Florida Trip

This past week our family went to Florida to visit Grandma and Grandpa, as well as attend a wedding for some dear friends. We had a wonderful time.

No, our family doesn't take good pictures. It also doesn't help that we had no idea when the camera was snapping the pictures...and the sun was glaring. Oh well. We will look back on this picture and remember the fun we had.

The Dollar Store had sunglasses, so I bought a bunch since we keep wearing them out...and Allen inadvertantly leaned over and let his glasses slide off his head into the Gulf. I call these sunglasses "Alien Glasses"...for obvious reasons. Lizzie and Allen caught catfish, so Mike filleted them and we ate them for dinner. Does Lizzie look proud or what?!

My children enjoyed fishing off Grandpa's bulkhead. Just like our last FL vacation, hotdogs work better than shrimp for bait.

My children also went on many boatrides. (I went on two.) The weather was perfect, low humidity and low temps.

Grandma had the yard looking wonderful, as usual.

I like her palm trees.

My children found lots of sharks' teeth...I think 300+ in all. Maggie found some huge teeth, larger than a quarter. I will try to find a picture of them on her camera...but her camera has 700 pictures on it.

Grandma's pool was beautiful but cold...75 degrees. The gulf was 80 degrees. Guess where we chose to swim?!

I like the lanai to keep the bugs out.

This is Grandpa working on his daily puzzle. Some of the clues were hard! But he always finished it by the end of the day...just as my own grandmother used to do.

I still can't get used to the idea that our children can take hundreds of pictures...and immediately see the results. I kept thinking of how pictures and cameras were so expensive when I was growing up.

Two nights in a row we ate dinner, then hurried out the door to ride the boat over to Don Pedro Island so my children could take pictures of the sunset on the beach.

Allen got to steer the boat most of the time. He enjoyed learning to park it next to the piers.

The views are beautiful. On one of the rides when our boat made a wake, the dolphins kept jumping up in the waves. There are many manatees here.

My children enjoy Don Pedro Island the most. It's only a 5-minute ride from Grandma's home. These are my sunset pictures taken with my $40 camera:

The island has many seashells. Maggie found some unique shells as well as a starfish.

Everyone looked funny with their cameras trying to zero in on shells.

Even as we were riding away, the sunset was breath-taking.

By the time we got back it was completely dark.

On Friday morning, we packed up and headed north to Clearwater, Florida, to attend the wedding of our friends from San Diego. Larry was our Pastor in San Diego where we lived from 1985-1989. Bonnie, his wife, was 2-year-old Sarah's favorite person at church. She called her Mrs. Bon Bon. Six years ago we went to Florida for their son Iain's wedding. Now it's Alicia's turn.

We stayed at McDill Air Force Base. The Air Force always has the nicest accommodations for families. Our suite had two bedrooms, a living room...

...and a kitchen. You can tell everything looks nice and new. Definitely clean. It cost us $41 a night. Can't beat that!

All our wedding clothes were wrinkled and had to be ironed. We were proud that Allen can iron his own clothes!

Here's the happy couple. Alicia and John met on eHarmony...something that is becoming common in our circles. Alicia said that when she typed "full-time Christian service" into the qualifications, John was the first person to appear. They both seem very happy. John will continue teaching math courses at the same local Christian school where Alicia will be the Librarian.

Alicia and John are a rare couple who see the playful side of life. It is nice to see that Alicia has finally met her match when it comes to humor!

Larry had the honor of marrying them. This wedding was very unique. Only Alicia could pull off such a wedding. For a half hour before the wedding, the accomplished pianist played songs such as When You Wish Upon A Star, Someday My Prince Will Come, and other Disney favorites. That prepared us for the tone of the wedding.

In this picture, Larry was singing Sunrise, Sunset. It was very well done. Here are the poignant words:

Sunrise, Sunset (from Fiddler on the Roof)

Is this the little girl I carried?

Is this the little boy at play?

I don't remember getting older,

When did they?

When did she get to be a beauty?
When did he get to be so tall?

Wasn't it yesterday

When they were small?

What words of wisdom can I give them?

How can I help to ease their way?

Now they must learn from one another

Day by day.

They look so natural together

Just like two newlyweds should be.

Is there a canopy in store for me?

Sunrise, sunset. Sunrise, sunset.

Swiftly fly the years.

One season following another

Laden with happiness and tears.

The groomsmen walked/ran down the aisle to a tune from Star Wars. Then the bride walked down the aisle to the tune, "Zippadee doo dah, zippadee ay, My oh my what a wonderful day!" It was so typically Alicia! At the end when the couple was married, John grabbed his brown hat and off they went down the aisle. Everyone laughed.

Even though there were many light-hearted moments, there were also some very emotional moments as well. Just a delightful mix of humor and traditional.

While the wedding party was busy getting pictures taken, everyone else ate slices of cake. The cake was already sliced and waiting on the tables. These three cakes were for decoration. Alicia went out of her way to make her guests comfortable. No one had to wait for anything. Very thoughtful. My children were delighted to find bowls of colorful skittles (since the cake had dairy and eggs). I enjoyed the delicious tea.

Instead of flowers, Alicia opted for pinwheels. There were pinwheels everywhere at the rehearsal dinner and the wedding. Definitely a children's kind of wedding! I am so glad our family was able to be at the wedding. Now that Iain's family is living in nearby VA, we hope to keep in touch more often. Thanks for a wonderful week, everyone!

We came home to a busy week. Tonight I had green beans and butternut squash in the oven, and fingerling potatoes in the wok (with fresh basil and mustard greens!) before I discovered a huge roast in my refrigerator! Evidently my Dad dropped it off this afternoon. So we ended up eating a huge dinner. Thanks, Dad.

Fortunately our music lessons were all canceled this week, since no one practiced while we were in FL, so I am slowly getting laundry washed, pegged, and put away. Slowly is the operative word!

Hope you had a good week as well. I am looking forward to catching up on my favorite blogs and answering emails. Many blessings ~ Kathie

Added later: Sometimes I get so caught up in posting pictures that I forget to write some important notes. About the wedding...the rehearsal dinner the night before was a semi-formal affair of probably 150 people or so. The most wonderful thing about the wedding was that both Alicia and John are from Christian families. John's parents had been praying for his future wife since before he was born. What a way to welcome Alicia into their family!! Do you think she feels loved?!

Both Dads took turns with the microphone, introducing their families. We then did the fun game of Who's the oldest, Who came the furthest for the wedding, Who had the largest family (us!), Who was married the longest, etc.

During the wedding ceremony, Larry (bride's father), asked all the married couples to hold each other's hands. Then he reminded us of the institution of marriage and all that it's meant to be. It was a perfect message.

My final observation was this: As with funerals, marriages are just so wonderful when it's a Christian wedding. Especially when both families have a long history of loving the Lord. It made such an impression on me that I've started praying for my children's future mates and families. Yes, families. You really do marry the whole family.

Thank you, Larry, for giving us much to think about. We have broadened our vision for our family. PTL

Anna's Autumn Tea Party

Anna wanted to invite her girlfriends to a tea party while the trees were changing color outside. The trees didn't cooperate...but it was still a fun party. Anna spent all week planning and cleaning, then on Friday she baked with Maggie. The blueberry and cinnamon scones were delicious.

Anna had fun getting out my leaf bowls and small quilts. I didn't realize I had so many fall-colored dishes!

My favorite dish was the Veggie Pizza (or some folks call them Garden Bars). Lots of chopping to make but so yummy!

Have to have cookies.

I had fun sewing three jumpers for Ruthie this week. This is one of them. There are no little girl jumper patterns in the pattern books. I had to take my adult size pattern and cut down the XXS size...but it fits perfectly.

We all pitched in to cut out the sandwiches using my leaf cookie cutters. These are chicken salad sandwiches.

Of course, a family favorite, pecan pie bars. No leftovers here!

These cookies puff up in the middle when they come out of the oven, so we call them little sombreros.

Only one family didn't make it, so it was a nice number of girls.

Anna served English tea, Apple Cider tea, and Orange tea...all Bigelow teas. Since it was 85 degrees outside, we also made lemonade and iced tea...but the hot tea was the winner. I guess it's proper to drink hot tea at a tea party no matter how warm it is!

After lunch the girls played some Phase 10, then took a walk through the woods to see Anna's treefort.

I had a fun time with our youngest guest, little 3 year old Mary. She enjoyed drawing on the chalkboard...until I showed her our collection of baby dolls and our play kitchen. Mary wore her shoes on the wrong feet all day. It was so cute...her shoes are at least 2 sizes too big for her, but they're her favorite. I remember my children doing the same thing.

Last week I bought this cookbook at the thrift shop. So many new recipes that look tempting. I chose the South Dakota Sourdough Fry Bread as my first choice. It was yummy!

I made a honey and butter whipped topping to go with it. I'm not crazy about doughnuts...but these were just delicious while they were still warm.

We finally got over to my parents' home to bail out the paddle boat. When we finished emptying it, we carried it up to the cabin. Anna hopes to go over with a scrub brush and clean it up.

All summer long we had yellow leaves on our trees because of the drought. Then we got a whole summer's worth of rain in one week. Now everything is beautifully green! The weatherman says that makes for a short color-changing season. Oh well.

Our weather for this week looks like this. I say it's time to go camping!

We're getting ready to head out the door to my children's Sacred Music recital at 4 pm. Anna, Lizzie, and Maggie will open with a vocal song, Anna has a vocal solo, then Allen, Ruthie, Lizzie and Anna all have a piano solo. Should be fun and beautiful.

Many blessings ~ Kathie

Calvert County Fair

When Maggie's honey won 2nd place in our county, the folks at the fair offered to take her honey to the next county. Instead we decided to do it ourselves...along with the rest of our projects. Ruthie won first place again for her doll dress. She is very proud of her blue ribbons! Everyone in our family won first place except for Maggie, who again won 2nd place for her honey. Now that the money for the awards is rolling in, everyone is doubly excited!

We did a rare thing and did the rides at the Calvert County fair. No rock music and one dollar rides all day Friday: what a winning combination!

The scrambler remains a family favorite.

The difference between the two county fairs was huge. I was surprised at how much bigger our county's fair is. The way the Calvert County folks displayed the quilts was hysterical! We couldn't find the quilts. Finally someone said, "Look up." Fifteen feet up in the air were the quilts! It was so funny.

My children really enjoyed the rides. The weather was perfect. Just a good day to enjoy being together.

Even though the tradition of growing tobacco is dying out in our southern counties, it's still a big thing at the fairs.

We drank some tea while at the fair but the smells of the food was delicious. We really wanted to buy caramel apples but knew they would contain milk. So when we got home, Maggie whipped up these delicious nondairy caramel apples. Fast and easy...referring to both the cooking and the eating! I'm gonna post the recipe here so I can find it again:

Caramel Apples

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup goat milk (from Walmart)

3 T corn syrup

3 T butter

Mix together and bring to a boil. Whisk until sugar is dissolved. Boil until 240 degrees for softball stage. Turn off heat and whisk in:

1/4 tsp salt (if using unsalted butter)

1/2 tsp vanilla

This recipe is for 4 apples. You may want to boil your caramel a little longer if you don't like it chewy.

Maggie rolled our apples in chopped walnuts and drizzled with melted chocolate.

Yummy!!

America sure has the strangest bumper stickers!

Walmart has started carrying restaurant size cans of our favorite turnip greens!! The ingredients are simple: turnip greens, water, salt. Can't beat that...and each serving is less than 2/3 the price of the little cans.

One last picture...we bought a bushel of sweet potatoes from a farmer alongside the highway. These sweet potatoes are huge. I wasn't sure I would like that...but it's great...I put the two potatoes in the oven at 250 in the morning so that they are perfect when I get home for dinner!

Anna has 13 friends coming over at noon today for a tea party. She's been working hard planning, cooking and cleaning. She's been having fun digging out all my autumn themed dishes and stoneware. I'm having fun watching her!

I've been busy sewing. I made Ruthie 3 jumpers and cut out two dresses for me. We may be able to go out in public now!

Oops! I scrolled to the bottom and found this picture I had uploaded. Deep in our woods is a huge wetlands/marsh/pond area. This isn't a good picture but all the greenery you see are butterfly bushes!! This past week, Maggie and Lizzie hiked down with large backpacks and dug up a bunch. I wish I had taken a picture of the two muddy, happy hikers with bushes sticking out of their backpacks! They hope to sell the bushes in the spring along with their raspberry plants.

Well, I'm off to help Anna...and to finish sewing my dresses. Enjoy your weekend. We have perfect weather here. Too bad we aren't having the tea party out on the porch.

Many blessings ~ Kathie

I finally found all my birthday pictures. They were scattered here and there in different folders on my computer. I'm still not used to this new laptop. The above picture shows the beautiful candle holder Allen made. I just love this! Mike made one of these for me when we were newlyweds...and we had fun watching the huge black ants carrying the sawdust across my mother's dining room table! Allen made sure this log didn't have any ants!

I got lots of soaps this year. Lizzie made this chocolate soap. Yes, you are reading correctly. Lizzie assures me this is truly soap. I'll let you know how it turns out...when I finally get brave enough to try it! I like the large bars.

Now that Maggie is almost completely healed, she is in the kitchen a lot trying out all kinds of recipes for lotions, bodywashes, shampoos, and soaps. I can't wait to try these. When I was in Texas, I tried my sister-in-law's shampoo that was made of thyme and peppermint. I loved it. Hopefully Maggie will be able to duplicate that sometime.

I couldn't get a good picture of these soaps that Ruthie made but they sure smell nice! I am using one of these already and I'm surprised at how much I like them.

Do you know what this is? Sarah gave me this avocado slicer. I tried it and it works like a dream. It's easy to use...and the slices are perfectly shaped. Make sure to buy large avocados.

Ruthie made this for me. She said she found 3 hearts and decided to sew them together to see what it would become. Cute idea!

A few days before my birthday, I came home exhausted and near tears. I was surprised to find a package for me since I knew I hadn't ordered anything. I was in for a surprise! My friend, Lynn, sent me this CD! I still don't know how she knew it was my birthday. Anyhow, I love most any music from the Wilds, and this CD is wonderful! What a thoughtful friend. Thanks, Lynn.

I used my birthday money to buy this TrueCut Rotary Blade Sharpener. For the past five years or so I have been using another sharpener that my sil Natalie gave me...but I think it's worn out! So when I saw this new sharpener that doesn't require taking the blades out, I knew it was a winner. It works as well as it says. Since Anna cuts many quilt kits each week, this is a much-needed item.
In our family, it's kind of an unspoken contest to see who can give the funniest birthday card. I think Sarah wins this year. The inside says "...so, what do you think of your musical birthday card?" Of course, there's no music.

My aunt splurged and sent two cards for this momentous occasion.

My mother-in-law sent this card that we all had fun reading.

My parents gave me this card. The inside says "You don't look any older to me."

Thank you everyone for all my gifts and cards. I sure feel loved! I will think of each of you as I use your gifts.

This week I harvested my horseradish plants. I was tired of watering the huge pot that these were planted in. As you can see, I wasn't too faithful at watering during this summer's drought. I ended up with the four inches of edible horseradish. It was very tasty. I meant to shred it to make cocktail sauce...but left it on the counter overnight and it shriveled up. Oh well. It was a fun project. But I wanted to show you all the roots. No wonder they say to plant it in a pot or it'll take over your yard!

All summer we complained about the drought, and now that we've had a week of nonstop rain, I keep hearing folks complain about the rain. My Dad's paddle boat is a little under water, so we need to go bail the water out of it. But I am thankful for the rain.

Many blessings ~ Kathie

The Half-Century Club

This past Monday I joined the Half-Century Club. Yes, fifty years old. Ruthie and Maggie made a wonderful cake and dinner. It was a crazy, busy Monday, but somehow Ruthie and Maggie managed a relaxing dinner and dessert. My parents came over for the event. Here's my Texas birthday cake...my favorite...cherry cake!

Ruthie remembered how much I like shish kabobs, so she worked hard skewering the veggies and meat. It was tasty with rice.

Here's the crowd. Thank you, Ruthie and Maggie! I have lots of pictures of my many gifts...but I can't find them anywhere. I'll post those tomorrow or later tonight.

On Monday morning, at 8 am, my niece was born! What a wonderful gift. Sweet Kathryn Rose. I can't wait to meet her. I already share my birthday with my first cousin, Jeff. He and I agree it's fun to share our special day. The more the merrier!

I found this picture in my folder. This year I have re-discovered butternut squash. I've never been crazy about this particular squash but now that I've been baking it Sarah's way, I love it! Just split in half and scoop out the seeds, then drizzle olive oil sparingly over all and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Yummy! The mennonites sell these cheaply, so we will be eating these a lot. I have a feeling I took this picture because it was the last sweet corn of the season.

We've been very busy these past few weeks, so I'll have to get my pictures together and get busy posting.

I came downstairs this morning and saw all the signs that Ruthie is suffering from her allergies again: empty can of strawberry spritzer, medicines, and popsicle sticks. We got caught up in our activities and neglected our vacuuming and dusting, so Ruthie is reacting to the dust. She's been walking around with an ice pack on her chest. Time to get out her aromatherapy oils. (In all fairness, my children spent Saturday afternoon cleaning up our rental home since our old tennant moved out and our new tennant is due to move in tomorrow. I didn't have the heart to ask them to vacuum another room!)

Enjoy your Sunday. Many blessings ~ Kathie