Book Review - The Maid of Fairborne Hall

I've had this book finished for a while, but it has taken me a little while to slow down enough to actually get a review written. Any time I have a chance to review a book by Julie Klassen, I will take it! It seems like Christian authors tend to be a dime a dozen, and some write better than others. You can tell the authors that take time to research information about their era (if historical) and really take the time to "flesh out" their characters. Julie Klassen is one of those authors. Once I get into one of her books, I can kiss a "reasonable" bedtime goodbye! :)

In this story, Margaret Macy, a wealthy socialite in 19th century, is forced to flee her home. She finds refuge working as a maid in the home of a man who's love she once spurned. Will she be found out, or will her disguise be enough to keep her hidden?

The story is written in the frame work of an English manor. The author paints a true picture of how a large home such as this was run. Klassen's novels are set in the same time period as those by Jane Austen, but she gives a wider perspective on how society was as a whole, not just focusing on the wealthy. The characters really make this book, and any of her books really. There is only one of her novels that I didn't care for quite as much as the rest for some reason. But any of the other books, I just need think of them, and I remember the heroines...  maybe not by name, but I remember their stories. And it's been quite a while since I read her first one. (A quick note here: Her first book, while excellent, I would be careful recommending to younger readers because of the nature of the content.)

A thank you to Bethany House for providing me this copy for review. My opinions are my own.

Finished Object Friday: A Good Friday Object Lesson

As many of you know, Mark and I attend a small church here in East Texas. One of my main jobs in the church has been helping with the children. We have had kids off and on through the years, but we have had one family of kids that have been coming almost two years! They are such a joy to teach because they love to learn about Jesus. We have several more kids in our class, including the little girls that you see pop in here every now and then. My friend Lorie and I have been co-teaching (and Angie too, when she is home). We have several other helpers as well - my mom, for one, who plays the keyboard in our classroom. Sometime in the future I would like to do a post just to show the setup of our classroom and tell some of the things that we are using for discipline techniques and memory keys.

Anyway, for today I wanted to share the special activity I did with them Wednesday night to help us all to think on the awesome sacrifice that Jesus made when He died on the cross. First I read this book to them - a story about a town that was so caught up in all the fancy part of Easter, that they forgot what it was all about. Then I talked about why Jesus had to die on the cross and that He took on Himself the sins of the world - all of our sins. We read scripture verses about the burden He took to Calvary. Then each of us (teachers included) wrote the phrase "My Sins" on a piece of paper and nailed it to the cross. We talked about how we can leave our sins on the cross, that we don't have to carry them anymore.

(Sorry about the shabby phone pic... wish I would have grabbed my real camera...)

It was rather a hectic evening - everyone was kindof wound up. But I hope that even years down the road, that they will remember this lesson and the prayer we prayed!

And I hope that you can take something away from this as well. Maybe you have kids (or church kids) of your own and you are inspired by my little activity. On this Good Friday, may we remember that Jesus took our sins on Himself and bore our burden.

Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; 

Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 

But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities;

The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. 

Isaiah 53:4-5

Just some news....

No big news yet... except for the fact that our home study is finished!!! We are within sight of one goal... getting our profile "in the book" from which birth parents choose the family for their baby! We do have some more paperwork and a "dear prospective birthparent" letter to write. So your continued prayers are appreciated! This whole process, while sometimes slow, has been very positive! We have really enjoyed working with each person at our agency, and we really appreciate all the support we have received from so many of our friends and family!

But in other news... Whew. The month of March just flew by!! Like in the past few years, my grandmother was able to fly down from her home in Idaho and be with us for about four weeks.We enjoyed doing things with her - like visiting some pretty sites around East Texas - March is the perfect time of year to come visit this area!

 My parents - we enjoyed having both Mom and Dad off work for spring break. We sure missed having my sister here, though!

We also enjoyed having some friends visit! The spring flowers are so pretty! We spent part of one afternoon just looking around (and taking lots of pictures!) :)

Our tradition while Grandma is down here, is for her to help me put my garden in. Here is this year's garden. Fewer plants in this area. I decided to grow my cucumbers over by our (new!) fence and let them climb the chain link instead of all my tomato plants! :) 

So that is a (very brief) synopsis of our last month! Hopefully, I will be a little better blogger in April! :) Next post: Finished Object Friday!

Finished Object Friday - Mop Cover (And Tutorial!)

Whew. I don't know about you, but March has been a busy month for us! I've been so busy enjoying things, that I haven't taken much time to blog about them! It's pretty crazy when my last post was a Finished Object Friday post. Oh, well...

I had been wanting for a while to try to make a cover for my mop.

Here is a list of the supplies that I used:
Cotton fabric - One 6x12 inch piece
Terry Cloth - two 6x12 inch pieces
Velcro (just the soft "fuzzy" side)
Ribbon

Tools:
My Rotary cutter and Mat
Pins
Fabric Marker
Sewing machine!

Using the original mop cover, I figured out that my cutting ruler (6x12 inches) was just about the right size for a pattern. So I just cut each piece to that size.

 I actually cute two pieces of terry cloth and stitched them together with two seams down the middle. (That's where the pen came in handy - I just laid them flat on top of each other and after tracing two lines, just sewed straight down.)

I then sewed two strips of the velcro (both the fuzzy part) to the right side of the cotton "fun" fabric. This is what holds the cover to the mop. I tried just using terrycloth for a simple cover, but the terry cloth got really snagged in the barbs of my mop. I don't think it would have lasted through many uses!

Next, I was ready to make my "cover sandwich!" I made a loop out of fun ribbon for a little hanger for the pad. Layer with the terrycloth first, then the loop of ribbon (loop facing inside) and the cotton fabric with the right side and velcro facing down. Then sew around the perimeter leaving an opening to turn.

Clip the corners to help it lay flatter before turning right side out.

Pin opening closed and sew a top stitch around the outside.

And the good news - this doesn't just work for my Freedom mop - it also works for a Swiffer as well. (and hopefully many more mops similar!)

I hope this is helpful! Let me know if you make a cover, I'd love to see how your's turns out! And let me know if you have any questions - I'm certainly no pro at sewing or at tutorial writing so I may have left something out! Or maybe you have some pointers for me! :)
So now it's your turn! What have you been crafting recently? I'm excited for you to share your projects!

Finished Object Friday - S'mores Cake

You may have noticed I have been out of pocket for a while! Sorry about that. I had something unexpected come up that was out of my control and it took up several days. But I am recovering from that busy time and am getting everything back on track. (Washed several loads of laundry last night... now to just get it all folded!!) :)

So, FOF is a week late, but we'll just pick up from here, if that's alright with you! ;)

I made this cake a few weeks ago.

You talk about YUMMY!!! The cake recipe is the one that I use for basically all the cakes I make. I realized recently that I have never posted the actual recipe here. It is always soo yummy and moist - and VERY easy. A good "first cake" for young bakers.

Here's the recipe:

Wacky Cake (or Chocolate Stir Cake)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

sift:

1 1/2 cup flour

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Add:

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup water

Stir in liquid ingredients until flour is consumed. Pour in 9x9 in pan. Bake 30 minutes or less (until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.)

Just some tips:

•  Greasing the pan isn't necessary unless you are removing the cake to decorate it. In fact you can mix it all up in the pan you are going to bake it in if you wish!
• For a 9x13 in pan, I double the recipe.
• And yes, there are no eggs!! I love tasting the batter! :) (and I've made it enough, I would probably know if I missed an ingredient!) 
• for something yummy, quick and simple, you can do as I did in the picture above. Just top it with plenty of marshmallows and chocolate chips and broil until the marshmallows are toasted. SUPER yummy! And you for this you can bake the cake the day before then add the toppings and broil just before serving.

So maybe you've made this cake before? Or maybe you've made something else in the last few weeks! Anyone else ready for some spring crafting? :)