I would like to take a moment this morning to invite you and your children to participate in a very special event that is going on this week - something your family is just going to love to be a part of!
Many of you are familiar with our company publishing company Remembrance Press, home of the The Gift of Family Writing and The Girlhood Home Companion. This summer we began a new chapter in our lives with the founding of Hopeful Farm, a non-profit organization based in Kentucky that ministers to families impacted by special needs.
The vision for Hopeful Farm was planted in our hearts ten years ago, after the birth and death of their fourth child, Nicholas, who was born with a genetic syndrome. Now, Hopeful Farm is finally becoming a reality.
The mission of Hopeful Farm is truly unique and much needed as it seeks to provide an all-access environment in which families impacted by special needs may find time to focus on each other, build relationships, and gain refreshment and renewal in an escape from the exhausting grind of everyday life.
This is the first time Hopeful Farm has held a benefit of this magnitude, and you will not believe the resources that are being donated as a thank you for your participation. If you have been wanting some of my writing or drawing products to enrich your home school curriculum, not to mention our resources for mothers and daughters, this is something you have to see! www.hopefulfarmfoundation.org/benefit.htm
Not only that, but my publishing friends have donated some incredible resources as well, as a way to bless you for becoming involved in this very important work. Your family can have a direct impact on families with children with special needs - and in return, your own family will receive a blessing from all of the wonderful companies that have offered their products in support of Hopeful Farm.
If you would like to hear what Hopeful Farm is all about, you can access an online interview by Cindy Rushton with my daughter Claire and I at www.hopefulfarmfoundation.org/interview.html
This benefit will run for one week only until Thursday, October 30th, so take a look now...and please tell a friend or three or four about it!
In the Nook...first I wanted to share with you two of my sweetest babies! First is my kitty, Misty, she is laying on some of the free lumber that we got from the recycling center back in May. Second is our dog Scooby, he's a Pomeranian and the best doggie in the world!~ This is also the lumber we have been using for projects around the house and to build that new deck with...now we have almost three new additions to it and one more in the works! Enjoy the pictures.
See the light coming from upstairs right over his body, isn't that neat looking!
This old deck was built three years ago out of desperation to just get inside the house, it's taken quite the beating from the last three years. Praise God we had even that!
There is a company in town that we get those wooden electric spools from and I paint them and cover them with contact paper to give extra seating or a small table for our coffee! This one is covered now. We're also going to be adding some lattice or covering to the front of the deck, that's why it's not painted.
I talked my husband into just replacing the bad boards on the old deck, so now it does look way better than it did. We've also got plans to add 4' to the right of the old deck as well and then paint all of it, then add hand railing and this fall we're going to add a pergola to the top and plant some vines or fruit to grow overhead. I'm so excited! We've all worked so hard on getting this done. The new section is 12' wide by 20' long. Another 16' will be added to the left of it. This will be for the pool but it's only 6-8" off the grass.
It sure is nice to have this space back. I thought I would love having it linked to my new website, but I don't AT ALL, not one bit! I don't know why exactly but I just was not comfortable with it. This design is the carefree me, the person that only a few have really spent time with and a few of you, well, I might be a little too carefree for you (*she giggles under her breath!*). I wanted to add my long-awaited, not yet used design that I've been meaning to put up, but after working until 5:30am this morning on another HSB blog, I just didn't want to get into another long night. I love this design! It was actually the first three-column that I ever did last September.
I had the best time tonight. We went to a summer picnic one town away from us at a large church. My family is in agreement that we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. My husband got to play cornhole and since you've probably never heard of it, let me explain. Cornhole is a game that is played much like horseshoes. The biggest and most noticeable difference is that there's a 45-degree raised board with a 8-inch hole at the top of the board and the players all try to get this corn-filled bean bag into the hole. Here, I'll just show you a picture of it. There are two of these boards and I'd have to guess but I think they're set at 50 ft. apart from each other. It's pretty fun to play and my husband LOVES playing; he's also very good at it too. I don't enjoy much because it makes my shoulder hurt for days afterwards (bursitis from my mom).
My daughter had a nice time with a few familiar looking friends, and I had a wonderful time just relaxing and listening to some awesome music a live band that plays Christian and Country music. It was a great night with good food, live music and games; and tons of interaction for all the children! Have a blessed night!
In the Nook...Here's another drawing I did late last night...I love frogs! My husband said this one is really cute.
He's actually a light shade of greens and browns on paper but my scanner shows terrible red and blue lines through the picture when I scan in color. It's not great but I like it and I think he's cute too!
I decided last night to go ahead and color the sketch of the rose that I drew over the weekend. After coloring it in with General's Watercolor Pencils, I went ahead a patted over it with a wet towel. It doesn't look exactly like a watercolor but I wanted to be able to see the details of it. I hope you enjoy it. If you see the horizontal streaks across it they are from my scanner...not sure why it does that.
In the Nook...I keep practicing my sketching. I want so badly to be an artist! I still intend to either watercolor them or color them in , slightly, with colored pencils...which do you think?
This is an Iris that I loved and wanted to draw.
It's kind of hard to see this tree because I haven't finished it yet...I love trees! I still have to add the shading, every tree needs some shade, don't you think?
Next year Kelsey and I are going to do some major studying on Art and work on some drawings. I would like for her to find a passion in some form of art. We're also studying about color! If you follow the link on my right sidebar "Color Wheel Pro" they offer classes in color theory. I've done some of the classes and find it extremely interesting. Kelsey loves photography but doesn't know much about how it became what it is...she got a blue ribbon and yellow ribbon in the photography contest that she entered through our co-op. She took a picture of a tree in our yard just as Spring was settling in the air. She loves that picture so much and we have lots of memories under that big oak tree. I have an amazing young daughter! She thinks of all the little bitty details that some her age would not notice. I'll have to post her tree picture, when I find it.
I made a little change with my Friends List. It's on the left side and to open it just click on the word "Friends" and it pops out! Neat, huh! To close it click on it again! Thank you
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Seven Steps to Raising Godly Children
Principle - Impart God's word on your children and live in a way that you are their greatest example of what a Christ-abiding parent should be.
Pattern - Teach your children a pattern of prayer; when to pray, how to pray, and why prayer is important.
Persistence - Don't ever give up...teach your children to always have faith and not to give up when things get hard.
Participation - Our children crave our attention! The way our children see us is the way they'll see God in thier lives.
Praise - Encourage children, praise them when they do something right and help them when they have a hard time.
Prayer - Teach your children to pray and then to TRUST God for the outcome.
Priority - Make God the Head and Heart of your home and let them live with God's desire coming first in your lives.
There is a company in town that we get those wooden electric spools from and I paint them and cover them with contact paper to give extra seating or a small table for our coffee! This one is covered now. We're also going to be adding some lattice or covering to the front of the deck, that's why it's not painted.
I talked my husband into just replacing the bad boards on the old deck, so now it does look way better than it did. We've also got plans to add 4' to the right of the old deck as well and then paint all of it, then add hand railing and this fall we're going to add a pergola to the top and plant some vines or fruit to grow overhead. I'm so excited! We've all worked so hard on getting this done. The new section is 12' wide by 20' long. Another 16' will be added to the left of it. This will be for the pool but it's only 6-8" off the grass.
