Wedding Anniversary

I just love this picture from my nephew's wedding.  It is one of my all time favorite photographs...something about the car, the grass, the tent in the background, the anxious people inside the car, the trees blurred in the background.

I also love weddings.

Today is my anniversary...23 years.  Wow.  Every girl dreams about the perfect wedding, and that is what I feel like I had.  So many people helped with my wedding...the flowers were beautiful, the music was lovely, the reception was perfect. 

One of the things that I will never forget were the people.  The church we married in is fairly large, and the church was packed.  It took my breath away when I saw all those people on both sides of the church.  Maybe just  a little indication of the kind of man I was marrying, and the marriage we would have.  It really helps to be surrounded by family and friends.

The Damsel has a fun discussion going on at the Blogfrog about unitaskers.  You know, those gadgets you use in your kitchen that only perform one job, and they are basically in the way...like an apple peeler.  She has asked people to join the discussion about their favorite unitaskers.  One lady responded that her "husband" was her favorite unitasker.  Isn't that funny?  Another comment was that if your unitasker brings you joy, you should keep it.  So, I have to say...my husband brings me joy, and I will definitely keep him.

Happy anniversary, babe!!!  It has been a wonderful 23 years, and I would definitely do it all over again.

Make Your Own Butter

I have tried in the past to plan out things for my kids to do during the summer. This summer, they have had more "I'm bored" time.  I am learning, it is during this "bored" time that kids learn to be creative.  Guitars are picked up and played, pictures are drawn, and crafts are produced.

This week my daughter saw a page in her Little House on the Prairie Activity Book that told how to make butter.  "Can we buy some whipping cream?" she asked me. 

"Sure," I said.

And she took it from there.

She poured the whipping cream in a quart jar.  Then, she put the lid on tightly.

Then she started shaking...and shaking...and shaking... until

butter began to form on the sides of the jar.

Next, she removed the butter to a piece of cloth.

Then, she pressed until all the "butter" milk was drained.

Now the fun part.  Opening the cloth to remove the butter.

Very interesting!!!

She then scraped the butter from the cloth and pressed it into a mold.

And now, we have beautiful butter to serve on our table.

Not bad for someone who was "bored"!!!

Mini Smores

Do you make smores on the Fourth of July?  If so, you might want to try making some like my daughter has made...mini version.  She found this idea in her American Girl Magazine.  They had an article showing how to make mini versions of some popular treats.  Here is her mini-smore:

You make them using golden grahams cereal, a small marshmallow, and a milk chocolate chip.

Microwave three of these around 15 seconds.

This is a fun activity for kids, and they are good to eat, too.

Butterscotch Krispies

Hi, I'm the 12 year-old daughter of Joyce, and today Mom has let me write the post.  I've done everything you'll see including the pictures. The other day I made Butterscotch Krispies.  I'll share the recipe with you now.

1.) Gather your ingredience: 6 cups of Rice Krispies cereal, 1 cup of peanut butter, 1 bag of butterscotch chips, & a stick of butter.

2.) butter your pan.

3.) melt your butterscotch chips with your cup of peanut butter.

4.)Melt it until it is smooth.

5.)Add your Rice Krispies cereal.

6.)Mix it together

 7.)pour it into the pan.

8.)Let it cool

 9.)cut it

10.)Enjoy!!

Caladiums

I remember when I was little, I thought that caladiums, coleus, hostas, and begonias were old lady flowers.  I could not see why anyone would want to plant them in their garden.

I now love these shade loving plants.  They are the plants that add color to my Big Woods garden.  I think this probably means that I am definitely getting older.

I have tried different varieties of caladiums every year.  I try to winter the bulbs each year; but last year, I waited too late to dig the bulbs.  So this year, I had to buy new bulbs.

All of my caladium bulbs this year came from a sale at

Home Depot.

Weddings

Another beautiful wedding...another happy couple.

This time, we traveled to Fort Payne, Alabama, to witness the marriage of my husband's first cousin's son.  It took us about three hours to make the trip, but it was a nice day, and our kids were well behaved.

The groom is from Michigan, but attended college at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.  He met his bride there, so two different worlds have come together.  They make a beautiful couple and are now moving to California.  Life can certainly change in a hurry.

We wish them the best as they begin this new journey together.

U. S. Space and Rocket Center

Guess where I've been today???

Yes, I did visit the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, but...

I was actually attending STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Camp. 

We spent our first day of camp at MTSU receiving wonderful teaching ideas to be used

in our own classrooms.  Today, we visited the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and received more materials and ideas to be used in our classrooms.  This is one of the best teacher trainings I have ever attended.

The weather was hot today, but the sky was absolutely gorgeous.

I will end this post with a few pictures.

Enjoy!!!