Reading through the Bible

As 2009 draws to a close, I am reminded of a commitment I tried to make year after year to read the Bible from cover to cover. The Bible tells us that "All Scripture is God breathed." To me that means that everything in the Bible applies to my relationship with God. As part of my commitment to Christ, I feel that it is important that I have read what his words tell me. Christ died on the cross for my sins and I haven't "found" time to read what his love letter, the Bible, has to tell.

This always seems like such a duanting task. Reading the WHOLE Bible. Wow! That's a lot of pages... But when I read that the entire Bible can be read in 90 days by reading just 12 pages a day, I thought I can do that. 12 pages is reasonable. 90 days, 3 months, I can do that.

Then when I heard about the weekly Twitter party and the support that would be given to participants through weekly videos and other bloggers, I was hooked. A group of people working together to read the entire Bible.

Will you join me tomorrow as I begin to read the Bible from cover to cover in 90 days? Link up at Mom's Toolbox.

Tutus - What Fun!

Just wanted to show you the Tutus I made for the Great-nieces for Christmas. Got a few pictures. So cute! I think the girls liked them. What little girl doesn't like to dress up?


Yeah, I know this was just wrong, but I don't have any little girls to try these things on and the other boys are too big now. He was having a fit to get that thing off until he realized I had the camera out! Little ham!

Favorite Cookie Recipe Blog Carnival

Shelly at Chic Crafty Chick has been hosting a Cookie Blog carnival this week featuring different bloggers sharing their favorite cookie recipes. She has even snagged some great prizes that are being given away on her blog at Chic Crafty Chick. Be sure to stop by and enter to win.

With three young boys running around, I try to keep things really simple. This is especially true of when I am cooking. My favorite cookie recipe is for Cake Mix cookies. They are so quick and easy!

Ingredients:

1 box of cake mix – any flavor

1/2 c. oil

2 eggs

Chocolate Morsels (optional)

Directions:

1. Using a spoon, mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

2. Roll the dough into small balls and press into a cookie shape on a greased baking pan.

2. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

3. Enjoy!

My favorite combination is Devil’s Food Cake Mix and White Chocolate Chips.

Happy Baking!

~Charissa

Recent Projects

Here are some things that I've been working on that have kept me quite busy lately.
This is not counting the part time working, babysitting, picture-taking, wife, mom and mimi jobs I keep in the air at all times. whew, I'm tired.

Stockings I monogrammed for DIL to give as gifts. Aren't they pretty with those colors on that silver? I took the stocking apart, opened up the cuff, monogrammed and put them back together. Quick and painless.


This is a cell-phone holder I made. I wish I had more time, I would put them in the shop, but not right now. Any suggestions?


Two Buggy Buddies made for a friends twin grandbabies. Aren't they cute? Exactly the same fabric pattern, just different color combos. Check out the insides!



I'm also making Tutu's for great-neices for Christmas presents. They're so cute! Pictures later. Hopefully on the girls!

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

I hope to have the curtains finished...soon. How many times have I said that? Well, I mean it...this time.

Santa Pictures

After the big picture taking event and the trip to Chuck E. Cheese on Saturday, Amy and Charissa went to the mall to have the boys pictures made with Santa. By then Caleb had all the fun he could handle and he wasn't having any of it! Jackson wasn't too sure about that big guy in the funny suit either. Jacob enjoyed himself as usual and Andrew went along with the fun too! Very special memories!

Christmas Pictures With the Cousins

On Saturday we had a lot of fun! We made family pictures of the cousins, a tradition started when there were only two little boys who were less than 2 years old. This year we had 10 children in the pictures! We now have 6 boys and four girls, aged from 3 months up to Andrew, who at the ripe old age of 8 is the oldest in the group.
This started as a way for young parents to give a unique one of a kind gift to their Mawmaw without a lot of expense, since they didn't have much to spend on gifts. After all, only parents can give the gift of their children to us doting grandparents. Mawmaw is my hubby's Mom and Great-Grandmother to all these children.
As more of the grandchildren have had children of their own they've gotten in on the picture too.
Last year my sister-in-law Sandra decided that her gift to the children would be a trip to Chuck-E-Cheese after pictures were made. It turned out to be a big hit with the kiddos! They all loved it and so did the parents.
Now this picture taking event doesn't go off without a few bumps. There are children from 5 different families and as I mentioned before there is a big age spread. So any given year there is someone who doesn't want to have his/her picture made. And did I mention the meltdowns? That just adds to the fun. All the Moms need to come prepared to be in the picture, just in case. Bless her heart, Heather didn't think she would have to be in the picture again this year. Maybe next year.
You should have been here! A big time was had by all. Well, by most, anyway!Here are a few of the pics I took. We had 5 or 6 cameras going, so we're hoping to get a few good shots.
Merry Christmas Mawmaw!!

Andrew’s Birthday

Today is Andrew’s Birthday Party day.  His birthday is Monday, but we are celebrating a few days early.  He will be 8 this year!!! I really can’t believe it.  He is just growing up way too fast.  This year he has requested a football themed party.  His cake is a sheet cake with green icing and football field lines in white. We found some other football decorations so he will be so excited.  In honor of Andrew’s birthday, I thought I would share some pictures of my sweet boy.  He is so excited about his birthday this year!

 

Andrew and his best buddy, Don

 

 

Happy Birthday Andrew!!!  We love you! 

You are such a smart, kind, and loving young man.

A New Project

Since it's the day after Thanksgiving and everyone is all worn out from eating, shopping and watching the big game, thought I'd share a new project with you.
This is a car seat cover I'm making for Kelly at Joyful Adorations, who is expecting a precious little girl next month. She was given a perfectly good car seat to use, but we've girlied it up a little bit for Lily Grace!
The pattern is really for a larger car seat, but I think it's going to fit just fine. It has 8 bound buttonholes for the straps to pass through. She will need more buttonholes when she moves up to a larger seat, but we'll worry about that later.
Kelly, I hope you like it so far. Now to work on that cover. Hmmmm
More pics later. Maybe.

Wordless Wednesday – Thanksgiving Crafts

Jacob has had a lot of fun with Turkey crafting this year.

 

Hand and footprint turkey – The body is made from two feet cutouts and the feathers are his hands.

For more Wordless Wednesdays, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

 

~Charissa

Tuesday-Yea!!!!

It's Tuesday! Aren't you excited?! Tuesday is my only day of the week that I have to myself. Now, I know that sounds very selfish, but I really don't have much time for...well, just to do what I want to do. Between working part time, babysitting, sewing and just being a wife mom and Mimi I stay pretty busy.
I know that life is not about what I want to do, but isn't it nice to just have a day now and then when you can put everything else aside and do the things that you've been wanting to do? Let me know if it ever comes, ok?
So, on this Tuesday I'm going to sew. Sewing is something I really enjoy. (Yesterday I had to buy a new machine. My old one died. Just gave up. That's pretty traumatic for me, but I found one and today will be finding out if it's a keeper. Thankfully I have two months in home to decide. Isn't that wonderful? Especially if you're not good with decisions, but I'm rambling again.) I'm working on curtains, a car seat cover for a sweet friend, alterations, a diaper bag, monogramming bags for Cubbies, two Buggy Buddies and some more Christmas shirts to put in the shop. It's a blessing to have this much work to do, and a family who needs me to be there for them.
One day I won't be able to do all this. And I will miss it.
Enjoy your Tuesday, just because you can!
God Bless you as you serve Him and your family and friends.

Not Me Monday – Because I Would Never Do THAT!

 

Last Thursday, I attended Myra and Kelly's couponing class to learn more about how to use coupons to save money at the grocery store.  The class was wonderful and I learned some great tips.  Prior to attending the class my coupons were in a small expandable coupon holder.  I have been couponing for years and have quite the coupon collection.  My coupon holder was so jammed full that it would not close. 

 

In the class, Myra shared her coupon box and I thought it was a great idea.  So I decided to move all my coupons to a pretty little box with pretty little tabs.  All was well and good.  Coupons were moved, labels created (Thanks Andrew!), and coupons were sorted (Thanks Jacob!).  After moving all my coupons, I realized that the coupons I needed for this week’s fabulous deals at Publix were in an envelope because I went ahead and pulled them out.

 

Weren’t those coupons in the coupon box you might ask?  No!!!  Panic set in.  Did I accidently leave the coupons in a store?  at school?  in the car?  Did I throw them away?  Throwing them away definitely DID NOT cross my mind because I have NEVER thrown away anything important (i.e. W2 from the Marine Corps or a Netflix movie).  So I most definitely DID NOT dig through the garbage in search of my coupons.  I would NEVER be completely discouraged when I did not find said coupons in the trash after touching all of it – YUCK! 

 

 

And there is no way, I positively DID NOT find my coupons sitting in the enevelope on the counter where I left them the night before.  I would NEVER do that!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

 

 

Beanie Models

A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted on Etsy by Marsha Barton Photography about trading some of our baby accessories for professional pictures of children wearing them.  After looking at her portfolio and reading her blog, I jumped at the opportunity that God placed before me.  I crocheted a lavender beanie with a brown flower and a chocolate brown, bright blue, and pistachio green beanie to send to her.  A couple of days after she received the beanies, I received the cutest pictures.  The pictures I got back were amazing! 

Marsha Barton Photography is located in Mobile, AL, but she is from North Alabama and visits frequently.  She specializes in outdoor photography.  Feel free to learn more about Marsha Barton Photography on her blog or Photography Shop.  In the future, I am planning to trade more of my creations with her.  If you are selling baby items and would love to trade for professional pictures or are interested in a photo session with your own children, please contact Marsha.  I would highly recommend it. 

   

Thank you again Marsha!  You did a fantastic job!

~Charissa

Things I love Thursday - Photo Calendars

This is my first time participating in Things I Love Thursday, but I wanted to share how much I love the photo calendars I ordered for Christmas gifts. Kodak was giving away $15 credits to the Kodak gallery shop. I was able to order a photo calendar for $10 with shipping.

This is a great gift for grandparents and great grandparents. Everyone needs a calendar and why not have some pretty faces to look at throughout the year.

For more Things I Love Thursday, visit The Diaper Diaries.

What happens at Grandma Dee Dee’s house….

We all LOVE going to Grandma Dee Dee’s house.  She always makes each one of us feel so special.  Here’s what going to Grandma Dee Dee’s house looks like.

 

We play outside.

We go to the school next door.

 

 

We play at the park.

 

The we go back to Grandma Dee Dee’s house.  It is always so much fun!

For more Wordless Wednesdays, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

~Charissa