Allison's chickens

A few years ago, some friends bought some dollar store chicken yard ornaments and decorated our campsite with them at Family Camp. When we could sneak them over to their campsite, we "chickened" them in return.

The chickens have broken or been given away in a teen scavenger hunt until, last year, we were down to only one left. We left it at our friends' campsite right before we pulled out. This year they reciprocated, since they pulled out ahead of us.

Allison thought we needed more chickens but the place that used to sell them burned last summer. What to do?

She decided to make her own.



She has spent a lot of time in the playhouse painting since camp.

I find the "Chickens Rock" rock hilarious.

Clarence taught her how to use a saw to cut out shapes. For my own good, I was unaware of that at first.

She has them all packed away in the trailer, waiting for next summer.

Hopefully, we'll have room to pack the stuff we actually need.

Shirt to Skirt

I saw an idea in a magazine a few months back and shared it with Julianne. It was how to transform a man's shirt into a woman's skirt. She was intrigued.

We picked up a couple shirts at Salvation Army for $1 each so she could experiment.



She chose to start with a red plaid.

I removed the pocket for her, then she started cutting. The project got put aside for a while for various reasons and when she pulled it out again, I was surprised to see that she had embellished the pocket. Cute idea, and not one that the magazine article had suggested. I love her creativity.

We finally got around to purchasing some cording for the drawstring, which was the final delay. Last week, she stitched the pocket in its new location, turned down the top and sewed it, then learned how to make buttonholes on my sewing machine and threaded the drawstring through.

(I'm kicking myself for not taking a detail shot of her crocheted flower on the pocket.)

The drawstring didn't look good to me with her fancy embellished pocket so I encouraged her to tuck it in. I'm thinking elastic might be a better idea the next time.

Overall, it was a pretty simple project. Julianne was able to pick up a couple new sewing skills in the process and is tickled with her new skirt.

October quiz

The first quiz of the season was yesterday.

This year they are quizzing on I & II Corinthians. We actually have a three person team this year, although the girls' teammate wasn't able to go to yesterday's competition.



In individual competition, both girls made it to the final round. Allison didn't place but Julianne took first place.

In team competition, the girls took first place in the young teen veteran division. The other girl who is quizzing this year is in 10th grade, so when she attends, they will be quizzing in the senior teen division.

Julianne quizzed out in every round she was in yesterday (7). Allison managed to get two quiz outs during the course of the day. They continually amaze me.

Everyday miracles

Yesterday was Allison's night to cook. She asked her dad to stop on his way home for an ingredient, as he often does for me. He took a slight detour from his normal route home to go to Sam's Club.

On his ride into work, he had been unable to avoid something in the road. He checked his tires when he got to work and again before leaving, then started his commute home.

As he exited the freeway, almost to Sam's, his tire went flat. He continued, driving slowly, and made it to Sam's Club safely. I saw several miracles in his adventure.

1. He didn't take his normal route home, which would have left him stranded roadside, nowhere near a tire place.
2. The tire didn't go flat until he was off the freeway, moving at a much slower, safer speed.
3. He was the only customer in the tire dept. and was able to get the tire changed in mere minutes. (That seems like a huge miracle to me!)
4. He was at Sam's Club, where the tire was originally purchased, so the road hazard coverage was usable, giving him a discount on the new tire.

Prayer for their dad's safety is something the girls often add when asking a blessing on their food at mealtime. Sometimes it seems so rote and repetitious to my ears, sincere though they are. I'm glad God doesn't look at it that way and orchestrated all the details so perfectly yesterday, allowing us to glimpse some of the miracles I'm sure He performs unnoticed every day.

An anniversary surprise

The girls spent some time with their adopted grandma this past week. We have been so busy of late that we had a hard time finding a day they could go when she invited them.

There was a lot of whispering going on and when I asked why she wanted them to come over, there was no direct answer. Allison finally told me it was like "Grandma's craft day" that my mom has with the grandkids every Christmas.

Only this time, it involved baking instead of crafting.



The girls spent the afternoon there, after finishing their schoolwork. Clarence and I were invited to join them for dinner and were surprised by these cakes when we arrived.

Allison decorated "Happy" and Julianne did the honors on "Anniversary". The decorations were on top of cake called "Death by chocolate". It was delicious-and we lived to tell about it!

Baby gifts

I went to a baby shower last Saturday while my family picked pears.



I've started making my shower gifts and adding something small to go with the things I sew. Saturday, I didn't have any baby gift bags so I ended up using my scrap fabric to make a tote bag to hold everything. I thought it was kind of floppy, being unlined, and wasn't very impressed with it. But, it did the job of holding the gift. I figured they could pitch it, just like gift wrap, if they didn't have a use for it. Oddly enough, the bag was what the mom-to-be seemed most delighted with.

Their nursery is done in Curious George, hence my fabric choice. The family told me that they are having a hard time finding anything with Curious George and although there were many monkey gifts, I don't think there was anything else with Curious George on it at the shower. Thank you JoAnn Fabrics!

Since I knew the baby's first name, I machine embroidered it randomly on one of the burp cloths. I would have used his initials, too, but the parents haven't chosen a middle name yet-at least not that they're telling.

We're visiting friends in Indiana this week whose son and daughter-in-law are expecting their first, too. Another boy. They aren't sharing the name they've picked either, so no personalization on this set.

Rite Aid had an extremely good deal on baby products last week so I used those to round out my gifts.

Do you always give the same thing for shower gifts or do you pick something different each time? I'm liking having a standard gift to fall back on for baby showers. Bridal showers are a whole 'nuther issue.

We're spending a couple days away for our anniversary. I'll see you all when we get back.

Apple time

This is Clarence's latest creation. It's part of a fire extinguisher (not the foam kind), refashioned into a fruit picker. Mounted on an extension handle, it'll reach way up into a tree to get the fruit. We put a piece of foam in to help prevent bruising.



We don't know the owner of this apple tree but it's right around the corner from our house. Clarence and Allison were brave and knocked on the door to ask if we could pick his apples. The man gave them permission, then shut the door rather abruptly. As they turned to walk away, he re-opened the door and said "Thanks for asking."

There are two trees that seem to be the same variety that we really like. They are sweet with a bit of tartness. Allison has made some fantastic pies with them, plus we've got some in the freezer for later. They were delicious to eat fresh, too.

We each took a turn trying the picker out. It worked just like he hoped it would.

We've walked down and picked two or three times now. The spots that some of the apples have seem to be only skin deep. Once peeled, there's seldom any problems to deal with.

The neighbor has another tree, with a different variety of apples, that is just ripening now. We don't like the flavor as well, but Allison made an apple crisp with some of those apples and it was great-so we'll be going back for more.

(A couple pies Allison made.)

We dropped off a pie to the neighbor last week. He still wasn't all that friendly, but seemed to be quite happy to have the treat. Clarence thought he was already getting a fork by the time we left the driveway.