Category Archives: crafts and recipes

illuminations on love and laughter

04 Sunday Mar 2012

Posted by in adoreable puppies, Best Friend Dogs, crafts and recipes, Friendship International

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“Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.  Then it was said among the nations, ‘The LORD has done great things for them.'”  Psalms 126:2

Golden Illumination

Did you know that our dogs sense our emotional moods?  I have seen this time and time again.  If I am sad or not feeling well my dog will come over to me and lay his head on my knee, looking up at me with the saddest most understanding eyes you could ever imagine.  But if I am laughing and happy my dog gets a twinkle in his eye and even laughs with me (not out loud, thank goodness.)  My husband thinks that God made a slight mistake when he made women so that’s why he made dogs who don’t talk.  Well we all know that God doesn’t make mistakes.  I do believe that dogs talk with their eyes and of course wagging tails.  If you think that dogs don’t laugh with us, just take a good look at this picture!  This is Christy laughing with Bailey who was the only puppy in Happy and Sidney’s first litter.  Naturally she was very spoiled!  I remember one of her favorite things to do was climb up in my favorite chair the moment I left the room.  She would be sitting there like a queen when I returned.

Fun Stuff For Kids

Monkey Puppets

  • Open the end of an individual box of cereal and remove the cereal.
  • Cut the box in half leaving one long side uncut.  Bend the box back to make finger holds for your puppet head.
  • Cut a strip of brown paper sack about 1 1/2″ wide and 10″ long.  Staple the strip around the bottom three sides of box for the monkey’s chin.
  • Glue a pink or orange 5″ by 3″ piece of paper on the inside of the monkey’s mouth.
  • Add a red tongue.
  • Cut a peanut shaped head  out of a brown paper sack about 2 1/2″ wide for top part of head and 3 1/2″ wide for cheeks and 4 1/2″ long.
  • Add 2 black eyes with glue (I used small black pom poms and a tiny pom for the monkey’s nose) but buttons would also work.
  • Cut a heart shape out of the brown paper sack about 2″wide 2″ long.  Cut the heart in half and you will have two ears to glue on your monkey’s head.
  • Add some brown crinkle cut strings of hair with glue.
  • Glue the monkey’s head to the box.
  • Using the long side of the brown sack cut two long legs and two arms and fold accordion style.  Staple to sides of box.
  • Holding box with your thumb and three fingers you can make your monkey talk and dance.  Have fun!

Sometimes on cousin’s night it sounds like a gang of monkeys escaped from the zoo and entered the house.  This week we will be making Monkey Bread for our dessert which is a favorite with everybody.  It is easy and fun to pull apart and best when just baked and eaten while still warm and sticky delicious!

Monkey Bread Recipe (Found on Pillsbury Flaky Layer Biscuits can)

Preparation time 25 minutes.  Start to Finish: 1 hour 30 minutes

  •  3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 4 cans (7.5 oz. each) Pillsbury refrigerated biscuits
  • 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  1. Grease or spray 12-cup Bundt cake pan
  2. Mix granulated sugar and cinnamon in 1-gallon bag.  Cut each biscuit into quarters.  Shake quarters in bag to coat;  place in pan.  Mix melted butter and brown sugar; pour over biscuits pieces.
  3. Bake at 350 degrees for 49 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool 5 minutes.  Turn upside down.  Serve warm.  12 servings

Love and Laughter illuminations

Monkey bread reminds me of the rhyme my kids loved when they were little.       Five little monkeys jumping on the bed; one fell off and bumped his head;  Momma called the doctor and the doctor said, “No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”   It goes all the way down to one little monkey and the kids loved saying it over and over.  One of the best memories I have of Mommaw, my children’s much loved grandmother on their father’s side was coming into my son’s bedroom one Saturday evening to find her jumping on his water bed with all four of our children with the music blasting on his stereo playing “Saturday Night” sung by the Bay City Rollers.  Those were fun times!  Now the trampoline takes the place of the water bed and kids seem to love bouncing and tumbling on it. Sorry the pictures are out of focus but the kids were jumping like monkeys none stop!

Friendship International

Smiles Are Contagious

If you are looking for joy, you’ll find plenty of it at Friendship International. I felt honored to be one of the teachers and the year that I taught the art of paper mache clown making was filled with laughter and fun.  If you have never been a part of this organization, you really should come to one of the meetings.  It is something you won’t soon forget.

Our theme at the clown clinic was “smiles are contagious.”

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Mardi Gras Celebration

27 Monday Feb 2012

Posted by in crafts and recipes, parental wisdom and Mardi Gras celebration

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“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”         Jeremiah 29:13

Celebration illumination:  Mardi Gras

Magi from the East with only a star provided by God as their G.P.S. (Global Positioning System) undertook a long journey to find the one who would be born a King, the one and only Son of God.  They followed the bright shining star to a stable in Bethlehem and found Jesus, the Holy baby lying in a manger.  When they saw the baby they were overjoyed and bowed down and worshiped him.  Then these three wise kings opened their treasures and presented Jesus with gifts of gold, incense and myrrh.  This celebration became known as Twelfth Night and the Feast of Epiphany.  It is also the beginning of Mardi Gras Season which lasts until the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday which begins the season of Lent.  Children in New Orleans celebrate Mardi Gras with a King Cake.  It is an oval shaped cake that is decorated in the colors of green for Faith, yellow for Power and purple for Justice.  Inside the cake is hidden a small plastic baby to represent the Holy baby that the wise men found.  It is said that the child who finds the baby in their piece of cake will receive blessings all year long.  Simon found the baby in our cake and was declared a wise king.

Fun Stuff for Kids

Wise Men Crowns

Cut long strips of poster board (I used large gold gift bags that I found at the dollar store).  Cut crown points along one side of the strip.  Using glue sticks add sequins for jewels and sticker stars for wisdom to the crown.  Staple the crown together after measuring to fit the head of your child.

Mardi Gras masks

Cut a mask shape from a colorful red, green, blue or gold gift bag.  With a hot glue gun, glue a wooden dowel stick or a jumbo craft stick to the side of the mask for your child to hold it up to their face.  Cut out two eye shapes and with a glue stick glue glitter around the eyes.  Add shiny ribbons, sequins or stickers to decorate the mask.

Mind illuminations

I wondered about the many masked celebrations that take place in New Orleans during Mardi Gras.  It started me thinking about the many masks we each wear in life hoping that someone will see us as the person we want to be rather than who we really are.  Only God knows the heart and we will never discover the real person we were meant to be until we begin to seek Him and find Him.

King Cake Recipe

cake:  2 cans of refrigerator crescent rolls

Filling

  • 4 ounces of cream cheese (half of a brick)
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Icing

  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 3 or 4 Tablespoons cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • colored sugars, purple, yellow and green

Beat cream cheese, brown sugar and cinnamon until smooth. Set filling aside.  Unroll crescent roll dough on a greased pizza pan or baking sheet and separate in triangles.  Place triangles side by side in an oval pattern.  Press seams together in the middle of each triangle so that you can fold them over filling.  Spread the filling around in a ring covering the center of the sealed seam of each triangle.  Fold the top and bottom of each triangle over the filling.  Tuck under the triangle points and lightly press the seams.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake cake for 20 – 25 minutes until golden brown.  Let cool and carefully insert a small plastic baby into the cake from the underside.

Beat the powdered sugar, cream and vanilla together until smooth.  Spread the room temperature cake with icing allowing it to drip down sides of cake.  Sprinkle colored sugars over cake in a swirl pattern.  Add some gold, purple and green beads that have been thoroughly washed in soapy water and dried.

I bought our King cake at the bakery but this one doesn’t sound too difficult to make if your bakery doesn’t sell them.  A small plastic baby may be found at the Dollar store.

Mind illuminations

Don’t you know that the devil must have harassed those wise kings shooting darts at them all along their journey.  I can just imagine the devil projecting thoughts into their minds like, “This is such a waste of time!  You’ll never find this baby.  Why don’t you just take your treasures and spend them on something you want?”

But the Magi never wavered in their quest.  Their focus was fixed.  Thus they were known as wise men.  To find the LORD is the greatest reward of all rewards.


Therapy Dogs & Friendship International

28 Saturday Jan 2012

Posted by in Best Friend Dogs, crafts and recipes, Friendship International, Fun stuff for kids, Hearts Filled With Joy, therapy dogs

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“Greater love hath no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.  John 15:13”

Friendship International

“Friendship International is a gift of Christian love from American ladies to Internationals living in the Lexington area.  The purpose of Friendship International is to help make the adjustment to the American way of life easier, to provide activities of interest and to facilitate building cross-cultural friendships.”

Friendship International meets in Immanuel Baptist Church each Thursday during the school year, unless Fayette Co. Public Schools are not in session.  Childcare is provided for preschool children.

Here is a list of some of the classes that are offered:  Bible Study, Cooking, Crafts, Crochet, Cross-Cultural Parenting, Cross-Stitch, Exercise, Knitting, Line Dancing, Needlepoint, Quilting, Scrap booking, English (levels 1,2and 3), and Spanish.

The day that I attended they were celebrating the countries of the International ladies with a Parade of Nations.  The traditional dress of their country worn by many of the International women and their children was breathtaking.  I am sorry I was unable to take pictures of all the lovely ladies and children.

Following the Parade OF Nations I visited the cooking  class and enjoyed listening to Kim Okesson explain and demonstrate how to prepare and cook Ramen Cabbage Salad, English Muffin Pizzas and Rice Pudding.  The English Muffin Pizzas were not only just what my grand kids would love but also very easy and inexpensive to make.   The recipe is as follows:

English Muffin Pizzas                                                  

English Muffins

Pizza or Pasta Sauce

Mozzarella Cheese

Toppings:  Meat: cooked chicken, ground beef, ham and sausage.

Vegetables: onion, green pepper spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, what ever you like.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Split English muffin in half and toast in toaster if you like a crunchy crust.  Place split muffins on cookie tray.

Spoon on sauce, then add toppings.  Add the cheese last.

Cook in a hot oven for 10-15 minutes.  Once the cheese is melted, your pizzas are ready.  Enjoy!!

Best Friend Therapy Dogs

Baby is a therapy dog as well as a service dog.  The way that Lee and Linda explained the difference to me is as follows.  A therapy dog does something for someone else.  A therapy dog has a “bachelor degree” and has to like people and get along with them well.  He must not be spooked by walkers or loud noises like a plate dropping to the floor.  Baby has provided therapy to anxious parents and children in emergency rooms and waiting rooms.  Baby has worked at the V.A. Hospital on Leestown Rd., at U.K. children’s Hospital oncology unit, and with Alzheimer patients at the local Best Friends program.

Lee developed a vision problem in 2006 and now Baby is pretty much a full time service dog for him.  A service dog has a “master’s degree” and does something for it’s owner.  Baby has traveled with Lee on airplanes to California and accompanies him into restaurants.   She is very well behaved and should not be petted when she has her service vest on because that would distract her focus from her job.  She is able to sniff out smoke and help Lee not run into things.  Some service dogs sniff out bombs and drugs.  A seeing eye dog has a P.H.D. and is highly and specifically trained.  The key trick in training a dog is repetition that is reinforced.

Baby will be 10 years old in March and was rescued from a “kill shelter” the day before she was going to be put down.  I met Baby at the Heirloom restaurant in Midway and immediately fell in love with her.  When you look into Baby’s eyes, you see great depths of compassion, wisdom and love.  No wonder she has made such a great therapy and service dog.  What a blessing she has been both to Linda and Lee as well as all the people she comforted through the years.

Fun Stuff For Kids

We decided to take our two year old grandson with us when we took Ladd for a check up at the vet.  Shepherd decided that his dog Raffy needed a checkup also.   The doctor at the Animal Hospital of Nicholasville was so understanding and examined both Raffy and Ladd explaining patiently everything to Shepherd and answering all his questions.  What a joy it is to find doctors who are concerned about their patients as well as their owners.

More Fun Stuff For Kids

When our daughter Christy was young, she wanted a dog house for her best friend Snoopy.  One weekend, my husband agreed to help her build one and together they constructed it out of a cardboard box and lots of tape.  They had a wonderful time painting it and made a beautiful and priceless memory of fun and laughter.

Time with our children, loved ones and friends is so precious.  We should never take it for granted.  Make the most of every moment you are given!

“How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!  How vast is the sum of them!  Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.  When I awake, I am still with you.”  Psalm 139:17, 18