Monday, July 26, 2010

Making Dinner a Special Occasion

Although we are simple, laid-back folks, we sometimes enjoy setting a fancy table for dinner. Fancy for us means covering our table with a tablecloth and cloth napkins, getting out the "Wal-Mart special" gold-rimmed glass dinnerware with matching gold flatware, and lighting candles. We do this for holidays and other special occasions, and it gives the children a sense of excitement. We use our best table manners. We practice good dinner conversation skills. We enjoy being together as a family.

Yesterday, my stepmom showed me some glassware she had picked up at a yard sale. And being a really nice stepmom, she passed it on to me! :-) I googled the pieces and discovered that they are a vintage diamond point pattern manufactured by the Indiana Glass Company. This particular pattern was introduced in 1965 and discontinued in the 1980s. The price she paid for them was a real steal!

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What you see in this picture is the glass pitcher, water goblets (there are six of them), butter dish, and gravy bowl. There are also 6 wine goblets, 7 mugs, 6 tumblers, 6 juice glasses, cream and sugar bowls, a mayonnaise bowl, a candy dish, and 4 small teacups.
Our family dinner on this Lord’s day was a special occasion indeed! Meatloaf, mashed taters and gravy, and iced tea tasted especially fine on our pretty dishes. In addition, we lit pure beeswax candles which were used on our Church’s altar during Mass.

We also have started a new tradition on Sunday evenings after dinner—“Sunday Night Apologetics”. We are teaching our children to answer common questions that people have about our faith. Right now while they are young, we are using Friendly Defender flashcards. Of course, as their understanding grows, the questions and answers will become more in-depth. Our memory verse this past week was 1 Peter 3:15 “…Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence…”

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Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Camping With the Extended Family

I have to admit that I was not especially looking forward to toting a not-quite-two-year-old to the woods and spending a night in a tent without electricity in July in Arkansas. But I was looking forward to seeing Greg’s family, so we came up with an escape plan just in case the toddler thing didn’t work out. ;-)
It really was great seeing everyone. I loved watching the cousins play together. We enjoyed swimming in the lake. Greg’s brother-in-law, Jimmy, cooked a fine fried chicken dinner with the works. We even wound up staying the night in the tent, though we slept very little.  
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Juju really took to his cousin MM! She toted him around like a baby doll.
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I think Caveman tried to monopolize Aunt Catie’s time as usual.
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Juju also went with Uncle Steve for a walk…he was persuaded by Uncle Steve letting him hold the doggie leash.
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And he let his cousin T hold him. When MM saw, she said “Hey! That’s MY baby!” lol
Of course Gem stuck to Reesie like glue.
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Looking forward to seeing everyone’s pictures, and looking forward to doing it again, y’all!

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Independence Day 2010

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At our library’s summer reading program, the children did patriotic crafts a couple days before the 4th.







We enjoyed our backyard fireworks so much last year that we decided to stay home and do them again this year. We grilled hamburgers and hotdogs, had watermelon, and lit some kid-friendly fireworks. Mama even made a playlist of patriotic songs to accompany our firework display.

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Saturday, June 12, 2010

What We Love About Summer…

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Grilling…splashing in the pool…watermelon…fireflies…longer days…time slowing down just a little.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Fun With Henna

These pictures were taken the evening of our zoo trip, when the girls and I decided to put henna on our hair.

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They used red; I used black. Mine was very subtle, but the girls’ turned out lovely…

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I don’t mind my kids playing and experimenting with different hair colors. It washes out eventually, ya know? My main concern with hair coloring is the chemicals that dyes contain, but henna powder is all natural.
And they really do look cute as redheads.

Juju’s First Zoo Trip

We didn’t let the heat scare us away. Armed with sunscreen, plenty of bottled water, and making good use of the water sprinklers at various spots around the zoo, we wound up having a grand ol’ time.
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