Jocelyn Adel Kaleyonna Szalapski

I just wanted to wish a VERY special girl a happy birthday:

Happy 2nd birthday pretty girl!!

Sugar and spice and everything nice, That's what little girls are made of.
Especially this one. :)

Just a quote.

Here is a quote I found:
         When I pray coincidences happen,
When I don't, They don't.    -William Temple

I tried to look him up see if he was a christian. But, unfortunately there are a few William Temples.
I just thought it was a cool quote. You can get back to your day now. 

Just enjoying life

Well let's see. We Haven't really been doing much this week. We are babysitting at my second home(Jennifer's) right now. Mom and dad are gone on a trip for their 25th anniversary. Can you believe that 25 years! That is a long time.

So really we are all just enjoying life. And I don't know about anyone else but, I am waiting for the snow to get here. Can't wait! Well if your going outside today bundle up. It's COLD out there!

Hope to see you all soon,

P.S. I know my signature is still a pumpkin not exactly Christmasy. I will change it soon. :)

A Toddy Thanksgiving

Ahhh.... What a awesome day. A time when we all get together hold hands and give thanks to the creator for everything we have and of course to pray for those who aren't as fortunate.
It is one of the only times of year I get to see my whole family all together for one big feast.

The only thing that could of made it perfect was if Jen and Tommy were there.
But, Stephen and Jessie were here for a visit!

And Sabrina. Or as I call her CC (chubby cheeks)

We played drop the egg where everyone made a contraption

(That snake like stuff is foam.)
 and put their egg in it (raw egg) then we drop it off the deck and see who's doesn't break.

Leanne and Rebekah's survived

Unfortunately Silas's didn't.
Then some of us played a little game of  what has become the annual tag football game.
Then it was time to eat!

Come and get it! Dad smoked the turkey while us women worked on the pies and other things.

I think our grain-free dairy-free (besides eggs) and sugar-free thanksgiving dinner turned out pretty well.

Sorry I was trying to figure out how panorama view works.

Mmmmmm...... Homemade applesauce.

"You sure you can eat all that?" Little brothers :)

That was such a good meal. We all ate till we fell over.
Even Stephen was full. And it's hard to fill him. :)

Or as the girls put it "Stuffed but, still eating."

Ah yes. This was the part that wasn't dairy-free. We bought some whip cream for those who wanted it.

And perhaps the girls got a little carried away.

 Okay. So maybe I did too.
Hey I'm not quite an adult yet. I can still act like little girl sometimes.

Well that about wrapped up the day.
People slowly started filing out the door as we said our sleepy goodbyes.
What a day I thought as I looked around then the dishes caught my eye.
I quickly said goodnight. :)



Random shots:

Thankful

Thanksgiving being this week I thought it right to write down some things I am thankful for.

1: My family who if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be here.

2: My wonderful friends who stick with me even when I can be a bit ummmm.... quiet at times. 

3: A roof over my head 

4: The food on my table

5: Books. Without them I would be bored quite a lot.

6: Musical instruments. Life without music would be pretty boring.

7: My friend and Lord Jesus Christ. Without him I would be quite lost.

8: For cars and all those locomotive things. Without them we wouldn't be able to go to church with all our good friends. (That would be a ways to walk)

9: Sisters. I know their family but, I don't know what I would do without my loving sisters. 

10: For the woods, Who's solitude I sometimes seek.

11: For the invention of the light bulb. Without that I wouldn't be able to stay up reading to all hours of the night.

These are just a few of the things I am thankful for. There are so many things I don't have time to write them all. 

I may not be on before Thanksgiving so I will say it now:

To you and your family. 

Have a blessed week.

Hunting "~v~"

Were home and what a week it was hunting pretty much day and night and when we weren't hunting we were fishing at Trumen lake. We got home Thursday night after the Afternoon hunt and
It felt soooooo good to take a shower. =) We practically lived off MRE's (Meal ready to eat. They eat them in the Army.I'm pretty sure most of you know that Stephen is in the Rangers.) and eggs.
So I said I would bring home lots of pictures and I did but, their mostly of Malachi. He's so cute!
I couldn't resist. I got some others though too. Here you go.

 I know I have said this before but, He's so photogenic and cute! =)
I can't believe there is going to be another little one for me to take pictures of.
(Oh, Did I mention Jennifer's expecting?)

Malachi was kind of crabby so I stuck an earphone in his ear he stopped crying and just lade down on me listening. But, he didn't want the slow music he wined every time that came on. No he wanted Apologetix.
Such a boy.

 I have more but, I figured that was enough for now. Of  Malachi I mean.

 Silas and I wrapped apples in tin foil and put them in the fire. We left them a little long though they kind of exploded. But, they were still pretty good.

 Gathering wood so we could all snuggle around the fire. I was sooooo cold!
It got below freezing!

Me and Rebekah right before the last hunt.
We made the last hunt a good one we hunted from one to dark. That was a lot of sitting.I thought for sure I would get something but, I guess not.

Well companies almost here better go. Hope your hunt was more fruitful.

Odd?

Yes, I know the last couple of posts have been odd because I have already posted those crafts. But, remember I told you they were going to pop up again because I have been editing the "Get Crafty" page. I just figured I would explain myself real quick.
So the "Get Crafty" page is almost done. I can't finish it right now but, I will soon.
I probably won't post now until after deer season. We are leaving Sunday (unless it is raining. If it is then we will be going to church like good people :) ) and we will be gone for 5 days! I think that is the longest I have ever camped. So I am sure I will bring home lots of pictures.

 Until then,
                  

Secret book box

This is my first tutorial so have mercy.
 Supplies you will need: A book that it doesn't matter if it gets destroyed.
                        A box knife: that is what I used but you can use anything like that that will work.
                                    Glue
                                    And a picture of some sort for the inside.

Alright the first thing
 you need to do is
cut the pages with
your knife
 in a rectangular shape
About 1, 1 1/2 in. from
 the edge until
you get it as deep as you
 want
 it as shown to the left.
 You want to leave
 about 20 pages uncut in
 the front and back. This is long
 and tiring not to
 discourage you, I took a couple breaks
 during this step. And if you are smarter
than me then you will do it deeper than I .
 I did what I thought was deep
enough but it wasn't so maybe do a little more
than you think.

Then you want to take
 the page
 right before the one you
started cutting
and cut like an x from one
corner of the
rectangle to the other.
This will form
                                                  like 4 triangles.(Shown left)

Now you you will fold the triangles
down into the book like shown and
tape them.(On the left)

Now you will want to take some
glue and I used a plastic
bag or you can use a
brush and apply it to the edges
of the pages.

Warning this does make
 a mess.
Before you glue you
might want to put a newspaper
underneath your book so
you don't get glue on your
work space.

Then you need to find a picture
like  I cut this picture of
a painting out of the rural
Missouri to put inside your
book box.
You can put any picture you
want though.

Then you will want to
cover the back of the
picture with glue and
stick it in your book
box.

And VIOLA! You now
have your own secret
book box.
If you need help or any of this doesn't make since you can post a comment
or e-mail me.

I would love to hear  how yours turns out.So leave a comment.
I love comments and I don't get near enough of them.

                                                                ~Ivy~

T-shirt into backpack.

An update on my last craft (t-shirt into backpack)
When I said you should tape the ends of the rope scratch that.
Instead you should use a cigarette lighter or a blow torch
like my pyromaniac dad to melt the ends of the rope a little.

Another tip I learned: Do not! Make the holes for your
eyelets too big. Otherwise they just fall right out and you
just wasted an eyelet.
 Well other than that this craft
turned out pretty well. That's it.

 ~Ivy~

Hey everyone. Here's another craft for you:
How to turn a t-shirt into a back pack

Supplies: A t-shirt
 A grommet or eyelet kit
 (Wal-mart sells the tools
 and grommets separatly so make sure you get them
  both the same size
   <--- They should look like this)
      scissors
                                                             a sewing machine
                                                             A large safety pin
                                                            Some Rope (I bought 8 ft but I had left overs.)

First you cut from underneath one armpit to other
I thought I had a picture I guess not. Sorry :(.
(Turn the shirt inside out.)
Then you sew along the edge you just cut.
This will be the bottom of the bag.
(I know the lighting is not very good in these pictures
sorry. But, I have an excuse. The sewing room and my room
are in the basement and we have florescent light bulbs down there)


Then you will cut the hem of the shirt
almost but, not all the way to the seam.
<---
Now attach the safety pin to the end of the rope
and feed it through the hem.

My rope started to fray so
I taped the ends.







Then attach the grommets/eyelets
according to directions
then tie the rope around them and
there you go.
(Rebekah consented to be my model
lol)


                                                       Have fun,
                                                          ~Ivy~

Youth season

Mom has always said we are hillbillies but, I never feel so much like one than during deer season. When we get dressed in our warmest worst looking clothes  and head out into the woods carrying an AR 15.
Every time we go hunting I think of the movie Beverly hillbillies. It is one of the funnies old TV shows I have ever watched. And this year was no exception.
We got up at the crack of dawn and started to put on the pile of clothes we had layed out the night before.

Rebekah perhaps had a larger pile than most.

Those are a few of her layers. I decided to go a little less heavy.

A long sleeve shirt and coat
aught to do it.

As soon as we were ready we went upstairs and ate some yogurt
real quick and then headed out.
We hunted for about 2 1/2 hours. I saw a deer but, unfortunately I couldn't get a shot at it.
It didn't make feel any better when my 12 year-old friend's dad texted my dad saying he had just killed a 6 point buck! And it was his very first time hunting!
That was Saturday. We went out again Sunday night.
I didn't see anything but, Rebekah did. Here is her story.

Rebekah's story:
        So she was sitting there normal stuff and the the deer comes a long
        Dad's like "Rebekah shoot!" So Rebekah shoots and misses!
         And the deer just stands there! "Rebekah shoot again!"
        Rebekah pauses for a second then says "I can't".
         So dad looks and the guns jammed he slams
         and it makes a loud clink! The deer is just standing there through
           all this. Then Rebekah manages to shoot again and misses
          again. Then the deer just kind of walked off!
   
I heard the shots so I came to see if she got anything. She's like "I missed"
Dad indicating with his hands "It was Huge!"
 Good times. If you ever want to hear some good hunting stories just ask my dad he is full of them.
Stephen if you ever go hunting with him when you hear him shoot it is never just one shot it is pow!....Pow!Pow!Pow!.....Pow!
lol. Stephen never shot just once.
I can't wait till regular season we are going to camp then so it should a lot fun.
Lots of pictures coming.
Oh, before I forget Stephen and Jessie are coming down for a visit this week!
Very excited about that. Will post.

          ~Ivy~