Philadelphia...brotherly love???

I know I said I wouldn't blog, but could ya pray? Every day that I talk to my mom, she tells me about another one or two people who have been murdered in the city of brotherly love. On the news they always tell you what the murder count is up to. So far this year 347 people have been killed. To put that into perspective you have to realize that equals more than one a day. Last week a cop was shot in the head and killed because he was walking in on a robbery that he didn't even know was occurring. Here are some numbers to chew on:

Murder numbers from 2001:
2001: 309 murdered
2002: 288
2003: 348
2004: 330
2005: 377
2006: 406

I'll leave you with one more statistic: "Philadelphia had a murder rate of 27.8 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2006, compared with 18.9 in 2002. Houston, the second-most-murder-prone city in the top 10, had 18.2 murders per 100,000 last year." That's taken from this article.

I grew up in Philly, but left when I went to college. If you think of this city please PRAY and trust that the Lord is able to make a difference.

Verse for thought: "So the Lord said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you." Luke 17:6

Water can ruin things

Water is a good thing. Our bodies cannot survive without it. Plants cannot grow without it. Many of us experienced a drought this summer and are thankful to have the pouring rain we are in the midst of. California now wishes they had rain as they are undergoing a HUGE fire. The Bible itself speaks highly of water and even likens the Word of God to it.

The precious commodity of water damaged something in my house yesterday. While I was in the basement throwing a load of laundry into the washing machine, my son was able to spill a cup of water onto my Macbook upstairs. My Macbook is less than a month old. I called customer support, took their advice, but to no avail. It's broken.

Right now I want to say that I will not be blogging anymore, but the reality is that I may just need a breather. It was fun while it lasted. May the Lord bless you all.

Verse for thought: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world." I John 2:15a

More Fall Fun

These pictures are from the corn maze on Sunday. Carol was the one with the camera. Thanks!

Seth in the maze:
Tabitha and Joel:
Here we are at the pumpkin patch, with the two perfect pumpkins that Tabitha picked all by herself:
Carol, Lily and Tabitha on the infamous hay ride:
This box was so cool. It was full of corn kernels instead of sand. This is the type of box I wouldn't mind having around!
I hate pictures of me, but here you go. Me and Seth:


Verse for thought: "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice." Phil. 4:4

Happy Fall Y'all

Today we went with our neighbors to a corn maze/pumpkin patch fall fun thingy. While I was there I realized how many pumpkins I've accumulated this fall. Tabitha and I have a lot of cooking to do, which will give us lots of puree. I thought I'd take some good shots of the kids with it all. This first one was taken immediately after they sat down.

Within a minute, Tabitha was yelling, "Ah! Mommy look...

Seth is using the pumpkin as a ball."

Patricia was quiet, as usual. She thought I put the leaves there for her eating pleasure.


Verse for thought: "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted" Ecc. 3:1,2

For Card Making Maniacs

The other day I ran across this site. This woman blogs about the beautiful cards she comes up with. She's really good. So then I had the idea that maybe I would post a few of my own designs today. The only problem is I don't have too much confidence in my "art work", so instead I am showing you my newly finished craft closet.

This is what it looks like. Do you see the picnic basket? That's what I used to cram everything into. That means most of the stuff ended up being every where else. Now it houses only my stamp sets.



I had to throw in this cute picture:


Verse for thought: "all the widows stood by [Peter] weeping, and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up... And it was known throughout all Joppa; and many believed in the Lord." Acts 9:39-42

Michelle's bake off

Today I was in the mood for something sweet, which is nothing new. That pushed me to bake. Something I haven't done much of in a while. On the few recent occasions that I have baked I usually make yummy ginger cookies, because I want to use up my crystallized ginger. But today I couldn't find that particular magazine, which has the recipe in it. Due to picture appeal and the ingredients I had on hand, I opted for these White Chip Brownies:




1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs2 cups white chips, divided

-~-~-~-~

Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. In large mixer, beat sugar, butter and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in one and a half cups of the white chips/morsels. Pour into greased 9" square baking dish. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out slightly sticky. Cool completely in pan. Melt the remaining chips and drizzle on top (I used the ziploc bag method).


It's a keeper. Not only is it delish, but its also heavy. A good combo in my book.

Verse for thought:''Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?" Matthew 6:25

Verse for thought

"What is your life? It is even a vapor, that appears for a little time and then vanishes away." James 4:14