Valentine Birthday

M's friend Nicole had a number 11 birthday on Sat. It was a great way to celebrate Valentine's Day with friends.

Party food! Oreo parfaits and pink punch. The punch is the easiest and most delicious punch you can make.

Pink Punch

Scoop or slice one (1/2 gal) box of sherbet (any flavor, depending on what color you want it to be) into a punch bowl with a 2 liter bottle of 7-Up or similar pop. Stir gently to melt ice cream and blend flavors. Serve.

We put together an embroidery kit for this crafty friend. A line-up of birthday party buddies.

The Friendly Animals

Daughter L. and Friend Rachel enjoyed the farmyard in the fine light of the late afternoon today, and captured these lovely, friendly animals. Beauty is all around us.

Personal Worship

During co-op classes, my art room is next to the music room. Today I had my own time of personal worship as I heard the high schooler's beautiful voices seeping through our shared wall. "Kyrie Eleison, (Lord, Have Mercy)", they sang. And I was blessed there in my quiet classroom. I must thank Friend Nancy who teaches AND accompanies this choir.

Cold Out!

What to do when it is COLD out...

Start a 1000 piece puzzle. (We only buy Springbok brand-the best kind!)

Have a sister tea party.

Enjoy a cozy read with a friend at the library.

Work on Valentine pretties.

-6

Yesterday it was -6 degrees here, which wasn't too terrible...until the wind chill came up! Then it was about -35 degrees. This is how we felt. (See above.)

Flat Marble Magnets

We had our first day of second semester co-op today. My two classes and Friend Ana's 2 art classes made these flat marble magnets. We used magazine cut outs for the images. Daughter L. and M's are above.

My classes made theirs for Valentine's gifts.


This is a new glue I found, and it works great. We like that it flows well, but is not runny and it is clear. Great for all projects. When you are making these magnets and you want to use lettering, there is a trick you can use to cover unwanted portions of images. Outline the marble, cut out. From the same page, cut out a bit of the paper with the same background as the letter and glue it over the unwanted image. It will usually match so well that you cannot see the patch when you glue the marble on. After gluing the image onto the flat marble, glue the magnet on back. For more detailed instructions, see my earlier post under crafts.

Pet Posse

The girls have a cat posse to follow them when they are outside.
Josie in the field. (pix by L.)

Icy Sunset

Postcards from God, the ultimate artist. L. took these last week when it was a bit warmer. (Above zero!)

J's Purple Ribbon Garlic Bread Puff

We took two pans of these garlic bread puffs to the one act play lasagna meal this week. Our son J. made these for the fair one year and won a purple ribbon (He was about 11 years old). He also demonstrated making them on a television news cooking segment.

J's Purple Ribbon Garlic Bread Puff

1 lb. frozen bread dough, thawed

1 egg

1 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. parsley

4 tsp. melted butter or margarine

Grease an 8 x 8 pan. (Or a 9 x 13 pan for a double batch.) Cut bread dough into 1 in. pieces. Stir beaten egg, garlic powder, parsley and melted butter together in a dish. Dip each piece of bread dough into butter mixture and drop evenly into greased pan. Let rise until doubled in size. Bake at 350 degrees 25-30 min. until browned.

Orchids

Our orchid plant is blooming wildly again. This is the third year we have had it. There are 12 blooms right now and several more buds still coming on. We have really gotten our moneys worth out of this plant. It is beautiful.