Lorraine D. Hebler

Life Overflowing

By Lorraine

The days have been so busy I’m not sure where to begin.
Recapping some of the recent happenings…

A few days after Chloe’s birth, Caleb celebrated his 4th birthday. He was most happy all day and each thing he said seemed to come out in song.
Amid everything else, we had the roof replaced. It was a bit unnerving to have the house draped in dark plastic while workers tore off the old roof making a racket for those inside, but now we have a roof that should last longer than we do.
There was an unexpected return to the hospital for Jamie but baby Chloe was allowed to be there too. I gave her her first bath on the tiny counter in the bathroom while Pop-Pop snapped a few pics with Jamie’s camera phone.
This little dear didn’t give out a peep as I jostled and ruffled her trying to keep her warm in a less than ideal space. I couldn’t refrain from kissing those soft baby cheeks.
Jamie’s hospital stay brought Jill, Brad and kids down to lend a hand and give opportunity for Cousin~time.
Some more lovin’ and a primrose and hyacinth announcing spring is on the way.
We watched Keri and Noah at Salao Soccer.
Jamie is home now and feeling much better. So good, that we all met at the playground to enjoy the warm sunshine (even thought the air was still nippy). Jill, Brad and kids will be heading back to NY in the morning.

With Family

By Lorraine

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
 Giving thanks to God for sending His Son for us

 Christmas Eve Cousin time

 The big kids

 together

 taking turns reading the Christmas Story before bed

 Christmas Morning

 Snuggle time

 Jamie Josh and their children (with one on the way)
Keri Noah Silas Caleb Cambrie

 Jill and Brad and their children, Ryan, Brenna and Shaela

 Erin and Jared ~ Me and John

 Silas Shaela Cambrie and Aunt Abbey

boys in hats & chocolate wand pretzels
Our Family

Surprise!

By Lorraine

Sitting at my computer last night, I heard children’s voices on the porch and caught a glimpse of blond hair.
It was late but I thought it was Silas and that Jamie was stopping by.
I was delightfully shocked that Jill and the kids were here!
Brad and his dad drove to North Carolina, for a basketball coaches clinic hosted by North Carolina’s coach and Duke’s Coach K. Jill and the children drove in their car to our home.
Ryan, Brenna, Shaela and Raider
Of course, we had to brew a pot of tea to have with our oatmeal breakfast, because tea with cream and sugar cubes is a tradition at Mom-Mom’s.
I loved the sweet note little Shaela left.

Fresh Flower Ice-Cream Sundae Craft Project

By Lorraine

My dear friend, Susan told me about something she made at a Flower Camp she attended with another friend. I was looking for a craft project to make with the kids for a garden themed birthday party I was planning for my granddaughter and her friends and cousins. This sweet fresh flower ice-cream sundae arrangement was a perfect craft project for little girls!


Cute, huh! And just the kind of project that turns out well for kids giving them a sense of accomplishment without being too difficult or boring. It isn’t a messy project and nothing that might stain or ruin their clothing or surroundings.

With a little prep work ahead of time, the project goes smoothly and does not take a long time to complete. I had the Oasis foam cut to size for the ice-cream shaped vases and the flowers trimmed to the right length, sitting in containers ready for “picking.”

Because the glass is clear and I didn’t want the oasis to show, I had pre-cut pieces of white plastic, cut from the bags you get when shopping. It was free and worked for what I needed. Older kids could add the plastic and then inset the foam themselves.  Littler one might benefit if this step is already done for them.

If you have pitchers of water ready, bigger kids can pour the water into their vase. If you think it easier for the littler ones, have the foam wet already.

 Let each child pick their flowers and insert each stem into the oasis foam. A little instruction about placement and they catch on quickly creating their sundaes. Ruffly carnations are ideal for the look of scoops of ice-cream in this project but they were not available this day. As you can see, the mums worked well.
 
 They were intent on their creations and enjoyed the process.
 Little red pom-poms could be used for the cherry on top, but we gathered bright red flower blossoms from my window boxes.
 Even the little ones did a great job.
sweet cousin, Brenna
Pretending to sip their Ice Cream Sundae’s, the girls later took them home as favors and were able to enjoy their pretty flower arrangements for many more days.

Here is the list of supplies you will want to gather to make
Fresh Flower Ice-Cream Sundaes

  • Ice-cream vase or something similar
  • Bend-y straws 
  • Floral foam for fresh flowers (pre-cut and pre-moistened if needed) Another option is to fill the vases with those little floral marbles/beads
  • Bunches of flowers like carnations or Mums ( pre-snipped the stems to about 4-inches long and had the foam in each glass.  I could have let the kids do this themselves but for the sake of time and the littler ones, I did it ahead.
  • Little red flowers (or tiny pom-pom’s) for the cherry on top (I snipped red impatients from my kitchen window box)
  • Squares of white plastic so the green floral foam doesn’t show through the clear glass (I cut white WM bags) I would double this next time.
  • water
  • Scissors and garden clippers

NOTE: We didn’t do this for the birthday party craft, but my friend said they lined the top edge of the cup/vase with green leaves before adding the carnations. I’m sure that would look pretty too.

Here is the birthday girl! Oh, Keri, with the dark brown eyes ~  Mom-Mom loves you!
♥

 

There are affiliate links in this post. That
means if you buy something from that link, I will earn a small commission, but
it won’t cost you anything additional.

If you are looking for inspiration and ideas for decorations and food for a sweet girl’s birthday party, check out Keri’s Garden Themed Birthday Party.

‘Twas a Most Happy Birthday

By Lorraine

Perfect in every way
 Me and my mom
 me and my girlfriend since childood
 me and my sister
 of course we can’t be together for two minutes without breaking into giggles
 playtime
 Delicious dinner made by Jill
 eating on the patio
family including my sweet niece, Eva.

birthday cake (actually Banana Blueberry Pie)
Our August is FULL of birthdays…  I am planning a birthday party for our little Keri Jill on the 19th.

Jane & Alex

By Lorraine

Our trip to New York a couple weeks ago was short (Friday evening to Sunday afternoon) with every minute filled to the brim and so exciting. Time with our kids and grandchildren as well as (our son-in-law) Brad’s family was the best.
I even found time to teach Rudy (a little yorkie poo) how to shake with his paw.
Brad’s sister, Jane asked me a year and a half ago, if I would take pictures of her wedding.
 

Continue Reading

Little Girls

By Lorraine

We drove six hours up to our daughters this past Friday afternoon where I shot the wedding photography
for my son-in-law’s sister on Saturday.
The day began at 8am at the salon and ended in a send-off of bright sparklers.
It was a gorgeous day and how I loved seeing everyone again.
After church on Sunday we enjoyed lunch together at Friendly’s and then drove back home, arriving at 8:30pm.
Here is a glimpse of precious little girls doing what little girls do best ~
being adorable!
Shaela Jamie
Top row:  Shaela ~ Sarah ~ Maeve.  Bottom row: Shaela ~ Maeve ~ Maeve Brenna and Shae
I am reading my Google Reader but slow on commenting as my plate is full with editing 1000+ photos and making a slideshow.
Squeezing in a sleepover/miniature golfing birthday party this Friday and Saturday for three of our grandsons (Jared, Noah and Silas).
~*~
Also had to spend a few hours at the eye doctors yesterday for a cornea problem that came out of nowhere.
Suddenly I noticed a cloudy film over my right eye that made it look like I was seeing through a sheet of plastic.
The doctor said the entire surface of the cornea looks as though it was scratched with sandpaper and is swollen.  Home with eye drops and an appointment for Friday morning to repeat the exam to make sure it has healed.
Hope to be back to emailing and commenting in a week or so.
♥

Cute Cut

By Lorraine

I was super happy to find some pics of our NY grandchildren in my inbox this morning!
Someone got gum in her hair.
so…
Mommy gave her a haircut.
I think she is adorable.
♥

This photo zooms me back to when her mommy was this age.
Looks just like my little Jill.
Those eyes are her Daddy’s.
The round face ~ her Mommy’s.
That cowlick… yup, that’s from ME!

before
{Shae really liked this mannequin.  Said it was her brother???  Silly girl}

One family ~ a redhead, a blondie and a brunette!

Ryan doing his favorite thing
🙂
Missing these kids!
Big time!

Giant Bubbles Fun Summer Activity with Grandchildren

By Lorraine

Time with grandchildren is some of the very best moments of all. They are even more precious when those grandchildren live a distance away. As our daughter Jill and husband, Brad’s visit was nearing an end, we had one last activity we wanted to do with the kids before they head back to up-state New York. Making bubbles. GIANT bubbles. Bubbles they could almost climb into. And it was so much fun! If you are looking for a great activity to do with kids, grand kids, your own kids, neighborhood kids, youth group kids and even big kids, make a batch of bubble solution together and see who can make the biggest one!
Ryan caught on quickly and was making some pretty impressive bubbles in no time.
Shaela needed a little help at first from PopPop
 She soon caught on and was making some amazing bubbles all by herself.
 And, pretty thrilled about it.
How To Make GIANT Bubbles
For convenience, supplies can be purchased from Amazon through links below.

Supplies to make the bubble solution:
1 Gallon Purified Water 
5 cups Unscented and uncolored Dish-washing Soap
1/2 cup Glycerin

Directions:
Pour the water into a bucket. I used a clean plastic container. 
Pour the dish-washing soap into the water. Then mix it gently with a wooden spoon. 
Pour the glycerin in. Mix gently again. You don’t want ANY bubbles. 

NOTE: Humidity has a lot to do with good bubble making so you might want to add a little more or less water to get a good consistency. Since it is so humid here in August, a little thinner was better.
Supplies for making the wand
2 Wooden or Poly Dowels, we cut them 16 to 24-inch 
2 Eye screws
3 to 4   1/4 inch nuts  (to weigh the line down)
Cotton String (we used kitchen twine) 

Directions: The photos will be a help in making the wand

  • Drill a small hole in the end of each dowel. 
  • Screw the Eye Hooks into the holes you just drilled until they are secure. 
  • Cut a 70-inch piece of cotton string. Cut another piece of string that measures 30-inches. You can make the string as long or short as you like just as long as one string is longer than the other. 
  • Put the 3 to 4 nuts through the 70 inch string. 
  • Put the ends of both pieces of string through one of the eye hooks and tie a knot. Do the same thing on the other eye hook. Now you should have a long string and a shorter one that runs from one dowel to the other.

    Even our pup lent a paw in the process of measuring the string and making the wand!

    Now for the Fun part: 
    Making Giant Bubbles 

    • Head outside with your bucket of solution
    • Put the end of the dowels in the bucket so the string is submerged in the bubble solution. 
    • Bring the ends of the dowels up from the bubble solution, together until about chest high. 
    • Then separate the dowels by pulling them outward so the string makes a triangle that points down. The washers will weigh the center of the bottom string down. see photo below.
    • Step backward quickly so that the air goes through the bubble solution between the dowels and makes a bubble.  

    We had to give it a few tries before getting the hang of making the bubbles but as you can see, even little kids were quickly able to master it.

    And the big kids couldn’t resist a try 🙂





    There are affiliate links in this post. That
    means if you buy something from that link, I will earn a small commission, but
    it won’t cost you anything additional.


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