See just a little RESEMBLANCE???

I just put this page on facebook b/c so many people were commenting on the snaps Amy has put up of Carter, how he has her eyes, etc. I know he has SOMETHING of Brian's, but I'll tell ya, this little boy looks so much like his mama when she was a baby that I have to do a double take!! She actually had the very same blue eyes that Carter has, but you know these ancient pictures that we had to take with a Kodak Instamatic...the ones where we had to actually SEND the rolls of film in to be developed?? Yeah...the color has faded!!

Sandy, do you have any snaps of Brian when he was about this age?? I'd LOVE to compare! It's so fun looking back at these things. I have one grannybaby that looks like his mama and another that looks like her daddy! I'll have to work on that one next! Gotta snag some pics from Patti though...I don't have any of Adam's baby pictures! Ally, if you can scan something, send it my way so I can make a page for Kiki! Anyhow...just sittin' here trying to get tired tonight.

Oh...if you happen to read this before 10:00 AM tomorrow, would you please pray about a very important decision Dennis has to make by that time? We need God's wisdom and direction so as to make the decision HE wants us to make. More on that later, but for now...aren't these lil' babes darling? : )
Update: Thank you all for praying. We had a very clear answer to the question this morning and are so thankful we have a God who not only hears us, but DIRECTS our path! This was a job decision and the answer was "not this one". We wait...and trust...and REST!

My 2 Peas in a Pod!

I got a sugar-snap of BOTH of my grannybabies today...and they both happened to be wearing GREEN! Isn't this just the cutest thing you've ever seen? My heart LONGS for them to both be in the same room at the same time, but for today, I'll have to settle for long distance love! Can a Grammy's heart be any fuller? How I thank my God for these precious babies!! Each so different...each so full of love...each a blessing from above! "Thank you Lord for these little lives. How I pray they both grow up to know you."

Graphics:

www.irenealexeeva.blogspot.com
PeasInPod

FRIDAY FAVORITE!!!

I've not done a very good job of keeping up with this fun idea! Sorry Natalie...I just keep forgetting or don't have anything favorite going on except my new grannybabies and I never wait until Fridays to put their mugs on my blog!! Anyhow, my sweet friend Leslie (I'll have to feature my friends from time to time so you all know who I'm talking about!) Anyhow..Leslie does some marketing for companies and gives out coupons and a little "schpeel" about how they work and what it is and I happened to get one for Cover Girl Lip Stain. Now...I'm not much of a make up person...less is best for me, BUT...I'm certainly not opposed to a little fussin' up for my honey! Hey, if the barn needs a paintin'.....!

I'm just sayin!

So...this afternoon, I headed up to CVS for a quick stop BECAUSE....I saw in their flyer they had these little diddies buy 1 get one free! AND...I had the coupon for $1.00 off that Leslie gave me!! This is what they look like.

I've just gotta tell you girls that this stuff is GREAT!! It gives a light touch of color, isn't gooey like normal lipstick, and stayed on throughout my meal and still, after brushing my teeth and ready for bed...there is STILL a hint of color! Here's the writeup about it on the Cover Girl website:

The water-based colorants of Outlast Lipstain give lips a beautiful, lightweight flush of color that won't come off, lasting for hours without the heavy look or feel of an ordinary lipstick. Its pen-like precision applicator makes it easy to define your lips-just draw on color without any hassle!

The colors I got were:

#435, Flirty Nude
#425, Plum Pout

I'm not getting paid for this "commercial"...just passing along one of my new "Favorite things"! If you're interested...make sure you get yourself to a CVS by Sat...b/c it is only in this weeks flyer! (or wait until the next time they offer it buy 1/get 1. I hear they do that every whipstitch!

White Vegetable Lasagna

For those of you who are tired of the same old lasagna, try making this "white" lasagna. It has no meat and you can really use whatever vegetables you like. The vegetables are roasted, giving them a deeper flavor and the lasagna is assembled with a simple, rich bechamel sauce. Learning how to make a bechamel sauce is easy - you just whisk and cook!

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

The bechamel:

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1/2 cup flour

4 cups milk

some grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground white pepper (I used regular black pepper)

1 chicken bouillion cube (amount that you would dissolve in 1 cup water)

Vegetables to roast (you can use anything you like) I used a combination of zucchini, yellow squash, onions(saute'd in butter) carrots, 3 garlic cloves and some chopped up fresh spinach

Lasagna noodles for one 13x9 inch baking pan

2 cups grated Parmesan cheese (fresh, not the kind in the green jar!)

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

For the bechamel: In a medium sized saucepan, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and cook for just a minute or so. Slowly add the milk and keep whisking. Add the nutmeg, white pepper and bouillion cube and whisk. Cook for a few minutes, whisking, until the bechamel has thickened slightly. Set aside to cool. Stir it once in a while so a skin doesn't form.

For the vegetables: Chop vegetables uniformly. Mince garlic. Combine half the mixed vegetables on a baking sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for several minutes at 400 degrees. Stir. Roast for several minutes more until vegetables are soft. You can roast a little longer, if you like them to be slightly carmelized. Repeat with remaining vegetables. Set aside to cool slightly. Do this before you make the bechamel and you won't waste time!

Cook lasagna noodles for 5 minutes, until soft. Shock in a bowl of ice water, lay on towels to dry.

Spray a 13x9 baking pan with a little cooking spray. Spoon some bechamel thinly on the bottom of the pan. Start with a layer of noodles, a layer of bechamel, some vegetables, and then a layer of a little parmesan and mozzarella. Repeat layers until you have 6 layers of noodles. On top of the last layer, don't use any vegetables, just some bechamel and the remaining cheeses.

Cover tightly with foil.

At this point, you can refrigerate this for a day if you want. When you are ready to bake, bring to room temperature for an hour and then bake for 50 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Remove foil. Bake for a little longer until top is slightly golden. Let sit for 15 minutes before slicing.

This recipe makes a 9x13 pan or 2 8x8 pans. You can freeze one and save the other. Freeze before you bake it if you are making 2 pans. Cover with foil, then put the entire tin into a gallon ziplock bag, label and freeze. Perfect to take to new Mom's!!!

P.S. I stole this recipe off some dear woman's blog...it's not my own! I'll keep looking for it so I can credit the source, but sofar, I just had it saved in my files and can't find it! Guess since my blog is private, it's not that big of a deal, but I didn't want you all to think I was this great of a cook on my own!

All in a Day's Work!

This is what it looked like this morning. {actually, this is the vanity in the master bath b/c I forgot to get a before picture of the guest bath, but it looks just the same!} Beautiful Oak, but dated...ya know? First I used Liquid Sandpaper on all the wood, cleaning it before I did anything else.

Took all the hardward off...and the doors...and primed with KILZ. That stuff stinks, but it sure works good! I don't always prime my wood furniture, but when it comes to cabinets that are going to get knocked around, I think it's important. It'll get chipped, and if I were to REALLY do this right, I would have gotten a DARK Kilz...so when I do chip it, it won't show white! I just didn't want to spend a dime on this project...so I used what I had on hand. I brushed it on b/c it was such a small project. Normally, I would have rolled the bigger pieces.

Here I go...it's all primed. Gotta wait 1 hr. and I can paint with the real stuff! That's MY kind of project! I really dislike having to WAIT for things to dry! Patience is a virtue...and I'm still learning that one...sometimes the HARD way!

And voila'...the finished project!! Yes, I put 2 coats of black satin on today. Should really have waited and done one coat today and the final tomorrow, but since we aren't going to be using this bathroom, I thought it was okay to proceed.

If it were my KITCHEN CABINETS (AMY!!!), I would put 1 coat on and let the first harden up before the second one goes on!

I'm just sayin...

As soon as I took these pictures, I opened the cabinet door and the drawers so there would be no sticking of paint going on. That would have gotten me a little in a tissy tomorrow!

See that nappy vinyl?? See how it's curling up under the vanity? Well, it's doing that in front of the tub too! PLUS...it's PINK! How old IS this stuff, anyhow?? What are we going to do about that? HMMMMM??

Well, lookie here!!!! Found this on Craigslist, about 5 minutes away from my house, for.....are you sitting down??? {of course you are....you're at the computer!!}

$5.00 a BOX!!!!

Yeppers peppers...that's $20.00 for the ENTIRE bathroom floor...hardwood, prefinished, tongue and groove Oak Flooring! Who'd a thunk?? I'll be sure to take snaps as the project continues, but for now, it's nice outside and my mister is working on his John Deere's...guess that's a good thing, b/c winter will be here before we know it and we'll have to get the cars in the garage! Maybe the hardwood will get laid then?? Ya think? ; )

He never reads my blog, so I can say that, right?

Moral of this story...

Be patient....and you'll find just what you need...at a fraction of the cost if it was new! I love making my home pretty...it really makes me happy.

And when Mama's happy, everyone's happy!

{wish that were always true!}

THE END!

I thought this was blogworthy...

Not so much for all of you, but so I can often refer back to it...and I know if I put it on here, I can find it again!

Marriage Killer #2: The Control Factor
Your Relationships posted on 08.13.09 by Kimberly Wagner

As a young bride I was all about "helping" my man. I wanted to help him improve. I "helped" him with his grammar. I tried to help him become more organized, more of a planner, more like me! Although I used the biblical phrase "helper" (Gen. 2:18) to justify my actions, in reality what I was doing was trying to control my husband. I was attempting to re-make him into what I wanted him to be.

God has given the woman a beautiful role and gift of serving alongside her husband. As Matthew Henry wrote, "Woman was made out of a rib of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal to him, under his arm to be protected by him, and near his heart to be beloved."

The woman's role of helper is not a demeaning position of inequality, but rather a privileged position of influence and inspiration. Our men need our help-thus the creation of woman. But we must be careful that our role of helping is one that inspires him to be the man God created him to be, not one of domination and manipulation in an effort to produce changes we want.

One of the greatest gifts you can give your husband as his "helper" is the freedom to lead. If he fears your reaction, fears he will be corrected, fears rejection or belittling from you, he will either retaliate in cruel domination or retreat into a silent cave.

Helping your man doesn't mean:


*Ignoring habitual sin (godly confrontation and appeal is biblical (Prov. 27:6; Matt. 18:15–20; Gal. 6:1–2).
*Preventing him from making foolish choices. (You need to allow him to learn from his mistakes.)
*Bailing him out of consequences of his foolish choices (Prov. 19:19).
*Assuming the role of "mother" or "instructor" (he's a man!).

Helping your man does mean:


*Serious, specific, and continual prayer intercession.
*Honoring his role as head.
*Affirming his leadership decisions.
*Being his "safe place."
*Encouraging—but not pushing—his spiritual growth.
*Communicating with honesty, humility, and gratitude.
*Letting him know you're glad he's your man!

Think about ways that you help your man. How do you help him in fulfilling his calling to be a man of God in your home, in your community or church? How do you model the helper role for your daughters or younger women who may be watching?

~From TW Blog/NLD

Prepare to Worship!

With our busy schedules, deadlines, tugging and pulling from the world for our attention, money and time, stop for 5 minutes and listen to the words of this song. Remember for just a bit what we have to look forward to and then just TRY to complain. It won't happen! I love beginning my QT with this song playing...it get my focus on my Savior and off myself. Which is quite a difficult task most days.

"I Will Rise"

There's a peace I've come to know
Though my heart and flesh may fail
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say "It is well"

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

[Chorus:]
And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

There's a day that's drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

[Chorus:]
And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
"Worthy is the Lamb"
[x2]

[Chorus:]
And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise