Photo Challenge -- Flowers

I am entering the above photograph in Ruby's photo challenge for 'flowers'.

Blessings,

Kelly-Anne

Little Nature Lovin' Baby {A Wordless Post}

Book Review--The 101 Dalmations

The 101 Dalamtions by Dodi Smith

Book review by Kelly

It was a wonderful night when Missis and Pongo became proud parents to fifteen adorable dalmation puppies...

When puppies are stolen from the Dearly's house in Regents Park, word gets around quickly by the Twilight Barking.  Pongo and Missis must make a long and dangerous journey to rescue their pups, but will they get to them before the scheming Cruella does?  And will the family be home in time for Christmas?

"I orginally picked up this book for my younger sisters because I thought 'what fifteen year old girl reads the 101 Dalmations?'  But alas!  As soon as I started listening to Mom's read-alouds, I quickly changed my mind and fell to reading it to myself!"

Enjoy the rest of your week ~

Kelly-Anne

Happy Birthday to our Little Princess

Gabrielle turned five years old on Tuesday last week. Our sweet princess is growing up so quickly!

Each of us made or bought gifts for Gabrielle. I wrote her a story and made her an apron (more on that soon). I also like to make slide shows for my sisters of photographs taken from birth, all the way up to their new age. I worked on Windows Movie Maker while the girls were sleeping on Tuesday afternoon and we played it that evening for Gabrielle. It was so special to look back and see how Gabrielle has matured and grown up.

Gabrielle ordered macaroni cheese for her birthday lunch and jelly and custard for pudding.

That evening we went down the road to Uncle Terence and Aunty Anne-Marie’s house for a special birthday supper (we live on the same farm).

Gabrielle with her birthday cake made by Mom.

Aunty Anne-Marie and Uncle Terence really went to a lot of trouble to make a pretty party table for the younger girls and to make a lot of delicious food! They also bought Gabrielle a beautiful pink bicycle.

"Dear little – or not-so-little Gabrielle. I love you and hope you enjoyed your special day. May Jesus lead and guide you throughout your life and may you continue to shine your light for His kingdom:)"

Kelly-Anne

Photo Challenge Entry--Faces

Hello everyone!  I am entering the following photograph in 'Cameras, People and Some Snapshots' photo contest for 'Faces'. 

  

It is actually a self-potrait:)

Blessings,

Kelly-Anne

Sensational Sewing Challenge *On a Break*

Hello everyone!  My apologies for only posting this now!  I am taking a month's break from Sensational Sewing Challenge.  I just need some time to organize next month's special challenge which you don't want to miss!

Have a blessed day further,

Kelly-Anne

Book Review--When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr

Imagine this:

  You're only nine.  Your life changes dramatically in a few days.  One moment you are a German citizen, next moment, you're not.  You are hated and despised by the Nazis because you are Jew living in Germany.  Suddenly you have to leave your home and everything you know for a strange country.  In order to communicate with your new neighbours, you find yourself having to learn a new language.  You are plagued by the fact that you and your family are refugees, at the mercy of others.  Why?  Could this be referred to as a 'difficult childhood'?

Based on her childhood experiences, Judith Kerr (author of the popular children's story series: Mog) describes her life during the terrible time when the Nazis were threatening to take over Germany.  She and her family had to flee from Berlin to Switzerland when she was only nine years old.  Later on they moved to France, where her father, an author, tries to earn a living writing for newspapers.  But times are tough and Anna (the story character) and her brother, Max, have to learn new languages in order to attend school.  They eventually end up in England to start a new life.

"When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit" is a book I can relate to.  It has me captivated by its every detail.  It is a great, easy read.

Be sure to visit my Review page for more book and DVD reviews!

The Life of Izzie: Part Two

Mom and I. Photo Credit: Nancy Gray

Welcome to my second blog post ever, everyone! If you read my first post, you will already know that I am a Jack Russell Terrier puppy who is turning three months old on the 15th. I celebrated a month spent with my family on the 12th and so it is time to share another part of my story with Beautiful Girlhood’s readers.

 

Relaxing and sleeping – one of the perks of being a dog.

I have thankfully completed my set of puppy vaccinations. Last week I developed an extremely sore ear. I scratched it and whined till at last Mom said she and Grandma were going to take me to the vet:(

The vet cleaned my ear and looked at a scraping under the microscope. Fortunately no mites, just a sore where I must have scratched that got infected. The vet gave me a painkiller since it was so sore and a bottle of ear drops to Mom. Every day for a week after that Mom cleaned my ear out which I wasn’t too pleased about. I’m better now, though.

A few weeks ago, family friends came to stay for two nights. I loved being cuddled by the two girls. We went on picnics, photo shoots and many walks - I love people.

Me, Mom, Aunt Nancy, Aunt Beth and the lovely Miss J and Miss M – friends who visited us from Cape Town:)

Mom also took me with to their Saturday morning market in George to meet other dogs and children. (I’m going again tomorrow!) Everyone made such a fuss of me (poor Mom, she had to continually explain what breed of dog I was, how old, etc.).

Living life on a farm is certainly loads of fun. Every morning I help my mom and my Aunt Nancy herd Molly the cow into her milking pen. We have to walk about ½ a kilometre to fetch the cow and come home again. (We fetch Molly in the evenings again) I can’t hang around for milking because Molly is a miserable cow and doesn’t like other animals disturbing her. Afterwards I get breakfast and watch Mom feed my guinea pig friends. Sometimes I play with Dolly, the young calf (We love each other!) and sometimes I go for another short walk to visit my best friends Miki (short-legged Fox Terrier) and Buta (Boerbull x). They live on the same farm as us. Otherwise we just walk to one of the dams on our property. I will tell you more about them next time.

Till then,

Izzie

Be sure to visit Izzie’s official Doggy Blog here!

A Very Good Friday

Early on Friday morning, I got up and started up the wood stove and put water on to boil.  Mornings are getting cooler and we are now using our beautiful wood stove for most cooking purposes, which ultimately means a lower electricity bill and a warmer house.  I then rolled the hot-cross-bun dough into twelve balls and set them aside to rise.  I made up the ‘cross’ paste and got the glaze ready.

By that time everyone was up and about, getting ready for a new day. Nancy and I milked much later that morning because we wanted to set a pretty table outside under the trees for breakfast. Molly, our cow, had to wait patiently for us to milk her!

I poured homemade grape juice into glasses for the younger girls and got the tea brewing. Everyone was around the table and ready to begin a wonderful breakfast together, unique to a special day.

It is such an incredible time as a family when you sit down to a meal prepared right on your own property.  Hot cross buns taste spicier, tea stronger, milk creamier and juice fresher than if you had bought it ready-made from the supermarket.

Of course we are still in the process of getting set up for life on our little farm, but even the little bits are rewarding.

I thank you Lord Jesus for giving yourself up on the cross – for giving us eternal life! You have blessed us richly and we are so grateful!

“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands.”

1 Thessalonians 4:11

My verse for the week (above) has been my mom and dad’s own particular verse for as long as I can remember. They try in every way to live up to it.