Mama's Apron

Mama's Apron
An apron played a big part in Mama's life,
as common to wear as being a housewife.
She used it to gather eggs at the end of the day,
to gather vegetabls to can and put away,
and to feed the family on a rainy day.
She used it to pick up chips
to start a fire in the old wood stove,
to cook the daily bread
for her main concern was to keep her family fed.
She folded it around her hands
when at the table blessings were said
and wore it in the rain to cover Her graying head
She wrapped it around the baby's legs when it was cold
and sometimes used to wipe his little nose.
It was a Faithful servant thru sad and lonely years
She even used it to dry away Her tears.
When the children were tucked in and their prayers were said
She laid out a clean one at the foot of Her bed.
Their job is over now, they did their best
Mama and Her apron have been laid to rest.
If all is true about Heaven I've been told
Mama is now wearing an apron of gold.

Author Unknown

More Family Day MCRD

I have to say the Marines know how to fill your day. We drove all night, got there at 7am for the run and toured the base all day, Whew, I'm tired! We didn't even have to tell the boys to go to bed. The first page is the barracks, MY DAUGHTER KNOWS HOW TO MAKE HER BED. This is an accomplishment all by its self. The hats and garment bags were all in a neat row. I decided I would add a post mark for every location she visits while she is in the Marines, I tossed all of my envelopes but her sister had saved some and mailed them to me....YEA for Sarah. I also added the Rifle Creed, words for a Marine to live by. The second page was pictures taken in front of the Iwo Jima replica and in the Parris Island Museum. I trimmed down the parking pass and made a Military boot that has a pocket at the top. While we were in the museum, a Vet asked my Grandson Payton if he would like a pin, he was so proud, we were so proud.

Family Day at MCRD

Family Day at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island South Carolina begins with a motivational run, them not us. About seven groups of Marines line up, stretch and begin their run. This is the first time you will get to see your Marine. My daughter was in the back row and very hard to see until they turned the corner and ran right in front of us. Can you say OohRah!! I took some red striped paper and attached a strip of blue and white stars to the side. I ordered a clear sheet from marineparents.com that had the emblem and wording at the bottom. I glued it on and placed the pictures on top of it. I have a roll of cork that I cut a circle out of, I had to iron it to flatten it, and added some iron on stars to it. I tried to iron the
stars on but they didn't want to stay, so I whipped out my trusty glue gun and they won't be going anywhere now. The second page is scenic photos of Parris Island, the base is beautiful and very well maintained. I cut strips of red and blue paper and started criss crossing them. This was a little tricky, I had to keep them straight and tape down as I added more strips, it helped that they are all different lengths. Sewed on some star buttons and added two singed brown circle flowers with brad centers.

Bishop's Man Apron

Bishop my grandson was making cookies
with his Mom Sarah and sister Tori, and look what they put on him....a girl apron!!! This will just not due, so Grandma made him an apron just for boys. I made him a hot rod apron with pockets to hold his cool stuff. It has flames all over the car, black tires and metal rims, how cool is that. I think I should get some cookies for that!

Red, White and Blue Parfaits

Red, White and Blue parfaits by Amy Crockett. I bought the plastic cups at Hobby Lobby, clear so you can see the colors. You need to purchase a lemon pound cake and an Angel food cake. Blueberries came in a small container so I bought two and I had leftovers. I bought a large container of strawberries and a large container of Cool Whip, I bought another small container of Cool Whip just in case. I set out 24 cups (12 for each flavor of cake).To make sure I had enough I cut the cakes into twelve slices. I cut the Angel food cake (AFC) slice in half, the lemon pound cake (LPC) slice I cut into fourths. Place half of the AFC in the bottom of the cups and two pieces of the LPC in the other cups. Spread a dollop of whipped topping on top of the cakes. Slice each strawberry into fourths, place 2-3 slices of strawberry on top of the whipped topping, depending on how many strawberries you buy. Place about 5 blueberries on top of the strawberries. Repeat the layers, chill and serve, yum!!! Everyone loved these, lemon was my favorite. This dessert was for my sisters Marine graduation, very patriotic Red, White and Blue, LOVE IT!!!
Dressed up Angel Food Cake....I whipped up a cake for the people who watched our dog while we were on vacation. I bought an AFC along with some fresh strawberries and blueberries. I cut the cake in half, and spread some cool whip on top of the bottom layer. I placed some fruit on top of the Cool Whip (make sure the fruit can be seen) and then placed the top layer back on the cake. I spread more cool whip on top of the cake and in the center and the rest of the fruit. It looked great and it only took 10 minutes! BAM!!

Banana Nut Bread*****

I got this recipe from my sister Terri and it is one of my all time favorite recipes. I make this one at Christmas time for the Teachers in small loaf pans, I have also made these in muffin tins.

Banana Nut Bread

1 cup of shortening
3 cups of sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 teaspoon of banana flavoring
1 teaspoon of butter flavoring
4 eggs
1/2 cup of buttermilk (1/2 cup of milk and 1 tbl of vinegar, let sit 10 min)
2 teaspoons of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of salt
3 1/2 cups of flour
1 cup of chopped pecans
6 small bananas (mashed)
Pre heat oven to 350 degrees and spray the pan with oil. Cream sugar, shortening and flavorings. Add eggs one at a time. Stir in buttermilk, soda, and salt. Add flour and stir well. Stir in pecans and mashed bananas. Fill pans half full and bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
2 loaf pans - 70 minutes
8 mini loaf pans - 35 minutes
24 muffin cups - 25 minutes

School Days Binder

Ahhh, the First day of School!! This is the first day of school for many kids and their parents. We buy them new shoes, new clothes and all of the school supplies. We are ready for school to start. They are scared to death and you hold their little hand and smile. You smile to keep from crying. That is just the first day, they have to go back the next day! So before you load the little ones in the car for the first ride, take pictures. A first day of school picture. Take a picture of the new shoes, new backback, new lunch kit and if they will be riding the bus get a picture of the bus also. Buy a 3" - 3 ring binder, some heavy duty page protectors and a package of wide ruled paper. On the top of the page write "First Day of School", "Kindergarten". I used 2-sided tape to place the scrapbook paper on the ruled paper to show how you can place the photos. Print the pictures and cut out smaller photos of school supplies. I like the ruled paper because you can journal easily on it. You can add apple stickers, pencil stickers and school brads. The stickers can be placed on the outside of the page protector, like a 3-D look. The sheet protectors are a great size for awards. This binder has a clear front plastic sleeve. Let the kids write their name on it and decorate it. I kept a plastic zip-loc baggie to place special items into and at the end of the year I would choose what would go in the book. I would only keep one or two special papers from each year because you could fill this up in one year and you have twelve more to go. Now that Kindergarten is complete you have to start all over again, "First Day of School" "First Grade"!

Road Trip

Bootcamp is ending and it is time for Marine graduation. My two grandsons, my two daughters and I decide to go to the graduation in South Carolina....Road Trip!! South Carolina is a long way from Texas. I drive to my daughters house and she is writing on her van windows. My three year old grandson looks at me and says "look what my mom did", what a great way to start the drive. All the way to South Carolina and back we got thumbs up and honks, God Bless America and our Troops. My daughter gave me a shirt and a pin before we left on our trip, The shirt says "I may look harmless but I raised a Marine" and the pin said "I'm here to pick up my daughter" LOVE IT!! We left at noon, lost an hour going East, drove 17 hours and arrived in South Carolina, only stopping for gas and restroom breaks. My daughter Allison made us some hamwiches with cheese, we didn't have bread so the ham was the wrapper. We had movies and find the road object games. Snack, drink, snack some more. Melanie brought her I-Pad and took photos and Facebooked our trip as we were driving. We stopped for breakfast and to freshen up and arrived at the base by 7am. I cut the Interstate sign with a free file I found for my Cricut. I made the Highway sign in Microsoft Word and printed it on photo paper. I cut the footprints and the outline of the highway sign on my Cricut.

The Transformation

We had a dinner for my daughter Sam just before she left for Bootcamp. This is her first step from Civilian to Recruit to United States Marine. She will take a bus from the airport to the base in South Carolina where she will meet a drill Sergeant who will inform her of her next step "Get Off My Bus". They will exit the bus and will find yellow footprints where they will line up. The Yellow Footprints, "Where Recruits stand in hopes of becoming a United States Marine". I printed out a map of the US to show the distance she has just taken from Texas to South Carolina. That girl is an awful long ways from home. When she signed up for the Marines they gave her a booklet that had the picture of the bus on it so I decided to make it a part of my layout. No longer a little girl, a Recruit. We received a form letter instructing us not to call her a Marine until she has earned it. The form letter was great, it helped the family with the do's and dont's to help her make it through and it was a tough 12 weeks for her but she made it. OohRah...

Martha Stewart Coconut Cupcakes

1 3/4 cup of flour
2 tea of baking powder
1/2 tea of salt
1/2 cup of packed sweetened shredded coconut + extra to top frosting
1 1/2 sticks of unsalted soft butter
1 1/3 cup of sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1 1/2 tea of vanilla
3/4 cup of unsweetened coconut milk
Classic White Frosting

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk the flour, baking powder and shredded coconut in a large bowl, set aside. Cream the butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluff. Add eggs 1 at a time beating after each one. On low add wet ingredients, egg whites, vanilla and coconut milk alternating with dry ingredients. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake cupcakes until testers come out clean, 18- 20 minutes. Let cool on wire racks. Spread frosting on cooled cupcakes and sprinkle extra coconut on top. The recipe and photo were sent to me by my daughter Amy. These are LOVED by her coworkers as is but you can use a homemade frosting.

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the Steamers mixed veggies in the microwave and follow package directions. Prepare cornbread dressing according to package directions. In a 13 x 9 pan mix cream of chicken, milk, Worcestershire sauce and pepper. Stir in chicken and veggies. Crumble cornbread dressing on top of other ingredients. Bake for 30 minutes. Mmmmmm Mmmmm!! Thanks to my daughter Amy for this contribution.

2 cups of cooked Chicken or 2 large cans of white Chicken meat
2 cans of Cream of Chicken
3/4 cup of Milk
3 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tea of Pepper
1 bag of Steamers mixed veggies (prepared)
4 cups of Cornbread dressing (prepared) or 1 box

The Decision

The next page in the Marines scrapbook is titled "The Decision". Sam's decision to become a Marine and the month before she leaves. She had to be taken downtown to swear in with a group of other kids. Her sister Allison and her brother Mike were with her and took the pictures for me. Note to Marines: take a group photo and parents will buy it! We went to the Warrior Dash in Spring Texas and the Marines were there along with the
Sergeant who Recruited her,
Sergeant Eric Countryman. With a name like that it sounds like he was born to be a Marine. Sam's fifth great uncle was Davy Crockett so I guess it was in her gene's also, "Samantha Crockett", Remember the Alamo! In High School she was asked to go with one of her Teachers to demonstrate some of his weapons on Career Day, how cool was that? We were also invited to attend a Pool Function for all the young kids who were going to join after High School. Another Mom asked me which one was my son and I told her that's my daughter over there. She grabbed her chest and said "Oh my God". Yep, there not all boys out there but they are all
someones child. They had an
actual Drill Sergeant there who took the girls aside for a little talk, see the picture on the bottom with the girls faces in the ground! Train, Train, Train, wow it makes me tired just saying it.