County Fair

Do you see what I see? Anna received Grand Champion on her quilt!

And Reserve Champion on her painting!

Nathan and his daddy rode an old John Deere in the parade. His kitty has never been found. His eye is slowly recovering -- praise the Lord! And he has strep throat. The doctor gave him a shot so he would be able to do all the fun fair stuff.

And here is Emilie at the pedal pull. Quite the tiring week for us Stramels.

Love,

xoxo

My Favorite Little Quilter

It's my 195th post! I feel a giveaway coming up very soon!

Anna wanted to learn how to use the sewing machine. She made this quilt for her dolls, but I'm pretty sure she can fit under it. Every time I would ask her if it was finished, she would say, "We haven't used all the fabric I picked out yet!" I think she inherited this from her dad. ha ha

Anyway, I used the rotary cutter and she sewed. Luckily, my machine has a VERY SLOW setting which was perfect for her. We did quite a bit of ripping out, but in the end, she can say she made a quilt. And how many 5 year olds can say that?

She couldn't reach the peddle, so we put it up on this shelf under the sewing machine. How cute!

Love,

xoxo

A Sneak Preview

Thanks for sticking with me through a blank background. When The Cutest Blog on the Block crashed, I thought, well, maybe I should make my own. It took some time, but here it is. Plus you get to see two of the fabrics. What do you think? Does it look right on your computer? Hope you like it!
Love,

xoxo

The Dough, Week 5

Wow! It's been awhile since we've had a good recipe on here, hasn't it? Well, no time like the present.

Today I'm going to give you my family's favorite breakfast recipe, baked pancakes. Super simple. No standing over the stove, flipping flapjacks. And while they're cooking, you can be getting yourself ready for church. Oh I'm giving myself away. Yes, I usually only fix a good old-fashioned breakfast on Sunday morning. Once in awhile it's on Saturday. And don't forget holidays!

Combine 2 eggs, 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup milk in a bowl and mix together until kind of lumpy. (This is the amount for one pie pan. My small family routinely eats 3 pie pans and I still don't get any! So you may need to triple or quadruple this.)

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in the pie pan (microwave) and then sprinkle brown sugar all over the butter. Liberally.

Pour the lumpy batter on top of the butter mixture and bake at 400 degrees for 20 or 25 minutes. It will dome up a bit and brown. You don't want it to look wet. Take out of the oven and loosen sides quickly and then turn upside down over a plate. Let the carmel run over the pancake. You won't need syrup!

We love to add berries to the brown sugar at the bottom of the pie pan. I've been known to use whole wheat flour and add in flax seed and wheat bran. I've never had any complaints.

As you can see, we were almost ready for church! Must have been Sunday.

Love,

xoxo

All American Girls

Look where we've been!

We took a girls only trip to the Park Meadows Mall in Denver. It was Marie and I along with Samantha, Anna and Emilie. They have an American Girls store. Since Anna and Samantha both have summer birthdays, we did this for them instead of a kid birthday party. Anna saved up her birthday money and bought a friend for Holly. She has named her pretty doll Claire. While I'm not a big fan of the prices, I sure like the message better than Barbie.

Please keep my Nathan in your prayers. He stepped on a board last night, which then flipped up and hit him in the eye. We were in the hospital until lunchtime today watching for signs of concussion. One eye is very dilated which is a scary thing, it turns out. My sister is an eye doctor -- very helpful in times like these. After a cat scan and numerous eye tests, they think it is temporary, so we are home. Thank you Jesus. There was lots of prayer going up on his behalf around here yesterday.

Love,

xoxo

Introducing

Which means I have a lot of people to thank. First of all, thank you God for answering my prayers. My prayer is now that you will use me for your good.

Thank you to my husband, Todd, who always knew I could do it, even when I didn't. And thank you to my kids who let me share my time with you.

Thank you to Christy, Marie and Lisa for making all those samples for market out of that crazy, thick, digitally printed fabric. (and then wearing that stuff! Have you washed it? Mine shrunk so much I can no longer wear it!)

Thank you to Jennifer and Glenna who were so encouraging. And to Elizabeth who was so critcal, but it helped.

Thank you to Sue for giving me a chance.

And thank you to all of you who read this and may some day buy it! I can't wait and still don't have a date for its release. But guess what? When I do, you will be the first to know.

I'm sure I'm forgetting people.
Love,

xoxo

Make Life Colorful

It's the final round of So You Think You Can Quilt. Leisel decided not to have judging this month but to still showcase our quilts. You can check them out here. The theme is modern. I made this quilt up from a layer cake and jelly roll of Make Life by Sweetwater.

My little friend Fia made the perfect model.

It's a queen sized quilt for my sister Christy. I'm thinking of making up the pattern. Any interest? Let me know! I also entered it in the Wray Quilt Show a couple of weeks ago.

Love,

xoxo

Have You Seen Our Cat?

Love,

xoxo

Independence Day Wrapup

It was simple but very all-American for us. Dinner was this:

and steaks on the BBQ grill from America's Best Steaks. A funny thing about those steaks. They're processed in the building that was Bogue Grade School, my school from kindergarten through 8th grade. I'm glad something is there to take its place. And even though we have our own beef, we buy these steaks because they truly are the best. Take it from someone who lives in the heartland and knows a good steak.

Dessert? Why All-American Strawberry Ice Cream, of course!

All American Strawberry Ice Cream

2 cups heavy whipping cream

4 cups half and half

1/2 cup sugar

lots of cut up strawberries

Mix together and chill. Then prepare in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions.

We had our fireworks followed by watching the city's fireworks. What a wonderful day!

Love,

xoxo

God Bless America!

Love,

xoxo