~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

~4th of July and Crafts~

Hello! ;)

Hope you all had a blessed 4th of July!

A dear friend of mine sent our family a link to a wonderful Independence Day piano duet video, which we thoroughly enjoyed listening to! (It really inspires one to continue to work on their piano skills as well!) :P :D

In other news.... :) I made some felt coasters! I have enjoyed having a hand project to do indoors since it has been pretty warm in the afternoons lately. :)

My younger brothers have been busy with projects as well! They have put together a wooden house kit and have also printed off some free paper furniture to go in it. They have done a really good job putting it all together! :)

My brothers were also inspired to make some puppets from an instruction book we have!

Here's a few examples of what you can make. :)

And here is a picture of the puppets that they made! (The puppets are made from boxes that Ziploc bags come in!) I thought my brothers were quite creative! :)

Hope you all have a wonderful day and may God bless you as you continue to seek Him with your whole heart!

In Christ,

~Chloe~

"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

Matthew 6:33

~Pride of Erin Waltz~

Hello all!!!!! :D

During our last dance practice we went over several dances...one of them being the "Pride of Erin Waltz"! It is a very lovely dance and I thought you all might enjoy seeing a youtube video that I found of it! We do a few parts of the dance a little differently....but over all it is very similar. Enjoy! ;)

Some of the other dances we did that evening were called....Ninepin Quadrille (which is sort of a dance game that reminds me of musical chairs), Federal Schottische, Dashing White Sergeant and the Carolina Promenade. They were all quite fun! :D The ball will be coming up soon and I am greatly looking forward to it! ;)

After the practice we pulled up another dance video......it is from the movie "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers". The dancers in the film are really good! I like the gentleman's bright shirts and the ladies dresses are oh, so pretty!

Well, that's all for now. Hope you all have a very blessed day!

In Christ,
~Chloe~ :-)

"He who gives attention to the word will find good,

And blessed is he who trusts in the LORD."

Proverbs 16:20

~A Lawn Social~ :D

Last Saturday we traveled to a beautiful old house that was built before the civil war!

Here are my dear parents beside the entrance sign. :)

(L- R)

This is me, my dad and my two younger brothers. :)

Here's a very lovely couple all dressed up! :)

(They attend our historic dance class...they are our dance instructors parents. :) )






Learning one of the dances from the period!

Here's a picture of the lady who once lived in the Murrell Home!





There was a lady dressed in 1890's apparel in this room! :) She told us about the many layers of clothing the women used to wear.



Here is a lovely day dress. :)



Shoes....


....and accessories!








This is the dinning room!




Here is the china cabinet. :)

...and the kitchen! In this room a lady (also in costume...she wore a work dress and apron) offered us some sour dough bread or a biscuit! It was quite delicious! ;)


Here is some of the furniture in one of the bedrooms.

This is the parlor.









Outside you could visit different areas where people were busy with some of the tasks that were done in the 1800's. This lady was doing embroidery...it was very pretty! :)

These folks were making baskets.



There was also a blacksmith and a sheriff! While we were observing the blacksmith at work the sheriff came over and starting asking the blacksmith questions....as though he were trying to find out some important information! :)

This lady was sitting in the shade of a large tree playing a small instrument (kind of like a flute). It was very nice! :)


And here is Dad and myself......waltzing. :)

The group that played for the dances were very accomplished! :)

Blessings to you all!
~Chloe~ :)

"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things."

Philippians 4:8