Birds and Berries

I made these cookies last night. Aren't they cute? :)

They are fun to make, and even more fun if you had a little person to make them with. I know my little friend, Gracey, would love to make them. Maybe next time she comes over. (Note to self: buy more strawberry jello!) :) Another plus, they aren't absolutely loaded with sugar. I know they are covered with it, but they really aren't super sweet. I found the recipe here - another plus was it asked for things I had on hand. So often I find a recipe, and I'm missing one key ingredient! I even had a few slivered almonds for the stems! :) (Although, they are cute enough without stems.)

On to the birds! This little guy has taken up frequent nightly residence in our porch.

I wasn't exactly sure what it was until I looked at the picture. He (or she) is always so fluffed up! I guess he's gotten used to us coming home at night, he rarely flies away! I believe it is a little Jenny Wren. This article calls them plain, but I think they are so cute with their little perky tails! :)

(Image source: www.bbc.co.uk)

I also have a family of cardinals that come daily to the birdfeeder outside my kitchen window. I have enjoyed watching the babies "grow up." :) They are so cute! Last week, the daddy would feed the little girl and she would make the cutest chirping noises. The little boy has already gotten most of his bright feathers. Sometimes the little girl peaks in the window at us. I call her "Anna Mae" and the boy "Caleb." (I recently rewatched Saving Sarah Cain. Good film, even though it differs from the book.)

I hope everyone has a great week! I will post my recent knitting project. I know I promised last week. (I'm sure you are all waiting with bated breath!) Maybe I'll get that done this afternoon. :)

Blessings!

Sunday Blessing

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Refrain

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Great is Thy Faithfulness
by Thomas O. Chisholm

This is one of my favorite hymns. Such a wonderful reminder. The picture is a close up of our crepe myrtle tree out front. (Here is a post with some that I cut.) Also check out my other blog, Time to Bloom, for a new post, Cotton Candy. :)

Blessings!

Finished Object Friday

"Well begun is half done."
~Aristotle~

"And truer words were never spoken."
~ME~

Ok, so I'm not the first to say that last quote, but it certainly applies in this case. :) I finally finished it!!! WHEW, again!

I wasn't in the mood to make this. I didn't even really want to make it. But, it needed to be done and I made myself finish! I had already cut out the long pieces (the solid black and red strips), so I only had to cut out the patterned pieces. I started sewing yesterday and got all but the backing done. After work, I decided that I wanted to get it DONE! (Besides, I wanted to post it here tonight... great motivation!) It certainly isn't my best sewing job, it ended up a little wonky, but it's DONE! :)

I think it makes the family room look so cozy to have them both finished. It is becoming more and more a welcoming room. Very relaxing, cozy and playful, although it is still a work in progress! (I still need shelves for those boxes of books!)

So how about you? Anything finished (or a step of it finished) that you would like to share?
Click here for guidelines on Finished Object Friday.
Click here for other FOF's.

Welcome to Finished Object Friday!

So what is FOF? A while back, I thought it would be fun to share our finished objects! So every other week we get together and share some of the projects that we have finished. To join in, 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.

How to:
1. Write a post on your own blog. (Include pictures, please!) :)
2. Include a link to my current FOF post in your post.
3. Link to Mr. Linky on my blog post using the permalink for your post.
4. Enjoy looking at everyone else's projects ...and don't forget to leave them a comment! :)

To find the permalink, right click the title of your blogpost after you have published it and click "Copy Link Location." This is the permalink for that particular post - versus linking to your entire blog each time.

A little "legal" stuff: Keep it clean. I reserve the right to remove any links at my discretion.
(Not that there should be a problem, I just want to have my bases covered.) :)

Smiles and Pigtails!

This is for all of you that need a smile today!

If that doesn't bring a smile to your face, I don't know what will!

Faithie spent the night with us a couple of weeks ago. We had a lot of fun with her! (She and Gracey are such sweeties!) I took a little time with her hair that morning - it was her first time in braids!

The top of her and Gracey's hair takes a lot longer to grow than the back. Thus they are just recently needing hairstyles to keep it out of their eyes. Faithie's hair is much longer than big sister's at that age, though. Here is Gracey at about the same age - a little older, I think. See how short the top is?

Summer 2006
Here is a picture of a "first" I did in Gracey's hair - pigtails!
She loved it!

October 2007

Recently, I've found several blogs dedicated to little girls hairstyles. These ladies have all kinds of fun with their daughters' hair! So for the mommies out there that want some fresh ideas, or those, like me, who play with someone else's daughter's hair (that's a mouthful!), here are a few of the blogs I've found! :)

Girly Do's by Jenn I love the way she does these "knots!"
Babes in Hairland
She Does Hair

Most of these sites include links to other hairstyle blogs. Have fun!

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I feel like I haven't posted in ages, although my regulars keep me posting (Sunday Blessing and Finished Object Friday). I plan on posting a new knitting project soon - one I can actually share! Christmas, etc... have kept me busy and in secrecy! :)

So I hope everyone is having a good week! I can't believe it is Thursday already! The days just seem to fly by and we are almost halfway through August! I know we are still finishing up summer, but is anyone ready for fall? (ME!) I don't want to rush things though, time goes by fast enough!

Have a good rest of this week! See you on Friday! (And go back to the top of this post for another smile!)

Keep Smiling!