A pretty poem to think about

This was taken from Heaven Opened, a collection of letters from Mary Winslow…

"I would not ask a thornless life,

From every sorrow free,

Did God in His kind providence

Permit it so to be.

"For, as the verdure of the earth

Would wither and decay,

Beneath the dazzling gloriousness

Of a perpetual day,

"So the green places of the heart,

In life’s progressive years,

Would cease to yield the buds of hope,

If water’d not by tears.

"I ask a firm and steadfast mind,

My duties to fulfil,

A cheerful and devoted heart,

To do my Father’s will.

"A humble and enduring faith,

To lift my soul above,

And in each chastening grief to see

A precious Saviour’s love.

"A heaven-born strength to follow on

The path my Jesus trod;

Through Him to win the meed of grace,

And endless joy with God."

Nanny Didn’t Go Home After All!

It’s true! Because of bad weather (i.e. ice, snow, slippery roads) warnings, Nanny gets to stay till Saturday! It’s not terribly long, but we’re very excited. And we’re continuing to work on more odds and ends. We don’t like to just sit around all the time. Maybe we’ll have more pictures to show you all in the next couple of days… can’t make any promises, though.

Nanny’s Visit:: Day 5, 6, and 7 Shades, Shades, Shades

We are SO sorry…. we’ve not posted about our progress for so many days! Nanny, Mom, and us girls have been extremely busy working on the Roman Shades. Lord willing we’ll be able to finish them all today, because Nanny has to go home tomorrow. We’re all really going to miss her!

Our Roman Shades have turned out very well so far. We used plain sheeting to make them with and Mini Blinds without the slats. Lord willing you’ll get to see pictures of the finished product later on today, but for now, here’s some pictures working on them. We had a total of 10 to do!

Took some cutting, measuring, and ripping!

Not to mention pressing and sewing!

Then yesterday afternoon, we decided to drive over to a town about 20 miles from us to do a little looking around. We felt like we could take a small break anyway! We visited a couple flea markets and throughly enjoyed ourselves. We brought along a digital camera so we could snap a few pictures to show you all.

Aunt Amy, your sister bought these for you!

Nanny’s Visit Days 2 & 3:: Painting and the Picket Fence

We know, we know… we’re were supposed to post daily. We’re sorry… the days just come and go so quickly! Here’s a little blurb of what we did yesterday and today.

Yesterday was spent mainly in painting the boys’ room a pretty pale brown color. To us it looks just like yummy chocolate milk. And it’s very surprising how cozy it makes a room feel! Nanny and Apphia are the official "cutting-in-a-room" painters (for us non-painters the term means go around the edges, near the baseboards, and trim!), so yesterday for awhile they worked on that while Mom helped the boys go through all the "goodies" they have.

Here Nanny’s starting to cut in the room, while Abigail looks on.

Apphia’s working on some more painting while Caleb and Abigail keep her company.

Then Nanny had this impressive idea to paint a blue stripe on the wall with the window, and paint a Bible verse above it. Earlier this morning, Nanny worked on that by herself. We chose a verse that we thought would be good for our wonderful young men… 2 Timothy 2:1 "Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus."

She did this all free hand! Unbelievable to me! Now the finished product…

This afternoon we also enjoyed going into town and visiting one of our favorite local flea markets, The Picket Fence (Nanny loves flea markets as much as we do!). Mom and Nanny had decided on some nice storage solutions for the floor of the closet so off we went to Lowe’s to pick up some things. Lord willing you’ll get to see them tomorrow! (By the way, we also had to stop at the fabric store for some things…)

While we were in town we also picked up some Domino’s Pizza for our movie and pizza night tonight… we’re taking the evening off work.

P.S. Paps, if you’re reading this, we love and miss you TONS!! We wish you were here too!

They’re Here!!

Finally. We’re so happy to now "officially" release our Chic Sisters Apron pattern. Now you sewers can make your own! And for those of you who asked to be put on our chic sisters apron "waiting list"… you won’t have to wait much longer!

This afternoon we worked on all the folding and packaging. We took some pictures so you all could see the process we go through. To tell the whole truth, we’re still learning!

Right now our ping-pong table has to double as a folding station!

Now the patterns are ready to ship!

By the way, for those of you who might own a cute little shop and are interested in selling our patterns, you can contact us for wholesale information!

And Business Goes On

This morning, by the grace of God, we finished an order that we’d been working on for a lady who owns a shop in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. In the near future, all three apron styles from marie-madeline studio will be available at Feather Your Nest!

Off to UPS we go….

Nanny’s Visit Day 1:: Everything Out

Well! At last the long awaited day is here, and the boys are to have their special bedroom makeover. The boys are tickled pink! Yesterday we worked on simply getting everything organized… pulling everything out of the closets, moving the furniture away from the walls (for painting purposes), and wiping down everything really well. Here are a few pictures of the work-in-process…

We also went through the boys' clothing to make sure that everything they had in their closets still fit properly. (We'll let you guess the end result of that expedition!) Phew, what a job. And after school is over, back to work we go… today is decide-on-paint-samples day. We're enjoying our time with Nanny, and are so thankful that she gets to be with us!

(Random thought: Isn't Nanny the cutest name for a grandmother?)

Exciting News…

Our Nanny is coming to visit from Indiana! But that’s just the half of it… we have several exciting projects to work on while she’s here. We’re all looking forward to it. Lord willing we’ll try to post pictures and details about our progress at the end of each day. We’re expecting to be quite busy, sewing, painting, organizing, redoing, so forth and so on. Stay tuned!

(Please Note:: The pattern pictures have nothing to do with this post. You’ve got to admit, they’re cute anyway!)

The Southern Belle’s Beauty Secrets!

French Perfume Language Art Print

~For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.

~For lovely eyes, see the good in all people.

~For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

~For poise, walk with the knowledge that you will never walk alone, for the Lord is always by your side.

~Remember if you are ever in need of a helping hand, you’ll find one at the end of your arm.

~As you grow older, you will understand that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, and the second for helping others. (Godey’s Lady’s Book, 1856)

"Of all things you wear, your expression is the most important." ~Mrs. Dunwoody

"Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates." ~Proverbs 31:30-31

posted by Apphia

Yummy Yeast Crescent Rolls

These crescent rolls are so good! They’re super, with a good flavor. Actually, though they make look hard, these rolls are fairly easy to make. We like to bake extra and then put them in plastic bags and freeze them. Whenever we need some bread to go with a meal, and bingo! Bread ready!

Yummy Yeast Crescent Rolls

3 cups scalded milk

3 TBSP sugar, plus 3/4 cup sugar

2 pkg. yeast

2 eggs

1 TBSP salt

1/2 cup oil (we use coconut oil and it works well!)

8 cups flour

Scald milk and cool to luke warm. Add 3 TBSP sugar and yeast packages– let sit 10 minutes. Then add eggs, 3/4 cup sugar, salt, oil, and 4 cups flour. Beat 2 minutes (We use our KitchenAid mixer with the dough paddle.). Now gradually add 4 more cups of flour to form a soft dough. Grease top with oil and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. Punch down dough and divide into four sections. Roll one section out into a fair-size circle. Using a butter knife, cut dough in quarters, then cut each quarter into 4 pie-shaped wedges. Roll into crescents and place on greased pan. Let rise until doubled in size. Bake at 375 degrees until done, approximately 8 minutes. When you take them out of oven, butter tops of rolls. This recipe makes about 48 rolls.