We Remember

Happy Memorial Day!

Six years ago today...

 

...and what wonderful six years they have been!!!

I love you, Mark!

Finished Object Friday

Happy Friday, all! Are you ready for the holiday weekend? It's been a really busy week for me - but a good one. Although kindof bittersweet because yesterday was my last day at my part time job. I will miss my coworkers and my "regulars!" :) My summer schedule is just so busy, that something had to give. Change is tough. always. for me. But I will have more time at home - and I'm looking forward to doing more "crafty" things! :)

But enough of my news.... I want to share a cake I made for a friend's very special birthday a few weeks ago! :)

We did a cowgirl themed party - so we needed a nice hat to go with it!

Close up of the cake:

And how about some cupcakes (with fun toppers?!) :)

One of the reasons I did a hat AND cupcakes was special for Lorie. She is allergic to gluten, so the hat (except for the candy band) was gluten free!! The cupcakes were just a mix - and quick.***Eta: Lorie's cake was from a mix as well. From the baking aisle in the grocery store. There are some good gluten free cake recipes out there - I just went the easy/cheaper-for-me route. :)  ***

Lorie sure enjoyed her cake! Of course, the fun part is blowing out the candles!

And it's always good to have a "little" help with that! :)

The fun part of her party was the "surprise!" We originally wanted to make the whole party a surprise, but she kept making big plans! Her surprise was that her parents were able to make it down and then spend the weekend here - she even got to go fishing with them (and Angie too...) Fun times!! :)

**Photo credits go to my cousin, Nathan. I thought I had left my camera at home, then realized after the party was mostly over that it was in my purse! Oh. well. It was nice to let someone else take the pictures!! :) **


Now it's your turn!! Maybe you've had more time than me to do some crafting this week. Or maybe you're like me and remembered a project you forgot to share! :) Happy linking!!

Preparing for Rain

We had our first meeting with our adoption agency yesterday. The amount of work necessary for adoption is quite daunting - paperwork, doctor's visits (Needles!! not Mark's favorite thing...) home visits, safety work - the list goes on and on...

Leaving the office after the first meeting - we might look just a little dazed....

And we don't even know what lies at the end of all this - this adventure that we are starting. We don't know who our child will be or who he or she will look like. We don't even know when our child will be born! (but we are expecting!) :)

The meeting yesterday - though overwhelming - was also encouraging. A couple who has adopted two children came and spoke to our group. When she spoke about her child being laid in her arms for the first time, it brought tears to my eyes (her tears didn't help matters any...) :) Such a sweet story - and God is in the process of writing our story.

Yesterday evening, I was reading a book (Jo's Boys by Alcott) and came across this line" Get the distaff ready and the Lord will send the flax." It reminded me of this clip from Facing the Giants:



"Preparing the field" - that's what we are doing now. We've got a whole lot more preparing to do than most parents, perhaps. (I wonder how many children would be born, if all parents had these requirements?? How committed would most people be to becoming parents? - those questions are freebies - no extra charge!) :) But when the rain comes, we'll be ready! We don't know what the storm holds - it could be frightening! But only God knows the end of our story.

PS - You might want to have an umbrella handy!! We're expecting rain!

Finished Object Friday

Ok, so, yes... It's actually SATURDAY... but by the time Blogger got it's act together it was a bit late for a Finished Object Friday post. :)

I'm really excited about this one. For one reason, I've been working on it since October 29! (Ravelry is a wonderful way to keep track of those things...) You may even remember me blogging about it last fall - it's at the bottom of this post.This is my "Hope" blanket for our (hopefully fairly soon!) to be adopted little sweetheart!

It's not super big - about 2 1/2 feet across, but perfect for a carseat blanket. And so soft! I love Cottontots yarn! This one is my favorite colorway - Confetti - which I just figured out has been discontinued! BOOOO!! anyway... back to regular programing.


It wasn't too hard of a pattern. After finishing the star in the middle, the rest was pretty much just mindless knitting - great for doing while watching a dvd! :) Here is the link to the original star pattern. I just continued with increases to make it into a blanket. Love it! :)


For those wondering, our adoption process has been rather stuck for the past few months, but we finally have a date for our first meeting - then bring on the paperwork!! :) After that, it's time for another meeting and then the homestudy - and at last more waiting. We will then be put on a list for birthmothers to choose from. Such an exciting time, and a little scary too! :) So we are "expecting" we just don't know the "due" date! :)

Now it's on to other knitting... :) So, any projects from y'all? (Even if this post is a day late...) Happy weekend, everyone!

Finally!!

Ok, now that Blogger is finally back up!! wow. Anyway. Obviously, I didn't get a FOF posted yet, but today is the day!! I am excited to share my finished object, but that will have to come in the morning. :) Hope you all had a wonderful Friday - I'll see you tomorrow for Finished Object Friday Saturday! :)

Some are slow....

Remember the wall?? Well, it has taken me a while to figure out what I wanted over my bed... so every since November, this is what it has looked like:


Now? It looks like this:


Beautiful, huh? Mark wondered a bit about it when he came home to those first two taped up there. I figured out (after the door didn't work) that I wanted to do a gallery wall. However, I knew the cheapest place to get frames was the sale... so I patiently waited for the Spring sale! :) I didn't just buy dishcloths and glassware... I also bought quite an assortment of frames! Some 25 cents to up to two or three dollars. But still pretty cheap! :) 

Yes, I guess I'm a Slow Decorator... but that's ok. Because the Nester says it's ok. :)

So now? We may live with the paper for a while. But maybe not too long. I think I'm liking it. What do you think? Are you a slow decorator too? Or do you know instantly what you are headed for?

Departures

Speaking of summer reading, I have another book to review!! :)

I was so excited to get a review copy of Departures by Robin Jones Gunn. I have loved her Christy Miller series for years - wonderful books for teen girls! I also loved the Sierra Jensen series. Departures is a book of two stories, one about Christy and the other about Sierra. Reading this was like visiting with old friends!

In each story, the heroine takes a summer trip in which she learns a lot about herself and growing up. Christy visits her hometown for her grandparents' anniversary celebration and Sierra treks to a mountain cabin with friends. I love the philosophy in Robin's teen books. She encourages her young readers to take the high road when it comes to relationships with their friends, with boys and most importantly with God. For example, one of my favorite quotes from this book: "Christy slowly mouthed the word commitment, as if it were the key to this puzzle she was trying to put together. It certainly was a main ingredient in any kind of relationship that was going to stand the test of time." I would recommend this book to others, as I have Robin's other books many times!

I received this book from Waterbrook Multnomah's Blogging for Books program. All opinions are my own. Thank you. :)

Please rank my review here: Thanks!! :)

Summer reading...

Ok. so it's not really summer yet, but this Texas weather has got me feeling like it's close (this week anyway...) :)

I'm not sure what it is about summer, but I have this urge to read!! :) I think it comes from my summers growing up. Remember keeping lists of all the books you read for the library reading program? I always hoped to win a prize. I never did. On the other hand, my sister always seemed to be winning things. Maybe by the time she was into reading they had more prizes. :)  (We are just days from being exactly ten years apart.)  :) Or if it wasn't the library reading program, it was the required books for school. Of course, the required ones are never quite as fun as the ones you got to pick! :)

Today I came home with quite a stack. I'm not sure which ones I will actually finish, I was just having a hard time picking. Of course, I don't have quite the time to read as I did "back in the day." But I am still a fast reader... :)

Do you remember summer reading programs? Maybe you won a prize! :)  Have you read any of the books above? Any good books I should know about for this summer's reading?

PS~ If you haven't hopped over from your reader, my blog has an all new "summery" look!

Around the house

Happy Friday!! This week has been rather busy for me, in case you hadn't noticed! :)  But I'm ready to get back into a little more blogging! :)

It has been a little while since I did a post on my little garden. It is growing by leaps and bounds! Love it!! I am so ready to have some fresh tomatoes and cucumbers...

The cucumbers are doing great, by the way... see them in the left corner of my little plot? I did end up planting a few more seeds in the ground. I think they actually do better that way rather then starting them indoors.

Here is my little garden "annex" at the front of our house:

That is peppermint taking over, with basil and a little bit of dill. :) Yum! :)


Last Friday was our favorite sale!! I got a few things, some I will be sharing later.. :) Here are a few of my favorites.

Dishcloths!! They are much easier to buy for 25 cents than to knit myself. It's a shame that people don't recognize what they are - most of them were marked "potholders." (I wouldn't want to handle a hot pan with one!) They washed up rather well!

I also got a few assorted glass containers. My favorite is that ice bucket. (Which incidentally did not come with a lid, but Mom and I found one in a different spot - I think it matches rather well!)

After a bit of scrubbing, it is serving it's purpose wonderfully...

It almost makes doing laundry fun! :)

And it is the perfect container for my homemade laundry soap! :) (which I am still enjoying, by the way. I will certainly be making it again!)