Missin' Ma Kids!

'Bout this time of year, we'd host the BEST part of our summer...

Backyard Bible Club!

It all started by looking up from the garden one day and realizing we always had a bunch of kids in the yard. That's when God put that spark in our hearts to put this all together. This opportunity was the door that opened to minister to our neighborhood even beyond summer.

We were so blessed by getting to be a blessing.

A couple years in a row, we would gather as many kids as we could find from the neighborhood for the last 3 Wednesdays of summer.

It was our opportunity to get them all together and show them the amazing love of Jesus.

It was always really hot or rainy, but they didn't care.

They came excited, ready to learn, and to have fun.

Who are these crazies??

The best crazies on the block!!

That's who!!

And I'm missin' them somethin' terrible!

That would be me on the right if you were ever wonderin' who that wacko frog lady was.

We tried to plan on cool down games to beat the heat.

Water relays are a blast!

Go Maddie! Go!

This sweetie in the hat is my neighbor Becky...what a blessing!

Miss your sweet face!

Let's talk about sweet faces...or sweet feets!

You've gotta be ready to get your groove on if you're havin' kids over.

This was the moment that surprised me every time.

They didn't care who was watchin'...

we cranked the music and they danced and jumped and sang loud!

Conga lines always drew a crowd!

My mom wrote a skit that my kiddos acted out with puppets borrowed from a friend's church.

They almost passed out in the shed because it was about 100 degrees inside!

Thanks guys! I know you did it for Jesus!

Teach times were essential!

We kept it visual and simple so they would take every bit of it back to school with them.

"Love each other, don't lie, garbage in-garbage out, be undignified for Jesus, the fruit of the spirit, help each other, nothing can separate you from the love of Christ....NOTHING!"

In the blender was vinegar, tuna, mustard and some other stinky stuff.

One of the kids wanted to eat it!

I thought about it, and then said no...promise!

Here's my hunka hunka burnin' love...helpin' to get ready for a game!

Morgan, Wesley and Maddie had a great dance routine for the kids.

Snazzy, Baby! Snazzy!

...again..who's the crazy in the back?

Speakin' of crazy...This is our Pastor John.

I promise those aren't gang symbols...I think...

Ok...really I have no idea!

Note: "Avoid gang symbols!"

We had a lot of help and support from our friends!

We are eternally grateful for good friends

Do you see the looks on these faces?

(Mr. D on the left)

Pure Satisfaction!

Giddiness!

The kids had no clue what was coming!

We warned em!

"Dress for Mess!"

Clueless, I tell ya!

None of them knew what the scaffolding was for.

I really thought they were going to explode in anticipation!

They were each given a bowl of ice cream, and then they had to catch the toppings!

This was our grand finale!

It was AWESOME!!!!

A little extra chocolate syrup to conceal his identity!

Priceless!

Luke 18:16 But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Don't be afraid if you feel that God is calling you to step out of your comfort zone! He'll equip you to do whatever it is, and you'll be blessed beyond measure!

God Bless you All!

My Nanny

I'd like to take a moment and share with you a snapshot of my beautiful grandmother,

Edith Rose.

"Nanny" to me and the rest of the grandkids.

(I love the flower in her hair)

Many of the homemaking skills that I know have come from her. In fact, at the beginning of my married life adventure, I would find myself double checking my work and thinking,

"Would Nanny approve?"

She was a strong woman who raised and cared for her 4 children the best she knew how. She came from meager beginnings, but her faith carried her through all of the challenges in her life. So much of what I know about life and cooking came from watching her, and most of the time I wasn't even realizing the wisdom that I was absorbing.

Her kitchen was intended to be the heart of her home and the heartbeat definitely came from her. The layout was meticulously thought through and designed to suit her needs perfectly. To this day, I long for her counter and cabinet space! There was a large peninsula that housed a double sink, and also was large enough that we grandchildren could all sit around it and eat. I can't help but imagine the thought that went into this one area. It was an ingenious plan to keep all of us little ones at arms reach and under her wing.

My fondest memories of her are the simple ones. I can remember every step she took to wash her dishes. The suds from the detergent filling up her cloth as she would wash and rinse each dish by hand, and THEN put them in the dishwasher.

While she did the dishes, she would talk about the day's events and tell stories of the past. Then came my favorite part! It was when she would clean out the sink. With a soapy cloth in hand, she would wipe every handle, faucet, seam and basin. It was like a sudsy ballet as the bubbles formed all over, just as she intended. Then came the rinsing. It wasn't rushed. It was all part of her thoroughness and care for her home. You knew when the story she was telling was important to her (or more like, she realized she had a captive audience), because the bubbly bath would begin again. I always knew that when she dried the counter and sink the story was coming to an end. It was her time and way of passing on wisdom, and I would be so thankful for just one more moment sitting there with her. I still have so many things to learn.

My Nanny is with the Lord now, and as I write this my heart aches because I miss her terribly. But, I know that one way to honor her memory is to take the homemaking skills she passed down to me, and pass them down to my children.

Oh Momma, could my Nanny cook!

This woman had some mad kitchen skills!

Nothing was spared and only the best was served. Occasionally I would I see her pull out a cookbook, but mostly the family recipes just seemed to flow out of her! We all had our favorites like pork chops, fried chicken (ya knows me and ma chicken), homemade biscuits and gravy, and desserts Desserts DESSERTS. All had been mastered.

I came across Grandma's Wartime Baking Book by Joanne Lamb Hayes at the library. It has become one of my favorite cookbooks.

In fact, I've checked it out about 3 times in the last six months.

(It's on my Christmas List!)

It's full of WWII recipes that were published in variety of cookbooks and magazines at that time.

Whenever I flip through these pages I can't help but think of Nanny and the women like her who had to learn these skills out of necessity.

I can't imagine what it would be like to have sugar rationed

or not even to be able to purchase butter.

But that's just what they did!

That great American ingenuity kicked in and they figured out how to make more with less.

I rarely "read" a cookbook, but this one is full of tidbits and stories of this time period. Each recipe has an explanation of where it came from and why it was altered to meet rationing needs. Many are sugarless desserts and can easily be thrown together with very basic ingredients.

This week I gave the Sticky Buns In A Hurry a go. I added raisins and a little glaze on top.

They were a hit with the kids and Mr. D really enjoyed the one left for him.

Here is the recipe!

Click on the picture and it will enlarge.

I made the measurements bold so that you were sure to see them.

My mother recently has let me borrow my Nanny's cookbooks, and I'll be sharing more of these wonderful recipes with ya'll soon.

GIVEAWAY!

Amy at Homestead Revival

has a really great blog, and she's having a super cool GIVEAWAY!

She's gifting out a set of 5 Vintage Plant Markers from Homespun Sprout!

This is a new Etsy shop! You know and how I feel about the

NewBEES!

♥ New BestEverEstyShops ♥

I LUV 'Um "MORE THAN MY LUGGAGE!"

-Clairee Belcher

HUGS!

Makin' Bacon...Quick Tip

Are you tired of bacon shrinkage?

How many shirts have been ruined by bacon grease popping and splattering?

How many burns have you got by trying to make bacon without a shirt on?

(Don't answer that!)

Have I got a solution for you!!

♥Dredge your bacon in flour before you throw it in the skillet!♥

#1 It helps less expensive bacons not shrink as much! It kind of "beefs it up", or "porks it up?"

#2 It prevent the popping and splattering of the grease significantly!

#3 It will give an opportunity to pepper and season your bacon easier!

Put about a cup of all purpose flour in a dish.

I like to really put a lot of pepper in the flour!

When you think you have enough pepper, add more.

And then more, again!

Coat the bacon well and then give the slice a little shake to get off all the extra flour.

I've become a huge fan of iron skillets.

I really think it definitely makes a difference when you're makin' bacon.

You want to adjust your temperature so that the flour doesn't scorch. I had the gas burner set on 4 , but everyone's stove is a little different.

DELICIOUS!

(Please excuse the sad pictures...there are no windows in this kitchen to bring in any natural light...absolutely none whatsoever...pitch black...can't see a thing...ya need a flashlight at noon!...ok, it's not that bad...but I really like to "..." things...can you tell?)

Take Me Home To The Movies!

This is the second installment of Take Me Home To The Movies, and I'd like to give a BIG, "Thank You!" to my dear friend Layla for this week's suggestion.

(Coming soon! Layla will be guest posting to tell you her side of the story about how our childhood friendship was recently reunited after 30 years! I'll also be posting on her blog...

I promise not to draw mustaches on all of her pictures)

A good planned out movie night at our house usually involves eating dinner in front of the TV and everyone gathered around ready to enjoy some laughs together.

Pretty simple!

Well, lemme tell ya...

the last couple of weeks have been crazy busy, and we weren't able to all be in the same place at the same time. Last Friday the kids had a youth event, so Mr. D and I took the opportunity to have a Date Night/Movie Night all on our own. We splurged and got a deli dinner at the supermarket.

I decided to pick out something I haven't had in a long LONG time!

Fried chicken!

I LOVE fried chicken..

L O V E IT, LOVE IT!

Daryn will only have it if he's in the "mood." He's never in the mood,

so I never get ma FRIED CHICKEN!

(I could be friends with this man!)

I'm not bitter really. I ate it with all its crispy golden-ness using about 10 napkins to clean up after each and every delicious bite.

"Mmm...Chee-Kan!", says LeeLoo as she pulls out the baked bird from the space age microwave thingy.

And then, I suddenly remembered why I don't eat it very often.

Anywho....

If you are in the mood for a classic mystery movie, check out Rear Window by

Alfred Hitchcock starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly.

IT 'S Like Fried Chicken! Without the tummy trouble.

Ok.. there may be some tummy trouble from squirming in your seat and thinking you've got it all figured out, but you really don't! You probably are way smarter than me and you're used to all this mystery thriller stuff. I'm a bit of a late bloomer.

I was a little skeptical at first about an Alfred Hitchcock movie. All I knew were the glimpses of knives in shower scenes and bloody drains! Yes Norman, I'm talking about you and yo mama! Layla put all of my worries at ease by telling me Grace Kelly wears some gorgeous outfits in the film and I was all like..."OK!"

This was my favorite outfit...see that bracelet? She jingles while she has it on.

I wear my jeans like this all the time...I'm a Grace Kelly wannabe!

Gotta get me some penny loafers.

Also, how can you resist James Stewart? He's just like penny loafers...

A CLASSIC!

You may be wondering about this being "family friendly" or "kid friendly". I rechecked it out from the library for the kids to watch. I didn't want to suggest something for family movie night if I didn't test it out on everyone. My kids are between 13 and 16 and they really enjoyed it. There is some violence and suggestive material, but I don't remember any adult language.

This is a DVD we picked up for FREE at our local library! Be sure to check it out!

Now for the yummy part!

How about a snack to go along with this flick?

Wesley suggested Lady Fingers...I know...it's a little sick, but it works!

You can find this delicious recipe HERE! Enjoy!

Thank you again to Layla and her super movie suggestion. I'd love to hear about your favorites too! Just leave a comment below and it may end up being featured in the next

Take Me Home To The Movies!

God Bless Ya!

LolliShops.com

The Finicky Frog is the Featured seller at Lollishops.com

This is where you'll find all of your

Frou Frou Fabulous Designs!

A BIG HUG and "Thank You, Sadie!",

for letting everyone know about my shop

on your Blog too.

What a Freakazoid!

This just in....

I walked into Maddie's room, somewhat unannounced, and saw her quickly put her pillow on top of SOMETHING!!

"What are you doing, Maddie?", I ask. Knowing I've busted her on SOMETHING for sure!

"Nothing!", she says with a little giggle and cheesy grin that makes me realize it wasn't drugs! (Whew)

"What's under the pillow? Huh, HUH?"

"SCHOOL WORK????"

"WHAT!?!", completely throwing me for a loop.

I did not expect this at all.

"We don't start school until after Labor Day!"

(I didn't say that last quote to her...it's just for clarity...but she knows this)

I think she's going for Valedictorian of her homeschool class!

"What a Freakazoid!"

But a cute Freakazoid that I love so much.

Thank you for not doing drugs!