Chari Tree Chat

Whew. I don't know about you, but the last couple of weeks have been a doozy for me! As I mentioned in my last post, we had VBS at our church last week. That's a lot of work! We did a camping theme, and had lots of fun with that! We turned our church into a "forest!"



It's pretty funny asking to borrow Christmas trees in June! I thought the decor turned out pretty cute!

One of the highlights of our vbs was "Rascal." The kiddos loved him and he showed up in a different place each night (cooler, trash can, sleeping bag...) (Rascal is the fourth puppet we've bought of this brand and the kiddos love them - so realistic and cute too. We've only actually used one other so far, but Woolly is still a favorite.)


Saturday was our big picnic. Mark made "s'mores" since I was so busy with everything else. (Melt chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk, then stir in the marshmallows. Sandwich between graham crackers - super easy!) :)


Lorie set up an obstacle course for one of our activities. One of the "obstacles" was to set up a tent in the "rain!" I think that would have been my favorite part! (It was a little warm!) :)


So this week (after breaking down VBS stuff Monday evening) has been pretty slow - I really crashed. whew. I have got a lot of tomatoes from my garden, though. This picture is from a couple of weeks ago. I picked a lot more tomatoes this week!

My peppers aren't doing as well now, and neither are my cucumbers - it's way to hot! I picked a few watermelon, but they certainly didn't get very big! The one I've tasted so far was really sweet though! I guess these are what you would call "personal melons!" :)



One more thing: while doing some shopping for VBS prizes, I ran across some cds that I got super excited about! Maybe someone else remembers the Music Machine or Bullfrogs and Butterflies? I loved them as a kid (although I listened to mine on LPs!) :) I have been enjoying listening to some tunes from my "past" (and getting ideas of some songs to use for our kiddos.) Here is a bit from one of the cds:

The Bullfrogs and Butterflies cds I got don't have songs that I remember - I just found that there are actually four cds from this series. Maybe eventually I can buy the one I remember! :) 

I hope you all have had a great week!! Maybe it's time we all had some easy summer living, right? :)

Finished Object Friday

Whew! I don't know about you all, but I've had a whirlwind of a week!! Our church has been in VBS this week and I've been heading it up. We've been having a blast and the kids have been loving it! ...but boy, does this stuff wear you out! :) But on to FOF!

Before all the craziness of this week, we had a surprise birthday party for one of our good friends. And for me? a party calls for a cake! And if I can make a fun one I will. (Remember this one, and this one?) And since I had made an ambulance for our friend Andrew, I figured Jacob needed a cop car!

 

I didn't model this cake after his squad car, but I did the next best thing... Can you guess what car this cake is modeled after? (Here's a hint!) :) 

(The other side)

I have such fun making cakes!! (And really I'd much rather make one, than eat a dry grocery store cake. No offense to those of you that may like them...) :) Oh, and starting September 1 (happy birthday, me!) I can legally bake and sell my cakes from my home, thanks to our governor for signing the Texas Baker's Bill!! Who knows? Maybe you'll see more cakes here? 

Oh, and one last picture...

I think he liked his cake. :) It was fun to really surprise someone! (Unlike our last effort at a surprise party....) Of course, it was a bit easier since his birthday was still about three weeks away! heehee!

Now it's your turn!! I can't wait to see what you all have done!! :)

Summertime Treat

104 degrees. Really. It's only June. (I worry about what August will bring!) With that kind of heat here in East Texas, our main concern is keeping cool! (Thank you, Lord, for air conditioning!!!) Of course, cool treats are a must for summer. I wanted to share these popsicles I came up with - so light and yummy and pretty healthy too!!



I got this popsicle mold last month and I'm kindof wishing I'd bought two! My "recipe" was kindof by accident... I made this dessert for my mom's birthday, and had some leftover jello mixture. So why not try freezing it? Those were some of the best popsicles!! YUM! The best part is that the whipped topping makes a softer frozen treat - no teeth chipping! :) My second batch didn't have as much whipped topping, so the mixture separated a bit before it froze - still good, but I liked the first better.

Here is my first batch ready to eat:

(Yes, the top picture does have plastic knives in it. I find the ones with holes in the handles work best to keep the treat from sliding off. Spoons would be a little safer, but knives work fine for adults.)

I think these would be great for kiddos - you can stick all kinds of goodies in there! They can be eating healthy and not even know it! I make these with minimal sugar and my last batch I used blueberries, blackberries and strawberries! (but no nuts this time.)

Do you have a favorite popsicle recipe? Please share! I'd love to try some new ones!! YuM!! :)

A List

Foseball.
and Laughter.
Bible stories.
Hot Tamales.
Prayer.
and Laughter.
Stick shift lessons.
Target practice.
and more laughter.

What do all these things have in common? These few (and many more) are some of the things I remember doing with my dad and some of them I STILL do with my dad!

Thanks, Dad, for being there. Thanks for the prayers and thanks for the laughter!! I love you!! Happy Father's Day!!

Finished Object Friday

Mom and I did some sewing last Saturday. I had been eying some fabric at Hobby Lobby for quite some time. When I finally decided to get it, the lady marked it 1/2 off!! So we decided to buy the rest of the bolt and make everyone matching skirts... then we did a little extra: (heehee!)


See? We all match!! It's all in the family! :)

I'm loving my skirt too!! So comfy - and simple, just one straight seam and hem and elastic at the top. Mom and I both worked on the skirts, and I did most of the tie work myself (using this tutorial - easy!) I have a feeling if there is a little boy in my future, he will be getting some bow ties! :)

(This is the guys' "I'm cool enough to wear a funky bow tie" look!) :)
That's our friend Andrew on the left.


Oh, and the guys were great sports and wore them into church.

When our pastor asked Mark about his tie, Mark said, "My wife made me do it."
Andrew's answer? "HIS wife made me do it!" heehee!! Thanks for putting up with us guys!!

So how about you? I can't wait to see your crafty projects!! :)

A Distant Melody

My last book review was a bit of a downer, I know. Believe me, I was disappointed as well! However, the more I read A Distant Melody by Sarah Sundin, the more excited I became. This is an excellent book!! First, a small synopsis:

Allie is an heiress to a fortune, and she has always done everything just as she "should" at least according to her parents. June 1942, World War II is just beginning. While visiting for a friends wedding, Allie meets Walt and her world is turned upside down. Walt is a pilot with the Army Air Force. But there is a problem. Allie is dating Baxter, and according to her parents, should be a good girl and marry him so the family fortune remains in good hands. But I don't want to give anything away!! It really is a cliffhanger until the end! Excellent story!

But should Christian fiction just be about "good stories?" Shouldn't it go deeper than just a story, and should it not ride the fence of appropriateness? Allie and Walt struggle with real life issues. And they try to deal with those issues Biblically. Here are just a few of the themes dealt with in this book:

• Telling the truth at all times
• Not being unequally yoked with an unbeliever
• Obedience to God rather than sacrifice
• The power of prayer

Wow. That's some good stuff. Not only that, but from what I can tell it's pretty historically accurate. (I haven't done a whole lot of in depth study of WWII.)  The writing is also excellent, this one, like my last review is a debut novel. You can tell that the author has done her research and knows her era. My only major issue about this book is "What took me so long to read it??" :) 

I know I've done a lot of reviews in the last few weeks, and I hope you aren't tired of them. This book isn't even for a review program - no one gave it to me to review, I got it from the library. You know I like to share good books and this one merited it's own review. (You can purchase it here.)

PS~ Just in case you are interested - I've been keeping my Book List page updated! :) 

Spring for Susannah

Spring for Susannah is a historical fiction book about a mail order bride and her adjustments to Dakota frontier territory. Susannah, out of options in her hometown now that both of her parents have died, marries her minister's brother, Jesse, by proxy before heading out to meet him for the first time. This book is about her adventures and adjustments to married life as well as life on the frontier in a sod house. She also has the adjustment of getting to know her husband, who is suffering from post tramatic stress dissorder - residual from the Civil War.

I looked forward to reading this book because I love reading books about couples who are married and then fall in love. (Think Love Comes Softly.) This book has a good basis for a story line, and the writing is pretty well done - especially for a first novel - but was a little hard to follow at times. What I didn't like about this particular book, however, is that the author put too much emphasis on the physical aspects of their marriage. Any reader of this type of story line knows that this conflict is there, but I believe it is up to Christian fiction to hold to a higher standard. I think the author would have done well to focus more on other conflicts that deserved more than a cursory mention - such as the stress disorder faced by Jesse. So to summarize, while I enjoyed the book overall, there were parts that made me uncomfortable, and I certainly wouldn't recommend it to an unmarried person.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Booksneeze gave me this book in exchange for a honest review.

The Garden Times

In this edition of the Garden Times, we will visit my garden and see how much it has grown since our last visit!

I'm not sure if I should be surprised or not, but it has grown rather well!!

I've gotten a bit of ripe fruit - mainly cherry tomatoes. I seem to do really well with those, but the stawberries have been really good - the few I've picked. This are my biggest so far... any strawberry tips you have would be greatly appreciated! :)

And I have a bit of fruit that I am eager to get ripe!

Here's something else colorful - in my herb garden! :)

Finished!! (well...almost...)

Ready for some before and afters? Well, we'll start with a "after" because I like the pretty pictures to be first! heehee!

 

Just to get everything in perspective... this is what our bedroom looked like from the time we moved in, until about a year ago...

But I was ready for a change - here was my "let's see how this looks" photo...

Then with some help from a friend - it looked like this:

 

 Look how similar the paint ended up! (well... it looks pretty close in person - it's sooo hard to get colors right on the camera!) :)

A few weeks ago, you saw this:

Now look!

I still want to get a wreath for the big frame, then hang the "M" on top of that, but I haven't found one yet. Something similar to this. (Anyone know why HobbLobb doesn't carry pretty wreaths???) Any ideas where to find one for a good price? :)

But in all, I've been tickled with how this turned out. The funny thing was that I orginally planned to paint everything cream, but decided to first hang it all and see how I liked it. After getting everything hung, I'm so glad I didn't paint anything!! I love it just the way it is! :)

And this picture?

I just got it for the frame! But once I got it home (and out of the "thrift shop pile of frames") I REALLY liked it, and it matches perfectly! And brings something a little different than just empty frames or mirrors. Just goes to show, you never know! Give something a try and you might just like it, right?? :)