melcrumley.etsy.com

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Blackberry pickin' and bakin'

BERRY CRISP
Printed from COOKS.COM
Part 1:4 c. blackberries, or other berries1/4 c. brown sugar3 tbsp. flour1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Part 2:1/2 c. flour1/2 c. oatmeal, uncooked1/2 c. brown sugar1/4 c. granulated sugar1/2 c. butter1/4 c. pecans, (optional)
Part 1: Mix berries, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon in 9 inch square pan.
Part 2: Cut butter into dry ingredients and put topping on berry mixture. Top with nuts. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly and slightly browned. Serves 8.

Colby and Em pickin' berries

I can't quite reach it..

Tim getting more berries

Our loot!

Fun, fun!! Last week we went down to the end of our development, right by the bus stop, and picked blackberries! We had the whole family down there, except Bailey, he was at a friends having dinner. Anyway, it was enjoyable and great family time! It was really prickly too! I never knew picking blackberries was so painful! We got stuck many times! I decided one of the things I was going to ask God when I go to heaven was why so many thorns and pricklies on the blackberries! :) So I made blackberry crisp, super yummy and blackberry freezer jam! I still have more blackberries and think I will make muffins.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

I Got My New Apron! Yippee!




Yippee!! I got my new apron that Christian made! Thank you, Thank you Christian!! I love it!! So today is a miserable rainy day. Just blah! But I guess I should get used to it, it is rainy season now in western WA. Anyway, I was just laying down to try and take a nap, when my hubby comes in and throws a package on my bed. I knew right away that it was my apron! I was soo excited! I couldn't even get the package open! Jesse had to help. I was just like a child opening the best Christmas present, that they were waiting all year to get! So I immediately put it on, of course! I was no longer tired. So I will be trying out my new apron today. I am in need of some bread. So I had to show off Christians wonderful work! ( check out my super cut pink socks!)

Monday, September 15, 2008

12 year anniversary!


Kissing the bride. 9-15-1996


Just married! 9-15-1996

12 years later... His face was Really dirty, can
you tell I didn't want to kiss his dirt.


12 years later... Love each other more everyday


One of the views from our ride. We were really
high up on the mountain! It was amazing!

Wow, it has been 12 years now! I sometimes can't believe we have made it this long and we have so many more to go! My husband and I met 12 years ago. It was Labor Day weekend. He asked me to marry him the first day we met. It took me about a week, I prayed alot about it and I called him up and said yes. Then September 15,1996 we were married. ( this is the short version)Yup, we only knew each other two weeks. I guess when you know, you know! Friday we started our celebration with a day ride at Capital Forest, just the 2 of us. It was wonderful! It was so much fun and just beautiful too! It was a gorgeous day too! Our friend/neighbor watched the kids for us! We are going out tonight for desert. We decided we did not want to spend $50 on dinner. So desert it is. Happy 12 years gone and another 12 to come! I love him more everyday! Thank you Lord for bringing us together!

My first Etsy sale!! YEAH!!


Had my first Etsy sale today! I was so excited. I will be putting more on this next week! I got lots of new ribbon coming to make more Korker bows! Really cute stuff! Anyway just had to share, I was so happy!

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Witnessing like children

My son Timothy is such a great witness! He is always telling his friends about God and asking them to church and AWANA. He asked three of his friends to the new AWANA, but none of the parents would allow it. Yet he will still try to teach them. I love to hear him( any of the kids actually, but it is usually him) tell me stories about how he was telling somebody about God. Last year he starting bringing a boy to AWANA, then to VBS. Well at VBS the boy got saved! I cried. He was not only like a 5th child to me, but, my son helped him find the Lord. It makes me so happy, that I am doing something right, maybe not all the time, and not in everything, but something. I just wish that I could witness like my child. I think that is something, I must work on, and so I will.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Easy Wall Art for Ems room


Em painting her artwork.


Em and her art under her pic


Ems beautiful painting


Up on her bedroom wall


Well we finished these pictures today, finally. We painted the once brown frames to watermelon pink and added a glitter glaze. Then today, Emilee painted a picture to put in the frames. I added a pic of Em on to one part of the painting. She enjoyed seeing her stuff in a sparkle frame on her wall. This was really in expensive. I had the frames from a yard sale and Em painted the pic. It was fun. We just used what we had and made some art.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Why oh why?....

Why.... Is it so hard to clean up a mess, but so easy to make it?
Why.... Is it so easy to put on the weight, but so hard to take it off?
Why.... No matter how many times I repeat myself, I never get heard?
Why.... Do I have more zits at 32 then at 15?
Why.... Do we question what God has in store for us,even though we know he knows best?
Why.... Don't we take life a little slower and enjoy what God has given us?
Why.... Does chocolate taste sooo good and brussel sprouts sooo not good?
Why do we always ask Why?

Potty Training Time!



Well, last week was a busy beginning week! School started, AWANA started and Potty Training started! Finally! We decided it would be best to wait until the 3 boys were in school for Em to start and she is doing great! I got a potty chart for her at this website http://www.pottytrainingconcepts.com/Free-Potty-Training-Charts.htm She loves to pick out her sticker for every time she goes potty. I bought a box of 1,000 stickers at the dollar store and they fit perfect on the chart! She also has sparkly Disney princess stickers she gets when she poops on the potty. She always wants the princess ones. She is still trying to get the hang of poopin' on the potty,but got two stickers princess stickers Sunday! We also give her M&M's for going. This is getting less, because she really likes the stickers. She stays in undies all day long, unless we go to the store or something, then its a pull-up,and bedtime is still a diaper. I have always potty trained in undies, they get it much faster! She loves to pick her undies too! Hope this info can help someone else with their potty training adventure!


Just a thought.... Funny how we can sit and talk about poop and potties when its children, but if I was to talk about it refering to an adult, how grossed out we all would be... funny huh.

Friday, September 5, 2008

I can feel the Holy Spirit all around me today!!


WOW! I can really feel the Holy Spirit working through and all around me! What a day with the traffic today. I had an appointment today and the Puyallup Fair started today, so there was Fair traffic for miles and miles. It is so nice when there are kind drivers! It gives me warm fuzzies! I had nice drivers all morning long and I felt nice today too! I just get this feeling in me(its hard to really explain) when the Holy Spirit is in me! I feel wonderful, kind giving and HAPPY! It is such a wonderful feeling having the Lord in my heart! I feel that you can see him radiating out of me! ( I hope this is so) Anyway, I just had to share how wonderful I am feeling! Being kind, giving to less fortunate and just smiling at somebody not only makes my day, but theirs as well, and that is the work of the Lord! God Bless all of you and have a most beautiful, glorious day and weekend!

Thursday, September 4, 2008

First Day of school






Wow another year has come and gone. I now have a 6th grader,4th grader and a kindergartener. Well and my 3 year old too. :) Bailey started kindergarten today and the boys started Sept 2. They started AWANA last night too! ( I actually cried dropping them off last night. because of Bailey.) He is just growing up too fast. I am not sure if it hasn't hit me yet that he is at school right now, because I have not cried yet. And I am a crier!! So it is just me and Em in the morning now. So we have to decide how we will spend our time.

c

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

What love is according to children 4-8 years old

What Love means to a 4-8 year old . . . I Got this in an email, had to share. We can learn so much from children, if only we could see the world as they do, how much a better place it would be! :)

'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.' Rebecca- age 8

'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.' Billy - age 4

'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.' Karl - age 5

'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.' Chrissy - age 6

'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.' Terri - age 4

'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.' Danny - age 7

'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss' Emily - age 8

'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.' Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,' Nikka - age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)

'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.' Noelle - age 7

'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.' Tommy - age 6
'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.' Cindy - age 8

'My mommy loves me more than anybody You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.' Clare - age 6

'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.' Elaine-age 5

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.' Chris - age 7

'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.' Mary Ann - age 4

'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.' Lauren - age 4
'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' (what an image) Karen - age 7

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.' Mark - age 6

'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.' Jessica - age 8

And the final one The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, 'Nothing, I just helped him cry'

30 days to more fruits and veggies!




So, I have decided to really kick off my new hopefully healthy habits! I even got up this morning did my treadclimber and put on my pedometer! It is fun to see how many steps I take and then I know when I am really being lazy! Anyway, I have a HARD time trying to get 5 fruits/veggies servings in per day! I don't eat too much and well, it was easier,of course, when I was a vegetarian. I guess, I should eat like I am again. But still. it is hard. I like fruits and veggies, just not everything I put in my mouth. So on sparkpeople they had a calendar for more fruits and veggies here http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/calendar_2007-09.pdf I also would love to know some other creative ideas to get more fruits and veggies not only in my mouth, but my kids too!! It is another sunny beautiful day today, I am going to enjoy what God has given us! Have a blessed day!

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Get in shape girl, you know the feeling...


Do you remember that from growing up? Get in shape girl? Well that is what this is all about. I have so been slacking for about 2 weeks now. I had a nasty cold. Now I am much better and back into routine... I hope! It is so hard to get the motivation up to exercise. Why?!? Why can't I be like those women who love to workout!? I just think the whole time... I should be doing dishes,laundry, what if Em wakes up while I am doing this and I can't finish... blah blah excuse, excuse. Of course I can come up with an excuse for just about anything! But it is now time to get in shape girl! I have an exercise ball workout video that I do 3 times a week and the other days I do my treadclimber. I also use sparkpeople.com to diary what I am eating. It is free and awesome if you want some support. It is kinda like the weight watchers, but no point system and it is FREE!! So anyway check it out. Oh and let me know what keep you motivated to keep in shape or get in shape?

Monday, September 1, 2008

Comfort verses for Kids comfort kits for school

So, we have to send the kids to school with a comfort kit in case of a disaster that does not allow us to be able to get to the kids. In the kit are snacks, space blanket, garbagebag, etc and a note of comfort and picture of the family. I decided on my note that I would add some comfort verses for the boys to read, to add a little more comfort and remind them, God is watching over them. He is there, call upon him if you need too. I found a website that had different verses easier for children to understand. I used some of these comfort verses in the kids comfort letters. I chose about 3 for the two older boys and just one for the younger.

Psalm 46:1 "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."
John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you . . . Let not your be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
Isaiah 41:10 "Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee . . ."
Nahum 1:7 "The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble . . ."
Deuteronomy 31:8 "And the Lord, He it is that doth go before thee; He will be with thee, He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee; fear not, neither be dismayed."
Psalm 30:5 ". . . Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."
Psalm 34:15 "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry."


I thought I would share this so if any others need to make a comfort pack and would like to include a verse or two, they are here for you to get. I also put the meaning of some of the words so they would fully understand that God is there.