Wednesday, February 25, 2009

The Story of Midnite

Since I have included a few pictures of our resident retirees previously, I thought that I would tell the story of how Midnite came to join our family.
In 2006, we decided to give in to the kids' pleading for a dog - with the condition that I got to have final say as to which dog we picked. We knew that we were just not equipped to take on a puppy, so we started looking into rescues and at the Humane Society. At some point, I stumbled onto an article about retired racing greyhounds and I was smitten. The rest of the family was not quite sure, but after an opportunity to meet some of the pups at a street fair, the whole family was on board. We soon filled out an application, and despite the fact that I really didn't have a color preference, I included the fact that I thought that black greyhounds were especially cute. Never in a million years would I expect a call the very next day. A small, black, female greyhound was on her way from North Carolina to find a home in Pennsylvania.

We quickly gathered the necessary dog accessories and happily went to meet the newest member of our family. While the other dogs at the home she was staying with came running to greet us, Midnite hung back and warily glanced at us out of the corner of her eye. She was exceptionally shy and startled easily. There were doubts as to how readily she would adapt to living with children. During her two week "settling in" period, the doubts multiplied, but just when I was convinced she would never be content in our home - she began to come out of her shell by leaps and bounds.
As we got to know her, anyone could see that Midnite was scary-smart and could communicate quite eloquently with meaningful sighs, whines and stares. She still had strange fears and many, many quirks, but those only serve to make her more special to us.
So, speaking of her quirks, this is Midnite's silent protest against the unfairness of her family cruelly stealing all of the available furniture, forcing her to contort herself to fit on a 14 inch throw pillow. It took her at least five minutes to situate herself thusly.

Also, as you can see, she has fully recovered from the trauma of the piano bench attack.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

If

If your husband asks for your blog's access information, you should probably give it to him. Such a sweet post! I feel so blessed to have him.
April

I love you so much.

I am a very lucky man .
God truly blessed me by having you in my life.
Every one who looks at this blog can see how funny,talented,and loving you are.
Thank you for your love, two great children,and a beautiful friendship.

love, your husband

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Survivor: Sleepover Edition

I think that instead of seeking out new, exotic locations every season - Survivor really needs to shake things up. I suggest that they have the contestants supervise a sleepover for 11 year old boys instead. The producers should then make sure that the boys have as much sugar, caffeine, video games and nerf guns as they can stand.

Just kidding - a good time was had by all.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Eleven Years Ago

Eleven years ago, I first met this wild and crazy guy.


Happy Birthday Bud! I love you!

Monday, February 16, 2009

The Boy Does Shakespeare

I was going to post some more sewing projects that I finished today - but I have something better.
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My husband was reading from his collection of Shakespeare's plays and piqued the kids' interest. They're now reinacting parts from a few of the plays. We are just not a normal family. My son's basketball has been the Yorick's skull in Hamlet, the living room blanket has been a cape and the poor dogs have been very confused. Also, the word womb has been explained to him. Unsure whether or not our son knew what the word meant, my husband asked him to use the word in a sentence.
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His sentence:
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"Womb, baby, womb." (Think BOOM, baby, BOOM)
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English class is just never going to be the same for my children.
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And just for the record, Romeo is apparently a "hunkleberry". I don't know what that is precisely, but he probably was.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Mish Mash

Four day weekends rock! I've managed to get a lot done so far, and I've had so much fun doing it.

Yesterday, I discovered another wonderful homemade household cleaner that was easy and worked great. It is kind of like soft scrub, and it is an excellent degreaser to boot. Just mix 1/4 cup baking soda, 1 tablespoon dish soap and enough white vinegar to make a creamy paste. This stuff worked wonders on my stove top and I just used a bit of vinegar and water spray to shine it up afterwards.

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Last evening we hosted our new Dinner 8's group for this year and served The Pioneer Woman's Lasagne recipe:



It just such an easy recipe to put together and consistantly turns out good - and makes terrific leftovers.

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This morning the patterns that I ordered from Make It Perfect (located in Australia) came in the mail - only a little over a week after I ordered them.

I have one skirt completed already! Gotta love easy sewing projects, especially since my dining room curtains were a dismal failure. Hopefully I'll post some finished project pictures tomorrow.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Say Cheese!

While looking through pictures on my computer, I came across a few taken at the PA Farm Show last year. I can't believe how much the kids have changed in just one year.

As you can see, the deep fried mozzarella was a HUGE hit!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

A Full Week

I didn't get to post much this week, as I was trying to prepare to speak at our church's women's prayer breakfast. I was nervous at first, but it turned out to be so much fun!


So, anyway, I did receive my fabric from SewLoveFabrics on Etsy and it came beautifully packaged (as always). Part of the order was for two of the prints from Anna Maria Horner's Garden Party collection. Rachel needed some skirts for spring and after tweaking one of the patterns I had on hand, here is the finished product:
(Please excuse the various items stacked on our dishwasher - it is my auxilliary sewing workspace.)

My fabric order also included two Anna Maria Horner Good Folks prints. I got one pillow completed and have three others in the works. This is not such a good picture and I'll take another once they are finished, but you can at least get the idea.
Next on my sewing agenda: Dining room curtains.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Terrific Video About Fanny Crosby

Fanny Crosby has never ceased to amaze me. I hope you enjoy this video I found on YouTube.