When Photoshoots Go Bad

We tried to get a few pictures of the boys Sunday after church. Why do I have a feeling this will get even harder?

Can you believe they both need haircuts again? I feel like they get them every 2 weeks!

Hedge of Protection

If you've spent any time in any church setting . . .



We're off to do some landscaping of our own this weekend!

Throwback Thursday

The date: July, 1986

The place: Coming home from Centrifuge at Glorieta, NM so we were probably in the middle of nowhere TX.

The mood: After my recent post on smoking smarties, I had to laugh when I ran across these pictures. This was my Olivet Baptist church youth group "smoking" candy cigarettes. I am sure our youth minister was thrilled. On the back of one of the pictures I wrote that we were coming home with no AC. That doesn't surprise me in the least since I think our church van was held together by duct tape. It broke down on every single trip we ever went on. Ahhh, the memories. Yes, I think that is a nail file that Danyelle is holding to Brent's neck. The Texas heat in July will do that to you. Oh and by the way, why didn't anyone tell us that those enormous sunglasses were not attractive in the least?

Easter 2009 Recap

Kevin and I both served in the preschool and children's area at our church on Easter Sunday. Kevin had to be there really early on Sunday so the Easter Bunny paid a visit on Saturday afternoon instead while Fletcher & Luke were outside playing. Fletcher said, "He must have used the back door."

Can you tell he doesn't get gum very often?

Move Over Martha! Part 2

I'm not sure what got into me over the Easter holidays. I saw another article online about how to make tie dyed cupcakes. Our neighbors had invited us over on Good Friday for a little egg hunt so I thought these might be fun to make.

They really are pretty simple.

Get a white cake mix like Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines and prepare the batter according to package directions. After the batter is prepared, divide it evenly into 4 or 5 bowls depending on how many colors you want in your cupcakes. Put different food coloring in each bowl to make different colors. I used regular food coloring and made purple, pink, blue, green and yellow. I did read that Betty Crocker makes something called gels that will make more intense colors. Pastel colors were great for me since it was Easter.

Line muffin pan with cupcake liners then drop spoonfuls of each batter color in each liner. I did use a skewer to sort of swirl the batter on one batch but it really didn't make a difference. Bake according to package directions.

This is what the top looked like without swirling the batter.

This is what the inside looked like.

I colored white frosting with some pastel colors and frosted them and decorated with jellybeans but I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. The kids thought they were cool.

Move Over Martha!

I recently read about a "new" way to dye Easter eggs using old silk ties. I am normally not the crafty type, but this sounded interesting so I thought we'd give it a shot.

First, we found a few of Kevin's old silk ties. They have to be 100% silk. I think at least one of them was a tie that Papa Charlie had given to Kevin.

Then we took the ties apart. That white stuff is the interfacing, I think. We wrapped the silk around raw (not boiled) eggs with the printed side (the good side) touching the egg and secured the top with a twist tie.**

Next I cut up an old pillowcase into squares and wrapped those around the silk-wrapped egg and secured those.

Finally, we put the eggs in an enamel coated or glass pot (apparently metal pots won't work), filled with water until eggs are just covered, added 3 tablespoons of vinegar, brought it to a boil then simmered for 20 minutes. We took them out, allowed them to cool then unwrapped them.

Voila! or as Luke likes to say Ta Da!

These are the eggs matched up with the tie. I was able to get two eggs from each tie with some fabric left over.

**We later found this was the tricky/crucial part because if the fabric isn't touching the egg, then the ink doesn't transfer. But if you twist too tightly the egg can break since it isn't boiled yet. We also learned that ties with dark colors and small patterns work best. Bigger patterns don't seem to cover the egg. My favorite was the dark blue tie with the tiny red paisleys. If you want more specific instructions or better tips, you can google "silk ties and Easter eggs" and find plenty of info. Fletcher thought it was cool. Luke was glad it was over. I'm not sure if we will do it again because mommy did most of the work. But if I'm ever at Goodwill, I might check out their tie selection to see if I can find some cool silk ones for next year.

Stay tuned tomorrow for part two - our tie dyed cupcakes!

Happy Birthday, Lydia and Happy Easter!

Our niece Lydia is the big 14 today! She's named after our mawmaw (awww!). Have a wonderful birthday. We love you!

We'll have a quiet Easter weekend this year. Last year we were in Louisiana at my family's annual crawfish boil and the year before that we were in Florida with Kevin's family. This year we are both helping with the preschool and children's classes on Sunday morning so it will be the standard issue preschool ministry tshirt and jeans for me. Sorry, no Easter bonnet this year.

We will be going to an Easter egg hunt at our neighbor's house on Friday. Saturday morning we are going to attempt to dye eggs with the boys. I'm sure we'll have some pics for Monday.

I'll leave you with a video of my favorite Easter song. The words are so powerful. I get goosebumps every time I hear it. I heard a pastor once say that Christmas is a big deal, but without Easter, Christmas wouldn't matter much. Easter gives us hope for eternity. Amen!