I was a wallflower...

I can't seem to be able to to take this photo off so just just ignore the fact that you can see right up my nose. :)

When I was little I was very quiet. I rarely spoke in Sunday School unless it was with one of my friends. When I did speak to someone (other than my friends) I went over and over in my head what I wanted to say before I said it. Sunday School teachers loved me because I didn't run around and I didn't make noise. I sat in my spot and listened. I was quiet, well behaved, and polite.

But I think I hated being quiet, I just never really realized it.

I usually didn't have more than one or two friends. I always wanted to have a big circle of friends but it just never happened. I wasn't shy, but I just wasn't a huge talker.

I heard Priscilla Ahn's Wallflower and thought how it applied to me....especially when I was younger.

"Wishing I was more outgoing..."

I've gotten a lot more comfortable since I've gotten older. If I'm not talking its because I can't think of a single thing to say. I love to talk now. If we have something in common I will enjoy a conversation with you. I can be outgoing and sometimes you might just want to tell me to shut up. ;) Talking is fun, informative, and interesting.

But I still have a quiet side. I'm not really extroverted. I enjoy quietness, I love quietness.

Do Hard Things says to do things that are hard for you.

Talking on the phone was hard for me. The only people I would call was family. But I've pushed myself, I've made myself do some things that were uncomfortable.

And I'm pleased with the outcome.

I can now call a business without my heart beating...that's nice. ;)

So...do you have something that you want to overcome? Do you want to conquer an issue? Do you want to stop being a wallflower too? Tell me about it....I understand

In The Great Green Field

We went on a field trip with our cousins last week and then spent the night at their house. There was a lot of us!

Mckenzie, me, Matthew, Lydia, Madeline, Gabriel, Mariah, Titus, Malachi, Levi, Lily Kate, and Myles

6 + 6 = 12

Things come cheaper by the dozen you know!

Every summertime visit we have together we take a walk in the cotton field across from their house. It was hot, hot, HOT! But we do it every time and its sort of our tradition so we sweat, grin (sort of), and bare it. We went back and swam in their pool!

We went to a historical agriculture museum and got to visit a town set up like it was older times. It was so cool! It felt like we were in Walnut Grove. We all agreed that the school house was one of the best parts. All along the way there were great places to stop and take pictures. My camera's battery died so these picture was taken on my mom's camera. Lydia took the one above and below.

I milked a goat for the first time! Check out my hairdo!

Thanks for having us! We had a great time!

Chris Rice's song Lemonade seemed to fit the shots just right!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And life gave me lemonade and I can't imagine why

Stirring on a summer's day beneath a tangerine sky

Live life without pretending

I'm a sucker for happy endings

Thanks for the lemonade!

Thanks for the lemonade!

An Added Touch of Style

I just love the flowers that are so style right now. Made of cloth, they come in all sorts of fabrics and prints. They're stylish, chic, summery, and sweet. I just love them.

I didn't have one until Tuesday, I made one myself!

I was reading Simply VintageGirl and she has a tutorial on making cloth flowers. It was really easy! They are so much fun to make and so beautiful! The pale purple one in the top photo was the first I made.

Put them in your hair, pin them to your shirt, blouse, or sweater, or pin them on your bag. They're very versatile!

This multi print and the black one are my favorite. The black was is made from a scrap of fabric I had from several years ago when I made Gabe a Batman cape.

This shimmery one was made from a small piece of scrap material I had had for a long time.

I made a tiny one for Lily Kate. She wore it in her birthday pictures. These flowers had a new flair to an outfit, an added bit of style.

"The flower appears on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come..." Song of Solomon 2:12

Three Crazy Monkeys that Live At My House

This post is for my three younger brothers, Gabriel, Titus, and Levi. They range in age from ten to four and half and they are boys to the very soul. They love anything crazy, wild, disgusting, and silly.

Sometimes they make me crazy, but I love them very, very much!:) If I didn't have brothers I wouldn't have had many experiences.

I would never know how it felt to be tackled around the legs while they try to prove that their stronger than me.

I wouldn't know that sometimes it just impossible for a boy to sit still.

I wouldn't know so much about  Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett.

I would never have the chance to watch them play baseball.

And I would never have known how little boys love grossness.

Gabe is ten. He's laid back, he loves baseball, Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett, he loves to create things, he loves to figure out how things work, he likes blood, guts, and violence, and he likes Fess Parker and John Wayne. He is tender hearted and gentle. He has a great imagination. He's good at math, and he likes science. I like to spend time with him. We get along well. He likes when I read out loud and when we watch I Love Lucy and Oliver! together.

Titus is wild. Wild, crazy, charming, and lovable. He has a big personality, he has a big mouth (and I mean that in the best sense!), he is funny, quirky, and loud. He's a cool kid. He likes to sit by me when I work on a project at the sewing machine and make things with scraps and string. He is very sweet, he enjoys being a pest, but he is never mean. He adores Lily Kate, absolutely adores her. He has a tender side. And he loves chocolate like I do.

Levi, my little buddy. He loves to sing and listen to music. He as crystal blue eyes and when he talks he kind of speaks with a lisp sometimes. He is so funny and quirky, he has a bad temper but when he's in a good mood he is SO much FUN to be around. He likes to climb on the counter while I bake and he asks lots of questions. I read to him before he goes to bed sometimes and he always wants me to sing My Jesus Loves Me, God is So Great, and He's Got the Whole World in His Hands. His love language is words of affirmation. He will tell you, "Your gorgeous and pretty and beautiful!" He loves to give compliments.

My brothers are a pack, they wrestle, play, and invent things together. They love Tom and Jerry, sweets, and battles and fights in movies. Boys are so different from girls, they live very loudly and they do some of the darnedest things. They love to be loud and they love to make a mess. They are crazy and lovable. I'm very blessed to have them.

Books for the Cooks

I have become an avid cookbook fan. It's because I love coffee table books anyway but if they have glossy, vivid pictures and stories about the dishes featured it's a very enjoyable way to spend time. The first place I visit in the library is the shelf with cookbooks. If I hit it at the right time I might find a new one by Ina Garten. I found this one at couple of days ago. I had seen it at Target and was interested. I was excited when I found it at the library...for free too!

Ina Garten is one of my favorite Food Network chefs, Giada de Laurentis is my favorite.  Ina's show, Barefoot Contessa, is on everyday at 1:30 and 5:00. Sometimes I watch it during lunch. I'm usually busy at 5 so I would like for them to switch it to 6 if possible!:P

Nigella Lawson is British, that alone might be the reason why I like her!:) But another reason is that she writes a lot about each recipe. I tend not to give a book a second glance if all it has is recipe after recipe and nothing about the place where it came from, the people who prepare it, or the stories linked to it. Nigella Lawson is very detailed. Her cookbooks are lovely.

I saw this book at my local bookstore but I didn't get a chance to look at it. Anyway, I found this on Amazon and I want to reserve it at the library.

Isn't this name cute? I liked to cover.

This book is coming out this fall. It is written by the author of one of my favorite blogs. Bakerella!

Lily Kate is Really Great!

On Tuesday Lily Kate turned one. She is our little princess and our treasure! She is sweet, gentle, lovable, happy, laid back, and rather sensitive. She is a doll.

She and I are fourteen years apart in age. She is usually mistaken for my baby which is annoying but I love that I get to have so much fun with her and that I will remember her babyhood well because we are so far apart in age.  I am going to be her first ballet teacher. I've thought about starting now but it will probably be better if I wait a few years! Haha!

I was there when she was born, I was one of the first people to ever lay eyes on her. I remember the first time I held her and I remember how tiny her feet were. She has my toes, long and skinny. Mama says they look exactly like mine did at her age. She has deep blue eyes and very long eyelashes. She has white teeth and a sweet little mouth. She only had peach fuzz on her head when she was born but she now has light brown hair. She can stand up now and has taken a step or two but she prefers to stay in her comfort zone. My aunt says she looks like I did-except for the wild black hair!

She likes to listen to books and she LOVES music and dancing. She can dance really, really well for a one year old! Anytime she hears music she might break out and start shaking her shoulders and waving her hands. She usually has a bow in her hair but loves to take it out. She loves for us to ride her around on a Caterpillar toy that Cousin Bette gave us. The buttons are her favorite part. She loves the beeps and the tune that it plays.

And sometimes she has to undergo one of Lydia's outrageous makeovers. Here she is with her lacy socks pulled up to her knees and white sandals on. Her ensemble also includes the purse that Mariah gave her.

I love you Lily Kate, I hope you have many, many, many, many more birthdays that are as wonderful as your first!!!

Love,

Abigail