Search This Blog

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Candle light service

I just love candlelight Christmas services! They are so beautiful, calming, quiet, reflective!

I had Elise sitting with me, and I got to take some pictures. Oh, these are not real candles, but battery operated ones. 







Yes, she had a dirty face, but she was just so cute!

Blessings!

Friday, December 13, 2013

School is officially done for this year!

Next week we will have Home Ec, and do our Christmas baking. Lots of yummy goodies planned!  But, I am having problems finding round pretzels, as well as, smaller bags of Hershey kisses, Rolos, and M & Ms. 

This afternoon, we went to downtown Minneapolis, to Macy's, to see their 8th floor animated display. We are now stuck in traffic. 

Here are the fellas at the entrance. 

Here they are inside. 





This is in the city center mall. 

Parking for 1 hour and 1 minute was $11!!  $9 for the first hour, $2 the next 20 minutes. I don't know why people shop there!

Blessings!

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Gearing up for Christmas

We have been shopping, and trying to figure out what to get some people.  The easiest, of course, are the little people. They are usually content with just the box!  

I have been making some Christmas gifts. I'll post some photos later, as some relatives would see it in here. 

Matthew and I made Egg Nog Donuts, in the Baby Cake Donut maker, then glazed them with an egg nog glaze. YUM!!  

Here they are:




Along with my donut helper:


Blessings!

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

I. Do. Not. Like. Knitting.

I much prefer crocheting over knitting. I can make a crocheted dishcloth in a couple hours. Knitting?  Much longer. Granted , I am new to knitting, and still learning, but it is a lot longer process. And, if you make a mistake?  Crocheting is a lot easier to fix. 

Here is my latest knitting project. I am almost half done. Woo hoo. (Read that with a lot of sarcasm)


 I do have to admit, I really like the looks of this stitch, though, and I don't think you can get this stitch crocheted. 

I'm also experimenting with making a homemade butterscotch root beer. I am enjoying the flops. 

Blessings!

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Jon's misfortune

I forgot to write and tell about Jon. His black Grand Am has been having problems. Tranny was slipping, etc.  so, he bought a car. We did not know it had a salvaged title. He got a huge run around. He went to get the title transferred to his name. They said he had to get it inspected first. So, he called to get it inspected. They said they couldn't inspect it until he got the title transferred.  He finally got the title transferred, and an inspection date set up--2 weeks later!  The inspection date was set for October 24th, and he could not drive the new car until it was inspected.  On the morning of the 21st, this happened:



Yep--he hit a HUGE buck!!  That's the hard way to get your deer!  Anyway--we are grateful to God for keeping him safe!!  The buck landed on the hood, and very well could have gone through the windshield.  So, what to do until he can drive the new car?  Well, his dad took him to work one day, and then some friends from church loaned him a car.

Then, day of inspection--everything on the new car passed (safety, emissions, etc.)--except for a little hole in the trunk.  So, the man told him to get some silicone and seal it up.  Rick took it to a body shop, and they did seal it for free, but it shrunk.  Then, Jon used some clear silicone, but was worried they would use a flashlight again, and it would shine through the clear silicone.  Then, we used the black truck bed liner stuff I bought for the Living Last Supper guard helmets.  That worked!

Today was the 2nd inspection.  It did pass, but the guy wasn't happy the truck bed liner was still kind of tacky.  Whew!  Jon can drive his car now!  And then!  He ran out of gas!  The gas gauge said he had 3/4 of a tank of gas.  Rick ran him some gas, and he is up and running now.  PTL!!

Blessings!

Book Review - "Fatal Tide" by Lis Wiehl

Fatal Tide by Lis Wiehl is the third book in the East Salem trilogy.  It starts out very fast paced, and I couldn't put the book down!  It picks up right where book two left off.  Reese, a 17 year old boy, is in the car with 2 men, trying to get him to safety, when their car is attacked by demons.  Reese is the only survivor.

Tommy and Dani are trying to figure out the mystery, and who/what is the dead body in Tommy's pond, and who killed him?  And will they be able to stop the plot to contaminate the world's water supplies?  And what really is going on at St. Adrian's Academy?

This story has a lot of mystery and intrigue, and yet, a bit of a love story, as you are anxiously waiting to see if Tommy will ever get a chance to ask Dani to marry him.  You bite your nails, as Quinn and Cassandra go undercover, to try to help Tommy and Dani solve the mysteries.

I have mixed feelings about this book.  Yes, I love the mystery and intrigue.  But, some things were just too hard for me to grasp--as in being able to shoot and kill demons, and that demons would show up blue, on an infra red scope.  I loved the old Frank Peretti's books, as they would really open your eyes to see that we need to pray--and that when the saints began to pray, the angels would be strengthened, and be able to defeat the demons.  In this book--they don't pray to defeat the demons, but shoot them with guns, in a real battle, and not supernaturally.  What does Corinthians say about our weapons?  They aren't carnal (or physical).  I also didn't like the "twinspeak" in the book--where twins can see and speak to each other, even thousands of miles apart.

I received a complimentary copy of the book,  Fatal Tide, from BookSneeze and Thomas Nelson, for my honest review. 



http://booksneeze.com/art/_140_245_Book.945.cover.jpg

Busy Days

Well, our lives have been busy, and full!  Let's see if I can remember all we've been doing.

The girls all moved out of our house to an apartment on September 1st.  Let's just say our home is now quiet.  :)  and peaceful.  So, we are adjusting to just me as the queen bee, and all the boys. 

School is moving nicely along.  We are having a fun year so far.  We've made an explosive volcano, and some other fun projects.  The boys are also learning to navigate around the kitchen.  It's always nice to have men who can cook.  If they ever move out, and are batching it, they will need to be able to feed themselves--otherwise the cost of eating out is expensive!  So, they have made some meals, and had people over. 

My dad had back surgery again, and is doing so well!!  He said this is the best he's felt in a long time, and the best he's doing after any of the other back surgeries.

I am learning how to knit!  I have knit one dishcloth, and am working on another one.  Knitting goes WAY slower than crocheting!!  But, I am just learning.  My first one isn't the greatest, but this one looks like it will be square.  I am also crocheting towel toppers, and trying to come up with my own design for the crochet part.  I did find some patterns, but they seemed too short, and I like the one I am doing.

Blessings!

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Crystal Cave

We are still on vacation, and thought we should see some stuff close to home, as well. It also helps to have a couple free tickets. ;-).  We actually had 4 tickets, for kids aged 4-12. We got them from the library reading program. The library told us to ask if they could take the child's price off the adult ticket because of our 14 and 17 year old. Nope. Not going to happen. 

So, after purchasing the tickets, I got to remembering that Sam didn't do so well in the last cave. Oh oh!  I talked to the workers and they said if he had problems, we could take him out. (Probably lose the price of our tickets though, they didn't say) 

But, he did great!  I did have to talk him through it, and, told him if he did it, we would buy him a shake. So we are off to get a shake! 



Down these stairs, and a few more!!




Blessings!

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

One Good Turn Deserves Another

My hubby is so good about shopping with me!  He goes into kitchen gadget stores, and thrift stores. 

So, when he mentioned that he wanted to go to a Bass Pro Shop, I couldn't resist. I plugged it into our GPS, and told him to follow the directions explicitly. He was wondering why it said we would get home so soon. ;-)

So, I was a good wife and followed him around the store. I even told him I would take the little boys off to see the fish so he could shop. 

Their prices were not too bad. Hubby got  a Bass Pro cap and shirt. Plus, we finally found a sling for the slingshot. 

Here he is with the Robertson's. 

 

Here the menfolk are in the entry. 


Blessings!

Vacation Time

After our crazy schedule, we are now taking a vacation, and trying to relax.

We went to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska.  It was fun, and tiring!  My feet were hurting, and I was wishing for a stroller for me.  :)

Here are some pictures of our time at the zoo.

 Matthew in the jungle.




 Dan and Andrew touching a starfish.


 Even Sam touched a starfish!!


 We pretended we were missionaries in a jungle, crossing the bridge. 
Love my zoom lens!!!  Thank you, honey!!!


 This monkey was loose!!  :)


 This is called Monkey See, Monkey Do.
Whatever Matthew did, Sam had to do, also.






 This was in front of a beautiful waterfall.


 This post would be long, if I showed EVERY picture of Sam.  lol
He wanted his picture in front of every exhibit.  :)


 This is the beautiful aquarium.  I know it is dark,
but I just wanted to show the perspective of it all.


 See the shark above Sam and Matthew's heads??


 These jellyfish were beautiful, and very hard to get a picture of.
They were almost ghostlike in appearance.


 I loved the colors in these jellyfish.
And I love my camera. 
But, most of all, I love my husband for giving
me the camera, and this wonderful vacation!!!
And even more than that, I LOVE the God who
created all of this beauty!!


The Desert Dome

Blessings!

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Sports camp

We have been very busy with sports camp.  We have 37 children that are coming regularly. So far, we have had two children give their hearts to the Lord.

Here are my two oldest doing the Honesty song. 


We are also planning a corn feed for our community.  I had to find people to bring potato salad and baked beans. Now I am looking for people to do face painting, juggling, and balloon twisting.  My boys have volunteered to supervise the bounce house and to make cotton candy. :-)

Hubby and I just celebrated our 32nd anniversary. I had just gone to the dentist and had a root canal done so I was only up for eating ice cream.  

I was able to find some PUL material for very cheap.  I bought two bolts of dark blue to redo a patio swing. I also bought some of this very cute duck material. 



 As well as this sweet cupcake (play on words) material. I am hoping to make a bunch of baby bibs, and other items with these materials. 


Blessings!!

Friday, August 2, 2013

Baby blanket still coming along

Here is the baby blanket. I have decided to take it slow on the blanket and enjoy my summer. But I do take it along in the car, or at dental visits. We have had a lot of dental visits. 

The weather has turned cooler, so we haven't been in the pool. Maybe I should go back to crocheting, then the weather would get hot again. 

I've been working on Sports Camp stuff. I ordered all the t shirts, ordered the iron in papers, as well as all the supplies for the coaches today the iron ons came in the mail, so I printed them off and it's all set for the ironing party next week. 

Blessings!

Monday, July 15, 2013

Fun summer days


It feels good to get stuff done! My sister and her husband, and Rick and I had central a/c put in our parents home. I am so glad we were able to do that. I wanted them comfortable. Today I put a part in their dishwasher so it will run. 

I put away my crocheting. The gal had her baby yesterday and I just don't want to spend all my time doing that. I will get it done eventually. I want to enjoy my summer. 

Today I vacuumed the pool and swam for a bit. Now I need to do some work on my computer. 

We went to Nelson's in Stillwater, and had a "child size" I've cream cone. Hubby and I have now decided to split a child sized cone!  

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Baby blanket I am working on

Here is my latest project that I've been working on. I had the worst time finding the lilac color. Now I am trying to finish this before the gal has her baby. Lol 


Monday, July 8, 2013

Busy days, and computer issues

Well, summer is finally upon us!  We have been out in the pool, and getting ready for Sports Camp.  So, I've had a lot to do with getting posters, flyers, and website ready for the Sports Camp.  Whew!

We also had a wedding to go to in June.  Our niece got married, and they boys got all dressed up for it.









Today, I've had a very productive day, which is nice!!  I designed and printed off a bunch of labels for my hubby's tracts.  Then, I designed and printed off labels for inside the church Bibles, so that if people need a Bible, they can take it as a gift.

Here is a picture of the shirt I got my hubby.  He likes it, and he gets many comments on it.


My computer issues.  Where do I start??  I have a wonderful program, called Cook'n.  It is great!  It comes with a cookbook, and you can purchase extra add-on cookbooks.  Plus, you can put your own recipes in.  You can make a menu plan right from the program, and if you have certain ingredients, you can type those in, and find what you can make with those ingredients.  I had purchased some extra add-ons, plus, all my work of typing in the new recipes.  Lets just say, YEARS worth of work!!!  Well, there was a free upgrade, and I did the free upgrade.  Long story short, the new upgrade corrupted ALL my files.  Today, I finally reloaded the program and looked through my flash drive, hoping and praying I had a useable (and not too out-dated backup).  Well, I had backed it up last December!!!  That was very exciting to me, as I thought I was going to have to start from scratch.  So, a word to the wise--back up, back up, back up!!!!  I have reloaded everything (I contacted the company to send me the links of the extra cookbooks I had purchased), and backed it up.  My hubby is going to teach me how to use a drop box, so I will back up my files there, too.  My desire is to finish my cookbook, and get one printed of all my recipes.  You know how you have all these cookbooks, but only use a handful of recipes out of each cookbook, well, I was putting my favorite recipes into the program, and getting rid of the cookbook, to downsize.  Thought I lost everything when the files were corrupted, but now it's just a few month's work I lost.

We had a nice 4th of July, and had lots of wonderful, patriotic foods.

Like some of this yummy layered jello.


Or, some Red, White, and Blue Eggs?


                                                Or a flag cake??


Blessings!

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Finally free and clear!!

Well the boys went in for their 6th strep test!  It was finally a negative!!!  The first negative in 3 1/2 months!!  Then, the doctor has to tell me that they will retest the culture in 48 hours, and that 1 in 20 will test positive the next time around.  Well, we made it through that one, so we are finally strep free in our house!  Praise the Lord!!

We are in a birthday month.  I celebrated mine first, then Matthew had his 10th birthday last week, and today is Dan's 17th birthday.  My hubby and my dad are in Nashville at a Word Search conference (they fly home at midnight tonight).  Dan took it easy on me, as we took my mom and the rest of the family to Denny's.  We had a lovely brunch there.  Then, we came home and opened gifts.  Later, we will have crock pot style gyros, and he will have Carmelita bars for his birthday cake.  Then, the young people will all go rollerskating.

We had a very busy, but enriching weekend.  We hosted the Ezra/Nehemiah conference at our church, with speakers Doug Small and Eric Barger.  Doug Small talked on prayer, and Eric Barger spoke on a lot of different topics - Islam and Crislam,   The Most Dangerous Cult, and why we can believe the Bible.  Very great sessions!!!  We had sessions Friday night, and all day Saturday, as well as Sunday morning and evening.  Then, we had to pack up the speakers books, and take Eric out to eat.  Got home around midnight.  Then, we had to get up early on Monday, to take Rick and Dad to the airport.  I'm rather tired!!

So, while the fellas are gone, Mom and I went to the beauty shop and got our hair done.  Shhh--it's a surprise for the guys!  I also went through Matthew's clothes, which is the job I hate to do.  It is emotionally taxing on me, I don't know why it is, but it just is.  I also planted my peony plant I bought, as well as the Lily of the Valley pips.  Hope they come up!!

Blessings!

Book Review: "Stress Test" by Richard Mabry


"Stress Test" by Richard Mabry is a medical mystery thriller book.  It starts out very fast paced, and is the author's best book, yet! I have read all of his books, and I hope he writes more!!  This is a stand alone book, so you won't need to read the other books to understand this one.

Dr. Matt Newman is a doctor, who is leaving private practice to pursue a less stressful job teaching academic medicine, but what he ends up with is a huge stress test.  Can he pass this stress test?

 He is just finishing up his late night in the ER, when he is kidnapped, and thrown in the trunk of his car, and driven to a warehouse district.  He is able to escape, but receives a head injury and lands in the ICU, with a murder charge to boot!  The police now believe he is a villain instead of a victim, and he has to prove his innocence.

He hires a red-headed lady lawyer to get him out of this mess.  But, who can he trust?  The police seem out to get him,  there is a dead woman found in the trunk of his car on top of his wallet, his girlfriend dumps him when she hears he is a person of interest in a murder investigation, there is someone following him, and more attempts on his life.  You have to read this book to get the answers to the question of - who wants him dead and why?

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this e-book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” 

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

So far, no more snow!

We have been delighting in the nice, warm weather!  Matthew got his bike out (I told him he had to wait till the snow was all melted)  and has been riding his bike daily.  He also wants to make a tree house.  I'm not to keen on his climbing trees at this point.  Even Sam got out his bike, and PEDALED up and down the street!!!!  Yippee!!!!  Why am I so happy about this??  Well, he normally just pushes his feet on the ground to make the bike go.

School is going on, and we only have 7 days left!  Then, I will begin planning for next school year.

Today I made bread.  Now, that may not seem like a big thing, but I haven't made home made bread in quite a while!  I used to make it at least once a week.  So, I made a pan of caramel rolls, 2 loaves of cinnamon bread, and 2 loaves of whole wheat bread (all out of 1 big recipe--just so you don't think I made 3 different batches)

I called the doctor's office today, to get it set up for the next Strep test.   Unless they call back and change it, it is set for 1 week from tomorrow (the boys are still on meds)  Here's hoping and praying this is over!!!

I'm looking for stuff for Sunday School.  We were doing "The Story", and it finished up, and the new curriculum doesn't start until June, so I have some weeks to fill.  So, I've been searching for things to do.

I got my hubby a new t-shirt--it was a total surprise to him.  We had seen one while we were on vacation, and we had hunted at t-shirt shops down in Branson, but never found one.  I found it online, and were they fast at shipping it!  I ordered it on Friday, and got it the following Monday!



Not much else for news.  We are getting ready for the Nehemiah/Ezra conference on May 17-19, with speakers Doug Small and Eric Barger.  Dan and I made a poster for the conference (someone else had said they would do it, and they must be a procrastinator, and poor hubby was not too happy it wasn't done, so he asked if we could help him out).   We got it done, and a bunch printed off, and started putting them up.

Blessings!

Monday, May 6, 2013

Still snowing in May!!!!

Yes, you read that right!!  We got a snowstorm on May 2nd!!  14 inches of brand new snow!!!  We had taken a family vacation down to Branson, and drove through a snowstorm to get home, to find that we had 14 inches of brand new snow.  Thankfully, we didn't have to drive through that much, and by the time we got up here, the roads were clear.

Now, today it was 75 degrees! 

Matthew was out back, looking at his "strawberry" plants, and came in all excited, and said, "Mom!!!  We are going to have LOTS of strawberries!!!  The strawberry plants REALLY grew over the winter!!"   Hmmm.  So, I went out to check, and what he was looking at was the asparagus plants!!  His strawberry plants might be an inch tall.  :)

Down in Branson, we had a delightful time!!  We did Silver Dollar City for 2 days--as we got some tickets where you buy one day, and get the second day free, if you keep your ticket!  More on that later.  Silver Dollar City is an old fashioned amusement park, where the workers all dress up in the 1800's.  I don't know how they did it, with long sleeves and long dresses, because I was hot, and it's not even summer yet.  They have fun stuff, like a glass blowing demonstration, a blacksmith demonstration, etc.  Plus all the fun type stuff for the teens with roller coasters.  They had a brand new roller coaster, that was wooden that goes upside down.  The young fellas enjoyed it.  I don't do roller coasters.  So, I took Sam on "Fire in the Hole".  13 times.  Yes, you read that correctly.  We went 6 times, in a row the first day, and 7 times in a row on the second day.  I had the ride memorized.  Back to the buy one get one day free tickets.  So, over and over, I told the family to keep your ticket!!!  Well, poor hubby threw his (thinking it was a different ticket).  Then, he said he wasn't going to pay for another day for him, and that he would drop us off, and sit in the car.  Well, long story short, we called the travel agent that we worked through, and they got us another ticket for him.  We talked to one of the service agents at Silver Dollar City, and she said, "Don't worry about it."  And I had been saying the exact same thing--you are on vacation, you aren't supposed to have stress!!

We also saw Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede, where they serve you a huge meal, with soup, a small cornish hen, baked potato slice, bread, pork slice, and dessert--all to eat without silverware, while you watch the show.  It was great, and I think the boys had a blast!

We also went through an Animal Safari, that you drive through the park, and you can feed the animals, like ostriches, emus, wildebeest, camels, bison, llamas, etc.  Then, in the walk through park, they had peacocks, a giraffe (that Sam and Matthew got to feed, and when Matthew ran out of food, the giraffe thumped him on the head!), and there were also some lions and tigers and bears, Oh my!!


 Matthew feeding the giraffe


This emu followed us around!!

Rick and a bison--look at it's tongue!


The zebra was a bit scary--but it was just begging for food.
We did roll the window up after this!
(They said you can have your windows rolled halfway down)


We also went to the Sight and Sound Theater, and saw the Joseph presentation.  I don't think it was as dramatic as the Noah, but it was still very good, and it is a wonderful story!!!  I would recommend it.

The fellas outside the Sight and Sound Theater
with the Lion and the Lamb


Matthew fighting Goliath inside the Sight and Sound Theater


Dan and Andrew went on a zipline!  They enjoyed that, but not the ride in the tram coming back - lol!  I guess she was a crazy driver.  Matthew was scared just going up in the tower for their zipline ride.

We also went downtown at night, and saw the dancing waters, and it was beautiful and fun!!

We were hoping that while we were gone, we would catch the mice in the traps.  No such luck.  But, Friday night, we caught one mouse, and last night we caught another mouse.  We are hoping that is all there are, and that there isn't a family.

Saturday, we met Josh and Brittany at the church, with some other people and cooked the spaghetti dinner food (that was on Sunday).  The youth did this as a fund raiser for Feed My Starving Children.  Then, I left, and took Brittany and Elise, and Sarah and Claire, to my niece, Hannah's, bridal shower.  Whew!  We've been busy since we've been home.

The boys (Sam and Matthew) are still on medication for strep throat.  This is their 5th time!!!  They will go back in to get retested.  Hopefully they will pass with flying colors!

Blessings!