Picture Perfect Party Linky #14

Today we added a new member to the family. Her name is Tabitha, meaning "one of gentle grace." Samantha chose her and named her. It all started yesterday when, on the spur of the moment, Hubby decided to visit the animal shelter to pick out a kitty with Samantha. I thought they were having a father-daughter chat over McDonalds' milkshakes.

Once they got back, though, they told me not to look surprised, because the lady from the SPCA was arriving right behind them to inspect our home for the new arrival. I was quite surprised, but I pretended that I wasn't, because Samantha had been wanting a kitten since last year and we had told her that if we did get a kitten it would probably be from the shelter.

I took my little camera with me today when we went to pick her up. Some of these kittens and puppies have faces that are just begging to be adopted.

Linking with:

Now on to my blog hop...

Here's your chance to link up your Wordless Wednesday (with or without words) or any picture post at this Picture Perfect Party Linky (P.P.P.L.)! Come join me (Tina @ Amanda's Books and More) on this fun and easy blog hop! If you are already following me with Google Friend Connect, then how about following me on Twitter too or liking me on Facebook. Thanks!

I'm looking for bloggers who would like to be guest co-hosts on my Wednesday hop and on my Saturday hop. If you're interested, then please send an email to: morleychristina[at]gmail[dot]com

Here are the easy rules:

• Follow me on link 1. Please leave a comment so that I can follow back (as long as your blog is family friendly).
• Link-up your post with a picture and follow as many new blogs as you like. Make sure you let them know that you’re following through this P.P.P.L. hop, tell them how you are following them and add your URL to the message, so they can follow back.
• Grab the button below and add it on your post or on your side-bar, so that we can spread the word and get more people to the party.
• Share about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.

The Button Code:

<center><a href="http://abooksandmore.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Amanda’s Books and More" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitS14XLc-z2uSUW00dIvyZc7lEfLP2tkPgO3qmU3NWi_UObDs_d7XqpYhjp0BBeROyZot-8YlEFU9rguELrZYu3arN1qHHNpB4_ezrb-TlBlfHRSOvP7pBA0VI-j1RkUkF77wJxUc7M7ye/s150/Picture%2520Perfect%2520Party%2520Linky.jpg"/></a></center>

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Make My Saturday Sweet - Blog Hop #12

Welcome to another great Make My Saturday Sweet blog hop! There is no theme to this hop. Simply link your family friendly blog below and follow the easy rules. Thanks!

Here are three more photos taken at Samantha's 12th birthday party. I only post faces when I know that the parents don't mind, so sometimes I cut people out or only show a part of them.

The first photo is of the birthday girl with her two friends that stayed the night

and who went ice-skating with us the following day. Don't the girls look lovely?

The middle photo is of my eldest daughter, Jessica, roasting a marshmallow

over the last embers of a fire. You can't see the heat of the embers,

because of the flash.

This last photo is of the butterscotch fondue. I'm sorry I don't have a better picture

to show you. It was a huge hit and some of the kids have been asking for the recipe,

so I decided to share it with you. If you click on the recipe's title, it will take you to

the book where the recipe is from on Amazon.

Butterscotch Fondue

Ingredients:

60g (2 oz / ¾ cup) butter
125g (4 oz / ¾ cup) demerara sugar
4 Tbs. golden syrup
440g (14 oz) can evaporated milk
4 Tbs. chopped unsalted peanuts (optional)
6 tsp. cornflour
Pieces of apple, pear, banana and/or popcorn to serve

Method:

Put butter, sugar and golden syrup into a saucepan and heat gently until mixture begins to bubble, stirring occasionally. Allow to boil for 1 minute.

Stir in evaporated milk and cook for 3 – 4 min. until sauce is hot and bubbling, then add chopped nuts (optional).

In a small bowl, blend cornflour smoothly with 2 Tbs. water. Add mixture to sauce in pan and heat until thickened, stirring. Pour into fondue pot and place over a burner to keep warm. Serve with pieces of apple, pear, banana and/or popcorn.

Serves 4 – 6

Now on to the blog hop...

It's time for another Make My Saturday Sweet (M.M.S.S.) blog hop! Join Tina @ Amanda's Books and More (your host) and Jesse @ The Empowered Momma (today's co-host) for this fun and easy hop. All family friendly blogs are welcome!

If you are already following me with Google Friend Connect, then how about following me on Twitter too or liking me on Facebook. Thanks!

I'm looking for bloggers who would like to be guest co-hosts on my Wednesday hop and on my Saturday hop. If you're interested, then please send an email to: morleychristina[at]gmail[dot]com

Here are the easy rules:

• Follow me (your host) on link 1 and Jesse (today's co-host) on link 2. If you leave a comment letting me know that you're a new follower and how you're following me, then I'll be sure to follow back.
• Link up your family friendly blog.
• Grab the button below and add it to your most recent post or on your side-bar.
• Share about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.
• Follow at least three new blogs and tell them you found them through this hop. And, they should follow back.

Blog Button Code:

<center><a href="http://abooksandmore.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Amanda’s Books and More" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWaX10yWr7xxEQ5BBMhOqdZxobJ0omJBq-v8ENFn3YNNebsnsYBHwcGyje-XzSlHSJOIlZ1rEOp89LyNI97XrPFZtdeH_AvaNV3F8hOvHfsuwe29ALNQw75ibK34buYq7nhpGGZJ8UTnoB/s150/Make+My+Saturday+Sweet.jpg"/></a></center>

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Picture Perfect Party Linky #13

I'm in the middle of an exciting series on my hobby blog, 1camera1mom. I invite you to see more great photos of these amazing arum lilies / calla lilies on my post, Wild Flower Time in South Africa - 5.

Linking with:

Now on to my blog hop...

Here's your chance to link up your Wordless Wednesday (with or without words) or any picture post at this Picture Perfect Party Linky (P.P.P.L.)! Come join me (Tina @ Amanda's Books and More) on this fun and easy blog hop! If you are already following me with Google Friend Connect, then how about following me on Twitter too or liking me on Facebook. Thanks!

I'm looking for bloggers who would like to be guest co-hosts on my Wednesday hop and on my Saturday hop. If you're interested, then please send an email to: morleychristina[at]gmail[dot]com

Here are the easy rules:

• Follow me on link 1. Please leave a comment with your blog URL so that I can follow back (as long as your blog is family friendly).
• Link-up your post with a picture and follow as many new blogs as you like. Make sure you let them know that you’re following through this P.P.P.L. hop, tell them how you are following them and add your URL to the message, so they can follow back.
• Grab the button below and add it on your post or on your side-bar, so that we can spread the word and get more people to the party.
• Share about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.

The Button Code:

<center><a href="http://abooksandmore.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Amanda’s Books and More" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitS14XLc-z2uSUW00dIvyZc7lEfLP2tkPgO3qmU3NWi_UObDs_d7XqpYhjp0BBeROyZot-8YlEFU9rguELrZYu3arN1qHHNpB4_ezrb-TlBlfHRSOvP7pBA0VI-j1RkUkF77wJxUc7M7ye/s150/Picture%2520Perfect%2520Party%2520Linky.jpg"/></a></center>

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Make My Saturday Sweet - Blog Hop #11

The Make My Saturday Sweet blog hop is a hop for all family friendly blogs. There isn't a theme, so you don't have to link a special post. Simply link your blog's homepage and add the name of your blog to the linky below.

If you've been following my blog, then you would know that we recently celebrated Samantha's 12th birthday. I thought I'd share some photos and tell you a bit about the party.

Hubby gave Samantha permission to invite all her friends, so there were almost 30 kids at our house. Thankfully, he also helped with a lot of the preparations. Samantha also wanted to go ice-skating with two friends the following day, so we tried not to over-spend on the party.

We picked flowers from our garden and made three flower arrangements, one of irises and two of lavender. I also floated candles in glasses and a glass pie dish, which we lit once it got dark outside. These were things that I had in the home or garden, so they cost us nothing.

I made lots of popcorn with corn kernels from the bag. I added ¼ cup of kernels to a brown paper bag, folded the top over a couple of times, and put it in the microwave on high for less than 3 minutes. I learned this trick on Pinterest. I repeated this method until I had a very large bowl of popcorn, which I flavored with some sea salt and lots of powdered (icing) sugar.

South Africa is known as the Rainbow Nation with its many cultures and faiths. Besides the diversity among the South African children, we also had 2 Brazilian girls, 1 Korean girl and my kids who are American/South African.

The food and drinks were put outside on our large balcony, so most of the mess stayed outside. We took care to make sure that the food was fine for our Muslim guests and also for the one vegetarian guest. We made home-made pizza for the main meal. The options were chicken, chicken and veggies, and only veggies.

For dessert, we had a chocolate fountain and a butterscotch fondue. I tried to make sure that the party food had some health to it. Besides the marshmallows, there were also lots of fruits for dipping.

I let Samantha be the game planner. The kids had a blast. They swam, played truth and dare, had Sing Star competitions on the Play Station 2, and when it got dark outside, they had a game of hide and seek, and generally just ran around screaming. The party ended at 9 pm, so I think the neighbors were glad about that!

Now on to the blog hop...




It's time for another Make My Saturday Sweet (M.M.S.S.) blog hop! Join Tina (your host) and Adriana (today's co-host) for this fun and easy hop. All family friendly blogs are welcome!

I'm looking for bloggers who would like to be a guest co-host on my Saturday hop and/or on my Wednesday hop from this coming week and onward. If you're interested, then please send an email to: morleychristina[at]gmail[dot]com

It would be really great if you liked my Facebook page too!

Here are the easy rules:

• Follow me on link 1 and today's co-host on link 2. (I will link my other blogs too, but I don't expect you to follow all of my blogs unless you want to.) If you leave a comment and your URL, I'll be sure to follow back.
• Link up your family friendly blog.
• Grab the button below and add it to your most recent post or on your side-bar.
• Share about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.
• Follow at least three new blogs and tell them you found them through this hop. And, they should follow back!

Blog Button Code:

<center><a href="http://abooksandmore.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Amanda’s Books and More" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWaX10yWr7xxEQ5BBMhOqdZxobJ0omJBq-v8ENFn3YNNebsnsYBHwcGyje-XzSlHSJOIlZ1rEOp89LyNI97XrPFZtdeH_AvaNV3F8hOvHfsuwe29ALNQw75ibK34buYq7nhpGGZJ8UTnoB/s150/Make+My+Saturday+Sweet.jpg"/></a></center>

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Picture Perfect Party Linky #12

One of the ways we celebrated Samantha's 12th birthday was to take her and her two friends ice skating at the Grand West in Cape Town. I think I was just as excited about going as Sammy was. In fact, we all were. It was the first time for the three sisters. Jeremiah went once before and that was back when he was in preschool.

Now on to the blog hop...

Here's your chance to link up your Wordless Wednesday (with or without words) or any picture post at this Picture Perfect Party Linky (P.P.P.L.)! Come join me (Tina @ Amanda's Books and More) on this fun and easy blog hop! If you are already following me with Google Friend Connect, then how about following me on Twitter too or liking me on Facebook. Thanks!

I'm looking for bloggers who would like to be guest co-hosts on my Wednesday hop and on my Saturday hop. If you're interested, then please send an email to: morleychristina[at]gmail[dot]com

Here are the easy rules:

• Follow me on link 1. Please leave a comment with your blog URL so that I can follow back (as long as your blog is family friendly).
• Link-up your post with a picture and follow as many new blogs as you like. Make sure you let them know that you’re following through this P.P.P.L. hop, tell them how you are following them and add your URL to the message, so they can follow back.
• Grab the button below and add it on your post or on your side-bar, so that we can spread the word and get more people to the party.
• Share about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.

The Button Code:

<center> <a href="http://abooksandmore.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Amanda’s Books and More" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitS14XLc-z2uSUW00dIvyZc7lEfLP2tkPgO3qmU3NWi_UObDs_d7XqpYhjp0BBeROyZot-8YlEFU9rguELrZYu3arN1qHHNpB4_ezrb-TlBlfHRSOvP7pBA0VI-j1RkUkF77wJxUc7M7ye/s150/Picture%2520Perfect%2520Party%2520Linky.jpg"/></a></center>

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Make My Saturday Sweet - Blog Hop #10

I've been crazy busy these past few days. As some of you already know, my daughter, Samantha, turned 12 on Tuesday. Last night was her party and we have never heard so much screaming by so many kids in our lives. There were close to 30 kids, boys and girls. I'll post pictures and tell you more later. Now we're off on another adventure with Samantha and two of her best friends who also slept over.


It's time for another Make My Saturday Sweet (M.M.S.S.) blog hop! Join Tina (your host) for this fun and easy hop. All family friendly blogs are welcome!

I'm looking for bloggers who would like to co-host my Saturday hop and my Wednesday hop from this coming week and onward. If you're interested, then please send an email to: morleychristina[at]gmail[dot]com

Here are my easy rules:

• Follow me (Tina) on link 1. I will be linking my other blogs too, but I don't expect you to follow all my blogs unless you want to. If you leave a comment and your URL, I'll be sure to follow back.
• Link up your family friendly blog.
• Grab the button below and add it to your most recent post or on your side-bar.
• Share about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.
• Follow at least three new blogs and tell them you found them through this hop. And, they should follow back!

Blog Button Code:

<center><a href="http://abooksandmore.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Amanda’s Books and More" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWaX10yWr7xxEQ5BBMhOqdZxobJ0omJBq-v8ENFn3YNNebsnsYBHwcGyje-XzSlHSJOIlZ1rEOp89LyNI97XrPFZtdeH_AvaNV3F8hOvHfsuwe29ALNQw75ibK34buYq7nhpGGZJ8UTnoB/s150/Make+My+Saturday+Sweet.jpg"/></a></center>

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Picture Perfect Party Linky #11

Samantha's 12th Birthday

Samantha turned 12 today. In South Africa, the children have to wear uniforms to school. At her school, they get to wear civvies when it's their birthday. Yesterday I took her shopping, so that she could spend her birthday money on a new outfit and a couple of PC games. This is one of the photos I took of her this morning before school. She's getting all grown up and we're very proud of her.

The kids wearing their uniforms at Samantha's school

Here's your chance to link up your Wordless Wednesday (with or without words) or any picture post at this Picture Perfect Party Linky (P.P.P.L.)! Come join me (Tina @ Amanda's Books and More) and today's co-host (Josi @ That Suburban Momma) to this fun and easy blog hop! If you are already following me with Google Friend Connect, then how about following me on Twitter too or liking me on Facebook. Thanks!

I'm looking for bloggers who would like to co-host my Wednesday hop and my Saturday hop. If you're interested, then please send an email to: morleychristina[at]gmail[dot]com

Here are the easy rules:

• Follow Tina and Josi on links 1 and 2. Please leave a comment with your blog URL so that we can follow back (as long as your blog is family friendly).
• Link-up your post with a picture and follow as many new blogs as you like. Make sure you let them know that you’re following through this P.P.P.L. hop, tell them how you are following them and add your URL to the message so that, if they want to, they can follow back.
• Grab the button below and add it on your post or on your side-bar, so that we can spread the word and get more people to the party.
• Share about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.

The Button Code:

<center><a href="http://abooksandmore.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Amanda’s Books and More" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitS14XLc-z2uSUW00dIvyZc7lEfLP2tkPgO3qmU3NWi_UObDs_d7XqpYhjp0BBeROyZot-8YlEFU9rguELrZYu3arN1qHHNpB4_ezrb-TlBlfHRSOvP7pBA0VI-j1RkUkF77wJxUc7M7ye/s150/Picture%2520Perfect%2520Party%2520Linky.jpg"/></a></center>

This is a blog hop.