Making History

Today was a first for this year! "First for what?" you ask? It is the first day this summer in East Texas that temperatures have reached 100 degrees! Yes, it was rather warm today! A real Texas summer day! :) The first of more to come, I'm sure... :) But it does feel a little more normal, somehow!

I got my first real rose on my rose bush! The three blooms that were on it when I planted it got eaten and I thought that it wasn't going to make it. But the one little stalk that remains has bloomed at last! :) It really doesn't take much to make me happy! :)

I also made and decorated a cake today. Tomorrow is our Pastor and his wife's anniversary. The cake is chocolate with strawberry preserve filling... Yum!! I also dipped strawberries and made chocolate hearts, letters and curlicues. Does it look good enough to eat?? :)


Here is the cake recipe... It is very easy, one of the first things I ever baked, and it turns out wonderfully moist. A very hard recipe to mess up, it can be done, although I'm not sure how! :) It also doubles quite well, though it takes a lot longer to bake.

Stir Cake or Wacky Cake:

(to be finished when I have more energy and time!!) :)

New Tool!

It's the Embellish-knit from Bond America.

It really speeds up knitting an I-cord - a process that takes me forever doing it by hand! (Like ten minutes vs. an hour! though I've never timed myself.) I have been experimenting with different yarns. It doesn't take all types, only very small yarn, which is a drawback. But I haven't had many difficulties with the machine when I use the right yarn. Overall, it will come in very handy, I'll just have to adapt my projects and find matching small yarn! :) So it's off to Hobby Lobby again today, I think! :)

Saturday Project

The finished product:I've had this mirror for a while - someone gave it to us. I'm not a big fan of gold like this... but a little paint and sandpaper did the trick!

Before I started: ...the swag is just plopped up there.
The frame is very dark and heavy looking, but I like the scrolling design.
(Click on the pictures to see them bigger.)

In the middle of the process:
I decided to paint first and sand later, the spray pant I used was incredibly fast drying so rubbing off the fresh paint didn't work very well. I liked the sanding because I felt I had more control over the final product versus smearing fresh paint.

I used a fine grade of sand paper to rough up the corners and scrolling. I didn't put a sealant on it. The effect is a distressed look anyway and I also didn't buy any! :)

I like the finished product much better than what it was before (obviously, or I wouldn't be posting, right?) :) The mirror now hangs in our guest bedroom. I want to eventually paint this room, probably a pale green. The quilt on the bed I bought last week or so. The pictures reflected in the mirror are my Grandpa (dad's dad) and his brother, Henry(left) taken in the late thirties/early forties.
I love having my own house to decorate! ... Now if I can only get the family room to look like what I have envisioned!! :)

One more for July!!!

I can't believe July is almost over! It seems like we were just celebrating Christmas! This year is flying by... or maybe it is just because I am getting older! Speaking of Christmas, I am going to get shopping done early this year!! I want to enjoy the season. I know, I have a while, but it will be here before you know it. I've already ordered more Christmas music. Jim Brickman just put out a new cd, and I pre-ordered it.

Anyway, last Sunday (yes, a week ago) we finished up camp at Big Sandy, TX. You can see pictures on the Pilgrim Nazarene website, as well as watch video or listen to the services. I am putting some of my favorites in an album below, most are taken from the website.
On the PNC website, there is also a link to Andrea's CarePage, Troy and Jenn have been faithful to post updates, so we know what is going on and how to help pray. My heart just goes out to them all. Andrea is having a hard time with all the "pokes." But she enjoys visits from the "Toy Man" and family and friends.

Our church is doing a "Summer Bible Club" next month. I will be busy with that - I am using my program that I used at camp. We are praying that this will be the start of a good kids program and bring in parents as well. We really want to build up our church.

I guess I don't have a lot of other news, and I haven't spent a lot of time philosophizing, so you don't get any deep posts for now... maybe later. I have spent my "deep" thinking on my other blog. I did a lot of study on modesty for Sunday School, and I felt that the Lord wanted me to make available to more young girls. So therefore the blog. It really hasn't caught on yet. I want it to be interactive. I am still working with it, and making it more appealing.

Anyway, here are the pictures:

PNC Camp Etc...

Oh, and check out the poll to the right. It's a fun little gadget! :)

Prayer Request

Please help us pray!! My cousin, Troy, (second or third cousin, something like that) is a minster in Missouri. He and his wife, Jennifer have five children from three to thirteen. Their youngest, Andrea, was diagnosed Sunday night with Pre B ALL Leukemia. Thankfully, this is the form with the highest cure rate and doctors know the most about it. However, she has a rough road ahead. She had surgery to put a port in her chest, a spinal tap, and her first chemo yesterday. The following is a quote that Jennifer put on Andrea's patient update website:

Troy and the kids stayed up for several hours [after surgery Tuesday evening] and played with Andrea then went back to the motel to get some rest. While my mom and I were cleaning up the room and getting ready for bed, Andrea was laying in her bed and she started singing a little kids chorus that I didn't even know she knew. The words are " I am just a child, my life is still before me, I just can't wait to see what God has for me, but I know that I will trust Him and I'll wait to see what life will bring for me" My mom and I felt angels all around the room as she sang in over and over! I believe that God has something really special in store for Andrea's life and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He will be with us every step of the way!

Please help us pray that the Lord will continue to strengthen this whole family.

Andrea (3) center. Clockwise: Lauren(13), Tyler (8), Luke (11), Troy, Jennifer, Travis (6)