Snow and Cupcakes

It's cold here in Maryland. While walking Blue it began to flurry. So exciting to see snow this early in the season. So I had to grab my camera and snap a picture. Yes that is all it snowed but hey I can't be picky.

Most of you know I don't buy books. I either find it at the library or garage sales. But this one spoke to me! It is called 500 Cupcakes. The pictures alone just make your mouth water. Yes, there are 500 different varieties of cupcakes in this tiny book. So it is my goal to try out as many as I can.

My first creation was Cookies and Cream cupcakes. Yes, OREO cupcakes! I must say they were yummy. The best part of making these is that you just dump all the ingredients into the mixer and blend. Then add crushed cookies. So simple! Here is the recipe.

For the Cupcakes:
-1 cup sweet butter softened
-1 cup superfine sugar
-2 cups self rising flour
-1 tsp. baking powder
-4 eggs
-1 tsp. vanilla
-10 crushed Oreos

For the frosting:
-3 sups powdered sugar
-1 cup sweet butter
- pinch of salt
10 cruched Oreos

Oven 350. Combine all the cupcake ingredients, except cookies in bowl. Mix with electric mixer until smooth. Stir in cookies. Spoon into lined cupcake pan. Bake for 20 minutes.
Make frosting and sprinkle cookies on top. ENJOY!

Have a great weekend.

VA Beach

Earlier this month we took our family down to VA Beach for the weekend. This has become a yearly tradition. We have a great time togther. This time we spent time at the aquarium and beach. This is my favorite photo. My boys couldn't just stand in the shark for their picture. O'no, the shark had to eat them. Did I mention they are both in their 20's. My boys are such a great joy to be around.

Have a blessed day.

Operation Christmas Child

Our church filled 150 boxes for this ministry. I am volunteering at the drop off point this week. We take the donated boxes and transfer them into larger boxes. They are then put on a semitruck and shipped to the ditribution center in NC. We have boxed up around 3000 boxes so far this week. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to pack through next Monday.

"Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes and the Good News of God’s love. Since 1993, more than 61 million shoe boxes have been packed, shipped, and delivered across the globe. People of all ages can be involved in this simple, hands-on missions project while focusing on the true meaning of Christmas—Jesus Christ."


Most importantly pray for all the children who will recieve these boxes. That they will know the love Jesus through these gifts.

Have a blessed day!

Checking Back In!

Well, my friends have missed my random ramblings. So I am going to give this blogging thing a try again.

I have had a little hiccup in our family life. Things have calmed down, so I will be writing more know.

So today I leave you with some of my favorite fall pictures from a recent kayaking trip. We have three local lakes that we like to paddle around. I enjoy taking pictures of the wildlife and plants and my hubby trys to catch the "big one."

Have a blessed day and be a blessing!

Checking Out

For a bit!

School Time

It has been quiet around here and we are getting ready for school to start next week. Enjoy your last weekend of freedom kiddos!

Mackinac Bridge & Vesper Cruise

These are some layouts from our vacation. We went on a vesper cruise. This was a FREE Sunday cruise put on by local missionaries. A pastor from a local church gave a short sermon and we sang traditional hymns, as we cruise up and around the Mackinac Bridge. The captain was a thrid generation guy. Even his 5 year old son could guide the boat around the lake.

Psalm 22:22 I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the congregation I will praise you.

Next are two new pages from my 2008 ABC Scripture Album.

Q ~ Psalm 23:2b "He leads me beside quiet waters,"
G ~ Matthew 28:19 "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,"

My Scripture Challenge cards are in the slide show to the right.

Have a blessed day.

Petosky Stones

While on our trip we came across a lot of things made of stone. There were porches, fences, birdbathes, just about anything. So I asked someone about all the stone. I thought they were just using their natural resorces. The shores were filled with these types of rocks. But I guess they are a certain type called PETOSKY.

On the internet they explain them like this, "This interesting stone is a variety of Calcite and was formed by the fossilization of the coral Hexagonaria."

When polished they look real neat. Most of the things we saw were just the plain stone.

Have a good weekend.

Last Day

Well our last day of our vacation was a long one. We spent the morning and part of the afternoon checking out a few more lights before driving home. All of these lighthouse were pretty close together on Lake Huron. Sorry they are not in order. I got confused when I was loading the pictures.

It is good to be home. I really like my neighborhood and house. It is good to sleep in my own bed and eat homecooked meals. I am looking forward to cooking. Did I really say that????

My son did a good job taking care of the pets and himself. Only my porch plants didn't survive the vacation. Boys just don't think to water plants. The birds that are nesting in them are probably wondering where all there protection went. HAhahaha

Thunder Bay ~ Nicely decorated in a cabin type decor. The tower is stone and the bell on the grounds is really loud.

Alpena Harbor ~ This skeletal type light was just a little thing inside the local harob. But it was in our book so we checked it out.

Presque Isle new and old ~ These light had great museums and we were able to climb both of them!

Presque Isle Range Lights ~ These two are very old and are now inland and used as a private residence.

Forty Mile Point ~ Great light! They gentleman that showed us around really knew his stuff. He took great pride in his volunteer job.

Cheboygan Crib Light Station & Old Cheboygan Lighthouse ~ These lights are tucked away in a small town. Only one is actually used as a neavigational aid.

Well, that is it for today. We saw NINE today and a total of 31 in the last seven day! Now that's an adventure. It will take me a year just to scrapbook all of these pictures. I better find my mojo.

Thanks for checking out my vacation entries. I hope you all have great summer adventures yourselves.

Day 5 & 6

Yesterday we drove up to Mackinaw City. On the way we saw Mission Point, Charlevoix South Pierhead and Mackinaw City Lighthouses.

After settling into our hotel we went on a vesper cruise around the Mackinaw Bridge. This was a free cruise put on by local missionaries. We listen to a short message and sang hymns. This was a hour and a half long cruise. We saw the sunset under the bridge. Beautiful!

Today we took the ferry over to Mackinaw Island. This is an island where no cars are allowed. We rented bikes and rode around the island. It was an eight mile trip. The island is blooming with lilac trees right now. They smell so good!
Then we we visited Fort Mackinac and headed back to the hotel.

Here are a few shots from the past two days. Have a blessed day.

Matthew 5:16 "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

Day 4

Today started out slow. A storm hit the area on Thursday and washed out some of the roads. So one of our lighthouse locations was flooded and we had to take a 60 mile detour to get back on track. We ended up seeing five lighthouses today.

Ludington North Breakwater Light ~ This light is in a cute little town. We can't climb this light but it was a nice long walk out to see it.

Big Sable Point Light Station ~ This is the light that we were unable to see because of flood waters. In its place i will show you the wached out road to park. Please say a prayer for all the residence in the Ludington MI area. The majority of the homes are under water. They saud it poared rain for 5-8 hours straight and all of the rivere/waterways broke over their banks.

Manistee North Pier Lighthouse ~ This is another one on a long breakwater wall.

Frankfort North Breakwater Light ~ This light is a large castiron square light.

Point Betsie Light ~ This a land lighthouse. We were able to climbe the 40 steps into the lantern room. Great views!

Grand Traverse Lighthouse ~ Another great 1800 era lighthouse. It has been decorated in with great antiques. We were able to climb the stairs to the top and look out onto the lake dunes.

This was another beautiful day. Have a blessed day!

Isaiah 45:7 "I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things."

Day 3 (4)

Last night we could not get on the internet so I am reporting in early Saturday morning. Boy, it has only been three days, but I feel like we have been gone for a lot longer. We are having great weather.

Today (yesterday), we saw seven lights! Since I can't figure out how to label my pictures yet, I am listing them in order from top to bottom.

South Haven ~ We walk down through a beautiful harbor out onto the channel breakwater.

Holland ~ Better known as "Big Red", this lighthouse reminded us of a little red schoolhouse. It is'nt little at all! It is built this way to hold the huge boilers that power the fog horns. Michael spent some time fishing off the pier.

Grand Haven ~ This is a double pier light. The inner light was buit 30 years after the outer light. We enjoyed a long walk along the beach to this breakwater.

Muskegon ~ This light was located on an active Coast Guard station so we couldn't walk out to this lighthouse.

White River Light Station ~ This light house was a beautiful lighthouse and musuem. We were able to climb to the top of the tower and look out over the dunes. Inside the museum we saw the original lens. The Coast Guard sold this light house to the towns people and is maintained by them today.

Little Sable Lighthouse ~ This was the last one for the day! Wow, what a great way to end our day. We were able to climb the 125 steps to the top of this brick light. Built in 1872, all the suppies were shipped in on the lake and built by hand on site. We looked out over the beaches.

We kind of left ourselves out in the boonies as far as for finding a hotel tonight. We happened upon a tiny town called Silver Lake. We stayed in a cute hotel on the lake that has been built against the dunes. Michael spent two hours at dusk fishing out in the lake. The Lord has blessed us with another beautiful day!

Psalm 104:2 "He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent"