Arrival of James III

Jim and I arrived in Florida early Saturday morning to spend a couple of weeks with newborn James III and his parents, our son, James and his wife CJ. As you can tell from the photos he is as cute as a button. He arrived into this world on Tuesday, April 8th at 6 lbs 9 oz and 19.5 inches long. We thank God for this miracle. Obviously, we will be enjoying hours of loving up on James III. Look at those well defined perfectly formed eyebrows! He is exquisite!

Precious little guy!

Parents admiring their "little" miracle!

Father and Son time!

Show and Tell Friday

Please check out Kelli's Show and Tell and join the fun if you can.




Isn't this the cutest little birdhouse decoration? My cousin made this for me, using packages of seeds and little embellishments. All you have to do is clip the corners to let the seeds out!















I just had to share these baby blankets with you. I had a baby shower for my soon to arrive grandson-due date is April 5!!! I knitted the white one and my sister in law knitted the blue one. My sister Bonnie crocheted the turquoise and white one. I wish I would of taken close up photos of the delicate work on these. The following knitted blanket was made by my mom. I had the one that my mom made put together with a gift bag ready to mail to my son and his wife, that is why it is wrapped in a ribbon. Enjoy!

I will probably not be doing the Show and Tell for a few weeks because of travel mostly but I'm sure I will be posting news about the baby!!

Baby Shower

I had a small baby shower for my soon to arrive grandson. (due date is April 5th) As you can see little sweet pea was the theme. My daughter-in-law calls my son "sweet, sweet" and he calls her "sweet pea", so with that in mind I couldn't pass up this cute little sweet pea theme. My cousin made the beautiful and delicious cake. There was plenty of other food that I didn't take photos of. I really didn't do a good job on taking photos at this party which is not like me at all. The reason that there is only one candle on the table is that I lit it to represent the new baby lighting up the lives of his parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and all that come into his life. :)
I encouraged Alaskan themed gifts. Here is my cousin showing the book she included with her gift. You can see one of the blankets that she had made folded by her side.
Here are 3 blankets, the white one was crocheted by me. The blue one was knitted by my sister-in-law, Marlene and the soft turquoise and white one was crocheted by my sister Bonnie.
This beautiful blue knitted blanket was made by my mom. I had wrapped it up like this to put in the package that I filled with newborn clothing last evening so that I can mail it out this morning in hopes that they get to Florida before we get there. (April 12th)

Coffee Time

I found a little kitchen gadget to make froth for my coffee and I love it. It whips up in a few seconds and it makes me feel like I'm drinking an expensive drink. :) I add a pinch of sugar and a dash of cinnamon to it for flavor! ENJOY!
I would like to request that you pray for the safe delivery of our 1st grandson. His day of arrival is supposed to be April 5th but we all know how that can go. My daughter in law is doing very well with her first pregnancy. She and my son are so excited, especially now that they have all the "stuff" ready for his arrival. My hubby and I are soooo excited also and will be flying to Fort Lauderdale on the 12th of April to love up on the baby and parents.

HAPPY EASTER

Happy Easter!!

I wanted to share the photo of my mom and me today. I think my mom is beautiful. I don't take enough photos of her. She looks so fine when she dresses for special occasions. She and my dad had Easter breakfast with us. They went to the 9am service with us this morning. They are elderly but speedy!! I called and woke them up about 8:20. (they had about a 20-25 minute drive to the church) They were at the 9am service a tad bit late-they weren't the only ones late. The service was very special with the choir and other special music and the pastor gave a wonderful message.
Easter is what life is all about! I love the freedom I have in Christ. HE'S ALIVE! and gives life.
Enjoy looking at a sampling of the sugar cookies that I decorated for Easter. Our family tradition is to make Easter bread called Kulich. It is a sweet bread which you can add raisins, nuts, dates, or candied fruit. We also add vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. I didn't make any this year.

Show and Tell Friday

I'm so excited to share this at Kelli's Show and Tell this week. This is a wheat or grain grinder. It's brand name is called a Magic Mill. This is the BEST find I ever found at a garage sale. I found it about 20 years ago!! At that time the Magic Mills were selling for about $250.oo. I got it for ONLY $10.00. It was used at times once a day while I was raising 4 children at home. I would grind the whole wheat berries fresh every day and whip out a loaf of bread to go with the dinner. I haven't used it on a regular basis for about 5 years now. With the price of bread going up,up, up, I decided that it was time to get the ole machine out again. I'm sorry that I didn't put in a photo of the wheat berries in the hopper on the top before they go through the grinder and end up in the stainless steel bowl on the bottom. The bread turned out great and was so tasty with the jelly I made a couple of weeks ago!




I had to make the dough by hand because I gave my kitchen aid away when we moved. I must admit, I didn't knead the dough long enough. I didn't want to over do my wrist with all of the pressure needed for the kneading. :)


All ready to put into the bread pan.
I have used the tall juice cans for years for baking bread. I makes a perfect sized serving and a wonderful crust all the way around.

Ready for the oven!

It looks a little pale because of the photo-it actually turned out looking pretty. As you can see the clock on the coffee maker, it was the am not the pm when I made the bread. All done early in the day so that I could get out for the day.

YUM!!

Here is a tablecloth that my mom made for me about 20 years ago. It is made with white and blue thread. Each circle is made individually and put together. I used it a lot when the kids were growing up. Unbelievable it doesn't have too many stains on it. :) I treasure this piece of my mother's delicate hand work.