Summer Delights...!

I have been having a beautiful and radiant summer! Here are some blessings that I have been enjoying...

....Crocheting... oh yes. I finally, finally learned how to crochet. I have been reading so many books on how to crochet. But I never understood any of them and could figure them out. I saw some videos on lion yarn's website and I actually understood what they were saying. Now I know to crochet. It is so much fun!

     Here is one of my more neat looking squares. It's not perfect. But it is a good test square. This is not one of my friendship squares. :-) I am going to crochet a bit more first.

                                    A smaller square.

          I tried doing circular crocheting. It's hard. But I just got to keep crocheting! Practice, practice. :-)

                                                     ... I have been enjoying these....

....Photography...

 

      I have been seeing so many butterflies at our butterfly bush... mostly this kind of butterfly.

                                               

      This one is so lovely... it took me a while to actually capture it, because it kept flying away.

I have a picture of a butterfly that looks very similar to this one, that I took in 2008. Swallowtails are stunning

                                                               ...Watermelon...

                                               Yum. This colorful fruit is the picture of summer...

  Although I love drawing, I haven't been drawing too much this summer.

My sister Maggie on the other hand has. :-)
She is very talented and a great artist.
I have really been amazed by my sister's breath taking
pencil drawings and watercolor paintings.


Psalm 100

I hope you all are having a lovely summer! 

What fun things have you been doing? :-)

Rebelution Conference...

 

        Here's us getting ready for the next speaker!  Abby, Maggie, Me.

Hello everyone! Yet again it has been a while since I have posted... :-)

My mom, sister's and I went to the Rebelution Conference here in GA! It was wonderful!!! The speakers were Alex and Brett Harris, who are twin brothers and their older brother Josh Harris. Here is a part of  the definition of rebelution from their website:

"The official definition of the 'rebelution' is "a teenage rebellion against the low expectations of an ungodly culture." When you look around today, in terms of godly character and practical competence, our culture does not expect much of us young people. We are not only expected to do very little that is wise or good, but we're expected to do the opposite. Our media-saturated youth culture is constantly reinforcing lower and lower standards and expectations.
The word 'rebelution' is a combination of the words "rebellion" and "revolution." So it carries a sense of an uprising against social norms. But in this case, it's not a rebellion against God-established authority, but against the low expectations of our society. It's a refusal to be defined by our ungodly, rebellious culture. Actually, we like to think of it as rebelling against rebellion... "


It was a great conference about setting our teenage years to better use and not just doing what normal teenagers are expected to do. But having a purpose and a goal as we grow and Do Hard Things.

They have written a couple books that I have never read before. In fact I have never heard of the Rebelution until very recently. Here is a little more about the rebelution from their website:

"........The battle cry of The Rebelution is just three words, but it's an explosive concept: Do Hard Things. That's it. And "do hard things" is a mentality. It's a mentality that flies right in the face of our culture's low expectations. The world says, "You're young, have fun!" It tells us to "obey your thirst" and "just do it." Or it tells us, "You're great! You don't need to exert yourself." But those kinds of mindsets sabotage biblical character and competence.
"Do Hard Things" is just the opposite. It's how we build character and competence. It won't drop to meet the low expectations, it won't just do what comes easily, and it won't become complacent. It applies no matter who you are or what level you're on, because there's always something harder to do, something that will take you outside your comfort zone and cause you to grow..."


The conference was very enriching, inspiring, motivating, and over all mind changing. I am really glad we went. Here is the link to their website and I suggest if you don't go to the conference, to at least read their book Do Hard Things. I am on chapter 3. :-)

Have a good Wednesday!

Musings...

                                               Summer flowers...

                                                 Summer showers...

                                      Vivid colors...

                                           Beautiful berries...

                                            The butterfly bush blooms...

                                                 Crape myrtles...


Long time no post... :-)
 
Sorry for the delay and lack of posts on my blog. My family and I have been enjoying the July weather with fun with friends, catching up on spring cleaning, and many other exciting, summery fun!
I guess you could say I have been taking a blogging break. Although I have been reading all of your blogs, with out a doubt. All of you are so special, encouraging and inspiring to learn and read about. Thank you all for your blogs. They are a blessing to me. ;-)
Unforunately my whole family has been under the weather for the last couple days with a fever, sore throat and a little nausea. ( No throwing up yet.) It seems our family has been getting sick a lot lately. But I am thankful for how healthy we usually are. :-)

Any way, I really should get to bed... I hope to be posting more soon!

Summer blessings.. to you and yours'!

My Heart Is Filled With Thankfulness...

My heart is filled with thankfulness to him who bore my pain
Who plumbed the depths of my disgrace and gave me life again
Who crushed my curse of sinfulness and clothed me in his light
And wrote his law of righteousness with power upon my heart.

My heart is filled with thankfulness to him who walks beside
Who floods my weaknesses and strengths and causes fear to fly
Whose every promise is enough for every step I take
Sustaining me with arms of love and crowning me with grace.

My heart is filled with thankfulness to him who reigns above
Whose wisdom is my perfect peace, whose every thought is love
For every day I have on earth is given by the King
So I will give my life, my all, to love and follow him.

                 - Stuart Townend and Keith Getty

Are you thankful to God, the one who bore all our pain?

We have so much to be thankful for! What an awesome God we have.


             

Homestead Blessings Review

 My mom assigned us three dvd's to review. Here is one of mine that I reviewed and my mom's comments of it below. :-)

 Art of Herbs

This video is both informative and fascinating. The enriching herbs which they show you how to, nurture, preserve, and use in vinegars, teas, and butters, are both interesting and helpful; not to mention easy. Although several of their descriptions and instructions were not as clear as I had hoped, they were still helpful to me in learning remedies and uses for common herbs. Their garden was helpful to see and learn from, and their joyful speech and smiles were enjoyable to watch and listen to.

Mom's comments: I was hoping for a more medicinal use for herbs, this was primarily the culinar use of herbs. They also had some herb planting information that I felt was rather elementary.

July is here...

A new month that really makes summer, summer. I always have images of July as the hottest month of the year, with watermelon, many pool trips, and of course the fourth of July, (which will be here quite soon.) :D

Lemonade, water balloons, pools, picnics, rose cheeks, thunderstorms and a time when I really appreciate summer skirts!

When do you enjoy most about Summer? :-)

Guess what I bought?

                         ...Patterns!!!

                                               Sigh.... :o) Aah...

                                                             I love this dress!
I am not sure when I am going to make it, because I have a couple projects that I am making at the moment... and this seems like a dress for cooler weather...hmm...
    And there are three different designs... Choices, choices!
 But it reminds me so much of Nancy drew. The elegant heels, crisp, classy dress and pearls.


Next time I go to the craft store, I am planning to get some fabric for one of these purses. I am still not sure which one I will make first...

                     What do you think? :-D


I hope you have a great day!!!!

Mother's Birthday...

                                           My exuberant mother

My Dear mother's b-day is today!!! Holidays in our house always seem to come in bunches. She is 20-sum years old. He he! She most likely wishes that and I think most people that talk to her don't think about her age.

She is young in spirit. She is a wonderful woman and a joy to have as a role model.

Sympathetic

Hospitable and hardworking

Elated

Relaxed

Rapturous

Industrious


 May a new year be a blessing to you, as you are a year wiser, dear Mother!

                                             The birthday girl, laughing.

Father's Day...

Raise your hand if you have a wonderful Daddy! I know I do! God has blessed me with the perfect daddy, for me and my siblings. My father is amazing.

 My Father...

You are a man that is honorable and wise,
You are a teacher that is knowledgeable and kind,
You are a person that brings thoughtfulness to a sentence,
You are a solver that gives importance to every problem,
You are a manager that gives organization the right attention,
You are a comedian that gives funniness to every situation,
You are a worker that exceeds all expectations,
YOU are my... Father... whom will always be the best.


I love you, Daddy!

I hope all fathers, last Sunday, had a blessed and joyful holiday. They deserve respect and consideration. They need our support, compliments, and love. Fathers are wonderful!

Sickness, Craft Projects and Blueberries... Oh My!

                                        
 Eek! I have not written in a long while!
Our whole family got a stomach bug last week so we are now recovered and almost completely. :) In a big family sickness can hit hard on our schedule. Catching up on laundry, cleaning and gardening is a bit time consuming.

The weather has been almost unbearable this week. Very hot... well to what we are use to at least. Even through our sick week I was able to get my knitted purse done. (Yeah!)

                                             The purse!

Also I have been trying to finish a project I started I long while ago and haven't really been working on. Remember that doll I was planning on making? I never finished. Only started it. Now I am finally getting around to finishing it. I have the body done except for the head. That is the hardest part of a doll, because it is a big part of her personality. ( Especially her face.) I will hopefully show a picture of her as soon as I make her a head and clothes. Not sure when that will be. :)

                                             The book I have been using.

 And....
I am participating in Eden's Friendship Afghan Project! You can read up on it here!

I will be getting some yarn and knitting some squares for the quilt soon!!! I am looking forward to it. :D
I got two knitting books today, so that I can practice different patterns for each square. :D

We enjoyed going to our church's picnic on Sunday. Some of our friends kindly took us girls, because daddy was sick at that time. Maggie and I had fun whipping up some blueberry cobbler Tuesday. Abby, Maggie, Joe, and I picked some of our own blueberries from the garden Tuesday morning. Such fun!

Although we haven't been up to that much, I hope you all have been enjoying the warm weather!

                                                     1 Corinthians 13:1-3


What have you all been up to? :-D

Saturday Musings...

                                          Isn't she just peachy...? ;-)

I have been making these little cuties recently. I have been meaning to take a couple photos to show you what I've been up to. But I can't help giving, the others I've made, away. They can be great gifts, and are fun and easy to make. They are about, 7 inches tall and the pattern I made is adjustable and fun to tweak for each new doll. As you can see I made her outfit out the scraps I had left from my dress. :-)

I have also been at a stand still with one of my other projects. I am almost finished knitting a purse but I decided to make fabric handles. I am not quite sure how I am going to make them yet. But I hope to show the finished results soon. :-)

Thank you all for your prayers. My great grandma is doing much better, praise God! She had a pace maker put in yesterday and it seems to be helping. My grandma is still working and she is planning on quitting her job and staying with G.G. (our great grandma).  But before that happens, G.G. will be staying with us every day.   :-D Our grandma will drive her here in the mornings and pick her up at night. It should be fun! :-)

What have you all been doing lately? I'd love to know!

My Great Grandma

Please pray for my dear great grandma... She is 98 and has been such a stable, remarkable, woman. But She hasn't been feeling great lately and her health has declined in the last year. Especially with her heart. She is hopefully going to be getting a pace maker in tomorrow. So please pray for her and her health. You can go to our family blog for details of her condition and updates of how she is doing.

Thank you!