Behold, and Observe
The Things That God Has Done
I rejoice in His creativity,
whether it is displayed in a flower, the plumage of a bird,
the clouds in the sky, the unreachable marvels of the universe,
fields of blowing grasses, the infinite musical possibilities,
or the expressive creative abilities He has given us.
I also believe He has an awesome sense of humor,
one that doesn't hurt or destroy, but that reveals and uplifts.
Micah Magnusson's father is asking for prayer for his son. They are a Christian family in our area. Micah suffered a sudden brain hemorrhage almost a year ago, on the day of his high school Graduation open house. He is miraculously alive, but has been on a long road to recovery. His father has posted the following on his CarePage:
The past couple of days have not been
H.........A........P........P........Y
days for Micah. He has communicated that he is a discouraged and down. Last night I was trying to encourage him that he is getting better slowly and he would only say “no” with his eyes.
I have often viewed those who have surrounded us as an army and tonight I am asking for that army to raise up and pray for Micah’s Spirit. Would you pray that God would encourage him and elevate his hope? I do not claim to understand all how God works through prayer, but that He does. I remember Pastor Emerson used to say something like “I notice when I pray things happen, and when I fail to pray things don’t seem to happen” (my paraphrase).
I Chron 12:22 “For day by day men came to David (Micah) to help him, until there was a great army like the army of God.
Thanks for being in Active Duty,
Dale
The testimony of what the Lord has been doing in this young man's life can be found on his CarePage. This is at CarePages.com, where you have to sign up, and then his account that you want to see is: micahmag.
This week we're going to reminisce on our Favorite Travels... field trips, favorite vacations, or just favorite places to go as a family or with other homeschool families. We're to also add any favorite travel prayer that the children recite or a favorite verse.
Go see Nancy
to sign up for your own entry, and to see the others!
Well,
We've been so blessed in the travel department! I can't decide on a favorite. We always marked our travel routes with yellow for where we'd been, and pink if we wanted to go back. Ha. So much pink, and never a chance to go back, as we'd rather go exploring for some new places we hadn't seen.
Starting out our marriage in France was wonderful for travel opportunities. Friends in Marseilles on the Mediterranean had us house-sit for a week, and it became our home base for daily forays throughout southern France. Wonderful carefree time to not worry about the expense. I'd long thought of that as our favorite time ever.
Until Colorado. We then spent almost a year in Estes Park, Colorado, which is at the eastern entrance to the Rocky Mountain National Park. We went on exploration drives, most of them lasting several hours as we would find some route through the mountains following a river and just couldn't bear to turn back as each new bend held awesome sights and scenery for us.
One evening drive turned into 3 days, as the snow melt iced over the roads at sunset and we couldn't get back down the mountains on our side. We just continued, found a cheap hotel, some diapers and decided to see what we could find on the "other side" of the mountains, as we'd likely never get back there again. Anyhow, that was often referred to as the best year of our lives.
But then our vacations became centered more around the kids, and each of them became a favorite. A fossil-hunting dinosaur exhibit trip starting in Missouri with mastodons, then through Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, and South Dakota. We really did find some fossils...some we could keep and some we couldn't! This was a favorite until....
A three week camping Early American History trip through Pennsylvania, NewYork, Vermont, Massachusettes, Rhode Island, Delaware, Maryland, Washington DC and Virginia. It was SO awesome. We just read stuff going down the road, and studied our way through all these cool places where incredible events occurred. So fun to see places where God's hand was busy shaping our nation.
I won't keep you any longer. I'm thinking it would be nice if I could look up some of the places we stopped that you all might not be so familiar with. I'll have to do some searching.....hopefully in another post. I have all that stuff around here somewhere.....maybe after I get Christine all graduated in the next four weeks that will be my next project!
Thanks for reading...
"The earth is the Lord's,
and everything in it,
the world and all who live in it;
for He founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the waters."
Psalm 24:1,2
Well. I'm missing this weekend's homeschool conference. I think for the first time in probably 14 years, excepting the year I delivered a baby that week, 11 years ago. I'm just too busy. Not to mention I've been down with a cold this week that makes me want to sleep....
Early this morning (Fri) we drove (while I slept) to my daughter's university for next year to register her for classes. While she signed up for classes (yes....she has her classes lined up for all of next year...just like that!) , we attended seminars on financial aid and other things (I dozed on and off on Bob's shoulder.) Late afternoon we headed home while I napped some more, then Bob started yard work while I went to bed instead of over to the conference. I'm not even going to try to go tomorrow. We have so much to do to prepare for her open house, and Bob is leaving Sunday for 2 weeks. Aughghhhh.
Oh...this is strange. Christine is going to the conference, as she is volunteering to work there all day Saturday. That's a switch for us. Oh well.....I'm sad. Time to change the subject...
She is so excited about going to the university for next year. I can understand why. It's a wonderful place! I'm excited for her, but it's really hard to not think about how much I'm going to miss her. I just have to remember how I went off to college at that age, too. Life happens. We survive.
I'm already wondering how much I can get involved in her life there. It's a little over an hour away. Not too bad! I've always been involved in her social life. This seems too weird to think about not knowing her new friends next year. I'll just have to keep showing up with cookies, eh?
This Show and Tell is from a comment I just gave to gnatsmom (denise) who was asking about financial aid. I thought I'd better share it with everyone:
I was just given a list today. I haven't checked them out yet, and one is for Michigan, but you might find one for your state by substituting the name or something.....
These are sites that I was told are NOT the people who you pay to find you scholarships. Those often take the $ and run.
This list was given us by the christian university where we just went and signed my daughter up for next year's freshman classes.
We also got one through Gleaners insurance, because a grandparent has insurance through them and it was available.
Make sure you check out FAFSA through the U.S.Department of Education. We got stuff there, too.
We also signed our kids up at the local high school for our state's assessment test (optional for homeschoolers) that got us $2100. This school had never had a homeschooler come and take the test before, even though the test is in the news all the time, as it evaluates how the schools are doing.
Our daughter got quite a bit from the university based on her ACT score (which was a part of this school test.) You can take it several times (there are rules on this) to improve your score, and there are books and courses on how to do well. We got probably 2/3 of her total cost covered without even looking very far yet. There are those who look around and get it all covered for all four years, I'm told.
Pray that the Lord will lead you!
have fun...
If you know of any more sites, please stop by and let me know!
thanks,
"what if you took Jenny's idea about showers of blessings and if we all told about a time God showered us with a blessing and how we paid it forward to bless someone else or how we had done something for another and in turn were blessed." Share a verse or worship song that touches your heart for this assignment.
To see other postings or to make one of your own, go see Nancy.
This reminds me of a time back when we were trying to raise money to get back overseas, and didn't have enough to pay the rent without depleting our missionary account. The only job Bob could find was part time janitorial at our church, as no one wanted to hire him when he was preparing to leave the country shortly.
Anyhow, dear friends of ours, (the same ones who responded to the Lord's leading to be there and stop a major water leak when we weren't home...) were also lead to pay our rent for a while. This was a little hard for me, until they said they didn't want us to feel in any way obligated to them, but to simply look for the opportunity to pass the blessing on to someone else in due time.
Due time rolled around, and the Lord has brought people to us who needed not only rent, but groceries, etc. And He also brings us the memories of our dear friends who so loved and served the Lord.
We're hoping that these people have now in turn been able to pass on the blessings.......
The Lord is Good
In everything I did, I showed you
that by this kind of hard work
we must help the weak,
remembering the words
the Lord Jesus himself said:
"It is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20:35
This week's assignment is The Three R's -- Reduce, Recycle, and Re-use. I thought since today is Earth Day and this month is Arbor Day that we all could share ideas or tips that we use for recycling, reducing or re-using items in our home. I challenge you all to write about your ventures with recycling, reducing, and re-using your trash and take a pledge to at least try to use some of the tips that you read about on this assignment. Don't forget to add your favorite scripture for this assignment.
For the full assignment description and to see other posts or to do one yourself, go see Nancy.
Well, I have to admit I'm not doing as great on this one as I used to. Before we moved to the country, the city made us pay so much a year for a recycling bin and they picked it up once a week. You can be sure I filled it, as it reduced the number of city trash bags I had to buy!
Out here, I started using the burning barrel to keep things out of the landfill, but I'm not too comfortable with the smoke issue. The barrel broke one day, so I can't even use it now. Yes, it broke. My oldest son was playing capture the flag in the dark and ran smack into it, and the line just above the ashes must have been the weakest point, as that's where it split. His knee was a little messed up for while, too. Now we're trying to figure out how to get rid of the barrel.
Anyhow. I got a little off track here...
One thing I've done is collapse all the food boxes and pack them into a paper grocery sack. You can pack an awful lot of them in there, making fewer trips to the recycling depot. You can do the same thing with cans after removing the bottoms. I also squeeze the air out of the plastic milk jugs and put the lid back on to conserve space there.
We're already working on combining trips to save on gas. A financial necessity, green earth or not.
And we take quite a few things to Goodwill, in addition to buying quite a few things there. You can get quite a wardrobe there, and kitchen things as well. Nice recycling place... and that garage sale season that's just starting up again here in Michigan. Yes~!
You could also check out Freecycle for a chapter in your area. Sign up and you will get emails of people offering things for free, and you can offer things yourself.
I think the following verse could be referring to our stewardship of the earth: "The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great - and for destroying those who destroy the earth." Revelation 11:18
This happened about a month ago just outside of Willmar, a little town in the back country of Minnesota, and while it sounds like an Alfred Hitchcock tale, it's real.
This out-of-state traveler was on the side of the road, hitchhiking on a real dark night in the middle of a thunderstorm. Time passed slowly and no cars went by. It was raining so hard he could hardly see his hand in front of his face. Suddenly he saw a car moving slowly, approaching and appearing ghostlike in the rain. It slowly and silently crept toward him and stopped.
Wanting a ride really badly the guy jumped in the car and closed the door; only then did he realize that there was nobody behind the wheel, and no sound of an engine to be heard over the rain.
Again the car crept slowly forward and the guy was terrified, too scared to think of jumping out and running. The guy saw that the car was approaching a sharp curve and, still too scared to jump out, he started to pray and began begging for his life; he was sure the ghost car would go off the road and into a nearby lake and he would drown.
But just before the curve, a shadowy figure appeared at the driver's window and a hand reached in and turned the steering wheel, guiding the car safely around the bend. Then, just as silently, the hand disappeared through the window and the hitchhiker was alone again...
Paralyzed with fear, the guy watched the hand reappear every time they reached a curve. Finally the guy, scared to near death, had all he could take and got up his courage to jump out of the car and ran and ran, into town, into Willmar.
Wet and in shock, he went into a bar and voice quavering, ordered two shots of whiskey, then told everybody about his supernatural experience. A silence enveloped and everybody got goose bumps when they realized the guy was telling the truth (and was not just some drunk).
About half an hour later two guys walked into the bar and one says to the other, "Look Ole, ders dat idiot that rode in our car when we wuz pushin it in the rain."
Sombra wrote, "I think it would be interesting to find out if some of the other ladies have sunk their teeth into something new in the last year or so, what are they enthralled with, what has claimed the fires of their passion."
You can post pictures of as many things as you'd love to start doing for YOURself. I stand corrected but I took it from Sombra's email that she meant OUR OWN passion and not something your children or husband would like you to learn. Make sure you include a favorite scripture.
For the full description of the assignment and a list of the other posts, go see Nancy.
This has been a wonderful year for me so far as renewing an old passion of mine. Some of you who have been following my blog for a while might remember me posting about this.
This recent fall, I began to once again to play an instrument in a symphonic type of band. There was once a time in my life that I couldn't imagine ever NOT playing something somewhere. It was such a big part of my life. Ha. I ended up with a 31 year performance drought...
Several years ago my kids began playing for a homeschool music association where parents could join them. A couple of years ago I had an opportunity to purchase from a friend an instrument that had been my major instrument back in high school and college (a bassoon). Alas, I discovered that some intermittent pain I had been having in my thumb joint really flared up when trying to play it. Sadly, I had to give it up and resell it.
A couple of years later, just this fall, my daughter showed me how her ballet schedule just wasn't going to allow her to continue in band for this, her senior year. Another huge disappointment for me. But hey....she was probably a better dancer than she was a musician, so this was just one of those choices.
A week later I got to looking at her horn just sitting there (a euphonium, or more commonly called a baritone.) I had once upon a time picked it up as my second instrument and played it in a lower level band starting in my junior year in college. 31 years ago. "Could I still do this???"
So, with fear and trepidation, I got my hands on a copy of the euphonium part for some of the pieces they were working on, and sat in the back of the room trying to see if I was up to the level of music they were playing. I then took it home and started trying to work it up. It was not easy trying to jumpstart this old brain. Like Marla told me, I just needed to sweep out some of the cobwebs.
It's been over half a year now, and this has been so much fun! And Bob says it's good for my brain development activity to ward off the onset of old age. He's even started to pick up an old trombone we have around here and has started trying to get a musical sound out of it. ha. It's got us all in stitches just watching. It's so pathetic...
Anyhow, I just LOVE to practice, and it's been encouraging to see my improvement almost weekly in different areas concerning the playing of the instrument. I can feel my brain stretching back into its former shape and condition....maybe even better than before!
I now have something I'm truly looking forward to on Monday evenings, playing the kind of music I've always had a passion for.
Thanks for asking!!
And for reading.....
"Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4
My daughter left this morning for a week in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The homeschool tutoring service where she's taking journalism/ yearbook this year sponsors a homeschool senior trip each year. My son went to New York City two years ago.
They've rented a lodge that sleeps 20, and there are 3 chaperones, about 5 guys, and the rest are gals. They'll be stopping over at the Creation Museum on the way down, going white water river rafting, and the rest is up to them. They'll also have daily group devotions.
They're really looking forward to warmer weather. We still have snow on the ground.
She needed some warm weather clothing, so she and I went to Goodwill this week. wow!! For just over $30 she got several pair of longer shorts and capris, a pair of black leggings and 3 dresses to wear over them, a cute pair of brown suede shoes sturdy and comfy for lots of walking, and a perfect $5 prom dress. The homeschoolers here also sponsor proms that you don't need dates for. You can see the previous prom post here
I would appreciate prayer for their travel and for their time spent there. It's not easy to let her go like this, even if she has been 18 since December. I suppose it's good practice for me for letting her go off to college in the fall. For both of us! The chaperones really do treat them like adults on this trip, which is different because in "real life" they're these demanding tutors with lots of rules on how you conduct yourself while at the classroom building, and with high academic expectations.
My little girl is growing up.
We are to write about our favorite window in our home or the one we look out of when we have those 'daydreaming' moments. Be sure to go and see Nancy for more friends' assignments!
I'm so glad we moved to the country.
This is the view from our living room window, or what we see when sitting on our front porch. Can you believe it's the end of March and still snowing?! It goes well with our muddy driveway this time of year, eh? We have birdfeeders, birdhouses and beehives out there, and the road is up behind the evergreens. I like to sit and watch Josiah playing out there. Or the neighbor's cats hunting field mice. Or their cute little chickens with a clutch of chicks following close behind.
This is the same view, but a little to the right, with our shed, raspberry patch and garden out there behind the tall grasses. We have these randomly mowed paths through the grasses that the kids can ride on or go running through with the dogs. By the end of the summer some of the grasses are over four feet tall. Every year I have to start mowing by mid April. That's in a little over 2 weeks. Hard to believe.....it's also going to be the time to clean out my flowerbeds.
This is part of the view out back. I'm hoping to put in a long wall of windows looking out this direction so we can always look out without having to walk up to a door or window. Those are bluebird houses along that fence, and my aunt's big black Arabian horse grazes or cavorts on the other side of that fence. He's high strung and startles easily...so beautiful to see him prancing and racing around with his tail up wondering "What made that noise and is it out to get me???"
"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Matthew 6: 28 - 30
Be sure to go and see Mary at Canada Girl for more Show N Tells.
I've had the opportunity to play in our homeschool band this year, as parents and graduates are allowed to rehearse alongside the students. I'm so pleased with all their hard work, as the students just came back from the MSBOA (read: public school) music festival with a I rating, qualifying them to go and compete at the State competition at the end of April.
This is a first for our band, although the orchestra has rated this before. We forged the way for homeschoolers to participate in these events in our state just recently. But they're starting to get used to us! We're rated class C/D for size (small) but we always play music that is rated for the largest organizations. When asked why we do this, the director tells them he likes the students to be challenged.
I wish I had a nice recording for you of us playing....but I did find one online of one of the 3 pieces we do. It happens to be everyone's favorite. This other band does well with it, but I think we do more with the dynamic differences in how loud and soft certain passages are. It's called Abram's Pursuit, and it's about the time Abram had to go and rescue Lot who was carried off by the enemy. If you have the time to let it load, I think you'll enjoy it. It's terribly fun to play.
Thanks for your prayers concerning my mom's surgery. Other than some blood pressure problems, it went well. They discovered the bone in the elbow wasn't just cracked apart, but had shattered, so instead of pinning it back together they had to do some plating, using a special procedure they had never done before. We should get to see the pictures of it next week.
Please continue to pray, this time for her blood pressure, as it's all over the place, and all too high. We're going to try to get her in to see her doctor before the weekend starts if possible, for different medications. Otherwise, we'll be monitoring it continuously for problems.
Her physician doesn't participate with this particular hospital, so there was a break in the line of command, so to speak, in getting her blood pressure properly treated. Things do get complicated... I was getting really scared inside, as we couldn't find a phone number for their doctor, and the hospital couldn't get it stabilized for a while, then did so only a little while before the outpatient surgery clinic closed up for the night. How can this happen in America? Insurance Companies!
I would have liked to see it stable for a longer period of time before deciding to send her home or to admit her for the night. But with both my mom and my dad saying they preferred for her to go home, what could I do? So she's at home, still sleeping it off. Parents!
She was still really woozy and couldn't walk unassisted. I followed them home and got her all comfy and tucked into bed. It's a good thing, as she was forgetting to take food with her painkillers. My dad is not one for helping with "details." ha. I'm finally home and I'm so beat I could sleep forever, it seems.
Christine was already scheduled to go over to their house for the day on Friday for a paid house cleaning session, so she'll be keeping an eye on her and doing the blood pressure readings and will let me know if I need to run over there. Their church has had their Sunrise Service at their house for several years now, as they have this large room with an awesome view of the eastern sky. So Christine was scheduled to go and help out with the cleaning before Mom broke her arm. Now she's doing all the cleaning. I can't believe they're still going to have it there this year...talk about dedicated.
A blessing: 2 of the nurses turned out to be friends of mine... homeschooling moms (of older kids, so they can work and homeschool, too!) One joined me as I prayed before Mom went in for her surgery. Extra blessing to have her there praying over her with me. The other was her recovery nurse, explaining to me all the problems with the blood pressure.
Thanks again, and I'll keep you posted of any further developments.
Please pray for protection and healing for my mom. She fell Saturday and broke a bone in her elbow really badly, with a leading crack going up toward her wrist.
She doesn't like to make a big deal of health issues, so of course didn't go in until the next day when the pain got so terrible By then the swelling was so bad they couldn't fix it for her at that time.
They expect to be able to do surgery on Thursday this week, bringing bones back together and pinning them.
She's 80, but seems not to think so. ha. I could wish that for all of us some day. She was out in the yard trimming bushes and trees when she tripped over a root and when she fell her elbow hit a tree. My dad was running equipment 100 yds away, so she just tried to get up on her own. Her one arm wouldn't support her at all...it just wouldn't work. So she managed it with the other arm. Why don't moms call you over this stuff?? I could have told her the reason it wouldn't support her was that something was broken...
Oh well. At her age surgery is much more risky. Please pray that she will do well during and after it, and that there won't be complications. Also that she'll regain good use of her arm without pain. (She knows the Lord well...!)
I wish my camera had taken this awesome photo. But I looked this one up online after coming in last night. This is pretty much what the sky around the moon looked like last night when we got home. The ring, that is, as the moon wasn't in its full phase. This huge ring is caused by ice crystals way up in the atmosphere.
This week we write about what we wanted to be when we grew up. Go see Nancy for the complete instructions and do one of your own!
This feels weird. My son has already asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. Other than the fact that I don't yet feel grown up....but that's another matter entirely... I have no memories of wanting to be anything. I either had no ambition, or have no memory. Either way it's rather pathetic. But do you really want to see pathetic?? Read on......
I do remember coming up with something at the end of high school: I wanted to fix the world! And get this.....how did I figure this was possible? Well...first of all I had decided the problem with the world was that no one was truly happy. Everyone around me had problems. I wanted to do something about it.
Being the product of a public school education, I looked around and decided that teachers were the key. If they only knew HOW to properly teach these kids, they could make a huge difference in their lives. So. I decided to major in Educational Psychology, and teach teachers how to teach!
I just knew this would work...as every child had to go through the educational system, right? (No, I had never dreamed I would be a homeschool mom.....what was that, anyway?!)
Then I got there and discovered that was a post graduate degree, so was advised to start with elementary education. After taking a couple of classes there, I noticed that my fellow classmates, the future teachers of our children, had more personal problems than I'd ever imagined teachers could have! My dream was falling apart before my very eyes....
Thankfully, during my first year on campus, I had gotten to know a couple of gals involved in a campus ministry, Campus Crusade for Christ. Through getting to know them, I came to realize that the answer only lay in a relationship with Jesus Christ. I immediately changed my major to Communication.
But what am I now? I've been a real estate agent, a laborer in a book bindery / printing company, a dispatcher for a sand and gravel excavating company, an office manager, a bill collector, a churchplanting missionary, and now a homeschool mom. Oh yes, once a week I'm a paid Aide for Kindergartners and 1st graders at a homeschool tutoring service.
Who would've imagined all that?? Not this little girl!
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
Please pray for a family here. We knew them back when they homeschooled, then lost track as they became involved in a local Christian school. Their 21 year old son just committed suicide, jumping off a parking ramp. From what we remember and are hearing, he was athletic, a really nice guy and had lots of friends, but he apparently struggled with depression. His parents are Peggy and Len, and his sister is Suzanne.
Thanks,
I mentioned in my previous tagged post that I like clocks,
so here are some of my favorites....
This is the ugly Chinese one I found sitting on a shelf at Goodwill. It was so awful looking sitting there among the Santas and glass vases, I actually couldn't decide if I wanted it or not. Duh. I LOVED it once I got it into my house. It's this heavy metal and the face is a weird yellowy orange, but I think it's kinda cool. Even against my burgundy wall. I'm a little eclectic, eh?
This is the "bird clock" we gave to Bob's grandma one year. We used to be into bird watching back before we had kids and had more time to spend chasing birds around, and she had all these bird feeders around her yard. Anyhow, we've now had it back since she passed away a few years ago.
Seven pm has become my favorite, as I can now listen to a robin year round, instead of having to wait for spring and summer. Somehow, hearing robins takes me back to my childhood. This one also gets answered by my parakeet. Somehow he has even figured out the woodpecker and owl, too, even though they don't chirp like birds.
And the owl helps me not miss the "news at noon."
This was another of Grandma's. But I don't wind it much any more, as it's rather distracting for the kids if they're doing things. It not only has a cuckoo, but these little figures come out and do a song and dance. It tends to set the parakeets and lovebird off, too.
This is our truly "functional" clock. We have this wide doorway between two main areas of the house, and it's two sided, so you can always see what time it is. (We got this one before we had all these other ones....ha!)
Back in my earlier days I always used a wind up alarm to get me to school or to work on time. Otherwise, I figured I was depending on the electric company to get me up and going.....not too smart. I'm really dating myself here.....as there weren't these battery operated alarm clocks back then. ha. Anyhow, I don't have my original, but this is one my husband's brother bought us when he was stationed in West Germany and got to go into East Germany for shopping. I like how it says it was made in the USSR, seeing how there isn't one any more. And yes, I have used it when it was important to get up in the morning and we might get power interruptions as it was expected to be stormy during the night.
And I'm hoping to find a clock for my bathroom, as I'm having to use my cellphone to keep me on time when I'm getting ready to go somewhere. I'm hoping to find something unique at a garage sale this summer. We'll see.
1. I would love to have a little red sportscar. But if given one, I'd probably trade it in on a sturdy Volvo.
2. I like working out in the yard.
3. I'd rather do just about anything than have to cook.
4. My daughter gave me my last haircut. I decided it was going to have to happen, so I just made a big chop on the side, then we had to follow through. That night!
5. I'm contemplating stripping all the fake color out of my hair to see how much gray has shown up in the last few years since I've been darkening it. There's this product "Oops" that's supposed to work well for that, as I haven't ever lightened it. I'm a little scared to try it, even though I've chosen this week, if I can find it in the store...no luck yet.
5 weird things about myself:
1. I'll say things like "Wheeeee.......!" and "Whoooooowee!" when driving around with the kids. I hope I'm not too bad an example.
2. I like clocks. I have to make myself leave them alone at garage sales, etc., as there would just be too many around. I'll have to show you my ugly Chinese one that has a place of prominence in my living room.....
3. I carry folding chairs around in the car as you never know when you'll need them for hanging out somewhere. It's been nice, as we sometimes spend hours away from home between events, to save on gas.
4. I become someone different once a month. I start chattering and need to be gagged to preserve the family dignity.
5. Every winter when I wear a long sleeved coat, I catch my left thumb in the right sleeve when turning the steering wheel. It is SO painful, I've had to stop everything and just hold it and cry. Finally, after several years and a now chronic thumb pain problem, I've learned to instinctively hold it tight against my first finger when turning the wheel. Duhhh....
5 things on my desk
1. computer stuff: monitor, keyboard, mouse....
2. Bible
3. "To do" papers
4. CD discs and flashdrives
5. Way up on top is my lovebird, Bobbi-Jo. Oh yeah....my daughter would say there are bird seed hulls on my keyboard. I just blow and say "What???? Where........?"
5 of your best friends:
1. Bob
2. Christine
3. Heidi
4. Becky
5. Brenda
5 things you love to do:
1. flower gardening
2. read historical fiction, biographies
3. look around at garage sales and in thrift stores
Hey!!!!
She's giving out $1000.00 over at the Blogger Friend School.
To spend on myself online!
Funny....I was just looking online for a "wish"
to see what the cost might be.
And we're to go for $1000.00, listing the items,
their sites and prices, and not go over $1000.00
Uh oh.....I just saw this word: "pretend."
Oh well, it was a nice thought there for a while....
Here's my list:
I would like to have a music stand that just stays in one place here in my house and looks nice. Right now I have to use my little portable silver looking one and take it back and forth to band rehearsals. It's not at all attractive to leave set up all week, but it's too much work to pack it up after each practice session. This one is $99.49.
I guess I'm still dreaming at this point!
I want another Pembroke Welsh Corgi. They come in all prices, but we sold ours for $500.00 so that will be the price I'll list here.
I've been looking over at PuppyFind.com
These are puppies from old litters of ours, as I didn't feel right posting other people's pup pics......
Their ears will eventually all stand up.....so cute!
This is Christine at age 8 lovin' with those pups...
This one is the color I hope to find.
Now for the better camera! Except I don't have enough $$ left for the kind I've been looking at. But hey..... this one looks really nice! And it won't be as heavy as those other ones! Just as well..... camera $399.99
Nikon Coolpix P5100 12.1 Megapixel Digital Camera with 3.5x Optical Zoom
Item no: 2902949
That puts me at $999.48. Just couldn't get the pennies counted right!
So, now head on over to Nancy's
if you want to join in on this week's assignment!
Here are the "official" instructions.....
so you can get it right and not just take my word for it!
I'm copying this assignment from Tamara's listing over a year ago...it was so much fun to do this then and I thought it would be fun to do it again.
This assignment I hope proves to fun and exciting! This week you are given $1000 PRETEND online spending money! The rules are simple for this assignment. Using ANY online store…write out a shopping list of what you would buy! You can even post pictures of the items you're buying, if you want, it's not required. These things should be things for YOURself ONLY!
List the name of the website with a link and include product item # and cost…you must use all your $1000 without going over! As a bonus every commentator will have their name put in a basket and I will draw three names of people who have signed the Linky and commented to receive a special prize in the mail from me! Have fun and my assignment is below as well.
To "think aloud" about whatever strikes me at the moment. Married to Bob, my philosophical, artsy scientist! We were church planters in France, are in our 14th year of homeschooling, have 10yr and 20yr old sons and an 18yr old daughter. We do homeschool sports, ballet, band and choir. My greatest joys in life have been from seeing God work. We have an awesome God, and I've seen Him do awesome things.
A Favorite Artist
Bouguereau
Some Favorite Scriptures
"A new command I give you:
Love one another.
As I have loved you,
so you must love one another.
By this all men will know
that you are my disciples,
if you love one another."
John 13:34,35 (NIV)
Then he stretched himself out
on the boy three times
and cried to the Lord,
"Oh Lord my God,
let this boy's life return to him!"
The Lord heard Elijah's cry,
and the boy's life returned to him,
and he lived.
I Kings 17 21,22 (NIV)
Be merciful to those who doubt;
snatch others from the fire
and save them;
to others show mercy, mixed with fear-
hating even the clothing
stained by corrupted flesh.
Jude 22,23 (NIV)
The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands, they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood - idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts. Revelation 9:20,21 (NIV)
This is our truly "functional" clock. We have this wide doorway between two main areas of the house, and it's two sided, so you can always see what time it is. (We got this one before we had all these other ones....ha!) 
Their ears will eventually all stand up.....so cute! 
This is Christine at age 8 lovin' with those pups...
This one is the color I hope to find.
