out of the miry clay: Miss Music Box

Showing posts with label Miss Music Box. Show all posts

Friday, September 12, 2014

21 years?!

Born in the wee hours of Grandparents’ Day 1993…

~ Katherine Ruth ~

1995…

2010 ~ 17th birthday in Prague…

April 2011…

August 2014…

Happy 21st Birthday, Kate! We love you!

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

hAppY biRtHdAy to Kate!

Wow, 19 years.

19 years ago early in the wee hours of Grandparent's Day, I just said, "Wow." Amazing what God can do!

1995

2009

2010 ~ VBS in Omaha

Happy 17th Birthday in Prague!

2011

2012

I'm not sure what she and her college roomies or nearby cousins will do to celebrate the day...

Happy Birthday, Kate! We love you!

{Now get your homework done!}

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Now you see me…

…and now you don’t,” saith the fly as he buzzes by.

On again and off again goes this blog as well.

Yes, we are B>U>S>Y> around here. I’m sorry to say Abby hasn’t prepared more China posts to share yet, but we’ll get there eventually I trust.

Meanwhile her older sister Kate has us all in a flurry preparing for her next Great Adventure: Bible College.

Application {finally mailed while Tim & Ab were in China}
Physical {the good news of the day was that the nurse measured her at a full five feet and FOUR inches – Happy Girl}
Two days later a local RN friend ‘read’ her arm for the TB Test, so that we didn’t have to drive the 40+ miles back to the doc’s office.
Eye Exam… where our friend Alana talked her into trying Contact Lenses instead of ordering new frames. Why not?
Did I mention Shopping for a Wardrobe meeting the college’s standards? EVERY week for the past two months? {yawn, groan}
Returning Unused Clothes that have accumulated in her room here – trying to sell the rest.
And the growing Pile of Fabric that must be Sewn into new Skirts? {and the remaining Pile that will be waiting for her Christmas vacation}
Consultation with Oral Surgeon {She’s opting to wait until next spring/summer to schedule that fun}
Last Minute Appointment with our Photographer Friend for Family ~~Torture~~ Pictures {tomorrow!}
Which requires fresh Hair Cuts for all {the Cattleman still needs his!}
We’ve made HOMEmade ice cream, manicotti, chicken alfredo, meatloaf, gyros, grilled steaks and much more from her list of Beloved Foods
And Shopped for bathroom Supplies that we think/know she’ll need. And more? {still need to order vitamins! whooops}
Oh, and her OWN Cell Phone. With a texting keyboard. Oh my. {and unlimited texts/calls on the plan. whew.}
A New Laptop. So that she should be able to complete her written {typed} assignments without a hard drive crash.
Last Friday, Saint Amber {aka Amber S. in the comments here – Now you know what the S really stands for.} came over with her sewing machine, and we pinned and cut and stitched …and pinned and pinned and stitched some more. Three Sewing Machines with three operators and a couple helpers. Three Skirts. Done. I’ve also stitched up some PJ culottes for her this week.
We’ve had the local Grandparents over for a Farewell Dinner, as well as several Friends from church.
Treats for her Last Sunday School Class {as teacher}
She had a Farewell Party yesterday at Dawn’s where she worked most of the past year.
Today the kids are all off with Tim at the Farm Progress Show. I hope they have a Fun Day in spite of the heat!
A little visit with Grandma F. this week as we move Kate into her new Home Away From Home.
One More really cute Skirt remains on the Most Desired Wish/Need List. Maybe. Or I’ll have to sew it next week and ship it to her. I’ve repeatedly told her we will not be staying up all night to finish any sewing projects this week!

Because this THURSDAY is the day to check into her dorm. And have her actual Entrance Interview, after which she will {Lord willing} actually be accepted as a Student.

Must Make Lists. Pack. Pack. Pack. And hope we all still fit into the Suburban…

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

plethora of pictures

237 to be exact. Downloading from the card to my computer. Maybe I should have deleted a few first?

Oh dear, there are videos too. Yes, it’s “my” camera, but… [delete] [delete] Now there are only 116 in this collection of the Popper cooking an omelet, Luci, and the birthday festivities.

I’ll save the others for other posts… For now I’ll share more birthday pictures!

Life has been just a bit TOO crazy for me. New normal, but yikes. I’m just not organized enough to get it ALL done ALL the time. Sooooo, this historic 18th birthday of our firstborn rather snuck up on me.

I called a friend on Saturday to ask what to do to make it special?? {{!Help!}} I’d already done my shopping for the week… twice. And Tim and all the kids were along for Saturday’s chiropractor appointment. {no more shopping} But that was fun because we also met up with my parents at Dr. Haan’s and decided to go to lunch at Hickory Park, a wonderful and fun restaurant that is usually incredibly busy. But the Iowa-Iowa State football game was in process… in Ames. So we had no wait, and the waitresses kept us informed of the score. And we were gone before the game was over and the traffic turned crazy. {Triple overtime, by the way, with the ISU Cyclones victorious – Yes!!} ANyWay, back to the birthday theme: Hickory Park sings and gives free ice cream to the birthday person :D Happy Day!

Since my friend had given me the best doable idea, the Cowgirl and I set off for the local stores after we got home from Ames. That would be a small outlet mall {with a kitchen store!} and Dollar General. And the grocery store : ) We were in pursuit of eighteen gifts for our birthday girl! We knew she wanted a tart pan ~ Thankfully the kitchen store had a nice one in stock. Then it was off to DG for the cheap silly stuff ;-)

I had also asked Kate what she wanted to eat for her birthday dinner?? She wanted to make cheesecake. And chimichangas.

Monday morning she decided she couldn’t make cheesecake …because it should have been made on Sunday. Plan B: honey cake that she enjoyed last year in Prague. Hmmm, reading the recipe we learned that it was supposed to sit for six hours after icing it. (It was now early afternoon, and even the expected late supper would be pushing it.) Soooo, what do you want?? Something new and different? {yes} While she continued to work on her research paper for English, I searched allrecipes.com and found an interesting chocolate cake ~ “extreme chocolate cake.” (I knew she wanted something chocolate, and cream cheese added would be good. But those recipes all started with a boxed cake mix…) Then I remembered her favorite site called Smitten Kitchen. Aha. Then I saw “chocolate peanut butter cake” in the list. And I knew. If possible, this was what I must make for Kate.

Intense chocolate cake. Peanut butter frosting {with cream cheese in it!} and a chocolate peanut butter glaze.

I also decided to check allrecipes for a recipe for the chimichangas. I’ve been making them as taught by a friend for many, many years. But I was curious what someone else would describe as the ‘right way.’ : ) And I found a winner. Chicken Chimichangas with Sour Cream Sauce.

I’m sure you’re curious about the pile of eighteen gifts too, aren’t you??

Some of her favorite food-like products, gum, tic tacs, Reese’s peanut butter cups (in the jar), notepaper, pens, stapler, mirror, mug, clear band-aids, mug, candle, toothbrush, and -of course- the tart pan. :D