#272 - Apple Pizza

I've been in the mood to bake something with apples. So tonight I concocted a little recipe of my very own. It turned out pretty yummy. And, it's low(er) in fat than most other apple desserts I've tried in the past. In case you're wondering what's on it, here is rundown:

Baked some pizza dough and let it cool.

Mixed up about 1/2 cup of softened cream cheese, 1 cup of powdered sugar, and about 2 tablespoons of milk and spread it on the dough.

Then I chopped up a granny smith apple and spread it over the pizza.

Poured caramel over this and then sprinkled some chopped up Rolo candies on top.

I chilled it in the fridge for a little while to firm up the caramel.

I got thumbs up from la familia!

Proverbs 25:11-12
"Like apples of gold in settings of silver
is a ruling rightly given.
Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold
is the rebuke of a wise judge to a listening ear."

#271 - Laundry Detergent Finale

After making the laundry detergent last week, I left it covered all night and this is what it looked like the next afternoon: It was kind of clumped, but after a quick stir it had a better consistency. I just ladled it into one of my smaller detergent bottles that was filled with about 1/4 warm water and gave it a good shake. I've washed about 7 or 8 loads of clothes so far and I think it does a good job.

And because I didn't want to just post a picture of gloopy detergent :o) here is a picture of a wildflower that we took on one of our trips to check the trail cam. Psalm 29:2
"Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name;
Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness."

#270 - Courageous

The church that has produced Flywheel, Facing the Giants, and Fireproof have a new movie coming out this Friday, September 30th! It's called Courageous and we can't wait to watch it! We're going with another couple from church to watch it this weekend. For more information you can go to the website:
http://www.courageousthemovie.com/

This is the opening scene from the movie:

I would encourage everyone to check out any of the movies that Sherwood Pictures has made! It would be an awesome thing for Courageous to have a blockbuster weekend to send a message to the "Hollywood" industry that this is the type of movie that America needs and wants to see! So go support it!!!

Joshua 24:15b
"But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

(This is not a paid advertisement. :) I just support this ministry 100%!)

#269 - Trail Cam Update #2

We've checked our trail cam a couple of times and here are some of the pics so far:

Still holding out for a picture of a bear! :)

1 Thessalonians 5:23
"Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

#268 - Monumental Year

We've had a great Sunday! We had wonderful services at church and a little shopping in between for a few things. Tonight I realized I hadn't taken a picture... :( So I thought I'd pull up to see what we were doing last year on this day - September 25th - and this is where we were:

In Plymouth, Massachusetts at the Forefather's Monument!

We had gone up there with the precious Pinson family to be part of the documentary Kirk Cameron is doing called - "Monumental Movie" about America's true providential history. That was such a wonderful trip! They are finishing up the movie within the next month and it is due out in 2012. For more info about the movie you can click HERE. And if you want to see more pics from that trip you can click HERE.

"O Lord, forgive what I have been, sanctify what I am, and order what I shall be."
~Thomas Wilson

#267 - Love Can Build a Bridge

A few months ago Erica asked me if I wanted to go see the Judds in concert. I said - sure! Growing up I loved their songs and sang, "Young Love" more than a few times! So tonight was the "Evening with Wynonna" over at Eastern's new Center for the Arts. Mama Judd wasn't there, but Wynonna did a pretty good job.

Erica and I had a great time even though she never sang, "Young Love." :(

1 John 2:5
"But if anyone obeys His word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in Him:"

#266 - Anna's 12th Birthday

We celebrated Anna's 12th birthday today. Still can't believe our sweet little baby is already 12 years old. Instead of having a big party she decided to do a small cake and have a sleepover with Sissy. And tomorrow she wants to go bowling. :)

Brian's mom is in Florida with her sister and they sent Anna these gorgeous roses today. It was Anna's first time getting flowers delivered to her. She LOVED them!
Both of our girls always request a homemade cake instead of a store/bakery bought one. For this birthday Anna wanted a chocolate cake, so I made one of those "better than anything" cakes with the devil's food cake, caramel, sweet cond. milk, cool-whip, crushed toffee bars. It was pretty yummy! Our sweet birthday girl! Suse, Ryan, Amber, & Bella came over and we ended up having a mini-party.
Sissy made her this sweet card and.....

....got her a washer/dryer playset for her Barbies!

We got her a gift bag with a variety of stuff and I ordered her the new Just Dance 3 Wii game that comes out on October 7th. I printed the receipt out and put it in a box in her gift bag!

For a little while Bella decided to color with her Uncle Brian. :) Brings back sweet memories.

Ryan surprised the girls with this Barbie RV! It was from Nana too. They LOVED it, but I think Bella may have gotten a little attached to it also!

Happy 12th Birthday to our sweet young lady! I thank God for blessing us with such a kind, pleasant, patient, caring, and precious daughter!!! We love you, Nunu!

Luke 9:23
"Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me."

#265 - I Finally Made Laundry Detergent

I'm not sure why I've been so intimidated by making this homemade laundry soap that everyone has been making since the Duggars' first introduced it. But today I finally did it! And guess what?! - It is super easy! :)

The recipe I got from a dear friend on Facebook:

1 Fels Naptha Bar

1 cup Borax

1 cup WASHING Soda

Grade the Fels Naptha bar up with a cheese grader or food processor like above^.

Fill a medium saucepan with hot tap water and add the shaved soap and heat on medium until it starts to dissolve.

I just kept stirring it and making sure the small pieces were dissolving.

When it is dissolved take a clean 5 gallon bucket and fill it halfway with hot tap water.

Then add the melted soap and stir.

Next add the cup of Borax and the cup of WASHING Soda:

And stir!
Then fill the rest of the bucket up with hot tap water.
And stir some more!
Her instructions said to put the lid on the bucket and let it sit overnight. That it would be a little gooey and lumpy. You just need to stir it again and break up the clumps. I've been saving my ALL detergent bottles so I'm going to fill a bottle with about 1/4 water and then add the detergent mixture to it and shake away! I also got some fragrant oils to add to the individual bottles in case I want to make it smell a little better. I can't completely quit cold turkey with the scent thing. So in the next few days I'll add some pictures of my finished product and give a review of how well we like using this new and cheap laundry detergent!

I had the girls help me do the math (school work!) on how much it costs to make a batch and here is what we come up with:

Borax = 8 ounces $.42

Washing Soda = 8 ounces $.57

Fels Naptha = $1.03 (w/tax)

Total for 5 gallons (640 oz.) = $2.02

1 Peter 4:10
"Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms."

#264 - Birthday Prep

Anna will turn 12 (gasp) on Friday. Did I just really type that out?! Wow!

Anyway, I've been looking through pictures and I came across this one tonight:

We took these around her 1st birthday. At the time we were huge UK fans and one of the requirements for having a family picture taken was if we all wore Wildcat blue. :o)

How cute is she in her little cheerleader outfit?!

I can't believe that she'll be turning 12. years. old. Just doesn't seem right.

She is such a blessing to us and I praise God for her.

2 Corinthians 6:18-19
"And, “I will be a Father to you,
and you will be my sons and daughters,
says the Lord Almighty.”

#263 - An Impromptu Photoshoot

We were able to keep Bella this afternoon and the girls took her outside to play so I just grabbed my camera and had a little photoshoot with her. :)

She didn't care much for Jonathan (the girls' name for our neighbor's horse.)

Most of my pictures look like this ^ With her either running away or to us!

But we did manage to get a few good ones. :)

Proverbs 22:6
"Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it."

#262 - Sock Monkey

Today in Anna's co-op handicraft's class they worked on their sock monkeys.

And tonight she made one with Holly. :)

They did almost the entire thing all by themselves....and did a great job too! It's not quite finished, but they'll add the ears, eyes, and lines for it's mouth tomorrow.
So right now it's a monkey that can see no, hear no, and speak no evil....hehe!

Psalm 15:1-3
"LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle?
Who may dwell in Your holy hill?
He who walks uprightly,
And works righteousness,
And speaks the truth in his heart;
He who does not backbite with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend;"

#261 - Family Fun Day

Our church held a Family Fun Day today at a park close to our church. It was so much fun! There was tons of games, puppets, fellowship, and of course yummy food!

Anna was showing off her artwork that a sweet little 2 year old painted on her face!
Holly won a medal for the hoola hoop contest and she also got to enjoy a ride in a wheelbarrow!

It was a great day and the rain held off to make the weather near perfect! Now to get ready for a (kind of:) busy week!

1 John 1:7
"But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin."

#260 - Holly's 3rd Spiritual Birthday

On this day in 2008, Holly accepted Christ and she became our little sister!

Here she is the night she got saved:

And this was taken last week. :)

Psalm 18:35
"You have also given me the shield of Your salvation;
Your right hand has held me up,
Your gentleness has made me great."

#259 - Trail Cam Update

Brian and the girls went this afternoon to check the trail cam and found this on there!

Then we went back early this evening to take a couple of mineral blocks and some more apples. In the three hours since they were there these two lovely ladies showed up:

We were so excited! I can't wait to see what is on there next!
Who knows what it'll be?!!

:)
Psalm 13:4-6
"Lest my enemy say,
“I have prevailed against him”;
Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
But I have trusted in Your mercy;
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
I will sing to the LORD,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me."

#258 - Bible Studies and Devotionals

I thought for my daily post that I'd jump on board for Kelly's Korner SUYL - and share the Bible Studies/Devtionals that we do. You can click on each picture for links to Lifeway.

I started reading this one earlier in the summer and love it!

We got our new devotional after our anniversary trip to Tennessee in August. We like the format that these One Year devotionals have. I'll be honest we don't do this every night (we should:), but when we do get to have a devotional together it is always great!
This one for couples is a good one also!

Have a great Friday everyone!

Titus 2:4-5
"Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."

#257 - Backyard Habitats

The girls had an assignment to observe the habitats of a square yard in our backyard.

They were all business!

Isaiah 32:18
"My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation,
In secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places,"

#256 - BBC Mini Series

Since watching a few of BBC's Jane Austen mini series, we are hooked! :-) Both of the following are based off of books/essays written by Elizabeth Gaskell and I recommend them highly!

I absolutely fell in love with this:

{Photo Source}

We checked Cranford out at the library last week and watched it tonight:

{Photo Source}

The fun part is that the girls love to watch them as much as I do! Brian does too! A lot of times there are teaching moments throughout the episodes. Tonight we were almost finished with the first episode of Cranford and Holly made a comment about the plot that baffled me. :) I hadn't even figured out that part of the movie yet! Most movies and t.v. shows are so inappropriate anymore that it is very refreshing that we can all enjoy something wholesome and somewhat educational too!

Hebrews 13:5
"Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”