God Bless Our Troops

I'm going to be away from the computer and blog world for a few days...until Thursday night anyway. I'll be "roughing it" with my daughter at church camp this week. If you remember church camp dorms/cabins, beds and showers at all, you'll know what I mean. But I go simply because I can't bear to "send" her (overprotective I know). Jason did his time at cub scout camps with Colt, so it's my turn now! (He was still going with him even when Colt was in his teens!) I know we'll have a great time this week and that we'll be blessed and I hope and pray we are a blessing. Please remember us in your prayers (and my men here at home while we're gone).

Knowing that I would be away, I couldn't think of a better post to leave with you than a tribute to our troops, especially for this week as we celebrate our freedom. As you know from an earlier post, my brother, Richie, is serving our country. I'm going to leave you with these pictures of him, his friends, co-workers, my friends' sons, among others. This is just a little fraction of the men and women that serve our country everyday! They sacrifice more than we'll ever know or realize just to secure our freedom. Please leave a comment for these guys (and girls) to see and let them know that we love and support them and pray for them. I know they will greatly appreciate knowing they are greatly appreciated!

God bless you all that I've met since I started this blog in May! I'm going to miss visiting your blogs everyday and leaving you a comment. I look forward to "talking" with you soon when we get back from camp. I hope you all have a great week too!

Now to our troops....God bless our men and women...everyone of you....serving our country, the great U.S.A. I thank you so much for being THERE....so we can be HERE.....FREE. I pray and ask God's blessing and protection over each one of you (and your families back at home)!

Turn your speakers up and enjoy the music too!


Richie's Unit


My brother, Richie (new hairstyle)


Daniel


~ Psalms 91 ~ He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust." Surely he shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence.



Richie


BJ




Richie


He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, Nor of the petilence that walks in the darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.


Daniel


Richie, Brian


A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked.


Jeff, Jamie, Fred & Richie


Daniel


Because you have the Lord, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, No evil shall befall you. Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.


BJ's Unit


Fred, John, Richie


In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
"Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.


Richie


Jeff, Jamie, Fred & Richie
Packages delivered after a dust storm...they said it felt like Christmas!


BJ


He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation." ~ Psalms 91:1-23


Daniel


Terry, Nicholai, Richie


Here's a link to Fallen Heroes. It's a sobering account of every soldier we've lost during this war. They gave their lives for our freedom. Each one was someone's husband, wife, son, daughter, mom, dad, brother, or sister. I honor these today too. Thank you to all of those families.....their sacrifice (your sacrifice) is not forgotten....


In memory of Matthew



In memory of Jonathan






GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS!

Simply......Blackberry Cobbler

The other day my daddy brought home a pint jar of blackberries that he picked off our land in Alabama. He wondered if we might be interested in making either blackberry jam or cobbler as a treat....especially since they DID come off our land!



I didn't really know if we had enough berries to work with and I wasn't keen on trying the jam (for that amount of berries anyway). I'm hearing all sorts of stories about making jam! If you haven't read it yet...check Cora out on her blog, Hidden Riches in Secret Places, for her funny jam story! So...I decided it would be a cobbler with these blackberries providing we had enough to make one!

So..I asked the lovely Lea of Farmhouse Blessings if she had a good recipe.....a simple recipe for making a cobbler for this pint jar of blackberries. I knew if anybody had a good one, she would! She came to my rescue! Thanks so much Lea! Here's her recipe (in her words exactly):

Here is a quick little recipe for using those berries:

1 C self rising flour
1 C sugar
1 C milk
3/4 stick butter
fruit
1 tsp vanilla

Melt butter and place in 2 qt. baking dish. Mix flour, sugar and milk in separate bowl. Beat until well mixed. Pour over melted butter. Do NOT stir. Add fruit. Do NOT stir.

Bake at 350 until crust rises and browns.

Very simple but very yummy!

This afternoon I made the little cobbler. I wanted my dad to have a taste before he left to go out of town on his fishing trip later this afternoon.

Here's the cobbler fresh from the oven:



Daddy stopped by right after work (that's why he's still all in uniform) and gave it a taste test with good ole melted butter on top:



He gave it a thumbs up! He had two pieces before he left, so he really did like it alot! I did too! Thanks so much, Lea, for giving me this quick, easy recipe!



It's exciting and gratifying to take something that is grown on our land (or even better that we grow) and make something from it that's yummy to eat! We're hoping to have a garden next year...but for now I'm happy with this simple little blackberry cobbler......

A Little Summer Fireplace Decor

I don't ever drastically change the fireplace decor (at least not very often). I usually do seasonal decor added in someway. I guess it's great that I've never tired of Americana. Even at Christmas time, I mix my prim/Americana with my Christmas decor. (Actually next to Christmas, the 4th of July is my favorite holiday too!)

But now it's summer time...THE time for Americana decor. I love looking at all the flags and everybody's twist on Americana decor. I just never tire of it! I'm drawn to it really!

Here's what my fireplace is looking like these days:



The Betsy Ross flag hanging above the fireplace mantle was on my wish list for awhile. It's one of my few decor splurges that I paid more for than I cared to! I bought it with birthday money though.

I really also have "thing" for birdhouses. I have them displayed on the mantle. Most of these were handmade and bought in little shops. Some were gifts from family members.. ..but ALL are special to me.



The one here on this end (with the red roof) that says "Liberty Inn" plays the Star Spangled Banner. I just love our national anthem and I get a big lump in my throat everytime I hear it! My sister in law bought that one for us for our anniversary one year while we were in Eureka Springs on vacation with her and my brother and my mom and dad. I believe I might have "treated" myself to the God Bless America one (the white one on the left end) on that same vacation!



My daddy made the barn one down on the far right end of the mantle. I love it too!
The church one front and center has always been a favorite. At Christmas time, I usually put a little (decorated) grapevine wreath on the door.



Here on the hearth, there's a milk can that my mom bought for me. I had the scene painted on it sometime later. I painted the sunflower sign on a piece of driftwood. A friend came in a few weeks ago with the sunflower bucket declaring that it would go better in my house than hers! (I didn't argue...I loved it!). I added a couple of sunflowers I had around here. Sunflowers are so happy and cheerful to me. I just love both them and daisies...my favorite flowers! The little wagon came from a local crafts fair quite a few years ago. It will probably get a new coat of paint (different color)...I just can't decide what color yet. Inside the wagon are a couple of birdhouses made by Jason and my dad a few years ago.



I bought the Sweet Country Home sign from a crafts vendor at the flea market. It's always been one of my favorite signs. I'm not really sure why I've loved it so....it just is. I've put other signs there and in the end, this one always ends back up there!



Ahhhh......Summer....Americana....they go together so well....and it's such a fun time and fun time to decorate Americana....both inside and out!

Splish, Splash!

Are ya'll ready for some fun?

Joy's cousin (my nephew), Kemper, is here spending the week with us and what better thing for cousins to do on a hot summer day but have a splish splashin' good time?

Since I couldn't bring ya'll here for our pool party, just sit back and imagine you've got a cool glass of lemonade (or in my case...a Diet Dew)! You've got on your cool sunglasses.....You've put on your suntan lotion (or sunscreen) and we're sitting back watching the kiddos splash, laugh, and have some good ole summertime fun! We're chatting about our kids, our life...every once in awhile, we'll dip our feet in because it's getting pretty hot up here on the deck! No worries.....the sun on your face...giggles of kids in your ears....We get splashed every now and then accidentally by the kids (okay..it's on purpose!), but it feels SO good! The kids are asking us to watch their jumps, water acrobatics, swimming competitions...."Hey mom look at me!" And of course we can do it all....we're MOMS....we multi task!

Ahhhh.....are you there?......Okay here goes:

Sometimes you just hang out:







But who can just hang out for long? Time for the real action!







Cannonball!



Together now...





Remember.....Tea, Tea, Nestea, Iced Tea! Ahhh.....









Gotta rest after all that!



Okay...now we're ready for a race....on our backs...ready...set...go!



Wanna dance? (They called this the waltz):



Remember the chicken fights?





Gotta rest again....time to float....





Now you know it wouldn't be complete without pushing each other in...right?





Guess what! You just got pushed in! So much for sipping lemonade and taking it easy....you're in for the whole dip now! Enjoy!