~November/December Update~

Greetings to you all!

I hope everyone has been having a very blessed December!

We have been pretty busy this month and I haven't had much time for posting, but I thought I would start with a Thanksgiving update and catch you up from there. ;)

This year we found some lovely pilgrim figures at Hancock Fabric's. They have some really pretty seasonal decorations there and we've been excited to find some new one's to add to our collection. :)

We were blessed to gather with relatives and enjoy

sweet fellowship and delicious food. My Grandma made these fun "turkey" sugar cookies!

My younger brothers and cousins had fun dressing up in costumes to act out the first Thanksgiving! :)

"...in everything give

thanks; for this

is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

~1 Thessalonians 5:18~

Early in December, I had the privilege of performing the "Messiah" with a local College/Community Choir! It a was a thrilling experience! :) We sang nine songs and there were some solos as well. A very talented lady played the organ in accompaniment.

Here we are during a dress rehearsal. :)

We performed two nights in a row. :) After the first concert, we posed for a picture in front of a beautifully adorned Christmas tree that was in the foyer of the building.

The following week we attended another Christmas performance that some of our friends were participating in. We enjoyed hearing hand bells, a children's choir and an adults choir accompanied by an orchestra! :)

This month we also had a delightful time at the historic dance Christmas Social. There, we played parlor games and engaged in a few dances, one of which is called the"Twelve Days of Christmas"! It was a lovely evening! :)

In other news, I have been doing some baking! I made a loaf of cinnamon bread a while back which was...ohhhhh so delicious!

I also made up some fudge and peanut butter cookies topped with chocolate kisses! So yummy! ;) (For the cinnamon bread or fudge recipe click here. ) :)

We recently had Christmas dinner at my grandparents house! :)

Here's some of the yummy deserts we thoroughly enjoyed! ;)

After the wonderful meal and fellowship, we all gathered in the living room to hear the Christmas story read aloud while my younger brothers and cousins gave us a visual aid by using a shadow box to reenact the story.

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

~Luke 2:11~

Next, we sang some Christmas songs as my younger cousins played them on the piano. :) We then, opened presents and enjoyed more fellowship, food and games. :)

Hope you all have a very blessed New Year!

In Christ,

~Chloe~ :)

~Marie-Madeline Studio Quilt Giveaway!~

The lovely Long ladies from Marie-Madeline Studio's are hosting a quilt giveaway from November 28-December 13! :)

They will be giving away two quilts this time... the beautiful Garden Party quilt.....

.....along with the beautiful Darla quilt! If you get a chance, stop by and enter to receive one of these lovely quilts! You can click here for details. :) Also, f you learned of the giveaway through my blog and you decide to enter, please let me know...as I get more entries if you do. Thanks!

~Chloe~ :)

"But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.

He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers..."

~Psalm 2:3~

~Happy Thanksgiving~

We Gather Together

We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing;
He chastens and hastens his will to make known;
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing,
Sing praises to his name: He forgets not his own.

Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
Ordaining, maintaining his kingdom divine;
So from the beginning the fight we were winning;
Thou, Lord, wast at our side, All glory be thine!

We all do extol thee, thou leader triumphant,
And pray that thou still our defender wilt be.
Let thy congregation escape tribulation;
Thy name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!
Amen

--Traditional Thanksgiving Hymn
(A translation by Theodore Baker: 1851-1934)

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of year...with beautiful autumn colors, special gatherings to spend time with family and to enjoy delicious foods! :) Praying you all have a very blessed Thanksgiving as you reflect upon the Lord's goodness in your life, this year and always!

With a grateful heart,

~Chloe~ :)

"Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good,

For His lovingkindness is everlasting."

~Psalm 107:1~

~Blog Awards~

My dear friend Bethany has graciously bestowed me with two lovely blog awards! Thanks so much Bethany!

Here are the rules:

1. Do a post about the person who awarded you, and their blog.

2. Give the award to 5 of your favorite blogs, give a reason, (i.e, why you awarded them) and leave them a comment letting them know they've been awarded.

3. Answer the 10 random questions.

4. Have Fun!

About Bethany ...Bethany is a sweet young lady who loves the Lord and her family. On her blog "Polished Cornerstone ", she shares about the many fun and exciting things that happen in her everyday life! (Bethany, congratulations on the wonderful news of another sister on the way!!! :D)

Now, I am awarding...

Jacqueline , a dear friend, and very sweet, christian, young lady. On Jacqueline's blog "By Grace Alone" she post's about fun activities she does with her family such as birthday's, trips and many other fun things. Jacqueline has also started the blog "Modest Finds", where she and a few others (including myself) post links to where you can find modest and fashionable clothing.

Miss Jen, is the very lovely blog author of "Blessed Femina". Miss Jen shares many recipes, sewing projects, crafts, ideas, giveaways, beautiful pictures and thought provoking quotes, scriptures, etc. After visiting her blog you are bound to come away encouraged and inspired! :)

Melinda, another special friend of mine. :) On her lovely blog titled "Abounding in Hope", Melinda shares adventures about her and her family on their farm, as well as inspirational quotes and articles. She also recently hosted a giveaway from Marie Madeline Studios.

Mrs. Smith and Jessica are a mother and daughter who are authors of the fun blog "Sew Chic". They post pictures of the many beautiful garments, crafts, purses, etc. that they have so beautifully constructed.

And if I could do one more.... :)

Daughters of Vision is such a pretty blog where three sisters post about how the Lord is working in their lives. They too, post articles that are inspiring and encouraging in ones walk with the Lord. They share sewing projects that they have made, as well as delicious cooking creations.

And the list could certainly go on..... :D but as to not make the post really, really long.... :) I suppose I'll stop there, however, feel free to check out some of the other really neat blogs by clicking on the links on my sidebar. ;)

And now for the questions I am to answer.... :)

1. Have you ever ridden an elephant? No... I haven't....(but my mom has!) :) Once my mom and I rode on a camel when I was really little though! :) )

2. Have you ever eaten squid? No...and I don't really plan to ever eat it either....

3. What is something crazy you have done with your best friend? Well, I wouldn't really call it crazy...it's pretty fun actually .... :)...when my older brother was younger he came up with the idea to move the chairs into the living room and then to drape sheets across the them and the furniture. Then we got out the socks...(they were clean, mind you :)) and we would roll them into balls, then our family would divide into teams, hide behind our "forts" made out of sheets and the sock war would begin.

4. Have you ever held an alligator? I recently had the opportunity to touch a small alligator at a wild life event we went to...but, I didn't touch it or hold it either. :)

5. Have you ever let a snake slither through your fingers? Definitely not! (I don't particularly care for snakes...) :P

6. What is your first and foremost dream in life? I desire to glorify the Lord in all I do, to put Him first place in my life, to walk uprightly before Him, and to please Him. I want to be sanctified and purified useful for the Master, to continually grow closer to Him. I want to be conformed to the image of Christ. I desire to be a vessel the Lord can work through. I want to love the Lord my God with all my heart soul, mind and strength. I desire to be a woman after God's own heart, to be a Proverbs 31 kind of woman, a woman of excellence.
I also, hope to some day marry a godly man, whom the Lord has prepared for me, (if it is God's will) and to teach and raise up godly children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, useful for His kingdom.

7. What is your dream vacation? I would probably enjoy going to Washington D.C. to see all the historical sites, the Grand Canyon and Mount Rushmore would probably be pretty neat to see too! :)

8. What is the funniest movie you have ever seen?
Hmmm....well, the Apple Dumpling Gang, and Finding Nemo are kind of funny. (I've not watched them in a while though, so if you watch them please use discretion.)

9. What is your favorite song? Well, some of my favorite hymns would probably be "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing", Be Thou My Vision, and "Take My Life and Let it Be". I really do like many songs...too many to mention here. However, a few others are "As the Deer", "He is Exalted", "You are My All in All" ,"Lord I Lift Your Name on High" etc. :D

10. If you could change the world in one way, what would that be? If I could change anything in the world? Well, I think it would be wonderful if sin would have never entered the world. But since it has I am forever grateful that my Lord is so loving and merciful as to send His only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for all our sins, that we might have eternal life and that we may turn from our sins and live for Him. What a wonderful Lord we serve!

Bethany also gave me another award! :)

I'll present this award to the same people mentioned above... :)

To accept this award, recipients should do the following things:
1) Save the image and upload it to display in your sidebar
2) Present the award to five people
3) Publish a post presenting the award which names your 5 recipients and tells what you like about each of their blogs/websites.

I hope you are all enjoying this beautiful Autumn season! :)

Many blessings to you all!

~Chloe~ :)

~Autumn Sewing~ :)

I am pleased to announce the recent completion of a new jumper! :D I used the Simplicity pattern number 3747 view C (minus the pockets). And the denim floral material was from Hancock Fabrics. :)










The jumper has a centered zipper in the back along with a pleat, which I had never done before, but with careful reading of the instructions, along with my dear mother's guidance, both went together very smoothly! :)

She looks for wool and flax

And works with her hands in delight.

Proverbs 31:13

May we all continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior every day!

Blessings!
~Chloe~ :)

P.S.
As I was having my Bible time this morning this verse jumped out at me and I wanted to share it with you all. :)

"O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me..."

Psalm 43:3a

~Furry Friend Adventures~

Hello everyone!

Hope you are all having a good October so far!




We have been busy finding new homes for our latest litter of kittens! When we were down to two kittens a sweet older couple called and said that they were interested in getting a couple of them. They were hoping to get two so the kitten's would keep each other company. :)
We were going to be out and about that day so Mom asked if the couple would like to come the next day and they said they would. Well, the next day we were only able to find one of the kittens, but the couple decided they would go ahead and take one of the kittens and if the other one showed up we could call them and they would come get it too.
Later that day, Mom, my younger brothers and I all went out to see Dad, who had just gotten home from work. When I stepped out the door, I was pleasantly surprised to see dad sitting on our bench just outside the back door with a cute little brown puppy in his arms!

He told us that there was a man giving away puppies at Wal*Mart and that the puppy is half Lab, half Australian Shepherd and is about nine weeks old. Dad has always liked Labs! :)

Now back to the kitty story! :) Sometimes our kitty's have been known to hitch a ride under our vehicles without our knowledge: sometimes they return, sometimes they decide to move out of town! Or of course, there are natural predators that unfortunately think the kittens would make a nice meal...owls, coyotes etc. :( Anyway, we weren't sure whether the kitten would come back or not. Later that evening however, we learned from Dad that the kitten had apparently ridden in his pick-up down the drive way as he was leaving for work, then hopped out, and ran across the road. So, after getting to know the puppy a little and then finding a place for it to stay, my younger brother and I decided to walk down the lane to see if the kitten would come to us if we called for it and if it hadn't wondered off too far. We called for the kitten but it didn't come so we headed back for the house to see the puppy. While we were on the porch with the puppy we saw a black fur ball making a dash for the back yard! And so we called the elderly couple once again and they happily returned the next day to adopt the second kitten!

So, that is part of the many things we have been up to lately!
That's all for now...until next time!

~Chloe~ :)

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes."

Eph. 6:10, 11

~My 19th Birthday~ :)

Earlier this month we celebrated my 19th birthday!
:D

After considering what kind of cake to have this year, :) we decided to go with a wonderful strawberry soda pop cake (minus the soda pop), which mom so graciously prepared. :) It was soooo yummy! ;)

Here are my dear parents, me...:)

....and my younger brothers! :)

That morning my younger brothers thoughtfully, scurried around the dining room, decorating the table and blowing up balloons, getting everything set up just so, to celebrate my birthday. :)

My youngest brother drew up some very complex mazes for me do where you were trying to get to the "cake" or the "Happy Birthday" sign at the end of the maze. :) (He really likes mazes.) :)

My brothers also gave me some beautiful cards that they had made. :)

Here's my youngest brother enjoying his piece of birthday cake... :)

....and this is my other brother thoroughly enjoying his ice cream! :)

An early birthday present that I received from my parents this year, was a lovely wicker chair for my room! It is so pretty and I have really enjoyed having it! :)

I had a very pleasant day, and I am so very thankful for the Lord's many blessings in my life! I desire to continue to grow closer to my heavenly Father each day and I greatly look forward to another year to serve and follow my Lord and Savior!

Blessings to you all!

~Chloe~ :)

"O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting."

1 Chronicles 16:34

~September Happenings~ :)

Last week we had the pleasure of attending the county fair! My younger brothers entered a few items that they made this year!

One of my brothers did a puppy paint by number! I thought he did a fantastic job on it! :)

And here are some message boards my brothers put together from Home Depot kits. They decided to paint them to add an extra special touch!

And.....just for fun....:)this is a picture of one of the chickens that was at the fair! It had quite the "hair-do"! lol! :) It received the champion ribbon.

And in other news, we have done a little decorating lately!

We decided to decorate this month with sunflowers and apples. :)

My younger brother came up with this pretty wall hanging. :)

I got the idea for this fabric sunflower from the Marie Madeline Studio site!

My great aunt was so kind as to pass along a magazine to us that contained a lovely fabric apple pattern! I made these apples on Labor Day out of some scrap material we had in storage for occassions such as this. :) The apples were so fun to make! :)

God bless!

~Chloe~ :)

"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver."

Proverbs 25:11

~Chocolate Chip Applesauce Brownies~

Yesterday I tried out a new recipe for brownies! Here's the recipe! Enjoy! :)





Chocolate Chip Applesauce Brownies
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. shortening, margarine or butter
2 eggs
2 c. applesauce
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 T. cocoa
2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. nuts, chopped
1/2 c. chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350*
2. Beat the sugar and fat together.
3. Add eggs and then applesauce. Add dry ingredients and beat.
4. Grease or coat a 10-by -16-inch jelly roll pan with nonstick cooking spray. Pour batter into pan.
5. Sprinkle over top: 1 T. sugar, 1/2 cup nuts and chocolate chips.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes. Makes 24 servings.

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

God Bless!
~Chloe~

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

Psalm 119:105

~A Summer Dress~ :)

This is a dress I recently finished making! I used the Simplicity pattern number 4675. (The only alteration needed was to raise the neckline a couple inches.) The dress was lots of fun to make! :)

Here are a few other dresses we (Mom or I) have made from the same pattern. :) There are three different kinds of necklines you can do and you can make the skirt either pleated or gathered. Also, depending on what material you use, you can make the dress more formal or casual...so there's lots of room for creativity depending on what look you're after! :)

Grace and peace to you all!

~Chloe~ :)

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord."

1 Corinthians 15:58

~Birthday Fun!~ :)

Earlier this month we celebrated my dad's birthday! :)

Since one of Dad's favorite games to play is domino's, we decided to decorate the table with them, along with some other game items for a festive touch! ;) One of my younger brothers created a very colorful sign for our centerpiece. :)

After having a delicious dinner it was time for pictures and.....
.....wacky cake! :)
We then played a few rounds of domino's which was quite enjoyable! ;)




Hope you all have a very blessed day!

In Christ,
~Chloe~

"But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy."

James 3:17

~Sewing~ :)

The other day while Mom and I were at the store we decided to look around in the fabric department! :) We had recently picked up a pattern (McCall's number 4291) to make some pajama shorts for my younger brothers and wanted to see what material was available. After browsing the aisles we finally settled in on a very bright blue material with lots of colorful cars on it! :) After purchasing the fabric we went home, put it in the washer and were soon busy putting the shorts together! ;)

Here the pattern is pinned onto the fabric and is ready to be cut out! :)


Then, after sewing for a while we had two new pairs of pajama shorts! :) The shorts were lots of fun to make and my brothers were quite pleased with the results! ;)

Hope you all have a blessed day!

~Chloe~ :)

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart

And do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He will make your paths straight. "

Proverbs 3:5,6

~Summer Ball 2009~

Last Saturday we were pleased to attend our historic dance class' annual Summer Ball! This time we were to come dressed in 19th century clothing or Sunday best. :)

We had many dances this year...13 to be exact,
the titles are as follows...

Grand March
The Circassian Circle
Prince Imperial Quadrille
Pride of Erin Waltz
Virginia Reel
Haste to the Wedding
Ninepin Quadrille
Federal Scottische
Waltz Quadrille
The Dashing White Sergeant
Carolina Promenade
Gothic Dance
Final Waltz
A very talented gentlemen played lively music for us on the fiddle that evening! :)

This is our gracious dance caller and instructor!

Here we are getting in position for the Circassian Circle.

Here the gentlemen were to advance towards the center of the circle.

My dad and I took our places at the end of the square in preparation for the next quadrille. :)

In this dance, the Prince Imperial Quadrille, the ladies were doing what is called a grand chain.
Mom wanted to get a picture of my hair in ringlets. :) (It took us about an hour to fix my hair that way!) :)
Here we were doing the Virgina Reel! Some of the younger ones joined in and seemed to be having a wonderful time! :)

My younger brothers and I paused in between dances for a quick photo. ;)

And here is my older brother and I. :)

This is a few of the gentlemen...all in civil war uniforms! :)
And here's some of the lovely ladies!

Below is a video of OUR group that my younger brother so thoughtfully took for us! It was during our first dance the Grand March! Enjoy! :D


Blessings to you all!
~Chloe~ :)

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!"
Philippians 4:4