Weekend 'Sleepover'...

It was a bit impromptu last Friday as my parents
decided to go down to SC to get our house ready for selling.
Unfortunately, the house wasn't kept up so well
so it took them a few days to get it all nice and clean
after the renters had left.
So from Friday to yesterday,
we stayed at our close friends' house.

I had a wonderful time! (It was my best friend and all ;)
I enjoyed taking care of my siblings and
spending a lot of time with Stephani and her mom :)
I, being my mother's daughter (lol), took loads of pictures;
but will reluctantly choose only a few to share :)

The childrenreally enjoyed playing outside.
They loved riding their bikes together down the dirt road...



Stephani and I enjoyed relaxing inside.
We had fun chatting and holding guinea pigs...



Saturday was pretty busy.
The children played outside more.
They also had fun playing games inside...



Stephani and I rearranged her room and deep cleaned.
It was quite some work since she has 2 excersise machines in there!
We later sat around and sang a lot...



Sunday was more relaxing...



Also, I got a picture of our orchestra at church!
Since I started playing my violin (sometimes fiddle;),
another lady started playing her flute,
and our pastor's youngest son plays with us sometimes...



We really like having the orchestra, especially since
our church has only about 50 people (including children)!
A small church, yet so many ministry opportunities!
I'm very thankful for our church and being able to serve!
We then went home and took a wonderful, much-needed nap!
Pastor's message in the evening was very powerful.
I plan to post my notes on it sometime soon.

Monday, we had a Memorial Day grill-out.
The pastor and his family came over as well.
I laughed at how funny Mr.C was in his 'head garb'.
I told him that he must have been in Iraq too long!



While he grilled, we were preparing the other food...



I must admit, after weeding the garden and getting prepared,
my friend and I had to rest for a little while.
But, we didn't wake up until after pastor arrived!
It was kind of funny/embarassing, since we were on the couch!
We all had a good laugh, though!

After supper, the children all played kickball.
I came out to read and take pictures...





Tuesday was even more relaxing.
Stephani and I took a 2 hour nap!

Carolynne had fun dressing up...



It was good to have my parents home again.
They arrived in the evening and we all grilled out for supper.

It was a great few days.
I particularly enjoyed having
my quiet time early in the morning!
I liked being able to sit outside on their
porch swing and listen to the birds while doing it.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed your weekend.

Finished school, picking strawberries, dress details, & my first bloom!

Busy, busy, busy!
That's why I haven't been very consistent with posting.
But now that I'm finished with 11th grade (!!!!),
the busyness should die down some.
(Although I do hope to start 12th in a month or so!)

Earlier this week, we went strawberry picking.
The weather was beautiful and we had a great time...


My friend and I

Beth and Carolynne

Will

Me

Afterwards we went to our friends' house to jam it.
Well, actually just the moms jammed.
My friend and I were exhausted and decided to rest

and then we sang a while later.
The jam turned out really good...



I was also very excited this week to have my first blossom.
I've never been able to grow things before,
but back in November I decided to try my hand at day lilies

(at least I'm pretty sure they're day lilies).
I've been taking care of them every day since,
and on Wednesday I saw my first bloom!
I was so happy the Lord blessed me with my 1st flower!

It was so pretty and smelled good too!
I'm glad to say that today I found 2 more
and lots more are about to bloom!

Recently, I was asked in a comment

about what dress pattern I use.
I make most of my dresses the same,
using the 'Women's square neck dress'
from Common Sense patterns. It's pattern 416E.
I adjust the neckline and the sleeves to my liking.
Also, I do not use the skirt pattern it gives.
I like my skirts really full! (Mine have a 12 foot hem!)
So I use the 6 panel medieval skirt pattern from NEWLOOK.
It's pattern 6614.
I slightly adjust the top of the skirt to make it wider
for more gathering to my bodice

and I also add on 4 inches in length.
Here's another sample of the dress.
My friend and I just recently made ourselves matching ones...

Well, I hope you all have a great weekend!
I plan to post again soon!


"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation:

the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

Matthew 26:41

Kindred Spirits In 2008

Best Friends In 2008
Originally uploaded by hskubes_gal

Here I am 15 and Stephani is 12.
We were sitting on an antique bike in my backyard
wearing our matching blue dresses.
(Click to see a larger view!)

Kindred Spirits in 2007

Best Friends in 2007
Originally uploaded by hskubes_gal

Here I was 14 and Stephani was 11.
We were at Colonial Williamsburg VA
for their Homeschool Week.

(You can click on all these photos
to view them larger.)

Kindred Spirits in 2006

Best Friends in 2006
Originally uploaded by hskubes_gal

Here I was 13 and Stephani was 10.
We were at a park in SC.

Kindred Spirits in 2005

Best Friends in 2005
Originally uploaded by hskubes_gal

Here I was 12 and Stephani was 9.
We were at our favorite beach in SC.

The Past Few Weeks...

WOW! I've been so busy lately,
I haven't found time to get on the computer!
I'm terribly sorry!

I thought I'd post some pictures from the past few
weeks to fill you in some ;)
So feel free to grab a snack and sit back and relax:)

2 Fridays ago, we and our friends went to the beach.
It's actually getting too hot, but we're getting some nice breezes.
That day was one of those days...


My friend, Stephani, my lil' sister, Carolynne, and I


Everyone enjoying the water


My deere friend and I


While we were there, some guys came out to surf!
It was really neat to watch!


Me enjoying watching in the sand


My precious siblings and I

Afterwards, we went to my house.
Stephani and I worked on our schoolwork together...


Sometime last week, my brother and I
enjoyed watching the birds together...


And deere Beth is learning how to read.
I had the pleasure of her reading a BOB book to me ;)


The whole week 2 weeks ago, Stephani and I
worked on a cd of us singing.
We used her sister's cd player to record our singing onto a tape.
Then our pastor was so kind to put the tape to a cd for us!
Though the recording wasn't the best,
it's just fun for us to listen to... ;)

Here we were remembering the words to
"Keep On The Firing Line", which we had lost the music to.
(It's now found again, thankfully;)

Also, I've picked up a new instrument...

It's always fun on park day when my friend and I sing
with the guitar together.
But now we can sing with the banjo!
My pastor is letting me borrow his banjo for a while.
I hope to get one of my own sometime in the future!

Also, I've been busy with photography.
Here are a couple of photos I've taken and edited.
I also ordered them as prints...


My puffy dove! I love these guys!








This one is my personal favorite!
I plan to get a bigger print to frame and hang on my wall.


:0)

Well, that's all for now.
I'll soon be posting some photos that I organized for my friend and I.
They're one photo from each year.
(Only from '05, though... we've been kindred spirits since about '01!)
Have a great weekend!

A Day With Friends...

I am really not the most consistent poster in the blog world.
Mom and I were jesting about how
I should get a 'Bad Blogger Award'. lol

It's been very busy around here.
Yesterday I ended up doing 54 pages
in my Advanced Chemistry!!!!
Oh, I couldn't put it down!
Now that I've learned, as Dr.Wile says,
'all there is to know about equilibrium'(sigh of relief!),
I've finally started enjoying more of my favorite fields:
kinetics and organic chemistry.
(I didn't know I'd like organic chemistry,
but it's pretty much physical chemistry with a lot of 'twists' to it!!!!)

Anyway, today was a nice day
so we decided to go to the beach!
I love the beach and it's been a while since we had gone.
I absolutely adore the cute seagulls and pelicans...


But unfortunately, it was a little crowded,
so we didn't stay long.
But here are 2 of my favorite shots of the moms...



My mama...



Mrs.C...

Notice how similar their face expressions are? LOL
Just goes to show that when you've been best friends
with someone for 7 years, you pick up the others' traits.
Hee hee. I love you guys ;)

We, then, ventured home.
We spent time singing, playing instruments,
relaxing, and having fun with the camera.
Here are a few photos I thought I'd share:
Playing my guitar in a unique way, as we've done before...



(We had done this years ago
and decided to update the pose in our photos ;)

And my 'Mad Scientist' look, as she says...
(since I like to study so much and relate
almost any situation to Chemistry;)


After a while, we made the Friday night pizza...

We had a great time of fellowship (and singing!) in the kitchen.

The children were enjoying their time
dressing up and showing us their costumes...


Cute Carolynne



Butterfly Beth



Roman Will and who knows what his friend is!?!
(some kind of a morphed cow/elephant/cowgirl/queen)

They also had fun on the trampoline in their outfits...


Today was definately a great day of fellowship!
Here are 2 more photos we took...



I hope to post again soon!
Have a great weekend!