I Can't Make Up My Mind!

Ok so I've changed my mind. I'm not gonna do the humongo hydrangea thing. I've been scouring pics of floral arrangements and all I know is I can't make uip my mind! Look at these cool pics though!

That's a bunch of inspiration! Aren't they great? Now they AREN'T ones I created...Just found them to kind of get some ideas. Oh and my sister-in-law who's very creative told me about another arrangement in these really tall vases that tower over the table, but allow people to see each other across the table? Have you seen those? They are awesome!

Tomorrow's the day I go flower shopping and then I'll get it all put together tomorrow night. Gonna be a late night!

Time to Make the Flowers

Next Saturday is the Celebration of Mothers luncheon at our church.  My friend Monda asked me to make the centerpiece for the table she's decorating.  Each table hostess is responsible for decorating their tables.  There are some really creative and elaborate tables each year.  Part of the fun is walking around and looking at them!

My style is pretty simple, so Monda is up a creek in the elaborate department!  But I enjoy flexing these muscles from time to time!

Here are the centerpieces I made for Monda's tables last year.  I love the way this vase filled with tulips (I used 8 dozen) is big enough for you to get the sense of their natural curves. 

I love this one because of the colors and textures, but I also love this container!  It's actually a silver pedestal urn and I took off the base.  I love the scallops on the rim.  So girly!  Another thing that I love about floral trending right now is - anything goes!  When my Mom was working as a florist, arrangements were more symmetrical, and they always intimidated me.  Now, you can bunch the flowers "every which way", and call it good!

Monda doesn't really give me much direction when I do flowers for her.  I told her that I've been wanting to experiment with a humongo arrangement of hydrangeas.  So...if you've seen something, let me know where!

What Does Butter Have To Do With Easter?

Last weekend was Easter, and as we were preparing for the Easter celebration, I made my favorite cake:  Strawberry (!!! I have to put exclamation points because I love it so much!).  I haven't spent much time baking over the years partly because it's not my favorite thing to do, partly because we just don't need the sweets around the house. 

The consequence of this is that I'm not very good at making icing. So I followed the directions that were given in the cookbook, but the icing just wouldn't harden enough to actually stay on the cake!  Ugh...I almost gave up, but my sweet mother-in-law who was visiting, went over the steps with me to find out what I'd done, and I learned two very important things. 
And don't laugh at me.
ok you can laugh.
1.  You have to use REAL butter in icing.
2.  You don't melt the butter before you mix the icing.

See...I just didn't know.  The cookbook didn't tell me these things, assuming that I knew.  Since then I 've learned that those 2 things are pretty basic-common knowledge-everyone knows, you silly facts about making icing.

But I just didn't know.
I just didn't know the basics.

So what does butter have to do with Easter?  Think about the people who only come to church on Easter and Christmas.  Do they know the basics?  We see them two times a year.  They may come to make grandma happy or because that's been their family tradition.  But as strange as it may seem, we can be assured that among these people, some of them are just like me...they just don't know the basics.

That Jesus is the Son of God.
That He was the promise foretold in the scriptures.
That He died for each one of us.  For our sins, and the sins of all generations to come.
That we can live with him someday.
And it's so easy...believe that He is the Son of God, tell him we're sorry for our sins, and ask Him to come into our heart.

I'm glad that I had this experience with butter this Easter.  Because it helps me to remember that just like me there are those who may walk into my church doors on Easter or Christmas, or maybe a Sunday in May, or maybe a MOPS meeting on Fridays, or maybe at the ballpark and not even at the church...that don't know the basics.  So I have to be ready to share what I know...it's good news this story of Jesus!  Because of Jesus my life is different, my communion with God is personal and my eternity is secure.

Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice for me.

And in case you're wondering...I can make a great icing now!

This is why I Love Being a Children's Pastor #4 Twinkly Eyes and Toothy Grins

I love it when kids are having fun at God's house!  I love the sound of their giggles, their eyes bursting with happiness and smiling so big it makes your cheeks hurt!  Let me show you what I mean!

Those are some cute kids huh?  These are pics from our Easter Egg Hunt today.  They walked in the door with so much energy and asked their teachers 3000 times when was it going to be time for the Egg Hunt.  They apparently all were stricken with a serious malady in the night, losing their short term memory because after the 3000 times they asked their teachers...they asked me 3000 more times! 

But neither I nor the teachers minded a bit!  You see, along with filling those baskets with candy and their tummies with hot dogs today, we got to fill them with the amazing story of Jesus preparing himself and his friends for a trip to the cross that would change their lives forever!

Here's a quick review:  because Jesus gave his life for us we have direct access to the Father!  We don't have to go through a priest to talk to Him! (Big round eyes and oohs were heard around the room as I reminded them of that curtain thing in the Easter story...you know where the curtain was torn, symbolizing that every believer has access to the throne room of the most high God.)

Because Jesus gave his life for us we don't have to bring a farm animal with us to church to present as a sacrifice!  (Twinkly eyes and uncontrollable giggles were heard as I told them how glad I was that I didn't have to bring a goat to church, cause they are just too smelly!)

So in the middle of the 3000 questions, I got the privilege of telling the kids these things.  It was so cool!  All this excitement before the hot dogs and Easter Eggs!  Woo Hoo!  Hoorah! 

Come to think of it, I don't know if I really got this as a little kid!  That Jesus dying on the cross affected how religion and church was conducted.  He was thinking of me, through all of the suffering, the questioning, the humiliation that he endured; he did it all because he loved me, he died for me and for you!  And our lives are different because of it! 

You know what? That puts a twinkle in my eye and a grin on my face!

I Know...I'm Weird

I really love bookstores.  I loved bookstores before it involved the must-have cup of coffee to carry around while you browse.  Here's what I like:
1.  that all the pages don't feel the same
2.  that they come in different sizes
3.  that some books have pictures
4.  that some books do not have pictures
5.  the journey each one represents to a reader
6.  the smell of a leather bound book...(don't even get me started about how great a new Bible smells!)
(I'm sure there are a few more, but that's enough).

Now to the weird part:  you know what I don't like about bookstores?
1.  that I can never. without a doubt. even-though-I-might-have-the-best-intentions. read all the books that are in the bookstore.

This is not a new issue for me.  When I was in the 6th grade I thought I would read all the books in my school library.  I got all the way through the A's, and realized that I just couldn't do it! 

Being a cosmopolitan woman of 2010 I don't present a problem without presenting a solution...my solution is:  they could stop the publishing of all books for a certain amount of time so that I could catch up. 

But I know they won't do that.  So a trip to the bookstore means my tummy gets this tiny, tiny, kind of fuzzy feeling of defeat, and I have to make myself stop thinking about it.

Because I can't.  ever. without a doubt. even-though-I-might-have-the-best-intentions. read all the books.
I know...I'm weird. (sigh)

The Egg Plate

It's always fun for me to hear stories of families; their things, their traditions, their why's and the who's that connect them for always.

The Egg Plate is one of those "things" from my husband Keith's family.  When you go to his Mom's house, you can be assured of wonderful southern hospitality, which includes a big, country breakfast.  Her eggs are always served on the same plate, The Egg Plate, and I've never seen her serve anything else but eggs on that plate.  Funny how the Egg Plate thing was passed down from mother to daughter, and Keith's Mom has one now too.

Keith's Grandmother died a few years ago, and I was privileged to receive HER Egg Plate.  Since then, when I make eggs for my family, I always use it.  Every time I pull it out of the cabinet to serve eggs, I think of the unspoken tradition, and the way this plate represents a little piece of "sameness" in the midst of our ever-changing world.

There are other items that are in my shelves of course, that represent the past.  I'm so glad for the stories that they carry, the people they represent, and the memories they help keep alive.

Birthday Cake #2

Yep, that's right...this is birthday cake #2.  The lovely cake pictured in the previous post was a big suprise to bite into.  It seems the pastry chefs at my house had forgotten a key ingredient, and although it was a beautiful creation, it wasn't the tastiest!  They left the water out of the cake.  (It was the first cake Keith had ever made.  I think Landry had made a cake before one time with his Mommy Gran when she was visiting.)

I got a big surprise this morning.  Would you believe that those sweet men in my house stayed up until midnight and made me a new cake!  I was so tired after the ladies retreat I'd been to and after the celebrating that we did, so I went to bed early.  When I woke up today Keith said, "I've got something to show you, wait right here." And he came back with this beautiful 2nd cake!  He was so annoyed that it hadn't turned out well and he was determined to get it right, so they stayed up late and took a do-over.

It was yummy, and you can see, there's not a lot of it left.  I'm so blessed to be the benificiary of their thoughtfulness X 2!