Posted in Interesting Blog Tid-Bits

How many of you knew that HSB is celebrating its first birthday party?  In honor of this auspicious event, Nancy is hosting a series of contests over at the Company Couch.  You can read the current post here.  Nancy would love for people to post their most favorite blog entry in the comment section so that people can read what we all consider the "best of the best" in blogging here at HSB. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HSB!!!

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17th Carnival of Homeschooling is better late than never this week!  I am even a day late in blogging about it, so in keeping with the theme of this week, isn't it much better that I am sending you to the carnival a day late, rather than not at all?  Perhaps you will avoid the crowds, and get to spend more time enjoying yourself this way, huh?  

This week's carnival has some really thought-provoking posts.  My personal favorite this week is a toss up between "Before There Was School" by Carrot Queen, and "Gestapo Homeschooling Moms" by The Thinking Mother.  Run on over to the carnival and check out these posts and all the other terrific ones that you will find there this week.  You won't be sorry! 

 

For family and friends who are visiting, and want to read only my post, my submission for this week was about developing a family philosophy of education, and is entitled "How Do I Get There?"  I hope that some of you will consider reading a few of the other posts, too---you just might get hooked! 

Posted in Interesting Blog Tid-Bits

Name 10 of Life's Simple Pleasures

1. Swinging on a porch swing and watching the sunset with my dog at my side and the kids playing in the front yard

2. Listening to your children sing around the piano

3. Watching the crops grow, and at just the right time, actually listening to them grow.  And watching my dad's tractor moving through the fields

4. Smelling the lilacs and new mown hay

5. The taste of fresh cow's milk...oh, to be a kid again and have that delight!

6. The smell of sheets on the bed, straight from the clothes line

7. Tucking your children into their beds, and remembering the look on my own parents' faces when they tucked me in as a child.

8. Reading a book aloud to your children, and watching their faces as you do so

9. Finishing a needlework or writing project

10. Nursing my babies

 

The comment box is open and awaiting your Ten Simple Pleasures :o) 

This meme was spotted at  Miz Booshay

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Today is the day for the new Carnival of Beauty, sponsored by Carol Moxley of Two Talent Living.  This week's theme is "The Beauty of Aging," a topic that has been near and dear to my heart lately...lol.   Be sure to stop over and visit the carnival and read all the wonderful posts there.  My recent post on the older stay-at-home wife and mother is featured in this week's carnival.  If you are a family member or friend who would like to read just my post, just scroll down a couple days and you will see it.  For all the rest of you homeschooling bloggers, I encourage you to hop on over to the carnival and check out all the other encouraging posts you will find there.  Just click here or on the logo above to visit the most recent Carnival of Beauty!  Have fun!!! 

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Aren't Tuesdays fun?  I love the Carnival of Homeschooling, and an added bonus this week is that it is being hosted by HSB's own Tami!  Her theme is a walk through the springtime flowers, and the beautiful pictures make we wish that I had one of those lovely British gardens that I have read about. 

Carnivals are fun because they let us meet new friends, visit once again with old friends, and read new ideas on a variety of topics relating to homeschooling.  This week, you will find Blubber Bloggers featured in the Carnival!  Have fun as you stroll through the lovely flowers at Tami's place. 

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JenIg is at it again---she has come up with a very cool idea.  She is going to have t-shirts made with the blog addresses of about 150 bloggers here at HSB.  I can't wait to get one.  To have your blog considered for the t-shirt, you need to hop over to her blog and leave a comment.  Sounds like fun to me! 

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Someone emailed me and asked me if I realized that my blog had me listed as a Marauding Marsupial now instead of a Adorable Rodent.  I was really surprised to find this out, as this week has been so hectic that I really haven't paid much attention to blog stats and things of that nature. 

I still am totally and completely amazed that so many people stop by and read my site.  It's fun to read the blog stats.  I have had people from 49 states (WOULD SOMEONE FROM SOUTH DAKOTA PLEASE STOP BY AND LEAVE A COMMENT???  PRETTY PLEASE????) and from well over 40 countries stop by.  Isn't that neat?  I have all the flags copied in my flickr file, and want to put them on my sidebar sometime when I have time...as if THAT will happen soon.  Some of the countries I had to google, because I had never heard of them before. Geography has changed names so much since I went to school back in the Late Middle Ages.  Do YOU know where Eritrea is at?  Huh?  I bet you don't, either! 

 

Only 34 more linkbacks, and I would be a Large Mammal.  Come on, be a pal, and add me to your friends' list, or put a link back to a post that touched you in some way.  If I only had time to write all those wonderful posts I have been intending to put on here, think of how many people might come by then ;-)  Someday, I might have time.  Keep your eyes open!!!  They're coming, honest, they are!

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Things You Probably Don't Know About Me :-)   1.  I used to administer a large Christian pre-school at the church we attended, and was also the head teacher.    2.  I was the Potato Chip Queen when I was in 4th grade.   3. I was my high school class valedictorian.      4. I ranked 2nd in the state of Ohio in Latin while I was in high school, as part of the state scholarship team testing.   5. I met my husband when he saved me from driving my tractor into a fence at the grain elevator.    6. I used to be the Cubmaster of our local Cub Scout Pack.   7. Until I broke my leg, I used to go deer hunting with my dad all the time.  Never got one, but I sure did try hard!   8. I used to vend and speak at homeschool conventions across the country.   9.  As a kid and teen, my primary duty in life was to milk cows, buck bales, and drive the tractor.   10. I am a perfectionist.  I used to cry if I got a 99 on a test.    11. I have 3 married children----how did they get so old???   12. I weighed 122 on my wedding day, and my skinny, scrawny daughter Jen, (the one with the blonde hair) who is such a light-weight that the wind could blow her away, can't fit into my clothes that I wore in college.  How sad is that???  And now I'm a blubber blogger!    13. I am a recovering soap opera addict.  I haven't watched one in over 10 years now.  I can't believe I used to watch all that JUNK!!!  :-) Links to other Thursday Thirteens! (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!) 1. Gottsegnet 2.  mistresninos

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

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Things about My Week   1.  I took the dogs with me to work at my daughter's grooming, boarding and daycare, Pawsitively Purrfect.  They got a bath and their toenails done.    2.  We went to the antique mall on Sunday and I saw an old print from the old readers that I had in first grade.  The teacher used to put these on an easel for us.  It was of good ol' Alice, Jerry, and their faithful dog, Jip.  How I wished I had money to splurge!   3. My husband wrecked my diet by taking me out to eat at a pizza buffet.      4. My granddaughter delivered my Girl Scout cookies, which were ordered prior to my Blubber Blogger Club days, and now I have to walk at least 20 minutes before eating each cookie!   Trust me, I eat each cookie VERY SLOWLY and with tiny little bites and savor every moment.   5. My dog threw up all over three rooms.  YUCK!!!  GROSS!!!    6. We found out that my mother-in-law most likely has breast cancer.  Scary time for us.   7. I saved tons of money at the grocery this week, and got a fridge full of food, using very little money and The Grocery Game.   8. We found out that my daughter Chelle and her husband definitely get to make the trip to Delaware to meet the 2 boys they hope to adopt!    9.  I am reading a really good new book by the Suarez's, called Homeschooling Methods, that I will be reviewing once I am done reading it.   10. I am overjoyed to hear that my oldest son made it into law school, and also that he will be moving back to Ohio this summer!!!  YEAH!!!   11. My brother-in-law from Florida flew up to be with my mother-in-law, so we will probably get to spend some time with him this weekend.  We don't get to see him often, so this will be a treat, even if it is under not the best of circumstances that he had to come home.   12. BJ and I went out to eat with my Dad tonight at Bob Evans.  I was a good girl and had soup and a half sandwich, so I wouldn't have to walk forever and ever when I got home to keep the numbers on the scale from going up.    13. I was able to walk at 2 miles per hour for the first time, and for longer than 1/2 hour, believe it or not.  Aren't you proud of me?  LOL Links to other Thursday Thirteens! (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!) 1. Gottsegnet 2.  mistresninos

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

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Thirteen of My Favorite Things   1.  Color: Blue   2.  Movie:  Tie between Somewhere in Time and Lord of the Rings Trilogy   3. TV show:  24     4. Book:  Anne of Green Gables   5. Person in History:  Stonewall Jackson   6. President:  Reagon   7. Pro Football Team:  Pittsburgh Steelers   8. College Football Team:  Ohio State Buckeyes   9. Sport:  Football!   10. Animal:  Cats and dogs   11. Song:  Just about anything from Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera and Secret Garden, especially when my daughter sings them.   12. Time of year:  Christmas   13. Bible Verse:  Be strong and take courage, do not fear or be dismayed, for the Lord will go before you...  Joshua 1:9  and   Links to other Thursday Thirteens! (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!) 1. Gottsegnet 2.  mistresninos

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

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You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

 

 

Nothing at all astute today, but I found this on a new blog friends site and wanted to see how I would do.  I can't believe I got a perfect score!  Helping BJ with all this algebra must have some payoff, huh? 

If any of the rest of you try it, be warned that there is one that is a bit tricky! 

 

 

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Thirteen Things I Love about Josh In Honor of His 25th Birthday this coming Sunday!   1.  From the day he was born, he has been the most cheerful, happy child I have ever known.   2.  He picks great friends that have been "forever friends."   3. He has set high moral standards for himself, and instead of giving in to peer pressure, he usually WAS the peer pressure.      4. He loves the Lord with all his heart, and is never ashamed to share his beliefs with others.   5. He has always been a great help to me, even as a little boy.  He always is willing to help his "poor old mom."   6. Family is important to him.  He helped take care of his grandma when she was dying of cancer, and would rather be with his grandpa than just about anyone.  We all know that we are loved.   7. He's a great athlete.  I have such wonderful memories of all the games and track meets he was in through the years.  Those were exciting days!   8. He loves music as much as his mom.  We've had some great times sitting at the piano singing and playing together. I loved watching him sing and dance in show choir competitions, too.   9. He is an excellent actor.  I loved watching him in the lead of "Twelve Angry Men."  He is such a good actor that he can pull some pretty ornery tricks on the rest of the family, and we fall for them every single time.      10. He is a very good teacher.  Not only good at teaching hi students, but even me!   11. He's so doggone good looking!  He should be a model.   12. He has such a good work ethic.  His bosses always comment on that, and it makes me so proud!    13. He picked a wonderful girl to marry, who is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.  This past summer she became my "other daughter" and I love her as much as my own kids.   HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOSH!  I LOVE YOU!  BUT HOW DID YOU GET SO DOGGONE OLD??????   Links to other Thursday Thirteens! (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

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Actually, I always like them UNTIL the time I thought there were a bunch of stones rolling around in the bottom of my watering can for the garden.  They kept hitting the sides as I swung it around.  SO, not wanting the stones to take up space when I filled the watering can with water and trudged all the way over to our huge garden, I reached in to take out said stones.  

When I reached in...well, the stones were moving, and they were furry!!!  And they were running all over my hand and up my arm!!!  Even into my shirt sleeve!  These "stones" had turned into baby mice!!!  YIKES!!!!  (Can you hear the screaming that went on as I threw the metal watering can and tried to get the "adorable rodents" OFF of me???  Ah, memories...

 

Well, today I looked at my rating in the blogosphere, and now I, ME, and MYSELF are adorable little rodents.  I can't even imagine.  I could now be the mother of those CREEPY little things that tried to scare me out of my wits as they attacked me!!!!  Does this now make my children adorable little rodents, too???  Scary thought! 

 

Just a couple months ago, I wanted to be an adorable little rodent like Spunky and some other bloggers around here, and now I am one!  Now I live for the day when I can be a Marauding Marsupial!!!  That would be so much better than a rodent.  I much preferred a worm or a crustacean over a rodent. 

 

The cool thing is, the higher you are, the better people can find your blog, and the better they can find your blog, the better you can inform people about your causes.  I want people to know about PPROM Pregnancy, and about the families are getting torn apart by DCFS, and get book reviews out about the things we sell in our business, and of course just cool stuff about life and homeschooling and being a Christian.  And guess what?  People are finding "Through it All" in searches!  This blogosphere and technorati stuff really helps.  I can't wait to be accepted by the various pro-life blogging groups. 

If any of you know of other ways to come up higher in the search engines, and in the blog searches, please let me know.  I'd love to try whatever ways I can to get the messages out that are near and dear to my heart :-)

Posted in Interesting Blog Tid-Bits

Take time this weekend to visit this week's Carnival of Homeschooling! Beverly Hernandez at Homeschooling.about.com has done a wonderful job with the theme "Valentine's Day Love."

 

Many of your favorite bloggers from HSB are featured---in fact 9 are friends from right here at our beloved HSB---gottsegnet, Happyhome, homeschool3ks, Steve Walden, Tami, Carrotqueen, BarbaraFrank, and yours truly! Spunky's blogspot blog is also featured.  Something else you will really enjoy this week are the Valentine's Day poems that Beverly has featured that were written by homeschooled children for the Homeschooler's Writing Club .

 

For any family and friends who aren't really into homeschooling, (despite my years of trying to convince you differently :-) you can read my carnival post by clicking here. I hope that most of you will want to enjoy the entire carnival though, and will click here instead! 

 

[homeschool] [homeschooling] [education] [Carnival of Homeschooling] [carnival] [Valentine's Day Poems]

Posted in Interesting Blog Tid-Bits

Thirteen Things I Remember from Before I Was 5   1.  Dirt roads and stone roads. Oh, was it dusty to travel then if you weren't on the main roads!!!   2.  Having the telephone operator ring my grandma for me, and call up my mom and ask her if she knew I was on the phone.  Just like on the old Lassie show with Jeff and Gramps.   3. Watching the old Lassie show, the old one with Jeff and Gramps...lol, and having only 3 TV channels that came in, and only one of them came in very well.    4. Watching silent movies on TV every Sunday afternoon with my dad, and he would read the words to me when they came on in those funny little boxes.   5. Making homemade ice-cream with the old crank ice-cream freezer.   6. My mom making me hide my eyes when a bra commercial came on TV...and it was a pencil drawing with no real people and "nothing" showing.   7. Seeing the first color television in our neighborhood, and when our family got our first "stereo," and we could listen to records!!!    8.  Putting stickers on my attendance card at Sunday School, and my mom being the music teacher at Sunday School.   9. Crying my eyes out when my mom and dad went on a week long vacation and left us with my grandparents to take care of.  For some reason I thought they weren't ever going to come back.    10. Eating baby pig food cause my dad told me how good it was and how much the little piggies loved it.  It was AWFUL!!!   11. Helping my mom with the Christmas and birthday cards, and mailing letters.  They were 3 cents without a message inside---you just tucked the flap in and put a 3 center on the envelope.  If you wrote more than just your signature, it was a message, and you had to seal the envelope and put a whoppingly expensive 4 cent stamp on it!   12. "Helping" my mom and grandmas play the piano, and singing songs for mom's parties with her sorority and other groups.    13. Playing house with my sister and playing "pillow games" and "foot fights" with her in bed at night.   Links to other Thursday Thirteens! (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

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I have noticed that lots of hits on my blog result from a search for the meaning of the old saying:

Good night,

Sleep tight,

Don't let

The bedbugs bite.

And if they do,

Take a shoe,

And beat them till

They're black and blue.

 

Just finding that last line was a challenge!  Thanks to a fellow blogger who filled me in on the lines that escaped my childhood memories. 

 

As for the history, you need to go back a bit in history to the days before box-springs and mattresses.  Bedframes were made to hold ticks, the equivalent of our modern-day mattress, which were filled, depending on the season of the year, with either straw (summer) or down (winter).  The mattress was supported by a series of ropes that criss-crossed from one side of the bedframe to the other.  These ropes would loosen with time, and needed to be tightened in order to have a comfortable night's rest.  There was actually a tool to do this, a wooden bed key.  So "sleep tight" referred to having a comfortable sleep on firmly tightened bed ropes. 

 

Bedbugs were a real problem at that time, as well.  These bugs are small (about 8 mm long), nocturnal creatures and they only come out at night.  Their reason for coming out?  To suck your blood----YUCK!  These little rascals feed exclusively on blood!  Often times, besides being painful and itchy, the person who is bit will have an allergic reaction to the bite.  With a severe infestation, the person sleeping in the bed will lose considerable sleep, and could even suffer from iron and hemoglobin deficiencies due to the lose of blood. Infestations can literally last forever, as it takes potent pesticides to erradicate these little nuisances, and they can live for over a year without eating!  So you could leave home for a year, and they would still be there in your bed waiting for their next meal. 

As you can see, this old saying was a way of telling your guests, your children, or whomever, to have a comfortable night's rest, and that you hope that they don't find any pesty bedbugs visiting them in the wee hours of the night. 

 

If anyone visits my blog to find out the meaning behind this old saying, please leave a comment so that I know you finally found out either the whole little rhyme, or the meaning behind it :-)  Now that you finally know, I hope that you "sleep tight."

 

[sayings] [sleep tight] [bed bugs]

Posted in Interesting Blog Tid-Bits

You will want to be certain to visit this week's Carnival of Homeschooling! It is a really great one---but aren't they all? The host for Week 7 is Beverly Hernandez at Homeschooling.about.com and she has appropriately centered the carnival on the theme "Valentine's Day Love."

 

Many of your favorite bloggers from HSB are featured---in fact 9 are friends from right here at our beloved HSB---gottsegnet, Happyhome, homeschool3ks, Steve Walden, Tami, Carrotqueen, BarbaraFrank, and yours truly! Spunky's blogspot blog is also featured.  Something else you will really enjoy this week are the Valentine's Day poems that Beverly has featured that were written by homeschooled children for the Homeschooler's Writing Club . Hop on over and enjoy all the wonderful reads that you will find in this week's carnival.

 

For any family and friends who aren't really into homeschooling, (despite my years of trying to convince you differently :-) you can read my carnival post by clicking here. I hope that most of you will want to enjoy the entire carnival though, and will click here instead! 

 

[homeschool] [homeschooling] [education] [Carnival of Homeschooling] [carnival] [Valentine's Day Poems]

Posted in Interesting Blog Tid-Bits

According to my blog manager, someone was on my site today from Nigeria.  I thought that was strange enough, but was kind of excited to find that some far away visitors were finding me here.  BUT the reason they found this blog was much stranger.  Want to guess the words they used in the search that landed them here? 

You'll never guess in a million years, so I might as well tell you...it was "2005 email list of hair shops in Ohio."   Now how and why that EVER brought up my site in a search engine, I will never know!!!  ROTFLOL!!!  Isn't that just too funny??? 

Posted in Interesting Blog Tid-Bits

Thirteen Things I Wanted to Do Before I Was 50 but Didn't   1.  Learn to ball-room dance, even if I AM a klutz.   2.  Have 8 kids, and take in foster children who have special needs educationally.   3. Make my dad and siblings understand and be proud of my decision to be a stay-at-home mom and homeschooler.   4. Be a published homeschool author/writer.   5. Add a family room, bathroom and master bedroom to our house, and repaper or paint, and put down new flooring in the rest.  Nothing fancy at all, just make the place respectable.     6. Find someone who can make my hair curl.    7. Read all the books on the top 50 recommended classic literature list.      8.  Work to build up the Sunday School department at our church and lead the children's musicals there like my mom did.   9. Get all the family pictures categorized and put into scrapbooks.   10. Figure out who my grandpa's grandparents are in my genealogy research...that's been a family mystery for years and years and years.   11. Get back in touch with my cousins that I have not seen since my uncle and aunt's divorce.   12. Have at least half a dozen grandkids crawling all over my house.   13. Get myself down to a healthy weight and have all my anxiety/panic attack problems with the accompanying depression under complete control.      Links to other Thursday Thirteens! (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

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I'd like to welcome the visitors reading their way through this week's Carnival of Beauty to my blog---Through It All.  If you have arrived at this booth in the carnival by some method other than the main gate, you can click here to find my post, and on the logo above to reach the main gate of the carnival.

 

The theme of this carnival is contentment, and I know that there will be many posts that have much to teach each of us in this area of our lives.  I know that for me personally, contentment has been a hard lesson---one that I am still in the process of learning.  After visiting all the inspiring blogs that are featured this week, hopefully we will each have learned a bit more in this area of our lives, found some practical ideas to apply, and have been touched by the thoughts shared. 

 

Thanks for dropping by for the Carnival of Beauty!  I hope that the time you spent here with me helped you in some small way.  Feel free to drop by again anytime and visit with me.  And, of course, comments are welcomed :-) 

 

The following links will take you to the previous carnivals:
December 14, 2005: The Beauty of Giving
December 21, 2005: The Beauty of Tradition
December 28, 2005: The Beauty of Excellence
January 4, 2006: The Beauty of Limits
January 11, 2006: The Beauty of Winter
January 18, 2006: The Beauty of Hope
January 25, 2006: The Beauty of Serving
February 1, 2006: The Beauty of Gentleness

 

 

[homeschool] [carnival] [Carnival of Beauty] [contentment]