A Tribute to Mothers, with Love....

~ TRIBUTES TO MOTHERS, WITH LOVE ~

My Mom, circa 1935, she was
about 4 years old.

(especially to MY Mom - xoxoxox)

My Mother taught me about justice.

"One day you'll have kids, I hope they turn out just like you. Then you'll see what it's like."

Did your Mom ever say something like…

"If you fall off that swing and break your neck, you can't go to the store with me."

Wisdom from Mom (& Dad) - Never mow the lawn barefoot!

“When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me.”

The purpose of a child's middle name according to Mom...

So he or she can tell when they are really in trouble!

Mom’s Wisdom….

NO!  You can’t have THAT!   You just can’t have everything you know - where would you put it anyway?!



Dad, Me and Mom - 1954



"When your mother asks, 'Do you want a piece of advice?' it is a mere formality. It doesn't matter if you answer yes or no. You're going to get it anyway."  ~ Erma Bombeck ~

Mothers of teenagers know why animals eat their young.

"I want my children to have all the things I couldn't afford... then I want to move in

with them!"   ~ Phyllis Diller ~

"Some are kissing mothers and some are scolding mothers, but it is love just the same, and most mothers kiss and scold together.”  ~ Pearl S. Buck ~

One of those many miracles that Mom did!

“The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.”  



Mom with sister Chellie, Me (on the trike)
and Uncle Jim being goofy!



~ Author does not want to be identified ~



“I regard no man as poor who has a Godly mother.”  ~ Abraham Lincoln ~



“The mother-child relationship is paradoxical and, in a sense, tragic. It requires the most intense love on the mother's side, yet this very love must help the child grow away from the mother, and to become fully independent.”  ~ Erich Fromm ~

"The happiest families are those in which the children are properly spaced...about 10 feet apart.”   ~ Unknown ~





"Raising a teenager is like nailing Jell-O to the wall."   ~ Unknown ~



Mom, Me, Daughter Kasey

"If a mother's place is in the home, why am I always in the car?"  ~ Unknown ~

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."  ~ Elizabeth Stone ~

"If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?"  ~ Milton Berle ~



Update on Butterfly Mothering ... we have chrysalis's

Small containers with one soon-to-be
butterfly inside.

Larger containers with 4-5 soon-to-be
butterflies inside.

So, we are nursing butterflies here ... actually, they were larvae at first (see here for when we first started 8 days ago) .. then they ate the butterfly food, grew into caterpillars, and now are attaching themselves to the top of the containers and becoming chrysalis ... so in a day or two now we'll have to transfer them to the butterfly net container, pin the top of the container with them still attached to the net, and in another 7 - 10 days, the butterflies are suppose to emerge... hopefully... 

Then we feed the butterflies with sugar water sweetened flowers or melons until we release them on Pentecost Sunday, May 27th.

More to come when we transfer them and they start to emerge.........

Food Processor Fun - Early Mother's Day Gift from the Kids...

My kids have gifted me with an early Mother's Day gift... a food processor!  And what fun it is to use!

Kasey was having as much, if not more, fun than I was even.. ha!  I ran a few potatoes and an onion thru it just to try it out ... ended up making a weird concoction of potatoes, onions, cream of asparagus soup, with eggs and Bisquick mix, and shredded Parmesan cheese in it ..*L*

Kasey used a lot of colorful veggies and made a delicious salsa and some guacamole ... yum!!

Can't wait to use it for other things down the road too!

 THANKS John and Janel, Kasey and Kaine... and grandkids!  LOVE IT!  xoxox

A Heart Exchange ...

Our Christ Church Book Club is reading the book, LOVE WINS, by Pastor Rob Bell.  We are doing a chapter a week and on Monday night we finished discussions on Chapter 5.  One of the discussion questions asked of all of us was, "What exactly happened during Jesus' crucifixion and death on the cross?"

After pondering it for a minute or two, I realized that I had answered that question in one of my art assemblages...

What happened was a heart exchange ... God incarnate (in the flesh), gave up his life, because of his great love for all creation .. but that was made real for me, when I accepted God's great sacrifice, and in turn, gave my heart and gave my life, to God, my Creator, my Redeemer, the lover of my soul, and who is so much more!

Whoa! How cool is THIS?! The Lord's Prayer illustrated by the Sunday School kids has gone national!

Our Sunday School class, several months ago, took the lines from The Lord's Prayer, and did illustrations of what they felt that prayer would look like via their art. 

They did a great job, I was so impressed at their view of things, and how they illustrated their faith in crayon drawings.  We made many copies of them for all the congregation, and we continue to use them in gift bags for visitors to Christ Church.

During the recent "Through the Eyes of a Child, Lenten Art Show", we made copies for people to take home as well.  A deacon who has been attending our Church for awhile took many copies for a Diocesan heath care seminar.  She is also a parish nurse, and so she shared them with others.

They liked them so much that now our Sunday School kids have gone national!  This coming weekend, at DeKoven Center in Racine, Wisconsin, is the Faith, Hope and Health Conference, the 4th Annual Seasons of Health Ministry Conference, sponsored by the National Episcopal Health Ministries.  Deacon Mary (Misner) told me they have taken the Sunday School Lord's Prayer pamphlet and reproduced it to hand out to all who come to that conference.   WOW!  Pretty cool kids!! What an honor to bring a prayer and blessing to others in such a way!  Great job!  We are proud of your art and efforts in showing forth your faith to others!

Being Butterfly Caregivers....

Our church decided to do a butterfly release this year for Pentecost, which is May 27th.  Usually we have helium balloons and/or dove releases, but with the return of our helium tank due to helium shortages, we decided to look at other options to symbolize the releasing of the Holy Spirit and new life in the Holy Spirit that we celebrate on Pentecost Sunday.

So, after researching some places online, we made the purchase of what could be over 75 butterflies (that is IF they all survive and hopefully hatch by Pentecost Sunday!!).

Larger containers with 5 larvae

The larvae arrived yesterday afternoon, and this morning Deb and I got our "babies" ready in their new nursery with their special butterfly food.

Smaller containers we had to add
butterfly food to and then transfer the larvae.

We ordered a kit that included a butterfly
hut, but we had to transfer food and larvae to
containers.  The refill kits are better, just have to
take them out of the boxes, already have larve (5)
and food in them ready to grow.

yum, yum... butterfly food...NOT!
It was kind of yukky smelling..blech!

Deb is using a brush that was provided
to gently move the larvae into each container.

It will take approx. 3 weeks until we have butterflies ... so we are praying that this project WILL workout and the butterflies will come forth in time for releasing them on Pentecost Sunday.   More updates to come in 7 - 10 days!

Here are our "babies" already to grow!  Covered them for now with a box top
No direct sunlight or heat or AC either.  No shaking them or moving them during
the metamorphosing process.  In 7 - 10 days we have to transfer them to the butterfly
hut until they hatch (about another 7 - 10 days later).

Dancing With The Stars ... and in the audience was.....

Here's our friend Debbie,
behind Judge Carrie Ann in the audience.

How cool is THIS?!!   Our friend was lucky to be able to go to, and get tickets for, Dancing With The Stars tonite ... and we saw her MANY times in the audience there!  She and her friend had GREAT seats evidently...  Wonder if she got to talk to Donald Driver and get a dance with him before she left?  *lol*

It's May Day!! May Baskets for the Grandsons and Planters for Mom and my Aunt/Godmother

 I found some old bar glasses for tap beer, and old ashtrays at a GoodWill Store... after my discount coupon they cost me about .35 cents each.  So, I turned them into crystal like mushrooms for use in planters.  I found the silver birds for .99 cents each, the wood was scrap wood, the base for the planter was $1.49, the plants were about $1.50, and I had the little glass stones from long ago, had extra potting soil from another project, and plenty of amazing goop too.  I made these two planters for my Mom and for my Aunt Shirley (who is also my God-mother) for a May Day Basket.  The total cost was less than $6.50 each.

Also made the grandsons some candy May Day bags and delivered them today too.  (Holding one here for when granddaughter Jorden visits next as well!). 

Happy May Day all!  Love this tradition of hanging May Baskets and surprising family with goodies,  that I've been doing since I was a child!

Women of the Bible Part 2 Workshop

This morning Mother Anita Braden led a workshop on New Testament women at Christ Church.  Last Fall she led one on some of the women from the Old Testament.  Today's workshop was equally as informative and interesting! 

Thank you Mother Anita for your sharings and for being with us!

It was a great morning and the luncheon turned out delicious too! 

Father Bill made a cool watermelon "Mary Shrine"

 fruit salad which was a big hit too!

Friday Flop ... a strawberry cake failure and then success...

So, I was going to try a new fruit with the cake recipe that I usually call "John's Mom's Rhubarb Cake".  I've used this cake recipe before with apples, blueberries, peaches, rhubarb and they have all turned out really good.  So, when I had the idea to use strawberries I figured it would be equally as GREAT!  BUT, I soon found out as it was baking that not as much boiling water needs to be added to it, and the spill over of strawberry juice overflowing onto the hot oven caused the whole house to be filled with smoke ...ugghh!!

After getting the hot oven a bit cleaned up, and trying to bake the cake more, because it was far from done yet, I finally took it out and even after it cooled down, all I had was strawberry cake SOUP!

Although it tasted good... it looked bad.

So, I decided to try two smaller cakes, and add less boiling water at the end ... and it WORKED!

So, here are the steps ... delicious strawberry cake for tomorrow's workshop! YUMMMM!

Cut up strawberries and fill the bottom of a baking dish....

Mix together (for each of these small round dishes):

3 tablespoons of Crisco shortening

3/4 cup of sugar

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 cup of milk (if the dough seems too stiff, add a few more tablespoons of milk)

 Then spread the cake over the top of the strawberries.

After that, mix together in a separate bowl:
3/4 cup of sugar
1 tablespoon of cinnamon

1 (heaping) tablespoon of cornstarch

Sprinkle that over the top of the cake dough you have on the strawberries.

Boil water, and add about 1/2 cup over the top of your cake.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for approx. 50 minutes ... check it before that time incase your oven runs hot.

NOTE:  I put tin foil under my cakes after the first fiasco with it boiling over.

If you use this cake recipe with things like rhubarb, I add more boiling water over the top of it ... 1/2 - 1 cup, depending on the size of the baking dish.

Recycled Door Bench/Chair Project TWO ... a work in progress...

Here is another recycled door project that my husband John put together for me.  He used an old door, parts of old doors, drawers and more to make this bench/halltree. I showed him some examples of what I wanted, I had an old distressed looking mirror that fits in one of the top inserts of the door, so he put it all together & I get to paint, sand, stain and embellish it, clean up the hardware (hinges, door plate, etc.) and then we'll see if we can sell it.

 

Here it is so far ... before painting it red and after ... I had about 5 various shades of red spray paint I used on it...  next step will be sanding it all down in a couple of days... then staining the whole thing with a dark stain to tame down the red, maybe two coats of stain... then polycrylic to seal it and insert the mirror, add the hardware.

Sooo, since I'm doing it in between other things, it may be a couple of weeks before it's done.... MORE TO COME!

It's the door project assemblage that NEVER ends!!..arrgghhh!

Okay.. Up early this A.M. and FINALLY  some time to get back to this door project .. I didn't like how the stain I used had made the old white paint that showed thru turn kind of pinkish, so I bought some darker stain, and have applied two coats to it .... it's finally getting better!  So, after this dries for a couple of days, I'll decide whether or not to go with a 3rd staining or go on to a coat or two of polycrylic ... then add back the doorknob, hinges and hardware and TAHHH DAHHH - it's finished!  

Not sure yet if we'll sell it, or donate it for the Mother's Day Brunch Basket Drawing...we'll see....

I have another door project to get to as well... maybe the first coats of red paint on that one will happen later this week?

Women of the Bible - Part 2

If you are in the area on Saturday, April 28th, I invite you to come to a morning workshop called "Women of the Bible - Part 2".

We had the Rev. Anita Braden last Fall at Christ Church for Part 1 and it was a great morning of learning and sharing.    So, here's an invite for the workshop and luncheon coming up soon..... Hope to see YOU there!

Christ Church Women present....

Women of the Bible - PART II
Saturday, April 28, 2012 * 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

held at
Christ Episcopal Church
503 E. Walworth, Delavan, WI   262-728-5292

We invite you to learn MORE of the interesting women from scripture, how they made a difference, their faith, lives and how they continue to influence women and men today!
Our guest speaker, The Rev. Anita Braden, an Episcopal priest, will present a second part to this interesting series on women who have been featured in scripture. Mother Anita has a wonderful way of bringing us into the stories in scripture that give us interesting and thought-provoking insights for our own lives.

Our workshop will include group discussions, prayer, and a soup & salad luncheon. There is no charge for this workshop, but we ask you to register early so we may plan enough for all.

Call or email to Register (262-728-5292 - christchurch@pensys.com) by Thursday, April 26th.  Include your name, email, phone.

Corn Dog Muffins .....

Another thanks to Pinterest for this idea ....   If you like corn muffins (and my grandkids and kids do), you'll like these too!

Easy and delicious!  I used Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix, but I only used 1/4 cup of milk (instead of 1/3), with the one egg, and then also added a heaping 1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce. (it helps the muffin stay moister and adds a bit of flavor to the corn muffin) 

After mixing it all together, I put spoonfuls into a mini muffin tin (that makes 24 mini muffins), filling each one about 1/2 full.  Then cut hotdogs into fourths, inserted into the center of each muffin, and baked for about 15 minutes or so.  (I'd check them after 10 minutes in case your oven runs hotter).

 

These will be fun to have the grandkids help me make too next time they are here!

Doubting Thomas ...

Believing, no doubts..thru the eyes of a child...

Sunday School was such a fun and blessed event today for me ... since the Gospel lesson featured Thomas, who is often called "doubting Thomas", I used the found object assemblage I had made of Thomas to start our discussions with the kids.   We read the gospel story, and discussed how artists often portray certain people and events in different ways... and I explained to them the ways I had portrayed this assemblage art box called "Thomas - Didymus", which means twin, showing them the mirrored Thomas (his twin), the nails that symbolized the nails that were used to nail Jesus to the cross... the hand of Jesus with the wound, dripping a heart shaped blood into the chalice (which we remember when we take Holy Communion from the chalice .. the blood of Christ, the cup of salvation).  I was amazed that they understood the symbolism of it, and happy that it may have helped them understand this passage more too!

It was fun to hear their questions, their doubts expressed, yet their faith and knowledge of past lessons, and teachings from their parents too no doubt.  Also fun as they looked at other art pieces around the room, and I answered questions about them (as best I could).

And to have them come running up to me after Church to ask to see the "screaming stones" we'd talked about in one of the art pieces in my office.  We went into the office, where they looked at various assemblages I have displayed on my shelves. 

To see thru the eyes of a child, as they ask questions, give comments, and offer their interpretation of things is so awesome!!  No wonder Jesus says, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."  (Matthew 19:14)

Thank You Lord for the blessing of these children!

The Taxman Calleth...

Got a call from our "taxman" (accountant), who had our 2011 tax return finished ... Good news... we get a refund - small, but at least it's something!  Bad news - income was down again, which we knew, but at least it had picked up a bit from 2010.

About time for this recession to hit the road!  Praying this Spring more and more people will be looking at renovations, repairs, additions or even a new build or two! 

So, anyone needing any work this year... check out the quality workmanship of Karstetter Construction!  Give them a call!

And, anyone wanting some excellent photos taken for a special event, wedding, birthday, senior high school photos, advertising, etc.  Check out the great work done by Kasey K Photo!

Monday Night Book Club - "Love Wins"

Tonight was the first night of our Book Club featuring the book "Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived", by Pastor Rob Bell.  This is what Amazon says about the book:

Millions of Christians have struggled with how to reconcile God's love and God's judgment: Has God created billions of people over thousands of years only to select a few to go to heaven and everyone else to suffer forever in hell? Is this acceptable to God? How is this "good news?"
Troubling questions--so troubling that many have lost their faith because of them. Others only whisper the questions to themselves, fearing or being taught that they might lose their faith and their church if they ask them out loud.
But what if these questions trouble us for good reason? What if the story of heaven and hell we have been taught is not, in fact, what the Bible teaches? What if what Jesus meant by "heaven," "hell," and salvation" are very different from how we have come to understand them?
What if it is God who wants us to face these questions?
Author, pastor, and innovative teacher Rob Bell presents a deeply biblical vision for rediscovering a richer, grander, truer, and more spiritually satisfying way of understanding heaven, hell, God, Jesus, salvation, and repentance. The result is the discovery that the "good news" is much, much better than we ever imagined.
Love wins.

It was a good night, lots of varied thoughts expressed during our discussions, and very interesting discussion questions by our facilitator Chip Mornard.  Nine of us were present for our first of 8 weeks (break on Memorial Day Monday) discussing this book, and we are expecting a few more to join us next Monday.

New Narthex East Red Door Entrance

It's not too late if you are in the Delavan area to join us at Christ Episcopal Church on Monday evenings from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.  (enter through the east side red doors by the parking area), books are available to purchase from Christ Church as well, call them for more info.

Still watering and mowing the Easter gardens....

Who'd have thought, when we planted these Easter gardens during Sunday School a couple of weeks ago, that I would have to "mow" them 5 - 6 times!!   Besides spritzing them thoroughly every day with water, and cutting the grass (with scissors) every  2 -3 days, I've had yard waste clean up beside..*L*

Today I had Jorden at work with me and she helped with the spritzing and mowing too!  She cut down some of them a little TOO close ...but they'll no doubt grow again in a day or so.

Fr. Bill has taken a couple of them to the people he visits who are homebound or in nursing homes, and will be taking another 4 - 5 in the next few days too.