A Fall Luncheon

   The week before Thanksgiving, a friend invited me to a luncheon at her home.  I was so excited because she really loves to decorate for the holidays!  I thought you might enjoy seeing some of her beautiful antique pieces all decorated for Fall.
   This is a picture of her entry way...

   These pieces were in her diningroom...

   We told her we felt like we were dining in a tea room!  The details on her table were so lovely...

We each brought a dish to share and everything tasted great...

...especially the desserts!

Thank you so much, Teresa, for a very special day!  I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with family and friends!

Real Homeland Security

   A few weeks ago my husband, Mickey, and I visited some good friends in Oklahoma City.  While we were there, we spent a day in downtown OKC.  We got to go to the site of the 1995 bombing at the Murrah Building and visit the memorial.  It was very sobering to view the chairs that honor those who died there.

On the wall overlooking the reflection pool, is the exact time that the bombing occurred...

The brochure given to us when we entered the memorial, stated that at this moment, 9:01 a.m., our country was changed forever and our age of innocence ended. Of course, this bombing was then followed by the attack on our country on 9-11 and we've been on alert against the possibility of terrorist attacks on our own soil ever since.



  We also saw the wall in front of the museum where children from across the country sent hand-painted tiles to comfort the survivors and those affected by the bombing...

   The area right in front of the museum included a sidewalk where children can write with chalk and express their feelings of sorrow, fear and uncertainty that might occur after their visit.

  

   My thoughts while viewing all this were that we will never be able to reassure our children again that our nation is an entirely safe place to live, but, that most children aren't all that aware of the safety of our country anyway. They only care about their immediate security, their home...and we do have the power to do something about that.

   I looked at the couple we were visiting and thought about the life they have lived. They met and married while still young teenagers. Next spring, my friends will have been married forty years. They've raised four children, lived through prosperous times and lean ones, and cared for one child following a life-changing car accident. Through it all, they've remained faithful and loving to each other, creating a safe haven for their children.

Danny & Leslie Loftin

   Too often today, we see young couples give up after a few years of marriage and their children have the rug pulled out from under their security.  "New moms" and "new dads" move in and out, as children are shuffled from house to house, suitcase and stuffed animal in tow.
   Just as our nation's homeland security is worth fighting for, so is our family's.  God created marriage and the family for a reason.  Are you fighting for yours?

  

    



A Scarecrow Cake

Here's a really cute cake that would be fun to make with children or grandchildren.  My daughter found it online and took it to a party recently.  I don't have step-by-step pictures, but here are the directions for making it.

You'll need these things:
1 cake mix (any flavor)
1 tub of white frosting
1 box of fruit roll-ups ( the plain ones without a stamped design)
1 box of small waffle cups ( used for ice cream bowls, there should be 10 in the box)
1 tablespoon of choc. syrup
Step 1:
Bake your cake according to the box directions in a bundt or tube pan. Turn out onto a plate and cool thoroughly.

Step 2: Add the chocolate syrup to your white frosting.  This gives it a slight beige tint.  Frost the entire cake with the frosting.  Reserve a little frosting to use for glueing the hat pieces onto the cake.

Step 3:  Unroll all of the fruit roll-ups and using scissors, cut each strip lengthwise into smaller strips up to about a half-inch from the top, so that your strip is still connected.  This will be the straw hair.

Step 4:  Lay the hair onto the top of the cake, around 2/3 of the cake, leaving room for the face, draping it over the edges and down the sides of the cake.

Step 5:  Lay one waffle bowl upside down on the top of the cake to create the hat.  Stack four more on top of it for height.

Step 6: Break the other 5 waffle cups into large irregular pieces and attach them with extra icing around the hat to form the brim of the hat.

Step 7: Cut triangles from one fruit rollup and attach a nose and eyes to the cake.

There,  you're all finished!  Won't that be cute for a fall party or Thanksgiving table?  Enjoy!

A Cowboy Birthday

   Recently, my grandson Michael celebrated his sixth birthday with a cowboy-themed campout in his backyard. 

  He and his friends enjoyed stick horse races...

a cowboy boot bean bag toss...

birthday cake and wishes...

pictures with friends...

hotdogs on the grill...

a bonfire with s'mores...

and a night of camping...

Happy birthday, pard'ner!

The Craft Box

   If you're looking for a fun way to entertain your grandchildren, you might want to assemble a craft box.  When I was teaching first grade, I quickly discovered that the most popular activity at center time was my art center.  This area contained everything from paints to buttons and the children were allowed the freedom to create anything they wished.  It was so much fun to watch how excited they got over just a little Scotch tape and a stapler!
   When I became a grandmother, I purchased a big plastic container and began to collect items so that I could create a craft box for my grandchildren.  First, I looked around the house and found things in my sewing room, my pantry and my desk that could be included. Then I began to look in the clearance areas at craft stores, fabric stores, and Walmart.  My box and some of the items can be seen below.

As you can see, it contains a wide assortment of items and I continually add to it when I find things on sale. 

It's provided hours of fun for my grandchild and as he grows, the items he creates become more complex and imaginative.

   Here's a suggested list of items for your box: children's scissors, construction paper, Scotch tape, watercolor paints & brushes, crayons, stapler, glue, glue sticks, yarn, cotton balls, buttons, yarn pompoms, wiggly eyes, felt, toilet tissue and paper towel tubes, beans, glitter, colored pencils, playdoh, jingle bells, pipe cleaners, string or thread, scraps of fabric, old Christmas and greeting cards, washable stamp pad and stamps, stickers from junk mailings, old magazines, paper plates, dry macaroni and washable markers.

   Many of these items can be purchased for very little at the back-to-school sales.

   Here's a few guidelines for use:

     1. If you use the craft box, it's your responsiblity to clean up after yourself.

     2. Always put a shoebox lid under anything being glittered.  (This prevents a huge mess and allows the discarded glitter to be collected and reused.)

     3. If more than one child is involved, sharing is a must! "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit." is the motto at our house! :)

Happy crafting and, grandparents, don't forget to display all the wonderful art work!  That's what those refrigerator doors were invented for!