Happy Birthday Ryan!

Ryan turned six on September 30, and we had his little party on October 10. He is so cute and I love him so much. He had wanted to have a fishing birthday party, so we were going to go fishing. But it ended up raining all that week. So we had a indoor fishing party complete with a fish cake....

(I think it turned out pretty cute)

..."fake" fishing ( plastic fishing poles with a magnet for bait, and little plastic fish with another magnet attached to it so that when the magnets got next to each other you would "catch" a fish) , and opening presents from family and a few friends. It was so much fun and he had such a good attitude for not being able to fish.

Ryan wearing his new fishing outfit and holding his new fishing pole (the shirt says, "catch me if you can.").

The last picture: Ryan laughing his adorable only-Ryan laugh.

In Him,

10 Seconds With Ashlyn

Ten seconds with Ashlyn....

And last, (but not least!) is a picture of my dear, darling, little sister and I.

Ashlyn is such a funny little girl. If you haven't noticed :) , she is the little lady of 100 faces. She loves to make people laugh and is the (ahem....) rather dramatic one of the family also ("takes after her older sister," as Mommy says :).

In Him,

A Quilt Giveaway!

The Long sisters, are giving away a lovely quilt made by them. I would very much suggest going over there and entering (If you do go enter, and you heard about it from my blog, please say so, I would appreciate it!).
They own a sweet little business called Marie-Madeline Studio , where they sell homemade patterns, cute aprons, and so much more! I have really enjoyed seeing the idea's these ladies have come up with. Please go and see what these sisters have made!



In Him,

My First Tag!

Okay, so since this is my first tag I wouldn't call it "annoying," but I thought this was a cute picture. Also I have something to confess... I tagged myself. I know I am supposed to be tagged by other people, but I wasn't, so I tagged myself (I found this tag on Julia's Journal). So without further ado, I will start.



What is your favorite day of summer? Umm, The Fourth of July probably.

What’s your favorite outdoor summer activity? Swimming! without a doubt!

What’s your favorite indoor summer activity? Maybe sewing. But I also like to scrapbook, play the violin and piano, draw (although I am not the best artist :)), cook... and I could go on. :)

Pool or beach? Pool right now because I have never been to a "real" beach (Although my parents say I went when I was three, but how am I supposed to remember that?)

Have you ever camped during the summer? We are going camping in August, but usually we don't camp in the summer. It's almost too hot outside.

Popsicle or ice cream? What flavor? Ice Cream all the way! I really like Vanilla, but I am a big fan of Cookie's and Cream.

Do you help with your church's VBS? Our church that we are attending decided not to have VBS. Instead they decided to have what we call family fun nights.

Do you get bored during the summer? Not ever! There are to many things to do! :)

Is summer your favorite season? Nope, I'm sorry, I really like spring and winter.



This was fun! Now at the end I am supposed to tag someone, So I will tag: Whoever!



In Him,

Garden Gifts: Corn

Corn, corn, and more corn! Since my last post, our corn plants seamed to have decided that this was the week they wanted to give us corn. Don't get me wrong I love corn on the cob, but it's always hard to find recipe's to use it. I mean you can only eat so much corn on the cob in one day.... right? :)

The recipe I picked for today is called "Corn and Green Bean Casserole." It is my family's favorite corn casserole that we have ever had. We eat it as a side dish in a meal.

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Corn and Green Bean Casserole

14 1/2-oz. can French style green beans, drained

2 cups corn, washed

1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1 c. sour cream

8-oz. can sliced water chestnuts, drained

10 3/4-oz can cream of celery soup

1/2 c. butter, melted

1 sleeve of round buttery crackers, crushed

Directions:

Spread green beans on of an ungreased 13"x9" baking pan; layer corn on top. In a separate bowl, mix cheese, onion, sour cream, water chestnuts and celery soup together; spread over vegetables. Combine butter and crackers; sprinkle on top. Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until golden. Serves 6.

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Although this recipe only serves six, it is very yummy. I would suggest doubling the recipe. We have had it several times with our grand parents. Corn on the cob (of course), is very yummy by itself but this is the best! Please comment if you have any recipe's!

In Him,

Garden Gifts: Zucchini

I am going to start a new series, during summer and harvest time, called Garden Gifts. The series of posts will focus on vegetables from our garden, a different vegetable for each post. I might share a recipe, a few pictures, etc. So with that I'll start!

Ashlyn with our largest zucchini.

I can't believe July is already here, and with July comes one of the busiest times for my family and I. The time when almost all the vegetable's in our garden need to be picked, cleaned, canned, cooked and eaten. This year, we have had a great abundance of zucchini which always seems to thrive in our hot Texas weather. It has been difficult to find recipe's that use a lot of zucchini in one recipe. We have had everything from Stir-Fry and Zucchini, Zucchini Casserole, Fried Zucchini... All of these meals are wonderful, but there is one all time favorite of ours, that we make over and over again. That is Zucchini Bread.

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Zucchini Bread

3 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

3 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup oil

1 cup honey

4 eggs beaten

2 tsp. vanilla

3 cups grated zucchini

1 cup walnuts (or pecans, whichever you prefer)

Directions:

Sift dry ingredients together. Beat oil and honey in large bowl. Add eggs, vanilla and zucchini. Stir in sifted dry ingredients; fold in walnuts. Pour into two greased 5x9-inch loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes or until loaf tests done. Cool in pan for 10 minutes; invert onto wire rack and cool completely. Wrap and chill or freeze. May substitute melted butter for oil, sugar or molasses for honey and carrots for zucchini.

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We have had this recipe for breakfast and sometimes we have it for a snack. It is especially yummy if spread with butter and eaten right out of the oven. The recipe says you can substitute carrots for zucchini, but we haven't tried that yet. Carrots don't seem to grow well in our garden

If you have any recipe's for Zucchini, leave a comment and tell me!

In Him,

A Need for Ideas

I need to correct this sign. This is what it should say: "This Blogger took more than a MONTH off." There. Now that I have raved at myself....
I want to mention a very sweet little business called Shabby Blog . This website is a place to get very cute and "shabby" blog backgrounds, blinkie's, and more. The best thing is (drumrole please): it's all free! I have already been getting tired of my background I have on and I like to change mine often. So I decided to change it to this background. Its called "Beautiful Dreamer" and its from Shabby Blogs. Let me know what any of you think.
Also, I have been running out of ideas for posts and I was wandering what any of you thought.
Just leave me a comment with any ideas y'all have.

In Him,

A Wonderful Afternoon (posted a bit late)

Yes, I know, I have not posted in a very long time. I keep thinking about what I am going to write, start something, and I can't finish it. So, I have decided to try some pictures.

I have recently had the very great priveledge of having a Afternoon Tea in honor of my 13th Birthday. First of all I would like to thank my parents for putting so much work into the party.( and believe me it is a lot of work :) I will now post some pictures.

My parents and I.

Some of the delicous food, and a few decorations.

The beautiful cake.

Mommy giving a brief history on the Afternoon tea.

Trey , the second oldest, but the oldest boy, of our home.

Nathan, the middle child of us children.

Ryan the youngest boy.

Me (What kind of, so called "smile" is that?), the oldest of us children.

Ashlyn the youngest (looking a little messy, but oh well).

A family picture of us all.

With this picture I will end. I think this is enough pictures for one post, don't you?

In Him,

P.S. This is not March 24, It is April 17, 2009 at 2:20 pm.

Happy Birthday Nathan!

My sweet younger brother is turning eight today. :) He is the funny one (he likes to be silly) of our home, always making a joke. His two front teeth are there now, this is on a camping trip last year.

Also...

I usually do this on Saturday's, but we celebrated Nathan's Birthday yesterday. Plus, we had basketball games to go to.

For Today: March 9th, 2009 (usually I do this on Saturday, but I was very busy :)

Outside my window: Spring!!! *Blissful Happiness* It's sunny, a soft breeze, and birds singing!

I am thinking: Nothing, just laughing from a joke my brother told me. :)

I am thankful for: The lovely weather

From the kitchen: Nothing, we just finished lunch.

I am wearing: A flowing, brown, skirt, with a short sleeve pink shirt.

I am reading: Bible, The Lord Of the Rings Books, Three Musketeers, and Five Little Peppers series books.

I am hoping: That we can get together with friends tonight.

I am hearing: A Movie, and the soft hum of the laptop.

Around the house: Nathan Playing with one of his birthday presents, a gecko.

One of my favorite things: The Piano (not mine :)

I accomplished since last week: Making my bed when I get up.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Getting braces (tomorrow!), piano lessons, and a birthday party.

Something special I am sharing with you:

Not winter, but I thought this was lovely!


In Him,

Another Giveaway...

Yes, another giveaway on one of my favorite bloggers, Joyfully at Home. This time, it is Her Father's new book What he Must Be.

All parents want their daughters to marry godly young men. But which
qualities, specifically, should they be looking for? What will you say when that certain young man sits down in your living room, sweaty-palmed and tongue-tied, and asks your permission to marry your daughter? What criteria should he meet before the two of them join together for life? What He Must Be… If He Wants to Marry My Daughter outlines ten qualities parents should look for in a son-in-law, including trustworthiness, a willingness to lead his family, an understanding of his wife’s role, and various spiritual leadership qualities. Author Voddie Baucham follows up on his popular book Family Driven Faith with this compelling apologetic of biblical manhood. By studying the principles outlined in his book, parents who want their daughter to marry a godly man—as well as those who want their sons to become godly men—will be well equipped to help their children look for and develop these God-honoring qualities.

The giveaway ends Friday, the thirteenth of March. Please stop by her blog and enter.

In Him,