My First Full Sized Quilt

I have been working on a quilt for Matt's room. He inherited our old blue comforter when we gave him the queen bed last year (or maybe two years ago?) It is getting pretty shabby so I decided to make him a quilt. I took him to Hobby Lobby and let him choose the colors. He picked out three shades of blues, greens, browns and red/oranges. It will have a tan border. I think it is going to be really pretty.  

Here I am cutting apart the pieces for the hourglass pieces.

Sewing the color borders to the center hourglass.

The finished blocks.

Here are the pieces all laid out on his bed so I could choose the block layout.

Here it is "finish-ed" with the tan border, laid over a chair.

Farmer Boy and Homemade Donuts

My niece and nephew have been here for a week and we have been having a ball. I have been reading Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder. They have been tortured by the delicious things the Wilders had to eat. One chapter was about the mother making donuts, and the kids wanted to make them. I had hoped that they had forgotten but Joe brought it up at breakfast yesterday. No, I didn't kick him under the table but I sure wanted to! I really did! ;) So this morning I got up early made the dough and waited for them to wake up.  I let them help putting them in the oil and then put the glaze and sprinkles on. Here they are...(the brown ones are not chocolate but a wee bit on the toasty side, ok a lot on the toasty side!)

Wadda Ya Think?

Well, I happened upon a blog tonight that had awesome dinner ideas, and noticed the "free background" stamp in the corner so I went to the site, didn't really like any of them googled free backgrounds and then spent about an hour tying them out til I decided on this one. So what do you think? I like the layering of colors. Also pink and chocolate brown are my next favorite colors after black and red. :)

Here is the the blog with dinner ideas.aroundthetablewithtami.blogspot.com Sorry but I can't make this stupid site add links. I have tried tons of things. It always worked before! GRRR! I like that she makes several meals at one and freezes them. Check out November 20th. Also Filler Up Fridays Now if only I could figure out what is in those spice mixes without buying them! hee hee!

I am Hittin the Kitchen Counters

I am joining the Battle for Order. I am hitting the end of the counter where all the papers and non dish things pile up. http://parentingconfessions.blogspot.com/2009/07/operation-organization-battle-for-order.html

Colors of Sumer

This salad is made from our garden stuff - everything except for the red onion. We got fresh peaches and black berries from the fruit stand. We ate peaches like crazy and I ended up making jam with the left overs. I put the black berries in too. This is all it made!

For Independence Day I made a cheese cake type dessert and made the design on top red white and "blue" with the berries. It was delish!

How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it. Marcus Aurelius

The quote came to me in an email and it really made me think. I hope it is a blessing to you as well.

Teenage Doubletake

Today I locked myself out of the house. I know, yay me, the big retard. In my defense, I did have my laptop bag over my shoulder. It, like my purse is black and so I thought I had it. SO while we waited for my poor husband to come home and let me in ( I never put the spare key back in the shed :/ ), Matt and I sat in the car as it was kinda sprinkling. He fished a small New Testament out and began to read Proverbs aloud. He read the first three chapters and then got tired of reading passed it off to me. I read chapters four and five. Then I got to these verses:

18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at
all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

I didn't think he was really paying attention because he was fiddling around with the stuff in the glove compartment. But his double take was so sharp he almost snapped his neck off! I said I didn't think you were paying attention. He then asked me what chapter it was in (I was thinking he wanted to go read it again and see what it was all about) I told him it was in chapter five. "Well, I am never reading that chapter again !" he said. Thought you would enjoy this. :)

Challenging Quote

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would have not a single bit of talent left and could say, "I used everything you gave me." Erma Bombeck

If you have ever read Erma Bombeck you know she is a great comedienne. I was a bit surprised to see this quote but love it. As a teacher I often feel like I am bashing my head against the wall. It often seems like there are no changes being made in these kids lives. This helps me remember that it is my faithfulness that counts not their responses. I guess the same can be said for parenting too, or anything in life really.

2Co 12:15 And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.

For Vickie

My little sister is a nag! She is tired of the kitchen pictures and nags me about it often saying I need to put something else here. So, since I love her this is for Vickie:

One of my students was asking me what we were going to do the next day. (We are doing achievement tests and he wanted to know which tests would come next. ) I told him it was a matter of national security and if I told him he would have to be beheaded. He said "NO, they don't do that any more all they do is legal injection." I thought that was pretty funny.

Yea, A New Kitchen!

Before: ugly wall paper
This is the cleanest the kitchen has been since we moved in! Ha! Matthew kept raving over how big the room is and how much counter space there is. It really is just that his mother chocks it up with junk.
Stud muffin working! After one days work!

The Gang's All Here

Here is our gang. They are all here. But are they all there? You be the judge!

Say What?

I have seen this sign several times as these people are "professional" yard salers. I always get a hoot out of their signs. Not all of them are misspelled but they often have one of their 7-8 signs that look like this one.

Andrew's Wedding- Behind the Scenes

Just what you want your child to do at a wedding. Something dangerous!

Julia and Sydney, the flower girls, admire themselves in the mirror. Julia found snails, then Nicholas found one too.
Then Nicholas stomped on them. "That is what Grandpa said you are supposed to do to snails" he said.
The flower girls pick the flowers in the beds on the veranda. (a much better word than porch I think!)
The pillows the kids sat on had grapes sewn on the corners. Ella and Calvin tore them off the pillow they sat on.

Something tells me Calvin doesn't want to take anymore pictures.The rest of my pictures can be seen here on my facebook site.

Lots of Rain and a Roasted Pig

A couple of weekends ago we went to Georgia for a going away party for our friends the Laterzas, who were soon returning to China. It rained the whole way there and the rain continued during the party most of us stayed under the carport type area of the barn but Joe, Matthew and Anthony had to go fishing. This is Joe in his gortex which keeps him completely dry. He's as happy as a lark with his coffee and pole in one hand and a cookie in the other.

Matthew came back to the barn soaking wet.

Anthony is all business when he fishes.
Penny Sue and I walked down to see the pond and take the coffee and cookie to the guys.

Poor piggy! This is what was left of him- his head. But he sure was yummy!

A Tip For No More, Okay Less Ironing

Wow! It has been a long time since I posted. I actually have a ton of stuff to put on but have been busy. I was just thinking tonight about a great laundry tip I got from a lady at church. You may have already heard this but it was new to me. The key is to put your clothes (mainly I do dress clothes) in the dryer for 5 minutes (on high if you have a choice) then take out the clothes and hang them up. By morning ours are aways dry and I iron very little. It works on stuff that would normally shrink in the dryer without being ruined because they just steam for a short time. Just make sure you set a timer or you may do like me and forget. Then I get them wet and start over because I like this no ironing thing! It works great on all fabrics except linen but it does cut down on the wrinkles tremendously-it just doesn't do away with them. I guess I will find out if you already knew this (duh!) or it is new info to you (THANKS!) based on the comments you leave! HAHA!

Withering Grass and Vanishing Smoke

1Pe 1:24 ¶ For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away.
Jas 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Today I went to the funeral of a tiny little girl-only 4and half years old- who died from brain cancer. I was reminded that we are not promised tomorrow, or later on today, or the next minute for that matter. I so want my life to make a difference. I want my students, my family and even the clerks in the store to see Jesus in me. If only it didn't take such drastic measures to jerk me back into focus. Anyway please be in prayer for Carly's family. There are 7 brothers and sisters, her parents and many others in the extended family that will be very sad for a very long time.

Need A New Bra?

There is a company (Kepoo) giving away free sports bras. They are available in blue, white and black only and to US residents only. Sorry Karen! Just click here and fill in the info.

Super D Duper Deals!

Well, I have really gotten into coupons, CVS and Walgreen's thanks to Lisa. My hubby bless his scrawny neck that I would like to wring, said to me after my first trip. "That's great but you aren't as good as Lisa yet!" =) I wasn't mad, really I just laughed. I went to Walgreen's on my way home form Mom's house and got the free mascara which I do not use but when they pay you $2 to take it off their hands I will take it and give it away. (Thanks to Tasha at ComicalCouponCents for the heads up on the easy saver coupon-I had missed it) Well while I was trying to find enough things to use up my overage-they don't really hand you the money you have to get something else and get it for free- I found this Edy's ice cream on clearance. It was marked $1.57 each. So I stocked up. I paid for all this in the photo $15.30. I know I have seen it for $5 a tub before so I did very, very well!

By the way, we had some of the Hagen Dazs ice cream for lunch and the lid had a dollar off two pints coupon on it. I may just run back and get two more for a mere dollar. It is SUPER good.

A Teacher Funny

I found the following in Readers Digest:
These students reveal why teachers need summer vacation.
Q: Use baron in a sentence.
A: Mrs. Jones is baron and can't have children.
Q: What is an index?
A: What you wash windows with.

I also have a pretty funny one from my own classroom.
One of my students last week said to me: "Mrs. C you know how lions sometimes eat people (me-"yeah") well, are they mechanicals?" (me- thinking as quickly as I can-mechanicals? what do you mean) you know like when people eat each other." (me-Oh you mean cannibals?) "Yeah, yeah"! I am very proud of myself that I didn't laugh at her (at least out loud and right then. (The same kid asked me a couple of weeks ago while doing an English page what a Candy stripper was. I looked at the page and it said candy striper.

Happy Valentines Day to You

One of our high school students told me she wants to rename Valentines Day - Singles Awareness Day! I thought that was funny. I made some cute cookie for the children in our Kids For Truth group last night.

I also followed a cute idea from Better Homes and Gardens to fancy up some Hershey bars that I gave out.

I thought I would add a little poem in honor of you guys, my friends:

That roses are red and violets are blue,
I find to be boring, even though it is true.
I'd rather shower you with poems and proses,
Then talk about silly, expensive, old roses.
I do like flowers, now don't get me wrong,
But chocolate deserves its own Valentines song.
So here is to you my dear friends and true,
A pile of candy I saved just for you.
I know you can't see it, I know its not real.
But you'll add not an ounce- It's a wonderful deal.
So savor or gobble it - which even you'd ruther,
'Cuz you're special to me, you like no other.



And in honor of cold and flu season another one (my class used three or four ENTIRE boxes of Kleenex this week):
Roses are red, but my face is redder,
If I could quit throwing up, I know I'd feel better.
My eyes all puffy, my body just aches,
The flow from my nose a volcano it makes.
Soon the flu season will be all gone and over.
But for now I feel like the old, dead, dog Rover.