loving the fresh air in the house! Then again, there is snow in the forecast for next week! Crazy - is this Texas or not? :) I hope everyone is having a wonderful Saturday as well! Thank you for all the sweet comments on the blocks!

Finished Object Friday

Wow. It seems like Finished Object Friday comes around so fast - even with having it every other week!! :) Here's a little project I did for Baby Piper. (Silly me - forgot to take a picture before sending it off. Melissa, I snagged one of yours.) :)

I had fun, again, making these blocks. Aren't 3D things like this great? I used this awesome tutorial. Remember the blocks I made a while back? I stepped "production" up a bit for Piper's - I added a bell to one. After I finished, I almost wished I had added one to each of the blocks. I loved the bell inside, and more importantly, so does Piper! :)

Insider tip - These are the bells I bought for such projects:

You can find them in the pet aisle! Yep, they are kitty toys. What's great is that even if the block happens to come unsewn, there is a large cage around the little bell. Just a little extra safety. Also, the cage makes the jingling a little louder! :)

So now it's your turn! If you are new to FOF, be sure to read up on the guidelines here. I can't wait to see what everyone has been up to! :)

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Rice heating pads. Valentines Day Treat Bag Toppers

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Recap

You readers up north may just have to bear with me. (or just skip to the end of this post...) :) I am still in awe that my neighborhood looked like this a few days ago!

See - the snowman got more snow after we finished him up! :)

My poor little duck really started looking cold:

(This is my other duck.... the one in this post wasn't very recognizable under all the snow.)

Everything was SOO beautiful!!

Can you find the snow angel?

Mark and I had our Valentine celebration on Saturday. I made him a yummy meal and also made those cookies. :) He gave me this:

hmm... he knows me well! :)

On Sunday, we went to my parents' for dinner. Angie and Mom had made this lovely cake (yummy, too!!)

PS~ If you are reading in a reader or on Facebook, you may want to pop over and see my pretty blog redesign. :)

Sunday Blessing

Jesus loves me! This I know,
For the Bible tells me so;
Little ones to Him belong,
They are weak but He is strong.

Chorus:
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.

Jesus loves me! He who died,
Heaven's gate to open wide;
He will wash away my sin,
Let His little child come in.

from Jesus Loves Me
by Anna B. Warner

Happy Valentine's Day!
(Jesus is everyone's Valentine, right?) :)

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I made cookies yesterday - I was in the mood to cook something heartshaped! :) They were very yummy!! (My great-grandmother's sugar cookie recipe with homemade frosting!)

Come back tomorrow for a few more snow pictures and a little more about our Valentine's day! :) (I know those of you up north are probably thinking, "so what?" about the snow pictures... but I'm still in awe of the winter wonderland we had down here in Texas! So beautiful!!)

A little more snow!

This evening, I convinced Mark to come out and help me build a snowman.

It was chilly, but we had fun making this guy!

I do believe that this is the biggest snowman I've ever made! I am still in shock that we got this much snow! And the funny thing is, our thermometer is still only reading 34 degrees! :)

Isn't he cute?

It's so pretty out there! Doesn't our house look cozy?

I prayed for one pretty snow, and we got it! YAY! (So does that mean spring starts next week?) :)

Snowy day!

Doesn't this little guy look tickled pink to be playing in the snow? :) (Of course, he looks tickled pink all the time...) Such a beautiful day!!!

Sunday Blessing

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way
Search me and try me, Master, today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,
As in Thy presence humbly I bow.

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Hold o’er my being absolute sway!
Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me.

from Have Thine Own Way
by Adelaide A. Pollard

Finished Object Friday

This post could also be called "Sunshine and Shadows." I've been knitting recently (Surprise!) and I wanted to share what I've been up to. First the "Sunshine:"

I tried out Wally World's brand of cotton for dishcloths - some knitters prefer it to Sugar and Cream. I wondered if perhaps this Peaches and Cream would stay softer longer. I did have fun knitting in this color - I love yellow! - and it was very cheerful on these dreary winter days.

It should make working in the kitchen cheerful too, right? :)

Here's the downside to the brand:

Yep. Not enough yarn. In Sugar and Cream, I can consistently get two dishcloths out of one skein. (Hmm... now that I think of it, maybe this pattern takes a little more yarn than Granny's Fav?) Anyway... instead of buying another skein and not being able to finish for FOF! I just improvised with some scraps from another project! Fun, huh? In knitting, we don't call it a mistake or mess up. It's a "design feature."

Now for the shadows: First a little explanation. One of our church friends hurt his hand last fall pretty bad. He actually severed a tendon in his thumb and it got really infected. So after a hospital stay, surgeries, and therapy, he is on the mend, though not completely for several months. He was doing a little work outside the other day and discovered that the injured thumb got cold very easily. He asked if I could make a mitten for his thumb! So this is the result, completed in probably less than two hours yesterday:

Isn't it the funniest looking thing? :) It is a men's handwarmer with a thumb.

Here it is modeled by my hubby:

Looks like it will work pretty good! (So long as he can get it on - the caston on the cuff is a little tight.)

Mark gave it a thumbs up anyway!

What I learned new with this project: Increases for the gusset. Actually knitting a whole thumb, not just the start of one. And Make 1 increases. Fun stuff! :) Oh, and I used what yarn was left from Mark's hat, all I had left after the wrist warmer was less than a yard. Yay! :)

Yay! Now it's your turn! If you are new to FOF, click here to learn more and to find out "how to." Other than that, links are added below! :)

Happy Friday!

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Brittanys Repurposed Cabinet Door

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Happy February!!

Yay for a new month! Isn't it always like getting a fresh start? (Kindof like a new year in minature!) :) Ok, I'll quit waxing eloquent....

The real reason for this blog post is because we have a winner!

Way to go, Tammy!

Like usual, I do my drawings the old fashioned way. Mark is so sweet to help me out on the drawings. I think he enjoys the fun almost as much as I do! :)

So, Tammy, email me so I can get your info and pop Sense and Sensibility in the mail to you!
charitree (at) gmail (dot) com

Happy February, everyone!!