2010 Contract...

>2010 Contract
>After serious & cautious consideration....
your contract of friendship has been renewed for the New Year 2010!
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>It was a very hard decision to make... So try not to screw it up!!!
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>My Wish for You in 2010
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>May peace break into your home and may thieves come to steal your debts.
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>May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet for $50 dollar bills.
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>May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips!
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>May happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy
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>May health hit you hard and banish all illness and discomfort!
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>May all the problems you had, forget your home address!
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>In simple words .............
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>May 2010 be the best year of your life!!!
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Happy New Year!!

{Thanks to the hubs for sending this to me via email:}

Son-Day: "O Holy Night"

~Merry Christmas~

O Holy Night

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of our dear Savior's birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks
a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees,
O hear the angel voices!
O night divine,
O night when Christ was born!
O night divine, O night,
O night divine!

Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,

Here came the wise men from Orient land.
The King of Kings lay thus
in lowly manger, In all our trials
born to be our Friend!
He knows our need, To our weakness no stranger;

Behold your King!
Before the lowly bend!
Behold your King! your King!
before Him bend.

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us praise His holy name!

Christ is the Lord,
Oh praise His name forever,
His pow'r and glory evermore proclaim
His pow'r and glory
evermore proclaim.

Today we will be spending time with some of our precious family.
Our love goes to all those we won't be seeing today.
God bless us all on this marvelous day!!

Son-Day: "A Baby Changes Everything"

A Baby Changes Everything

Teenage girl, much too young
Unprepared for what's to come
A baby changes everything

Not a ring, on her hand
All her dreams, and all her plans
A baby changes everything

The man she loves she's never touched
How will she keep his trust
A baby changes everything

And she cries, oh she cries

She has to leave
Go far away
Heaven knows she can't stay
A baby changes everything

She can feel it's coming soon
There's no place, there's no room
A baby changes everything

And she cries and she cries
O she cries

Shepherds all gather round
Up above the star shines down
A baby changes everything

Choir of angels sing
Glory to the Newborn King
A baby changes everything

Everything, everything, every day

Hallelujah

My whole life is turned around
I was lost and now I'm found
A baby changes everything...

~A baby changed everything~

Our Christmas Get Up This Year

Christmas kind of snuck up on me this year.

My neighbors were putting up outside lights,
which I thought was kind of early, then it hit me...
It is Christmas time!!
This was our first time to put up the tree without my now adult children's help.
Sadly, it was MUCH easier.
{Grandboy, David was here and help hubby with the branches.}
We only put up half of the tree-no branches on the backside.
Worked out great!!
It doesn't stick out so much now.

I so love my Christmas tree.
Next year hubby will be instructed to put MORE lights on,
he only did the inside and its just not as pretty.
{it must be said he said he would add more, but I didn't want to wait}
This year we had to get (yet) another star.
I really love this one.
If it quits next year, we will just replace the lights (right hubby?)

My new ornaments are already on the tree,
hubby will be waiting until after Christmas for his;)
For my nativity ornament for 2009,
I found this darling plastic one on clearance
....25 cents! Oh yeah...

Also new this year are these neat clear plastic angel which fit over lights...Pretty...

For myself, a peace frog.
I was amazed how big this thing was...
Love it:)

New from last year, I found a wooden set of the 12 Days of Christmas...
On the first day of Christmas...
My true love gave to me...
A partridge in a pear tree...

Each year I get an ornament for 'us'...
This, too, is huge!

I have wanted an Nativity Advent for a long time, and found this at a good price on Ebay.
The original ornaments aren't with it,
but I have a small Nativity set somewhere that will work.
Currently its just standing, next year I plan to hang it on the wall, where my little ones can use it.
I had my 6/7 yo Sunday School class come up with 24 things that were at Christ's birth, draw it out on small pieces of paper, and next Sunday we will tell the birth story using this Advent and their drawings:)

Hubby decided to add a little flower touch to his basset...Perfect corner...

As brand new empty nester's, we are not using the Home Interiors Nativity our youngest inherited from my Mother-in-law.
Instead I put up the one I inherited from my grandma.
She used to keep this in the room I stayed in, and I was allowed to play with it all year long.
We found matching pieces at Hallmark one year, and each child picked out more pieces.
Such a tribute to my grandma, where I spent every Christmas, and whose house I will be at this Christmas to celebrate with my mom (who now lives there), and family.
{my son DJ folded and painted the star}

Lastly is my ever growing Angel collection.
They surround a Nativity, and with the lights it is heavenly.
{top two photos show the newest angels)Merry Merry Christmas!!

Cutie-Pie!!

My chihuahua-pekingese mix is 8 months old!!

Frank Ann Berry, Frankiebebe, or just BeBe, she's my girl!!
She won't be getting any bigger, and has a thick smooth coat.
Her eyes stayed light brown, and so is her nose.
Sometimes her ears are up, sometimes down.
She has a major overbite, total cutie-pie!
I was excited to see her actually playing with her toy.
I wanted to get her a toy for Christmas, and now I know she will play with it:)
She also likes to shred fabric softener sheets:)

~Love my BeBe~

Check out Camera Critters to join in or see others:)

Happy Birthday DJ!!

~Happy Twenty-Second Birthday DJ!!~

Son-Day: "Carol of the Bells"

Hark! how the bells, sweet silver bells
All seem to say, throw cares away.
Christmas is here, bringing good cheer
To young and old, (meek and the bold)
Ding, dong, ding, dong, that is their song,
With joyful ring, (all caroling)
One seems to hear words of good cheer
From everywhere, (filling the air)
O, how they pound, raising the sound
O'er hill and dale, telling their tale

Gaily they ring, while people sing
Songs of good cheer, Christmas is here!
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas!
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas!

On, on they send, on without end
Their joyful tone to every home
(Hark! how the bells, sweet silver bells
All seem to say, throw cares away.)
Christmas is here, bringing good cheer
To young and old, (meek and the bold)
Ding, dong, ding, dong, that is their song
With joyful ring, (all caroling.)
One seems to hear words of good cheer
From everywhere, (filling the air)
O, how they pound, raising the sound
O'er hill and dale, telling their tale

Gaily they ring, while people sing
Songs of good cheer, Christmas is here!
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas!
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas!


~God Bless~

Happy Second Birthday David!!!

Oldest Grandboy is two today!!!
Happy Birthday!!!
~Ralph David Wayne~

Son-Day: "For The Sake Of Our Brother"

For The Sake Of Our Brother

In a stable
In a manger
In the cold winter's air
In the arms of His mother
A Child's lying there.

In a city
In a village
Though the years have gone by
The Child still remains
With the dream still close by

And each year on this night that Child reawakens
And each year on this night that hope re-begins
That the dream He has offered might one day be taken

For the sake of our Brother
For the Child who's forgotten
For the dream that is still lying there

O come all ye faithful
Joyful and triumphant
O come ye
O come ye
To Bethlehem
Come and adore Him
Born the King of angels

O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
Christ, the Lord

In a stable
In a manger
In the cold winter's air
In the arms of His mother
A Child's lying there...

Our Primary children will be singing this in Church services this month. Their sweet little voices really nail it:)

~ God Bless~

Little Man is Two Months Old!!

~Jeremiah~
Two Whole Months and Growing!!

Son-Day: "What Child Is This"

~God bless you
as we remember
the birth of His Son,
our brother,
our Savior,
Jesus Christ~

Weekend At The Coast

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the fam, and that weekend we took off for the beach.
It is only five hours south of us. Hubs usually goes in the spring to the Corpus Christi area (10+ hours), and this year he couldn't go.

I love to go too, and really felt like I missed out, so I planned to 'run away' this last weekend, just the two of us.

We were really on a scouting mission, to check out future camp sites. Just driving around was so fun.
The Galveston beach area was hit hard by a hurricane, and all tho it was wonderful to see the clean up, the damage was a bitter-sweet reminder of the destruction. In 2004, hubs and I stayed here. My step-daughter had graduated in 2000, all the way in WI and that was a fun trip. We couldn't afford to take the kids, and going alone was a blast:).

Then in 2004 my step-son was graduating. We were all packed and ready to go to WI, when we got the call that he would not be walking the stage, instead he would be going to his grandfather's, who just had open heart surgery (and did very well I must add)). We were bummed. Bummed for our step-son, his grandfather, our step-daughter,
and us-we really wanted to get away. We decided to go anyway. After all the truck was loaded, sitter was arranged, day's off were set up. What the heck. Instead of north to WI we went south to the coast. Hubs insisted we stay here, on the beach, it was wonderful. We went to the Moody Garden's aquarium (first one I have been too, and I must say amazing), ate at fancy restaurants, and took a sailboat ride at sunset.
Later I asked what his favorite thing was, and he said "Walking with you on the beach."
(how romantic:)

Such a powerful reminder of the strength of Mother Nature...
The Flagship Hotel,

The old fishing pier...

Even the concrete beams and pillars have fallen...

Most the beach at the seawall gone...

Then I realized I was only taking pictures of the destruction...

So I focused more on the beauty...

Pictures do not do this justice...

The sounds...

The colors...

The smells...

The company...

The peace...

We drove around Galveston, and on down to Port Arthur (two hours east along the coast), we walked along the beach, and in Crystal Beach we drove along the beach and hunted shells (found the best on Crystal Beach). The weather was 70 and over cast, very few people were out and it was lovely.

Just Lovely...

Happy Birthday LauraJune Lynnette!!!

11/27/09 was Grandgirl's 3rd Birthday!!!!
~Happy Happy Birthday LauraJune Lynnette!!~

Son-Day: "Zephaniah 3:17"

~God Bless~

Spiritual Sundays

Happy Thankgiving

~Happy Thanksgiving~
~to one and all!!~

Silly Video: Blue Day Book

Son-Day: "Mighty To Save"

Kenaf Hibiscus

One plant that really did well for me this year was this new to me plant, Kenaf Hibiscus.

The seeds I bought were few, so I was really excited when these two plants grew and flourished. No extra water or fertlizer. They fell over, but kept right on growing. One plant has more "pot" looking leaves, the other plant has more heart shaped. I'll be keeping seeds from both. Because growing a plant that looks like a pot plant (especially in my county) is a major concern of mine, I'll be planting the heart shaped leaves next season, if my seeds ripen. Below are the two plants, one in front of the other. Well over 20ft tall, with beautiful huge light yellow flowers.
My online research shows this plant is used for its oil (seeds), fiber (stalks), and food. Much research is being done to see if it warrants replacing the tree paper industry. VERY easy to grow.

Below information taken from:

About the Kenaf Plant

Tomorrow's Paper Today Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Kenaf revolution underway. Buyers exercise power of purchasing. Public approval ratings up. Fiber of the future available today! Kenaf cannot run wild across the country like a weed, because in almost all parts of the U.S., kenaf seeds cannot mature. Kenaf is a 4,000 year old NEW crop with roots in ancient Africa. A member of the hibiscus family (Hibiscus cannabinus L), it is related to cotton and okra, and grows well in many parts of the U.S. It offers a way to make paper without cutting trees. Kenaf grows quickly, rising to heights of 12-14 feet in as little as 4 to 5 months. U.S. Department of Agriculture studies show that kenaf yields of 6 to 10 tons of dry fiber per acre per year are generally 3 to 5 times greater than the yield for Southern pine trees, which can take from 7 to 40 years to reach harvestable size. While the flowering can last 3 to 4 weeks, or more, per plant, each individual flower blooms for only one day. The stalk of the kenaf plant consists of two distinct fiber types. The outer fiber is called "bast" and comprises roughly 40% of the stalk's dry weight. The refined bast fibers measure 2.6mm and are similar to the best softwood fibers used to make paper. The whiter, inner fiber is called "core", and comprises 60% of the stalk's dry weight. These refined fibers measure .6mm and are comparable to hardwood tree fibers, which are used in a widening range of paper products. Upon harvest, the whole kenaf plant is processed in a mechanical fiber separator, similar to a cotton gin. The separation of the two fibers allows for independent processing and provides raw materials for a growing number of products including paper, particle board, animal bedding and bioremediation aids. At the end of the growing season, the kenaf plant flowers. After blooming the flower drops off, leaving a seed pod behind. In almost all parts of the U.S. the seeds can never mature. Because of their African origin they require an additional 60-90 days of frost free conditions to reach the point of germination. This means kenaf cannot run wild across the country like a weed. It also presents some interesting challenges for developers to insure a consistent supply of seed for next year's crop. Much research work is being done in the area of seed development, with leading edge companies like Vision Paper developing innovative and environmentally sound solutions. Illustrations by Heidi Smith All art © 1998 Vision Paper

Have a great weekend!!!!
Go to My Romantic Home for more Show and Tell today:)

Baking Snake

I saw this adorable "Snake Bread" recipe on Paula Deen and thought it way too cute not to try.
So, Friday eve, when I had some grands it was the perfect time to try it.
Ingredients are:
lunch meat, cheese, mustard, crescent roll dough, and egg, and a little dusting flour

Here are my big helpers, grand David and LauraJune in front;
Kobe, who I babysit, in back.
They are excited about the paintbrushes and the flour:)
{This is when LauraJune noticed I was taking pictures and quit smiling. She also took her ponytails down, so she has a cool hairthing going.}
I gathered the ingredients, and floured my island.

Oh, the fun they had painting with the flour. :)

Fun, fun, fun.

Then we spread out the crescent dough of two small cans, and patted all the triangles together to make one solid sheet.
I decided this needed to be done on a movable flat service to be able to move it if I needed AWAY from my helpers.

We painted on mustard.

(Notice Kobe's face??? Big mouth full of mustard:)

Next, we put a layer of lunch meat.
Next time I'll put more on.
Of course, we needed a taste test of the ham.
It passed inspection:)

Sprinkled some cheese.
(Another taste test:)

Roll it up, and paint with colored egg wash.

Then we popped it into the oven.
Make sure you turn on the oven light to really enjoy the view of your Snake baking:)
(Kobe's mom came, so he had snake the next day for lunch)

Ta Da!!!

Look how intense they are!!!
So excited about the carving of the snake...

Actually they were more excited about the grapes we had with the snake!
Snake eggs maybe???

They even folded their little arms to hurry up the prayer:)
Darling...

We put grapes on for the eyes.
Because it was crescent bread it was really rich.
Next time I'm going to try a pizza dough, more lunch meat and not so much mustard.
I'm thinking this could also be done in a cinnamon roll way for a sweet snake.

Hubby said it looked more like a worm.
Either way, mmmmmmmmmmm, delish!!!

Ingredients

• 1 can crescent rolls
• Flour, for dusting
• 4 tablespoons spicy mustard
• 10 ounces thinly sliced ham
• 10 ounces thinly sliced salami
• 10 ounces bologna
• 12 ounces Monterey Jack, grated
• Liquid food coloring
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 whole cloves
• Toothpicks
• 2 small pimiento-stuffed olives
• 1 (1-inch) strips jarred roasted red peppers

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Line a cookie sheet with foil. Grease the foil and set aside.

Dust a flat surface lightly with flour. Spread out the crescent dough — do not separate. Pinch together the seams so that you have 1 piece of dough. Roll out to make a large rectangle. Make sure the dough is not stuck to the surface at all.

Brush the dough with the mustard, leaving a 1-inch border. Layer the meats down the center of the rectangle, leaving a 1-inch border on either end. You can feel free to use your favorite cold cuts.

Top the meats with the cheese. Fold 1 side of the dough over the filling, lengthwise. Then, fold the other 1/2 over and press the seal the filling inside. Take 1 egg yolk, and beat lightly with a fork. Brush the egg yolk over the top of the dough. The yolk will act as the glue to hold. Fold the dough in 1/2 again lengthwise. Pinch the seam with your fingers to seal. Press the outside of the dough to make sure everything is sealed tight and to make an even thickness for the body of your snake. Taper 1 end of the dough to form a tail shape. Form the other end into a head shape.

Beat the 2 remaining egg yolks together. Transfer to 3 separate small bowls. Add some food coloring to each bowl — whatever colors you like! Using a clean paintbrush, "paint" the snake with the egg yolk/food coloring mixture.

Transfer the snake to the foil lined sheet tray. Form into an "s" shape so it looks like the snake is slithering. Insert 2 cloves into the head to look like nostrils and 2 stuffed olives for eyes. Create a mouth or tongue with the roasted red peppers. Bake the snake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.

Homemaker Monday's at: 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven