What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. ~ Martin Luther

Sunday, September 10, 2006


TELL me they don't look alike... Posted by Picasa

THIS is how I found Corynn the other morning when I woke her up from her nap... Posted by Picasa

If it seems like I am posting a ton of Panda shots, it is because he seems to have lost his shyness of the camera-and will actually SMILE when I hold the thing up! Now YOU can see how charming his smile is! Posted by Picasa

Corynn got stickers in the mail-and the delightful girl has no qualms with sharing. Posted by Picasa

What could be so captivating as... Posted by Picasa

a magic mirror on the wall! Who's the fairest of them all? Posted by Picasa
faeries in the mist Posted by Picasa

Monday, September 04, 2006

What to do with the Cherries?


Does anyone have any good recipes for cherry tomatoes? Especially CANNING recipes?!?! I could REALLY use some. Can you use them to make tomato sauce, etc? I harvest about five pints DAILY!!! Posted by Picasa

Spring shall plant and Autumn garner until the end of time. ~Robert Browning

Happy Labor Day everyone! I am acting upon the meaning of the day. Lots of work and no play. Only fitting, right?!?!

The sun is finally poking out of the clouds and the sky is a muted blue. I had forgotten what it looked like! For the past two weeks, the weather has been unsuitable for hanging clothes out. For three days straight it rained without stopping. The rest of the time it threatened, or sprinkled. At first it was a nice BREAK from laundry-but THEN, THEN it became a burden. I found out that our dryer's heating element needs to be repaired-and so my ONLY option for washing clothes was to hang (which I ONLY do in the summer anyway.)

If it hadn't been for the fact that I have been bringing out cooler weather clothes, we wouldn't have had clothes on our backs!!! Today is the first (and last-at least for this week) day that the sun has shone and rain didn't fall. I have been taking every opportunity to catch up as much as I can. Especially with the added laundry from overnight guests...towels, sheets, etc. Friday we are expecting MORE company and if I didn't get the towels and sheets washed TODAY-it would be b.y.o.s (bring your own sheets) So far, I have hung three loads and I am HOPING for a fourth to be dried tonight. If I can hang the fifth out at dusk, it might be dry enough by tomorrow morning to take down before the rains comes again. It is SO nice to see the sunshine and feel SOME warmth!
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The birthday party was a complete success and Little Miss has been dressed as a princess from morning til night since she opened up her 'wedding dress' at the party. I was SO glad I got that for her. We also got her a castle tent which she loves too. In fact, when I woke up this morning, I heard her footsteps coming UP the stairs-when she woke up she headed straight to her castle. I may even let her start taking her naps in it. I am not sure yet. As with anything though, there is much to do in the way of cleanup. Ten children don't exactly keep things clean, ya know? It will be a while before things are back in order. It is a good thing though, because everytime I have to 'deep clean'-it requires more than my usual 'tidying'. I actually have to DUST and VACUUM! It's a good motivation-which I need these days.
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The lady who shared the monarch chyrsalise with us saw how excited we were about the butterfly and so brought us two monarch caterpillars to take home with us this week. So-we can see the WHOLE process! Hopefully tomorrow or Wednesday we will be able to go to the library to get a book about Monarch butterflies. I hope you didn't tire of the chrysalise photo's because there will be MORE coming soon-of caterpillars too!
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"The earth has rolled around again and harvest time is here, the glory of the seasons and the crown of all the year." ~Carolyn Wells

Our garden is now yielding a PLENTIFUL harvest which requires the next few days to be canning days. More zucchini relish, some cinnamon pickles, and something with tomatoes. I may try to make spagetti sauce or something from cherry tomatoes. It would require a lot but I HAVE a lot. Too many too eat. I also have a watermelon here that I would love to make those cinnamon watermelon rind pickles-IF anyone is willing to share a recipe!
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Lastly:
Some FUN projects in the works!!

When my parents came this past weekend for Corynn's birthday-they brought along that children's hutch that I purchased at a yard sale for $3.00. THAT is going to be a FUN project and one that I CAN'T wait to start! I will be taking a picture of that soon too!

I bought a TREMENDOUS amount of fabric at JoAnn Fabrics the other day. They had large remnants for 90% off!! I got about six different fabrics at between 2-4 yards EACH for just cents each! They also had a whole selection of quilters fabrics for $1.00 a yard. I bought several different patterns, each with several yards. I will be making some winter dresses (and matching bonnets thanks to Kim!) for Corynn in the next few weeks. I also got some solid fabrics to make myself a shirt or two. LOTS of fun sewing to do! Hopefully I can get this dryer fixed so the pre-shrinking can get done! :-)

WELL~that is what is on my plate here today and in the coming weeks. Fun stuff, to be sure!

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Birthday Banter


How can three years pass in the blink of an eye? Posted by Picasa

My sweet Little Miss is getting to be not so little any more. Posted by Picasa

It was raining cats and dogs....and badgers and hedgehogs, and monkeys.... Posted by Picasa

The kids made some homemade lei's out of yarn, pieces of straw, and some construction paper flowers. And then a brief lull... Posted by Picasa

A happy girl (and this was BEFORE she got all the good stuff! This was just after she woke up to fun decorations in her honor!) Posted by Picasa

Pin the tail on the QUETZAL!! Posted by Picasa

This is the only sun we have seen for three days straight. Posted by Picasa

I let Corynn pick out her cake and OF COURSE, it had to be pink. Unfortunately, one cake mix is a bit measly for a larger gathering, so I made some white cake and swirled red food coloring in it to improvise. Posted by Picasa

One of the rare times Andrew forgot his curiosity for that flashing machine Mama is always holding when his joy overcame him. Proof that he SMILES (and smiles OFTEN) as long as a camera is no where in sight! Posted by Picasa

Since the weather was not cooperating-my funnish obstacle course and cookie-decorating table ideas were not options so I had just hours to come up with some fun things to do INDOORS. I ended up bringing in Corynn's inflatable pool and covering it with a fitted sheet and filling it up with balloons in all sizes and colors. Thankfully, I had saved quite a few balloons. Before ANY children arrived, Corynn had popped some of them by dive-bombing in it, then when my mom's kids came quite a few more met their fate and so before EVERYONE arrived, we had to 'restock' the pool. But what matters is... Posted by Picasa

It was a hit! Posted by Picasa

Getting married. For once-a willing (real live) participant! Cameron played up his role too-spinning and twirling the new bride like a pro! Posted by Picasa
 Posted by Picasa

spinners Posted by Picasa

The other day I was cooking dinner and Corynn asked for some slices of green pepper. She kept herself occupied and then-served the gourmet meal to her 'prince' and "laura". Posted by Picasa

such exhausting work... Posted by Picasa