Pottery

We have a friend who makes the beautiful pottery pictured above. If you are interested in any of his products, his price list is shown below. Here is a link to his personal website. He does have a contact link so you can get in touch with him personally.

I would post a picture of my chicken cooker, but it's locked in my china cabinet, and the key has been lost by my daughter.

Chicken Cooker (11in x 5in)

30.00

Pie plates (9 in rd)

20.00

Cornbread baker (9in rd)

20.00

Single Stem Apple Baker (5in rd)

12.00

Two Stem Apple Baker

16.00

Brie baker (8in round)

18.00

Chip & Dip Platter (12in)

33.00

Spoon rest (3in round)

4.00

Colander (10in x 5in)

28.00

Berry colanders (5 in x 5in

14.00

Utensil holder (5in x 8in)

18.00

Lg. Pedestal bowl

48.00

Sm. Pedestal bowl

24.00

Lg. Pedestal cake platter

48.00

Sm. Pedestal cake platter

24.00

Platters (18in)

100.00

(24in)

185.00

Large display bowl

30.00

Small display bowl

20.00

Dinner plate (10in round)

26.00

Dessert plate (5 inch round)

14.00

Pasta plate (10in round)

26.00

Salad bowl (5in with ½ rim)

14.00

Cereal bowl (5in round)

12.00

Drinking cup (8oz)

8.00

(12oz)

12.00

Sm. Flower pot with tray

18.00

Lg. Flower pot with tray

36.00

Flower bucket (5in x 6in)

24.00

Small Flower vase

16.00

Lg. Flower vases

32.00

Taxes: 7.75%

Walgreens Photo Special

Until November 20th, you can get 30 4x6 prints from Walgreens ONLINE for $3.00 if you use the coupon code PASSALONG.

Internet Nanny

I may be the only parent out there whose children get on the internet without my knowing it, but somehow I think I'm not. Well, just this past Sunday I was thinking about how we really need to get an internet filter to keep the kids from getting on to sites that wouldn't be good for them. I'm cheap and was thinking that I really didn't want to spend the extra money for a filtering system, but that it really probably would be a good idea to when, lo and behold, I came across a blog called Spoiled but not Rotten that happened to mention that Internet Nanny was giving away free filtering software. Yep, I took them up on that offer. It was a little tricky (it looked like at first it was just a 14 day free trial) for me to figure out, but I did get the stuff downloaded on my computer for a year for free. I'm excited.

The link above for Spoiled but not Rotten will take you to her post about the free filtering software.

Picture Deals

This week (August 15-August 21) Walgreens is running a photo special called 7 Days of Deals. Each day they are offering a different special. For instance, yesterday you could get a free 8X10. Today, you get 75% off of a photo easel. A photo easel is a picture that they have already put a backing and stand to. The orginal cost is $14.99.

They also have 50 prints for $5.00 available through August 21 if you use the coupon code STOCKUP. This may also be available as a walk-in customer.

I also came across a deal on Snapfish that is offered until August 17. Get free shipping on any order plus a free 8x10 collage print by putting GRANDSHIP in the coupon section when you check out. I was able to order just the 8x10 collage print, so I paid absolutely nothing for my new collage of my kids. I'm excited to be hanging that one up soon.

I just saw that CVS is also offering 50 prints for 6 dollars until August 16. You must use the coupon code 50FOR6 when you check out. Also if you're a new online customer with them, your prints are FREE!!

Birthday Party!

One of my sisters had a combined birthday party for three of her children. She held it at a place that was full of fun inflatables such as a slide, and obstacle course, and a couple of jumpy houses. I think everyone had a super time. I know my kids did. They want to have their parties there. The only problem is that the place is an hour and a half away from us. Sorry kids, don't think that'll be happening.

Our son enjoying the slide

The whole party

This is just family at the party

My sister's father-in-law as "King David" ha ha

One of my nephews after he enjoyed the ice cream.

One of my nieces after some drink.

This is birthday boy

These are the birthday girls

One of my neices enjoying the slide

Spokeo.com

There's a site called
Spokeo.com. It's a new online phone book w/personal information: pics
you've posted on FB or web, your approx credit score, home value,
income, age, etc. You can remove yourself by first searching for
yourself on their site, copy the URL of your page, then scroll to the
very bottom of their home page, and click on privacy
to remove yourself.

Subbing for Sunday School

RRRRING! RRRRRRRRRRING! It was that dreaded 8:30 Sunday morning phone call that tells us we have something to adjust at church. "No, no, not this morning. Please, not me this morning I groaned to myself." Then Spencer was handing the phone to me. I knew my wishes were not going to be granted this morning.
"Shoshannah, can you teach my Sunday school class? I wanted to say that I didn't feel very well that day either and just send the kids to someone else's class, but I didn't. I wanted to say, I teach my kids all week, and teach Wednesday night. I NEED a BREAK from kids!" But I didn't. What kept going through my mind was what a preacher said in revival at our church last week. "When other people won't do things, don't complain. Praise the Lord that you get the blessing of serving Him."
As I got the materials for the class, I thought "How boring for 5-6 year olds." "The First Church?" ....and the lesson was boring until about half way through. There was only one drab picture provided, the lesson didn't really have any relevance to the kid's lives until I mentioned that 3,000 people got saved and were baptized. "Why were the people baptized?" I asked. Why does God want us to be baptized?
"To get saved?" was the questioning response. "No, the people were already saved, and baptism does not save you, but it is something that God wants us to do."
"So we can eat that little cracker and drink that little juice!" came another excited answer. I had to laugh at that answer. My little girl has been dying to take communion.
"I'm saved," said one in the normal random way of little children. "I'm saved,"said another. "I'm saved too," said a third. "Really?" I questioned the third. "No, I'm just joking,"said the third.
Of course this led back to the discussion of salvation that we had last week when I subbed in this class.
"Why do we need to be saved?"
"Because we sin."
"What is sin?"
"All the bad things we do."
"Do you do bad things?"
"No." Then a big grin came across the little boy's face. "I'm just joking."
I thought, "Well, at least I got one point across last week. Last week, he didn't think that he ever sinned."
As the conversation continued, he said that he wanted be with his mom when he asked Jesus to save him. I'm so glad that he has a sensitive heart.
Our conversation headed back to baptism. I explained that the first thing God tells us to do after we get saved is to get baptized. "Why would he want us to get baptized?"I asked. The kids had no clue, so I explained that baptism show the world that we have been saved and want to follow Jesus. I then showed them how that going down under the water shows Jesus dying and being buried, and coming up out of the water represents Jesus rising from the dead.
"Some people call sprinkling with water "baptism", but it doesn't mean anything. But we go under the water and come up again because of what it means," I told the class. I then showed them what the preacher does when he baptizes you. Each one of them thought that had to be demonstrated on. So the class ended up being fun instead of irrelevant and boring as it had started out.

That night one of the saved children went forward for baptism, and I think the other one would have too except they fell asleep in church. :D I'm also thinking that the other little child will get saved soon.
...and to think I would have missed all that if I would not have subbed. That was my blessing for the day.

So the verse that says we are to give the gospel to every creature seemed to hit me in a new way recently. The "every creature" portion just really stood out to me. We are surrounded by people every day, and don't attempt to tell them a thing about the Lord or their eternal soul. I've tried to become more aware of people as I'm out shopping ect. As this verse of scripture has begun to become more real to me, the Lord has sent more people to my door also. Seeing that I really don't get out all that much during the week, I think this is a pretty good arrangement. If I can't get out and tell people about the Lord, He can just send them to my house. My latest encounters have been with Jehovah's Witnesses.

The first pair came to my door a few months ago. Of course, you can tell what they are up to as soon as you open the door, so instead of letting them talk to me, I talk to them first. I quickly let them know that I know they don't believe Jesus is God. I also let them know why I believe that Jesus is God. After I quoted Scripture to them, they tried to tell me that not all versions read the same way. I quickly let them know that was why I only used the King James Version. I knew it had not been tampered with and I could depend on it. They then wanted to know how could Jesus be God and still have a Father. So, I showed them how there are three parts of an eye, yet there is just one eye...the cornea, pupil, and iris. There are also three parts to a finger. When you bend it, you can see clearly the three parts. Let's just say that the lady's eyes were pretty big when I was showing them that illustration.
We didn't get much farther than that with the first pair that came to the door. But I began thinking of how much bigger the picture is for these people. If they do not believe that Jesus is God, they can never believe that He can save them from their sins.
A couple of months later the next and much more educated pair of Witnesses came by. It was with them that I found out that they don't believe in a hell. They gave an obscure verse in Ecclesiastes that says that the dead know nothing as their proof text that there is not a literal hell. Of course that Scripture reference is referring to the dead body of bones in the grave and not the spirit of a person. They also asked why would Jesus go to hell after He died on the cross if it were a place of torment. My answer was so that when they stood before Him at the judgment they would have no excuse for Him sending THEM there. He would be able to tell them that He has been through absolutely everything that they have ever been or would be through, and they do not have an excuse for rejecting Him. They weren't quite sure how to answer that one. They did tell me that they believe in heaven though. Now why would there be a heaven to believe in if the dead know nothing?
I don't really feel like I got very far with these people, but I pray that maybe the little bit that I was able to give them would somehow later on bring them to truly know the Lord.

Today is our 10th Anniversary

It does not seem like that much time has passed, but Spencer and I have reached the double digits as far as anniversaries go. I don't imagine we'll ever get out of the double digits either. We will be heading to the Biltmore Estate and the Blue Ridge Parkway for our big day. Both are places I've wanted to explore for some time. Hopefully, I'll have some interesting pictures to post when we get back.

Yesterday I had a former coworker and friend who now lives in Boston show up at my door. I say show up at my door, because I was expecting her on the 21st instead of the 12th. What's with me reading dates backwards? We had a good time catching up on several years.

Also yesterday, Sierra had a long awaited date with her daddy. She was thrilled. He said, he hadn't had a girl so giddy over him in 12 years. (That's how long ago we met. :-D )

Soccer

Soccer games start tomorrow for our girls, so I thought I'd get a jump on their pictures. Here are my two favorite.

Music

I was able to download an album of different types of music from Bible Truth Music today. The cost was $2.00 along with the request that you repost this special offer on your blog, Facebook page, Twitter, etc. Here is the link.

I receive a bi-monthly magazine that I enjoy reading. The latest issue had a convicting article that I am going to try to keep at the forefront of my mind.http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/articles/general-view/archive/2009/december/03/cheerful-authoritative-consistent/

Family Fun

One of our daughters is shall we say, a cheese lover. So one night for family fun a couple of weeks ago we took her to a local grocery store that has a great variety of cheeses. They had big cheese blocks there for decoration, one of which cost $400 dollars for half the block. (I do think that they eventually cut these "decorations" up and sell them in smaller pieces and prices.) Well, our little girl had the time of her life walking around and around the case admiring the different kinds of cheese. She and all the other kids even got to sample a piece of Swiss cheese. (Do you see my evil grin?) No, not a soul liked it, not even our cheese lover. We finally were able to leave the store with a LITTLE container of gourmet cheese containing six slices. That was just enough for one piece per person. Evidentally we picked the right cheese called Sonoma Jack because everyone loved it. Our daughter has now decided that she wants cheese for her next birthday party rather than a cake. Hmmm. I wonder if cheesecake would be an option she would consider.

H I S

This is a picture of mostly kids that are in our little home school group. Some of the kids in this pic are extra kids that were visiting that day, and some of the "regular" kids were missing for this picture. This is our first year as a group, and we have chosen the name, Homeschoolers in Service, or HIS for short. We get together about once a month and have chapel, music, crafts, games, and on occasion a geography bee, historical dress up, or a cake decorating class.

Historical characters "Osama Bin Ladan"(remember to pray for our country's safety) and "Queen Esther" (from the Bible)

Pharoah's daughter that drew Moses out of the water.

Betsy Ross and someone I can't remember.

Wild Bill Hickok and a Texas Ranger

When our church was holding Missions Conference we had the privilege of having some of the missionary children joining us, and some of the missionaries were able to tell us on a more personal basis about the field that the Lord has called them to.

We also go on occasional field trips. The newest field trip we are headed to is a Civil War reenactment. It will be held in March, and is said to be very good. The only problem was the money. When most of the families have several children, paying for the tickets is not as minor a thing as it is for a smaller family. Well, our coordinator came up with the bright idea of a yard sale. Oh, ugh! After a few technical difficulties and a lot of prayer as well as work, we were all set up to sell STUFF! The kids even made things to sale. They had made magnets, bird gourds, cookies, rice krispy treats, and hot chocolate and apple cider. Thankfully, we got enough money to more than cover the tickets as well as pay for the newpaper advertisement, and pay the kids for their contributions. So let the battle begin!

I wonder how many little ones will be holding their ears as the guns begin firing.

So I don't have a whole lot to say at the moment, but here is a link to a website some of you may find useful.
I also am considering getting some glasses from here. The pair I'm looking at will $12 including shipping, and since I only wear my glasses around the house, I don't think there will be a big loss if I don't like them. I have gone to an optical store and tried on different frames to give me an idea of what would look decent on me though.

Men and Department Stores

The other day when we were out shopping for the ingredients for the Cherpumple Dessert, I noticed that all these older men out with their wives were being really nice to Spencer. They would just say hello to him as they passed in the aisles in the store. What really made me laugh was when I asked him if we could stop at Belk really quick. I badly needed a black top, and they were having their extra good red dot sale. "I know what I'm looking for, and it won't take long." I promised him. Well, it took longer than I expected, but I did find a black sweater for $10. After I paid for the sweater, I still had a little bit of $ burning a hole in my pocket and asked Spencer if he minded if I looked at the jewelry. He graciously said that was fine. It didn't take me long to find something I wanted, and as we were heading to the cash register to pay, an older gentleman once again stopped my husband. But this time what he said was different. "I bet your wife said, that she was just coming in for a minute, and she wouldn't take long." My husband laughed and agreed. The gentleman said, "That's what my wife said too, and I'm just barely getting out of here." Let's just say that I paid for my $4.50 necklace and earring set with a grin on my face.

Snow Day 2

Meeting Mr. Snowman

He just wanted to do "cool" poses until I made him stop.

The girls loved him.

The end result after Spencer got ahold of him.

Sledding on the hood of an old car

We were snowed in from church today, but we got to watch live church services elsewhere thanks to the internet. Later this afternoon we got to make a snowman, and the kids got to be pulled behind a four wheeler on the hood of an old car.

Snow!

I don't know why she didn't complain about her poor ear being bent.

Today the cold weather and the wet weather finally coincided and have resulted in snow and sleet. The kids are absolutely thrilled, and we are loving our wood heater. Thanks for the wood Papa and Mema.

The Cherpumple

So people have been mentioning that I haven't written anything on this blog for a while. Now that I look at the date, I guess they're right. It's not that I haven't thought about it, but I just feel like my blog has lost focus. However, I have had some ideas on things to write about. We'll see how it all pans out.

For now, I'm going to post some pictures of a dessert that my husband made. We won't mention the long car ride we went on when the dessert started falling apart as he was making it.... That's ok though. We got to see some nice houses and land, and the dessert turned out ok after all.

The dessert is called a Cherpumple. It is an already baked cherry pie then baked into a white cake, an apple pie in a spice cake, and a pumpkin pie in a yellow cake. They are then stacked onto each other and held together with cream cheese frosting. Yum and very rich.

One more thing about the blog. As I'm sitting here trying to load pictures of the Cherpumple, I suddenly remember what a pain it is to upload pictures here on Blogger, and if things are like they were the last time I wrote anything, it has suddenly become difficult to arrange pictures once they are loaded up here. That may be one more reason I haven't blogged in a while.