Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. We sure did. This is my Thanksgiving Cactus in full bloom. Most people have Christmas Cacti, but mine is too rebellious. We ran out of bandwidth so I have been unable to post for awhile. I also made the mistake of asking my children to take pictures. They did...but on their cameras. I will share the few pictures I took.

My brothers enjoyed Thanksgiving with their babies...Mike with his daughter Kathryn and Floyd with his granddaughter Zoe. Both Mike and Floyd have sons, so everyone is enjoying girl babies.

In October, we had 25 people for a baby shower for baby Kathryn. It was so much fun. Kathryn was an angel and let us all hold her. We called our shower a Roy Rogers Shower because the parties on the Roy Rogers movies always have crepe paper streamers and a homemade cake. Anna and Sarah strung pink crepe paper across the living room, and I made a pink sourdough cherry cake.

Sarah crocheted these booties and hat for baby Kathryn. Leslie sent the picture. I love Kathryn's expression!

Sarah enjoying Kat.

My sister in law, Cecilia, was in charge of games. She did a fantastic job. Thanks, Cecilia! For this game, we had to print our name on the top of the plate. Then we turned the plates upside down on our heads like hats. We had to draw a baby on the hat. Here's my mom (r) and her friend Roberta (l).

Here's Mom's sister, Marilyn (l) and Anna (r). It was so hilarious!

Mom won. Cute baby.

The Sunday before Thanksgiving, our friends, the B---- family, came over to make Southern Maryland Stuffed Hams, northern county style. I did a post on that three years ago, here. Nothing has changed, still the same recipe as when the African slaves brought it with them when they came to America.

The only difference is that we have food processors. What a blessing.

Here's Mike wrapping up the ham. Gotta be careful the green juice doesn't spill onto the floor.

And the race is on! Mike and I had a 23 lb ham, while Alexa and Rick had a half ham. It was so much fun doing it with someone else. This was the B's first stuffed ham. This was also our first (and last!) time that we bought our corned ham at Walmart. It was totally tasteless. And all that work! Always buy your hams (deboned!) at McKays. Lesson learned. The B---- family came back for Thanksgiving to enjoy the ham and turkey.

Anna is proud to have her tree fort totally framed in. Now for some plywood! We're checking freecycle and craigslist daily!

Here's a fun picture. Lizzie was having a rough day, so we snuggled on the recliner. My favorite part of mothering!

Last month we went to Walmart and found an 8x8 bin full of fabrics!!!! Most of them were junk, but still...it's the thought of fabric! The fabric was $5 per bolt, with each bolt having 5 yards. We could only find one good fabric, the above denim. Isn't it pretty? I will sew some denim jumpers next spring.

I read a few quilting forums online, and the general feeling is that Walmart is nasty for trying to get rid of their junk fabrics in the stores with no fabric department. D'accord.

Well, I have lots of projects going for Christmas gifts...but of course I can't show you. I did have fun with this project. I bought this sewing stand at the thrift shop (Vintage Values) in Prince Frederick for $8. I love it...but it was missing two screws and washers. When I went to several places to find replacements, the screw were shiny brass, not antique looking.

So I googled "how to quickly antique brass screws" and learned I wasn't the only person who wanted to know! First you take off the finish by using steel wool. Then you suspend the screws and washers over vinegar. Yes, over the vinegar. The next morning they are antiqued!

Here's before and after. I am so pleased.

It has been wonderful hearing everyone practice their Christmas songs for upcoming specials.

I'm sorry I took such a long blogging break. It surely wasn't intentional. But I have to say, once I stop blogging, it's so hard to start up again. I am going to slowly find the other cameras and try to find more pictures.

On Friday we have the old folks from church coming over for dinner. We have a possible 26 people coming, so we're busy cleaning. I hope to bake the cheesecake tonight.

Enjoy this season. Many blessings ~ Kathie

Babies, babies, babies!

I have been having lots of fun with babies lately. I love having babies in my life! All three of my brothers have babies now. Simba has darling Abigail (2), Mike has beautiful Kat (above!), and now Floyd has a new grandbaby, Zoe. I got to spend a couple hours last Sunday holding baby Kat. She is so content to be held. (And I learned that it's not good to talk while someone is taking your picture...makes you look angry:-)

I know this picture has nothing to do with babies but I wanted to remember to post it. Allen made Mexican Wedding cookies for us...yummy!

Anna made a baby quilt for Zoe this past week.

Here's the back.

I tried to get a closeup so you could see the fabrics. The colors are distorted but you can see the prints.

Here's Zoe's proud Papa. Zoe is another very contented baby.

This past Saturday, Zoe's extended family and friends got together at a local pizza restaurant for a fun baby shower.

I was proud of the grandparents for letting my daughters and me hold Zoe for a long time. Thanks!!

Do we look happy?!

Yummy cake made by Zoe's great aunt.

Darling Abigail was a little overwhelmed by all the noise and people. The party started at naptime, so she was very sleepy. After a while she discovered the toys and all was well. She also liked the balloons.

After the shower, we went to my friend Lynn's home. Lynn's sister was my roomate at BJU. I am so glad to have Lynn back in my life. We enjoyed ourselves so much...and stayed too late. (Sorry, Lynn. I had no idea it was that late!) My children keep commenting on how delicious the food was. Lynn sent me the recipes, so I'll have to make them to show you.

Lynn is a naturopath and has a wealth of information on healthy living. I enjoyed seeing her home and learning about some of their habits. (Her hubby Al makes all the sprouts!) Thanks for a lovely evening, Lynn and Al.

Today I experimented with my sourdough and made a Sourdough Sweet Potato Pie. It was good enough to eat...but needs some tweaking. I'll keep trying before posting a recipe.

My Christmas cactus is getting ready to bloom in a big way! My friend, Adina, gave this plant to me. It's very healthy and one of my favorites.

Well, we stayed home from church tonight because everyone is very tired and sleepy. We ate dinner, took a walk in the woods, played pinochle, and now we're going to watch a dvd...then get to bed early. I am so thankful we don't have any close neighbors and therefore don't have to deal with Halloween.

Many blessings ~ Kathie

What a long, busy week. I'm so glad it's Friday! Yesterday Allen successfully passed his Tang Soo Do test and received his second black stripe on his green belt. Hurray! The next test is a biggie...red belt. I hope his uniform lasts long enough...it sure is fraying on the edges. Good job, Allen. I sure enjoyed watching the testing...so impressive.

Before I forget, this is the picture of the second candlelabra that I sanded and painted. I'm very pleased with the results.

Last Sunday we had BJU evangelist Mike Shrock come and preach at the morning and evening services. Very good sermons.

Mr. Shrock plays the trumpet very well. He and our assistant Pastor, Nathan, did a beautiful duet.

After the evening service, all the youth went downstairs to the gym to play indoor soccer. It was hard to pictures of moving people. This is Lizzie.

This is Allen playing goalie.

And this is Anna. They LOVE to play indoor soccer!

This past week we velcroed the outside panels onto our canopy and had some fun.

Allen built a pyramid stove out of bricks. It worked really nicely. Our canopy has a screened opening in the middle of the ceiling so you can use a firepit inside.

Can you see the flame? This stove put out a lot of heat...and that was before the cold weather came. It was a little too warm and windy. After awhile it got smokey because the wind was very strong.

Here's a peek into the oven. Unfortunately, Ruthie stayed in the tent when it got smokey, so she's been suffering from her asthma ever since. No fun. Next time we will make sure there is no smoke.

Maggie found two sets of now and then photos. This is Lizzie at 4 years old and 14 years old.

These pictures were taken the same years. What a photo!

The weather has turned very cold all of a sudden. Almost blustery.

Everyone has been busy in the sewing room, so tomorrow I will be sure to take some pictures. There's something about cold weather that inspires us to sew.

Many blessings ~ Kathie

Today we drove 40 minutes away to LaPlata so Lizzie could play in the Music Teacher's Association's Baroque Recital. You can go here to see the pictures from last year's recital and for an explanation of the church's history. My pictures are out of order...and blogger no longer allows us to easily move them around. At the end of the recital, the Southern Maryland Flute Choir played two pieces. I enjoyed hearing all four different flutes...piccalo, flute, alto flute, and bass flute. The bass flute is really unique. The 2nd woman from the left is playing it. (They left so quickly after playing that I didn't get a chance to get a closeup picture.)

Lizzie played her piece on the harpsichord. She didn't want me to embarrass her by having her pose for a picture...and I couldn't get a good picture from my pew.

One of the music teachers played this pipe organ. I love pipe organ. My mother and aunt both played the real pipe organ in the Methodist church when I was growing up. There is just no comparison between a pipe organ and an electronic one. There were so many children signed up to play today that there ended up being 4 recitals at noon, 1,2, and 3 pm!

Yesterday I sanded the fireplace candlelabra (and the smaller one), then this morning I spray painted them. I painted several coats letting it dry 30 minutes between each coat. I am so pleased! I forgot to take a picture of the smaller candlestick, so I'll do that tomorrow.

Last summer I asked the Lord to bless us with a large screen tv so we could have guests over to watch good dvds. As usual, the Lord answered my prayer. We have 3...one one each floor. They were all free from freecycle.org. PTL!

Last night our family watched this dvd from Vision Forum. This is a Ken Ham film. Very good information. Ken's premise is that most children have already left the faith by the time they are in Junior High or High school...sometimes even Elementary School. Ken tells why in this dvd. Ken's message is urgent for parents to hear. Ken also did a great job convincing us that we need to go to the new Creation Museum!

Hope you are enjoying a relaxing weekend. Our weather is cool but invigorating. My hubby and children are getting lots of work done outside. Many blessings ~ Kathie

While we were in Florida, Sarah had this picture printed of Anna. I love this pose, especially in the black and white. Walmart has such a good deal on printing pictures...fifteen cents a piece...and you can have them printed in less than an hour. Much better than paying the high cost of photo paper and ink for your printer!

My cosmos are looking beautiful now that we've had some rain. I took this picture from the porch...a good distance away...but it was raining and I didn't want to get wet. Next year I would like to plant a second cosmos garden using the autumn colors of golds and oranges. The cosmos also like the cold evenings.

My geraniums did terribly this year. I planted them in two half-barrels with good soil, but I must not have watered them enough.

Since "agro pots" is one of the ten most popular keywords that people use to find my blog, I thought I'd show an updated picture. I noticed the mennonites are selling strawberry plants now. Mr. Zimmerman said this is the perfect time for planting them.

On Tuesday, I bought this candlelabra at the thrift shop for $3. I want to spray paint it a flat black. It was just minutes before closing time when I paid for it. The clerk asked me if I would also like the candlelabra below:

I asked her how much and she said the magic word...free! She said it was in the way and she wanted it gone. This is actually a bad picture...it looks really nice with 9 red pillar candles on it. I have always wanted one of these for my fireplace but they are expensive. Today I scrubbed away all the peeling paint. Tomorrow I will try sanding it and then spraying it flat black. I'll let you see the end result. If it turns out nicely enough, I may save it for a Christmas gift.

On Tuesday morning, we babysat darling Abigail while Sarah went to a class at the local college. As usual, we had a good time.

Two weeks ago, I made some sourdough fry bread. It was delicious! I got the recipe from a cowboy cookbook (another thrift shop find) and this is the first recipe I made. I'm not crazy about doughnuts, but this fry bread sure was good. Next time I'd like to leave out the sugar and add masa harina to try and mimic a fry bread taco. This is an easy recipe.

A friend of mine posted this picture on facebook. She took this picture in a store. Cute saying!

This past week I bought two dvds during Vision Forum's sale. I watched this dvd by myself to preview it for my family. I watched it while lying in bed. When I sat up, I felt the tears rolling down my face. I then realized how much I was moved by the message. When my family watched it the next night, they immediately wanted to show it to all their homeschool friends. Yes, the message is that good.

We are going to choose a Friday evening and invite as many homeschooled teens (and their families) as possible. If you are a local friend, we invite you to join us. If not, please order this dvd from Vision Forum and watch this with your family.

Tomorrow I am hoping to go see my new niece for the first time. Yes, she's almost a month old and I still haven't made it over there. I can barely wait!

Many blessings ~ Kathie