This verse was in my Bible reading this morning:

Matthew 18:10

"See that you do not look down on one of these little ones.

For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see

the face of my Father in heaven."

I don't know about you but I don't think that often about there being Angels around us. But isn't that verse a neat reminder? I love the concept that each of my children have an angel watching over them. Those that spend time with God are also deeply concerned about my children. I looked up some other verses on this topic and thought I would share them too.

Psalm 34:7

"The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him,

and delivers them."

Angels aren't just for kids. They are watching over all of us who fear the Lord. That is so cool to think about. That is something I want to be more aware of throughout each day.

Hebrews 1:14

"Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?"

Lilies I am really enjoying.

This verse was in my Bible reading this morning:

Matthew 18:10

"See that you do not look down on one of these little ones.

For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see

the face of my Father in heaven."

I don't know about you but I don't think that often about there being Angels around us. But isn't that verse a neat reminder? I love the concept that each of my children have an angel watching over them. Those that spend time with God are also deeply concerned about my children. I looked up some other verses on this topic and thought I would share them too.

Psalm 34:7

"The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him,

and delivers them."

Angels aren't just for kids. They are watching over all of us who fear the Lord. That is so cool to think about. That is something I want to be more aware of throughout each day.

Hebrews 1:14

"Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?"

Lilies I am really enjoying.

Happenings around here.

We had a full week. We were working at getting the garden in, working around the house and all the many things that come with Spring. A lot of progress also was made at the church building. The outside of the church building was still pretty unfinished but this weekend my brother-in-law, Travis, His Dad (David) and his Brother-in-law (Joel) all came up north and put on the block which goes 1/2 the way up the building. David also brought limestone up from Indiana to lay across the top. (Above all of that will be siding.) They are all brick masons (though Travis currently drives a train) and they did a very fast and good job. They got it all done and were here less then 24 hours. Those of us from church helped as much as possible with setting blocks out where they needed to be, carrying hod and so forth. Some of us also worked at clearing out brush and dead trees and cleaning up the property.

Here is my sweet nephew Gregory. He and his brother Harrison and cousin Jeffrey got to come up with the men as well.

I wasn't able to help as much as I would have liked to because I also had wedding flowers to do this weekend. Here is the Bride's bouquet. This is the third wedding in a row that they have had red roses and white flowers. They are very pretty put I am looking forward to next weekend's purple and white wedding (where I get to work with Irises!) and then the following weekend there will be orange flowers for the wedding.
One of the bridesmaid's bouquets.

I spent all of this morning decorating at the church building. It was rather fun and turned out pretty (I though). This is one of the Candelabras. After I got home and had a quick lunch we went over to work at the church building some more.

Happenings around here.

We had a full week. We were working at getting the garden in, working around the house and all the many things that come with Spring. A lot of progress also was made at the church building. The outside of the church building was still pretty unfinished but this weekend my brother-in-law, Travis, His Dad (David) and his Brother-in-law (Joel) all came up north and put on the block which goes 1/2 the way up the building. David also brought limestone up from Indiana to lay across the top. (Above all of that will be siding.) They are all brick masons (though Travis currently drives a train) and they did a very fast and good job. They got it all done and were here less then 24 hours. Those of us from church helped as much as possible with setting blocks out where they needed to be, carrying hod and so forth. Some of us also worked at clearing out brush and dead trees and cleaning up the property.

Here is my sweet nephew Gregory. He and his brother Harrison and cousin Jeffrey got to come up with the men as well.

I wasn't able to help as much as I would have liked to because I also had wedding flowers to do this weekend. Here is the Bride's bouquet. This is the third wedding in a row that they have had red roses and white flowers. They are very pretty put I am looking forward to next weekend's purple and white wedding (where I get to work with Irises!) and then the following weekend there will be orange flowers for the wedding.
One of the bridesmaid's bouquets.

I spent all of this morning decorating at the church building. It was rather fun and turned out pretty (I though). This is one of the Candelabras. After I got home and had a quick lunch we went over to work at the church building some more.

Butterflies

Hi All! Im very excited about this one! I had a dear friend painted some colorful butterflies on my 7" white block. She used only the best - french fabric paint. It doesn't come off.

So, I alternated my colorful butterflies with 4 colorful patch blocks. Put a 2" dark blue border and finished it off with a 4" flowery light blue.

 
Gorgeous-morgeous! I just love it. Gonna get my friend to do more painted stuff on my quilts.

Measurement : 42"W x 49"L

Made up of 100% American cotton

Price : RM120

Status : SOLD!

Dinosaur III

Had one last piece of dinosaur blocks. Instead of putting a log cabin around it (like I did the last time), thought I would make it just like the crazy bugs . . . . two light tones around it and brights scraps as its 3rd border.

A close up . . . had only 9 blocks.

Here it is. Quite squarish. I like it ;-)

Measurement : 48"W x 50"L

Made up of 100% American cotton

Price : RM130

Status : SOLD!

My Big Boy

Happy Two Years Old, Jackson Ryder!!!

Love Grammer.

Pudding pops (homemade) for warm days!

We are very blessed to get an abundance of yummy and nutritious farm fresh milk and eggs from my parents during the summer. Sometimes we even get more than we can use in just the regular ways. Pudding is a great way to use up both items and my kids absolutely love it.

For the warmer days we have been having recently I thought it might be fun to go a step beyond pudding and make pudding pops. The kids thought it was a good idea too and we all like them!

They are pretty fun to make and not very hard. First I made pudding from this recipe:

Chocolate Pudding

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup cocoa powder

2 eggs, separated

1/2 cup cold milk

3 1/2 cups milk, scalded

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon butter

Combine dry ingredients, then stir in the beaten eggs yolks and cold milk. Beat it into the hot milk and stir it over medium heat until it thickens. Add the vanilla and butter. Fold in the beaten egg whites.

(For vanilla pudding just leave out the cocoa)

Then we put them in little dixie cups, that we happened to have on hand, stuck and popsicle stick in the middle and stuck them in the freezer. You can be creative with what you freeze them in, and if you don't have sticks then use plastic spoons or something like that.

I actually made a double batch of pudding so we could eat some warm and still freeze some.

We finished them off tonight and enjoyed them. I have a bunch more milk in the fridge right now, I think tomorrow I will try to make some more pudding. I am wanting to try out different flavors too and also planning on possibly trying a sugar free (think natural sweeteners) recipe too.

What cool treats does your family enjoy in the summer?

For more Frugal Friday tips visit Life as MOM.

Pudding pops (homemade) for warm days!

We are very blessed to get an abundance of yummy and nutritious farm fresh milk and eggs from my parents during the summer. Sometimes we even get more than we can use in just the regular ways. Pudding is a great way to use up both items and my kids absolutely love it.

For the warmer days we have been having recently I thought it might be fun to go a step beyond pudding and make pudding pops. The kids thought it was a good idea too and we all like them!

They are pretty fun to make and not very hard. First I made pudding from this recipe:

Chocolate Pudding

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup cocoa powder

2 eggs, separated

1/2 cup cold milk

3 1/2 cups milk, scalded

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon butter

Combine dry ingredients, then stir in the beaten eggs yolks and cold milk. Beat it into the hot milk and stir it over medium heat until it thickens. Add the vanilla and butter. Fold in the beaten egg whites.

(For vanilla pudding just leave out the cocoa)

Then we put them in little dixie cups, that we happened to have on hand, stuck and popsicle stick in the middle and stuck them in the freezer. You can be creative with what you freeze them in, and if you don't have sticks then use plastic spoons or something like that.

I actually made a double batch of pudding so we could eat some warm and still freeze some.

We finished them off tonight and enjoyed them. I have a bunch more milk in the fridge right now, I think tomorrow I will try to make some more pudding. I am wanting to try out different flavors too and also planning on possibly trying a sugar free (think natural sweeteners) recipe too.

What cool treats does your family enjoy in the summer?

For more Frugal Friday tips visit Life as MOM.

A picnic packed by Aaron ~ Truly a finer thing

We had a simply beautiful day! The weather was warm and deliciously comfortable. We had fun working in the garden this morning (and I am almost done putting it in!) and then the kids thought that a picnic in the yard would be fun.

When I decided that it would be okay to do that only Aaron and Megan were around and I suggested that Aaron go ask the older two to get some popcorn popped and then I would come in to get everything else together. Aaron (my sweet 5 year old) pleaded, "can't I do it Mom? I can get the picnic ready all by myself." Knowing that he did know how to run the air popper, I gave him the go ahead and busily got back to work on the garden.

After a little while out came Aaron (the older two had joined him at this point and were helping him carry things) and he loaded the wagon with the lunch and headed down by the garden to have our picnic. Above is the lunch in the wagon.

He had made peanut butter and jam sandwiches and packed them individually in sandwich bags (that is something we pretty much never do, so it was special). They were simply oozing with jam! The older two had talked him into letting them make their own sandwiches but he made his, mine and Megans. He made a 1/2 a sandwich each for Megan and I (I think he was putting me on a diet! ) and a small one for him as well. He had the popcorn neatly in a bowl but no butter or salt were added. They did also bring a table cloth, paper towels, a pitcher of water and cups.

We had a lovely time eating our lunch but after a bit Jonathan decided he needed to make us some more sandwiches so he headed off to the house. Aaron at this point decided we really did need something on our popcorn so he headed off with that, later calling Mara to come and help.

Megan and I were left to our own devises so I decided some picture taking might be in order. Above is my sweet 3 year old.

And our house. You can't tell so well from here but the phlox is making beautiful pink pillows in the flower bed.

Spring days shared with my 4 lovely children and a picnic and some gardening thrown in, truly a finer thing!

A picnic packed by Aaron ~ Truly a finer thing

We had a simply beautiful day! The weather was warm and deliciously comfortable. We had fun working in the garden this morning (and I am almost done putting it in!) and then the kids thought that a picnic in the yard would be fun.

When I decided that it would be okay to do that only Aaron and Megan were around and I suggested that Aaron go ask the older two to get some popcorn popped and then I would come in to get everything else together. Aaron (my sweet 5 year old) pleaded, "can't I do it Mom? I can get the picnic ready all by myself." Knowing that he did know how to run the air popper, I gave him the go ahead and busily got back to work on the garden.

After a little while out came Aaron (the older two had joined him at this point and were helping him carry things) and he loaded the wagon with the lunch and headed down by the garden to have our picnic. Above is the lunch in the wagon.

He had made peanut butter and jam sandwiches and packed them individually in sandwich bags (that is something we pretty much never do, so it was special). They were simply oozing with jam! The older two had talked him into letting them make their own sandwiches but he made his, mine and Megans. He made a 1/2 a sandwich each for Megan and I (I think he was putting me on a diet! ) and a small one for him as well. He had the popcorn neatly in a bowl but no butter or salt were added. They did also bring a table cloth, paper towels, a pitcher of water and cups.

We had a lovely time eating our lunch but after a bit Jonathan decided he needed to make us some more sandwiches so he headed off to the house. Aaron at this point decided we really did need something on our popcorn so he headed off with that, later calling Mara to come and help.

Megan and I were left to our own devises so I decided some picture taking might be in order. Above is my sweet 3 year old.

And our house. You can't tell so well from here but the phlox is making beautiful pink pillows in the flower bed.

Spring days shared with my 4 lovely children and a picnic and some gardening thrown in, truly a finer thing!

A "REAL" (reel) mower for us!

As a teen I enjoyed using a reel mower sometimes to mow the yard. I really enjoyed that and have wanted one. Well when I happen to mention that desire when my Dad was around the other day his response was "We have one you can use". They brought it over this week and produced quite a bit of excitement in this household.
The kids are excited as they can use it. (Though we talked a lot about safety with the blades! And actually only the older two can manage mowing with it.)

I am excited because it is fun to use, I don't have to spend a half hour working to get it started and it doesn't take any smelly gasoline! Yea! My only concern is that it seems to cut the grass very, very short. We have yet to see if we really have the energy to do our whole yard that way but I really think it will be a great exercise program. :-)

Having no gasoline is also better for the environment and for our pocket book. I think that works for Thrifty Green Thursday!

Pink Leaves

Decided to make use of some of my pink scraps. Cut them into 4 leaves on an 8" white block.

Its a bit askew. . . . but

Here's a close up. Blanket stitched all around the leaves.

Ready to go . . . .
Beautiful! Just love the effect of the shocking pink around the white blocks. 

Measurement : 41"W x 51"L

Made up of 100% American cotton

Price : RM130

Status : SOLD!

Fairies in the Garden

Again, a friend (gosh, I'm blessed with such dear friends!) gave me this fabric that had fairies all over. It was light peach.

So I teamed it up with a light peach & light green hues. Was pleased with the effect.

All done up . . .
The effect is so sweet. I love it ;-)

Measurement : 43.5"W x 51.5"L

Made up of 100% American cotton

Price : RM100

Status : SOLD!

Cleaning vases with Vinegar

Not long ago I got a bunch of vases from Freecycle. Because I work with flowers for a home business (doing wedding flowers), vases often come in handy. I also like to have them to stick flowers from my garden in and give to a friend as a just for fun gift.

Two of the vases that came (she did offer to just throw them away but I said, "oh just leave them, I'll see if I can clean them") were pretty yucky looking. They had been sitting under a sink (I think it must have been drippy) for years and had a major calcium (I think) build-up as well as who knows what else.

I decided to try soaking them in some Vinegar water (about a cup of white vinegar in a sink half full) overnight and guess what? By morning everything scrubbed off very, very easily!

They aren't quite perfect but they are good enough for me. And they are ever so much better then they were!

For more works for me Wednesday tips visit We are THAT family.