The Invisible Woman...Favorite Video? Friday

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Show Us Your Life- PETS

Today on Kelly's Korner it is Show Us Your Life- PETS. I am so excited to share with you today. Our dogs and cat are so much a part of our day to day lives. We have one west-highland terrier named Flower and one Border Collie/Lab mix named Belle. Our cat is named Roxy Mittens...more on all the names later.

Flower is our "lover". She wants to be right next to you...cuddling and warm all the time.
She loves wagon rides...


and leaf piles.

Belle is our babysitter. She is always on the job...watching children and barking at anyone who comes into our yard or gets anywhere near the children. She really dislikes our mailman, Ed. He has tried many times to be friends with her...but she will have nothing of it.

Belle always sneaks into pictures as well. Whenever the camera is out...she slides right over next to one of the kids. So funny. This other little dog is Duchess and she escapes her home to come for a visit...REGULARLY.

This is Roxy Mittens. She showed up one Valentine's Day. It was 20 degrees outside and my husband grilled steaks for us so that I wouldn't have to cook. About 10:00 I went to put the dogs out and heard a little "mew" under the warm grill...there she was. I couldn't very well just leave her in the cold, could I? So there you go...a cat into the picture.

Speaking of pictures...she looks really ticked off in this one. She hates to have her picture made. (she's such a cat)

Regarding the names....We got Belle at Christmas time...so Christmas bells...thus, Belle.

Flower got her name from our oldest son...who thought she was as pretty as a flower.

Roxy Mittens got her name because our oldest son wanted to name her Roxy (the color of a rock) and our oldest daughter wanted to name her Mittens because she looked like a cat in a book that she had read....thus, Roxy Mittens.

4 kids, 2 dogs, 1 cat = Happy Family.

I hope you have a wonderful Friday.

Please go over to Kelly's Korner (in my right side blog listing) and see other people's pets.

There are a lot of great pet photos today!

Kristine

Amaryllis Races

OUR GOAL...last year's picture. Christmas 2008.

One of the things we do every year is plant amaryllis bulbs. The kids each have their own pot (we buy the kit at Wally-World) and they write their names on a popsicle stick to place in the pot, plant their bulbs and then the wait begins...or should I say...the race begins.

This year they selected the same color and I carefully selected the bulbs to make sure they each had a start on the amaryllis plant. We have had very sad years in the past when one bulb ended up being a dud...and the others bloomed. This year we had 4 bulbs...I planted PB Cup's for her.

Sidenote...what do you think of the new smile she gives for the camera? sigh. What a stinker. And yes, she did chip her front tooth...one of the side effects of being a wobbly walker and having a brother who likes to squeeze her every time he sees her. I guess it gives her character. That is what the pediatric dentist said anyway. LOL.

What does PB Patty have on you ask? She was on her way to gymnastics and her smile is needing some work as well. I think my kids are tired of the camera.

So here is this year's beginning to the race. I will have to post another picture later with the actual flowers when they have bloomed and let you know who our winner was.

This is so easy. I hope you will try this too. They are just so pretty!

Kristine

Awe Shucks...I got an AWARD.

I got a Sugar and Spice Award from Carolina Girl who just brought home the most adorable little girl from St. Petersburg, Russia. You can read all about it, by clicking on And Emma Makes Five in my sidebar to the right. You have got to see her little outfit that she has on!

I also got this award from Phyllis, a sweet friend who has 3 handsome boys from Russia and 2 older children as well...one busy lady. You can follow her blog by clicking on The Beadle's New Russian Adventure in my sidebar as well.

Thank you for the award!!!

So, for this award, I am supposed to list 10 random things about myself...so here goes:

1. I have 4 children...1 biological and then we were unable to have any more the "natural way" so God led us to adoption...3 times...along came PB Patty, Skippy and PB Cup...all from Russia.
2. My dogs have fleas. I know...its criminal.
3. My favorite dessert is a warm brownie with hot fudge, vanilla ice-cream...just like Carolina Girl.
4. My favorite chip and dip is Lays original chips and sour cream and chive dip. I can clear a whole bag and tub of dip in a day. Sad.
5. My favorite movie is The Holiday...love it.
6. I cried...correction...sobbed like a baby during the entire movie UP.
7. I also cried during Brother Bear and my husband still makes fun of me over that one.
8. My husband thinks that all of you are my imaginary friends. He has absolutely no idea how much support, inspiration and encouragement I get from all of you...but I talk about you all the time! (if you stop by regularly, click the FOLLOW button so I will have more proof to show him that someone actually reads this stuff! ha
9. I am a huge Oklahoma Sooners fan...its my Alma Mater.
10. I love Jesus with all of my heart and lean on Him for everything. I hope you know Him too!

I am not sure who to pass this on to...many of you have already been given the award...so I am going to be a dead end I guess...

I am off to decorate some more!!!

Kristine

Banner Boutique Giveaway!

You have GOT to check out Banner Boutiques Giveaway. It is a REALLY great one. Just click the link in my sidebar. They have beautiful headbands, beanies and flower clips. I know many of you have seen PB Cup in many of their headbands and beanies...but it is always a good time to post a pic of PB Cup, right? From a proud Momma, indeed.

So go over and check out their giveaway and get yourself entered. You will really love the quality of their things. They are even offering a discount for any purchases made using a special code...all the details are on their blog.

Don't waste any time..you won't want to miss this opportunity!

http://Bannerboutique.blogspot.com

Kristine

Lofthouse Cookies

Just in case anyone else is searching for this little jewel...here is the recipe I found on this message board after googling Lofthouse cookies...don't eat too many now!

Two Peas Message Boards - NSBR Board - "Lofthouse (like) Cookies- Recipes anyone?":

"Lofthouse Cookies:
2 eggs
2 C. sugar
2 C. cream
2/3 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
2 C. shortening (Lard)
Vanilla to taste
Enough flour to form a soft ball (She told me that the key to making soft, fluffy cookies is to add a lot of flour. But she didn't tell me how much. )

I assume that you just mix all of the ingredients together because there are no special directions listed. Bake at 350º (again no specified time) and the cookies need to stay white.

Icing:
1 pkg. powdered sugar
1 egg
1 can condensed milk (for spreading)
1 tsp shortening
1 tsp butter"

Enjoy! Just in time for the holidays!

Kristine

Stocking Pillows

In my search for cute Christmas pillows year after year, I was struck by the fact that they are so expensive...at least for really nice ones...and also, I really didn't like many of them...either too cheesy or too fussy.

There are a lot more choices for stockings and they seem to be more inexpensive. Many times after Christmas you can find ONE really pretty one for a real deal because the others have been sold and everyone wants their stockings to match, right? So, I decided that stockings could be stuffed with filler and made into Christmas pillows and for someone who is not good at sewing, this is a fairly easy project.

For this project, I turned the stocking inside out and stitched the top leaving a 2 inch hole. I then stuffed the stocking pillow and completed the stitching. This works best with stockings that have some kind of fringe at the top to hide your stitching a little better and to make it not so obvious (most stockings have something at the top nowadays, especially the more formal stockings). Then, you are done! It is so easy and I think the pillows are fun, different and add a little something to your couch or chair.

I hope this works for you and can give you some ideas to inspire you!

Kristine

Christmas:: Arranging Poinsettias

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So maybe you think I am getting a little carried away with my Christmas decorating videos...but they are so fun and I enjoy them. No, I am not going to do all of these things or ideas but they do spark the decorating section of my brain and they give me a jump start to do things with some of the things I already have in my house. You don't have to spend a fortune to decorate. Some of my favorite decorations are homemade...although I did buy a few beautiful decorations in Russia while we were there...I can't wait to put them all out ;)

Some of these ideas may seem a little early...but they might just get your planning juices going so that you can put some things together when you are ready. I will keep searching. I enjoy watching them... and I hope you do too!

Kristine

Orphan Sunday, TODAY, Nov. 8th

Today is ORPHAN SUNDAY. We had a wonderful speaker today from Alive Africa who is fundraising for an orphanage being built in Bukaleba, Uganda. He even knows Katie!!! He spoke of her today in the message...how amazing she is. **if you want to follow Katie...just click on her button on the left side of the blog ...Amazima** Isn't it truly a small world? Or is it that God weaves a beautiful tapestry and we are all the strings he weaves..bringing us all closer together to reveal His plan for our lives? Many of you know who Katie is and some of you do not. But I challenge you to follow her and to open your heart to orphans just as she has. You don't have to do exactly what she is doing...you can donate to orphan care, you can promote orphan ministry in your church...or maybe you ARE being called to do something bigger. Maybe you are being called to ADOPT.

Just as we had planned, we did sell a lot of livestock...many pigs, goats and cows were purchased today for the new orphanage in Bukaleba...we are going to continue the sale all month and we will have more each week about orphans, what you can do to help and also regarding adoption.

We also have just recently planned a Holiday Home Tour to raise money for a family at our church who will be adopting from Ethiopia. I am excited to be a hostess for this event and have already pulled out all the Christmas tubs from the basement. It is definitely something God has led a group of us girls to do...more on that later. Maybe this is something you could do as a fundraiser for a family or an orphanage in your area? Just an idea. Regarding this..we are not taking tickets or an exact amount, but asking for a love offering at the door. We are hoping to raise a good sum of money for this wonderful family to help them on this journey of a lifetime.

I hope you will open your mind and your heart...Orphan Sunday is just one day. There will still be orphans in the world who need help from YES YOU all the other days of the year as well. I believe the number is 143 million to be exact.

So get busy!

Kristine

Christmas:: Evergreen Stocking ...so pretty.

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This looks a little tricky...but definitely doable. Allen Smith does it again! Let me know if any of you do this...I would love to see how you did it!

Kristine