Snowy snowy Saturday!

I admit it...this is NOT an award winning dessert...it isn't even very attractive...but it sure tasted good! I have never attempted a baked cheesecake....obviously....but I wanted to make something for our Ladies Missionary Luncheon today. So last night I decided that I would bake a cheesecake. I didn't have all the ingredients on hand to make it so I improvised. (That is my excuse for it being less than lovely...) Anyway, I actually used several tablespoons of my homemade strawberry jam to flavor it and I added some chocolate chips. It's very ugly but very yummy and it was a hit! I didn't even have enough cream cheese so I used some whipped cream cheese for bagels and cream cheese fruit dip that I had left over from a fruit tray as well as a package of cream cheese. Talk about "Yankee Ingenuity", right? It was a fun thing to try and next time maybe I will follow a recipe.......

We woke up early this morning to MORE SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Roger and Gideon went to a men's prayer breakfast and while they were gone, the Heavens opened wide and dumped lots of snow on us just in time for the Ladies' Missionary Luncheon. (so much that our missionary lady couldn't come....) We had a good time anyway and I talked to ladies that I usually don't sit with so I really got to know some of them better!

Isn't this incredible?? This was taken on my way home from the luncheon...from my car window!

This county road hadn't been plowed and the snow was so deep that I could hear it dragging under the car! I wasn't sure I was going to make it home! In the distance you can just barely make out a truck coming and I was really worried that we were not going to make it past each other without someone driving into the ditch! We were fine, though!

I leaned out the side door of our little church to take this one. Can you believe how high the snow is piled? It came up over the bottom of some of the windows.

This is the old part of our little church. I think it's about 150 years old or so. We had our Luncheon in this old auditorium (which is also where they have their tiny Christian school!)

We probably had about 25 ladies today...all braving about 5 inches of snow that fell this morning and early afternoon!

But isn't it adorable with all the snow? It kind of looks like a little Christmas card! On Sunday mornings one of the young men in our church (a homeschool boy!!) rings the church bell. (Not that we get to hear it very often...we are usually running a bit late......) It's a happy sound, though, when we do hear it and the young man takes his job very seriously! He also helps keep the sidewalks shoveled and salted! (AND he's a farmboy!!) (I keep telling my teenage daughters that HE is a young man to watch...from a distance for a while....but still......)

They just roll their eyes and remind me that I have also told them I wanted them to marry one of the "Duggar" boys (of "19 Kids and Counting")..... Well, A MOMMA CAN DREAM, CAN'T SHE???????? I'm sure that there are a LOT of Mommas and Daddies wanting to fix their children up with one of those kids. They're pretty incredible!!

Well, I suppose I should take advantage of the quiet house right now and get some work done. I'd rather take a nap. However, since I am going to start packing for our move, I want to sort through my scrapbook and photo things. I went through some of my fabric and have reduced it to just one tub!

Have a lovely, blessed day!

Beth

It's a "ROOZYFUL" day!

Trinket Kitty...doesn't SHE look cozy? She is pretty excited, however, that she can hear birds outside our windows!

Ice cycles on the side of our house!!

A work of art!

The view from our front door! The sunlight has been blinding! This is ICE...not snow!!!!

"Too much effort to look at the birds..." she thought.

The sun is shining silver on the frozen yards, streets, fields, and houses here in central Indiana this morning and I am thinking it seems like a ROOZYFUL day!
Becca and I are about to head out to a "Tom Sawyer" play in an hour or so! It is a production for public schools but they are allowing some of us who homeschool to attend as well! "Tom Sawyer" is a book that the kids in Becca's age group are reading, studying, and disecting this term so when the chance came up to go to this play, we eagerly took it! We haven't been on a "field trip" all year so this is wonderful!
Are you wondering what "Roozyful" means?? I don't know either...It's NOT really a word but it seems like a cute, pleasant kind of a thought to me! (I discovered it when I had to "type in the letters that appear" when I commented on someone's blog and there it was! Roozyful!)
It reminds me of Mary Englebreit's drawings...wimsical, cozy, etc...like drinking a nice hot cup of tea with my cat, a quilt and the latest copy of Victoria Magazine!
When the sun is shining and melting the frozen tundra, it just seems like "Roozyful" is a fitting kind of word for how I'm feeling!
Have a lovely, roozyful kind of day!
Beth

ICE STORM, CURRENT HOUSE AND NEW HOUSE!!

Central Indiana was hit with a pretty hard ice storm the last few days! The roads are completely covered with ice and not much traffic is moving! This is our current house with Roger and Gideon trying to dig out of the ice/snow. The ice/snow is so hard that they are walking on inches and inches of hard stuff without falling through! (I, on the other hand, have been keeping toasty warm in our house...with the exception of taking these pictures!) Jennie, Gideon and I all dug out the sidewalk yesterday. Becca has been sick so I didn't have her help out!

This is our "old" (current) house...Roger owned this house before we married almost 4 years ago. We then added two bedrooms, a big bathroom, and a huge family room on the back. It's a wonderful size but it is something we can live without. We've been trying to follow God's leading in our lives and downsizing. (Basically trying to live debt free...enabling us to adopt!)

This is a LOT of ice piled up on my poor little van!!

This is the inside of our new "old" house! I got the order of the pictures mixed up when uploading them. This was supposed to be the last picture! Anyway, this is the living room. The walls will be painted dark blue and the cabinets at the end will be white. Sadly, the man who owned this house before did a lot of work before losing it. It is still in process of the work that we will finish.

Two years ago I came upon this fabric at my all time favorite store...GOODWILL! I have probably 20 yards of the center plaid fabric and I purchased it for $9.99!! It is Waverly! When we eventually add a family room behind the kitchen, I plan to make curtains out of this. The flowered coral colored fabric will be my kitchen curtains with a little bit of trim from some of the others thrown in! I think I will make some pillows as well. I had intended to recover a cute little settee with the huge amount of plaid that I purchased but realized that I would be covering the same kind of fabric, different color, that didn't wear well at all! So, it is going to be on our windows instead! I think I spend less than $20.00 for all of it and there is a LOT of it! God knows our future, doesn't he, and provides for us! I had no idea that I would be making things for a different home! Praise the Lord!

Most likely, we will paint the kitchen cabinets white, the walls (which are knotty pine) the darker green, and the walls into the kids' bedrooms the lightest green.



THIS IS OUR NEW (OLD) HOUSE! (We will be closing on it next week!)

Lots of work to be done, a new covered porch, new siding (probably green), some windows need to be replaced, and the sliding glass doors removed and replaced with wall and windows to match the end windows. None of it needs to be done right away and if God directs otherwise, I'm happy to live in it just as it is!

WHAT DO YOU THINK?? SHOULD WE PAINT THE WOOD?? I'M LEANING TOWARD PAINTING IT, ROGER REALLY WANTS TO PAINT IT, BUT SOME HAVE TOLD ME THAT IT WOULD BE HORRIBLE TO PAINT SUCH NICE WOOD. (I kinda think that you have to be happy with it...paint isn't very expensive and it would really brighten up the kitchen!)

Another view of the kitchen. We will certainly paint the cabinets, most likely white. The appliances are really old but most likely we will keep them until they fall apart!
(The light fixtures really have to go......I feel really guilty that I'd be getting rid of something functional but......)

Isn't this gorgeous?? Lovely little corner cabinet! I can't wait to get started! We're not sure if we are going to paint this, too. I just think that this painted wood would make our home so cozy looking, as well as cottagey!

Well, the schools have just been called off for yet another day. My hubby has been home today as well. Poor Becca, since she is homeschooled, school for her must go on!! Unfortunately, we had a Missions Conference scheduled for our church this week and it hasn't been able to happen because of the dangerous ice!

Have a lovely day, keep warm and safe!!

Oh, by the way, Missy....when we had our new house inspected, there was no dead mouse in the kitchen drawer any longer. It makes me wonder, though, since I hadn't been in the house since mid November, how long does it take for mouse remains to just disappear?? Hopefully the realtor took care of it....

Blessings,

Beth

More of Roger's Cakes!!

(This is frosting...by the way...real cheese would just be too nasty on a cake, dontcha think?)

Tonight after church we are having a "get together/fund raiser for two seniors who are in the tiny Christian school that our church has. They are trying to go to New York for their Senior Trip and the church is trying to help them out by having a basketball game with church members and teens playing against each other. They are also having concessions and a bake auction. The pictures above are our donations for the bake sale. Since the Colts lost, we are out of the Super Bowl. HOWEVER, our pastor is from Pennsylvania and is a HUGE Steelers fan! So Roger thought he would be politically correct and make a "Cheeseheads" cake as well as a Steelers cake for the auction! Silly Roger!

Tomorrow is the "inspection" day for "the little blue house in the country. I am so excited! I can't wait to get back into the house again! We have only been in it one time...way back in the first part of November! I hope someone has gotten rid of the dead mouse in the kitchen drawer...

Well...it's almost time to leave for church! Have a lovely day!

Blessings,

Beth

Busy Saturday!

Today my husband and I delivered a birthday cake we made. (I baked and made the frosting and he decorated it!) WOW did he decorate it!! He is amazing! I joked and told him that I wanted one like that for MY birthday! JUST TEASING Roger!!! I know that bragging is not an attractive thing to do but I think he did such an incredible job that I just HAD to show you! The little teapot on top is a little cake that he baked (because I forgot to...what a terrible wife! He called me at work Friday night and asked me where the little cake was and I failed to bake it for him!! He forgave me!) His favorite part on the cake is the little fondant "napkin" under the teapot! I think he is incredibly talented and he was taught as a young boy by his late mother! He is the official "cake decorator" in our family and I get to bake them and make the frosting. I think it is kind of sad, though, that he makes all these gorgeous cakes for everyone and when it is HIS birthday, he gets the ugliest cake possible...because I try to decorate it! OH well, he is very nice about it!!

Praise the Lord!! Friday night was my last night on my job! My coworker gave me a gift...a complete surprise! She handed me a gift bag and inside it was a wrapped gift. Inside THAT was a nice little cloth bag with a verse on it and inside THAT was.......an Archaeological Bible! I could NOT believe it!! Months ago I mentioned how much I wanted one since I love history, maps, studying old customs, etc. I couldn't believe that she remembered and that she cared enough to buy it for me! It was one of the sweetest things anyone besides my own family has ever done for me and I will treasure it forever!

Today after we delivered the cake, we went to a store and I was able to get some really incredible bargains for my daughter, Marci, for Christmas next year. I know, Christmas is sooo far away but I got her some of her favorite cookbooks for just a tiny bit of money! She is gonna LOVE them! (They're the "LOVE FOOD" series!)

After that, we went out to lunch and had Mexican food! Yummy! Then I went to "Once Upon a Child" resale store. A few of them here in Indianapolis had a sale today that allowed you to buy a bag for $15 and then you could stuff as much clearance clothes in it that it could hold! Wow did I stuff!! I got $116 worth of things for $15! I bought our "little girl we don't have yet" Gymboree, Baby Gap, The Children's Place, etc. sweaters, dresses, more dresses, more sweaters, more dresses....you get the idea. I also got two pairs of pajamas! (AS if she needs anymore stuff...we have soooo much already and we don't even know what size she will be when we get a referral! Silly me! But it keeps me encouraged...as if she is a real part of my life...because she is! I will probably donate or Ebay what she can't wear.)

The "little blue house in the country" gets inspected on Monday! I am praying that it all goes well! I plan to post pictures of it soon! Then we should be able to close on it next week! I can't wait for you to see the "cavelike" kitchen. It is completely panelled with Knotty Pine, ceiling, too!.I think we will probably paint it AND paint the cabinets. The cabinets are old old old, but sturdy sturdy sturdy! I DO NOT want to get rid of the cabinets! I'm so tired of the cabinets that are made of pressed wood and glued together until they fall apart. I like the old ones so much better even though they aren't "attractive" yet. Paint will do wonders! We just have to decide on what color we want to paint the walls, ceilings and cabinets. There is also an adorable little corner cabinet in the kitchen that my teapots or china will look so cute in!

Well, it's time to go to bed, the dog is scratching at the door and poor Roger thinks I have forgotten that he has already "hit the hay!"

Blessings!

Beth

WE GOT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy dance....happy dance...happy dance!!!!!!
Yep, it's true!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The bank has accepted the offer we gave for the "little blue house in the country!" I just found out about an hour ago!!
Monday we are having it inspected and then we close on it NEXT WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOOHOO!!!!

Pictures will follow in another post...you all are gonna think, "WHY IS SHE SO EXCITED??" It is a pretty normal, nothing special kind of house....but it will be OURS!!! Mine and Roger's house together and it will not have a mortgage on it. (And I love it...!!!! It looks like a "happy" house!)

WOW...living mortgage free is something I just simply can't imagine!!

PRAISE OUR WONDERFUL LORD FOR HIS PROVISION!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU, LORD!!

I have tears running down my chubby face just thinking of His amazing provision for us!

And I'm gonna start looking for chickens AND a clothes line!! No more of this "city" living for me!

And even better than that, as soon as we actually get into the house, we can move forward with our adoption!
THANK YOU, LORD!!

Ok....I've calmed down a little bit....kind of.

We (especially my husband) had all but given up on it but wow, I'm sooooo excited! We have a LOT of work to do in the next few weeks and then we have to get this big monster of a house on the market to sell! Hopefully someone will want a six bedroom house! (oh, this is NOT a "mini-mansion" type of a house...it's much more modest than that. We just added on when we combined families.) Anyone know of a "quiver-full movement" family in central Indiana who might want this house???? If I had it to do all over again, I'd have had MORE kids myself! But there's always adoption, isn't there? (which for many reasons is the healthier choice for me...I almost died delivering many of my babies.)

Well, it's off to the bank, then off to sign my "I QUIT" paper at work, and then to have lunch with my honey!

Have a lovely day!!
Blessings!
Beth

I'M BACK!!! Sort of.....

Goodness! I didn't realize that it had been soooo long since I've blogged until my bloggy friend Marie emailed me!! Thank you my dear, you were an encouragement to me!
So, anyway, I decided to post some pictures of what has been going on around here lately! This is actually Christmas! Son Danny, wife Erin, and precious baby boy Liam with a present we bought him. Liam looks so much like his daddy except that he has blond hair and not red!!

Grandchildren Seraphina and Dylan with their "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake Roger and I made. We tried to focus more on Jesus this year! That's what Christmas is about, after all!

This is MY BUDDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Little Brody just turned 1 year old this January. He always has a huge huge smile on his face...unless you take away his food..... I love to take care of him a few days a week...I was blessed to take care of Dylan sometimes when he was little (usually on my day off of work) and I have kept Seraphina since she was born for a few days a week and I enjoy little Brody when he is with me two days a week! Now...if I can just get ERIN and DANNY to move closer so that I can steal little Liam from THEM more often!!

TODAY IS DYLAN'S SEVENTH BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!! Happy birthday buddy!! Grammy Beth took him sledding on a local hill a few weeks ago and we had a great time!!

Yeah, I know....I forgot to turn the picture before uploading it to blogger......however, this is the biggest news we've had for a while!!! Little Gabriel was born yesterday (Jan. 24th) to Sam and Abi!! He is the 5th of our grand babies! I look a little dazed, don't I???? This is probably the only picture that I have had in years that I am not wearing a dress! I'm actually wearing a culotte but it looks like pants in this picture. (99.9% of the time I wear dresses or skirts.)

Believe it or not....we STILL haven't heard if we are getting the little blue house in the country. That is one reason I haven't blogged for a while. I have no news about the house and I was hoping that I could suddenly say "WE GOT IT!!!" Who knows....maybe that will happen anyway???????? Our offer runs out his week, I think, so something needs to happen and I don't really want to redo the offer without any idea of when the bank will decide on it.

Therefore, our adoption plans are also on hold. I know that I shouldn't get weary of waiting but I think I am. I really hate the fact that a child's future (and ours as well) depends on money. Selling our larger house may be a necessity to us being able to afford to do this.

You are going to think we are crazy for buying this little blue ranch house...if indeed we are able to do so...and selling our big "city" house!! The little house is usually what people try to move from into a big house like we currently have! However, this has never really felt like home to me and since we will be much much much better off financially if we can make this work, moving seems to be the logical thing to do, not to mention that we both feel this is "God led".

Another BIG piece of news is.......drum roll, please.......................................................................

I have quit my job.

Yep, I did it. Probably not a good financial decision but it is the best thing to do for my emotional health and for our "family" and "marriage" health. I had cut down my hours from 30 hours in two days to just working one 12 hour day a week. However, it has just been nearly impossible to do that since I am babysitting and homeschooling. I was also being asked to "sign" documents saying that I had been "trained" for certain medical situations for individuals I had been left alone with over night when I hadn't been! I did not sign them and just left at the end of my shift. I can't imagine one of my loved ones being in the care of someone who hadn't really been trained for things such as feeding tubes, catheters, and things that I don't care to mention.

If something had happened and I had signed those papers, oh my!!!!

So this Friday is my last day and I am going to shout "Hallelujah" all the way home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are now on a pretty tight budget but it's not something we can't handle. We have started with preparing our budget by writing down everyone and every gift giving occasion. It seems kind of sad and meager but we may just need to be more creative. For instance, I bought Christmas clearance M&M's, both plain and pretzel, and mixed them with regular "on sale" bags. I am putting them in small jars and adding a cute little topper for them. Then we can give them to the kids for Valentine's Day. Kinda cheap, but cute!!

It is my intention to put enough money in a savings account each month or week so that every time an holiday or birthday comes around, we will be prepared.

I am looking forward to having a HUGE HUGE garage sale as soon as weather permits here in central Indiana. I hope to be able to use that money to help with adopting. It will be a drop in the bucket but I think we need to learn to trust God. Perhaps that is why we have been waiting...to teach BETH some patience. Good Grief, I just wish I could hurry up and learn it....feeble laugh....

Daughter Marci has been busy making wedding plans for April of 2012. She's pretty excited and has picked out her wedding dress and bridesmaids dresses. She has booked a clubhouse to have the reception in and has also booked the very same gazebo where Roger asked me to marry him to have the ceremony. Turns out that Roger's daughter Abi was getting married at that same gazebo almost 5 years ago and Marci and Ben first met since they were both in the wedding! Later that fall, Roger led me to the gazebo and asked me to marry him! This past fall, Ben asked Marci to marry him at that same gazebo!! Kinda magical, dontcha think????? (We found out that it was going to be a small fortune to use the church she and her fiance' attends to have the ceremony AND we have to pay for a "wedding planner. We have a built in "Wedding Planner" in our family already! That is part of what Daughter in Love, Erin, went to school for, "Events Planning" among other things!) It was going to be over $1000 just to have the wedding at the church. Crazy, huh????

Well, I suppose I should get some house work done since that is now MY ONLY JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAYYAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blessings to you all!

Beth