Happy Halloween!

I can't believe today is the last day of October.
Today was so beautiful that it was hard to stay
inside. Just a lovely puffy cloud day.
When we were young there used to be these
Medieval fairs down at Central Park. But they stopped
and they haven't held one for twenty years. I had
mentioned it one night at the dinner table just
thinking it would be me and my husband going and
all 4 of the kids said they wanted to go so today
we spent the afternoon down down in our central
park.

Of course, I found someone to talk to and she was
telling me about the wind blowing down her booth
and having to rebuild it this morning. She was excited
to be back and she hopes that next year it will be much
bigger. I even had the thought of growing gourds and
pumpkins and selling some. I thought it would be fun
and I would like one of those costumes and a excuse
to go out in public.

We went to a wood carvers booth and this was on a pole.
The boys thought it was really cool so they took the picture.
I really enjoy wood carvings. If me and sharp instruments
got along better I might try to carve wood. My hands look
so bad now just because I have been using a saw and have
really banged them up bad this week, I hate to think what
I might do with wood carving knives.


This is a picture looking down the sidewalk to all of
the booths, I didn't know my son got a picture of me
throwing away trash. The side walk looks pretty.

Later I talked them into going with me to the library
and after that I told them about the world that sits
in front of the train station. We walked over and the boys
and my husband decided to change the world. They made
it go backwards, and then they made Australia go to the top
of the world, then they couldn't stand it so they put it back
the way it is supposed to be then my other son changed it again.
It is such a huge piece of granite. They pushed and pushed but
couldn't make it bounce away like they wanted.

We then went into the train station and looked at train
schedules, we didn't feel like going to Lodi, or Fresno or
any of the other odd places the train goes to in a day.

It was just a nice day to be outside exploring town. I tried to
talk them into visiting Antique stores but no one wanted to do
that except me. I was over ruled not enough votes in my corner.
I got some more pictures but blogger is being fussy today.
I will just stop for now.
I hope you have a wonderful Halloween evening. My husband
when I would take the kids with their cousins out Trick or Treating
got into the habit of watching Princess Bride each Halloween.
Now the kids don't do that so we sit and watch Princess Bride
I don't even watch it that much and I can repeat the lines.
So we will be doing our family tradition tonight.
Happy Halloween!

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

Thoughts on Saturday Morning

I thought since all I have done is told stories this week, I might
as well tell one on Saturday morning.
For one thing I am always so glad when God goes
before me and I just have to follow.

Fridays are a busy day. I have piano lessons and I
do a Bible study with my married girls, since I only
have a car on Fridays I do all of my errands too.

But this Friday was different. My grand children have
colds so no Bible study and the piano teacher called
and canceled lessons. I really didn't have that many
errands to run so I thought, the house was clean and the laundry done.
But of course things change.

I walked into the kitchen and I heard a sound and
it was my old dog Shelbie and she was having a major
seizure. I thought she was going to die right then.
I went over and petted her until it stopped and she
came to herself. I thought maybe she was paralyzed
because she couldn't move. After a bit though, she got
up and was walking around.

Shelbie was a Shetland Sheep dog, she was 12 years old, she had gone
blind and she was deaf. She could still get around and today,
she even walked around the pasture with me. I knew though
her quality of life was slipping. I really hate having animals to
put animals down, but I would rather do that than let them suffer.
I think she was suffering.

I have known it was coming and I always pray being
the chicken I am that God will show me when the time
has come. I knew then in my spirit that I needed to call
the vet. So I did and they told me when to bring her
in, the hardest is the waiting part.

But I set my face like flint and did the "Next Thing."
I think that the hardest things about having animals,
is having to make those kind of decisions.

Later I thought about that today I had the car, I didn't
have things I had to cancel, the vet was able to get me right
in and I think the hard part was I was so calm it freaked the vet and
his staff out.
But, God is with me and goes before me and lives in me
and He made it so everything fell into place.

So I am thankful that God always shows me the way, and shows
me the times when things need to be done. I am very thankful that
we still have Sasha.

There is comfort in knowing I am not in control.
Have a great Saturday!

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

Friday Ramblings

I woke up this morning with this poem going around in my head.
When I was a new Mom, new wife, new everything.
I would never know where to begin with the day.
There would be days when I never got dressed because
every time I put the baby down she cried.
I got better as time went on but still I would be at my wits end
with all of this mothering business.
I desperately needed a older woman in my life. Then a lady told
about this 15 minute radio program by a lady named Elisabeth
Elliot.

So every morning for 15 minutes a day she taught me. I listened.
I bought her tapes and to tell you the truth. I would listen over and
over and most of the time I didn't have a clue what she was
talking about. Servant hood, discipleship, submission, biblical
authority. I would listen and then I started trying what I learned.
I still had the hardest problem on getting dressed in the morning.
One morning she quoted this poem. So many mornings,
I would sit, and try and figure out what was the next thing.
I learned to jump in the shower before my husband left for work.
I learned to clean the house up before I went to bed. I also
learned to have my quiet time before the kids got up.
But I think everything changed when I was able to quote this poem
to myself when life got crazy. I thought I would share it with you
on the Friday.



Do The Next Thing

From an old English parsonage,
Down by the sea,
There came in the twilight,
A message to me;
Its quaint Saxon legend,
Deeply engraven,
Hath, as it seems to me,
Teaching from Heaven.
And on through the hours
The quiet words ring
Like a low inspiration-
DO THE NEXT THING

Many a questioning, many a fear,
Many a doubt, hath its quieting here.
Moment by moment,
Let down from Heaven,
Time, opportunity,
Guidance, are given.
Fear not tomorrows,
Child of the King,
Trust them with Jesus,
DO THE NEXT THING

Do it immediately;
Do it with prayer;
Do it reliantly, casting all care;
Do it with reverence,
Tracing His Hand,
Who placed it before thee with
Earnest command.
Stayed on Omnipotence,
Safe 'neath His wing,
Leave all resultings,
DO THE NEXT THING

Looking to Jesus, ever serener,
(Working or suffering)
Be thy demeanor,
In His dear presence,
The rest of His calm,
The light of His countenance
Be thy psalm,
Strong in His faithfulness,
Praise and sing,
Then, as He beckons thee,
DO THE NEXT THING

-Author unknown
Elisabeth Elliot taught me so much, my spirit drank in her words and I went
from this young woman who had wholeheartedly embraced the Woman
Lib Movement to a woman who wanted to be the kind of woman that
Proverbs 31 spoke about. I want to get to the end of my life and have my
children rise up and called me blessed and I wanted my husband to speak
within the gates. I wanted him to be able to safely trust in me.
I wanted to be as the wise woman was in Proverbs 14 considered wise and
not a foolish one who tore down her house with her hands.

I really shudder to think what I might have become if not for the
teaching of Elisabeth Elliot and her older woman influence in my life.
As she said once, " all of us can be a older woman to someone."
I think it is so true,
So just a bit on what I was thinking about on this lovely Friday.
Have a lovely day

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

Storms, They are a "Comin!"

Gosh after the last storm we had and it has wrecked such
havoc across the Midwest, maybe I shouldn't be dancing
around in the yard because there are 4 storms headed
this way that are lined up in the Pacific. This morning
I couldn't keep my eyes of the sky, it was so red and then
as the sun got higher it changed all of the trees from tired
green to gold& yellow and all of the trees were bathed in
this gorgeous glow.
Maybe it is the lowering of the barometric pressure that effects
me that way, that I just want to dance and sing and run real
fast around the pasture.
The air feels like silk and the smell is not the ocean breeze which
is heavenly but it is maybe a bit of a Santa Ana that is blowing in
off of the desert. One of the things that I love about Arizona
is the light and the way the air feels and in Arizona like the
beach I just feel so good. The air feels like it is blowing straight from
there.
Here is a picture from last year as we were driving to Arizona.

I think I love the deserts of Arizona the best. The Mojave
is so big but once you get into Arizona then you start seeing
all of the rock formations and my mind just starts running
away with me at all of the things I can imagine living up
there in the rocks.

I was also thinking of the beach and how thankful I
am that I could jump into the car and in two hours
I could be doing this.

Next week is Election Day. We have been given
a precious gift of freedom. So many have sacrificed
for us to get up every morning and have what we do.
It doesn't matter what you are when it comes to politics.
But it does matter that if "My people who are called
by my name will humble themselves and pray, I will
heal their land. "
I want this land to be healed for my children and my grandchildren.
So they may live free.
Have a wonderful Thursday!
This is my second post. I am really, really thankful today.

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

Thankful Thursday

It is Thankful Thursday. Sometimes God just puts
posts in my lap.

My daughter has been working at school when she
gets out of class for one of her teachers. She text-ed
me to tell me she was on her way home. I have that
Mom's sixth sense about how long it takes to get from
school to home.

I knew it was about time for her to come in the driveway.
This used to be a rural area and the road in front of our house
used to be a very nice quiet country road. Then the city came
and we have a freeway in front of the house. There are motorcycles
that someday I know hit 100 miles a hour.
I was sitting looking out the window when I hear the sliding of wheels
on blacktop, I hear the sound of brakes, I hear the sound of a crash.
All I can think of that someone has hit my daughter turning
in the driveway.

I jump up and start running across the yard to the road, but I can't see what it
is for all of the dust in the air. By the time I get to the road the dust has
cleared and I run across the street and there is a young boy getting
out of the truck. I run up to him and ask him if he is okay, and he said
he is and then I look in the truck to see his sister sitting beside him
in the passenger seat and I ask her if she is okay and she is just
very mad at her brother.

I ask if there is anything I can do and they tell me no that they live down the
street. Their truck is still drivable so they are going to drive it home.

I was so, so very thankful they were okay, now walking back across the
yard my legs were shaking and I felt like I wanted to fall down. I wanted
to hug them but the young man was being brave and I could hear the Mom
on the other end of the phone talking very loudly. I imagine scared as I would be.

So that is my simple Thursday post. I am thankful to God who protects our
children, who keeps them safe and who is so faithful all of the time.

Have a Happy Thursday!

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

My Own Stories

I thought today since I never share stories from my own
family, I would share some of my escapades of being a mother
to six very busy children. I have had the most fun and
I have been blessed. I had to look and look today for
some pictures to match the ages of my children when
these stories took place.

This is a picture on the first day of school for us.
That is me much younger with lots longer hair and
braces so I must have been 40, I think they are
4,6,8,10, 13, 16.

One thing about homeschooling is you do it in your home.
With six kids I not only taught but I did laundry too.
Lots of laundry. I would get them started on something and
our school room was upstairs. So I would run down and put
clothes in the dryer and the washer and take the dry ones and
go toss them on my bed, then after school was finished I would
go and stand and fold all of those clothes. They worked okay but
not very long on their own so I had to be up there.

Our neighbor next door always decorated for Halloween and she
would make scarecrows and put them on her front porch. My kids
saw them and thought they were the coolest things. So they got
my six year old's clothes and started making scarecrows.

I hadn't paid to much attention on this day to the scarecrow making.
They were being quiet upstairs so I thought they were doing school.
I was down stairs in the laundry room and as I walked from the laundry
room to my room with a basket full of laundry, I saw out of the corner
of my eye, what looked like my six year old standing on top of the
banister, (it was about a 20 foot drop) I dropped my laundry basket
about the time I heard my oldest son yell, " No, Elliot don't do it!!"
as I watched the bundle of clothes hurdle to the wood floor at the bottom.
I yelled and started running just as it hit and then stood there looking at
the dummy. I looked up and all six were laughing their heads off and
it took me a bit to realize they had really fooled me. Then I sat on the floor
and cried and cried. I don't think that was the desired effect.

Then I got mad, really mad at all six of them. To mad to even whip them.
To mad to ground them. So mad I didn't know what to do. I sent them
all to their rooms until I could quit shaking and crying. Then I called
my husband at work and told him what they did, all the while he is trying
so hard not to laugh. He said, " Well, tell them I said to go out to the chicken
house and scrape all of the chicken manure off the chicken roosts." So I sent
them out there and I would sneak out there from time to time and listen and
they were still laughing about what they had done.

Now I laugh, we had really good neighbors next door.
I shudder to think about the things that man saw living
next door to us. Always by 2:00 I was exhausted. For so many
years I was either nursing or pregnant or had just had a baby.
I couldn't call it nap time so at 2:00 in the afternoon it was quiet
time. They had to stay in their rooms for one hour and they had
to be quiet. They could read or draw or build with Legos. But one
hour it was quiet.

Little did I know the older boys would take the youngest and would tie
a rope around his waist,
would lower them down out of the second story window to the
garage so the youngest could get soda's for the boys upstairs.
Then they would take the rope and raise the baby back upstairs
to the window.
My neighbor never breathed a word until my my oldest sons graduation
from high school. Or the kids shooting marbles with a slingshot
at the cat in their yard (it was our cat) but the marbles were going
in their pool. My kids shot arrows (homemade) from the bows they
made in the garage.

One time I just die over this one. My neighbors were having a swimming
party next door. The boys bedroom over looked the yard next door.
Our cat was laying in the yard but my boys hadn't paid attention what else
was going on, but all of these ladies were out by the pool laying out in
the sun. The boys wanted to get our cat back in our yard, started barking
at the cat from the upstairs window.
When they repeated the story to me, they said " Then the weirdest thing
happened Mom, all of those ladies grabbed towels and jumped up and ran
in the house. " :)

I was always taking my flowers I grew and cookies I baked and things like
that to those sweet people. But they never complained and they would even
stick Tootsie Pops in the top of the fence for each one all of the time. My son
did the yard work for the neighbors so they were very understanding and
they taught my boys so much.

It was so hard to move when we did, but the boys really needed more
room to be boys. So it was time.

I cried and cried though, because they were the dearest people
and they put up with so much. Holidays will be here and My kids
will sit around after a meal and they will tell stories on themselves
about things I never knew. We will laugh and laugh and I will
be amazed because I was always home.

It has been fun.
I hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday!

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

Stuff I was Thinking About

I don't know why I ponder stuff like I do but I do think
about trials and my response to them. I was reading in my
Streams of The Desert and it is one of the selections I love
because it amazes me.

"A bar of steel worth five dollars, when wrought into horseshoes,
is worth ten dollars. If made into needles, it is worth three
hundred and fifty dollars; if into penknife blades, it is worth
Thirty-two thousand dollars, into springs for watches it is worth
two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. What drilling the poor bar must undergo
to be worth this! But the more it is manipulated, the
more it is hammered, and passed through the fire, beaten and
pounded and polished, the greater the value.
May this parable help us to be silent, still, and long-suffering.
Those who suffer most are capable of yielding most; and it is
through pain that God is getting the most out of us, for His glory and the
blessing of others."
(selected)

Then today, as I was reading in John 11:1-6 It is the part of scripture that
talks about the letter Jesus receives from Mary and Martha. John wants us
to know that it is the Mary who anointed the feet of Jesus and used her hair
to wipe it away. The sisters tell their friend Jesus that the one that he loves is
sick.
I have always pondered why Jesus just didn't speak a word and heal Lazarus,
why didn't Jesus rush back and comfort the family. It says, that Jesus tarried
for two days longer, because He wanted God to be glorified and for God's
glory.

But today as I was reading it what jumped out at me was the simple phase,
in verse 5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.
I kept thinking about it all day, Jesus loved them, John wants us to know
deep in our hearts, that this was love. Not that anyone did anything wrong,
not that someone was out of God's will, not because Jesus couldn't. It was
for the simple reason that they would all see the glory of God.

As I kept pondering the faith it takes to jump from waiting to trusting.
I know that Mary and Martha waited, as their brother got sicker and sicker
and then the moment when he died, I bet they felt unloved and forsaken
and very alone. I bet they doubted everything they had heard Jesus teach.
I bet the were angry too.
I think you see it when Mary remains sitting in the house, but Martha runs
to Him while He is still far off. It has been 4 very long days. I am sure there
are no more tears. I imagine they are exhausted from sorrow.

But still Jesus waits for Martha to reach out from the fiber of all that she believes
to trust Him. I think one of the most profound moments in scripture is when
Jesus says to move the stone, Martha does not want to trust Him, but He reminds
her of what He has just said, " Do you not want to see the glory of God?
Then He calls Lazarus.
Do you ever wonder about that scene, He must have had at least 100 pounds
of spices wrapped in the grave clothes. Was he sad to come back? Did he ever tell
his grand kids about the time he died and what it felt to come back?
Did he tell people what he saw?


I think so often my responses are like Martha's I want my own comfort, before I
want to see the glory of God. I want my life and those I love to have it easy and
trial free. But because God wants me to know that it is for my good and His glory,
He chooses to wait. I must have that place in my life to take that leap into trusting
and doing what He says, I must let Him open that tomb of my life, so I can
have a new life come out into the light of day.

I have been thinking about that and the more I read it over and over, I see
so many ways that Jesus still calls me Martha, Martha when I want my own
way instead of Mary who got the best part.
Just things I was thinking about and thought I would share them with
you. Have a great Tuesday!

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

Monday Morning

Today we were supposed to have rain and wind.
I was ready to stay in the house and be warm and cozy.
We had clouds but no rain and no wind. I opened all
the windows and put on a short sleeved shirt and
pretended I was cold.
I wanted to fix Clam Chowder so I did anyway.
I wanted to share my recipe with you on this Monday.

My Best Clam Chowder

3 cans minced clams
1 cup minced onion
1 cup diced celery
2 cups diced potatoes
1 cup diced carrots
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup butter
1 qt half&half
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
ground pepper to taste
diced bacon if desired
Serve in bread bowls

1. Put diced vegetables in large skillet. Drain juice from clams into skillet.
Add enough water to cover cook over medium heat until tender.

2. Meanwhile in large heavy saucepan melt butter over medium heat.
Wisk flour until smooth, wisk in cream and stir constantly until smooth.

3. After vegetables are tender, add all to the to cream in sauce pan.
Do not boil.

4. Stir in clams just before serving. When clams are heated through stir in
vinegar and salt and pepper.

The vinegar is the magic ingredient. I had never made anything like this
and it makes the clam chowder the best I have ever eaten.
This is what I serve on Christmas Eve I feed a bunch on Christmas
Eve so I just triple it and it always turns out very nice. Serving
it in bread bowls just makes it festive.

Have a lovely Monday. Sorry the picture isn't better,
I get all self conscious when I show my food. :)

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

Thoughts On Being A Mother-in-Law

I have been going through my posts from last year.
There are some that still jump out at me and this is one
of them. When you are first handed that tiny baby,
there is always those firsts that I held onto and treasured
in my heart, first tooth, first step, all of those sweet things.
I was so excited when my kids got engaged because I was
going to get some more kids. But, the day it dawned
on me I was going to be a mother-in-law was a huge shock.
All of a sudden those terrible jokes became about me.
There wasn't a lot of material out there when
I first became a Mother-in-law so this is a bit of what I found
after months of digging.

When the kids first got married, one of the things that scared me to death was how do I stop being a Mother now and let my now adult children be all that God wants them to be? How do I stay out of their lives and let them live. I even joked I would write a book called " Hands off Parenting," Thankfully, when ever I am in doubt about what I should be doing, I can turn to Elisabeth Elliot and she has already trod the path that I am on. I found this little list and it has helped me so much. I know I have lapses and blow everything I am trying so hard to not do. But, God has given me the best of people to practice on and they are so wonderfully forgiving to me.
( Thank you)
So here is a really great list:

How to be a Good Mother-in-Law
1. Thank God for this acquired son or daughter. ( I do, I am so thankful for God's Gift to me.)
2. Treat this man and woman as adults with adult responsibility.
3. Remember your daughter or son now belongs to her or his spouse.
4. Allow them to form a new family---it's theirs, not yours-now
5. Expect it to be different from you and your family.
6. Let the newly formed family do things its own way.
7. Do not dish out gratuitous advice (Which is what I am doing now.)
8. Pray for them daily.
9. Never criticize the "in law" to his or her spouse ( I would add the rest of the members of the family or friends.)
10. Encourage them in every way you can think of.

I am and will always be learning and will hopefully get this better because I have 4 more chances to practice.

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

Thoughts on Saturday Morning

One of my favorite bloggers is Janette over at Janette's Sage
She had been tagged for seven questions and she
wanted to do her own. So I thought I would play along.
So I guess I am tagged. :)
1.If you could go on two vacations, without any concerns, one with your family and one with your husband where would you go?
I would take the kids all of the married ones and grand kids and children and we would all go to the beach. For about a week. Then my husband and I would go find a log cabin in the woods, in the snow, with lots of logs and a huge fireplace. We would get snowed in and we would just have to stay together alone and watch the blizzard from windows that were triple glazed so we would be warm. We would take books and books on tapes and lots of coffee and just have a wonderful time.

2. If you could write a book, what author would you want to be like and why?

I would be Harper Lee. I would want my one book to be the greatest book of literature of all time. I would want to be a bit of a mystery and I would want to write a book that spoke to everyone deep down in their hearts at every age. I would want the story to be simple yet written with all of the beauty of innocence and to write of an age gone by.
3.If you could dream up the most romantic evening with your spouse, what would it be? Gosh everything we do

when we are alone is romantic. I would say when I first fell in love with him I still consider the most romantic. My Dad bought a herd of heifer cows. They had been bred to a bull that was to big. We had to walk the pastures at night to make sure none were down or in labor. My then best friend, not boy friend yet, was away at college. He came home for spring break and he and I would walk the pastures in the rain, in the cold, me in sexy rubber boots and we would walk and talk and kiss in the rain. We would tell of the dreams we had and of all that we wanted from life.
We would walk and talk and I never felt the cold. When it came time for him to go back to school I could hardly stand the cold, I had never noticed it when he was with me. By the time he left to go back to school, I was in love and I knew I would never be the same.
4.If you could hear your parents say anything about you, what would you want to hear?
I think it would be to hear how proud they would be of me and gee she did turn out.
My Dad would say, when I called, Hey, my baby, Kim Sue how are you my baby girl. Always,
his voice would get soft and no one will ever say that until I get in heaven.

5. If you were to have your dream job/career/extra-occupation, other than the blessings of what you are doing today, what would it be?
My dream job would be that I went to rug hooking camp and became a wonderful rug hooker, and quilt camp and could quilt like like a dream. I would want a degree in textile arts. I would want to do everything with my hands and could sew. But then I like to garden and raise chickens. I would love to spin and weave and raise my own sheep for wool and my own cow for milk to make butter, and cheese and raise Jacob sheep too. I guess I would want to do it all and always have time for people too.

6.If you could be a missionary in any country, where would you go to serve?
I have always wanted to work in Romania or in the Congo. I have always wanted to work in a orphanage but only so I could bring all of the babies home.

7. if you could go back for a day, year or month in your past, what would it be and why?

I would never go back,
Have you ever read Our Town? I am afraid of it being like that if I went back. I would notice the things I did that hurt or things I missed that were important. My life today, at this moment is the best and I like life the way it is now. I do have a tendency to look back and I always work so hard at living now. The poem that says, " Come grow old with me for the best is yet to be." Is what I try and live with now.

This was hard to come up with answers. I had to think
and think but it was kinda fun I guess in a dentist sort
of way. :)
I hope your Saturday is lovely.

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

Friday Ramblings

It has been a busy week and I am just now getting
ready to show the pictures from this weekend.
My husband took out a good portion of the Field
of Dreams. I don't know how people can live without
a tractor. I think I would give up my car first if I had
to choose. The tractor makes my life so much easier, and
it makes my husband so happy. He loves his tractor.

It has rained a bit this week so it makes it so much
nicer out there. It is so dusty in the valley where I live
that here we get dust pneumonia. Or even sometimes,
people here get Valley Fever. I have these black spots on my
lungs and the doctor said that if I went anywhere else they
would panic but because of living in this valley, it is normal.


I took my son this week to get his drivers license.
We have another driver in the house. This is our
fifth child we have had to teach to drive. This is the
fifth time I have had to sit on the bench outside the
DMV and wait. It always feel like time stops when they
pull away with the tester. It was only about 15 minutes,
but in the 15 minutes my life does pass before my eyes.
From holding the baby for the first time to now. It goes
by that fast I think. I loved the seeing his face light
up as his eyes met mine. I loved how he raised his
arms just a bit in a victory dance. I loved how the
people watching, as he came toward me, said,
quietly "good job."

My favorite brag moment came as the tester, walked
toward me, said, " You have a awesome kid." I was
so thankful for such a wonderful gift, to be his mother.

Before the tester came out, I was on the drivers side of the
car and I said, I am going to pray real quick. So I started praying
and the tester walked up behind us and said something, so I stopped,
and walked away.

Later as we were driving home, my son said that the tester got
in the car and asked, " Was your Mom praying for you?" My son
said "yes, she was". The tester said, " Good, I always like it when
I am being prayed for as I take someone for a test."" Then my son said,
that he thought it was nice that the testers name was "Hesus" (Jesus)

So it has been a good week. I am hoping for a bit of
sewing this morning. I don't know exactly what it
will be. I hope that you have a wonderful weekend,
and your Friday is Fantastic.

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

Thankful Thursday

I had to share what I am thankful for today and
it is for the dear sweet people I have met.
One thing I have learned about blogging is the powerful
button called comments. Giving and Receiving. I have learned
that so often we leave a comment never knowing
if the person on the other end is in the midst of a trial,
of a heartache or just having trouble getting through
the day.

One of the blogs I just happened across, was My Letters
To Emily. The day I just happened in I was so blessed,
I went and read all of her old posts. Maybe it was the sweetness
of her words, or the gentleness of her heart, but I was drawn in
and always in my mind I think of Lea as Lovely Lea.
She had and does bless me through all that she shares,
she makes me laugh at her perfect day. She makes
me see New York as she saw it standing in the rain,
waiting for a cabbie.
But I wanted to share how she blessed me this week.
I got a box in the mail. In the box was this,

I love things wrapped in tissue paper and tied
with a bow. In this tissue paper was this

Isn't that the cutest thing ever a egg pail. I love it so much.
Here it is in a close-up.

I put it on my mantel and every time I walk by
I am blessed. I am so thankful today that God
has brought such sweet people into my life and
I feel like today this verse is for me.

"But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those
who fear him, and righteousness with their children's children."
(Psalm 103:17)
I have so much to be thankful for, every day, but I wanted
Lea to know how blessed I am.
Happy Thursday!

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)

On Writing

One of the things I have always felt to be sadly deficient in has
been writing. I have always loved to write and my earliest
thoughts were that I wanted to be able to write the things
that could only be felt with the heart. I have loved words,
and when I was a kid I would sit and read the dictionary for fun.

When I started home schooling, I think God did it to show me
how much I did not know and I was in danger of loosing what I
did know. I think it is why He had me start at second grade.

One of the things I have loved to teach was dictation. I read once
that Jack London would go to the library in San Francisco to copy
out writers that he loved and in doing so he learned to write.

One of the things that bores me to tears and yes, it shows in the way I
write is grammar. I have not taught my kids this very well because
my brain goes into some kind of a black hole and I feel like if that
was the way I was going to teach writing nothing would ever
get written. Writing is like riding a bike, just get on and take off
if you fall well then you fall and get back on and keep at it
and then before long you have a sentence. Then a paragraph,
then a page and maybe if you keep at it long enough a story.

Some of my favorite books were stories that the author wrote as
a short story in a writing class. My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara.
Little Britches by Ralph Moody, The Black Stallion by Walter Farley.

Today I was looking through My Antonia by Willa Cather so I could
find a passage to dictate to my boys I ran across this in the forward.

"Willa Cather on Writing in 1895 essay entitiled "The demands
of Art." Cather makes a revealing statement about the vulnerabilty of the
artist. "When one comes to write," She says, "All that you have been taught leaves you,
all that you have stolen lies discovered. You are the translator,
without a lexicon, without notes...You have then to give voice
to the hearts of men, and you can do it only so far as you have known
them, loved them, It is a solemn and terrible thing to write a novel."

Sarah Orne Jewett wrote to Willa Cather in 1908 " You must find a quiet place,
you must find your own quiet center of life and write from that."

All of my life I have longed to write the things I see and the things I feel and
the quiet sound of the songs that live in my heart. I am like the artist who
longs to paint the beauty of their soul yet when she holds the brush in
her hands finds that her skill is such she can't draw the beauty she sees.

When I was a kid, I have always longed to draw and paint, but was told
over and over I did not have that skill. Well," no artistic ability whatsoever."
I believe now that was a curse, as it made me afraid to try.
When I became a mother I made it my ambition I would allow no one
to ever tell my children they could not do something like paint or draw or
climb to the highest tree, or make a movie or yes, write a story.

When my oldest daughter was a young girl, I remarked about not being
able to draw. She looked at me and said, " Mom, I can't really draw,
but I do draw because I work at it harder than most people, you could
do anything if you wanted if you wanted to work at it hard enough."

It stopped me in my tracks, I had become lazy and my excuses had
become my way of life.
That hardest thing is picking up the pencil or in my case
the hardest thing was to push the button that says, publish post.

When I sat down to write a post, the first thing it said,
was you have to take pictures. I did not take pictures.
My son so sweetly brought me his camera and showed me,
lightening bolt means turn the flash off. This funny squiggly
squiggly thing means you will get the close up but everything
else will be blurred in the background. Then my daughter showed
me flower was closeup. So I started taking pictures and
trying to write, everyday. All the while hoping no one
would find this and read what I wrote.

It took me six months to leave a comment on other sites
I loved. So every time I sit here and I share my thoughts,
and you read them, for me this is huge. I am so thankful still
every day for each one of you who takes their time to read
this stuff that I call writing and I hope you have a Wonderful
Wednesday and that I love you all.

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, for His wonderful works to the children of men!

(Psalm. 107:6)