Happy Birthday, Rachel!

My first-born, precious daughter is 11 years old today. I have been calling her chopsticks...get it 1 1...chopsticks?!?

I don't know how it happened...because I am certain just the other day she looked like this...

And now my baby looks like this...

Wasn't I just wiping her nose, her bottom, her tears...and now more often I find myself wiping more of my own tears as I mark her milestones, and thank God for the remarkable young woman she is growing up to be.

The loving, bossy big sister

The animal lover



The book lover


Rachel brings kindness, joy, and conviction into my life. She has a heart to please others, but is not afraid to stand up for what is right. Rachel is a natural singer, and it makes me smile to hear her sing, and I am blessed when we have the opportunity to sing together. Rachel is smart, strong-willed, and always questioning, sensitive, and loving, and I am madly in love with her.



She is a committed follower of Jesus Christ, and a fierce prayer warrior! I love it when she is aware of a prayer need, because Rachel will make sure that need is lifted up to God's ear in prayer. She has strengthened my relationship with Jesus through her questions and her desire to know Him better. I am humbled by her faith in Him.

Happy 11th Birthday, Rachel-Lu!

Makin' keen bean Candles

Well, it's late, and I'm about to head off to dreamland. But my house is now filled with the fragrances of lavender and sunflowers. Yep, I've been making candles. Not just any candles. My very wonderful keen bean candles.

These candles are made with 100% soy wax, all cotton wicks, and are dye free.

They come in a variety of sizes and fragrances, and hopefully I will have even more fragrances for you to choose from very soon. Let me know if there are scents you really like and just hope I will carry, please?

I even have wickless candles, for when you can't burn a candle, like at work, or other public venues where a flame is a "no-no!" You can use a candle warmer and still get the same great scent, without the flame.

Anyway, you can check out my website at www.keenbeancandles.com I've been making changes to it lately...I hope you like them (if not, let me know...gently!) I haven't figured out the best "shopping cart" method - directly on my site, or a link to a site called etsy. If you have an opinion, I'd love to hear it.

Since I know my followers in blogland is a smaaall number (and I appreciate every one of you!), if you order from me, and mention that you read this post, I will give you $2 shipping on your first order! That is more than half off the average cost to ship! Just a little "thank you" from me to you!

So check it out...it's the keen bean!