My Coon-Skin Cap

Okay, my sister Anna has been pushing me to post on our blog for awhile, and so here it goes. My coon-skin cap is real, real coon that is. It started a month or so ago when Bro Ron caught a coon for me. It was the bigest coon I had ever seen, its a good thing to becaus I only have a little scrap left. I started (after I had a tanned hide) by cutting a strip of skin 4 inches wide and as long as your head is round. Then I took a round peice for the top with the tail still conected. Sew that to gather and your done. Heres a few pics.

Happy Birthday, Luke!

As long as I can remember, us four kids have been compared to a sandwich. Laura and Caleb on the ends, always the bread. Luke and me, we're the ham and cheese: the middle. And we like it that way. But enough about us lets talk about him. Today is his twelfth birthday. Which is really old. He's only like four or five inches shorter than me. I fear I'll have trouble adjusting when he needs me as an elbow prop.

I remember the night he was born. Laura and me were staying with some folks from our church. I remember being very hot in bed, all a tangle of legs and arms. It was me and Laura and another girl, the daughter of the the folks we were staying with, (who was a good little bit older than us) but we had a lot of fun together, in bed that night. I think I was the one up against the wall, and I think Laura kept coughing too. Luke Benjamin came into this world just barely on the 18th. I remember talking on the phone to Mama and Daddy while they were at the hospital, and some how, I think I must have asked if he had big feet! When I was told that he had very big feet I... Have you ever read The Foot Book by Dr Seuss? Well do you know those big orange fuzzy feet attached to the big orange fuzzy Thing?... Well that's what I pictured, not really those feet on my new little brother, just a picture of those feet. :-)

Then I remember months later me and Laura would dress little Luke up, in those cute, little, dresses that were to small for us and to big for our dolls.

And I remember when he wanted to be a farmer. And I remember when he wanted to be a cowboy and live in Texas. And I remember when he wanted to be a trapper and go out on the trap line when he got to be a teenager and go with his flint and steal and his coon skin cap and trap beaver all out around our property and other folks' if they'd let him. That was the day before yesterday.

I also remember when after we'd watch an action movie, if it were Star Wars he'd play like a Jedi, Narnia he play like a knight, Davie Crockett he'd wrestle Caleb to the ground.

Luke's always been one for:basketball or football,

fishing or hunting,

digging or chopping,

exploring or reading,

swimming or playing,

math or Lego's,

jokes or top secret.

Luke, your such a blessing to me, almost always willing to help, weather it's snakes, mice, or stopped up toilets. You don't give up very easily.

And Luke, though your jokes may not be that funny, and your silly hypothesises about how certain things work may not make that much sense, and you may be a messy eater, and you do pour to much ranch dressing out onto your plate, and you do come and take my favorite spot in the front room sometimes,(and if there were hidden cameras in there you'd see me sitting there all the time during the school year)... I just want you to know that I LOVE YOU!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Anna

;-D

Our Woods (and how we name them)

This is a picture of a creek in our area but it's not on our property.

Standing in the dewy grass in the hour just ‘fore dawn

Picturing in my head, talking horse and dog and fawn --

“Say! I’ve an idea; let’s call it Dancing Lawn.”

Heading through the woods hearing the others’ footfalls

We come upon a waterfall and one of us recalls,

“Hey! This mud feels like ice cream; lets call it Frosty Falls.”

Exploring in the woods we come to a trail split.

“We’ll go this way, y'all go that.” Did those boys have a fit!

We called ours New Found Hope. They gave up and quit.

Going round the pond, not one of us feeling sober,

At the far end we stop; there were six of us in number.

We launched pine cones into the water. Thus it’s called, Pearl Harbor.

Anna

Cookies and Kittens

Today I made No-Bake Cookies: incredibly easy, made with ingredients we almost always have and delicious. We have made them for as long as I can remember and more recently Anna or I have taken over making then whenever we want some. We will throw them together for company, church meetings or just for ourselves.

No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

2 Cups Sugar

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

1/2 cup milk

3 tablespoons cocoa

Heat these first four ingredients on the stove on medium heat until they boil. Cook for two minutes. I stir them almost constantly. Remove from heat an add:

3 cups quick oats

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup peanut butter

Mix it well and use a tablespoon to spoon cookies out onto wax paper and let them harden. They will harden faster if you refrigerate them a little bit, we even store them in the refrigerator. I was able to make 42 cookies but you could make more or less depending on if you used bigger or smaller spoon fulls. Enjoy!

And they're great to feed to brothers and a cousin fresh from the pool. : )

And I felt I must add a couple of pictures of our darling kittens.

We call this one Prince William of Orange.

We call this one Luther.

We have three other kittens, too.

Laura

Hymn of the Month: Amidst Us Our Beloved Stands

I feel I must apologize for not being a faithful blog poster. We really do hope to do better and get into the grove of posting again again. But anyway, it's time for another hymn. This one is by Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) and it is written for communion, at we sing it to the tune of Doxology.

"Amidst Us Our Beloved Stands"

Amidst us our Beloved stands,

And bids us view His pierced hands;

Points to His wounded feet and side,

Blest emblems of the Crucified.

What food luxurious loads the board,

When at His table sits the Lord!

The wine how rich, the bread how sweet,

When Jesus deigns the guest to meet!

If now, with eyes defiled and dim,

We see the signs but see not Him,

O May His love the scales displace,

And bid us see Him face to face!

Our former transports we recount,

When with Him in the holy mount,

These cause our souls to thirst anew

His marred but lovely face to view.

Thou glorious Bridegroom of our hearts,

Thy present smile a heaven imparts;

O lift the veil, if veil there be,

Let every saint Thy beauty see!

Laura