Pieces of Family History

I love these Bibles soo much, they are pieces of my family history. As, I've mentioned before we are delving into the Hall side of our genealogy and discovering a lot actually. These Bibles were in a box of things that was pushed aside when my Nan died. I found them again while searching for letters from England.



They are very fragile and are crumbling apart, so I've displayed them in the dining room on the buffet. This one was given to my great-grandfather in 1885 while they were still living in England. It gives me a point of origin for when we research the Fox side of the family.


This one was given to my Nan by her mother on her 12th birthday. I love the handwriting in this one, knowing that it was by my great-grandmother. When we got married, I asked my Gram for a family Bible as a wedding gift. I've recorded our wedding and the births of ours sons in it. I've also recorded a few deaths as well. It's a piece of history that I wanted to leave as a legacy to our future family. We have our personal Bibles, but this family Bible was meant to be more.

Do you have a family Bible where marriages, births and deaths are recorded?

Vampire Love

I know that the demographic for this type of show is skewed a little younger than me, but I can't help it. I love a good vampire with a love story intertwined! I've read all the Twilight Saga and have seen all the movies so far. I watch True Blood on HBO and have read all the Sookie Stackhouse novels - just got the latest one from Amazon this week.


When I saw this series on DVD at Wal-mart this weekend I spent the last of my Mother's Day money on it. I've seen one or 2 shows over the past year and really liked them. Mr OP just doesn't get it. I usually wait till he's not around to watch them. Does anyone else like these shows? Or, am I like he said, a "dork?"

Keeping it Real

Remember when I told you that I really don't like summer weather? Well I wasn't kidding. Heat and humidity are not my friends. So when the weather man said that temps will be in the 90's by Friday with high humidity, I drug out our window air conditioner, and I literally mean "drug or do I mean dragged - is that right?." We store the downstairs a/c under my desk in the dining room. So Tuesday am (before getting ready for work) I pushed and pulled until it was sitting under the living room window ready for Mr OP.



I can't seem to get motivated this week. My dishes from last night are still sitting in the sink - I just don't feel like doing anything after work. I'm thinking that my sinuses are playing havoc with my system making me extremely tired and head-achey. Another summer foe - Allergies:) But I can muster up the strength and time to blog - hmmm...



I've been busy sorting scrapbook items for my swap. I've talked to Jane. my partner several times via e-mail to see what her style is, etc. This is the first swap that I've done and I'm really excited about it. We're supposed to mail everything by Friday, but we've agreed to a few extra days.


Well there she is, all tucked in neatly just waiting to do her duty. I'm thinking she'll make her debut tomorrow night. I really love fresh air so if it's not too humid, I'll brave the open windows. Only today and tomorrow left of the work week and then it's a 3 day weekend - Yipee!!!

Quick question before I head off to work... Have you ever been in a swap? Tell me about it.

Wait, I just thought about it and I have been in 2 other swaps - Karla's tag book swaps. Duh! But those we had to make something this is more of a gifting type swap.

Sweet Vee's Generosity

Vee's was one of the first blogs that I dared comment on. Her blog A Haven for Vee is such a warm and inviting place that it's easy to feel right at home. She was recently gifted with an autographed copy of Mennonite Girls Can Cook! How cool is that? Since Vee already owns a copy of the wonderful cookbook, she has decided to give her slightly "loved" version away. (click on the link for details)

49 and Holding

We celebrated Mr OP's birthday from Thursday through Sunday. I made a special dinner on Thursday for just the two of us. We were out for dinner the end of last summer, and Mr OP ordered some sangria and really liked it. So I found a recipe and made some as a special treat. It's not really something that I would make again for myself, but it was okay. He really liked it and it was HIS birthday after all.


I got him a few hunting and fishing magazines, 2 books on cd - he loves listening to them while he's driving, and a couple of shirts. I also gave him a little cool cash (he wants to buy a kayak). We went out Saturday am just to see what kinds of kayaks are available and who sells them. I was surprised, they are pretty pricey


Sunday morning bright and early - 7am - my MIL took the two of us out for breakfast to celebrate. We had a great time visiting and the food was wonderful. I had a dirty egg roll (scrambled eggs, potatoes, ground beef, jack cheese, spicy bar-b-que sauce all wrapped in a tortilla) - it was yummy! My parents came down after church for cake and Flyboy and Chelsea surprised us around 3pm. He was in Columbus, OH at nationals and they flew home around 2am Sunday morning. He wanted to see Mr OP and surprise him. See the candles on the cake? It was weird, they didn't have a wick, you just lit them.

Do you still blow out the candles on your birthday cake?

My Bags are packed...

Another gray day here - not great for taking photos. So I'm hoping that my pink friends will allow purplish-pink as my Pink Saturday post this week. This little Samsonite suitcase was another of my Mother's Day treasures - $5! There was another one , although it was the more traditional suitcase size, but I didn't get it. Guess what? If it's there when we go again, I'm getting it!


I bought this one for storage in my studio, but while it was sitting on the table I had an EUREKA! We actually used it for decoration on the cake table at Kristine's shower too. Instead of the photo of my buys tucked inside, I tumbled pink blocks out of it - it looked really cute!



Thank goodness today is Friday! We've got another busy weekend ahead of us - yard work on Saturday if the weather ever breaks, and a few other fun social engagements. Wishing you all the most wonderful weekend!

Baby Shower

Kristine's baby shower was this past Sunday. Miss Audrey Rose is expected to make her arrival on or around July 8th. The shower was supposed to be a surprise, but one of the girls that she works with told her that she wasn't going to be able to come. Who does that? It said "surprise" as big as can be on the invitation!


I know that when you're pregnant and it's near the end, everything that you get invited to you think may be your shower - but that's not the point!


Times sure have changed since my baby shower. Gifts are much more extravagant and they make everything under the sun. Including disposable bags that come in a roll for dirty diapers. First of all I used cloth diapers (but that's another story), and if I had to change the baby while we were out, I used the plastic bags that the grocery stores sack your groceries in.


Seems odd to me. What do you think? My Mum and I went together and got her a high chair that converts to booster seat. We also gave her that white Boyd's Bear in the background. I wrapped the pink ribbon around her head making a cute headband and made the big pinwheel that she's holding with an "A" for Audrey.


Here's a close up shot of the bear. Sorry for the poor quality, but when I blew it up and cropped it this is what I got. Tomorrow is Mr. OP's birthday, so that calls for a mayonnaise cake (the very best, moist chocolate cake ever) with chocolate buttercream icing. The cake is in the oven now 11:09 pm, it has about 10 more minutes to go. He knows that he's getting one, but I always like to make it when he's not around or after he goes to bed. By the way do you say Icing or Frosting?

If you'd like the recipe for the cake, I did a post on it here.

It's a Bird...It's a Tag...It's a Swap

Karla's at it again... She's hosting another tag book swap. This time it's for the birds:) A few weeks ago Karla hosted what looks and sounds like a wonderful weekend of craft classes. The weekend was called Birdsong. She held the classes at her gorgeous home in KS, so of course I wasn't able to attend. But you know that I'm always ready for a good swap. Can't wait to get started. If you're interested, just click on the photo above for the details..

Happy Monday

It seems that I'll be dragging Mother's Day out for a few more posts... hope you don't get bored. Let's see so far we've covered the Christmas tree toppers, now let me show you the darling little paper mache egg that I found. He was a wee bit dirty and tucked in a box filled with all kinds of treasures. Sometimes boxes are where you'll find the best "junk!"


After a quick clean-up, I plopped him in a little peat pot filled with an old shredded paperback for his photo-op. But, you know what, I think he's found his home, at least for awhile:)



These were the flowers from our Fireman and My Jade. Aren't they beautiful? I like to think back of him at this age. He was soo full of questions, even back then he wanted to be a fireman.

It's good to be back after the Blogger debacle. I didn't have any problems except the fact that I wanted - strike that, needed to blog and read what about what all of you were doing. I didn't have any posts in draft thank goodness, because I heard that so many of you lost all that hard work. Let's just hope that it was once and done!

Enjoy your week!

Angels

Well, if you been a visitor of The Old Parsonage before then you may just know how much I LOVE Christmas. Vee called me a "Keeper of Christmas" one time, and I loved it so much that I call myself this all the time.


Mr OP to me took Adamstown for Mother's Day and gave me money to spend on what ever I wanted. We started out at Renninger's, they had outside vendors this week and it really wasn't too crowded. The weather was perfect for a slow walk looking for treasures.



Mr. OP swears that I can spot Christmas things a row away. The gentleman who sold these tree toppers to me ( well, I bought the 1st one and he gave me the 2nd one) bought them from someone who displayed at the National Christmas Museum in Lancaster, PA.



I fell in love with the first one - he dated it as the late 1800's. The topper above is more modern - see the curly white hair - probably from the 1950's. Now I'm now the kind of collector to know years and value. I buy what I like and pay what I want to pay. Does anyone know anything about these types of tree toppers?

Stay tuned for more of my new treasures...

Flowering Cherry Trees. Friend or Foe?

We have 5 flowering Cherry Trees that line our driveway. They are so gorgeous while they are blooming. I've even done posts on Pink Saturday about them. But, when the flowers start to drop from the trees - look out! Our driveway and cars turn into a complete pink mess. The cars become covered in them so much so that it looks like we've been in a wedding.



We try to get them off the driveway as quick as possible, because once you drive over them they get even stickier.They get tracked into the house for about 2 weeks. It's always a mess. Next year I may do a before, during and after post. How's that for scintillating content?

Enjoy your day my friends!

Mother's Day Re-Cap

We had a wonderful Mother's Day. Mr OP took me to Adamstown for breakfast and a morning of antiquing followed by a Whopper at Burger King - what fun!


We haven't had Burger King in years, it was darn good! I wanted to share the little note pads that I made to go with our Mum's note cards. Talk about easy. Just take an 8.5 x 11 sheet of heavy card stock. Cut it down to 8.5 x 5.5. Score it. Embellish the front.


Wrap the top of a mini tablet with coordinating paper and glue the mini tablet inside. I bought a pack of pretty pens at the dollar store that went well with both colors. I tied the entire sets together with coordinating ribbon.


We got them each a geranium too that I wrapped in some "re-purposed" green tissue that I just couldn't throw away. I know it may sound cheap, but it was perfectly good and I think that the geraniums look terrific swaddled in it. We had great visits with both our Mums. How lucky we are to have them both live so close by.


Flyboy was home for Chelsea's graduation on Saturday but had to go back to school Sunday am - he had to work. Our Fireman and My Jade sent me a beautiful bouquet of flowers that were delivered yesterday. Can you believe they delivered on Mother's Day? We got a chance to catch-up with them around 9:30pm - he had to work.

Thanks for all the Mother's Day wishes. I hope that you all had a great day/weekend too. I'll be back later this week to show you all my "treasures" from this weekend. I'll be around to see what you've been up to in just a bit...

EDIT: Due to Blogger being down on Friday, I'm using this post for Pink Saturday this week. Stop over at Beverly's for more pink fun!

Paper Crafting/Scrapbook Supply Swap

Special Paper Projects is hosting a swap. "Are scrapbooking and card making supplies bogging you down? Are you tired of looking at the same old stuff year after year, thinking, someday I will use that for some layout or card? Well if that is the case then this swap is for you!" - from Michele's blog. I'm in are you?

New Friends

Have you clicked on the sweet little button on my sidebar for The Blog Guidebook? I know that I've mentioned all the helpful tips and tricks that they offer. Well it just keeps getting better.


They've started a Blog Club..." kind of like a Book Club or a small group. We want you to have a specific group of friend bloggers who will consistently read and comment on your blog. We hope they will also give you really good feedback on how to improve (if necessary). The Blog Club is a FREE resource. Be part of a small group of 5-6 bloggers who are willing to participate on an ongoing basis." - taken directly from the website.


I like to introduce you to my new friends:

Missy at The Domesticated Diva
Amber at Lucky Lees To Be
Kat at Ideas for Cricut Cards and Scrapbook Layouts
Anya at Anya Adores
Sharon at Decorating is Bliss

Check out their website, even if you don't want to sign up for the club - you'll love all the great the info!

My Happiness

Wishing you all a wonderful Mother's Day!

Handmade Mother's Day

I decided to make little boxed personalized note card sets for Mother's Day gifts this year. I found a FREE pattern on-line at Michael's to make the boxes (if anyone is interested, shoot me an e-mail and I'll gladly share it).


My MIL loves green and daisies are her favorite flower so I thought that this paper would be perfect for her set. I'd like to also make mini note pads that coordinate with the note cards, fingers crossed that I have the time (shouldn't take long though).



Chelsea is graduating Saturday morning from West Chester so our Flyboy is coming home tonight (around midnight - he has to work 'til 9pm). She is such a wonderful girl, we're so happy that they've found each other.


This set is for my Mum. She doesn't really have a favorite flower or color, but I love the soft blue of this paper and paired it with brown. I think that the monogram shows up really well on the brown.


Of course I had to make Mother's Day cards for them too, just to let them know how much we love and cherish them for all the things they do. Isn't it true - a mother's love knows no bounds?


I know that my Mum is my biggest cheerleader. She has always been. I thought that we'd also get each one a big fat Geranium. I'll wrap the pot in some bright colored tissue and tie it with raffia.


Looks like it's going to be a beautiful weekend. Just think Pink Saturday tomorrow, and Mother's Day on Sunday -what a weekend!


Wishing you all sunshine and flowers. Oh, if you're a Mum, Grandmum, Aunt, Sister, Daughter, Niece, Father, Son, etc. I wish you all the love and celebration of a Happy Mother's Day. I know that being a Mummy was the best thing that I ever did!

When it rains ...

Well I told you that it was raining today and you know how the saying goes...So within the past few weeks we've had to replace our washer, something or other in one of our vehicles that was over $1500, the VCR/DVD player went, the coffee grinder went ka-put, the hair dryer burned out and the glass plate/turn table in the microwave broke. Today we had the heater cleaned and were told that we need to have the chimney re-lined - Oy!



But, I just talked to Flyboy and he's passed all of his finals (didn't have to take one because he's done so well) top of the class, and our Fireman called to tell us all the great things that are going on in TX. Money? What does it matter when all is right with our guys. Everyone is happy and healthy and I'm the luckiest Mum in the world.

Anyone remember this scale that I got junking last summer? I love the "face" it's so well loved. Mr OP generally lets me decorate however I want, but sometimes I get a look like, "Why?" I usually reply with a smile. But, you get me - right?