Good Clean Fun and Christ Centered Connection

Last night I had a some ladies over to play a few rounds of Farkle. The version I play is called Texas Farkle and I learned it about 7 years ago during a family reunion in Texas. It's a simple game of rolling dice, there's not much to it, but it sure is fun.

(This is Diane, years ago when I was a single Mom, she and her husband ran a group for single parents at the church we attended - it was a huge blessing to me!)

I wanted it to be a fun but simple night, so I made a pot of my tasty meatballs, cut up some veggies and put out a couple types of salsa. I also wrapped up some inexpensive goodies (mostly chocolate, but also some bath items and a cute scarf). Names were dropped into the bowl for various reasons (just showing up, bringing a guest, bringing a snack, etc...). We chose intervals of points gained for name drawing, and the ladies got to choose a gift from the stash. No one went home empty handed.

We snacked, chatted and laughed a lot. The really neat thing about the night is that these are all ladies that I haven't seen or spent time with in a LONG time, we all met at the same church years ago and some of us have moved to other churches, one of the ladies moved to another state and is now back, but we were able to walk into a room and instantly re-connect. In addition, I made a new friend and it felt like I'd known her as long as the rest. We all just had so much fun seeing eachother again.

(This is Shirley, she use to watch my son in the summer for me when I was a single Momma and had to work,...she was also the one who babysat him the night that my sweet precious husband proposed to me!)

There is something about the Christian sisterhood that truly amazes me... no matter how long we spend apart, how different our situations in life, our ages, our personalities, hobbies or habits, if we hold that common bond of loving Christ, we are able to connect in a beautiful way.

Hold on to all your sisters-in-Christ, every sweet woman has a purpose in your life,...or maybe you have a purpose in theirs!

Have a beautiful, Christ filled day!

You Have Got to be Kidding!!!

I am a daily garden checker. Each morning I venture out there to see the progress, tie thingsin place and squish bugs. Lately I've been having such a bad time with caterpillars attacking my squash and zuchini, that for probably 2 or 3 days I failed to do a check around my tomato plants at the back of the garden. Yesterday evening, I went out for plant check, and was shocked by this poor excuse for a tomato plant!! The leaves had been completely munched away!

I expected to find several tomato hornworms, because they are the usual culprits for damage like this and with it being so extensive, I just knew it was 3-4 of them. However, what I found instead was just one...that's right, one very fat and happy monstrous hornworm!

Wanna know why they are called hornworms? Look at that nasty point!

The dilemma I now faced was squishing this big guy. I don't exactly enjoy squishing bugs, but the little ones are at least quick and easy. I was having a hard time trying to figure out what to do with him, but he certainly couldn't live and eat my entire garden! I'll spare you details, but he is no longer a threat. No photos of that event. :)

Have a beautiful day!

What I learned this week...

It sure doesn't seem like I learn anything very profound each week, but none the less, I guess I can "chock" them up to lessons learned, LOL...

~ It's really hard to lose weight when cooking is your passion!

~ When all else fails, bring out the big guns! The caterpillars are going to completely devour my veggies if I don't use at least a semi-natural spray on my garden!!! I'm sad, because I will most likely kill the sweet little lady bugs that are doing their best to eat those little booger's eggs, but the green slimies are winning the battle and I'm not ready to hand over my squash!

~ My man is such a hunk...ok, I didn't just LEARN this, but sometimes he takes an especially good photo (rare for him not to be hamming it up), and he just looks super hunky! :)

~ Our hearts can handle an enormous amount of pain without completely crumbling

~ I really can't stand the carts at Walmart - it's such a pleasure shopping at Publix where the carts go the direction you are pushing them in...

For more silly, useless and useful things that others have learned this week, visit Musings Of A Housewife.

Have a beautiful day!

Joy!

Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;

Sing the glory of His name;

Make His praise glorious.

Say to God, "How awesome are Your

works!

Because of the greatness of Your power

Your enemies will give

feigned obedience to You.

All the earth will worship You,

and will sing praises to You;

They will sing praises to Your name."

Selah.

Psalm 66:1-4

Have a beautiful day!

Friday Photo Flashback - Glamour Shots

I'm linking up with my friend Alicia who hosts Friday Photo Flashbacks so we can share our "pre-digital" photos. Since she decided to put up her Glamour Shot's photo, I thought I'd do the same, lol...

This was about 18 years ago! I'm not really into makeup, and I have bushy eyebrows which they didn't comb nicely, lol. I was not entirely comfortable with the caked on makeup, but I did what they said...and they happily too my money! LOL

For more "oldies but goodies", visit Alicia. Have a beautiful day!

Kathy

Friday Funnies - Dock Jumper...

Ok, I just might be the only one who thinks this is funny,...well, besides Kim, and her hubby and kids, especially her oldest boy who asked to have it played over and over, LOL. Truth is, my Honey just cracks me up. Here he is jumping off a dock at the lake when were visiting Debra...enjoy! :)

Get some more laughs by visiting Kim. Have a laughter filled day!

Beautiful - Just The Way We Are!

I really love this song and I absolutely love the way the video portrays how special and beautiful God has made us. It's such a blessing to know that our Husbands and Daddy's really love us just for who we were created to be! :)

Have a beautiful day!

What I learned this week...

I can't say I gained any profound wisdom this week, but I did learn a few things that really touch my heart...

1. It truly is possible to make a REAL friendship through blogland, I met Debra here and I can't tell you what a blessing she has been in my life even before I met her face to face!

2. When your best friend decides to celebrate her birthday ALL week, you WILL gain weight!!!

3. The power of inertia will quickly and forcefully remove your body from a tube when the boat decides to take a sharp turn...LOL

4. When you are trying to garden organically, it becomes quite addictive to squish caterpillars!

5. There are few things I enjoy more in life than laughter...

6. It's easy to get all giddy and caught up when someone you are super close to is feeling for the first time the rush of feelings for someone special... :)

For more "What I learned this Week" posts, visit musings of a housewife.

Have a beautiful day!

Lettin' the Pictures Speak...

Have a blessed day!

Friday Funnies - Most Embarrassing Moment

Well, I've had so many embarrassing moments in my life that it's hard to choose which one to share, lol. I am a self proclaimed, extremely graceful clumsy gal...not sure how those things mix so well with me, but they just seem to!

Today I'll share a story that dates back 18 years...

I was a young Mom, in my early 20's and I went to visit my sister at the beach in Maryland with my 2 year old son. Well, as I said this was a LONG time ago, I was in my "bikini" stage of life, :). I grew up on a border town and at that time lived in San Antonio, I wasn't a "beach" girl and VERY unfamiliar with the power of waves.

I decided to head into the water and enjoy some fun in the waves while my sweet little boy sat on the beach blanket with his uncle. As I stood there in knee deep water facing THE SHORE, waving and smiling at my precious little son,...an enormous and quite powerful wave came up behind me...next thing I knew I was rolling around in a whirlwind of water, sand and shells, my hair tangled around my face and I was trying to frantically figure out which way was up.

I finally stood up, facing toward the open waters. I was completely disoriented, my long hair now filled with sand and shells and wrapped around my head and face. I was just in that moment of trying to sort out what had happened when I noticed three teenage boys standing about 8 feet in front of me with smug looks on their faces,...one of them laughingly said "I bet you're pretty embarrassed, huh?"...that was the moment that I realized my bikini top was COMPLETELY out of place, not covering ANYTHING that should be covered....YUP...I was embarrassed. I yanked and tugged things back into place and headed toward my beach blanket with my tail between my legs.

Learned a lesson that day...don't turn your back on a wave!

Check our more embarrassing moments by visiting Kim at Homesteaders Heart.

In My Garden...

"And there He makes the hungry to dwell,
So that they may establish an inhabited city,
And sow fields and plant vineyards,
And gather a fruitful harvest."
Psalm 107:36-37


Gardening is one of my passions, I get so excited when I see something changing, growing, blooming, fruiting, blossoming, sprouting, etc....


I feel like a kid in a candy store and usually run to take my hubby away from some important task in order to show him a little baby plant or a tiny bell pepper, a rose that bloomed on seemingly dead wood, or to count the number of pineapples that are growing.To most visitors, this might look like a green jungle, out of control and wild...but to me this is... the sweet taste of honeysuckle nectar... the scent of heaven in confederate jasmine... the surprise of an orchid blooming on a "stick"... pineapples hiding among mounds of purple lantana, which in the glow of twilight are dancing with bumble-bee hummingbirds... the smell of suntan lotion in yellow plumeria... the happy sunshine laughter of golden cosmos... and the gentle sound of trickling water...

This year my garden is adorned with 7 pineapple fruits. As I watch them grow, I start imagining the taste of vine ripened pineapple, pineapple coffee cake, smoothies with fresh pineapple and watermelon, and yummy pineapple and chicken shisk-ka-bobs....mmmmm... the possibilities of what you can do with pineapple are endless!

Today I picked the second of my 7 pineapples...here I am showing off my "catch"...

(don't you just love the totally cute garden boots my sister gave me!)

I decided to post a week of pineapple recipes to showcase these tasty fruits. Starting Wednesday, July 16th, pop over to my cooking blog, The_Wooden_Spoon, to see what you can whip up with pineapple...

Now head outiside and find something to make you smile!

Fun on the Fourth

Fourth of July was a "blast", no pun intended...well, ok, it was intended... :) This is me and my totally hunky husband on the beach pretending like we can fish and surf and stuff like the Wilson family. :)

Hubby and I headed over to Kimmy's house for the annual 4th of July food and fun fest (which has been a tradition for MANY moons).

I was so excited this year, because I was to meet my blog friend Debra from Clothed_with_Scarlet. I am so happy to have finally seen her face to face, got wonderful hugs and shared some laughs. She is a wonderful woman and I'm proud to call her my friend!

Kim and I rocked at horseshoes...ok, we didn't actually get any points, but we played and it was fun...I decided that she had won so we could go stand in the shade!!!

Throwing tomahawks is so much fun...don't knock it till ya' try it! :) Only a real woman can throw a tomahawk with grace! Hee hee. :)

After fun and games we enjoyed tasty food and yummo desserts (and great chips!!!)...some fun at the beach (this is where I PROVE that Kim and I can be cute...well...ok...cute for our AGE!) LOL

Hubby and I left a bit early so we could get our boat onto the river to catch the City fireworks display. There were a bunch of boats anchored in the river, lot's of families having fun on the water under a nice clear sky (thank you Lord!! :) ). The fireworks were beautiful! (don't you love looking at photos of fireworks they are so not exciting!)

Yup, this is the result of taking photos with your shutter open on a swaying boat...here are all the boats on the water, lol...

Look at the moon...what you didn't know that was the moon?

I hope you all had a lovely Independance Day Celebration!

Friday Funnies - Funny Dance Scene

This is tooooo funny! I think we've all seen guys that dance like this at one time or another... :)



For more Friday Funnies, visit Kim at HomesteadersHeart.

Have a beautiful day!
Kathy C.