Costume Party Girls

Rebekah was a co-hostess for a costume party last night with a friend. Both the girls were dressed up, we prepared food all day long, and Rebekah helped plan and organize the entire event. It was a great sucess and they had a blast! Here is a shot of the girls together just before the party...

A couple of our culinary contruibutions.....Swamp punch complete with wormy hand ice cube..
And deviled eyes with a brain centerpiece. The "brain" is a small watermelon that I carved to resemble a brain.

Here's Rebekah with a few of her friends....what a crew!

Our Little Darlings...

Oh my, how do such beautiful little girly-girls turn into T-E-E-N-A-G-E-R-S!?!?! Each year the girls go to a Fall Festival, dressing up in a costume and having loads of fun.

This began in 2005, Stepanie dressed as an angel and Rebekah was a Genie. Aren't they adorable?

Then in 2006, Rebekah chose to be a cheerleader, and Steph was a gypsy...Cute as bugs!

Then last year, Stephanie had a thing for cats...it's hard to see them, but there are little black ears on her head. Rebekah was learning about Japan and decided that she was a Japanese school girl. (I don't see it, but hey, the kid was happy with her choice)

So much for the cutesy costumes. No more girly-girls. This year, they are a pirate and a murdering maid. Aren't they adorable?

What a Beautiful Fall Morning!

What a beautiful morning it was this morning. A crisp 48º and dew on the ground. The leaves on one of the trees in the front yard are beginning to change color, and with the contrast of a beautiful blue clear sky I couldn't resist taking a picture.

Changing things

To help organize my thoughts, I have decided to change this blog to things going on in our day to day family life. This means that our homesteading blog has a new address, and I am also making a recipe blog.

Clear as mud?

Outskirts of Ike

As of an hour ago, Ike is still classified as a hurricane. It has been over 8 hours since landfall! So far so good here, we've had rain and a lot of wind...several branches down...but nothing serious. Here is how the radar looks now...

Ike is close

This looks like a really nasty storm. We are praying for those along the Gulf Coast, and for everyone in Ike's path.

We are confident that the Lord will take care of us, and we have provisions for ourselves and others. Check out this little miracle....

Yesterday's hurricane advisory looked like this...

We have asked for prayers for all of Texas, and others in the path of this great storm. This is the advisory map I pulled up this morning from the same source as the map above....

If you look at that small green area in NE Texas, we are the smallest county (right along I20). Not only has the Lord provided us with a hedge, but He has made it doubly thick to the south.

Ike update

It looks like we may feel some effects from Ike, and the local newscasters are suggesting the following:

Storm Preparedness Suggestions
Posted: Thursday, 11th September 2008 9:14AM
Among storm preparedness suggestions which should be completed by late-evening Friday are:

a) Should you lose power, fill an ice chest with all available ice in your refrigerator, and place limited amounts of necessary perishable food or medicines requiring refrigeration in it.

B) Ensure that you have a working flashlight and ample replacement batteries make sure the batteries are of the right type.

C) Make sure your cellular telephone is charged. When electric service is off, be certain to only use your cellular telephone for actual calls, and limit those. Do not use it for text-messaging, playing music, reading or sending electronic mail messages, or downloading material from the Internet. A fully charged traditional cellular telephone can last for up to 84 hours, provided none of the things listed above are done. The newer multi-use cellular telephones do not last nearly as long.

D) Make certain you have a couple of days of canned meals, which are edible without heating: stews, soups, and the like.

E) Make certain that you have a fully functional battery-powered radio capable of picking up standard AM broadcasting stations, and that you have one set of replacement batteries.

F) If in your car, do not drive through flowing water which is more than 8 inches deep. This is sufficient to wash away most passenger automobiles. Trucks and sport-utility vehicles should not attempt to drive through flowing water more than 18 inches deep. Most weather- related deaths are due to flooding. Turn around; don't drown!

G) If you have an automatic garage door, open the garage Friday evening and leave it open until the danger of power failures has passed.

H) Secure outdoor objects which are too large to bring inside, so they won't blow away and possibly harm persons or the neighbors' property. This includes items such as lawn furniture, trash cans, and the like.

I) Make certain you have enough batteries for necessary medical devices.

Here is our to-do list for the afternoon:

1. Move hay over to our storage area so that we can fill mangers and button the goats and chickens up in the barn & henhouse without having to haul it in the rain or storms.

2. Fill the empty propane tank (3 are full, but we emptied one over the weekend..these are good for cooking during power outtages).

3. Clean and re-fill water barrel

4. Get prescriptions filled.

5. Filter oil for using in oil lamps (you can filter and use discarded cooking oil in oil lamps)

6. Check supply of batteries and get any that are needed.

7. Lock up yard equipment, clear off patio, and take down hanging plants.

I'm sure we'll add things to the list before tomorrow evening. Here's how the storm is progressing.