Happy Birthday, Travis!!!

"How blessed is the man who

does not walk in the

counsel of the wicked,

Nor stand in the path of sinners,

Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!

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 1:1-3

Another one of my dear brother's had a birthday this month, this time it was my older brother, Travis'. :-) In celebration we made him a delicious strawberry soda pop cake, (minus the soda pop to make it healthier). :-) Mmmm! It's such a nice cool cake to have when the weather's getting warmer! :-)

Happy

Birthday,

Travis!

May the Lord richly bless you as you continue to seek Him with your whole heart! I'm so thankful to have you as a brother! Love you lots!

~Chloe~

~Happy Birthday!~

This month my younger brother, Joshua, had a birthday! :-) Soooo.... :-) we got busy and baked him a cake. Here's a picture of how the cake turned out. :-)

And here's a peek at the cake in the making. :-)

Because some of our family has been kind of "sickly" we decided to "fan" out the candles...instead of blowing them out. :-) (My brother's seemed to like that.) :-)

Here's a picture of part of our family...Dad, Matthew, Joshua, and Mom.

Next we had cake and frozen vanilla yogurt. Mmmm! Then it was time for presents!:-)

This one called for some special assistance from Dad. ;-)

God Bless,

~Chloe~

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

Ephesians 6:10

~Historical Dance Practice~

Well, yesterday our family (except for my older brother who wasn't feeling very well :-( ) went to the historical dance lessons for the second time! Yea! This time we learned two new dances, the Grand March and Duck Soup. ;-) We also reviewed the Waltz step and the Virginia Reel, as well as Yankee Doodle! :-) We had a very enjoyable evening! :-)

Have a great day!
~Chloe~

"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Romans 15:13

~Happy Mother's Day~

"An excellent wife, who can find?

For her worth is far above jewels.

The heart of her husband trusts in her,

And he will have no lack of gain.

She does him good and not evil

All the days of her life.

She looks for wool and flax

And works with her hands in delight.

She is like merchant ships;

She brings her food from afar.

She rises also while it is still night

And gives food to her household

And portions to her maidens.

She considers a field and buys it;

From her earnings she plants a vineyard.

She girds herself with strength

And makes her arms strong.

She senses that her gain is good;

Her lamp does not go out at night.

She stretches out her hands to the distaff,

And her hands grasp the spindle.

She extends her hand to the poor,

And she stretches out her hands to the needy.

She is not afraid of the snow for her household,

For all her household are clothed with scarlet.

She makes coverings for herself;

Her clothing is fine linen and purple.

Her husband is known in the gates,

When he sits among the elders of the land.

She makes linen garments and sells them,

And supplies belts to the tradesmen.

Strength and dignity are her clothing,

And she smiles at the future.

She opens her mouth in wisdom,

And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

She looks well to the ways of her household,

And does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children rise up and bless her;

Her husband also, and he praises her, saying:

"Many daughters have done nobly,

But you excel them all."

Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain,

But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.

Give her the product of her hands,

And let her works praise her in the gates. "

~Proverbs 31:10-31~

Dear Mother's,

May the Lord richly bless you with a renewed strength and energy as you continue in obedience to the Lord's high calling of motherhood. Happy Mother's day!

Blessings,

~Chloe~

~Cornbread Casserole~

Here's a recipe to a wonderful side dish we had with dinner this evening. Enjoy! :-)

Blessings,
~Chloe~









Cornbread Casserole
1 can (15-1/4 oz.) whole kernel corn, drained
1 can (14-3/4 oz.) cream style corn (15 oz. works fine)
1 pkg. (8-1/2 oz. ) cornbread/muffin mix

(For a homemade version of the cornbread mix you can use...
1/2 c. yellow cornmeal
3/4 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder)

1 egg
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. paprika

In large bowl, combine all ingredients. Pour into a greased 11-in. x 7-in. x 2 in. baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at 400* for 25-30 minutes or until the top and edges are golden brown. Yields: 4-6 servings.

"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

~Gardening Fun~

Hello everyone!

It's planting time! :-) Last Saturday we planted our family garden! Yea!
















After preparing the soil, we looked through our store of seed packets and pulled out the ones that we wanted to plant. Here's a list of what we settled in on. :-)

~yellow peppers~

~squash~

~zucchini~

~corn~

~okra~

~lettuce~

~eggplant~

~watermelon~

~purple hull peas~

We also planted some marigolds. :-) It should be fun when the plants start to come up!

And this is just a picture we thought was cute of one of our kittens in a now "outdoor" tea pot. :-) Awww! Lol! :-)

Blessings to you all!
~Chloe~

"How blessed are those whose way is blameless,

Who walk in the law of the LORD.

How blessed are those who observe His testimonies,

Who seek Him with all their heart. "

Psalms 119:1,2

~Flower's~

Yesterday Dad brought home these lovely flower clippings that a co-worker gave him. Aren't they beautiful? The three flower's on the right are roses and the two big one's on the left are peony's.












These flowers recently came up in our flower bed! We planted them last year from a wild flower seed packet. (I so enjoy perennials!) :-)



God Bless!
~Chloe~

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. "

Gal. 5:22-23

~Choir Concert and Historical Dancing~

Our Choir's Spring concert was held this month and it went very well! The theme was songs, hymns and spiritual songs. It was lots of fun! :-)












Here's a picture of me in my choir "uniform". I made the skirt a little earlier this year and in doing so put in my first zipper (a side zipper)! Hooray! I was pleased with the way it turned out. :-)














On Thursday we went to a two hour Historic dance session/lesson.
It was soooooo much fun! :-)


We learned the Virginia Reel, Lancers Quadrilles,
Yankee Doodle, a dance with the waltz step and we were also shown how to do the box step! (A lot of the dances are taken from the Civil War period.)
We had a wonderful time and I greatly look forward to the next practice! :-)


My younger brothers decided to observe this time. They enjoyed watching!

We (our family) went over some of the dances we learned, here at home, and we found some music samples of civil war period music on the internet that made a nice accompaniment! Here's the link. http://www.bfv.com/cwb/


In Christ,
~Chloe~

"Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His loving kindness is everlasting. "

Psalm 118:1

~Springtime Blessings~

Hello all!

I thought I would share with you some of the beautiful springtime blessings God has given us this year! Enjoy!


Here is a picture of one of the red bud tree's in our back yard that recently bloomed. :-)

The next two pictures are of the lilac bush that we planted last year in our front yard. Aren't the blossom's pretty? It has a nice fragrance too! :-)

And here is one of our younger Bradford pear trees. :-)
(From a distance, I thought some of the trees blossoms looked kind of like popcorn! lol!) :-)












Last Saturday, my younger brothers flew their kites in the majestic blue sky! It's neat to watch the kites soar around in the air. :-)









A while back our kitty's Sweet Pea and Fluffy each had a litter of kittens!


Fluffy chose to raise her young on the rug...a least for now. (Sweet Pea has moved her kittens several times by now....trying to find just the right place I guess! :-) lol!










Here's another one of our beautiful kitty's...who enjoy's hanging out with it's mother, Fluffy, and younger siblings. :-)









And this is Sweet Pea out in the front yard getting a little sun. :-)


Blessings to you all!
~Chloe~

"Sing praise to the LORD, you His godly ones, And give thanks to His holy name."

Psalm 30:4

~Happy Resurrection Day!~

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.
"He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.
"Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you."
And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.

Matthew 28:5-8

Here are the words to a song that I enjoy thinking upon this time of year...it's called:

Up from the Grave He Arose

1. Low in the grave he lay, Jesus my Savior, waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!

Refrain: Up from the grave he arose; with a mighty triumph o'er his foes; he arose a victor from the dark domain, and he lives forever, with his saints to reign. He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!

2. Vainly they watch his bed, Jesus my Savior, vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord! (Refrain)

3. Death cannot keep its prey, Jesus my Savior; he tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord! (Refrain)

Text: Robert Lowry, 1826-1899 Music: Robert Lowry, 1826-1899

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Saturday~

Last Saturday we had a get together with family on my dad's side. :-) It was a nice time!


Pictured here is my grandma with the wonderful meal that she prepared!

For dessert there were cute marshmallow bunnies adorned with licorice scarfs, surrounded by colorful jelly beans! Yum! ;-)












My grandma also made a rabbit shaped cake which was topped with coconut, chocolate chips, licorice and also jelly beans. Mmmmm! :-)















Here's a picture of two of my cousin's. :-)

And featured in this picture are my two brother's!












In the afternoon we hid plastic eggs for my brothers and cousin's to find. :-)








And the hunt was on...... :-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Sunday~

On Sunday we went to my other grandparents house!
After a wonderful meal my cousin, younger brother's and I engaged in a game of "catch-a-phrase" as well as "uno" and later "base" out side. (Base is like "hide and seek" only you have to run and tag a "base" before the person who is "it" tags you!)

My brother's and other cousin happened to wear coordinating outfits that day! :-)

Later....

..after hiding a few "dyed" eggs along with some plastic one's, my brother's and cousin enjoyed hunting for them!

Have a great day!

~Chloe~

Welcome Spring!!!!

<>< ><> <>< ><> <>< ><> <>< ><> <>< ><> <><

Well, Spring has finally arrived and with it many lovely blooms and blossoms as well as beautiful green leaves! Ahhhh! :-)

~I'm so thankful for Spring!~

Blessing's to you all,

Chloe :-)

"This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

Psalm 118:24

><> <>< <>< ><> <>< ><> <>< ><> <>< ><> <>< ><>

~A Historical Birthday Tea~

In February, my mom and I attended a "Historical Birthday Tea" set in the 1920's to 1940's era. We were to come in clothing that corresponded with that time period (which was lots of fun!). :-)

I wore a gray suit that mom had made, for herself, in the 1980's. We had hung on to the outfit thinking it might come in handy for dress up etc. and sure enough...it did!
I also wore a pillbox hat (that I made out of felt) with a rose on the side, along with some gloves and a purse with shoes that matched. :-)








After taking some pictures we had tea! Mom and I tried "Earl Grey" tea with a little bit of milk and sugar, which was very good! There were also many other tasty treats in addition to the tea, such as cream puffs and scones, a veggie tray etc. :-)

After the tea there was a bible study, followed by a game with gifts (like the game "Dirty Santa"). :-)

We then visited and took more pictures! It was a wonderful afternoon! :-)












Here my friend Jessicah and I, posed for a quick picture.:-)















God Bless!

~Chloe~

"Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing."

1 Thess. 5:11

~A Valentines Day Review~

The day after Valentine's Day our family enjoyed a small celebration in our home following the evening meal. We had previously adorned the table with a red table cloth, doilies, a candle, chocolate's etc. and brought out some of the nicer glasses which are reserved for special occasions......such as this. :-)







In preparation, my younger brother and I traced around a plastic heart-shaped container, that we had, on pink, white, red and purple paper. We then taped the hearts together in a semi-curved shape to create a decorative wall hanging. ( We got the idea from something Jessica made on http://www.sewchic.blogspot.com/ . I believe she used scrapbooking paper and tied the heart's together with ribbons tied into bows. Jessica, thanks for sharing your wonderful ideas!) :-)





For a festive dessert we made some delicious cupcakes with butter cream frosting. Mmmmm! :-)













In Christ,
~Chloe~

"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,
does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,
does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails..."

1 Cor. 13:4-8a

Benjamin Franklin

Tonight we attended a reenactment of the great Benjamin Franklin, by Ralph Archbold, at the local college. It was very interesting and Mr. Archbold did a wonderful job!

(Our camera didn't make it with us.....but I did find a picture of Mr. Archbold, in costume, :-) so you could see him!)

Blessings,
~Chloe~

"Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know."

Jeremiah 33:3