It's raining today and I'm looking through cd's. I found this video and just wanted to share.
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We went out to dinner at the Gardens Restaurant over the Labor Day holiday. So much fun! Don't know what happened with the picture of Terri, whoever took the picture must have shook their hand,or maybe Anna was wiggling too much.

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This is how the new garage looks today. They just started Tuesday. :) I'm all smiles.

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I have been looking and looking for some photos of me using my pastels as documentation for the insurance company. Don't even know why I took this, but so glad I did. This is not all the pastels but it gives a good over-view and helps me remember. I see the Terry Ludwigs, the Rembrant's, the Schmincke's, the Sennelier's, the pencils and a few of my handmade ones. Don't know why the Unison's aren't on the table.

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We are getting ready to go on VACATION to Panama City Beach Florida. I can't wait. Terri, Brent, Carley Ann, Anna Claire, Dana, Todd and I are all going so I know it will be a fun trip and we will have lots of hands to keep up with the little ones.

Thanks so much for your prayers for safe travel.

The garage is still out there waiting to be torn down after the fire. Hopefully when we get back a work crew will be all set to get the job done. I'll feel so much better when it's all cleaned up and the repairs to the house are done.

My flowers in the garden are blooming anyway. They don't know there was a fire right beside them. Bless their hearts.

Inside the garage I had all my Christmas decorations. I hope I can save the metal Christmas Reindeer. The children loved them so and each time we would come home they would have to go say hi to Rudolph. Maybe I can salvage the frames, spray paint them stuff them with sagum moss and plant some ivy on them to make some garden sculptures. We'll see.

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Wednesday night I had a fire consumed my garage. I don't have words that can say what I am feeling. Carley Ann, Anna Claire and I are safe with no injuries. They were spending the night with me and we had just dressed for bed. Thankfully Carley saw the fire and we called 911 who sent emergency services to the house immediately. The main house is smoked but all is well. Even Cocoapuff is okay and she went under the bed during all the firemen and everyone working to get the fire out.

God is good and can take the worst problem we have and work it to His good. I am confident of that and look forward to seeing what He does with this small bump in our lives.

I'll be staying with Terri, Brent and the girls which will be a good thing for all of us as we all are so close and can help and support each other as families do.

http://www.phyllisfranklin.com/uploaded_images/IMG_1039-709478.JPG

http://www.phyllisfranklin.com/uploaded_images/IMG_1034-794646.JPG

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Wednesday night I had a fire consumed my garage. I don't have words that can say what I am feeling. Carley Ann, Anna Claire and I are safe with no injuries. They were spending the night with me and we had just dressed for bed. Thankfully Carley saw the fire and we called 911 who sent emergency services to the house immediately. The main house is smoked but all is well. Even Cocoapuff is okay and she went under the bed during all the firemen and everyone working to get the fire out.

God is good and can take the worst problem we have and work it to His good. I am confident of that and look forward to seeing what He does with this small bump in our lives.

I'll be staying with Terri, Brent and the girls which will be a good thing for all of us as we all are so close and can help and support each other as families do.

The bow, the arrow and the target

Paulo Coelho

The target

The target is the objective to be attained.

It was chosen by you. Here lies the beauty of the path: you can never apologize by saying that the adversary was stronger. Because it was you who chose your target, and you are responsible for it.

If you look on the target as an enemy, you might even make a good shot but you will not manage to improve anything in yourself. You will spend your life just trying to put an arrow in the center of something made of paper or wood, which is absolutely useless. And when you are with other people you will complain all the time that you do not do anything interesting.

That is why you need to choose your objective, do your very best to attain it, look upon it with respect and dignity: you have to know what it means, how much effort it has taken, how much training and intuition.

When you look at the target, concentrate not just on it but on everything going on around you, because when the arrow is shot, it will have to deal with factors that you miss, such as wind, weight and distance.

The objective only exists insofar as a man is capable of dreaming of reaching it. What justifies its existence is desire – or else it would be something dead, a distant dream, a daydream.

So, just as intention seeks its objective, the objective likewise seeks man’s intention, for that is what gives our life a meaning: it is no longer just an idea, but the center of the archer’s world.

Welcome to Share with Friends - Free Texts for a Free Internet

With two little girls, Disney World has now become the home of Minnie Mouse first... not Mickey. They have Minny Mouse ears, flip flops and pocket books as well as Minnie spin toys that light up and spin around. We had a wonderful time and are already planning to go back possibly right after Christmas.


My brother is still in ICU but that is what we all expected. I sat with him last night and our plans are to have a three day rotation so none of us will get so tired. If we do, we can hire a sitter. We all agree that it's imporant right now to have someone from the family be there. It's not that we can do anything...it's more about making us feel better. Today they put in a trach because they couldn't leave the tube down his throat any longer without causing damage to his vocal cords. They said that actually this would be better for him. All in all Dr. Johnson said that he is improving and all looks well for a recovery. Looking at him with all the tubes and seeing him laying there under sedation makes us all lose hope, but it's comforting to hear words of encouragement from the doctors who see and do these things all the time.



I still have not picked up a brush in my hands since Ruth was here but I do paint in my dreams. Each time I pass the yellow ochre fields around my house I am inspired to paint them... and I do, each night... perfect paintings... sweet dreams with sun warming the soul. The peach trees are beginning to bloom and I dream of painting them too. Life couldn't be better to treasure each day for what it brings and know in the end love is all that matters. Sending love to y'all tonight and always,

This appetizer is inexpensive, quick and easy and is a great compliment to most menus.
Crab/shrimp meat-English muffin appetizers

1 7 1/2 ounce canned crabor shrimp meat, drained
1 6 ounce jar Old English, Kraft, Cheese wiz spread (Old English is best)
1/2 cup butter
1 tablespoon real mayonaise
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
12 English Muffins

Bring cream cheese and butter to room temperature. Mix all ingredients together. Spread on muffin halves immediately, quarter and broil 5-8 minutes or until golden brown. After assembly muffin halves or quarters can be frozen and taken out to bake as needed.

Heat in 350 deg.F oven for 5-10 minutes or until just browning. Serve warm
Some cooks say that freezing the quarters for at least 30 minutes before broiling improves taste. I have done this both ways and really don't see or taste the difference.

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Swan Lake

Carley Ann and Anna Claire couldn't watch this video of awesome, talented people enough.

Fresh Pineapple Chicken Wrap Appetizer


1 T orange Marmalade
1/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup cream cheese
salt/pepper
1 6 oz can chicken drained
1 large slice fresh pineapple, finely chopped
1 medium shredded carrot – save some shreds for garnish
dash or two of dried onion flakes

Beat all of the above in mixer.
Spread on large soft flour tortillas. Roll them up and slice into small portions about 1/2 inch thick making the appetizer look like little pinwheels. Secure with toothpick if needed. Serve with fresh fruits and bits of shredded carrot or carrot curls for garnish.

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Your MeMama loves you so much.

Birthday pictures will follow. :)

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Just so I won't lose this recipe, I'm posting it here. It's a simple recipe, but for some reason I'm always second guessing myself, so having the recipe saved here where I can find it quickly makes good sense... plus I wanted to share it with you.

Cornbread Dressing

6 cups of crumbled pre-cooked cornbread
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/1/2 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon sage
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Chicken stock to moisten well - final batter should look just like uncooked cornbread
1/2 stick melted butter

Mix all ingredients well and pour into a baking pan. Bake for 1 hour at 375 deegrees.

Sometimes I use a half of a bag of herb dressing mix like Pettridge Farm instead of part of the cornbread. When I do this I don't use the sage. My son likes this dressing without celery so if I do use celery, I make sure I reserve some batter without the celery. Usually I just half the batter before adding the celery and then when I put the batter in the baking dish I put one type batter on one end and the celery batter on the other. After it's finished baking I garnish the celery side with celery leaves so everyone will know which side to eat. Both sides usually get gone equally fast. I like the edges crispy and the center very moist, so I watch the baking time and take the dressing out as soon as the center is set soft. The edges get crispy because I make sure to grease the sides of the pan with shortening. I know this is not weight watcher friendly, but dressing isn't something that you eat everyday and you can always try to eat small portions. Good luck if you can. :)

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.:.Carley Ann will be 4 in December and Anna Claire turned 2 in June. Anna makes up her own songs. :)

Anna Claire and Carley Ann love to paint, color and do anything making things. That's natural. :) They also love to copy anything they see others doing, so it's no surprise that Carley Ann has taken up calling her finished papers "her work". We put a small table in the TV room right in front of the TV so they can watch Barney and the Wiggles while they "do their work".



Friday I went and picked them up at day school. We had lots to do to help Daddy get ready for the mission project he was leaving for today. We made muffins for the children he was going to help in Mississippi... but we ate some of them... and then daddy came and ate some of the others. Thankfully we still had plenty left.



The muffins turned out really good complete with sprinkles on the top. :)

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Carley Ann and Cocoa Puff yesterday.