The Path to My Blog....

. . .is paved with good intentions.

I know you have heard all the excuses before,

 so I won't bore you with all the details.

Suffice it to say that

 the pictures that follow are just a sample

 of all the goings on  around here.

There were also several things 

that I didn't remember to photograph!

The above is the "Blessing Tree"

that hubby and I made for the big

50th Anniversary shindig

for

Bishop & his lovely Wife.

 This is a picture of the honored couple

& the fruits of 50 years of commitment.

Since we didn't want to hang around for hurricane Isaac

we took the opportunity to go on a little trip.

I will be posting about the recovery 

in neighboring Braithwaite in a later post.

I do not want to gloss over it.

I feel like it would get lost in this mix 

of random reverie.

My latest kitchen adventure:

 Griddle style corn cakes & greens,

topped with a

Tomato & grilled ham salad 

&

Buttermilk Vinaigrette

 This picture is long over due!

Eloise is opening a package

 from our dear sweet blog friends

 over at B-skep Chronicles.

 This little ray of sunshine 

"Brie"

now comes to my house 5 days a week

while mommy works.

Her daddy is a Marine,

 so he is working very hard too.

 These three children were guests in my home 

 For Approx. 3 weeks.

 Keep them in your prayers.

 Finally....

The Biggest News:

Eloise is officially in the youth group 

and sporting braces.

Not pictured:

the 5 yr. old I watch on weekends

&

the 4 kids (ages 5-14)

that I tutor in order to finance 

the aforementioned braces.

We have also been sorting through

 and getting rid of a lot of clutter.

After much prayer and family discussion,

we have decided to downsize.

Come this spring we will be putting our

"Way Too Big for Three people"

home up for sale.

This is not an emergency or sad event.

It is a choice we are making,

that will possibly get us to the 

"debt free" status quickly.

Maybe with less debt & clutter

I might have more time 

to keep my blog up to date....

....don't hold your breath!


BY THE WAY:

HUBBY HAS LOST 45 LBS
IN 6 MONTHS
&
I HAVE LOST 36

Oh What Fun...

 I have had a blast making

 "squash books"

with Eloise.

In case you are not familiar,

squash books are what happens when

scrapbooking meets origami.

(Shh...This one is for Sis. M.W.)

There is so much more 

that I could have done,

 but I was nervous.

It actually wasn't nearly

 as hard as I had imagined.

Below I will post a link to the tutorial.

It is very basic.

I used 8"x8" paper,

so I ended up with a 4"x4"

The tutorial calls for 6x6,

which yields a 3x3 book.

I do not recommend this.

As it is, I had to print my photos

 in wallet size.

The Tutorial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWh-n4JdAqI&feature=fvwrel

After you have the basics down pat 

and you want to learn how to do

 a more intricate squash book look at the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PPau-F_G3k

Hope some of y'all try it

and share your creations with us.

We had so much fun.

Some crafts are nerve wracking,

but this was fairly easy.

You can purchase "Zip Dry"

 and chip board 

at your local craft store.

I scored the chip board

 with my rotary cutter,

 then bent,

 and finished cutting.

HAPPY CRAFTING!