And Finally.............

Feeling a bit 'domestic' today.....trying to be the 'good wife" and 'good mother"...


decided to make Easy Southern Banana Pudding from the inside of the Nilla Wafer box...




Viola! the finished product. I love these little dessert cups..I hardly ever use them though....

Another "Presentation"

I couldn't resist these Cookies and Roses at Wally World today....

Yummmmm

I wanted to share what I made for dinner last night...

Chicken Divan


The Recipe is from SusanP. over at

http://home-place.blogspot.com/2006/07/chicken-divan-this-is-wonderful-dish.html


I have to say I've become really lax in my cooking over the last year...although I suppose one could say I'm not a slacker when it comes to knitting and crocheting...the time I spend on those pursuits takes me away from doing other important things like cooking and cleaning....Needless to say I was surprised at the response from my family. I hardly EVER hear anything 'good" about my cooking...LOL....but even my picky teen daughter said it was pretty good....this one's definately a 'keeper"....

I did change a few things for my dish...I used Cream of Mushroom instead of Cream of Chicken..and I used California veggies( broccoli,cauliflower, and carrots )instead of just broccoli...I also added more cheese and bread crumbs then the recipe asked for...

Oh NO!!!

Hmmnn...everyday I check my blog to see if there are any comments and everyday..nope none

........welllllllll.........

silly me, who had NO IDEA how all these settings work, just NOW found out I had my comments set on moderate.....which means I have to actually check my comments in the dashboard and approve them before they'll be posted on my blog!!!! Turns out I've had TONS of comments...LOL!!! and now I feel terrible because people probably think I've been totally ignoring them!!!! and here I've been feeling sorry for myself thinking no one reads my blog ......so if any of you are still checking me out....please know that I didn't intentionally ignore your comments..and I really appreciate all the support ..especially in the religion posts!!

I'd have never have even Known if I hadn't gotten an e-mail from MissRobyn about the chocolate swap...she mentioned in that e-mail that she'd commented on my blog but every time I checked her comment wasn't there...so I finally decided to do a little investigating and sure enough.....there they ALL were......

So Thank You to everyone who has posted lately( except of course you spammers!!!)

and I promise from now on I'll do a much better job of acknowledging and repsponding....

Catholicism

I've been over to another blog recently and feel like maybe I've taken it over with talk of Catholicism. I don't mean to turn her blog into a Catholic debate so I figured itwas time I start bringing my thoughts to my own blog. ......For he most part I agreed with most of what this blogger had to say about how some Christians portray Christianity. My main point of posting about Catholicism was to correct what I felt were some misconceptions about Catholicism...Like her I find myself to be a pretty simple Christian..I don't have tons of scriptures memorized , I don't know the Catechism like the back of my hand. I have a few simple beliefs which I feel are the most inmportant to know as a Catholic and the rest I am actively trying to learn....I've been witnessing a LOT of Anti-Catholic sentimism on quite a few of the Christian blogs I had started reading...I mentioned this few days ago in my Disappointed post. It's really gotten me thinking about my Faith. I dont really feel I have the knowledge and strength at this time to refute most of these bloggers or to defend Catholicism properly on their blogs..so I've mostly just kept quiet in order not to ive them more ammo for their arguements against us. But I o feel that I do need to start sharing more about my faith..and do what I can to dispel some of the misunderstandings other have about Catholicism and some of the outright lies...as I said earlier I'm not an expert apologetic...there are a lot of things even I haven't taken the time to really understand about my own faith. I am a cradle Catholic who like many others just took much of what I was taught at face value and for many years didn't question it.....I did go thru a period where I started to question and really look into what it is we are called to believe...I even went thru my own 'anti-Catholic" period where I denounced the Church for things I had misunderstood...so I can certainly understand how, many non-Catholic Christians have a hard time with our beliefs and practices..the more I questioned the more I began to have faith in the Catholic church. and what it TRULY teaches..I think unfortunately many Catholics really don't take the time to really learn what it is the Church teaches...

Presentation is Everything

Well...maybe not 'everything" but it sure should count for "something". I was browsing another blog the other day and saw a post about 'presentation" ...the blogger showed us an example of how to present even storebought bakery items and make them look like something special....this is something I myself do pretty regularly....as much as my domestic wannabe heart would like me to, I just never do get around to doing all the wonderful baking I dream about....alas it's not because I don't have the time or talent because honestly, I do......I'm just plain lazy sometimes...any way here's my example of "Presentation being Everything"

before

after

Whew!!!

I just spent the last hour and a half updating and adding posts....I had so much I had intended to blog about during the last 2 weeks and just never got around to it....so I added them all today. I put each post under the date it would have been had I done them in real time....so even if you've checked my blog recently, be sure to scroll down ,possibly past the last post you read, as some of what I added happened 'before" my last actual posts...

Installation at St.Mary's

Yet again attending an Installation at another BEAUTIFUL Church...

we attended Mass before hand which again was interesting as each church seems to have their slight differences...I must say I really like this church...we attended the installation her last year as well and I was happy to come back....

this church is beautiful and exactly how I wouldn picture a Catholic Church...They had a fire earlier this year and they've recovered quite well..the Installation was really nice..they also have a Ladies Auxillary which also had their Installation of Officers tonight. and then afterwards we were treated to a Fellowship Dinner...and St.Mary's really knows how to put on a good spread!

Saturday Sky

It was a bit overcast today..but eventually there was some blue skies to photograph

SOS socks for my Sockpal!!!

Here are the socks I'm working on for my sock pal for Summer of Socks.



The Pattern is one I found online called
River Rapids and is really not that hard..I'm pretty new to the sock knitting so at first I worried it'd be too difficult but it's been coming along well...

it can be found at ... http://sockbug.blog-city.com






I've actually finished this sock and am almost finished with sock # 2. I'm using a wonderfully soft alpaca yarn....I love the color...and luckliy for me..LOL..I have enough to make myself a matchingn pair..hopefully I can finish soon...so i have time to add an extra surprise for my pal

Saturday Sky

Another Installation

This time it was at St. Matthew's in Va Beach.

Another really beautiful church inside and out:

My hubby: Worthy District Warden

A kiss after presenting her husband with his Jewel















Newly appointed Officers

a little sad and disappointed....

...lately I have been drawn to Christian blogging...and there are quite a few Christian bloggers that I had enjoyed reading and come to respect....but now I am learning that many of them seem to be extremely Anti-Catholic...As a Catholic myself it is quite hurtful to see that so many of the women I have grown to repsect view Catholism as UnChristian and UnBiblical!?? the sad thing is many of them don't seem to have any TRUE understanding of what Catholism REALLY is....most of their MISinformation comes from propaganda type sites such a chicktracks....

I thought that I had found a wonderful group of Christian Women that I could one day be a part of...but I have a feeling I would not truly be accepted as a "Catholic"...I can never understand how any "Christian" can feel Catholics are NOT when most Christian religions stem origionally from Catholism??

Sweet Sixteen..and never been ....nah....LOL

The thirteenth was Britt's Sweet Sixteen...I can't believe my "baby" is 16!!!

Getting Canned

This year was a good year for beets...DH has been bugging me to can some...his mother makes really great pickled beets and she shared the recipe with me earlier this year...so i finally took the plunge and tried making them and it worked and they were DELISH!!!
Here are the pics from start to finish:
peeling a slicing after having boiled them....
Addding the pickling spices to the vinegar mixture
Ladeling into the jars
Giving them a hot water bath

Voila the finished product , Nine jars of Pickled Beets....YUMMM

Installation of Officers-K of C

My husband is the District Warden for our area..in the Knight of Columbus. This means we get to attend Installations all over the region...Tonight we attended one for another Church in our area..

We attended Mass beforehand and it was a lovely service..it's always interesting to attend Mass at different Churches because alhtough so much is the same ...there are also some nice differences...Tonight there were three beautiful baby boys being Baptised ..the Priest was wonderful...energetic and friendly...he had all the small children come up and sit around the Baptismal font to be a part of the Baptisms...it was really sweet...I didn't take any pictures at Mass because I didn't feel comfortable intruding during that special time..but I took a few of the Installation after Mass...

Here is My Husband talking to Father before the Installation begins:

When a Knight is Installed as an Officer his wife or significant other places a special Jewel around his neck...Each Office has a specific Jewel:

Here are all of the New Officers who have just been sworn in:
most of my Pics didn't come out very well...I had trouble with my camera settings and then once I got them straightened out my batteries died..LOL

Baby Bibs O' Love

I've moved on from Ballband Washrags to the Baby Bibs O' Love




and now the Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono



in the Mason Dixon book...My niece had a baby boy in June and I'm finally getting around to making something for him...My SIL also had a baby boy in July and another SIL had a girl just a week ago.....I'll be making bibs for all fo them and a Kinono for each one...

Saturday Sky

I've just joined the Saturday Sky ring



...these are my pics for today

SonTreasure Island

This past week was Vacation Bible School at our church...the Catholic and Protestant Congregations worked together to put on a really great experience for all...turnout was pretty good, considering we've lost quite a few families in housing, due to demolition and rebuilding since last year.... Our theme this year was SonTreasure Island....Jesus being the treasure we all can share in...I was in charge of snacks again this year...

and with the exception of the "blue" cream cheese celery snack snacks were a hit with kids and parents( parents liked the cream cheese celery snack..kids didn't...LOL)

Rachel my 19 year old helped me with snacks this year ...

Crafts were also pretty kewl this year...on the last day they got to make sandcastles...
.these were made with a mixture of sand , cornstarch and water that was baked the night previous....it formed a kind of 'clay' sand....that was perfect for molding sandcastles....

Here is my daughter Britt with an adorable little one from VBS..Britt was a 'team leader"

War Eagle!!!!

And finally something for the hubby...this is my latest project an afghan for my husband in

Auburn University colors...blue and orange..
He'll be heading out on deployment soon so I'm making this for his stateroom....

Ballband #2

I made another ballband dishcloth for the Mason Dixon group....I realy like how the colors came out...the bright oranges and yellows with the turquoise is very pretty I think...

 

these cloths are pretty fun to make...

SOS # 12 and #13

Two more pairs of socks finished for Summer of socks....this first pair was done with a Noro Silk yarn ...they turned out really pretty and 'soft"

I really liked the swirl pattern on the right foot..wish I could have du[plicated it on the second sock...

This second pair I used a pattern from a fellow SOS member....it's Called Port and Starboard and can b e found here: http://knittedbear.blogspot.com/2006/07/port-and-starboard-socks.html

I took these socks to the ball game with me....here's Britt playing catcher....
And here they are finished....