Monday, December 28, 2009

The Post of Christmas Past

We had a lovely Christmas day. It started off with Chris and I alone at home. We had coffee, opened up our "half" stockings... Okay, short story here. We'd decided mid-year  or so not to do anymore stockings, except for just the little girls. In an effort to just cut back a bit and simplify a bit and not obligate everyone else to them. But, as usual, Chris had already begun his stocking shopping - for me. He starts in, like, January, for pete's sake! I didn't know this, but as I put out my Christmas decorations in early December, I hung up all our stockings - cuz, well, they're CUTE! And as I glanced at them from time to time over the next few days, I thought maybe I'd sneak a few little things into Chris's stocking anyway - since it was going to be just us on Christmas morning. Then I found out that he'd already gotten me some stuff. So I said not to get me anymore and then I got a few things for Chris. So, back to Christmas morning, we both had a few things in there and, it was really nice. I love stockings.

And we had a giftie for each of the pets so, as we munched on our cinnamon rolls, we watched them play. Well, actually, a full-on cat fight almost took place, but everyone settled down once I picked up the catnip-stuffed mice off the floor. Geesh.

I got on the computer (of course) and "ran into" Matthew on facebook, so I got the condo number where they were in FL and we called and talked to them. 

We'd been invited to Dustin and Emily's for dinner AND brunch, so we headed down there around 11 a.m. Eva met us at the door all lovely and excited. So, after we unloaded all the loot, we gave her and Maggie their stockings. Of course, Eva had fun helping Maggie with hers, too.

Dustin had made two DEEEElicious quiches. So we had those and then meandered back to the living room to open gifts. There's just nothing like watching the excitement of a child on Christmas morning. Eva helped Maggie with her gifts, too. Maggie really loved the wrapping paper. And pretty much anything that she could grab and stick in her mouth. She was SO animated and drooly all day. She and Emily did grab a little nap. Emily had a headache, but she was able to at least be downstairs with us all day and that was great. The Mags was quite congested, but she was happy happy happy.

At one point Dustin got out his guitar and Chris picked up the mandolin. D & E had gotten Eva a harmonica, so she joined in and, no lie, they really sounded GOOD! Chris got a video of it, you can see here.

Dustin did a pork roast on the grill and we had that along with a twice-baked potato casserole and - my fave - brussels sprouts. Dinner was YUMMY! We cleaned up and it was about 8 p.m by this time, so we headed home.

Here's some photos of the day:


 
 
 
 
 

So, here it is, Monday. Eva came and spent the night with us on Saturday and went to church with us Sunday. Then, we went down to Kellies to experience the mass pandemonium there. No really, it wasn't that bad. Bill and Julia, Ryan and family, Cathy and family and Beth and family were all there. Speaking of Cathy and family, that Sebastian - oh my goodness, he is so incredibly darling and such a sweet sweet boy. We hung out there and then took Eva home around 7 p.m. and headed home.

Beth and John and girls spent the night here. I woke up to a very strange thing. I think they call it a "sunrise". Wow. Very pretty. I should get up to see that more often! There's a dusting of snow - hope that's all we get, because M&M come home via the H-burg airport this afternoon. We're gonna do up a big breakfast this a.m. And then, after B & J take off late a.m., I need to get to work on finishing up M&M's handmade gift. We're going to exchange gifts with them on Wednesday.

I'm off!

Edited to add: I was just emailed that the mini calendars I made for gifties were posted on Little Dreamer Designs' blog. I got the digi kit (by Michelle Filo) there and had posted my project in their gallery! How cool! I'll show all my handmade Christmas projects in an upcoming post - after they're all given to the recipients! (After Wednesday) But you sneakie peek at the calendars by clicking on the link! Cool!

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Friday, December 25, 2009

It's Here!



Here's the song that I sang with my Praise Team buddy, Dave, last night. I love the words because Jesus IS what it's really all about. Hope you remember God's precious gift to us in Christ as you celebrate the day. Invite Jesus to His own party. And have a truly memorable and blessed Christmas!

MARVELOUS LIGHT

Lead us out of darkness and into your marvelous light


When we wander into valleys far from home
Where shadows hover over our souls
Find us in your mercy
Savior of the world

You are the light of the world (Jesus is the light)
You are the way, the truth and the life, (you are the life)
You are the light of the world (Jesus is the light)
Lead us out of darkness
And into your marvelous light

Sanctify our spirits
Purify our minds
As we look to you, eyes open wide
Give us understanding
Set our hearts on fire

You are the light of the world (Jesus is the light)

You are the way, the truth and the life, (you are the life)
You are the light of the world (Jesus is the light)
Lead us out of darkness And into your marvelous light

Give us understanding
Set our hearts on fire
Fill us with desire

You are the light of the world
You are the way, the truth and the life, (you are the life)
You are the light of the world (Jesus is the light)

You are the way, the truth and the life, (you are the life)
You are the light of the world (Jesus is the light)
Lead us out of darkness And into your marvelous light
Lead us out of darkness And into your marvelous light

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

I Still Can

It's soooo nice to know that, now that I'm no longer a Fashionista, I can still make the catwalk over at SIStv. I still love that community so much, but ever since I stepped down from the wonderful design team, I've barely been a presence there. MY loss, too! But we did a LOT of traveling at the end of the summer on into the fall. And then I started working on Christmas presents (boy am I glad I started as early as I did!). I haven't even made a scrapbook layout ONCE in all that time. Mini albums, projects and stuff, yes, but no layouts. (But more on that in a later post...) I'm DYING to get back to it and I WILL - as soon as all the Christmas stuff is over with.

Here's the little project that I got on the catwalk for:



I made a whole bunch of 'em - 12 to be exact:



Some are for my "card ladies" - we exchanged gifties (9 of us) on Monday night and I sent one to my Mom and 2 are for friends and that leaves one - for ME! Here's another peek:


 
These puppies began as a digital kit. I printed out the little pages with the calendar on them, cut them out and then embellished away. They were much more time-consuming than I'd planned for - but, oh, SO much fun! You can see the whole calendar and the credits here

So, thanks so much, Becca, dahling, for choosing my project for the catwalk. It means a lot to me that I can still "get there"! And I plan on get back to some much better SIStv time in the new year - not to mention being inspired all over again by the amazing artists there! Love 'em!

In other news, Matthew and Martha left this morning for Florida. Martha's sib's are all gathering there at her dad's for Christmas. I know they'll have a great time and, after all the Florida warmth - sunshine or not - I know they'll come back looking forward even more to their move back to AZ. Bah!

For Chris and I, it will be the first Christmas - in forever, I think - that we will be alone, just the two of us, on Christmas morning. I'm not gonna pretend - it will be strange. We ARE invited down to Dustin and Emily's to spend much of the day with them and the girls. I'm REALLY looking forward to that! I haven't seen the Mags in a couple weeks and, dang!, I miss her! Can. Not. Wait. That will be all the "Christmas" I need! Truly.

Today, we're cleaning up the house. I have to admit, I'll enjoy having things picked up. Okay. I'll LOVE having things picked up. We LOVE having M&M here, and if I had to choose them over a neat house, well, the choice is obvious. Sorry, M&M. No, just kidding. But, I DO enjoy a neat house. My mind is just much clearer.

And then we'll be wrapping gifts. Playing a little Christmas music. And then Chris has a bunch of stuff to do and while he's gone/busy, I will actually be starting his Christmas gift. Oy. NOTHING like waiting till the last minute! But, it's just the way it worked out. I haven't started M&M's gift yet, either - but at least I have till next Wednesday, when they're back and we're exchanging our gifts, to get that done.

SO - a big day, a busy day. I predict I'll be working into the night. Because tomorrow I have to do the banking stuff - I sure don't want to be doing it on Christmas day... I guess there's always Saturday, but that's too much to leave for Saturday...

I probably won't post again till after the big day - so, many wonderful blessings to you. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!
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Saturday, December 12, 2009

It's Winter!


Yes, we've finally had some snow. We were all so excited to see it come, too, after seemingly summer-like weather (at least, more summer-like, almost, than summer itself!) for most of November. Of course, the first order of business was to build a snowman and, being that it was a very wet snow, he came together really well. However, just as he seemed to be sinking into a deep depression, a cold blast came through and froze his drooping little head in place. He looks like he needs a little encouragement, a little talking-to, a little counseling, a little anti-depressant, doesn't he? Too funny! :)


 
This is some of the lovely goodness that happens when it's Martha's night to cook. She made three pizzas from scratch this past week; traditional, carmelized onion with bbq chicken and an apple-feta combo with other yummy stuff thrown in there. Yeah, deeeelish!

 
And we were all SO excited and happy for Martha who showed (and sold) her fabulous Christmas "to-diarama-for" boxes at the 1st Friday event at Trimtex. It was all so fun and festive and everyone just loved her work. Here's a little sample of one of her boxes:





They're so festive and happy, aren't they?

Well, speaking of festive and happy, Eva has joined us for the evening. She'll spend the night and go to church with us tomorrow. And then we're having a little Christmas "talent show" tomorrow tonight including skits, songs from the kids and special numbers. I'll be singing "It's Christmastime" by Caedmon's Call with my friend Carol and with Matthew accompanying on guitar. In fact, he'll be playing all the congregational hymns. Should be great. I hope the predicted freezing rain doesn't materialize.

Off to play with Eva now while Matthew and Martha whip up a lovely smoked chicken dinner! Yum!

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Thursday, December 03, 2009

Crankin' up to BUSY!

Just a quickie post today. I've got the church finances and my own finances (bill paying, checkbook balancing, robbing Peter to pay Paul, etc.) to get to in a minute. And so much more. I've had my quiet time today - but, admittedly, it was hard to concentrate with all that's swimming around in my mind. Not the least of which is that I was in the midst of a horrible nightmare last night when God graciously awoke me before I got to the part where I would be screaming out loud and then Chris would have to wake me. Thank you, Lord. But that didn't stop the utter feeling of terror flooding over my body - it almost felt like nausea. I got up and went to the bathroom and came back to bed and turned on the light to read a magazine for a while in the hopes of getting the horrid images out of my mind. Just about that time a big ol' windy storm blew up, pelting the roof with rain and stuff blowing off the trees. Oy. I just prayed that God would remove that dream from my mind and bring me peaceful sleep. I'm so grateful that He did.

So, I've done my Wii Active 6-wk challenge workout this morning. I'll tell ya. I am SO inspired by those "Biggest Loser" people. When stuff hurts (like my feet in the skipping rope part) I just keep thinking of all the hard work they pushed themselves to do. I'm just hating the way I'm looking in photos and I'm re-determined - again - (redundant, I know) to get GOING. I even walked yesterday even though I think I have a mild case of walking pneumonia. It was a good cardio workout today and I came upstairs afterwards sweating. Yay. Yay for sweat. Yeah.

So, all the boxes of Christmas decorations are sitting in my living room. And I'm in the midst of working on handmade Christmas projects. (Obviously, I can't post photos here...) There's SO much to do and I'm starting to feel the panic of not getting it all done. Okay, breeeeeaaaaatttthhhhhe, Jan. Tonight there's Praise Team practice and I know I can't sing right now. That should be interesting.

So, here's my "to do" list for the rest of the day:
  1. Church banking
  2. Personal bankin
  3. Work on calendar project
  4. "Un"decorate living room area
  5. Clean off surfaces
  6. Put together Praise Sunday song service
  7. Help make dinner
  8. Go to Praise Team Practice
Let's see how much of that I can get done. Let's see if I can start by getting off this computer! :)

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Thankful

Well, Thanksgiving is over and it was, indeed, a lovely gathering. I took on the role of cleaning nazi for a couple days, but then, by about 1 p.m. on Thanksgiving day, with everything as cleaned and prepped as it could be, I was able to get gussied up and kick back and really enjoy the rest of the day. Everyone arrived all at once at about 4:45 p.m. - about 1/2 before we sat down to eat. I was able to snap a group photo before we all sat down:



The food was fabulous. I just wish that the eating of it, and the conversation and just the whole scene around the table could last longer. It seems to be over so fast. And, due to my little quirk of never being able to eat much while entertaining, the food was really a blur. Though, I did manage to eat plenty, it went down, went by, went away -  way too fast. However, we had leftovers last night - and they were incredible!

Here's a few other photos of my table. I wanted to keep it more simple than last year, but warm and colorful. I think I got that accomplished:









And here's a little pumpkin/turkey guy that Chris put together:





Chris and Eva also made some leaves, and I hung a ribbon, and we asked everyone to write down on a leaf what they were particularly thankful for this year. Then the leaves were hung on the ribbon. We read them aloud while eating dessert (though not at exactly the same time!). Little Maggie was adorable. Eva was not feeling well and wasn't quite herself - she didn't eat much, but still seemed to enjoy herself.



I am SO thankful for my family. They mean so much to me. And my home. I love it so much and fully appreciate the gift and the blessing that it is to live here. And my country. I'm so very thankful to have been born in the time and place that I was. I think we take it for granted so often. And, yes, our country has its faults and problems, but I really do love it here.
So, fast forward to today. Now, I'm feeling sick again. I've developed a cough over the past 24 hours or so and my chest is feeling heavier by the hour. I actually had to get up in the night to take something because it was keeping me awake. Dang! And I was just enjoying feeling my energy return after being sick just a couple weeks ago. Ugh. I could go crawl onto the couch and curl up right now. In fact, I think I will.

It'll all be okay. Many blessings to you...

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Holiday Time

The holidays are upon us! Hard to believe - but then I'm always saying how I can't believe whatEVER the date on the calendar is. I guess it's just a sign of how old I'm getting. You know, the whole 'time goes faster the older you get'. Well, it does. And it is.

So, here we are on the day before Thanksgiving 2009. Last Friday, Williamsport hosted its second annual holiday parade. We went last year and just about froze our complete patooties (and everything else) off. This year it was a comparatively mild 40-something degrees. What a difference. It definitely hightened our enjoyment of the parade. However, whomever organized it should be fired. The time lags between the different "legs" of the parade were unbelieveable. First, they started a half hour late. Then, when they FINALLY got under way, the first two segments went by and then there was this 1/2 hour long "show" in front of the announcers stand (which, bravo for us, we sat next to) that held everthing up even further. Um, couldn't they have done that BEFORE the parade started - like in the 1/2 hour while we were all WAITing for it to start? It was all too slow and too far apart. The only thing (besides the lovely weather) that made it worth it was Eva's enjoyment of the whole thing. And the fact that Maggie, who was quite unhappy in the restaurant, was sleeping peacefully throughout the entire horn-blowing, engine-revving, band-drumming spectacle. Here's a few pics I snapped...


Yep, love the utter glee on her face. :)

So, the cornbread is baked, the cranberry sauce is gelled and the turkey is on ice. Today is clean up day around here. I'll be re-decorating a little. The dining room table goes under cover out on the deck (because it's raining a little, not because it's pretending to be a narc) and the rental table and chairs come in. The bathroom will get shined up and the kitchen will get scrubbed up. And we'll make it all pretty for our dinner for 12 tomorrow. The dreaded chores of today WILL yield to a great family gathering time tomorrow. So, because of that, I'll suck it up and get going.

May you look around you and find endless things to be thankful for tomorrow - and everyday. And may God, the Giver of all good things, continue to richly bless you and yours.

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Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Feeling Digitally Creative

I logged on to check my email this morning and saw a new mini-digi kit from Peppermint Creative and thought to myself, "self, you haven't done a digi page since One Little Word folded up their cyber-tent." I was planning on blogging a little this a.m. anyway, so I purchased the kit and made the page below. Ah, that felt good!

As usual, I have SO many scrapbooking projects swimming around in my head. Looking at scrapbooking and mixed media art magazines before going to sleep only feeds that ever-growing ocean of ideas. It sometimes overwhelms me because, even though I don't work outside of my home, I feel I'll never live long enough to be able to get them all done. And I want to use all my pretty stuffs NOW! So I take a deep breath and remind myself that I'll do the best I can and be thankful that I will probably never enter my scraproom, sit down at my desk and go, "now what?". Sigh.

So, here's the page I made this morning. My dear friend Deborah, who shares the title of "grandma" with me (though she chooses not to use it) took the darling photo on the page.


(Page credits may be found here)

With that, I must skedaddle off of here and finish my grocery list for tomorrow as well as get back to my currant Christmas scrapping project. And, now that it's 2:30 p.m., I'm gonna eat lunch, too.

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Sunday, November 15, 2009

A new visitor!

Emily brought up both girls on Friday! It was little Maggie's first visit to our house and we were so thrilled to finally have her here! She was pretty happy about it, too, as she just spent so much time looking all around at all the new surroundings. She was so alert and so happy. How fun!

The occasion was a little birthday celebration for Emily, who just turned 24 last Wednesday. I made the ice cream sandwich cake again, which is becoming a fast favorite. Here's the very simple recipe:

6 - 8 ice cream sandwiches
1 c. whipping cream
2 T. powdered sugar
candy bar of your choice, cooled and chopped roughly

Line your loaf pan with a sheet of waxed paper, with several inches hanging over each edge. Add the sugar to the whipping cream and whip until stiff peaks form. Set aside. Work quickly now! Line a loaf pan with waxed paper. Then place a layer of sandwiches on the bottom, cutting to fit as needed. Spread half the whipped cream on top. Add a second layer of sandwiches and the remaining whipped cream. Add the chopped candy bar to the top and press in slightly. Fold the waxed paper over the top and stick in the freezer for at least an hour and definitely for longer if you'd like. When it's time to serve, let sit at room temp for a few minutes. You can even (carefully!) run some tepid water along the sides of the loaf pan to loosen the ice cream from the edges. Run a knife carefully along the insides if necessary. The waxed paper should enable the ice cream to pull away from the edges. Invert the "cake" onto a plate and it will pop out of the pan. Remove the waxed paper and slice. You'll get 8 slices. YUM!

While Emily was here she handed me her camera, which is the very same kind I owned previously to my SLR, so I was able to download all her photos for her. And I found some of these gems (and many more!) among her pics:



She looks so dang cute while on her tummy holding up her (not so little) head. Just LOVE the "jowls". I could eat her up. Seriously. I can't believe she 4 months old already...

I love it when the kids used to fix Eva's hair like this. They did it when it was longer. She just looks so darling. And, well, she IS!


My two precious little granddaughters. Look how Maggie's head is almost as big as Eva's. That's the Barlow big-head for ya.
Well, today we are looking forward to a long-awaited music event happening at the Elk Creek Cafe and Aleworks out in Milheim, PA (near State College). One of our new very favorite ever bands, Chicken Tractor, will be playing, along with a boatload of other similar type bands. Here's the line-up and description. It's a benefit for Penns Valley Hope Fund, a local organization that assists families facing sudden and unexpected financial and health crises (see their website at: www.pennsvalleyhopefund.com), and the Aaronsburg Area Library. And the super-cool thing is that I actually won 2 tickets for the event. The cover charge is $10 per person, so we'll be saving twenty buckaroos! We'll have to leave church right after the song service, as this place is an hour away and you can't make reservations. And we expect it will be pretty crowded. There's about 10 of us going down. Can't wait. Should be a great time.


And, so, I better eat my breakfast and get ready for church, which is first on our agenda today! Have a blessed day...

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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

I can't believe my knockout rose is still blooming! In mid-November. Surely, this must be the final one. It's almost been nicer out these last couple weeks than it was most of the summer. Matthew and Martha even took their cathedral game outside on the deck to play. Lovely.


We've all been dealing with various degrees of illness for the past week. It hasn't been anything too severe, but it just keeps hanging on, morphing into something else just when you think it's about over and then going for a few more days. Oy. I'm sooooo tired of feeling like crap. I hope I didn't make a mistake (contagious-wise) by keeping a date with Emily to watch Maggie while she went to a doc's appointment. This time I was able to stay at home with the Mags so I brought my camera. Chris came down to bring me my forgotten breakfast and I got some darling shots of him with her. You can see she's quite the reader now...

What a great way to brighten my day - Maggie time! I sure hope I don't make her sick. That would be bad. Bad Gramma Jan.

I go to bed at night looking at scrapping magazines and then dreaming of all the projects and layouts I want to make. I'm almost done with my first Christmas project. But, again, my illness has slowed me down majorly this week. So, I hope I can get back to it all SOON! I'm so craving some creative time!

Okay, now I'm exhausted. Bye.


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Tuesday, November 03, 2009

November Changes

It's a new month. Things have changed.

The time has changed. It was dark so early today. I don't think I'm ready for that yet! But I'll let it go since the days have been glorious and sunny ever since November has been ushered in. It's getting a tad chilly, too. I had to toss most of my mums. They're done. And there's leaves everywhere. I think it's about time to gather 'em up (coughcoughChriscoughcough). Before the SNOW flies! Ugh. Perish the thought. I'm definitely not ready for that!

The other big change around here is that Matthew and Martha are in da house again. This time, it's on their way out of the state as opposed to last time when it was on their way in to the state. Sigh. It's going to be really hard to see them go (back to AZ). But I'm not going to think about it now. Instead, I'll just enjoy the time we have with them until they depart in March.

I guess there was no other way to discover that AZ, not PA, is where they want to truly settle and put down their roots once and for all, than to actually move here and experience the change. They discovered that, while they do love being near family, they are truly "westerners" and not "easterners". I understand that because my family is all in the midwest and I'm not a "midwesterner". So, fine. What can I say? (I already tried "no!", but that didn't work.) They want to work towards buying a house out there. We informed them that there must be a bedroom in it for us - or a place for us to park a camper - so that when Chris retires (insert me rolling my eyes, here), we can spend the winters there. We'll see.

In other news, I'm into working on Christmas presents at the moment. I may actually get them done before Thanksgiving! What a concept! Here's a sneak peak of my current project:

It's a secret/surprise, though, so I won't give any details here. And I won't tell ya about the other projects I have planned. They'll appear here eventually - but not now. Neener neener. :P

So, Martha's concocting some fabulous veggie calzones with a whole wheat crust and feta cheese and other deeeelicious healthy stuffs. YUM! They're cooking now and we're getting ready to go and consume them. Um, that's a change I can live with! :)


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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

We Danced...




We really didn't think our annual Dancin' on the Deck party was going to happen this year. In fact, we'd kind of decided not to have it, especially since I/we were gone so much of September, when we usually have it. But since D&T and M&M are moving to AZ before we'd see another autumn in PA, and knowing that they really looked forward to it, we decided to go ahead and try. So we scheduled it for the 2nd weekend in October, hoping that the weather wouldn't be too bad by then. But people dropped out like flies due to, mainly, illness. So, we tried for the following weekend, but the weather reports weren't good and we finally called it on Saturday and said we'd give it one last try for this past weekend.

The dancin' gods were with us (so to speak) because, even though not everyone originally invited could come on this particular date, we did have 10 people - not too much smaller of a gathering than usual. And the weather? Stellar. It was a gorgeous clear, starlit night. A little chilly, but that's actually ideal when you're dancing your heart out. And that we did. I'd have to say it was probably one of the BEST DotD parties evah.

One of the best things we did was ask each couple to burn a CD of about 5 of their fave dance tunes. We were afraid (Chris was afraid) that no one would actually get their act together to do this. But, possibly due to all the postponements, everyone DID come through. So, we threw everyone's CD on the player and "shuffled" the mix. It was a blast not only dancing to all the different KINDS of songs, but also guessing WHO picked WHAT song. It really was FUN!!!

So, now we're inspired to do it again next year, even though we'll be missing two of our most favorite dancin' couples. :( We told them that whenever they come back for visits, we'll have an honorary DotD party!

It's random laundry day around here. And I'm continuing to work on my biggest Christmas project, so I'm off to get at it. Soon, M&M will be living here (this week) and I know I will be (happily) distracted by their presence. (Yes, we get 4 months - or so - of them here at the house before they head back to AZ for good. They're goin' out just like they came in by spending 4 months with us. It will be a bittersweet time...)


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Saturday, October 24, 2009

October Rain

Last week we had snowflakes in the air. Today, we're getting pummeled with rain. That's October for ya. Can't make up her mind. At least we had some glorious and fairly warm days in between. And we're taking one more stab at having our annual Dancin' on the Deck party tomorrow. It's supposed to clear up and be near 60 during the day, chilly at night, but we should be creating plenty of warmth with all our hot dance moves. Uh huh. We'll see. Since my hip has been giving me a ton of pain lately, maybe I'll hide behind my camera lens instead.

Look at these two babies. Aren't they so cute? They get along quite well at this point. Obviously, they're very comfortable with each other. The most remarkable thing that you can see in this photo is that Rocky, the white one, is 15 years old and Beatrix is only 4 months old. I think she's going to be much bigger than him, since she's already AS big as him! He's always been a runt, though. She's spayed now. I'd say it's slowed her down a tad. She was ca-razy before and now she's just a frisky, playful kitty as you would expect. When she's not running around, she's just the most affectionate, sweet thing. And her gorgeous fur is sooooo incredibly soft. I sure do love my kitties!



I took this photo last week. It's the last blooming thing in my garden at this point. Everything else is just spent or has gotten bitten by the frost we had last week. This is from a knock-out rose bush. I learned about them when I worked at Penn College because there was one outside my window and I was always amazed at how many blooms it put out and for how long. So I asked the gardening person about it. Yep. Knock-out rose. We put ours in this year and it has not disappointed. A gorgeous rose is my favorite flower.



Last weekend when Eva came up, we had a little cooking project. Chris found this cookbook where you make healthy stuff for kids by "sneaking" in healthy ingredients. And then, theoretically, they gobble up the good stuff. We thought these cookies would be a great thing to have on hand for a hungry little girl that likes sweet stuff. We (and especially me) don't want to be giving her junk food and unhealthy crud. So, she very enthusiastically helped make the cookies (with the same happy attitude that she has no matter what she's doing). And, though she quite sweetly posed for the photo of her tasting the results, unfortunately, that was the last bite she took. She sort of set the cookie down on the table after that and very politely said nothing - but ate no more of it, either. Ha! Well, Chris and I happily ate the rest of them over the week. They weren't very sweet at all. But, really, that's what I found the most appealing! But not miss Eva. Oh well, chalk that one off the list! :)




So, on this ugly, rainy day, I need to dust and clean the bathroom and then get the song service for tomorrow together. I'll have to push myself to do the cleaning. Not my favorite thing to do. Sigh. But, alas, it must be done. What I'd REALLY like to do is go cuddle up on the couch with my kitties, a blankie, some hot tea and my book. Not bloody likely, though. Nice try.


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