Marriage

Last week, while traveling with Greg, I had lots of time to listen to some great sermons/seminars online through RightNow Media.org.  One in particular that I really enjoyed and listened intently too was by RC Sproul about "The Intimate Marriage".  He had some great insights and reminders for those who are newly married or have been married for many years.

Here are a few tidbits ~
Marriage is instituted and created by the Lord.  Its between a man & a woman.  Each should respect, encourage, listen to, consult with, partner with, love, and have fun with the other.  With the Lord being first ~ the next important person in your life should be your spouse.  Marriage is a partnership between 2 people ~ who are both sinners, both make mistakes, neither are perfect, both are filled with pride.  These were just a few of the thoughts in the 5-6 episodes.

In our home, Greg is the head of the household.  And while he ultimately makes the final decisions, they are discussed between the 2 of us.  He can suggest what he wants done at home ~ but I decide the best way to do it, since I am here all the time and dealing with everything.  I need to take his ideas/visions and implement them the best way possible.  He tells me what he likes/doesn't like, but doesn't tell me what to wear, how to act, who to talk to, etc.  With homeschooling ~ we discussed what should be done, what subjects to learn, but I found everything for use and came up with the best way to implement the subjects, activities, and the daily scheduling.  Submission doesn't mean being a doormat and making no decisions on your own or having no thoughts or opinions of your own.  It is the natural order of the home that the Lord set forth for us in scriptures.

There are some great resources you can turn to in your journey of marriage ~ the Lord, your parents, your Pastor, good Biblical teaching/preaching online, other couples who have been on the journey longer than you, Christian books, etc. 

Another good resource I have found is http://lovinglifeathome.com/ by Jennifer Flanders.  She is a Christian wife and mother & an inspiration.  I read her blog and follow her on pinterest.  She has lots of good posts on being a Christian wife and helpmeet to her husband & leading/growing her children to follow the Lord and guide them toward their adulthood. 

Here is a few goodies from her pinterest board ~

My 3 Grandsons!

 

Remember the TV Show ~ "My 3 Sons"?

 

we are will now have

 

"My 3 Grandsons"

 

Jennifer & Allen had an ultrasound today & there was no question in anyones mind ~

 

Its a BOY!

 

Introducing

 

Aiden Scott McDaniel

 

joining our family on or around August 18!

 

 

 

We are thrilled with our 3rd grandson!  Lots of toy trucks & blocks & fun in our family!

 

I found this cute definition of a boy on pinterest ~

 

They must have seen Allen as a boy!



Springtime ~ Winters Not Over Yet!

The springtime pictures I took in Atlanta at my Moms house ~

I need to show this picture to my scrawny blueberry bushes to inspire them to new heights.

Mama's cherry tree is beautiful!

Wintertime struck again, while we were on our way to Asheville, NC. ~

It was gorgeous to watch, beautiful to photograph, and awesome to witness.  But I am very glad we don't live with this for months on end! 

Come on Springtime! 

Family Time!

We got to spend some time on Sunday night with my son Allen & his bride Jennifer ~

isn't she gorgeous!

And then on Monday, we went to my nephew Ben's Scout Court of Honor for making Eagle Rank!  It was a lovely ceremony ~ and as a bonus, I got to catch up with 2 friends that I haven't seen in several years!

love my red headed neice!

The Eagle & the eagle!

sweet nephew!

Ben explaining about his Eagle Project

My sister pinning Ben's Eagle Award on!  Her 3rd Eagle!

Doug, Ben & Brenda

Amy, Granny, & Ben

Oops!  Just noticed Bethany's eyes were shut!  These cousins love each other!

Saturday night we will have another opportunity to all get together ~ this time 2 more nephews may get to join us!  Amy also got to talk to Bethany's American Heritage girls group about her cupcake business and show a powerpoint about her cupcakes! 

Baby Bishop

I finished smocking my baby bishop last night ~ wonder if the ultrasound next week will show us a grandgirl or a grandboy?  Right now, only the Lord knows!  We are very excited to find out!

I am linking up with

http://deborahjeansdandelionhouse.blogspot.com/2014/03/150th-anniversary-farmgirl-friday-blog.html

Happy Friday!

Squirrel Antics

We've had fun watching Rosie ~ our crazy, hyper lab/boxer try to stalk a squirrel this week.  She slowly creeps across the deck to "surprise" the squirrel.  The creeping is funny because she NEVER does anything is slow speed.  Full speed is her normal. 

I am rooting for Rosie and not the squirrel because it will be peach season soon and we would like the peaches instead of the squirrels!  We haven't gotten any pictures of the stalking yet, but Amy did get some of the acrobatic squirrel hanging upside down on our birdfeeder helping himself ~ these are taken through a window, across the yard so they are a little fuzzy ~

Maybe the circus that's in town would want an acrobatic squirrel!  Its worth a thought!

Evidentally its possible to hand upside down and eat at the same time.

it looks like he spotted the photographer!

Frugal-ish Solution

When we chopped down the overly tall bushes in the front of our windows, we discovered that our bedroom window sill was rotten.  Not just a little but a lot.  We visited a major home improvement store to come and access the situation and give us an estimate for new windows for the front of the house.  The guy came (2 hours late) walked around, hemmed and hawed, and finally told me they weren't allowed to put windows on a stucco house.  My argument was ~ they had just done our back windows less than 2 years ago...why did the policy change?  Then the excuses came, there was too much risk with stucco, too much work involved, etc...they couldn't do them.  We went back to the store, a couple of weeks later another guy came and looked ~ the guy who had done the windows 2 years ago, and said they could do them.  Another couple of weeks went by and the first guy called said he had the contract written up and would bring it for us to sign.  We weren't given a quote, or estimate over the phone ~ Greg told him to leave it at the store and we would go there (I wasn't real interested in waiting on this guy to show up on a Friday night).  We finally got the quote, which was higher for 4 windows than it had been for replacing 6 windows and a large door previously.  Greg finally got a breakdown for the costs and we discovered they were charging us windows, installation, wood for the sills (greatly exaggerated price) and additional installation for the window sills.  Needless to say, their windows, quote, high prices etc.  didn't fly with us. 

The window sills were the main problem ~ and mainly on our window.  So we headed to another large chain home improvement store and found window sill "wood" and the trim piece already grooved out and ready to install.  My handy dandy husband tackled the job on Sunday afternoon ~ our cost for the supplies for 2 window sills was $45 and add in a few more $$ for the caulk he needed to get.........sure beats $345 for materials plus at least that much for labor.  The "wood" is a manufactured product that won't rot, mold or mildew like wood can.  The cost was more than wood but this will only have to be done once.

Here are some pictures ~

the bushes hid a lot of damage ~ plus more was flaked off by Greg to see how deep it went

no more rotten sill

new sill in & front decorative piece clamped till the adhesive dries.

Now all that's left is painting the trim & caulking the inside part of the frame.

Great job Greg!
I was here for technical support ~ the gofer!

This Weeks Menu's & Weekend Activities

For our dinners this week we will have ~

Sunday ~ leftover Vegetable Soup
Monday ~ Pork Roast, squash casserole, cooked broccoli
Tuesday ~ Spaghetti Sauce with broccoli slaw (noodles)
Wednesday ~ Fish, Sweet Potatoes, Peas
Thursday ~ Tortilla Pizzas
Friday ~ Homemade Chili
Saturday ~ Chicken Enchiladas

We had a busy weekend ~ got 4 of the outside chairs repainted, put up the lattice around one of the planter boxes & planted the onion sets, sanded the picnic table & benches and then put water seal on it, got a bunch of leaves out of the pool & swept it, weed whacked around Rosies outside kennel, pressure washed the oil spot in the driveway, got out the rotten window sill on our window and rebuilt it. 

Greg worked on the window sill yesterday & the outside part is finished ~ just needs some paint to match the trim.  He bought the fabricated "not wood" boards that will never rot.  It looks really good and its a big project off the list.

Amy staged our pictures for our Etsy shop and did lots of photography.  We opened the shop last night & I also posted pictures & information on 2 Doll boards I follow on facebook.  Within a few minutes of posting I had 4-5 inquiries...so I hope it leads to sales.  Right now, we've got the doll clothes, Amy's beaded baby bracelets,  crocheted dishcloths, reversible adult aprons, & more to come.  I've got to take pictures of the smocked dresses & some other goodies to sell.  Amy is also making Disney charms & earrings out of clay that are so cute.  All of the charms are cupcakes & decorated to depict different characters ~ Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Buzz Lightyear, Peter Pan, Rapunzel (tangled), Ariel, etc.  She has also made some miniature doll food. 

So if you would like to shop ~ our store on Etsy is named

"CraftsbyMSPeaches" ~


And at the top of the blog I now am running ads through google ad sense.  I don't make any money from anything you buy through the ad but I do make advertising $$ for clicking on the ad and going to the site.  So please click on the ad if you see anything that interests you.  I've got it set so that Mature ads (offensive) don't run, so if you see anything questionable, please let me know.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Observations

Facebook needs an unlike button

 

my friends on Pinterest need to not start food boards that show up on my feed automatically ~ its not healthy for the diet!  The unfollow button is a good thing.

 

there is way too much drama in our lives

 

more channels on tv doesn't equal more shows to watch

 

public cussing ~ tv or otherwise should be outlawed

 

employees at stores should stop complaining & griping about their jobs when customers are within listening range

 

just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should do it

 

communication is a good thing

 

Growing up is being delayed too long in modern society

 

weekends are too short!

 

Not everyone is the same ~ God made us all unique and we should be ourselves instead of changing because others want us too.

 

 

 

 

Civil War

The Civil War or as it is known in the South as the "War of Northern Aggression" has been over for many, many years ~ but left an indelible mark on the Southern States ~ specifically beneath their soil.  And my Daddy had a knack for finding some of these goodies with his trusty metal detector & a shovel.  To call him a Civil War "buff" would have been a great understatement.

My nephews also have a knack for sniffing out some of Daddy's treasures in Moms basement.  Treasures which haven't seen the light of day for many years (Daddy died in 1994).  Their latest find was a couple of small cannonballs.  They took one of them home....I have the other one ~

Greg made me a "cannonball cozy" to hold this treasure on our mantle! 

I guess all that's missing is the cannon!

Smocking Tip Found

On my daily perusal of Pinterest, I saw an interesting pin about changing the needle on your pleater ~ if it breaks while you are pleating.  This intrigued me, since this is a somewhat frequent occurance ~ and a pain when it happens!

I followed the posted link, which only lead to the blog and then I had to start digging to find the specific post (again...a pain).  I found it, reposted the correct link and saved it to my smocking board.  Pleating the fabric is my least favorite part of smocking, mostly because of needle breakage.  And the goofy needles cost $1.25 each, which in itself is not much, but for a toddler and above size dress you use 10-12 needles.  When one or two break, you are getting into some cash.

I like to cut out and pleat several dresses in the same day, just to get the pleating over with ~ then I can block the dresses and smock.  On Monday, I had 4 dresses to pleat.  The first 3 were a charm...no broken needles.  Then #4 ~ I was on the very last section and the needle busted, I couldn't get the hint to work.  I knew it had to be operator error (ME) since the tip came from a smocker that is published in magazines and knows what she is doing.  I ended up pulling out all the threads (10), ironing the fabric, replacing the needle and starting over.  And it happened again.  This time I turned on my trusty Kindle, READ the complete directions and got to work ~ and it worked!!!!!  Reading the directions & following them do come in handy!

Here is the link and then some pictures I took of the process ~

http://texassmockingcompany.blogspot.com/2009/10/changing-needle-while-pleating.html

Many, many, many thanks to Janet Gilbert for publishing this "will make my life easier" tip.  And to whoever posted it on pinterest from Janets blog.

See the hump?  That's the busted needle ~ this one busted and broken into 2 pieces.

You have to carefully work the needle out of the pleats ~ all the pieces of the offending needle

that leaves an empty spot in the pleats ~ this is where I messed up the first time, I didn't pull all the pleats off the needles to rethread

then you rethread the needle, stick it in the pleater, replace the roller bar, PRAY, and continue

You have to roll the fabric to hold it tight and then go through the pleater ~ the little tan bar came with it, but doesn't work well for Bishop style dresses because its too short.  The long blue bar is a handle from a mop or broom that I got from Mom and it works great!

Here is the padded board to block the dress on.  The inside circle markings are the necksizes for whatever size dress you are making.  I did 2 newborn & 2 size 5.

This part is kind of tedious but well worth the effort ~ this is one of the newborn dresses.
I love the mini rosebuds on this soft pink fabric.

The pinning is complete and tied off. 

Now its ready for a spray of starch & after that dries, I can block & spray the others.
By yesterday afternoon, I had 3 of them done ~ after the 4th, I can get to smocking ~ the fun part!

 

The 2 size 5 dresses are for my little twin friends ~ I usually make them dresses for their birthdays...last year they got their gift 6 months late (my bad, but we did have 2 weddings last year!).  The Sunday they wore their dresses to church, during their Sunday School prayer time they both prayed and thanked the Lord that Miss Donna made them dresses.......I heard about it later & it brought tears to my eyes!  How sweet & thoughtful ~ and an encouragement to me! 

This little darling' didn't want to smile for anything on Sunday ~ but she loves her Minnie Dress ~

I guess loosing an hours sleep from the time change messed up her "clock"

I love the black bow buttons we found to go on the shoulders!

Happy Crafting Month!

Menu Plan for the Week

Dinner Menu Plans

Sunday ~ Pizzas on tortillas
Monday ~ Taco Salad
Tuesday ~ Frenchs onions "oven fried" chicken, cooked broccoli, cooked carrots
Wednesday ~ hamburgers, mashed cauliflower
Thursday ~ Homemade Vegetable Soup
Friday ~ Chili Dogs, carrot sticks
Saturday ~ Chicken Enchiladas

I've got lots in the freezers that I want to use up.  I also need to start canning some dried beans for soups/chili, canning more chicken, and ground beef.  It is so much easier to prepare meals if the meat is already cooked, canned, and waiting for us to use.  This uses no room in the freezer, makes meal prep a breeze, is easy to pack and carry in our RV (which has a tiny freezer), is shelf stable, gives us meals if there is a power shortage due to a tornado or hurricane, and cuts the grocery budget when we can buy in bulk.  (Still comparison shop, sometimes bulk doesn't save any money & in some cases could cost more)

I buy my chicken in 40 lb. boxes and my ground beef in 10 pound tubes at restaurant depot.  We also buy 5 pound blocks of cheddar cheese, queso cheese for our enchiladas, and mozzarella cheese for our pizzas.  I've gotten 30-40 pound boxes of sweet potatoes ~ to cook or to can.  And cases (6 to a case) of #10 cans of tomato sauce for our spaghetti sauce.  I've done 30-40 pound bags of carrots and canned them too ~ that's a lot of peeling!  As soon as the co-op gets in the huge bags of frozen green beans, I will be buying them to can also ~ 4-5 of their bags will can enough quarts to last us a year.  I may get 6 this year just to be sure.

Even though our Disney trip is months away ~ I am starting to think about easy dinners we can have at the RV after a day of play in the parks.  Having the canned meats will make this process a lot easier!

Cool Honor!

I got an email today saying that my post from last week about the coming of Spring was featured ~



I think that is really neat!  Thanks Dolly!

Now, it I could only figure out how to get this image to my sidebar! 

Thankful For ~

 

Weekends

 

Creativity

 

Friends

 

Plans

 

Anticipation

 

Laughter

 

Sense of Humor

 

Communication

 

Family Time

 

Fabric Scrap Piles

 

Fixed Bobbin Tension

 

Longer Days

 

Blooming Flowers

 

Good Nights Sleep

 

The Blessings we have been given

 

 

 

 



Fun Disney Crafts to Try ~

We really enjoy going to the Disney parks in Florida.  The first time I went was within the first year it opened ~ for a State Farm Convention....it was just the Magic Kingdom then and we used the little paper tickets for the rides ~ who remembers E tickets?  My daddy was a State Farm agent and his regional office was located in Jacksonville, Fl.  They had a number of conventions down there for the agents & their families and we really liked going.  James first trip to Disney was also a convention ~ about 30 years ago.  One year, SF had the evening scheduled for Magic Kingdom ~ I was a teen and we were given special armbands to signify we were with SF.  Some of the rides we didn't even have to get off of ~ just held up our arm bands and they let us stay on and ride again.  I don't do roller coasters ~ I did do Space Mountain once...that was enough, never again.  I will ride on Splash Mountain but that's about as adventurous as I get. 

We've decided to revisit the parks in the fall ~ staying in the RV at Fort Wilderness like we did 3 years ago ~ nice and peaceful, but also on property so we can use their transportation systems! Greg looked into staying off property at an RV park and renting a car for our time there ~ but the price was about the same ~ so on property it is. We will eat our own breakfasts & dinners in the RV and either take snacks/picnic lunch for park days or buy fast food in the parks.  You can take a soft sided cooler bag into the park ~ the bags will be checked ~ and you can't carry any glass.  We are planning our week to be there at the annual Epcot Food & Wine Festival ~ yummy little bites of food.  We usually share the little plates so we all get to try the food & cut the costs a little...those little plates usually run $3-5 each but they sure are good.  One of my favorites is the steak & sweet potato puree from Africa ~ oh yummy!  And we are going on one of the least crowded time of the year ~ it will still be hot though.


Our last visit was almost 3 years ago ~ we didn't tell Amy & Will until the night before where we were going ~ this time they know and Amy's creative juices are flowing!  She has plans to make us a sign for our rv campsite ~ either fabric or wood, earrings from sculpey clay, and other stuff.  There are lots of ideas on pinterest with links to great internet sites for crafts & saving money while there.  the 2 tshirts we bought yesterday to craft with were $2.50 each, so that is very affordable and could be a great one of a kind shirt (or a pinterest fail!). There are even whole blogs dedicated to Disney trips by families talking about how they pay for it, what they pack, where they stay, discounts they find, etc.  Quite interesting reading if Disney is your "thing".

Greg found a link called http://www.mousesavers.com/ that he is already frequenting to find us great deals.  And I also ordered the free travel dvd from Disney. 




I got a white t shirt yesterday to try this on ~ we already had the tie die colors!

Amy got a black t shirt to do this with yesterday~ we need to get a dollar store spray bottle for the bleach

Cute & looks easy for the fair!



This is so cute & I have a Disney license plate I can use for the roof!  And it can go in the fair!