More Rambles...

Lately, I have been really uncreative and... oh, the dreaded word...busy.
My sisters and I are practicing, practicing, practicing, for this recital, Sunday. Maggie and I are still sewing our Regency dresses, with the help of a sweet lady from our church. We have done four sewing classes and are almost done. Maggie and I are going to hopefully get them finished tomorrow so we can wear them for the recital. :D
Sewing this garment has really given me confidence and more skill.
I am really nervous with this recital coming up....gulp. I will survive and... I just need to do everything for the Lord and not worry what other people say if I mess up.

I had a fun time with a my friend yesterday practicing our duet and having a nice chat over a walk to the park and smoothie at a cafe' near the park. Yummy.

I have a couple tags and awards already stacking up. Seriously I need to write a list. ;)

Well, My sisters, Mother and I are watching the King and I. ( I am playing Getting to know you as one of my recital songs.) Hopefully I can post the dresses that we will finish tomorrow.

I also wanted to share a funny photo.

Who is it????

Well, the answer is... No one!! My sisters, neighbor and I all stuffed some old jeans and a coat with clothing. Funny huh? :)




~Blessings~

The winner...

I typed up all the names,...
place them in the hat,....
shook it all around,....
closed my eyes, ...
picked one....
and the winner, randomly chosen........

.............is.................




Congratulations, Southern Housewife!
Please comment your address and I will send this vintage hat, to you as soon as I can!
(Your address will not be published.)


Thank you to, all who entered!!

I wish I could give each of you something. :)
But I hope to have another give away pretty, soon. Maybe one a little more popular. ;)


Blessings to you all!

Giveaway closing...

My give away will be closing tonight at 12:00.

So check back either tomorrow or on the 29th for the winner!

:-)


Blessings....

Tags and Awards....

Dear readers,

I have really, really slacked off on tags and awards I have received. I am so, so, so, so, sorry!

I am not sure what to do now that I have so many to catch up on. I will try to remember all that I have gotten and I apologize if I forget any!

I really don't like to hurt people's feelings if I don't award them so I have been considering not taking awards...I will stick with it at them moment and try my best to be a faithful tagger and awarder.

Here it goes!

I got awarded by Lindsay!

Thank you so much, Lindsay. I know you awarded this to me along time ago!

Here are the rules for receiving this award:

• Put the lemonade logo on your blog or within a post
• Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award
• Nominate at least 10 blogs with great attitude or gratitude
• Link the nominees within your post
• Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

Mattie
Kelsey
Rachel
Courtney
Lindsay
Taylor
Karis
Jolee'
Abby
Johanna

I know many of you have already done this one. So you don't have to do it again!

Taylor tagged me with the "Friendship Tag"!
Thank you so much, Taylor! I am really grateful for the
sweet paragraph you wrote about me on your blog
and I love being your friend! It's been fun getting to
know you!
...
Here are the rules to this tag:

• Choose any amount of friends, blog friends or real life friends, and say at least two things (Or more!) you admire or like about them.

• Tag the friends that you wrote about.

• If those friends have blogs, be sure to link to them!

Oh, I can't decide!!



I will start with my sister I think. :)


Abby, is my dear sister friend. I am so happy to know her and I am glad that I get to spend time with her and blog with her. She is such a zesty person to be around and she is so funny and can always make me laugh. :D




Mattie my dear friend who lives near me is such a joy to be around. She is kind, sweet, creative and a nice person to be around. She is always fun to talk to and asks the best questions that make you feel special.
I am so glad your my friend, Mattie!


Lindsay one of the first people I got to know from blogging, is such a joy to know. I love to read her encouraging posts and I love that she has a sense of humor in her posts. I glad I have "met" you, Lindsay!


Rachel , another friend that I have met by blogging is such a nice person and I have enjoyed her blog as well. She is so kind, encouraging, and sweet. I am glad to have "met" you, Rachel!




Taylor a the dear friend who awarded me, is also some one I met on blogging. Thank you so much for awarding me I have also enjoyed reading your blog and you are a very kind person. I have enjoyed "meeting" you dear friend!



Courtney, Rachel sister, I found by her blog, I have enjoyed getting to know. She is sweet, encouraging, helpful, and I have loved reading about their story adopting Isaac. I am glad to have met you, Courtney!


My new friend Grace is also a wonderful person. I have known her since about February/March. I have been enjoying both of her blogs a lot. She is kind and thoughtful.I am glad to have "met" you, Grace!


Johanna a dear blogging friend is a joy to get to know. I enjoy reading her blog and love getting to know her more and more. She is full of life. I am so glad to have "met" you, Johanna!



Kelsey a dear blogging friend is such a wonderful friend. Her blog and poems are so inspiring. It has been a joy to "meet" you, Kelsey!


I am so grateful to all of you and I am sorry for any one I did not mention! I enjoy all of you dear readers!

I am not sure why it came out that way on the screen...Sorry!






Also, I got a tag from Abby. It's the Beyond Imagination award.

Rules for the award:

~ List 8 stories or books you'd like to live in.

~ List 8 other bloggers who deserve this award.

~ Comment on their blog and let them know you've awarded them.



Let's see... this is a hard one:

1. The Sherwood Ring by Elizabeth Marie Pope
2. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S Lewis
3. Emma by Jane Austen
   
4. Mara by Eloise Jarvis Mcgraw
   
5. A murder for her Majesty by Beth Hilgartner
   
6. The Shakespeare stealer by Gary blackwood
   
7. Mother by Kathleen Norris
   
8. The princess Adelina be Julie Sutter
   

I award...

Mattie
Kelsey
Rachel
Courtney
Lindsay
Taylor
Karis
Jolee'



Thanks, Abby!

Childhood tag

This tag, made by Abby, you have to post something that you made or a story you remember from when you were young.

Here it is! This is one of the first things I ever sewed and embroidered. Yep, it's bad. :)



You have to tag at least five people.

I will tag....


Rachel
Courtney
Lindsay
Mattie
Taylor





One more! Grace awarded me! Here it is!
Very lovely! Thank you, Grace! I would award you too. if you hadn't already been tagged. :)

I will award:
Taylor
Lindsay
Mattie
Kelsey
Courtney
Rachel
Abby


For now.. That is all that I can remember. Again I am sorry for letting them stack up... I don't mind if you don't have time for any of these, friends. But I hope you understand my predicament. I don't mean to leave any one out when I award or tag.


I hope you have a wonderful, lovely, sunny day! I know there has been a lot of rain lately. :)


What have you all been up to? :)

Rambles and A Recipe......

Busy, busy,.... I apologize for my lack of creative posts. You could say I have writer's block.
I have been busy as usual lately. :) I have been driving more frequently and I drove in our neighborhood on Sunday! FUN! :) I had another sewing class on Wednesday. (Maggie and I.) Very enjoyable as well. We have some home work. Fun homework that is.

Hey look! I don't even have to look at the road! Just kidding! The car is in park. :D ( This was just before I started driving in our neighborhood. I was a little nervous.)

My sisters and I are going to be in a recital two Sundays from now.
My friend and I are working on a duet. We almost have it done. Just a few touches and it will be ready for Sunday! I always feel nervous for recitals... really nervous. My body reacts and right as it is my turn to be on stage, all eyes on me, my whole body shakes. Thankfully with piano my fingers don't shake. But it is annoying. My heart races. Shiver. I wish it didn't happen. But that is part of who I am. I am a nervous person. :)

Well, I am sure I could go on and on and on and on........... ( I know I am a blabber mouth when writing or typing. ) but I will spare you and get to the point.
As I promised.... A recipe!

~Buttermilk Biscuits~

...Recipe from Homestead blessings

~ 2 cups soft white flour
~2 cups unbleached white flour
~ 8 tsp. baking powder
~1 tsp. salt
~ approx. 1 cup lard or coconut oil
~ approx. 1 1/2 cups buttermilk


Mix dry ingredients together in large bowl. Add small amount of lard or oil- mix with hands until mixture is crumbly. Stir in enough butter to moisten. Knead briefly. Roll out on floured surface. Cut out biscuits and place on baking sheet. Bake at 400 for 12- 15 minutes or until lightly brown on top.

Enjoy!! Another idea for any type of biscuit is to lay the batter on top of chicken pot pie before baking. We did it with some of these biscuits and it looked cute with all the shapes we had.

Another recipe coming up and tutorial for a craft, that I want to share, will hopefully be in the making soon! :)

Off to Joann's craft store! :D Write to you later. ;)

John's birthday...

Yet another birthday arrived, for one of my siblings.

It is John!
Silly smile.

Really silly smile.


Adorable.
Extra adorable.

John turned one year old yesterday.
He is a ray of sunshine in our lives, but also a reminder of how busy a baby can get.
John, absolutely, gets into to every thing.
He is very smart and observant.
He is babied by our mom. He is fun loving and cheerful almost all the time.
He is very mischievous and sneaky.
He can walk and -kind of run.
He does not talk very often, but he does know words in baby sign language. Such as more and please. (He can say hello, Dada, and no no. )
He is so chubby and a good eater.
John watches Sam and Joe's every move and copies.
He does have a bad temper. That he... doesn't control. But he is learning that screaming does not get your way. :)
John babbles a lot through out the day. He is always pitter pattering around smiling, learning, and exploring.

John is a joy to have around and adds smiles and laughs to our lives in every situation. :)


And yes, I think my baby brother is the cutest there every was. Who can argue? ;)

Sam+Joe= A double take of fun!

Yesterday was my twin brothers' third birthday!

My brothers are as fun as you can get. They have the biggest imagination and have a huge amount of energy. They are such a blessing and I don't know what I would do with out them. They have an amazing story that Mom wants to share on the family blog soon. :)

My brothers are now three years old. They are an amazing blessing and a joy in my life. Having babies in the house has sure helped my sisters and I in our mothering skills.

Here is a little about Sam and Joe personally:

Sam:
He is the oldest of the twins. Plumper, bigger, and heavier set. He is the shy twin and the quietest one I would say. And the funnier twin. :)




Joe:He is the youngest twin. Skinnier, smaller and lighter. He is more talkative and can memorize things better than Sam. (Including bible verses.)

They both love any kind of automobile or construction vehicle, cars, trains, planes, firetrucks, boats, tractors, earth movers, diggers, dump trucks....You name it!

They have a big imagination (as I said.) and would rather pretend doing things then really do them. They are both really observant and love to "work" like "big men".

They don't wrestle like most little boys, strangley enough. People keep telling me that will change. :)

They love learning. They know about half the alphabet, when looking at the letters and words.

We are memorizing about 7 bible verses. Two of them being Psalm 23 and Ephesians 5:1-13. They almost know all of them by heart. (Psalm 23 in particular.)

They are sweet, but they do have a quick temper.
Sometimes they have a fit when they don't get their way, but they are learning.

They do get into mischief.

Sam has stuck a whole roll of toilet paper in toilet, twice. But he did clean it up. :)
(Oh yeah. He paid the punishment.)

Joe put is tooth brush down the sink's drain recently. ( Naughty, naughty)


But the twos are over and the big boy threes are here to stay. No looking back Sam and Joe! You are big boys now!

Baking Fun...

My sisters, mother and I enjoyed baking together yesterday.


We made about 94 cookies because we are having company today and some yummy biscuits for dinner. It took us longer than it would take for most because our three brothers were being particularly needy. But we had a nice time as it was. :)



~Cookies before frosting~
~A heart!~

~Half of the cookies frosted~

~Yummy biscuits~



Also a Daddy Daughter Dance photo




~Blessings~

Give aways...

Three of my blogging buddies are having give aways.




Lindsay at content in Christ is having a giveaway for two hand made prizes!

and...

Grace at Grace's garden is having a give away for four lovely prizes three which are hand made!

and...

Rachel is celebrating her 100th post with a beautiful giveaway with three prizes, two of which are hand made!


My give away is still open for any one who is still interested in entering!
Thank you all who have entered! :-)

Blessings,

Leah

A lovely week

I have been having a wonderful week. I hope all of you have as well.

On Friday night one of our dear friends, Mattie, came to our house for a sleep over.
We stayed up really late, and didn't get too much sleep, but it was really fun. :)

On Saturday, I got my real learner's permit in the mail. ( The hard back card.)
I decided to ask my daddy, that day, that I was interested in getting behind the wheel for the first time, soon. He replied, "Really? How soon are you thinking." I wasn't sure. "How about today?" He asked. I hesitated for a moment. "Sure" I smiled. "What about right now?" he asked again. "Sure!" I said more confidentially. And that is what we did. :)

I did not start with our big 15 passenger van. But I tried out on our small mini van.
There is a big abandoned truck parking area near our house and we decided to try there.
My daddy explained all about the gears and other parts of the car. Then I got into the driver's seat, turned on the car, put it into drive, took my foot off the brake and started rolling 0 miles an hour! How fun!!

I started to get a feel for it as we drove around and made a couple turns here and their and I got a little more cocky with my speed. We drove around for about an hour and went home. I didn't really feel like going home, though. :) Yesterday my Daddy, Abby, Maggie, and I all went driving again. But Abby and Maggie got bored sitting in the car, (Going 0 mph is not the most enjoyable.) so they got out and explored a bit.
I love driving! :)

My sisters and I are doing secret friends, which is when you draw names and who ever you have, you secretly make gifts for them without them knowing who gave them to you. Since there are only three of us it is hard to not figure out who is your secret friend. But it is still fun. :)

We went the fabric store on Sunday. Maggie and I are each making a regency gown with the help of lady at our church. It will be really exciting and difficult! We are starting this Wednesday.


My weeks keep being pretty packed but very enjoyable. :)

I keep meaning to write some more interesting posts. But I just can't think of anything...

All I have on my mind are ramblings.

I hope you all are having a great week!!! :)

~Blessings~

What have you been up to?.....

Ramblings...

Hello every one! I hope you all have had a wonderful week! I know I have. :)

First off, what I have been meaning to tell you...

Last Thursday I was able to take my knowledge test again. My mother and I got up at 6:30 and went to driving center. ( The first time we went, it took four hours of waiting before I was able to take my test! So went really early!)

I was really nervous. The whole time we waited this time, I was nauseous. Then I finally got called up and I took my test. As I took it I strangely got I head ache. ( This was the most nervous I had ever been.) And..........I......................PASSED!!!

I was really happy. After it was all over, I finally realized how much stress all the studying and the actual test had given me. It was a great relief.

Anyway, I thought you might have been curious as what had become of all that studying business.... :)

I have not yet been in the driver's seat, but I hope to soon. :)

I have had some pretty packed weeks lately... But I hope that I won't be to busy soon.
We had a family from our church come for dinner last night, which is always a joy. Fellow shipping. :)

Having people for dinner is so much fun. I wish we could do it every night.

We went to a birthday party today and tomorrow we are having a friend sleep over.

My two sisters and I are going to be in a piano recital in May. So I have been practicing a lot.

We have 4 more April birthdays in our family. Including our cat. ;)

I still have not posted pictures from the Daddy Daughter Dance. Phooey.
We had our pictures taken. But I am not sure when we get them...

I have also been hoping to participate in an art fair that they have in our county each August. But I don't think I have enough time to make things people would want to buy. :)

I have to think up some good things to make...

Have any ideas? :)

Spring is offically, offically, here. We had some spring showers today. Hopefully it will wash away all of that pollen.

Sigh. I love spring and I really do like busy weeks. There is never a bored minute. :)


I hope you are having a wonderful, Thursday!
.
.
.
.
.

What have you all been up to? :)




~Blessings~

My Daddy's birthday

Here is my Daddy, with his birthday waffle. :)

My dear Daddy's birthday was on the 5th of April. I will not tell you how old he is turning but I will say that, as my daddy grows older, he also grows wiser. :)

~Daddy is a wonderful teacher who has trained all of us with much time, effort, and love.
~He is a hard worker, and a really great and organized man.
~My daddy can make any one laugh. His is so funny and clever. :)
~He loves every one around him.
~Daddy is very bold and strong in his beliefs and faith in Christ.
~He can articulate every thing that he believes.
~My daddy is the best man I know, and the best daddy ever!!

I hope you had a great birthday Daddy!!!!!

Easter...

I hope you all had a lovely Easter!!

We enjoyed attending the Easter service at our church and fellow shipping with our family at our house for dinner.


Our savior has risen!!



Happy Resurrection Day!


May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God.

Galations 6: 14-16

Abby's birthday...

Today is my dear sister, Abby's 14th birthday. She is a wonderful young lady who has a big imagination.

She is filled with humor and fun. She can almost always cheer someone up. Although she is quite private around most people and on her blog, she has a very big personality.

Some of her expressions are quite funny, but she can't stand acting with other people and especially around other people.

She is a great writer and a very dedicated reader and filled with facts and knowledge.

When holidays come around, she always has an idea on what to buy or make for a person. And most of the crafts she makes, she gives to someone.

Amazing
Brilliant
Inspirational
Generous
Ambitious
Intelligent
Lovely and Loving

Abby is a sweet sister and one of my dearest friends.

I hope you have the best birthday ever, Abby!

My 100th post...

Hello dear friends,

I would like to announce my 100th post!

I am so grateful to each and every one of you who take the time to read my posts and write such sweet, encouraging, comments. It is really so cheering get comments as most of you know. :)

And the long awaited give away is now to be revealed to you for this occasion....


A lovely vintage fedora made by the hat company Geo W. Bollman & co. inc.
It is made of 100% wool, with cute black ties that wrap around your chin.








If you would like to enter for this hat you can:

-Comment saying you would like to enter.

- And for a second entry, either write about this giveaway on your blog or for those who do not have a blog, comment your favorite verse in Proverbs 31.


My giveaway will end on April 27th, and I will be announcing the winner on April 30th.

Once again, thank so much all friends and readers for your kind support and comments. :)

~Blessings~