NKOTB--New Kat on the Block

If you read the title and thought "New Kids on the Block"

....you must have lived as a teenager in the '90s!

Anyway, we have a new "kat" on the block--Mikey. He adopted Katie earlier this fall. We were having the gutters replaced on the house and this kitten appeared. We thought he came with the work crew (and maybe he did). He was jumping off the house onto them, running in between their feet, and being a general nuisance. When the crew left, the kitten stayed.

The rest is history.

He would let Katie carry him around all over the place.

He was worming his way into our house, and our hearts.I started calling him "Mikey"--not sure why--but it fits him!

Meike thinks she's his momma and he's OK with that!

Zoobilation: The Christmas Edition

We took the girls to the Indianapolis Zoo's Christmas at the Zoo. The day started out at 50 degrees, but by the time we got there, and the sun went down, it was below freezing! We had a good time anyway.

(Yes, my girls wore faux fur to the zoo....)

Audrey on the carousel. They loved it so much, we rode it twice!


Miss Kate on the carousel. She had a sticker on her forehead the entire evening.

The pictures are a little blurry, but I think you can tell they really enjoyed it!

The Thrifty Fifty!

I've been following the challenge from You Can Make This. In a nutshell, 50 people were chosen to make all their Christmas gifts for under $50! While I wasn't one of the 50 chosen, it's still exciting to see how everyone is doing. Check out the blog entries here.

A Modern Day Parable

On the eve of what could be the most important election in the history of our country, here's a modern day parable:


A worried woman went to her gynecologist and said: 'Doctor, I have a serious problem and desperately need your help! My baby is not even 1 yr. old and I'm pregnant again. I don't want kids so close together.'

So the doctor said: 'Ok, and what do you want me to do?'

She said: 'I want you to end my pregnancy, and I'm counting on your help with this.'

The doctor thought for a little, and after some silence he said to the lady: 'I think I have a better solution for your problem. It's less dangerous for you too.'

She smiled, thinking that the doctor was going to accept her request. Then he continued: 'You see, in order for you not to have to take care of 2 babies at the same time, let's kill the one in your arms. This way, you could rest some before the other one is born. If we're going to kill one of them, it doesn't matter which one it is. There would be no risk for your body if you chose the one in your arms.

The lady was horrified and said: 'No doctor! How terrible! It's a crime to kill a child!'

'I agree', the doctor replied. 'But you seemed to be ok with it, so I thought maybe that was the best solution.

The doctor smiled, realizing that he had made his point. He convinced the mom that there is no difference in killing a child that's already been born and one that's still in the womb. The crime is the same.

This One's for You, Mom!

My mom keeps asking me when I'm going to update my blog....so, this one's for you, Mom!

I've been keeping busy with with this season's craft shows. Add on to that a rather large cheer/gymnastic bow order, a family, and several cats, and it seems life's been rather busy.

I have lots of photos still in my camera that need to be downloaded to the computer. Once I get to that, posting should soon follow.

No Matter Who Wins the Election....

TEN PREDICTIONS NO MATTER WHO WINS THE ELECTION:

1. The Bible will still have all the answers.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise to God.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost.

ISN'T IT GREAT TO KNOW WHO IS STILL IN CONTROL?

Happy Birthday, Katie!

Happy 5th Birthday, Katie!

We love you very much!

With Much Love From

Mommy, Daddy, and Audrey

Gifts from the Garden

In the spring the girls and I planted some wildflowers and sunflowers in a back corner of the yard.

All we grew were WEEDS!

Or so we thought.

We went to clear out the corner this past week and found itsy bitsy cherry tomatoes! The picture shows four, but there were more than that....but....we ate them.

Since then, Rick and the girls have found several more. We're not sure how the seeds got there, but we're glad we found them!

ZOOBILATION!

Yesterday's weather was perfect for a trip to the zoo!

The girls were so excited...even if you can't tell it from this photo.

The polar bears are always entertaining. I guess this one was tired of being in the limelight. He was floating in the water with his chin resting on a rock.

Did you know that you can pet a shark? You can! They swim right up to you and you pet them with two fingers on their backs. Some of them would stand "upright" in the water (like the dolphins do). When they first swim up to you, it's hard to put your hand into the water. I kept hearing the theme to "Jaws" in my mind....

I love this photo of the girls watching the walrus exhibit.

They are very graceful under the water.

ZOOBILATION! (continued)

The meerkats were probably my favorite animal at the zoo.

These little guys (or gals?) were posing for the camera!

The girls rode the carousel and loved every minute of it!

At the end of the adventure, as we were walking to the car, Audrey said with in a very weary voice, "I am tired much...." It was a very good day.

Wow! What an Honor!

Wow! I just received an email that one of my hairbows is being featured on an Etsy Treasury. What an honor! Click here if you'd like to see it. The black and white bow on the top row is from my Etsy shoppe!

I Was Featured!

I forgot to mention that one of my headbands was featured on HeartHandmade blog! Number 4 is my gold and silver metallic headband!

I felt honored that they chose one of my creations for their blog.

It's a Jungle Out There

Remember this picture?

I posted this at the beginning of summer on the day we planted two little tomatoes in a bucket of Wal-Mart topsoil.

Look at them now!

It's a jungle of tomato plants! Sometimes it's hard to see the tomatoes nestled in the plant and the grass. It sure is fruitful! Next year we'll do it exactly the same.
Well, we might actually invest in some tomato cages next year.

They'll probably grow as tall as trees!

Snapshots

Gooseplums?

These are gooseplums. I'd never heard of a gooseplum, but Mrs. Lucas said we'd like them and we were anxious to try something new.

They are delicious!

They look like a big red grape. When you bite into it, it has the texture of a plum with a pit like a persimmon.

These gooseplums are the fruit we picked up off the ground. I thought I'd try to do something with them, but they were all eaten before I had a chance!

Even MORE Peach Pickin' Pictures!

After all the hard work we put in pickin' the peaches, it was time for a rest. We went over to the lake to watch the hay-baler in process.

Mrs. Lucas was very hospitable and the girls enjoyed every minute we were there.

More Peach Pickin' Pictures

There was a little birds' nest nestled amongst the fruit. The bottom of the nest was an unripened peach.

The peaches were ripe and ready for pickin'!

Beautiful Black-eyed Susans in the flower garden.

Peach Pickin'

The girls and I were invited by Mrs. Lucas to come and pick peaches. The day was incredibly hot and I can still feel the heat just by looking at the photos!

We ended up freezing all of them except for the batch I used to make 7 pints of peach jam. Yummy!