RobinZnest

A New Day

2012-02-11T11:54:00.002-07:00

So, I have been a full time nanny/pre-school teacher/grandmother for three entire weeks now. I have definitely entered into a new phase of life! Here are some of my observations:

My body is screaming - "What do you think you are doing???" I am definitely getting a workout like I never did at my desk job. While I am sore and knocking back Advil more than ever - I am still glad. I needed the exercise and I figure it's saving me the cost of a gym membership.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE teaching pre-school. It is a career I never imagined doing - but I seriously am wondering if I missed my calling. I love the creativity involved, I love when my sweet little 3 year olds understand a concept, and I even love the preparation involved. It is just pure fun to me.

However, it is infinitely difficult to teach two 3-year olds while I have two 1-year olds underfoot. If anyone has any suggestions - PLEASE share them!

ROUTINE and STRUCTURE are the only way to survive this daycare task I have undertaken. I made a chart of our daily schedule, posted it on the fridge, and we stick to it like glue. The kids love it and are constantly running to the schedule to see what is expected of them next. I can't take credit for thinking this up - it's just something I inwardly knew would have to be. We do not vary from the routine one little bit - except for Fridays. On Fridays, Poppa comes to town and we do fun things with him.

Part of our schedule is a two hour nap/rest time in the afternoons right after lunch. I have been amazed how much knitting and reading time it affords me. I have never had a job that gives me this much personal time.

It's amazing how many of the habits and skills I used as a young mother have come back to me - it's like riding a bike I guess - you never forget. Things like put things away the minute you are done using them, and write things down when you think of them just come natural in a house full of children. Unfortunately, over at the empty nest it seems I have forgotten these valuable tricks as things don't get put away quite like they used to ;(

Amazon Prime membership is a MUST. I have never used this before but since I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas (best gift ever!) I had a free month trial membership. It didn't take me long to pay for the annual membership. I don't have time to go shopping anymore (and I don't really enjoy shopping anyway). Being able to purchase what I need, with free shipping, and receiving my purchase in TWO days is invaluable to me! Just this week I bought some pre-school supplies, a new pair of pajama pants for my husband, and a season two DVD of Downtun Abbey.

Speaking of Downtun Abbey , have you watched it yet? Oh. My. Goodness. It is so incredibly good - I just love it. It's a Masterpiece Theatre series from PBS. It is a period drama set in England in the early 1900's and it is riveting. If you haven't seen it, stop right now, go to Netflix and start! You will love it! It's another thing I treat myself to during nap/rest time.

Since three of my little charges are little boys, and I only raised girls, I wanted to learn about boys. I downloaded Bringing Up Boys by my beloved Dr. James Dobson and have started reading it. It is so obvious that boys are different from girls and I want to do the best job I can molding and shaping them to be little men. I have already learned so much!

I am afraid that I will not be good enough for this incredible task I have been gifted with. I look at these little lives, these little people that I love so deeply I can hardly stand it, and I worry that I will fail them. I want so much to do this right. I want to give them a legacy of faith and love and wonderful memories and I worry that I will not do it to the level it should be done. It has become the number one prayer priority of my life.

I have never felt more tired. I have never felt more alive. I have never felt so blessed.

Countdown

2012-01-17T17:11:00.002-07:00

So here I am - the last week of employment by the University I have worked at for the last 12 years. Actually, 11 years and 51 weeks, but who's counting? It has been a blessing to work where I have. It has provided a college education to my four daughters. There is no other way we could have done that. We never imagined how we would send our girls to college - but as we have learned over and over again, God ALWAYS provides. It has been a place of peace. Working in a Christian environment is amazingly different that working in the secular workplace. I know this because I have done both. It has been a place of friendliness. I have worked with and for quality people of the utmost integrity. Feeling appreciated, valued and important has been a very good thing.

But I am so ready to move on.

One of the things I have struggled with the most is giving the best time of my day to things that don't really matter in the long run. By that I mean, my job could be done by most anyone. And the clerical duties I was responsible for didn't really make much of a difference to anyone else. I didn't make a difference in anyone's life. But that is all about to change!

I won't be sitting behind a desk anymore. I won't be entering line after line of test scores or grades or classes into a computer system. I won't be scheduling or proctoring or emailing anymore.

Instead I will be solely responsible for the care and feeding of my four precious grandbabies. I will have two 3 year olds, a 1 year old and a 10 month old depending on me for everything.

I will be holding a morning pre-school for the 3 year olds. I have had the most fun planning my curriculum and purchasing school supplies. The internet has been a huge source of ideas and plans and who knew the Dollar Store had so many teacher supplies? My teacher-daughters have been educating me in the ways of teaching letter sounds and using correct words for shapes. Apparently the shape I have always known as a diamond is now called a rhombus. I guess I will be learning right along with the kids! I'm so thankful for my daughter's help because I sure don't want to damage Tyler's and Ava's intellect before they even get to first grade!

Monday morning, bright and early, I will be reporting to my new job. I will be wearing my yoga pants and slippers. I will be bringing my knitting to enjoy during afternoon nap time. I will bring my little dog with me to work every day. I will be ready for lots of hugs and kisses from little people.

It will be a new day!

A New Year

2012-01-03T18:28:00.007-07:00

So here we are. 2012. I remember when I was in the 6th grade, one of our math problems was to figure out how old we would be in the year 2000. We worked diligently figuring out the mathematical equation and when most of us realized we would be 40-ish, none of us believed we would ever really be that old. Ahem. How wrong we were.

Christmas is over and I am left with storing the decorations and the memories for another year. We had a good family Christmas. We spent time with my husband's family in the little Idaho mountain town of McCall. However, for the first time in my memory there was no snow. Really weird. All my girls were home and I love, love, love having my girls all around me. We got to spend a lot of time together. We went out to dinner one night without the grandbabies - a first for us. It was lovely to just sit around a big, round table and visit the night away. We went on a sleigh ride that ended up being a wagon ride because of the afore mentioned no snow issue. But it was fun and the dinner they served was awesome.

Here we are at the "sleigh" ride.

Here are my two oldest grand monkeys - Ava and Tyler sporting the sock monkey hats I made them.

No matter how many pictures I take, and I take a lot, I NEVER get all four of them looking at the camera.

My sweetie and I.

This was some of us at the lake in McCall. Typically those mountains would be covered in snow and the lake would be iced over.

I am looking forward to 2012. I am thinking and praying about my word for the year - IMPROVE. There are so many ways this word could make a difference in my life. Last night I downloaded on my Kindle, Debbie Macomber's new book, One Perfect Word, which is a non-fiction book that tells the story of how she has prayed for a specific word every year to live by. I read the first chapter and I can tell it is going to be captivating.

My husband and I began reading the Bible in a year again, only this time we are reading the New Living Chronological version. I love the idea of reading scripture in the order it was written. I think I will also enjoy not jumping from the Old to the New Testament every day in the same sitting. That always gave me spiritual whiplash!

I have chosen my memory verse for this month: "Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind." 1 Peter 2:1. This dovetails with the whole IMPROVE concept.

I love that I have finished up all my sewing and knitting projects and I have a clean slate in front of me. There is nothing better than starting a new project and so right now for my first 2012 project I am gathering all my supplies to knit myself a sweater - something I have never done before. Knitting garments to wear intimidates me like nothing else and I need to conquer this fear. I am going to be knitting the Rocky Coast Cardigan from the Coastal Knits pattern book. I love these two designers and there are several patterns in this book I plan to knit someday.

I have reading to do too. I am re-reading the Zion Chronicles and I am on book #4. I am going to read Beth Moore's book on Insecurity and I definitely plan to read Francine Rivers two newest books, Her Mother's Hope and Her Daughter's Dream. I have had them both for months and just haven't put aside the time to read them. They are on my 2012 goal list.

And 2012 is an election year. I am a news junkie and election years are awesome years for watching news. I love the whole process and look forward to watching all the caucuses, debates and state elections. I know - I'm weird. As I type I am watching the Iowa Caucuses. Fascinating stuff.

Pinterest has taken over a portion of my time as well. I was slow in getting to the table but I am going full force now to make up for lost time! I have found so many great ideas and have already used many of them. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Pinterest!

So there you are. Just a little bit of what I 'm looking forward to this coming year. How about you?

Here We Are At The End of 2011

2011-12-27T17:24:00.011-07:00

We are living in the last week of 2011. I don't know why I love time markers so much, but I tend to put a lot of thought and significance to dates that mark time. So I am writing a post of reflection to put meaning and remembrance to the last 365 days.

My Word for 2011 was Renew. It was a perfect word for me for the year because at the close of 2010 I was at the end of my rope - spiritually, emotionally and personally. Renew began as a whisper of promise that at times culminated in a crescendo of hope. I determined to focus on God and began with memorizing a scripture verse every month and a plan to read my Bible through in a year. Those small steps began a process in my heart that kept growing and developing. God brought a broken friend into my life who was trying to figure out what she believed and why. She came from a church that was only concerned about outward appearance and taught nothing about relationship with Jesus. Her view of God could be summed up in three words: Thou Shalt Not. As I mentored her, I began examining my own beliefs and claims of faith. Were they just words? Did I really mean them? As I studied and read and answered the tough but honest questions from my friend I found my faith being strengthened and bolstered. God is so faithful. Here I am a year later strengthened, uplifted, and renewed! Any my sweet friend? She has exchanged legalism for relationship and is thriving in it!

Vacations and Getaways happened this year. They don't always but this year was epic and I was able to go to San Diego in February with my daughter and two grandsons. I was the nanny. I had a very good deal. In June my husband and I went on a two week road trip that encompassed a western tour of Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. When we pulled into our driveway at the end of our trip we looked at each other and said, "Let's turn around and do it again". I can't think of a better way to say we loved every minute of it. In August I went back to San Diego on a business trip but my husband went with me and in the evenings, after my conference adjourned for the day, we played hard. It was great. And then in October I went to New York City for the first time ever and to Washington DC with my mom and my sister. We had a fabulous time and made lots of memories.

Hobbies and PastTimes included knitting and quilting. My knitting has really taken on a life of its own and I have a full blown love affair with fiber going on! My dream is to raise a sheep, shear its wool, learn how to spin it and knit myself a sweater. Wouldn't that be so awesome?! I chose to knit gifts for Christmas and I also made a quilt for each of my four daughters. I have decided that I will NOT be doing that again. Sewing and knitting on a deadline takes all the fun out of my projects. While I was working on the last quilt my fancy/schmancy expensive sewing machine quit sewing. It needs to go to the doctor. I had to finish the last quilt on my vintage Featherweight singer! I found it very ironic to be quilting on such an old but solid machine while my expensive one sat by looking on! The photo is of a sweater and hat I made for sweet Ava Claire. It looks so nice on her and it is really soft and cuddly. I really wished I would have had one more sheep button to put on the hat but I didn't. This picture at the top is two of the quilts I made my girls. I really hated them by the end of the project. But it's funny, after wrapping them up and putting them under the tree for a few days my attitude changed about them. When the girls opened them up I loved them again. And they did too. So while I'm glad I made them, it won't happen again for a long while. I think next year if the gifts can't be ordered online, they just won't happen! I look forward to knitting and sewing again without an agenda or timeline.

GrandBabies oh how they are growing! Tyler and Ava Claire are now three years old and are just as darling as ever! Aiden is 15 months old and walking and talking and baby Ryan is 9 months old and has the most charming smile you have ever seen! Tyler and Ava were in the Christmas program this year and it was so fun to see them on stage. My "career change" begins in about three weeks and I am excited and ready.

2012. I am looking forward to this next year. I am looking forward to being a full-time grandmother. We have some special trips planned. I have some knitting and sewing projects in mind. I look forward to the warm summer months. I have been praying about my Word for the Year and there is a word that continues to roll around in my mind: Improve. I have a few ideas about how I am supposed to use this word and some of it seems a little overwhelming and I may even feel a little bit reluctant about it. But I trust Him and I know that He has my best in mind. And as with everything in the Christian journey, trusting Him makes all the difference.

Here's to 2012 - maybe my blogging will IMPROVE!

December

2011-12-11T21:09:00.002-07:00

Two weeks from today is Christmas. That means the next two weeks will be crazy and busy and full of events and things to do. Every year I say I am going to slow down for the season and enjoy a slower pace and I've yet to follow through with that. I really don't think there is any hope for me. And when I think about it I realize that having a full plate, dozens of projects to finish by the 24th, and deadlines that seem impossible to meet is just how I roll. It is who I am. So I am just going to embrace it and let it all be what it is!

I wish I could share what is going on in my sewing room lately - I promise I will post pictures after Christmas! Today little Miss Ava Claire was over and she asked me if we could go out to "our" sewing room! She loves being out there while I sew. I keep little crafts and projects for her to work on and she enjoys it so much. Among my projects I have finished a Christmas stocking for Aiden and have helped Andrea make one for Ryan. I have an old Debbie Mumm pattern I have used for years and today I folded it up until the next baby in the family comes along.

I missed college football this weekend. It seems like it will be a long time until next fall. Our Boise State team had another great year and sadly, they were not rewarded by the BCS system. We are getting used to the outcome although it is hard to understand how we get no respect just because we are small but what a joy it has been to watch our team have so much success. We need a new system that is more fair and objective but until then I will just keep cheering for my team.

The countdown is on to finish up at my job and start my new responsibility as daycare provider for my four sweet grandbabies! January 20th is my last day in the office and January 23rd is my first day as a fulltime grandma. I am excited and ready.

I hope to get the Christmas shopping done this week.

My husband informed me this weekend that he is getting a miniature horse with a cart for the grandbabies for Christmas. I don't even know what to say about that.

We don't have any snow but it is cold. I think if it is going to be cold - we should have snow.

For the first time ever I hired someone to come put up my Christmas lights. It was awesome. The job got done and my husband didn't grumble at all :)

My poor husband has been having some serious health issues since June. He got sick while we were on vacation and was diagnosed with pneumonia. It never went away and his breathing got so bad he could hardly preach. He wheezed and coughed and took prescription after prescription of antibiotics that never seemed to help at all. He finally got in to a specialist last week and was diagnosed with adult-onset asthma. I was so relieved because I had done plenty of internet sleuthing and had him diagnosed with a much more serious ailment. He is doing amazingly well now that he has the proper medications.

I started reading Brock and Bodie Thoene's series "The Zion Chronicles" over again. I love these books with all the history from World War II.

I am still on target reading my Bible through in a year. Just started Revelations. I think I am going to do a chronological Bible for 2012.

My word for 2011 has been Renew. God has been faithful.

I am not sure if I will be blogging before the new year. It's funny how I used to post almost every day and now it's like once a month. I think it took me about three years to get all my words out - now that I'm caught up I don't have so much to say anymore. But I still love my little blog and plan to check in from time to time.

I hope you have a Merry Christmas with people you love and cherish.

Friday Fave Five - 11/4/11

2011-11-03T12:18:00.004-06:00

It's been too long since I've linked up with Susanne's Friday Fave Five. I always enjoy reading other people's lists but I have not done my own in quite some time. But I am going to try to join in again and intentionally state five things that I am so very thankful for:

1) Tuesday was my birthday and I gave myself the birthday gift of not going to work that day. Instead I spent the entire day in my sewing room working on Christmas gifts. It was like medicine for my soul I'm telling you! What a gift to spend the whole day with fabric and thread and sissors and patterns. It doesn't get much better than that!

2) Watching the weather turn from summer to fall, literally over night. Our leaves were still green and firmly attached to the trees last week and this week they are brown and blowing all over the place! Nature is fascinating and the God who created it all - even more so!

3) For my birthday my sweet family pitched in together and bought me a new recliner/rocker for my very own! And it is leather! Never have I had a chair so nice. It is so comfortable and the perfect chair to sit in during the evenings as I knit or read.

4) I have traveled quite a bit this last month and one thing that was impressed upon me is how thankful I am for the place that I live. It is peaceful and spacious. It is a good place to be.

5) Clearance sales. Last spring I was in a department store and found a rack of sweaters for $4! I bought a few and just this week it has been cold enough to wear them. They are warm, snuggly and really pretty. I love getting a good deal!

If you would like to participate in Friday Fave Five, click over to Living to Tell the Story and share what has been special to you this week.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

2011-10-26T13:19:00.016-06:00

When I was a young mother I wanted nothing more than to be a stay at home mom. But when you marry a student, a studying-for-the-ministry student at that, the odds of being a single income family are slim. Very slim indeed. And so for the most part it never really worked out for me to be a stay at home mom. We were creative in my income earning endeavors. I worked nights. I had an in-home crafting business. I worked days and worked my hours around my husbands hours so in all those years we only had a daycare provider for just a few months. Mostly, as Dr. Laura used to say - my husband and I were our kids parents. But in my heart of hearts, I didn't want to go to work - I just wanted to be a mom. And I always said if I couldn't be a stay at home mom then someday, SOMEDAY I was going to be a stay at home grandmother.

I never realized how prophetic those words would become.

The last 12 years I have been working at the university that all of my daughters have attended and graduated from. Since Jess will be graduating in May it has made me realize that I now have some options.

And who doesn't like options?

My two daughters, who are working mama's, have realized I have options as well. And they have ~~begged~~ politely asked me to quit my job and help them take care of their babies since they have to work outside the home for this season in time. How I wish I could have had my mother looking out for my babies in those early years - it would have been so comforting to me.

The whole thought of having such an important role in my grandbabies lives fills me with joy and wonderment and in some ways I feel as though "the years the locusts have eaten are being restored to me". Not in the sense that I get to be a mother again, but that I get to enjoy this newest season of my life to the fullest in a way that will be most fulfilling and satisfying to me. I see it as a gift. An opportunity to invest myself completely in the lives of four little ones who have so many gifts and abilities and possibilities to offer our world. They are so amazing!

So, mid-January I will be hanging up my "Career woman" hat for good (I can't believe I am typing those words!) and putting on my Grandmother hat - on a 40 hour a week basis! I am so happy about this.

Do I expect it to be easy? No

Do I expect to be exhausted? Yes

Do I worry if I can do a good enough job? Yes

Have a wondered what I am getting myself into? A little

But overall, I have a peace about it. I have so many plans and ideas I can't wait to try out. I am putting together a little pre-school program for my 3 year olds and am working out a structured schedule to keep every day. I am a strong proponent of stucture and believe with four little ones it will be the key to success! I look so forward to being in their little lives so much of the time. This just feels like a natural progression for me and I couldn't be more thrilled about it.

The future is looking very, very happy to me!

This and That

2011-10-19T20:49:00.007-06:00

I have no idea where October has gone. September either for that matter. And the scary thing is that soon we will be turning the page to November and then Christmas is all but upon us. Yikes, I am not ready.

After a very enjoyable summer I am not at all ready to think about winter. Fall is usually my very favorite season of the year but this year all it makes me think of is winter - and I'm just not ready to face it. And we don't even have hard winters. But I'm not ready to give up dinners on the patio, fresh air through screen doors and even mowing the lawn. We have started the fireplace the last couple of mornings as we read our Bibles and drink our coffee. But the afternoons are lovely and we especially appreciate taking our walks in the late afternoon.

I have been a bit of a travel bug lately. In one month I have taken three trips: a work trip to San Diego, a work trip with my husband to the mountains, and I just returned from a week in New York City and Washington DC, the highlight of the trip being that I was able to spend three whole days with my NYC daughter. We had such a great time together and she loved showing off her city. My mother and sister went along so we had a real girls week together - it was so much fun. I have vowed however, never to return to Washington DC unless my husband goes with me. He loves history as much as I and it was impossible to enjoy everything fully knowing how much he would have loved it as well. I read the book "Killing Lincoln" and finished it just in time to tour Ford's Theater. The book is a fascinating read and it was perfect to read it at just the same time I visited the sites. I highly recommend it - the writing is superb and you feel like you are actually there observing all the events of that terrible night.

Today we all went to the Pumpkin Patch! I have been looking forward to doing this all year. There is a local farm that hosts a spectacular family/kid friendly event every year and it is so awesome. There are rides, activities, a petting zoo, pony rides, concessions and we always end the day riding a hay wagon out to the pumpkin field to pick out a pumpkin. This is a family tradition for sure!

At the time we took this photo a little barrel train was trucking by and as you can see it captured the kids attention!

I finally put my fall decorations out - they are my favorite but with all my traveling this year I haven't found a minute to spare. I love the colors and warm, cozy feeling they provide. Lots of candles and pumpkins and fall flowers make for a comfortable, pleasant home.

After much discussion my husband and I made a decision to downsize a bit. My husband had a large and very fancy diesel pick-up truck that he really enjoyed. And although we could afford it, we began to discuss the wisdom in having something we didn't really need and wondered if it was a wise way to use our resources. The upkeep and maintenance of the vehicle was quite large - just changing the oil was an enormous amount of money. We had to keep a separate savings account to save money for when we needed to buy new tires for it. As we talked about it we began to realize that just because we could have something so nice it didn't mean we should. So he sold it and with the money we paid off the loan and bought a smaller, simpler pick-up. It is in very nice condition, it is very comfortable and it looks nice. It will be much less expensive to maintain and best of all it is not a diesel - a real perk to both of us. Neither of us liked the noise or ride of the big fancy truck. We feel like we have made a very smart decision and when you consider the payment, insurance and maintenance money we are saving we have actually given ourselves a very nice raise. A real blessing came in that we sold it to a SouthWest airline pilot. In addition to the price he paid he also gave us 8 free airline tickets to fly anywhere SouthWest flies. We also discovered they plan to start flying to Hawaii just in time for our 35th wedding anniversary! You can guess how two of the tickets will be used! We are feeling like we made a very wise decision and we couldn't be happier with our older, simpler vehicle.

My knitting needles have been working overtime as I have begun making Christmas gifts. We are having mostly a handmade Christmas this year. I am knitting sock monkey hats for all by grandbabies and also a special scarf for my mother-in-law. It is one that I have already made for myself and she loved it and asked me to make her one. I also have a couple of secret projects going.

Right now I am watching Boise State playing Air Force on the blue turf. I'm trying hard not to be jealous that my son-in-law is actually there! What a perfect fall afternoon to be at a game. And we are watching the World Series with great interest. My husband grew up in the St. Louis area and has been a Cardinal's fan all his life. So we are cheering them on and it has been quite fun. Go Card's!!!

Well, that about sums about the comings and goings around here. Enjoy the weekend and give thanks for all the blessings He bestows!

No Words Needed

2011-10-05T13:01:00.000-06:00

What Have I Been Up To?

2011-09-05T20:18:00.009-06:00

As the days of summer quickly fade into days of autumn, I find myself thinking of cozy, comforting things. It's not that we aren't still having 90 degree plus days, it's just that the evenings cool off so nicely and we wake up to 45 or 50 degree weather in the mornings. There is a definite crispness in the air. Even 90 degrees in the shade is pleasant and sweet. Although I am not ready to let go of summer yet, and I am praying for a long, warm fall, it is a natural turning of nature and it makes me yearn for apple crips and crunchy leaves. So it has been somewhat of a natural occurance that I have been spending time in my sewing room working on things made of flannel and muslin and quilting thread. Things that will turn into Christmas gifts and Christmas ornaments. I have never started this early before and I am excited about my plans. I would love to share them here - but I can't. Secrets, you know.

And the best part about fall is that football is here again! We got together and enjoyed the first Boise State game as a family - all except for my son-in-law Brad, who actually got to go to Atlanta and BE at the game. Lucky dog! But we had a great time as you can see:

They are all just so scrumptious! We were all dressed in our BSU gear - it was so much fun!

(I'm sorry these pictures are so small. We are currently without a camera and it makes me so sad. These were taken with my phone.)

All football fans everywhere probably have heard of the Boise State conundrum. We keep winning and winning and winning. We have such an awesome team. Our quarterback, Kellen Moore is a fine young man of integrity and he is just so darned talented. Our Coach Pete is beloved and admired by everyone and he gets many, many offers to coach bigger schools. But he loves Boise and his family loves Boise and thankfully it sounds like he is ours for some time. But even though we keep winning and have moved to a bit of a bigger conference, ' we still don't get no respect'. When we won Georgia this last weekend (our first SEC win) we hear the same old excuse: we don't have strength of schedule, we couldn't play big schools every week. Blah, blah, blah. How we would love to - we just can't find anybody willing to play us. So we will keep on doing what Coach Pete says, just keep doing the right things and good things will happen to us.

So with working and sewing and knitting and cooking and grandbabies and reading and football - well, now you know what I've been busy with. One thing I haven't been busy with is blogging and it is perplexing to me. There was a time when I blogged several times a week - it seems I just had so much to say. I still love blogs and read them often. But my words, well, it seems harder and harder to capture, them, formulate them and put them down on a computer screen. I'm not giving up though. I don't even know if anybody reads anymore - but that's okay. Life goes on. I will still check in from time to time to put memories and thoughts down that I can refer to again. Life is good and full and happy. Just the way it should be.

Grandma Names - Revisited

2011-07-23T08:34:00.005-06:00

I have been a grandmother now for just over three years. What a fun and joyful ride it has been. You always hear about how wonderful it is going to be, but sweet mercy, there is no understanding it until you experience it.

Back in 2008 when we were expecting our first grandboy, Tyler, I was mulling over what I wanted my grandma "name" to be. In my nearly 500 posts of blogging it has been my most searched and most read post. I still get emails asking me what name I went with.

I'm not suprised that this is such a popular topic. It is very serious. The grandma name you choose will be yours the rest of your life and it holds much love, significance and reverence when it crosses a little ones lips. It is a connection of hearts - one heart with just a few beats and the other with lots more mileage. It is a name that thrills you like nothing else the first time you hear it and indeed, every time after.

I knew I didn't want to have the traditional name "grandma". My grandchildren have many grandparents in their lives - blood and adopted. I wanted a name no one else would have and would set me apart so there would never be any confusion about who I was. Some people suggested I just go with Grandma Robin - which would work but I just didn't feel comfortable with having my grandchildren using my first name. Too formal I guess. Some folks told me to let my grandson pick my name out - nope, too impatient for that.

I ended up choosing "Mia". To me it sounded close to mama - my favorite name ever. It also was short and simple. I love the way it sounds. It is unique and special and everything I wanted. My husband is Poppa - although Ava Claire calls him Poppy more often than not. We are Poppa and Mia and we love feeling the sweet, close connection those special names imply.

I was a bit taken aback at the strong feelings people have about grandparent names. Some people just tell you to your face that it is "stupid" to have a name other than grandma or grandpa. Really? Some people refuse to use your grandparent name - that's okay. Other people love it and totally get it. Most often those are the people who can't wait to be grandparents. My grandkids are at the age where they are learning that grandparents are the parents of their parents and it's so fun to watch the confusion turn to understanding in their little minds. There is not a single doubt that they know us as their grandparents.

Here is a fun little quiz to help you decide what your grandma name should be. Click here and take the quiz and then let me know what it said. It's a good thing to start pondering this most special name early - and it's really the only time in your life you get to choose your own name!

Summer Daze

2011-07-15T12:15:00.011-06:00

I don't think I could possibly love summer more than I already do. Dark doesn't come until after 10 p.m. and the days still aren't long enough to do all I want to do. The hobbies and activities of short, cold days are put aside and gardening, walking, enjoying the patio, filling the pool for the grandbabies, and watching the grass grow fills their place. Flowers, freshly mowed grass and hungry little goldfinches flitting around their feeder soothes my soul in ways nothing else can. I find myself occasionally thinking ahead to the cold and it makes me anxious so I cast those thoughts aside and decide to deal with them later. It's much to nice outside to let anything discourage me.

Our summer has been lovely. At first I didn't think it would ever get here. We had the coolest, wettest spring and early June - very un-desert like. But around the first of July it began to warm up and it has been perfect ever since. Since we enjoy all our free time in the back yard, we re-designed the front yard beds to be shrub only and moved all the flowers that require care to the back yard. It makes much more sense. The front yard maintains itself and I can be weeding and watering in the back where everyone else is usually congregated. It is also much more private and I have been known to be out watering in my nightgown with cup of coffee in hand. Pure bliss!

We took a wonderful two week vacation. We took a road trip and traveled across Idaho, Montana, the Dakota's and Wyoming. So much fun history to discover. So much beauty. There was a spot in South Dakota where I looked to the east and saw endless prairie, (I am such a prairie girl at heart), but when I looked to the west I saw hills and pine trees. I told my husband this would be the perfect spot to live because we would both be able to see what we love the most. Two weeks in a small car together with our little dog Willow was so much fun and at the end when we pulled in the driveway we looked at each other and said, "We should just back up and do that all over again." I think that's a sure sign it was a good vacation.

The babies are growing faster than the weeds. Tyler turned three years old. He is full of mischief, still thinks his poppa is the best thing ever, loves any sport and he totally melts my heart. His little brother Aiden is going to be one next month. He is the happiest little boy ever and in all the ways is brother is boisterous and loud he is observant and sweet. They got to go on a summer trip to San Diego and they loved the beach. Is there anything cuter than babies on a beach?

Sweet Ava Claire is my sweet and only little granddaughter. She often says to me "You are my GrandMudder". I say "Yes, and your are my granddaughter." She smiles and says, "I love you GrandMudder." And then my heart just turns into a puddle of mush and I give her anything she wants! LOL! I LOVE this picture of her - she was upset because she couldn't have any candy. Someone said "I would never give her candy if she looked like that"!

And sweet Ryan is already 4 months old. He has the biggest smile and the most beautiful eyes. He is at the age that he wants to do so much that his little body can't do yet so he gets frustrated. What a joy he is and he loves his big sister so much.

So, you see, life has been very good this summer. Lots of family time and traveling time and good old rest for the soul time. I'll be more regular at blogging again when the leaves begin to fall and the breeze turns cold. Until then know that I am good and well and enjoying all the gifts that God has given me!

60 Quick Baby Knits - A Review

2011-05-26T13:43:00.003-06:00

I recently bought a copy of 60 Quick Baby Knits featuring Cascade 220 Superwash yarn. I thought it would be fun to share a review of this book.

60 Quick Baby Knits is exactly what the title implies. The book includes 60 patterns of baby items that can be knit fairly quickly and easily. Every pattern is photographed beautifully in high quality photos enabling the knitter to see the front and many times the back of each item. The quality of the photographs is very good - the stitch definition of each piece is clear and very visible.

I like the idea that every pattern in the book is knit up in Cascade 220 Superwash yarn. This is a quality wool yarn that has been treated so that it does not felt or shrink. It is machine washable and dryable which in my opinion, is very important if you are knitting something for a baby. Cascade 220 Superwash is available in many bright and fun colors and the price is very reasonable.

I paid $12 for my copy. Typically I don't buy pattern books because there is usually only one or two patterns I would be interested in actually knitting and I cannot justify the price of a whole book for that. However, there are about 25 patterns in this book that I would like to knit and probably about 10 that I will knit. That makes the price per pattern very reasonable.

The patterns are fun and some of them are just unique enough to grab my attention. I especially like the sheep hat which features the head and front legs of a sheep on the front of the hat and the tail and back legs on the back of the hat. There is also a sweet Ruffled Cloche flapper style hat that I can see on my little granddaughter. I also especially like the fact that there are several boy patterns that are clever, colorful and they look fun to knit. It is hard to find cute little boy knitting patterns and I have marked about 5 in this book alone that I can picture myself knitting for my little grandsons. Among those is a very cute cabled fisherman sweater and a tennis vest.

I also like that there are several blanket patterns in this book. I have knit a few blankets for my grandbabies and my daughters have become big fans of knitted baby blankets. They are soft, warm, and they stretch and wrap around baby in a very snuggle-y fashion. Baby blankets knit up fairly quickly, especially with a worsted weight yarn. They make great gifts for those special babies in your life. This book contains patterns for baby blankets that have unique shapes - not just the typical square or rectangle blanket.

This book means what it says when it says Baby knits. Most patterns only go up to a size 18 months and a couple are written up to 24 months. I would have liked it to up to toddler sizes but it does not. If I were a more confident knitter I could try revising the patterns - but I am not there yet!

Overall, this book was well worth it's money. Each pattern is rated easy, intermediate, or experienced and the back of the book contains a small legend of abbreviations and stitch diagrams. The information is not extensive by any means. There is an 8 inch ruler on the back cover which I think is very handy.

This book can be purchased at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Go ahead and get a copy - I think you will find a lot of useful and fun patterns for your knitting pleasure.

Cleaning House

2011-05-20T22:24:00.005-06:00

So the plan for today was that I was going to get some yardwork done. I needed to clean up my flower beds and finally plant some flowers. Our weather has been so bi-polar this year. We have had so much wind and rain and even snow. It's been very strange. So I was all set to weed and hoe and clean up and then finally plant a couple of tomato plants and some multi-colored flowers.

And then Ava Claire showed up. And she had other plans. She was playing in the playhouse and I was pulling weeds and it wasn't too long before she wanted me to help her do a little spring cleaning.

"Mia, wanna' help me clean!" Well of course I do sweet girl~

So I brought out some warm, soapy water and we got busy washing the kitchen down and cleaning up all the dishes.

While we washed dishes Ava said things like "So how is your day going Mia?" And "My day is going good Mia." She is such a big talker!

When we got it all clean we sat down for tea and sandwiches.

My flower beds didn't look much better at the end of the day but there is always tomorrow. And I must say I have never enjoyed doing the dishes more!

Hello Again, Hello

2011-05-15T20:36:00.004-06:00

So what have I been up to lately???

Being a grandmother to my four little sweeties! I love being with them - they are growing so fast.

Lots and lots of knitting. I am working on my first adult sized sweater right now. I have more projects in mind than I will ever be able to complete. I love that!

We just finished One Thousand Gifts in our Ladies' Bible Study. As I have mentioned, that book has had a profound impact on my life. I have grown so much through it.

I had a wonderful, unexpected visit from my daughter Tara over Mother's Day weekend. Our family was able to get away to the mountains for a couple of days and it was so wonderful.

Mostly I have just been taking life a day at a time. Marking off events and responsibilities and appointments as they come and go, planning our summer vacation, waiting for the weather to warm up for more than two days in a row and generally just trying to slow the days down.

It's good to be back.

Happy Birthday Ryan Craig!

2011-03-16T19:41:00.003-06:00

My fourth grandbaby, my third grandson. I already love him to the moon and back. God has blessed our family yet again. We are happy, happy, happy. . . . .

This Lent Thing

2011-03-14T11:18:00.011-06:00

Ah, this lent thing.

It's hard.

Really hard.

I keep slipping. I forget. I get frustrated. I have even had someone close to me laugh at me for doing it. "What? We don't practice lent. What in the world? Why are you doing that? I guess next you are going to have a black X on your forehead." When I tried to explain - "cricket's chirping". While I know the words were not meant to wound, I allowed them to slice clean and deep. It hurt.

This person was right. Our church background had not observed lent in the past. We are not a liturgical church. But lately, in my quest for renewal, I have had such a strong desire to draw closer to God and what I understood of Lent seemed like a good way to do that. I wanted to deny myself of something to remind me of what He gave for me. I wanted to enter into a sacred commitment that would cause me to depend on Him more. I wanted to do something that required more than what I normally give. I wasn't really sure what to expect.

But I know I didn't expect I would fail so soon.

I failed on the second day. What I had given up, what I had determined to sacrifice for 40 days, what I had promised to deny myself of in order to draw closer to God, well, I forgot. I forgot. On the second day I forgot all about it.

As I have been reading through my Bible in a year plan, I have spent the last several weeks in Leviticus and Numbers. Boring. Slow, Redundant. Legalism to the nth degree. So many laws to keep. So many rules. So much blood. So much sacrifice. So many harsh consequences for sin - intentional sin and unintentional sin. The Israelite people weren't allowed to forget the law. Many times as I have read the daily scripture allotment (without skipping any words), I have thought to myself: I am so glad I didn't live back then. I am so glad I don't have to try to keep all those rules. I couldn't do it. Are you kidding? I now know that by day two in the wilderness I would most likely have already been struck dead.

And that was when I realized that is precisely the point. I can't do it. I can't keep the law perfectly. Nobody can. We need a Savior. We need grace. We need the sacrificial Lamb that takes away all the sin in the world. We need an advocate, One who willingly paid the price of all the sin, all the wrong, all the forgetting. He did it for me. I am off the hook. I am saved by grace and grace alone! I am not going to be judged because I forgot a law. I don't have to keep a tally of all the rules. My relationship with Jesus is all I need. What a sweet relief! What a debt of gratitude I owe.

Practicing Lent is teaching me how inadequate I am and how adequate He is. It is teaching me how much Jesus loves me.

Oh this Lent thing. It is hard.

But it is good.

Checkin' In

2011-03-10T14:45:00.006-07:00

Just checkin' in to say all is well.

I am. . . . .

. . . . enjoying the lent season. Not coming from a liturgical background, I am studying and delighting in the reach meaning of all the symbolism. Loving it!

. . . . knitting, knitting, knitting. I truly am obsessed:

. . . . longing for summer. I would just as soon skip spring. It is bipolar.

. . . . still memorizing scripture. This time is Hebrews 12:2. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down on the right hand of the throne of God. I am so humbled knowing that I was that joy. And so were you.

. . . . Reading and studying One Thousand Gifts. I cannot say enough about this book and what it is doing in my heart. Saying too much would only minimize it. You need to read it. Getting a library copy will not do. This is a book that requires highlighting and underlining and commenting. Trust me.

. . . .Amazed at how long and deep my prayer list is. It seems like suddenly there is crisis and hardship all around me. I am praying, praying praying for my dear friends and loved ones.

. . . . Loving my sweet grandbabies. What a gift and a blessing they are. Tyler and Ava Claire are now 2 1/2 and continue to be the best of friends. I love how much they are talking. Spending time with them is such a privilege and a blessing. Sweet Aiden is 6 months and is the happiest little baby ever. He snuggles and cuddles and smiles all the time.

. . . . Waiting patiently for our little Ryan Craig to arrive on the scene. His mama is sooooo tired and weary. He is due on the 21st and I cannot wait to hold him in my arms. Of course I have been working on some special things just for him:

. . . . Trying to get back into the habit of walking. Cold and nasty weather invaded my routine and why oh why is it so hard to get back into a good habit?

. . . . Wondering how high the price of gas is going to get. I drive a 'fer piece to work, and folks, this is getting just a bit ridiculous!

. . . .I dug my guitar out of my closet and have very sore fingers as I practice some chords over and over again. I am not musically inclined, and although I have had some music lessons I will never be good enough to perform for anyone. Except maybe my grandbabies :)

. . . . Hoping to work out in the yard tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be nice and I think it will be amazing to rake and clean and get ready for planting!

That's just a bit of what I have been up to. Happy Weekend!

Prayer

2011-03-01T13:36:00.006-07:00

This morning I woke up in a fetal position, words flowing through my mind. Somewhere in the place between sleep and awake I knew I was praying. As words and phrases began to make sense I became conscious that I was deep in prayer for someone I love. I opened my eyes and I felt so awed that God is so approachable even in sleep. I had gone to bed with someone heavy on my heart and my heart was taking its' burden to the only Place it knew to go. I wondered how long I had prayed.

Sunday morning in the worship service I was so blessed during our corporate prayer time as children of all ages spontaneously went forward to pray at our church altars. Children. I love being a part of a church that allows children to sense God's presence in the service. No one prompted them. No one encouraged them. They simply wanted or needed to talk to God. So they did. Many of them. One young boy laid his hand on his friends shoulder. Tears fell. My own. And I felt His presence. I read this morning in my daily Bible reading that Jesus wants the children to come to Him. He wants them. They want Him.

Jesus loves me, this I know.

To love a God who loves us so intensely takes my breath away sometimes.

San Diego

2011-02-17T17:03:00.006-07:00

So last week I got to do something I don't normally do. My daughter has been planning a trip to southern California to attend her BFF's baby shower. She planned to take her two little boys along. So I did what any normal grandchild lovin' grandmother would do. I volunteered to go and be the nanny! It took her approximately 2.2 seconds to take me up on the offer.

So on Wednesday evening we arrived at the airport. She and I, two little boys, a stroller, two carseats and four pieces of luggage. We were going to be gone for three days.

I wish I would have taken a picture - I'm sure we were quite the sight!

Anyway, we flew to San Diego. Let me just say that San Diego in February is quite delightful. I couldn't get over the green-ness of everything. Flowers were actually in full bloom in all the yards and landscaping. The weather was gorgeous.

I have always loved San Diego and I think somehow, someway, I really am a San Diego girl at heart. I just feel so happy there.

We stayed at Michelle's friends' house that was about a 4 block walk from the beach. So the next morning we loaded up the boys in the stroller, stopped at a Starbucks on the way, and headed to the water. Michelle sat with baby Aiden in the stroller and I took Tyler's hand to go explore the water. We kicked off our shoes, rolled up our pants and headed to the water. At first we just waded around in the waves getting used to it. Tyler was excited, yet a bit nervous. Suddenly out of nowhere a rogue wave came at us and knocked us both down. We were completely drenched! In my younger days as a mother I probably would have been a little uptight about it. Now we are all wet. What are we going to do now? The awesome thing about being a grandmother is you realize what is really important and what is not. We laughed and I thought "Oh well - isn't this what oceans are for?" And we played and we played and we played. Finally, I traded places with Michelle so she could enjoy her son playing in the ocean waves. It was such an awesome time.

We rinsed off and enjoyed breakfast in a little beachside cafe. What a perfect day. We had a great time and our three days flew by.

Another great thing that seemed to happen on this trip was regarding my struggle with flying. I did not take any medication. That wouldn't have made any sense as I was there to help with the kids. If I had medicated Michelle would have had three of us on her hands. I had nervous moments on the way there but overall did okay. On the way back we made three stops. On the third take-off, we were about half way in the flight when I realized we had taken off and I hadn't really noticed! I don't know if I was just so tired or if I am finally getting the hang of this - but I was elated! One thing I have learned is that knitting on the plane helps me tremendously.

Now that we are home, it has snowed, hailed and had wind that takes your breath away. Our three day get away is just a memory tucked away. I'm back to work and life's busy schedule. Summer seems a long way off.

San Diego - I'm coming back again, someday soon. I promise!

My Garden

2011-01-19T16:48:00.011-07:00

I seated my patient as comfortably as possible in the hard, leather chair. She was elderly and long past nervousness in a dental office. I adjusted her head rest, gave her a pillow to snuggle into her middle and sat down to make small talk with her as we waited for the dentist to come in and begin the scheduled extraction.

We chatted and our conversation soon settled on her hobby of gardening. She told me of the many specimens of flowers she grew. "I love gardening", I told her, "I'm just not very good at it. I can't get flowers to grow."

She gazed at me for a minute and then in a non-accusing, matter of fact manner, she simply said,

"Well then, you don't really love gardening."

And our conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the doctor and we carried on with her scheduled dental work.

But her words stayed with me All these many years later her words have stayed with me. And I have to admit she was right. I love the idea of gardening. I love the results of gardening. I love the look of a beautiful garden. But the truth is

I don't love it enough to spend the hours of work and dedication it requires to have a stunningly beautiful garden.

That simple admonition has served me well over the years. Every time I consider a new hobby or adding a new routine to my life I ask myself how much I really think I am going to love it. Am I really ready to invest the time, the money, the dedication it will require. Most often the answer is no, not really.

Recently it has occurred to me that this same piece of advice pertains to my spiritual life as well. How much do I really want to be close to God? How much do I really long for His presence in my life? How serious am I about wanting to know Him more?

For many years my life verse has been Jeremiah 29:11. You probably can recite it by heart - everyone loves it. "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future". It's a great promise and many times in my life I have depended on it like a life preserver on a crazy, wild ocean. There is a verse that follows it that we don't quote quite so often:

"When you seek me you will find me, when you seek me with all of your heart."

Last year I joined many others in choosing a word to live by for the year. I lamented that my word for the year failed miserably. For some reason I guess I thought I would just pick a word and the mantle of it would fall on me. Like gardening, I expected beautiful results with not much effort on my part.

This year I entered into the new year tired, discouraged and worn out. I felt a measure of general unhappiness and dissatisfaction that overshadowed my days. I kept thinking I needed a change in my life - a change in location, a change in job, a change in friends - just a change in something, anything. The word renew was constantly on my mind and in my heart. I wanted renewal in my life. I longed for it. I began to realize it wasn't really change I desired so desperately, it was renewal. And suddenly I knew in my spirit that I needed to concentrate on renewal this year. So I claimed the word as mine for 2011.

But this time I did it differently. I didn't just sit waiting for God to pour some renewal over my head because I had been so kind enough to ask for it. I chose instead, to be an active participant in this journey. I chose to seek him with all of my heart, the best way I knew how. I chose some new behaviors in my life.

First of all, I chose to spend more time in His Word. Instead of just sporadic Bible reading I chose a regimented Bible In A Year program. I downloaded a translation that was new to me - The New Living Translation - on to my Kindle. I don't know if it's the Kindle, the fresh new translation or both - but this is working for me. I haven't missed a day and I look forward to each days reading.

Next, I joined Beth Moore's Siesta Scripture challenge. I have joined over 9000 other women in memorizing a new scripture every two weeks. My first scripture was easy to choose - I want to memorize scripture that helps me with the way I think and process things. I chose Phillipians 4:4-9. I focus on the verse that tells me to think about whatever things are true. My mind has a way of worrying about every single angle of an issue and then when that gets old, I venture into the land of "what if's". Things that aren't necessarily true. This scripture reminds me to stay centered on what is true. What is noble. What is right. What is right. What is pure. What is lovely. I love it! Memorization is not easy or fun for me. But like any other discipline it is good for me. My verse this time is perfect: "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day." Oh yes I am!

I am participating in Bloom Book Club's book club and we are reading Ann Voskamp's book - One Thousand Gifts - A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are. This is a most remarkable book and I can tell you that I have been reading chapter one all week. I mean I have read chapter one every day this week. It is so beautifully written and so full of profound thoughts - I just keep re-reading it so that I don't miss out on anything. I'm not sure when I will make it to chapter two. I don't really care. I don't want to miss a word of the message God is sharing with me.

I know that God is speaking to me because everything I am reading, everything I am memorizing, everything I am hearing has the same message to me. Every single thing. And in this process, in this manner that I am seeking Him with my whole heart - guess what? He is keeping His promise and I am beginning to feel the lapping of Renewal on the edges of my heart. I am sensing His presence as I seek Him. I am tasting the salt of change in the air of the fresh breezes that have started rustling by me. I find myself holding my breath as I anticipate what this year is going to hold for God and me.

This spiritual gardening project I have taken on is going to harvest much different results than the garden in my back yard. I know this because I have made the conscious choice to LOVE it with everything in me. I desire His presence in my life so much that I am willing to do whatever it is I need to do to love Him with my whole heart. I'm not so naive as to believe I won't have to be dealing with some nasty insects and weeds along the way. But I am prepared. I am ready.

And I hope you check in along the way to see some beautiful bouquets.

Catching Up

2011-01-13T20:40:00.010-07:00

Life has returned to it's normal, busy pace. I am deciding I like January. There is something to be said for routine, for days that are filled with the normal things of a regular life. Back to work, a new Bible Study at church, kids back in school and a home that has been undecorated and cleaned are all things that just feel good and comfortable.

I got a new "smart phone". I have been eligible for an upgrade for quite a long time and was waiting for my phone service to come out with the iP[hone]. But my battery would no longer hold a charge so I went in to the store a month ago to ask how much longer I would have to wait for the iP[hone}. "Oh", they said, "a long time". And they talked me into a phone that is really a computer - a smart phone. Then, as we all know now, the long time was given a date. February 10. Figures. But I love my new phone. It is smarter than I am! It has so many fun features and so many useful features. For instance, there is an app called Google Sky. You point the phone at the sky and it names the constellations! Amazing. It has a knitting counter on it, a bar-code scanner that you can use to scan a price on something in the store and it will tell you where you can buy the same item cheaper. My favorite feature is google calendar. I enter my appointments and every morning I get an email on my phone with my daily schedule! I absolutely love it. I have never been the kind of person to live by a calendar - mostly because I didn't want to carry one around with me. But I always have my phone and I am using the calendar every single day. I really love it! But my very favorite feature about my phone is - I CAN SEE THE NUMBERS!
That is so important when your eyes aren't as good as they used to be. And I also love that it is purple. And I love all the apps I have downloaded. I love that I read my Kindle books on it. I love that I can speak into it and it turns my words into texts. I love that I can listen to podcasts on it. Are you getting that I love my new phone? :)

I just realized that I never really blogged about Christmas. We did have some really sweet time with our kids and grandbabies. Let me just say that having two two-year olds at Christmas time is the sweetest. Here are a few pictures of our celebration.

These two have quite the fascination with their Poppa's cowboy hats. Actually, Tyler has the fascination but if he is wearing one then Ava Claire must have one too. They are the best of buddies.

I think because Tyler and Ava are so rambunctions, sweet Aiden gets left out of pictures! Here his is with cousin Kylar. Aiden has the sweetest personality and is the snuggliest little baby I have ever held. He smiles all. the. time.
This picture is of the cousins we had for Christmas this year. Our quiver is full! We do look forward to Ryan Craig being in the photo next year!

These are my girls plus one. Jess's roommate Lyndsey was with us for our Christmas this year. One of the best things about college is all the girls we get to adopt. They are modeling the neck warmers I knit for them for Christmas.

Here is a picture of me and Chuck and my brother and my sisterchick/sister-in-law.

And this is the ornament I made for my girls this year. I apologize for the poor picture. I need a new camera so bad. We all loved these sweet ornaments. They were easy peasy to make. I bought plastic balls and put some fake snow in the bottom. I cut some twigs from the bushes outside and placed a couple in each ball. Then I took a tweezer and pushed a small little cardinal into each ball with some hot glue to sit on the twig. Voila'! Very simple and very pretty.

I have the day off today so I am off to get things done. My sewing room is calling me!

Ahhhhh!! Saturday!!!

2011-01-08T10:41:00.003-07:00

Hardly anything thrills me more than waking up on a Saturday morning, knowing the day is a blank slate - ready to be written all over with the colored chalk of my choice. Examining my choices, I choose something - no, that's not good enough, yes! -that is something I have been longing to do - I mentally make my list of choices and plan out the day.

I suppose if I were a stay-at-home wife/mom/grandmother, I wouldn't appreciate Saturdays so much.

Here is my list for today:

Reading my Bible in a year portion.

Sewing some soft flannel into little blankets for our much anticipated grandson - Ryan Craig.

Finishing the knitting of my Happily Every After Fingerless Mitts.

Taking Jess, my knitting buddy, to the fabric store to choose some buttons to finish her knitting projects.

Watching On Moonlight Bay - a netflix dvd that has been sitting on the coffee table for 6 weeks. So glad there is no late fees with Netflix!

And I think that list will carry me through this day and bring me a measure of peace and fulfillment. These kind of days always rejuvenate me and make me, well, just happy. I guess the best word to use is - RENEWED.

Happy Saturday to you!

Welcome 2011!

2011-01-01T07:20:00.002-07:00

See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? Isaiah 43:19

Welcome 2011! I have no idea what things you hold in store. I look at the fresh, blank pages of my new calendar and wonder what will be filled on them by this day next year. Life has taught me that there will most likely be some good things and some not-s0-good things. Today, I enter into your newness fearlessly, trusting the One who orders my days. I look forward to checking back here 365 days from now to see how far the Lord and I have come together. To wonder at His faithfulness and goodness. To see how he has RENEWED my heart.

Happy New Year!

2010- My Favorite Things

2010-12-28T08:58:00.002-07:00

The week between Christmas and New Years has always been my most favorite week of the year. The hustle and bustle of Christmas is over but yet there is still a holiday feel. Not to mention after Christmas sales! I have the week off of work this year so that makes it even better!

Being on a mission to clean up all the holiday around the house (and this includes throwing away all the sugar!) I have been thinking about what 2011 holds in store. Much like a wrapped gift sitting under the tree, I like to shake it and examine it and try to figure out what could possibly be in it.

I watched The Sound of Music a couple of nights ago - how I love that movie. And I don't own it - that needs to change! There are about 5 movies that I will watch more than once and The Sound of Music is #1 on that list - I just love it! Anyway, I was enjoying the song "My Favorite Things" and I thought it would be fun to chronicle MY favorite things of 2010.

 This book had been recommended to me for quite some time and I kept putting it off. It didn't seem like "my kind" of book. How wrong I was. This book captivated me and all these months later I am still thinking about it. I didn't want to give the book back to it's owner. So imagine my delight when I found it FREE for my Kindle. It took 60 seconds to download it and now it's mine!

 Speaking of my Kindle - definitely qualifies as a favorite thing. I got my daughter one for Christmas this year and she loves it as much as I do. I can't believe how many free books I have downloaded - just that aspect alone has paid for my Kindle many times over. Still, it makes me sad that I can't loan my books to friends - and there will always be some books that I must have in paper copy.

 For our anniversary this year my husband and I stayed in a condo in the mountains for a week and it was pure heaven. You can read about it here if you like. What a special treat it was to get away together and have a blank agenda. This will definitely become a habit for us.

 In May, my husband and I began walking three miles a day. How I complained and resisted at first. But it became a time of the day we began to look forward to and enjoyed watching the seasons change on our little route. Walking is so much more enjoyable when you have someone to share in the pain with you.

 The Pumpkin Patch was so much fun! Can you believe this was my first trip to a Pumpkin Patch? What a fun day we had and the kids are still talking about it. On Christmas, sweet Ava Claire asked to go back to the Pumpkin Patch! This will definitely become a family tradition.

 Knitting! I really got into knitting this last year and I love, love, love it!

 Podcasts! Like this one, this one, and this one! They have added so much to my commute back and forth to work and home every day. I learn so much about yarn and technique and knitting. The Knit Wits is my favorite - I am seriously laughing out loud through each episode. This husband and wife team are hysterically funny - she is the knitter and he knows zilch about yarn or anything pertaining to it. You should try them out - you will love them!

 My third grandchild joined our family in 2010. Sweet Aiden Ryan is such a little joy. Over Christmas someone in our family mentioned he had never gotten to hold him because he was such a "hot commodity". Yep, it's true.

 I got a new cell phone this year and I love it. I had been needing to up grade for some time and I went with a smart phone. It has some really great features and a couple of my favorite are voice texting (I speak into the phone and it converts it to text), a bar code scanner (when shopping I can scan a bar code and my phone will tell me where I can find the item cheaper!), and the fact that the numbers are big enough for me to see! It also has a daily devotional app, I can read my Kindle books on my phone (not sure why I would need to) and every day I seem to learn more about it.

So that's it for today. Check back tomorrow for more of My Favorite Things from 2010.

RENEW

2010-12-26T23:14:00.014-07:00

It is late Sunday night after Christmas. Everyone has gone to bed, the dryer is humming its cyclical tune and the Christmas lights on the tree are glowing in the background. It has been one of the busiest Decembers that I can remember and in all honesty I have to admit that this wasn't one of our best Christmases. In fact, I'm relieved that it is over. There were some real rough patches during this holiday season. Have you ever had a Christmas like that? I think everyone does once in a while. And it's weird because I was just looking at last year's Christmas post and it was so wonderful I couldn't decide what was best about it. I'm glad I blogged it because I got happy and all encouraged reading about it.

Oh, there were good parts to this year- the night my girls, all four of them, gathered in the living room for our tree decorating night was a highlight and was truly the Christmas of my heart. An unexpected afternoon visit on Christmas Eve from my mother-in-law was a special time. A slow and relaxing Christmas morning with two of our girls waking up to see what Santa had left was a sweet time together. And having three sweet grandchildren kept our eyes on the joy of the season. Two of them were old enough this year to open the gifts we gave them and that made it very wonderful. But this year it seems that more than ever I let the stress and the pressures get to me and I didn't do well in keeping my focus on Christ. For those reasons and others - well, I'm glad that it is all behind me. So very glad.

The positive thing is that I have already made up my mind about what I am going to do about it. I already have a plan in action for how it will be different next year. And not just for next year but for now. Starting right now I am choosing to make things different in my life. Here is my plan in bullet point fashion:

* I am going to make it a priority to stay focused on Jesus. He is my source of strength. When I let life get in the way of my Bible reading and prayer time I suffer personally. And even though that is not a new revelation - something that I didn't already know - I allowed it to happen and I had a difficult month because of it.

* Beth Moore has come up with the greatest idea for what she is calling 2011 Siesta Scripture Memory Challenge. I ordered her sweet little spiral note card set and have already picked out my first memory verse - Phillippians 4: 4-9

Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally *Robin, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (*slight paraphrase!)

I got such a kick out of reading how Beth was so excited to start this challenge personally and was on a search for just the right pen to begin writing her verses out! So January 1 is the day to start memorizing. Memorizing scripture is an area I always need to do more of.

* I am going to stop dwelling on the negative and difficult circumstances of life. I think that in my earlier years I was more blessed than I ever realized because life just never seemed to hand me difficult things. Perhaps it was all being stored up for these later years! Sometimes it sure seems like it. Apparently I never have had much practice at how to live victoriously through tough times but I seem to be getting a crash course now. I have a nasty habit of thinking too much about what is wrong and hard and being a "fixer" by nature I spend way too much time trying to make everybody happy. Of course, nobody ends up happy and I end up exhausted.

* I am letting go and moving on. There isn't too much I can share about this on my blog and it won't make much sense to most of my readers, but I need to write it down to imprint it on my brain. This will be big to me - personally.

* Perhaps this one will be the most difficult of all. I am going to try with everything in me to stop having such strong opinions. Or at least stop putting a voice to them. I come by it naturally - it's in my genes - and I am a first-born. Sometimes that proves to be a lethal combination!

* My friend Becky, over at Keys to the Cottage, inspired me last year to choose a word of the year. My word last year was "serenity". I can certainly see how God designed that word for me for the year. Unfortunately, I failed miserably at allowing the word to be a source of growth for me. I failed so much that I had pretty much decided to forget about this little tradition this year. But a word kept coming to my mind and as I look over my little list in this post I can see that by making these changes in my life I am putting this word into action already. So, I am going to try it again. My word for 2011 is RENEW. And in a nutshell that is what I have been talking about. I am going to allow God to RENEW my heart and my mind! That sounds so refreshing to me.

* This last year my husband and I began a walking and weight-loss regimen. I have not spoken about it on my blog because, well, so many times I have started this and failed. But we have really gotten into a routine (although we seriously slacked off this month) and now our daily three mile walk is something we look forward to doing together every day. We have both lost some weight and we are rewarding ourselves by dusting off our skis and boots and we are ready to hit the mountain again! We are choosing to make skiing our new winter hobby and even hope to get our little grandbabies involved with us. That sounds like so much fun to me. Yay! Hopefully I will have pictures from the mountain to post soon.

So, there you go. My little personal list of changes and improvements. I wrote this mostly as a form of accountability for myself but perhaps my list will encourage you to challenge yourself to make some changes in your own life.

Today, my son-in-law and daughter dedicated little Aiden Ryan to the Lord in a sweet ceremony at church. Sweet Aiden is the most adorable, good-natured baby I have ever seen. He is happy all the time and his smile absolutely melts my heart. He is a snuggle bunny and I just can't say how much I love this precious little child.

We are so excited about the arrival of our fourth grandbaby - Ryan Craig. He is scheduled to arrive the end of March and we all anticipate getting to see him. I love this moment that was captured on our tree decorating night. Two sisters and our sweet, unborn boy. Little Ryan has no idea how much he is already loved.

These sweet little lives are such an incredible blessing to their Poppa and Mia. We are so blessed and thankful that we get to be such an active part of their lives. How tenderly we guard the great responsibility we have to be such an influence in their lives. We don't take it for granted and we are blessed beyond measure to be in such close proximity to them. We keep asking ourselves if all grandparents feel this way about their grandchildren, or are ours sort of special! We never knew how awesome this grandparenting could be. I pray the Lord grants us the privilege of living close to them forever!

This wasn't the greatest picture of the kids - but it's the only one I had my eyes open in! And since it's my blog . . . . . .!

I am happy that I have this whole week off of work. I love slow starting mornings and coffee. I intend to enjoy this week to the max and look forward to catching up on all the posts I have missed this month!
Happy New Year!

Christmas Ornament 2010

2010-12-06T18:53:00.007-07:00

Every year, for the past 22 years we have pastored in our church, I have made our board members a Christmas ornament. It's not much, but just a small token of our appreciation to the people who have cared for us so well over the years. In the early years I used to host a dinner for them in our home. As our church has grown and our board and staff have increased I am not able to do that anymore. Now we rent a banquet room at a local restaurant and share dinner together. But I still make the ornament.

It is more challenging every year to find an ornament idea. Twenty two ornaments can practically fill a tree! I was very excited this year when I found this blog. Besides a compelling story and excellent writing that is a joy to read, Amy is a most creative person full of whimsical and sweet little handmade joys. She publishes an online magazine, Inspired Ideas, that is full of fun things. That is how I found this year's ornament.

I made these charming little churches

( I am so not a photographer - and for the record, I work with two broken cameras, one takes the pictures and the other loads them on to my computer. Sigh. I know - it's very tragic.)

I just love them! They are so clever in their construction - they are made from miniature cereal boxes

I enlisted my husband's help his year as well

After all the pieces are cut out, they are painted and assembled. I used an assembly line - I made 20 churches in all.

(By the way, in the background you can see that I was watching the BSU/Utah game. That's Kellan Moore and Jeremy Avery - two of my fave's!)

After assembling the churches, I painted them with snow and covered them in glitter. They look like little candy churches.

I also make ornaments for my daughters every year. I'm not sure why but I make them something else, something special that only they get. I will be posting about those in the next couple of weeks.

Christmas traditions -- aren't they just the best?

Snow Day!!

2010-12-01T13:55:00.004-07:00

So where I live in southwestern Idaho, we are considered a "banana belt". Our weather is fairly nice in the winter. It gets cold and we deal with nasty inversions, but overall it is dry and any bad weather we get is short-lived. We see the mountains from the valley we live in and there is lots of snow there - wonderful skiing and sledding kind of snow. But down here in the valley - not so much. So imagine the wonderment when I got up this morning and saw this:

My driveway was completely covered, the road in front of my house seemed to have disappeared and it took me exactly 2.5 seconds to decide I was not going to try the drive in to work today. I drive about 30 miles on narrow country roads that never see the blade of a snow plow. It would not be worth the risk. So I immediately heated up some water and made a cup of hot chocolate and settled down with my knitting. Pure bliss!

However, my little yorkie Willow doesn't agree:

But then she didn't just receive this delicious box of yarn in the mail:

Just Some Thoughts

2010-11-27T19:43:00.003-07:00

We have had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and I am now sitting in my recliner, my yorkie Willow is tucked up next to me and my knitting is in the basket on the floor beside me. I have been trying to figure out how to use a sport weight yarn for a pattern written for a DK weight. I know it's all about changing the needle size and I have swatched more swatches than I care to say - and I still don't have the right gauge. So it's sitting in the basket for awhile. I have learned that it's best not to try to figure too hard when I'm tired - it never works very well.

We went to the mountains and spent Thanksgiving with my husband's mom, brothers and their families. Our kids and grandkids went with and we had a great time together. We ate good food, enjoyed each others company and watched the snow levels grow and grow. As we were saying our goodbye's my sweet mother-in-law and I were telling each other how blessed we are to have such a great family. My husband's family is just the greatest bunch of people and I truly love them all.

Jess is home from college for the weekend and our empty nest is enjoying having our youngest chick home for awhile. When it is just the two of us at home I do very little cooking. But since Jess has been home I have made potato soup, french toast and today I made cinnamon rolls. I am feeling rather stuffed as I sit here this evening.

No early morning shopping for me. Shopping isn't my thing in the daytime. I find I do more and more of my shopping online and that suits me fine. I love getting packages in the mail.

So last night we watched the BSU/Nevada game and what a heartbreaker it was. All our BCS bowl dreams were ended and we just watched in amazement as our kicker, Kyle Brotzman-

the leading scorer in Boise State and WAC history and soon the highest-scoring kicker in NCAA history, unbelievably missed two field goals, either which would have ended the game in a much happier way. It's kind of felt like a funeral around here today as I keep reminding myself, "It's just a game!" But I have found myself praying for Kyle today as I cannot begin to imagine how horrible he must feel. I find myself feeling even worse for his mother - can you imagine having a child hurting so much and there is nothing you can do to help? The whole thing is just so sad. My poor son-in-law has taken it pretty hard too. It's just such a bummer - we really thought we would be playing in a national championship game - and just like that - nothing. It's over. But the great thing about college football - there's always next year.

I hope to get some of my Christmas decorations up tomorrow. I was just too tired today from all the eating and traveling and football games. I am jealous of all the bloggers who already have their trees up! I did spend a couple of hours at the church this afternoon decorating my portion of the foyer today.

Well, that's it for now. I see an early bedtime in my future. It's 8:30 and that sounds good to me.

Books - For Free!

2010-11-15T22:13:00.003-07:00

So, does the phrase "free books" make your ears perk up? Right now you can sign up to review books for Waterbrook Multomah Press. Just go here to get the details.

Basically, if you have a blog and you agree to write a review for each book you read, they will send you a book of your choice for free. After you read it and post a review, choose another book. The selections are awesome - both fiction and non-fiction.

I chose my book today and I can't wait to start.

Being Monogamous . . .

2010-11-09T19:48:00.003-07:00

. . . . . in my knitting life, that is.

Knitting monogamously means just having one thing on your needles at a time, which is the kind of knitting I have always done. However, lots of knitters like to have several projects going at once. Listening to knitting podcasts as much as I do, and hearing all these women talk about their various projects, I started to feel a bit strange about my monogamous state. Like I wasn't quite measuring up as a knitter or something.

And so, in anticipation of Christmas and my seemingly endless Christmas-gift-knitting list, I decided to join the ranks and cast on for several projects at a time. I began Top-Secret project #1, Top Secret project #2, a sweater for a grandson and a pair of fingerless mitts for me.

It's not working so much. I'm not very good at being a polygamous knitter. I started Top Secret project #1 and set it aside to work on Top Secret project #2 when it got to a hard part. After finishing the fingerless mitts, I cast on #3. Eventually I picked up #1 again but I totally had lost my place and ended up ripping the whole thing out and starting over. I never did get back to project #3, it's still languishing in my basket. Oh, and then I started a pair of socks, don't ask me why.

It seems that monogamy works well for me in more areas than marriage.

November 1

2010-11-01T08:12:00.005-06:00

It seems that I have been MIA for the last couple of weeks. No reason really, other than the busy-ness of life. In our world, September picks up speed with new or re-starting programs in our church. There is also some kind of internal alarm that goes off inside of me telling me it's time to start getting ready for the holidays. I love to make many of my gifts and I have to get an early start if I want to get all I want to do done.

So, life marches on. Funny, I always thought when the kids grew up, the crazy pace of life would slow down and I would have all kinds of time on my hands to be organized and competent and together. Ha! Not so much! But to be honest, I wouldn't trade the days of my life for any other life. I know how blessed I am. God has been so good to me when He didn't need to be and His love and mercy simply overwhelm me at times. I have done nothing to deserve it, indeed quite the contrary. But He loves me. And I am blessed!

This weekend was busy and fun. Our church hosts a fun Harvest party every year. It caters to the children who get to wear fun costumes and play games to earn candy. We have cake walks and random drawings. We serve chile and have apples and caramel dip. Then we all join together in the fellowship hall and play bingo. There are kid prizes and adult prizes. The people who are in charge of this get the most incredible prizes - nights in hotels, dinner certificates, tickets to sporting events - it's amazing and they get it all on donation. This was the first year that Tyler and Ava Claire were old enough to participate and we had such fun with them!

Ava was a sweet cupcake and won the costume contest for her age division! Tyler was a Bronco football player and he was SO excited. Sweet Aiden was his football! I knit his little costume as well as Ava's hat. Ava's hat literally came off my needles minutes before we walked out the door to go to the church! We invite our community to attend this party and we always look forward to Sunday morning to see new people who came to the party.

Saturday ended up being a very busy day as well. Our MOPS group at church had a presentation last month on once-a-month cooking. Some of the moms, including two of my daughters decided to give it a try. They decided to use the church kitchen which was a very good plan and they spend the entire day cooking. I donated a few hours to their efforts. It was fun but lots of hard work. I was so impressed with their efforts. They also cooked food for their MOPS leader, who is a young mom of two and having some problems with her third pregnancy. That really blessed me. Here is a link to one of the girl's blogs who gives a run down of the day. I was really proud of them!

Today is my birthday. I have made a decision that I never intend to go to work on my birthday again - a sort of pre-retirement benefit! So this morning I drank two cups of coffee in bed, read some blogs and watched a little bit of news. Perfect so far. I plan to spend some time in my sewing room and tonight my family is going to treat me to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant that I haven't tried yet. See what I mean about being so blessed? Having a husband that spoils me, children who love me, and grandchildren who think I hung the moon - what more could I ever ask?

So there's a re-cap of my weekend. The days keep rolling by. Fifty two years old will only last for a short time. I hope to make the most of it.

This Weekend, I . . .

2010-10-17T15:35:00.005-06:00

* Since my husband and son-in-law are gone hunting for the week, Michelle and the boys moved in with me. So as you might imagine my weekend has revolved all around grandchildren! Yay! There's nothing better!

* A trip to the Pumpkin Patch was enjoyed on a simply beautiful autumn day:

Baby Aiden got his very own pumpkin:

Mia enjoyed spending time with all three of her grandbabies!

Ava Claire found a pumpkin just her size:

Tyler spent some time in the maze:

These two have a very special little friendship:

* The girls, grandkids and I enjoyed eating dinner out after church - a rare thing around here.

* Enjoyed a very lazy Sunday afternoon.

* Watched a little football - a high school game and of course, Boise State.

* Began knitting a new pattern - a sweater for Tyler. It's hard to find knitting patterns that I like for little boys so I knew right away when I saw this pattern it wouldn't take long to get cast on my needles. So far it is knitting up really fast and I am enjoying it immensely. I have to hurry and get it off the needles so I can get Aiden's Halloween costume cast on. He is going to be a football. A knitted football at that!

* Made a favorite autumn snack - peanuts and candy corn. Tastes just like a nut roll. Yum!

* Caught up on laundry.

* Finished a book and started another. More about that in a future post.

* Tried not to think about how short the weekend seemed.

How about you? Link up at Becky's and let us know what kept you busy.

Re-Runs

2010-10-14T09:48:00.004-06:00

The other night my husband and I watched the movie, The Gladiator, for like the 1347th time. Seriously.

We got into a discussion about re-watching movies. He LOVES watching his favorite movies over and over again. Braveheart, John Wayne, The Sacketts, Lonesome Dove, and Wyatt Earp are just a few that he can quote line for line. It is definitely worth the money for me to buy him a dvd because he totally wears it out. He says he can rarely find anything worth watching on tv anymore and he loves, loves, loves having his "go-to television watching" right there at his disposal. You can imagine that he is a big fan of the dvr feature on our satellite system. Recently we upgraded our receiver to high def and after the technician left we realized that changing receivers meant that the HOURS of horse training programs he had recorded over the last couple of years was - poof - gone. Just like that.

I hate seeing a grown man cry. Just kidding. But there was a lot of whining around the house for a few days.

Anyway, I am not the type of person who loves re-watching something I have already seen. I rarely buy movies because they would just collect dust. Who has time to watch something already seen? I do have a couple of favorites like Father of the Bride. The Sound of Music, and Return to Me. And then of course there is the BSU/Oklamoma Fiesta Bowl game that I have watched several times - and even though we win it EVERY SINGLE TIME I never get tired of seeing that Statue of Liberty play!

So, anyway, it got me to wondering how many other people like to watch movies they have already seen. What about you? How about your husband?

It's riveting information I know.

This Weekend, I . . .

2010-10-04T07:29:00.004-06:00

* Spent Friday evening around the firepit with all FOUR of my daughters, my sons-in-law and my sweet grandbabies. Special moments together that will be filed in my heart as a precious memory.

* Decorated and hosted a table at our church's Ladies Tea. My table was Beauty and the Beast.

* Said goodbye to my New York City girl. Sigh. Good-bye's are so hard for me. I hate them.

* Watched the last half of the Oklahoma/Texas football game - which marks the first time I have ever watched a non-Boise State football game. I am advancing!

*Attended an outdoor wedding on Saturday night. What a risk to plan an outdoor wedding in October - but the weather could not have been more perfect.

* Enjoyed our church service. We had a missionary speaker from Ukraine. The depth of commitment and sacrifice this precious family gives was very humbling to me.

* Found a couple hours of knitting time - so relaxing! I'm working on some top-secret Christmas gifts!

* Enjoyed a potluck dinner on Sunday with lots of good church friends.

* My husband's truck broke down in the church parking lot. It was making weird noises. Sounds like money to me :(

* Went to the local drive-in late Sunday evening and splurged with a cheeseburger and french fries. Yummy!

What did you do this weekend? Write a post and then link up over at Becky's so we can all read it.

Fall Into Reading 2010

2010-09-28T22:30:00.011-06:00

Fall is my favorite season of the year. I love chilly mornings and evenings and warm afternoons. I love making chile and soups and baking. I love using the shortened days to snuggle up in the long evenings with a good book.

A good book. Now there is something I haven't enjoyed this summer. Summer is never a good time for reading for me. I have so much else going on and I fall into bed each night exhausted.

So when I saw that it is "Fall Into Reading" time over at Callapidder Days, I can't deny I felt a twinge of excitement as I wondered if I dared to do it. Should I take the challenge? If I commit, will I be able to follow through? I gave it about 2 days thought and then I decided to jump in. I was the 175th person to sign up. I encourage you to join the many of us who love to read. You can find all the rules and sign up right here. I can't wait! I am going to be realistic and not go overboard with a humongous list. I have chosen the following books to read in the next few weeks and in fact, I have already started!

The Swan House by Elizabeth Musser. This book was recommended to me by my blog friend Dawn of Call Me Grandma Dawn. She is an avid reader and I have always found her recommendations to be excellent. I have actually read the first two chapters and I can tell I am going to be captivated by good writing and a mesmerizing storyline.

Choosing to SEE: A Journey of Struggle and Hope by Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman. I heard Steven Curtis and Mary Beth on Family Talk with Dr. Dobson and my heart was so touched by their tragic loss. I ordered the book on my Kindle that same day.

So Long Insecurity by Beth Moore. I have had this book for several months but just haven't started it. I really want to read it and I plan to have my highlighters ready because I just know it's going to be full of quotes I will want to remember.

Her Mother's Hope by Francine Rivers. Francine is my all-time favorite author and I can't believe I haven't read this book yet! It's a "fat one" and I am looking for the perfect time - a long weekend, the first snow or a holiday. I already know I don't want it to end.

The Veritas Conflict by Shaunti Feldhahn. I ordered this one of my Kindle a couple of months ago when my friend at work, Heidi, recommended it. It sounds fascinating and I look forward to a good read that will make me think.

So there you go. It's only 5 books and I have until December 20. I'm pretty sure that won't be too much of a problem and in fact I already have a few more books up my sleeve to add to my list if I end up being an over-achiever.

So, what's stopping you from joining the challenge???

The Upsidedown Tomato Thingy Concensus

2010-09-16T21:18:00.006-06:00

So back at the beginning of the summer I wrote a post about my attempt to grow tomatoes in the upside down tomato thingy's that are advertised on tv and are in several stores. I have been promising an update on their progress.

I guess overall I have been disappointed.

The Roma's produced well in quantity but in quality they were small.

The Beefsteak was worse. So far it has produced one tomato that is still green.
In their defense, I did not fertilize the plants other than planting them in Miracle Grow dirt enriched with fertilizer. And many people from our area didn't get good tomato's this year even growing them upside right in the ground.

I think I will give this one more try next year and will try adding fertilizer.

If I don't get a better yield I will declare the Upsidedown Tomato Thingy a scam.

This Weekend, I . . .

2010-09-12T18:25:00.005-06:00

* Spent most of the weekend in Atlanta, GA at a work conference. The conference was very informative and I learned a lot that I look forward to putting into practice at my job.

* Toured the CNN building in Atlanta and watched Fredricka Whitfield live as she reported the news. It was a fun tour.

* Flew from Boise to Salt Lake to Nashville to Charlotte to Atlanta to Phoenix and back to Boise. With NO medication. I'm quite proud of myself. But I still don't like flying.

* Watched two drunk women try to get on a plane at the airport. One wasn't allowed on at all. The other was allowed on, the plane taxied away and then came back and made her get off. Apparently she was "touching" people on the plane. As they were both sitting together in the boarding area and the security personnel were discussing their plight, one looked at the other one and said "She looks fine to me". Oh my.

* Attended our church's annual Family Fair and Round-up at the fairgrounds. It was a great day with perfect weather.

* Ate a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios for dinner. Sometime a bowl of cereal is just perfect for dinner.

* Brought Ava Claire home with me for a few hours. We colored, played ponies, played on the swing set, played babies and took a nap together. That little girl just melts me.

How about you? Link your post over at Becky's and let us all know what your weekend was like.

Our Daily Walk

2010-09-09T17:44:00.007-06:00

Since June, several times a week, five to six times to be exact, my husband and I have been walking a route with a rather steep incline, 3 to 4 miles a day.

I feel like we need to just take a minute and let that sentence soak in. Because that is truly an incomprehensible thought. I have the slowest metabolism on the planet. I have always said if it were any slower I would be in the grave. So to take on this activity is truly something akin to a miracle. I was telling a friend today that I don't know how in the world I got into this "zone" but I'm going to keep up with it as long as I can.

Anyway, on this walk one of the things we have enjoyed is watching the summer season turn into autumn. We have watched a potato field be planted, grow and harvested. We have watched an apple orchard produce sweet, juicy apples. I thought it might be fun to take you on our walk with us. So put on your tennis shoes, drink some water and let's go.

First we leave the house and walk the first 1/2 mile stretch to the highway. There are always two hawks sitting on a telephone pole. Since hawks are known to mate for life we assume they are Mr. and Mrs. Some days they are sitting close together. Sometimes they are sitting with a good sized space in between them. Other days they have been on two separate poles. I guess married hawks and married folks have some similarities.

As we approach the highway we make a game of measuring whether we can cross without stopping. There really isn't all that much traffic on it, so usually we go right on across. On the corner is a pasture with four horses in it. My husband likes to call out to them and now they know his voice. When they hear him, they usually start ambling over our direction. Next we pass a house on the left with two barking dogs who bark at us from the deck of the top floor. Their tails are usually wagging too so I think it's a case of "their bark is worse than their bite". At least that's what I choose to believe while praying for no close encounters with them.

It's at this point that our incline begins to increase ever so gently. In the beginning of the summer this is where I would begin huffing and puffing. Now I barely notice. We pass a home on the left that has a nanny goat tied to the outside of the fence most days. Apparently her job on the farm is to keep the grass short and she does a good job of it. Every evening she is moved to a different spot further on down the fence. A few days later, she starts over again. She is a timid soul and if we get to close she bleats at us. We usually tell her something like, "Good job Nanny, you should be really proud of yourself". She seems to understand as she stands still and watches us pass by.

Next we pass a potato field on the left. I love the musty, earthy smell of potato fields. Potato plants are really rather pretty, the potato grows under the dirt and the leaves are big and green. At the end of the season they are sprayed with a defoliant that kills the leafage and they turn all brown and shriveled. We were delighted one afternoon on our walk to watch a large scale potato harvesting operation come in and harvest the field, dumping the golden potatoes into large trucks. I have to admit that when they were done, we loaded our pockets with the little potatoes left behind and had a wonderful dinner for the next couple of nights. We figured it was a Biblical act - gleaning the fields like Ruth and Naomi you know ;)

This is now where the incline is getting very steep. I try to ignore that fact by studying the apple orchard on the right. What fun it was to watch the apple grow from blossoms to little green and finally dark red fruit. We have seen the process of setting the large crates throughout the orchard and watched the migrant workers picking them by hand. The other day my husband asked in his limited Spanish if we could buy some of the apples. The nice worker gave us 4 apples and wouldn't take any money for them. What a sweet treat on a long, hot walk.

Now the incline is seriously steep and I am eagerly searching for the mail box that is our marker - the place we turn around. Somehow I get a second wind and when we reach the mail box we talk ourselves into going just a bit further, up the steeper yet part of the hill to the irrigation canal. Two golden retrievers bark their greetings to us from the house on the right and we continue putting one foot in front of the other to the top of the hill. Whew! By now the sweat is rolling, the lungs are heaving and I'm sure I am going to die. But the thing is when I make it this far I know I have it licked because it is half way. My only choice now is to finish this route by turning around and going home. We usually make to our front door just as the sun is nestling behind the hills of the Owyhee's.

Inside there is a glass of ice water waiting for me on the kitchen counter. Drinking deeply of the sweet, cold water I mentally pat myself on the back for staying on track one more day. We talk of what it will be like walking in the winter. We look forward to seeing the fields and the orchard come to life again in the spring. I anticipate the long, hot days of summer again. Our goal is to walk this route for an entire year and then we might look for a new one for the next year.

This is such a small thing we have added to our daily routine and we marvel at how much enjoyment it brings.

This Weekend, I . . .

2010-09-07T10:37:00.005-06:00

* Enjoyed a wonderful three day weekend with NO agenda. Totally relaxing and enjoyable.

* Walked a total of 11 miles.

*Weeded my pond garden and cleaned the pond filters.

* Bought a new flat-screen HD tv. It's not a big one because as my husband says "Let's not be greedy" - but it's bigger and nicer than what we had.

* Ate freshly picked corn on the cob and tomatoes for dinner - twice.

* Moved furniture around in the bedrooms. We made our spare room into a "Baby room" with a daybed, trundle, crib and toys.

* Moved my sewing room to the spare room off the garage. Much bigger, better light and I think I'm going to love it.

* Read "Broken on the Back Row" by Sandy Patty. Impressed with the whole restitution process she went through with her pastor and church. No matter what - she has the most beautiful voice. I've been listening to "Another Time Another Place" a lot this weekend.

* Made a carrot cake.

* Watched Boise State come on strong, get behind and then rally during the last 4 minutes of the BSU- Virginia Tech. game. Not sure I have a whole season of football in me if that the the kind of nail biting games we are going to have. GO BOISE!!!!

* Loved on my favorite new little grandboy. And my favorite oldest grandboy. And my favorite grand girl.

* Packed my bags. Yep, I'm gone this week on a business trip. And yes, I'm flying. To lots of places - work related. Will even be flying on September 11 which blows my mind. This is challenging for a couple of reasons. Prayers please!

Join us at Becky's and share what you did this weekend!

Being a Grandparent

2010-09-03T10:24:00.012-06:00

In 2008 I received two of the greatest blessings of my life. My little grandson Tyler was born in May and my sweet granddaughter Ava Claire arrived in September. The arrival of Aiden Ryan last week has added extra thrill and excitement into our lives and we are basking in his newborn sweetness. Did you know that nothing, and I mean nothing, smells better than the top of a newborns head. The scent is absolutely heavenly. I have had the privilege of snuggling this little guy and I just. can't. get. enough. I love him so much.

Just like a roasting marshmallow over a flame, my heart has grown and melted all at the same time. Love has filled me until I think I might explode. And simultaneously, my newly enlarged heart has melted as I hold each of those sweet innocent lives in my arms. My joy knows no bounds. Being a grandmother has filled me with new energy and optimism.

I have had the privilege of spending lots of extra time with Tyler while his mama tends to his new little brother. What fun we have had! I have learned this week that I am going to spend more time with each grandchild individually, and not always all of them at the same time. You learn so much about each one when it is just one-on-one time. Tyler has made me laugh more than I have laughed in such a long time. For instance, whenever I put on my reading glasses he peers at me seriously for a moment and then his face breaks into a big grin and he points at me and says, "Mia has goofy glasses!" Why is grand parenting so much more fun that parenting?

I have thought a lot this week about what the responsibilities of grand parenting are. I guess I never really realized before that there are responsibilities if we choose to accept them. Before becoming a grandmother I just thought it would be all about baking cookies and babysitting and spoiling my children's children. I never considered the important role I would actually have in their growing up. Realizing that has both excited and humbled me. Am I up to the task? I want to do this well but where on earth do I even begin? So I began making a list of things that I think are important to this very high calling. Here is what I have so far:

1. Support your grandchild's parents. Keep in mind at all times that they are the parents, not you. It may be tempting to continue parenting them in their parenting - but resist the urge! I have found this to be especially true in the discipline and dietary areas of my grand kids upbringing. Now is the time to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your own parenting labors - and trust me, it is a true joy to watch your kids in action. They will do a better job than you did! And that's just how it should be. Occasionally your kids will come to you with questions or asking your advice and that is the ONLY time you should give it - when they ask!

2. I believe the most important thing I can do for my grandchildren is pray for them. Seriously. Can you imagine raising children in today's world? My grand kids will face things my own children never dreamed of. It is harder and harder to keep the world from corrupting and polluting little minds. A couple of years ago I had the privilege of attending a Beth Moore conference. During one of the breaks she went into the audience and scooped up little babies out of their mama's arms. She oohed and aahhed over each one and then she did a most precious thing. She laid her hand on the baby and prayed a specific Bible character's attributes over each one. Nothing blessed me more in that whole conference than watching that. I was sitting next to my own pregnant daughter (who went into labor that very night) and I determined right then and there that I would claim a specific Bible character for each of my grandchildren, learn every Godly trait about them that I could, and pray for those same qualities for each of my grandchildren. What a joy it has been to do that. I have even written a letter to each child telling them who the Bible character is that they are being "prayer-modeled" after so that many years from now - they will know that their grandmother prayed for them. I can't think of a single thing I could do that will have more eternal consequences than this.

3. Get to know them. What do they love? What makes them happy? What talents and gifts do they possess? What are their fears? What books do they love? What foods do they love and what foods do they hate? Spend time alone with each grandchild and make them feel like they are the one you love the very most of all.

4. Read to them. I keep plenty of books on hand and I love to read to my grand babies. Sometimes they sit still and sometimes they don't. It doesn't matter - keep reading. Children hear even when they are busy and the melodic, rhythmic sound of reading is good for their little souls.

5. Take advantage of every opportunity to educate. Count everything with them. Count rocks and butterflies, shoes and books. Sing ABC's to them. Point out things that start with B and D and T. . . Learning doesn't have to take place at a desk -it takes place with every interaction. Capitalize on the opportunity you have as a grandparent to teach your sweet grand babies.

6. Spend more time than money. Sometimes grandparents can get caught up in the trap of buying, buying, buying - thinking that is showing love to your grandchildren. All it really shows them is that they can get what they want from you. By spending time with them they learn to love and appreciate you for just being who you are. Of course, the occasional special gift is awfully fun to bestow upon an unsuspecting and unassuming child!

7. Something I plan to do with my grand kids is tell them verbally something God has said or done for me during the day. I wish I had done this with my kids more. I think it makes God more real to them when they see how real He is to me.

So, there you go - seven ways to be a more effective grandparent. I'm sure there are many more. If you have any ideas, share them with me - because like I said, I want to do this right. I absolutely love this time of my life!

You will soon notice a new ticker in my sidebar! This is my way of announcing that grandbaby #4 is on his/her way. I tell you, it just keeps getting better and better!!!

These Days

2010-09-01T21:50:00.003-06:00

Ughhhh..... I don't know why it takes me so long to write posts anymore. I have things I want to write, I am constantly writing posts in my mind - but wow - the time just slips away. But I am coming down from the busiest time of my job, the days are getting shorter and I am starting to spend more time in the house, so maybe, just maybe I will be posting more regularly. No promises though!

Today is September 1. Unbelievable. We didn't get warm, summer-like weather until after the 4th of July so it just doesn't seem possible that autumn is right at the doorstep. This past week has been very "fallish" and there is a feeling in the air that tells me we are going to have an early winter. That makes me sad. I love summer so much and I'm just not ready to give it up.

School started this week at the university I work at. After several weeks of a quiet campus it is always fun to see the students come back again. I remember fondly my freshman year of college - right here on the campus I work on. It was so hard to leave my family and move so far away - but it was the best thing I ever did. It changed my life in so many positive ways and I love watching students arrive and know that in many cases they will say the same thing someday. Life is so fresh and exciting when you are 18 - so many things are possible. I know so many moms and dads are praying for their kids as they begin this journey. What a great time of life.

Sweet Aiden Ryan has now been a part of our family for 4 days and we are loving him so much. He seems to be a content little boy and even though I am probably seen as a prejudiced grandmother, I think he is very bright. When I talk to him he just stares intently at me and works his little mouth so hard, like he wants to talk back to me! He tracks me with his eyes and really enjoys hearing my voice. Tyler loves his little brother. On Sunday morning he was crying and Tyler patted his head and said, "Oh baby, do you want to go home?" His daddy was quick to tell him that he was home! It just made me laugh! What fun days they are having in their home.

Our sweet Ava Claire gave us quite a scare last week. I was at work when I got a hysterical phone call from my daughter. The only word I could make out was "ambulance". At first I thought she was trying to tell me that one of her students had to go in an ambulance. Then I caught the word "Ava" and my heart just stopped. I tore out from work to the local hospital ER and found my sweet grandgirl as gray as could be, lethargic and still. It seems that she had a febrile seizure which was brought on by a fever that came over her very quickly. I can safely say I have never prayed so hard as I did on that ride to the hospital. Our sweet girl had a fever of 104.4 - no wonder she was so pitiful. She has recovered well and is her sweet little self again. She is undergoing some further precautionary testing but I feel confident that she is perfectly fine.

I am working on Christmas gifts. Yes, I know. I'm not even ready for fall and I'm working on Christmas. But with a family that keeps growing like mine, it's never too early. And it's so much fun to plan and prepare gifts for the people I love most in the whole wide world.

This Monday marks the beginning of football for the Boise State Bronco's. I am so looking forward to the game between BSU and Virginia Tech. I even bought my very first blue and orange t-shirt to wear. I can't wait! I think we will make hot wings and fries. BSU has really made a name for itself in the world of football and it's fun living in an area that everybody has a new-found interest in.

Well, that's a synopsis of what has been going on around here lately. I really am going to try to blog more regularly.

Really.

And He's Here . . .

2010-08-27T21:17:00.006-06:00

He maybe didn't come as early as the Dr. thought He would . . .

and He might not be as small as the Dr. thought he might be (8 lb. 11 oz.) . . . .

but He is just as sweet and precious as we knew he would be!

Aiden Ryan Hunt is absolutely perfect! Mama, Daddy and Aiden are doing great. Tyler loves him! Poppa and Mia are overwhelmed by God's goodness to our family.

It just doesn't get any sweeter than this. Thank you God.

This Weekend, I . . .

2010-08-22T22:08:00.008-06:00

* Hemmed three pairs of jeans, one pair of slacks and a blouse - all for my daughters.

* Walked a total of 9 1/2 miles - 3 miles on Friday, 3 miles on Saturday and 3 1/2 miles on Sunday! I impressed myself.

* Made more salsa - a favorite summertime menu item.

* Moved Jess into her dorm. With our four daughters, I calculate we have done this 12 times now. We are pro's. It seemed easy this time. We only have one more time to do this. That makes me sad.

* Got a sweet card in the mail from my sisterchick. It made me smile.

* Enjoyed our church service.

* Shopped for a new flat-screen television. Found what we want - now we have to start saving!

* Had corn on the cob and tomatoes for dinner one evening. Simple and good.

* Took a Sunday afternoon nap - a rare occurrence for me!

What did you do this weekend? Write a post and then link up over at Becky's so we can all read it.

The Bridge

2010-08-18T09:50:00.002-06:00

Today is the first day of school in our area. It's always a day filled with such emotion and it makes me think of this post that I wrote a couple of years ago. I decided to post it again today for all you mom's who are having a hard time letting go of your little ones. I've been there. I understand. It's going to be okay - I promise!

They say the only certain thing in life is change. I wonder why then, change so often times seems difficult and challenging, as though it's something we have never faced before.

Every day of our lives brings some type of change. An unplanned event, a detour on your normal route, getting a cold, spilling something on your blouse. You know the kind - just unexpected occurrences that cause us to rethink, re plan, refocus. Minor inconveniences that we deal with all the time.

But some days life brings bigger changes. Changes that we knew were coming but somehow it seemed so far away that it didn't really matter. We would cross that bridge when we came to it.

We arrived at that proverbial bridge this week. And the crossing of it is reminding me of why I didn't want to think about it before.

We are moving our baby into her college dorm room tomorrow. And this change, well this change is hard. We just don't feel emotionally ready yet to cross this bridge. Our lives are changing big-time and Jess has said that she wishes we would have had more kids so she wouldn't feel like she is leaving us all alone. Me too Jess. Me too.

Yesterday she packed up her bedroom. When I came home from work she had everything packed in boxes. She was crying. I was confused.

"Jess, you aren't planning on taking everything from your room to your dorm are you?"

"No mom, this pile of boxes goes to the dorm and this pile of boxes go to storage." sniff sniff

"Storage? What do you mean storage?"

"Well, you know, it's the stuff I don't want to take but I don't want to get rid of it either."

"Well honey, why don't you just leave it here. In your room?"

A blank look crosses her face.

"You mean I don't have to move out everything?"

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry harder! After talking about it with her I realized that her three older sisters never did return home after leaving for college. They either got married or moved across the country to go to more school. In Jess's mind, that is how it works. She felt that once she left she wouldn't be coming back home.

Oh dear child - our address will always be your home. Always.

So I helped her unpack the storage boxes and put the items back in her closet and on her shelves. So now her room doesn't look so bare. But I have to admit, based on her sisters before her, I fear she may never really come back home to stay again. And my heart can hardly handle that thought.

Change isn't bad. It's just different. Our home will be different without her. Our relationships will be different as we adjust to parenting adult style. Our marriage will be different as we adjust to being alone with each other more than we have been in the last 28 years.

But I wouldn't hold this girl back even if I could. She has so much promise and potential in her being that it is exciting to see what her future holds. God's hand is on her and He loves her dearly. His plan for her life is unfolding before us and I feel so honored and so privileged to have been a major player in the first part of it. She is so much a part of the both of us - she will do things I only dreamed of.

So those of you who are taking your babies to preschool and kindergarten and first grade this week - my heart recognizes that aching that you are feeling. As you have been told so many times - enjoy these days - for they are fleeting.

Love these days with your babies. Every now and then you will be tempted to look far into the distance and you will see the faint outline of a very large, seemingly formidable structure. It's shape will become clearer and closer every day and soon you will recognize the form of a bridge. Don't be afraid of it. It is supposed to be there. It is there for you to cross- it is strong and secure. Life on the other side of it will be good too.

Just different.

Update: Jess did go on to college and moved into the dorm. Her first semester was pretty rocky - a bad roommate match-up and homesickness almost did her in. I didn't think she was going to make it. Who am I kidding? I didn't think I was going to make it. But she is not a quitter. She stuck it out and we all crossed that bridge with her. And the other side has been really good! This week she is joyfully moving back into the dorm with her three best friends. She is a junior now and will graduate with her B.A. in Elementary Education next year. Ah. Where does all the time go?

Off My Needles

2010-08-14T22:18:00.005-06:00

As much as I love to knit, I don't seem to knit as much in the summer. Not because it is too hot but because the days are longer and I stay busier longer. By the time I sit down in the evening, the day is gone and I am tired. Too tired to knit.

But I have finished a few projects. I can't remember if I shared this one or not. I gave it to my niece at her baby shower and she loved it. It is called Bobbie Bear and you can find the pattern here. It was a quick pattern and once I got over trying to figure out the directions before I actually knit them - it went quite well. I love the bear and I will probably make more for future baby showers. I used Blue Sky Alpaca Organic Cotton. It was incredibly soft yarn.

I have learned that I love knitting toys. They are quick, cute and my grandbabies love them. While I was in the mountains on our anniversary week I made these little mice

They were very quick to knit up and I must admit seeing those tails peeking out from under a baby blanket causes me to look twice! The pattern is called Mousie by Ysolda Teague. I used a yarn by Debbie Bliss called Baby Cash with an extra yarn called KidSilk Haze to give it a bit of a halo. I really loved how they turned out.

Then I decided to knit a baby blanket for my new grandson Aiden Ryan (who has yet to make his debut appearance as of the typing of this post). I had seen this sweet blanket in Susan B. Anderson's book, Itty Bitty Nursery. It is called The Circles and Stripes Baby Stroller blanket. I used KnitPicks Simply Cotton yarn - another extremely soft yarn. This was my first attempt at cable knitting (on the border) and it turned out to be really fun.It turned out so well and was such a fun knit I decided to make two. This time I put his name on the blanket. I really love making these blankets - they are fast and easy and so, so, so soft.

Just this weekend I finished my Cedar Leaf Shawlette.
I love this pattern. The pattern is very cleverly written and it really held my interest. I used the Lady Godiva yarn the pattern called for - a lovely wool/silk blend. It is such a pretty shawl/scarf and can be worn several ways. I am almost looking forward to cooler weather so I can wear it! The pattern is written by a new, young designer named Alana of Never Not Knitting. I love her podcasts.

Many knitters enjoy having two, three, four, or ten projects going at a time. Not me. I prefer to have only one project going so I can give it my full attention. Just this weekend I cast on for these fingerless mitts. A friend recently asked me what purpose fingerless mittens serve. I had to think about it and I really couldn't come up with a good answer. But I think they are so pretty and I think knitting gloves with no fingers will be definitely easier than knitting gloves with fingers. I'll keep you posted on the progress. I'm using a great yarn called Cascade Cloud 9 and I'm making them in the charcoal colorway. If they turn out as pretty as the pattern looks, I think I would also like a cream colored pair.

So anyway, that pretty much sums up my summer knitting. If you belong to Ravelry, you can find me here. I have lots and lots of patterns in my favorites. I'm quite sure I won't live long enough to make them all!

This Weekend, I

2010-08-01T21:38:00.004-06:00

. . . Finally chose the paint colors I wanted to paint my kitchen. Nothing stresses me out more than picking out colors. It took me literally two whole years.

. . . Bought said colors before I could chicken out again.

. . . Bought all disposable painting supplies. I hate to paint. I would rather take a beating. And cleaning up paint supplies is the worst part of all. This way I could just throw it all away when I got done. Proved to be a brilliant plan.

. . . Friday night I began painting the kitchen.

. . . Made a midnight run to Wal*mart to get one more disposable paint supply item.

. . . Slept till 9:15 on Saturday morning. I can't remember the last time I slept that late. My daughter said she thought I had died!

. . . Saturday was spent finishing the painting project. What a great clean feeling. I love the finished product. It turned out even better than I had hoped.

. . . If you are interested, the colors I chose were Brown Tepee and Lost Atlantis. Fancy names for blue and brown.

. . . Made some salsa and guacamole. My recipe is just a little of this and a little of that and you never know for sure what the end product will taste like. This was a stellar batch.

. . . Met our kids at the Dairy Queen for a hot fudge Sundae. Don't remember the hot fudge ever tasting so good.

. . . Mowed the lawn with my husband. And wondered for the hundredth time why I get the push mower and he gets the riding mower.

. . . Took my yorkie, Willow, to the groomer. Nothing nicer than a freshly groomed dog.

. . . Enjoyed our Sunday morning church service.

. . . Cleaned up the house - getting ready for another week.

How about you? Join in on the weekend fun over at Becky's.

Grandsweetie Update

2010-07-27T22:36:00.003-06:00

It occurred to me the other day that it has been a while since I have posted any kind of picture of my little grandsweeties. So when they were here on Sunday I got them to stop a minute to take a picture with me. I can't believe how grown up they are. They are both talking a mile a minute - the only difference is their volume. Tyler is LOUD and Ava is quiet. They both are the sweetest little children imaginable. We just love them so much.

Our third little grandchild, Aiden Ryan, isn't scheduled to come until September 1 but the doctor said today that she expects him to make an appearance in the next couple of weeks. His mama seems to lean towards 8 month pregnancies. That means I have to finish knitting his blankets and finish up some sewing. Yikes!! Tyler had so many baby things, his little brother didn't really need anything. But every baby deserves something new I think. So I am knitting two blankets and making some receiving blankets for him out of super soft flannel. I can't wait to meet him. I am curious to see how having a new baby will change the dynamics we have going. Ahhhh. . . . a new, sweet little infant. What a blessing!

This Weekend, I . . .

2010-07-25T22:24:00.003-06:00

* Hosted one of my daughter's friends from college. She, her husband and two kids were traveling through and needed a place to stay for the night and we were happy to accommodate them.

* Worked Saturday - another testing day at the university I work at. It made for a very long day.

* Enjoyed dinner at a Mexican restaurant with my husband and daughter. Chicken taquito's are the best!

* Found a new walking route. It's a bit longer with much more incline. I felt it.

* Enjoyed a family Sunday dinner after church on the patio.

* Attended a campmeeting service Sunday night at the big church in our area.

* Finished writing a long over-due article.

* Got my certificate of completion for the Fiction That Sells course I took from the Christian Writer's Guild. Fantastic course.

* Got in just a short bit of knitting time.

What about you? What did you do this weekend? Click here and share!

A Happily Ever After Story

2010-07-09T10:06:00.020-06:00

Twenty-two years ago God blessed me with the friendship of a most incredible woman. D is one of those persons who always sees the bright and happy side of everything. I want to be like her when I grow up. D is always a bundle of energy. She is the sanguine to my melancholy. It is not at all uncommon for my cell to ring at any hour of the night and her voice will be on the other end saying something like, "Have you seen the moon tonight? You HAVE to go out and see the moon!" And me? I'm like - "Moon? What moon?" But I always stop what I'm doing, (or more likely get out of my bed), and step outside to look up at the moon. "Yep, D. The moon - it sure is shining. Now good night." My friend has been a very patient teacher and is slowly but surely succeeding in teaching her stubborn student to keep looking up. In 22 years we have experienced so much together. We have snuggled each others babies and now we are snuggling each others grandbabies. We have laughed till we've cried and cried till we've laughed. She has been so good for me. And I've never felt like I have been half the friend to her that she has been to me.

About two years ago through the midst of many difficult things, her marriage fell apart. She was devastated. But somehow, even in the midst of total pain, she kept her smile and her faith. Even then, while I thought I was helping her, she was helping me understand faith in an almighty and ever-present God would see you through anything. Even the things you fear the most.

At that same time, my brother S, who lives two states away was going through the same experience with his marriage. Even though my brother is younger than I am, I have always looked up to him. He is a man of strong faith and through the hours I spent on the phone with him during the most difficult of his days, his faith kept growing and growing and growing. It was agonizing walking this journey with him too. I couldn't fix anything. I couldn't make anything better. His commitment to his marriage was strong and to walk away from it is by far the hardest thing he has ever done. When we were little children I used to go to my room and cry for him when he was punished for something. Now I cried for him because he was hurting so badly.

While I spent hours on the phone with D and with S, the thought kept going through my mind. What a perfect couple. I could really see these two together. But I couldn't go there. I didn't suggest it. The pain was still to raw. They were not ready. But the thought would not leave.

Fast forward to April of this year. Unbeknownst to me S and D began playing Farm*ville. Apparently divorced people have extra time on their hands. Who knew Farm*ville is really a Dating Service in disguise? At first it was things like, "D fertilized S's crops" or "S gave D an apple tree". They started leaving little comments like "Thank you ma'am for the fertilizer" or "That was real generous of you". Somewhere along the way their comments started getting a little bolder - things like, "Your crops are looking really healthy" and "You are such a great farmer."

Soon the comments moved to private messages, then to texting, then to cell phone calls. How on earth did relationships ever progress in the pre-technology days? I noticed my brother was calling me less. I noticed D was looking really, really happy. What in the world was going on?

Last weekend, Sunday night to be exact, D called me and asked me what I was going to be doing on Saturday.

"Nothing actually, what's up?"

"Well, I was wondering if you would come to my wedding?"

Seriously, they got engaged last weekend and were married today!. You can't make this stuff up folks!

Is is too fast? Some think so. Maybe it is. But here's my take: I see two people who are not kids anymore. They have experienced pain at a level I hope I never have to. They know what they want in life. They have found in each other a person that will not heal them from their pasts, but will accompany each other on the journey to their future. They will laugh so much together. My brother will learn to look up. At the moon and many other good things. They will probably do themselves in trying to out serve each other. (Good luck with that S - I can already tell you, you won't win that one!) They will worship together - something that bubbles up naturally out of each of them. They will be loved as deeply as they love. It will be a beautiful thing between them. I really can't explain it, but something deep inside me tells me this is all right. It's good. I'm betting my money that they will be rocking their rocking chairs on the porch someday. Still holding hands.

It is still feeling so surreal to me. I am so, so, so happy for them. My SisterChick has become my sister-in-law. We never dreamt of such a thing. Our family is so blessed to have her - we will be a better family because of her. But I'm a bit sad for me. Because D now thinks because she is married to S that she has to move two states away to live with him. What am I going to do without her? Who is going to call me in the night to remind me to look up? Who is going to talk me into eating pimento sandwiches? Who is going to go to Women of Faith with me and work our tails off so we can get free tickets? Who is going to make me work out when we are trying to lose a few pounds? Who is going to read the next SisterChick book with me?

Ah D, you are going to be so missed. But you are also going to be so happy. And that my sweet friend, makes me happy too! I love both of you guys so much and pray God's very best blessings upon your lives together. May you live happily ever after!

Just Checkin' In

2010-07-08T06:46:00.002-06:00

1. Everything's great - just some big happenings in my extended family going on.

2. I'll post more about it later in a few days.

3. God certainly works in mysterious ways!

4. You just can't make these things up!

This Weekend, I . . .

2010-06-27T22:48:00.004-06:00

Spent a lot of time outside.

Pulled some weeds.

Made several jars of blackberry and strawberry jam.

Cut coupons.

Went through some old magazines, pulling out the pages of ideas and recipes I want to keep.

Wondered why life has to be so difficult sometimes.

Mowed the lawn.

Finally got the pond filters cleaned.

Enjoyed my husband's family recipe of authentic Italian spaghetti and meatballs with family.

Loved on my grandbabies.

How about you? What did you do this weekend?

This Weekend, I . . .

2010-06-21T19:10:00.003-06:00

Took a roadtrip from Boise to Richland to Seattle to Portland and back to Boise in 3 days. It was a work related trip. It was exhausting.

Read The Saddlemaker's Wife by a new-to-me author, Earlene Fowler. Very impressed.

Bought another book by Earlene Fowler on my Kindle and have read the first two chapters. I am going to be as equally impressed.

Took a 3 1/2 hour nap on Sunday afternoon while it thundered and rained outside my window.

Picked a few weeds out of my flowerbed.

Rocked my sweet grandgirl to sleep while singing her the same songs I used to sing to her momma. Her momma says I should win an award because she never lets anybody rock her to sleep.

Started knitting another baby blanket.

Marveled at the sentences my little grandboy is using. He was talking to his momma on the phone and in his sweet voice he said, "Love you too mom." I melted.

Thanked the Lord for giving my four daughters the most awesome and wonderful dad ever.

How about you? Head on over to Becky's and join in the fun.

The Upside Down Tomato Thingy Experiment

2010-06-16T19:26:00.008-06:00

So, I mentioned in my last post that I was growing my tomatos (or is it tomatoes? I'll check with Dan Quayle) in those upside down thingy's this year. I got several remarks implying that I may be wasting my time. I decided to research the things.

I discovered that opinions seem to be split right down the middle. About as many people who swear by them, think they are a scam. But the nay-sayers think that the people who say they are wonderful are really secret employees of the company who are faking their positive reviews.

Whew! I didn't know what a hornet's nest I had joined up with.

I just want to pick a tomato/tomatoe for my BLT later this summer. I haven't had a lot of luck in our soil growing them in the ground. I have lots of hanging space on my deck. So I just thought I'd give it a try.

I planted the first one, a Roma variety, a couple of weeks ago. It has grown a lot which is impressive considering our weather has been so cold.
The vines do seem to be growing upwards that makes me feel a little bit sorry for it, like it is having to work extra hard or something. But it is about 4 times bigger than it was when I started.

I decided to expand my little experiment, so tonight I planted a BeefSteak variety. It looks a little scrawny right now - it's going to have to flex those vine-y arms and grow some muscle to live up to its name.

My research stressed the importance of watering every day. Apparently, the water drains faster which makes sense, since it is upside down and all. So far that hasn't been a problem since it has been raining about every two hours in this desert land for the last 3 months. I am also supposed to fertilize it regularly.

So stay tuned. I'll keep you updated with the progress of my experiment. I tell ya, if things get any more exciting around here, I'm not sure my heart can take it!

p.s. I am not an employee of the Upside Down Tomato/tomatoe Thingy factory and I am not receiving any compensation of any kind for this experiment.

This Weekend, I

2010-06-13T22:51:00.002-06:00

This Weekend, I . . . . .

. . . worked late on Friday.

. . . worked all day on Saturday.

. . . had a sleepover with Tyler and Ava Claire, fondly known as Thing One and Thing Two.

. . . watched Toy Story 1 and 2, with Thing One and Thing Two of course.

. . . went to the grocery story hungry, and worse yet, took my hungry husband with me - expensive mistake.

. . . ran into an old friend whom I haven't seen in about 10 years. We both told each other we still looked exactly the same.

. . . played in the sprinkler with Tyler.

. . . wondered if my tomato plant that is planted in one of those upside down planter things, is really going to grow. It looks to me like it is struggling to grow the right way.

. . . did not clean my pond filters. Again.

. . . made a awesome stir-fry with enough leftovers to share for a quick Sunday night dinner.

. . . enjoyed a picnic after our service Sunday with our church family.

Now, let's here what you did this weekend. Go here and make your list.

My Barn Sale Purchase

2010-06-09T07:39:00.004-06:00

There is a sweet lady in our church who loves to go to yard sales and garage sales and estate sales and auctions. She buys lots of stuff, cleans it up, and once a year she and two of her friends have what they call a Barn Sale. They get pretty fancy with it. They even send out invitations.

This year's Barn Sale was this last weekend on Friday and Saturday. Late Saturday afternoon my husband and I ambled up the road from our house about a mile or two to see what there was to see.

I was so impressed.

First of all, the barn was immaculate. Not a spider web, not a speck of dirt. It was cleaner than my garage - that's for sure.

And the stuff. Oh. My. Goodness. Keep in mind that this sale had been going on for two days and the "Barn Chicks", as they refer to themselves, were reporting very robust sales. There was still so much to see. So much I would have loved to have brought home. So much vintage, fun stuff. I was really impressed.

And then it happened. I turned around and my eyes fell on something I have secretly wanted for several years. Something that is typically hard to find. My friend saw this "love at first sight" occurance happen right in front of her and she lost no time in running over to me.

"Do you like that?" "I can see you might want that."

"Um, yeah. I would love it. But how much is it?" I didn't want to look at the tag.

"Well, I would go down on the price for you."

I looked at the price tag and gulped. And then she told me what she would go down too. And then I said "SOLD!"

And this is what I carted home:

It is a Singer Featherweight sewing machine. And it works like a dream. It is so small it feels like I am sewing on a toy. But it is strong and sturdy and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!

I didn't need it. My goodness, I have a sewing machine with more bells and whistles on it than I will ever use. And this little sweetheart only sews frontwards and backwards. And that's it. They couldn't be more different. But when I sew on it I wonder about who the first woman was who owned it and how excited and happy she must have been. And I wonder what she sewed on it. My first project was a set of placemats for my daughter's new kitchen.

I called the Singer company and gave them the model number and found out that my little Featherweights "birthday" is May 4, 1953. She was "born" in Elizabeth, New Jersey. That means she is 57 years old. Older than me. I guess that makes me vintage too. Vintage sounds a bit nicer than antique, don't you think?

A really cool thing is that the Singer needles and feet that you buy today, work on this machine too. Threading it was a breeze. The bobbin winder is fun. I love, love, love it! Can you tell?

I love having something from the past. I love having something so simple that still works so well.

They just don't make things like that anymore.

This Weekend, I . . .

2010-06-06T22:03:00.012-06:00

So, my friend Becky over at Keys To the Cottage is starting a new Monday meme called, This Weekend, I . . .

It sounds like fun and if you want to join in with us just go here and grab her really cool button (that she made all by herself!) and let us all know what you did this weekend. Just short little blurbs - keeping it really simple.

So here goes.

This Weekend, I. . . .

Planted more flowers - even though I said I was done.

Cut some peonies and bleeding hearts for my kitchen window.

Ate breakfast with our kids on the patio Saturday morning.

Tried a new recipe. It was delicious. And one I will definitely be making again.

Sat in a hot tub with a bunch of girlfriends sharing birth stories - you know . . . girl talk.

Played with these guys. They are just too fun.

Wondered if it is EVER going to stop raining.

Enjoyed our Sunday School lesson - gave me much to think about.

Went to a Barn Sale and made a very unplanned purchase. But I was made an offer I couldn't refuse. (I'll share more later this week.)

Went to a graduation party for a young man in our church.

Kept thinking I should clean my pond filters - but never did get around to it.

Did 6 loads of laundry to be ready for the week.

Stayed up too late.

Finally figured out that all the news coverage of the oil spill is saying THAD Allen - not FAT Allen. I'm so glad his name is not Fat. LOL

How about you? What did you do this weekend?

Memorial Weekend Review

2010-06-01T16:50:00.003-06:00

* Finished up our week away in the mountains. It was sad to leave. I had the most restful week ever - first vacation I have ever taken where I did absolutely nothing.

* Went to church

* Went to the airport to pick up our kids who traveled to Michigan for a wedding.

* Realized that all four of our daughters happen to be four different states this week. Weird.

* Knit two little mice - one for Tyler and one for Ava Claire. I'll share pictures soon.

* Watched some great shows on the History Channel and marveled at the sacrifices made by great men and women all for the sake of this country.

* Cleaned the kitchen in Michelle and Brad's house as they prepare to move into it.

* Ate in a public restaurant after cleaning the kitchen all day. I looked like I had been cleaning all day. My family assured me that in this particular restaurant that is what you are supposed to look like. Great.

* Watered my flowers.

* Went back to work.

* Wondered how many days until I retire.

A Week Away Together

2010-05-25T11:45:00.002-06:00

This week Chuck and I are celebrating our 32nd wedding anniversary. Thanks to the graciousness of a couple in our church we are spending the week in a condo in the mountains and we are having a fabulous time. Some of our accomplishments have been:

Not using an alarm clock. At all.

Looking for constellations while relaxing in the hot tub.

Taking a hike on an old logging road in the rain.

Sitting in front of a real snapping, popping fire in the fireplace.

Knitting. Lots and lots of knitting.

Watching it snow.

Watching lots of movies.

Watched the series finale of both Lost and 24 on a very large screen tv.

Ate a pot of the best chicken and wild rice soup ever.

Reviewed the past 32 years.

Dreamed about our future plans.

Calculated that in another 32 years I will be 83 and he will be 86.

Planned to start a new savings account for our next trip to Hawaii.

Sat together on the same side of a booth in a little local coffee shop.

Marveled that even after being together 24/7 we would still take more of the same.

Counted our blessings.

And realized that God has been so very, very good to us. We are happy. We are blessed. We are in love.

I don't think we can ask for anything more in this lifetime.

Weekend Checklist

2010-05-16T22:38:00.002-06:00

My weekend accomplishments included:

Vacuuming and dusting the living room - Check

Changed furniture around - Check

Planted the flower beds and hanging baskets - Check

Mowed the nearly 1/2 acre lawn - with the push mower - Check

Treated blisters on hands caused from mowing the nearly 1/2 acre lawn with the push mower - Check

Trimmed with the weed whacker - Check

Watered the flowers - Check

Had dinner with daughter, son-n-law and sweet granddaughter - Check

Dessert at DQ - Check

Went to Church - Check

Dinner with family - Check

Trip to Wal*mart to pick up prescription - Check

Finished sewing layette for niece's baby who is arriving SOON - Check

Fell exhausted into bed so I can go to work tomorrow and recuperate! - Check

Report Card

2010-05-11T10:08:00.010-06:00

So I have had my Kindle for about a week now. I have wanted one for a really long time but I have to admit I did have some nagging little doubts in my mind about what it would be like to read a Kindle instead of a "real book". Obviously, those doubts weren't big enough to keep me from purchasing one - but they did nag at me a little bit.

So in case any of you are considering plunking down about two hundred and fifty George Washington's, I thought I would share my thoughts so far.

What I Love:

I love that I can hold it in one hand and drink a cup of coffee at the same time with my other hand. I love that I can pet the dog or scratch an itch or turn down the volume on the tv remote and never take my eyes off the page. It just works.

I love that I can adjust the size of the font for my eyes. The longer I read, the bigger I can make the font. I can change the number of words in a line as well. It is very light weight and it is easy to hold if you are sitting, reclining, or laying down.

I love that I was in Wal*mart yesterday and saw a newly published book that I want to read, "From the Heart" by Laura Bush. Typically I would wait until it came out in soft cover or until I found it at the used book store. This time I simply pulled my Kindle out of my purse, searched for the book, purchased it at a price that was less than the soft-cover edition will be and downloaded it all in less than a minute. I can peruse a bookstore anytime, anywhere. Technology - it's just AMAZING!

I love that it is small and light enough to carry in my purse. I am planning on making a quilted sleeve for it to fit into to prevent any scratches - but it is the most compact thing imaginable. And it has the capacity to hold 1500 books! That means that right now I am carrying more than 30 books in my purse!

I love the free books you can download from Ama*zon. I couldn't believe how many there are. Many classics and many contemporary.

I love that it keeps my place for me. I stop reading, lay it on the nightstand and the next time I turn it on - voila' - there I am. No more searching for my place. No more lost bookmarks.

I love the dictionary feature. If I read a word I don't know all I have to do is put the cursor in front of the word and a window pops open at the bottom of the screen with a full definition.

I can go online with it. If a book or an article has a link I can go to it on the WWW. Wow.

What I would Improve-

I wish there was a light feature for nighttime reading. I know that the reason there is not a back light is so that reading the screen is identical to reading a paper page. I do have a book light I clip on it so mostly that is not a problem. Well, I had a book light clip until Tyler dunked it into my glass of water that it was sitting beside.

I wish there was a way to loan a book to someone else. If I read a really good book I would have to loan my entire Kindle for someone else to read it. It makes me sad to not loan a book.

I would make the page turner button silent. It has a very quiet clicking sound each time I turn a page. I don't know why it has to click.

I wish you could print a page from it. If a book has a pattern or a recipe it would be really cool if you could make a copy of it.

I wish that pictures were in color - but they are black and white, like newsprint.

Although there is a bookmark feature that allows you to mark a page or highlight a section, I have to admit it is much easier to just thumb through a book to find something you want to re-read.

Overall -

I love it. I am happy I saved all these months to purchase it. I envision many, many happy hours of reading. I already have 31 books downloaded just waiting for me to read. And all but four of those were free ones. I will still buy paper books. So many of my books are my friends really. I love having a full series sitting on the book shelf. I love the way a book smells. But there are many books that I don't necessarily need to have on a shelf. Those are the ones that will go on my Kindle.

Now, if my Kindle could just manage my life, allowing me time to actually read the books on it - I would be a happy camper!

p.s. You might wonder why I don't get books at the library. We live in a rural town and our library fits in a single wide trailer! I could order books using the inter-library loan system, but I am much more of an impulsive reader than that. I could also order them from the library at the University I work at, but same thing - I am an impulsive reader. I don't like waiting for books and I don't like having to have them finished by a certain date. I don't always know what books I want to read until I see them and I can't see them if they aren't there - LOL!

I know. Just indulge me, please.

Catching Up

2010-04-30T10:54:00.008-06:00

It feels like it's been so long since I've blogged. As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I have been going through a whirlwind of busyness and over-commitment these last few weeks. I have been looking forward to the first of May because then I would be through the busiest part of it - and I must say, things are beginning to look a lot more normal around here. Although normal is a relative term of course.

I have some happy news to share - Michelle and Brad have found out they are going to have another healthy baby boy! Two grandsons and one little granddaughter - how blessed we are. We are thrilled and we know that Tyler and his yet un-named little brother will be the best of friends. This is so different for us as we only ever had "pink" at our house. But we are fast getting used to cars, trucks and footballs. Tyler has learned so many words and is talking up a storm. He is a very verbal little guy (takes after his mama) and his favorite word these days is Poop. Anything yucky is poop. His stuffed animals are always going poop. Anything he doesn't want to do is poop. He even makes up songs about poop! He cracks us up!

Miss Ava Claire prefers to use the word "ucky" when she finds something distasteful to her. She is as feminine and sweet as can be. I marvel at the tiny-ness of her little hands in comparison to her cousin. They are as different as night and day but they are just the best of friends.

This weekend Tyler's mama bought him two big Tonka trucks off of Craig's list. Immediately Tyler labeled one as his and the other one as Ava's. Ava doesn't seem to be overly impressed with her cousin's generosity, but Tyler is sticking with it all the same!

The ladies retreat I spoke at was this last weekend. While I felt completely stretched and out of my comfort zone all weekend, I think it went well. I simply asked God to fill in all the gaps and the areas I missed and He was so faithful to do so. He is so faithful. When I was invited to be the speaker my immediate response was "Oh thank you but no, that's not what I do." Yet something checked me and told me I should pray about it. So I did. And I asked a couple of friends to pray too. And I just felt that God was asking me to do it. So I did. It wouldn't hurt my feelings if He didn't ask me to do it again though. I much prefer writing.

Which reminds me, I don't think I have shared that in the midst of all my over-commitment these last couple of months, I signed up to take an online writing course! I am learning so much about writing and about myself. My favorite thing about the course is that I have been matched up with a published author who is my mentor. What I am learning from her is invaluable. She is kind but she is serious about her task and she has helped me so much. She is helping me with my book and while it is seriously hard work, I know it is just what I needed. I have discovered however, that I rebel a little about writing by deadline. Which is not a good trait for a serious writer. That is probably the one thing about this class that has helped me the most. I am learning to write under pressure, not just when I feel like it. Good stuff.

I have been bitten badly by the knitting bug. I just can't get enough of it and I find that I have collected more yarn and patterns that I will finish in a couple of years. I think I love it so much because it is easy to pick up and put down, it's very transportable and most of my projects are quick. Right now I am working on a pattern called the Cedar Leaf Shawlette. I am working on the leaf border and it is so addicting. I still have the same sock on the needles that I have had for a few weeks now. I'm not sure what compelled me to pick out a lace pattern for my first pair of socks ever - but I'm on the turning the heel part(I just accidently typed hell instead of heel and I'm thinking it may have been more accurate!). I'm not going to give up but I need to have time to take a deep breath and just dive into it. I also have just gotten the yarn for a beautiful pattern called the Shipwreck Shawl. There is something about that name that just speaks to me - I love it! The yarn color I ordered is called Dolphin and the most challenging thing about this pattern is that it includes 5000 beads. Yep, you heard me. 5000 little seed beads. I am crazy. But I think I'm going to love it and I am in no hurry to get it done. This will be my project that I work on when I have time in the early evenings, before I get too tired. I can't wait to start. I also have the yarn to knit a blanket for my new little grandson. Even though Michelle has all of Tyler's little things, I think every new baby deserves something new and handmade all of his very own.

At the end of this month my husband and I are taking a week off to celebrate our 32nd wedding anniversary. We are going to stay in a condo up in the mountains and I cannot wait. I am envisioning lots of knitting, lots of reading and lots of walks in the woods. No responsibilities at all. I simply cannot wait.

Oh, and I am so excited! I have been saving my pennies here and there for a long time and I finally have saved enough money to purchase a Kindle! I ordered it this morning and it will be here on Wednesday. I was extra excited to see that there is free shipping this week - Yay! I can't wait to get it and take it with me on our little get-away this month.

This week my goal is to finish the nursery layette I am making for my neice. I don't have much left and it should be a very attainable goal. Then I am going to pack my sewing machine away and spend the month of June painting my sewing room. Little Tyler has been enjoying that room as his while they have been staying with us, but at the end of the month Tyler and his mama and daddy will be moving to their own home and I will get to reclaim my sewing room. It is badly in need of some paint and I have some changes in mind for it so there will be no sewing for the first part of the summer. But after I get it all put together again I have in mind to make some of these cute litte stash baskets. They look so cute and easy and I think I could use a few of those around my sewing room.

One of the things I love so much about the blog world is the friends I make. Do you know that I often pray for you? I keep a list on my desk and when I see the names on it I pray for you and whatever you have going on at the time. One of the blogs I read is called Our Journey of Love. I don't remember how I found it but Adrienne's situation has captivated me for a long time. She and her family are in desperate need of prayer. They have gone through so much heartache and I cannot believe what she is going through now. When you have time go over there and read her story of loss, infertility, adoption and hope. And then spend some time praying for her. Adrienne doesn't know me at all and I have only commented on her posts a few times. But she is always on my mind when I pray. I am just always so inspired by her faith and trust in Jesus.

Well, it has felt good to blog again. Next time I will have some pictures of my sweet babies to share. In the meantime, Happy Monday!

Happy Thoughts

2010-04-16T09:16:00.007-06:00

Just thought I would take a few minutes and reflect on a few happy thoughts.

Things like:

Eating grilled pork steaks and pasta salad on the patio last night!

Watching Tyler help his poppa get the sprinkler system up and going. He LOVED it and kept saying "BIG Water!" He ended up soaking wet. And deliriously happy.

I have a new project on the needles - a pair of socks. It will be my very first pair of socks to knit. I know, I know. I wasn't going to start a new project. But it calms me. It relaxes me. I need to do it.

A beautiful weekend with temperatures in the 70's. Ahhhhh.......... I can't tell you how happy that makes me.

Knowing that every time I sit down, my little dog Willow jumps in my lap and snuggles right in.

When Jess has a big test at school, she always calls home and asks us to pray for her. I love that she knows where her Source of Strength and Wisdom comes from.

Diet Dr. Pepper. 'nuff said.

Knitting podcasts on my iPod. I found the KnitPicks podcasts and I love listening to them in the car as I travel to and from work. I have learned so much about knitting by just listening. I also love Never Not Knitting's podcasts. So relaxing and just what I need to take my mind of work on my 30 minute ride home each day.

Took the studded snow tires of my car this week. Can I just say hallelujah! I sure appreciate them when I need them but I appreciate that I don't need them even more.

Financial Peace University. Dave Ramsey has helped us immensely. Retirement is not that far away and we will be ready. The techniques and information we have learned from this class are invaluable. Thank you Dave!

Sweet Ava Claire. I love having a granddaughter. She is just a little bundle of sugar and I could just eat her with a spoon. Her sweet little voice just melts my heart and yes, it's true - she could get by with nearly anything when she flashes that precious smile at me.

Tulips. My very favorite flower of all. And they are almost ready to pop at my house.

Couponing. I just get so happy when I coupon. It's like winning a game show or something. I can't explain it - you just have to try it and then you will know.

Book giveaways! I have two winners. The winner of This Little Prayer of Mine is Denise from A Grandmother's Heartbeat. And the winner of Forget Me Not is Nancy. Send me your addresses girls - rgryan(at)nnu(dot)edu and I will get them in the mail to you.

Have a happy weekend everybody!

Forget Me Not - A Book Review

2010-04-15T15:04:00.004-06:00

Recently I read Forget Me Not by Vicki Hinze. Believe it or not, this is the first mystery/suspense Christian novel I have ever read. I'm not sure why, but I've just never gotten into that genre of books before.

The back cover of Forget Me Not says:

Crossroads Crisis Center owner Benjamin Brandt was a content man- in his faith, his work, and his family. Then in a flash, everything he loved was snatched away. His wife and son were murdered, and grief-stricken Ben lost faith. Determination to find their killers keeps him going, but after three years of dead ends and torment, his hope is dying too. Why had he survived? He'd failed to protect his family.

Now a mysterious woman appears at Crossroads seeking answers and help - a victim who eerily resembles Ben's deceased wife, Susan. A woman robbed of her identity, her life, of everything except her faith - and Susan's necklace.

The connections between the two women mount, exceeding coincidence, and to keep the truth hidden, someone is willing to kill. Finding out who and why turns Ben and the mystery woman's situation from dangerous to deadly. Their only hope for survival is to work together, trust each other, and face whatever they discover head on, no matter how painful. But will that be enough to save their lives and heal their tattered hearts?

What I thought:

Since this is my first venture into the mystery/suspense genre, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised that I liked it so much. In fact, after reading the first couple of pages, I found it very hard to put the book down. I was a little surprised at the violence it contained - although nothing was graphic or even very discriptive - I still wasn't expecting it. I was pleased that there was such a strong salvation message in the book without being overly preachy or simplistic. Even though it was easy to guess some of the mysteries in the storyline, there were a couple of twists that I didn't see coming. By the end of the story there were several characters that kind of came out of nowhere and it made it a bit confusing to keep everyone straight. It's ending leaves the reader knowing that there will be a sequel. I love sequels.

Overall, I recommend this book. It was very entertaining, well-written and kept the reader throughly enthralled with the story.

Would you like a chance to read this book? I have an extra copy I would like to give away. Leave me a comment telling me you would like to read it and I will do a random drawing sometime next week. I will also announce the winner for the children's book I reviewed last week at the same time.

By the time May rolls around, I hope to be back to my regularly scheduled life, which means I plan to be blogging more. I miss it. I truly do.

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Catching Up ...Book Review....And a Giveaway

2010-04-08T10:10:00.004-06:00

So do you ever have those times when everything just seems so overwhelming? I know you do - and I'm there right now. I have over-committed myself in several areas - do you think I would ever learn? The sad thing that happens when I do that is that I don't feel like I do anything well. I just get by - and I really hate that. Hopefully by the first of next month things will be slowing down and I hope to take a deep breath and just be. Not do. Just be. Doesn't that sound lovely?

In the meantime, you wouldn't be wasting a prayer on me. Truly.

In the midst of all the things I am doing I came down with a horrible case of the stomach flu. Yuck - it knocked me down for 4 days. And it was the strangest flu- it made me very irritable and everything seemed so depressing. I've never experienced that with the flu before and I was so relieved on the fifth day when the clouds left (figuratively speaking anyway) and the sun came out again. I was getting a little worried about myself. I was nice enough to share it with family members so it hasn't left our house yet.

While I was sick I was laying in bed and I kept staring at my huge yarn stash that has started multiplying and creeping out all over my bedroom. When the kids moved in with us in November I gave my sewing/craft room to Tyler and my knitting took up lodging in my bedroom. It was to the point that it really needed to be dealt with. So on my first day of feeling human again I got a box of zip lock bags and organized all my yarn into projects and put each one into a zip lock bag with a copy of the instructions for whatever it is going to be inside with it. I love this idea - now I just have to grab a bag and I have an instant project. But I am not allowing myself to start a new project until next month, because, ahem, well, because of the aforementioned overcommitment issues I have.

One of my commitments is a sewing project I promised to my niece who is expecting a baby in June. I promised to make her nursery layette and I have finished the crib sheets and the bumper pads but I still need to finish the crib blanket and start the dust ruffle. I absolutely will not start another project until that is done. It's a bit more challenging these days to sew since I no longer have my sewing room. My sewing machine is in Jessica's room, the ironing board is in the laundry room, and the only space large enough to cut fabric is the island in my kitchen. It spreads me out all over the house! I think I can finish fairly quickly though and it will be good to have that project behind me.

I also had really good intentions of getting our taxes done early this year, but let's see, my calendar tells me April 15 is next week and I have yet to even start them. I guess we know what I will be doing this weekend.

And the biggest thing I have been dealing with is that I committed to speaking at a Woman's Retreat at the end of this month. I have never done this before for another church and I am scared to death! It didn't seem like that big of a deal about 6 months ago - but suddenly - wow - what was I thinking?!

And the yardwork, people. Oh the yardwork. It just mocks me everytime I glance out the window. I really need to do something to clean up my gardens and pond and fencelines, and well, just everything.

Well, thanks for listening to me whine! It feels better just to tell you all about it :)

In the meantime I have a fun book review to share.

This children's book was sent to me to review by Waterbook Multnomah Publishing. It is just the sweetest little book for kids. The first thing that struck me was the beautiful and colorful artwork. The pictures are large and life-like and every child has such great expression on their faces. The storyline teaches children how you can talk to God about everything - what is happening in your life - what you want to be when you grow up - relationships with your friends. It demonstrates how prayer is just as natural as breathing - a great lesson for kids to learn. I think the book is geared to kids in the 4 - 8 year range. I love how one of the pictures shows a child playing with a handheld game system - very relevant to the day. Would you like a copy of this book? I have one for you. All you have to do is be #8 to email me telling me you want it. My email address is rgryan(at)nnu(dot)edu.

I'll announce a winner soon. I hope. At least it will be on my list of things to do!

Easter 2010

2010-04-04T20:40:00.004-06:00

Just thought I would share a few snapshots of my sweet little "grand-bunnies" on Easter morning. I finished knitting Miss Ava Claire's dress in time but I didn't get a picture of the top of the dress - it was SO cold outside we didn't even think to take off her sweater. Ava and her mommy had matching gold shoes - so pretty!
Believe it or not, the girls did not intentionally match the kids outfits. But it made us all kinds of happy that they ended up that way.

I knit both the babies these sweet little bunnies - they are Susan B. Anderson's pattern Hop. I just love that name - Hop. Somehow I neglected to get a picture of both of them.

Even though the weather didn't cooperate - not even one little bit - it was a great day and everyone had fun. We all had enough food and candy to last us for the next 6 months.

We had 461 in church this morning. 461 in our little town in our little church that used to think breaking 100 was a miracle. 461 people heard my husband preach about the hope of the Resurrection today. 461 people heard that God sent his only Son to die in place of us, and on the third day He came back to life and He lives today. 461 people heard how all they have to do is ask Jesus to forgive them of their sins and they too can live forever in Paradise. 461 people were given just a glimpse into what Paradise could possibly be - even though our minds cannot even begin to imagine.

All in all, I'd say we had a very good day.

Let Me Introduce You

2010-03-27T10:44:00.019-06:00

This weekend I am staying with my four grandchildren-in-love. They are grandchildren that we chose with our hearts. We have been a part of each others lives ever since they were born. Their mom and dad went away for a much needed anniversary weekend celebration and so I was put in charge. Or they were put in charge of me. I'm not sure which.

This is Jeremiah:
He is 10 years old and is one mean bar-b-que griller. He made us all hotdogs and hamburgers for dinner and we agreed that he can grill for us anytime. Jeremiah likes to play GameCube and DS. He is a really good Bible Quizzer at church and he has many, many medals to prove it. His favorite movie is Avatar and his favorite food in the world is a big hamburger. With Cheese. He would love to play the guitar and be in a band someday. Jeremiah is a fine young man.

I would like you to meet Chloe.
Chloe is 8 years old. Chloe is the only sister and she has three brothers. I recently taught Chloe how to knit and she is doing a very good job. She practices her knitting for 10 minutes every day. It won't be long and she will be an awesome knitter. Today Chloe and I spent some time knitting and one of her younger brothers wanted her to come play with him. Chloe said, "Boy's, we're knitting, you'll just have to deal with it." Ha! I loved it! Chloe loves to do all kinds of crafts. When Chloe grows up she wants to be a mom. I know she will be a good one. Chloe loves all the stories in the Bible and she can't pick a favorite. Her favorite movie is Tinkerbell. Chloe loves her little dog Molly and she always takes good care of her.

This is Jordan.
Jordan is 5 years old. Jordan likes to paint and draw with markers. When Jordan grows up he wants to be a rock star. He also loves to play ring around the rosie. His favorite movie is Alvin and the Chipmunks - the Squeakual. Jordan is full of energy and he keeps everyone entertained. Those are good qualities for rock stars. He tells me his favorite Bible story is a secret and his favorite song is Jesus I Know You Died for Me. That is a song he will be singing in the Easter program.

And finally, meet Josiah.

Josiah is also 5 years old and tells me that he loves candy most of all. I think he is telling the truth. His favorite super hero is Batman. His favorite Bible story is when Jesus died on the cross. He is learning how to play Badminton and he is doing pretty well. He loves to play on the McDonald's playground and he always orders chocolate milk and apples.

So this is a busy weekend. I'm pretty sure I will have to go to work next week so I can recuperate. There's nothing like living with four little ones to make you feel your age. Which right about now is feeling pretty old indeed :)

Another Week

2010-03-21T17:34:00.006-06:00

Whew! It's been so busy around here. I think last time I checked in my husband had left for Peru. He was gone for two weeks. Two weeks is a long time for a husband to be gone. Everything went surprisingly well. Nothing broke. Nothing bad happened. And the alarm company from the church only called in the middle of the night once. I told them to call the associate pastor and went back to sleep :) No way am I going on a walk through of the building in the middle of the night.

The Peru trip went well other than most of the team ended up getting the flu. They were all pretty sick by the time they got back. But they said they would do it again so I guess that's a good sign that it went well. My husband said he thought he had been back to boot camp - they worked them pretty hard. And at 11,000 feet altitude it was hard to breath. They were all happy to be back in America again.

In the mean time, I was busy with this project:

I offered to make Ava Claire's Easter dress this year. I should say I offered to knit Ava Claire's Easter dress this year. I have decided that I don't like knitting on a deadline very much. This is my first adventure into knitting any kind of a garment. And it's also my first try at knitting lace. I re-did the lace section three times and I have done the skirt section twice. Whew! That's a lot of knitting. But I'm on the homestretch now and I think it's going to be just adorable. I am using Blue Sky Alpaca Skinny Organic Yarn which is a yarn comprised of many strands of cotton twisted together. The result is that it is really "splitty" and fussy to knit with. I love the feel and the look of the finished project but I don't think I will make any more big projects with this yarn. I have spent a lot of time correcting stitches that have split. As soon as I get this project off the needles I am going to start a smaller, simpler toy project. I love knitting toys. And I like instant gratification!

I am also still doing a lot of couponing. I just don't know why anybody wouldn't do it. I got all this for about $27 this weekend. I just love finding a good deal. And besides with all the money I save on groceries, just think of the yarn I can buy!

And just look at these two:
I can't believe how much they are growing. They are the joy of my life and every moment spent with them is just so wonderful. They provide tons of laughter and fun and even lots of work. But I wouldn't have it any other way. They are such blessings. They are both beginning to talk so much and they absolutely love each other. Tyler is about as "boy" as you can get and Ava Claire is all girl. They love to play together and they especially love to get into trouble together. Michelle calls them Thing One and Thing Two. They are quite a pair. It will be interesting to see how the equation changes when Thing Three arrives on the scene late this summer. The blessings just keep raining down.

I just love how the days are longer now and the leaves are starting to appear on the trees. I spent some time yesterday raking up what is left of last year's leaves. I'm starting to think about what flowers I will plant this year and whether to do another salsa garden or not this year. I want to keep it simple, whatever I do.

Time to get ready for another week. I sure do wish the weekends were longer.

Unscheduled Hiatus

2010-03-16T09:40:00.003-06:00

I'm still here. Just crazy busy. Between knitting on an Easter project, writing assignments, a new Bible Study I'm facilitating and a husband just home from Peru, well, there's just not much time for blogging right now.

But I do have some things I want to share so I will be back real soon. I promise.

In the meantime, all is good at the Nest. God is good. All the time.

Thank You Dr. Dobson

2010-03-06T11:35:00.006-07:00

Because of my working schedule I am not able to listen to radio broadcasts of Focus on the Family. But I do often download episodes on my iPod and listen to them at my leisure, often while I am sewing. Just today I listened to the episodes that honored this fine and Godly man who is leaving Focus. He has been such a major part of my life. As I listened to people who called in to share their sentiments, I wished I had been able to do that. Instead I am going to share my sentiments here on my blog and share a story I have never shared before.

I began listening to Dr. Dobson when we were in seminary and living in Kansas City in the early 1980's. We had two young daughters at that time, one quite strong-willed and the other very compliant. I remember listening to those broadcasts feeling like I had found a life-line. Somebody understood the situation I found myself in as a young mother and helped me understand my daughters. I listened faithfully every day and subscribed to the free issues of Focus on the Family magazine that came every month. I devoured those magazines from start to end and often read them over and over again.

I needed to hear that my job as a mom was full of value and honor and that the strong feelings I had to stay home and raise my children were natural and right. Even though I always had to work some outside the home, I felt encouraged as I found jobs that worked around my husband's schedule so that our children were always with one of us.

I learned and applied the disciplining techniques taught in The Strong Willed Child, Dare to Discipline and Hide or Seek. Our children were raised in love and discipline and while certainly not perfect, we knew we could take them out in public and be proud of their behavior. Dr. Dobson taught me how to tell the difference between childish irresponsibility and willful defiance. I loved how he taught me how to "shape the will without breaking the spirit" of my kids. I learned so much from listening and reading the words of this very wise and Godly man. More than anything I took from him the challenge to "Be There" , meaning that there is nothing more important that being There all together, a family unbroken, when we go to Heaven. It is the deepest desire of my heart to this day.

This brings me to the story I have never shared. It was 1989 and I learned that I was pregnant with my fourth child. We were pastoring a very small church that included a very small salary, my husband was bi-vocational, we had three daughters who were growing and demanding things we found hard to financially supply and I was exhausted and discouraged. The thought of a fourth child was simply overwhelming to me and to be quite honest, I did not want this baby. I felt much guilt over feeling this way because I knew that life was a gift from God, but I could not imagine how we were going to make this all work. After going to the doctor on my initial maternity visit we were handed a bill, the amount the insurance would not cover, and told it had to be paid before the baby was born. It was a few hundred dollars, but it may as well have been a million. There was no way we could come up with that much money.

During this time I received in the mail one of the monthly letters from Dr. Dobson. It often told news of what was happening at Focus and in our country along with much appreciated parenting advice. But this letter was a bit different. It was a letter from the heart of Dr. Dobson as he and Shirley were facing the empty nest. Their children were moving away from home and they were struggling with the feelings and emotions that were occurring because of it. Something in that letter pierced my heart like an arrow and God used those words to help me stop looking at our situation in terms of dollars, to have faith that He would provide and to look forward with joy and anticipation the birth of our fourth daughter. An amazing transformation took place inside of me and I sat down and wrote a letter of thanks to Dr. Dobson. I told him my story and I thanked him for helping me to accept what God was doing in my life.

It was just 3 or 4 weeks later, about 4:30 in the afternoon when the phone rang. I picked it up and it was a man's voice that I did not recognize. He asked for me and then proceeded to tell me that it was Focus on the Family calling. I did not believe it and thought that my husband was playing a trick on me. After the man finally made it clear that he was not my husband and indeed worked for Dr. Dobson he told me a most remarkable thing. He told me that Dr. Dobson had read my letter and been very touched by it. He was sending me something in the mail and I was to be sure to look for it.

I was so excited! What would it be? One of his books perhaps, and I even dared to hope that it would be autographed. Maybe it would be a set of his cassette tapes. I went to the post office every day eagerly looking for my package. Finally, just a few days later a letter appeared in my mail box from Focus on the Family. I must admit my excitement was just a bit deflated as obviously I was not receiving a book or even a tape. I took the letter to my car and opened it and a check fell out of the letter. A check for the exact amount of money we needed to pay the doctor before our baby was born. Tears filled my eyes and I could hardly read the letter from Dr. Dobson that asked me to accept this gift from Focus as though it were a gift from the Lord. And it had to have been because in my letter to Dr. Dobson I had never mentioned any amount of money at all.

God used that incident in my life to grow my faith. I am so grateful to Dr. Dobson for what he did for us. Years later, after we were more financially secure, I began giving a monthly donation to this great ministry and I still do to this day. We have given way above and beyond the dollar amount we received that day, in faith believing that this money has gone on to bless other people as it had blessed us.

I will never be able to repay the debt of gratitude I owe to Dr. Dobson and Focus on the Family. I can't imagine how my kids will raise their kids without hearing his kind and comforting voice on the radio every day. But this I know, God will make a way.

Thank you Dr. Dobson for being a man of honor, integrity, faith and wisdom. You have blessed my life.

Two New Book Reviews and a Giveaway

2010-03-04T20:08:00.006-07:00

And the winner is . . . . . Julie from Journal for Women. I'm so happy you won - I have enjoyed your blog for a long time.

Thanks for playing everyone - I always think it is so interesting to get emails from people I had no idea read my blog. Fun!

Relationships. We all have them. Some are easy and some are hard. Some go up and down and all around. Waterbrook Press sent me two books to review and they are all about relationships.

The first one is called Mother-Daughter Duet and it is written by a mother-daughter team, Cheri Fuller and Ali Plum. I was born the oldest of five daughters and I am the mother of four daughters and now the grandmother of a precious granddaughter. I know a little bit about how complicated female relationships can be. Every mother of a newborn daughter holds that bundle of pink and dreams of ribbons and bows, dance recitals and girl scouts. We don't think of all the times ahead of us that are filled with tension and strife. We can't imagine being anything but the best of friends with our little girls. But growing up is hard and this book is full of good advice on how to make it through the challenges that often occur. As a daughter, mom, sister and grandmother I highly recommend this book.

The next book is called Dancing With My Father written by Sally Clarkson. This is a beautiful book that concentrates on the pure joy in our relationship with God. It's about taking the time each day to spend in the presence of our Creator. It's about setting aside all the "stuff" in our day and intentionally choosing to be with the One who finds so much joy in us. It is refreshing and encouraging and a very good read. Sally's writing style is like sitting with a good friend and listening to her share. This book is a true delight.

If you would like an opportunity to read these books, be the fifth person to email me at rgryan(at)nnu(dot)edu. Include your mailing address and I will mail these to you right away. If you would like to buy one or both of them, click on the titles above.

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

A Few of My Favorite Things

2010-02-28T18:09:00.012-07:00

Becky had a great post this weekend on what some of her favorite things have been in her life lately. It was such a good post that I decided to copy her. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery after all!

So some of my favorite things lately have been. . .

My friend Wendy, who's husband happens to be in Peru with my husband, brought me a gift bag of sunshine to church on Sunday. She didn't even know she picked my favorite scent of all - Coconut Lime Verbena - YUM!

The days are getting longer which can mean only one thing: winter is almost over! I can't wait to eat dinner on the patio again!

This is my new favorite knitting blog. I absolutely love the exquisite knitting Alana does - she is amazing. I have downloaded some of her podcasts and have enjoyed them so much. It is so much fun to challenge myself with new projects.

My next knitting project involves this luciousness that came in the mail today:

Today was a good mail day. These came too:

I will be leading this Bible study on Wednesday nights for the next 6 weeks. There's nothing like a brand new Bible Study. I love to leaf through the pages and wonder what truths it will hold.

I also got this book this last weekend:

Don't you just love that title? Looking forward to the words in these pages too.

And today my most favorite thing was . . . .Skype! Because for the first time since last Thursday I got to speak to him:

Ain't No Sunshine When He's Gone

2010-02-24T10:26:00.015-07:00

Tomorrow morning at dark thirty o'clock, my husband is getting on a plane and flying to Peru for two weeks. He is going with a group of people from our church to build buildings and relationships with people. It is a good thing.

But I am staying home. Without him.

And that is always hard.

I won't be alone because how can you be alone with a daughter, son-in-law and an almost two year old in the house? Not to mention three dogs and some horses to care for.

I will just feel alone.

I never like the feeling that it is my responsibility to hold down the fort. My husband does that much better.

I don't like knowing that something is going to go wrong in the next two weeks. Because something always does when he is gone.

I don't like knowing he will be not only in a different country, but a different hemosphere as well. That feels much too far.

I don't like night time without him.

I will miss our coffee/prayer time in the morning. Although I will drink coffee and pray and he will do the same - it just won't be the same.

I will miss him at church. Although I never, ever, ever walk through the doors with him or sit with him or hardly even talk to him on a Sunday morning, the building will just not feel the same because he won't be in it. And my heart will feel that.

I will miss hearing him preach on Sunday. I love sitting in the second row watching him preach. I always think to myself "You are the best thing that ever happened to me".

I will miss eating popcorn together. Even though I can now add extra salt, it still won't taste as good.

I will miss talking with him on the cell phone as I drive home from work. I don't know why we do that because we get home about the same time and we talk then too. I guess we just always use that time to "de-brief" before we are together.

I will miss the little yellow low-dose aspirin he always, always puts on my sink for me every morning because I can never remember to take it on my own.

I will miss his snoring. Okay, I will miss his snoring just a little bit. I wonder if he will miss mine?

I will miss him when I have to let his dog out in the middle of the night. And I will miss him again when I have to get back up to let him in.

I will miss him when the alarm clock doesn't go off in the morning because I have never figured out how to set it - that's his job.

I will miss him every time Tyler calls "Poppa? Poppa?" I swear I have never heard such adoration uttered in one single word before in my life.

I will miss him at Sunday dinner when our family is all around the table. His chair will be empty.

I will miss the everydayness of life - because now it is all going to feel weird and strange and different.

Hurry home babe. I need you here.

Away For the Weekend

2010-02-19T16:59:00.002-07:00

So this weekend I will be here. With about 60 ladies from my church. Listening to God speak through her.

No alarm clock. No cooking. No cleaning. No laundry. No dishes.

Ahhhhhh.......... It's gonna be a good couple of days.

No More Puppies

2010-02-15T11:10:00.032-07:00

You may or may not know that for the last 11 years I have bred Yorkshire Terrier Puppies. My decision to breed dogs was about as ignorant as it could be - I didn't know a single thing about it. It was born from the need to put our daughter through college and after trying a paper route for 6 months - in addition to our day jobs - we determined that raising puppies had to be easier.

Well, yes and no.

We did get much more sleep which made us much more pleasant to be around, but dog breeding certainly contained its own challenges. First of all, it requires that you own dogs. We have always had a family pet, usually a sweet non-purebred that fit into our family very well. But in December of 1998 we purchased two Yorkies and set up business. Back then I didn't understand that I should have been looking for as perfect of a specimen of the breed I could find. To be honest I didn't even know what the standards were. Dumb. Really dumb. But I learned as I went, sometimes the hard way, and eventually ended up with a breeding program I have been really proud of.

Birthing puppies was overall a fun experience. A dog's pregnancy lasts only 9 weeks. It seems like puppies are almost always born in the middle of the night. They don't mind keeping you up all night even though you have to be to work in the morning. They also don't mind keeping you home from work because there is one last stubborn puppy that hasn't been born yet. Out of all my years of breeding we only had to go to the emergency vet twice - once for a c-section and once for a shot of pitocin. My vet and I developed such a good relationship over the years that he often gave me syringes and medications to keep on hand which really cut back on office calls. My vet became one of my best referral systems - she loved the puppies we produced. I also learned how to dock tails and cut dew claws by myself which was easier on the puppies not having to be transported to the vet at just a few hours old.

Losing a puppy or two is inevitable and is such a hard part of the job. Usually they would be the tiniest of the litter and at only a couple of ounces in weight - there just wasn't much that could be done much of the time. I would sometimes have to tube feed and it was the most rewarding thing in the world to save a puppy that didn't have the strength to drink milk on its own. It totally made the getting up every two hours at night worth it. Several times I have held a tiny little sweet thing in the palm of my hand as it took its last breath. Those times were never easy. Letting the mama lick a final goodbye always brought tears to my eyes. This tiny one in my hand was one that didn't make it - we discovered it had a severe cleft palate.

I would only use a female for breeding for five years and then I would have to replace her. It soon became apparent that I could not keep every dog I had. A breeder has to look at owning dogs differently than a pet owner. After a few years of good and faithful service I would find a new owner for my females. Usually it would be an older woman who I knew would treat my little friend very, very well. Even though it is hard to give away a dog that has worked so hard for you, I have never regretted any of the homes they have gone to and they are all living lives of luxury now. I see them occasionally and even dog sit for them, and trust me, they hardly even remember me!

The daily care of puppies is a tremendous amount of work. We kept them in a portion of our laundry room and the cleaning and feeding and washing seemed never ending. We kept them for 10 weeks. I had as many as 6 in a litter and as few as 1 with 4 being the average sized litter.

People always think that the hardest part would be when you actually give the puppies away. Surprisingly, for me it never was hard. I think it was a combination of being so relieved to finally be done with all the work involved and seeing the excitement and happiness of the new owners. It was always a happy day.

New owners are a time consuming ordeal. They come to the house to choose a puppy which turns into an hours long process. They play with them all. They watch them. They hold them. They all have their own system of choosing a puppy. No system was ever the same. We would set up visitation hours - so they could come over and spend bonding time with their new little family member. They would bring toys and items of clothing that would hold their scent. Finally the day would come that they would go to their forever home. Like I said, it was always a happy day.

In my last breeding experience I had two litters at once. I had eleven puppies in my laundry room! It nearly did me in. One of the puppies - the smallest and the cutest of the two litters - became very sick. I truly thought she was going to die. She was lethargic, wouldn't eat and spent hours standing with her head pressed against the wall. I had never seen anything like it. The vet pumped her full of medicine and fluids and did several tests on her but never could determine what was wrong. She finally told me that she thought perhaps she had some neurological issues. Of course I couldn't sell her so I resolved to take care of her and love her until she died. Within a couple of weeks she perked right up. By then my heart was already attached and even after I knew she was going to be completely fine, there was no way I could sell her. So I broke my first rule of business - I kept one of my puppies as a pet.

I named her Willow and she is my shadow. If I sit in a chair she is sitting with me. In fact she is sleeping beside me right now. She follows me from room to room. She weighs all of 4 pounds and she is as fiesty as can be. She will never be bred - she is not big enough. She was born into her forever home.

The time has come to end my little dog breeding business. It is time to slow down some and enjoy life more. My heart and extra time is for my grandbabies. I have retired my female dogs and they have gone to their new homes and are very happy. I just got an email this morning from a dear lady that has one of my girls:

Hi Robin. I just wanted you to know that Sunday when I said Maggie was high maintenance I meant it in a good way. She is so alive and human-like. You mention "bye bye" and she's there. When Len puts on his shoes her ears perk up and waits for those words. He takes her every where. She stares at me when it's bedtime and is so cute when she jumps into her own bed. She talks to me now in a very sweet high voice but she talks. She hates baths but she doesn't mind grooming. I just really enjoy her company. She also exhibits many emotions, sadness, happiness, humiliation, anger and bossiness (which is really cute). Anyway, best give I have ever received.

It was a good decision don't you think?

So now I am just a regular pet owner with a sweet little dog who thinks I hung the moon. And I must admit I am rather partial to her as well.

Sweet Valentine's

2010-02-14T22:29:00.006-07:00

Today we met with my family to celebrate all the February birthdays. We had seven this month. With families as big as ours you have to resort to monthly celebrations or we would be celebrating all month long!

Since it was also Valentine's Day my mother gave us all boxes of chocolates - such a sweet thing that she has done for years.

But I think I was touched the most by two of my little neices. Kaitlyn and Miah have been working for two weeks making valentine's for all of us. Every single one of us. They passed them out to us as we were standing in line to get our dinner. Each valentine was carefully drawn and colored and reflected our individual personalities.

This is the one my husband received:

Be on my side - gallop with me!
Perfect for her Uncle Chuck who takes her to 4-H and is teaching her how to show a horse.

This was mine:

I'll give you yarn - before I give it to you I will knit you a sweater.
I'm the skinny one - sitting in my chair knitting with a yarn basket at my side. That's exactly what I look like -wink wink. And I hope I really do get a handknit sweater from those two - I will love it!

I hope your Valentine's Day was as sweet as mine.

Random Dozen - 2/11/10

2010-02-10T09:24:00.004-07:00

I'm joining in this week on Linda's Random Dozen. I've been reading them for weeks and I finally decided to jump in on the fun. And it has absolutely nothing to do with the sweet apron give-away if you join. Really.

1. Are you pleasant when you're ill, or are you a grumpy, fussy patient?

Um, I don't know that I'm pleasant, but I prefer to be a loner in my room, in my bed, with the tv on and did I mention I prefer to be alone?

2. When you find out that school is canceled (due to inclement weather) what is your gut reaction?

Yay! It's a holiday! Let's stay in our pj's all day and play Monopoly!!!

3. What is one domestic skill you wish you could improve?

I wish I was a more organized housekeeper. My house is usually picked up and "looks" clean, but the deep cleaning doesn't happen. I think if I were more organized then maybe the deep cleaning would happen on a more frequent basis.

4. Do you decorate your home for Valentine's Day?

I do try to put little things up to celebrate the day. I love Valentine's Day - it's so simple and sweet - not overwhelming like Christmas is. But I like to scatter vintage valentines around, and by vintage I mean valentine's I received when I was a little girl.

5. What song is on your mind today?

This morning on my way to work I was thinking of the words to the old hymn "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus".

6. Do you prefer contemporary movies or classic?

It depends on what mood I'm in but probably contemporary would win out over classic.

7. How well do you "compartmentalize" your feelings? For example, how well can you put aside a really trying moment to deal with the immediate situation which is not related to the trying moment, e.g., putting aside a tiff with your spouse in order to finish wallpapering a room.

I like to think I'm like most women - I don't compartmentalize at all. How's the saying go: Men are like waffles - women are like spaghetti.

8. What is the first thing that attracted you to your spouse? (Or if you're single, to your best friend.)
His personality - he just seemed to nice to be true.

9. When was the last time your heart raced?
Yesterday when I had to park in the south forty at Costco. It was a long way to walk. :)

10. What are your memories of Valentine's Day at school?

I remember how we always had to make a Valentine's box for classmates to put valentine's in. I loved making my box every year - it was when I first knew I loved making things.

11. If you were going to receive candy for Valentine's Day, which would you prefer?
I think I love Gheredelli's chocolate the very most. But the older I get the less I like chocolate. Weird, I know.

12. Red or pink?

Pink. I am more a pink personality - not a red personality. But I like red - on other people.

Be Still My Heart

2010-02-09T12:42:00.004-07:00

I was over at Amazon today looking for a book - when this popped up:

I nearly died.

This is the first book Francine Rivers has written since 2003. TWO THOUSAND AND THREE!!!

That's a long time without a Francine Rivers book to read.

She is my all-time favorite author in the whole wide world and you can imagine my joy when I read that this book will have a sequel.

So not one, but TWO new Francine River's books to look forward too. The first one will be released March 16.

Here is what is being said about them:

From Publishers Weekly
Romance Hall of Famer Rivers (Redeeming Love) returns with her first full-length novel since 2003 with this two-generation saga of a mother and daughter, the first of two parts. Ambitious, strong-willed Marta Schneider leaves her home in rural Switzerland at the beginning of the 20th century. She's determined to flee her abusive father, loving but weak mother, and the constraints placed on women. Meeting interesting characters all along her journey, she works her way to Canada. There she buys a boardinghouse and meets her match in Niclas Waltert, a German engineer with a farmer's heart. Through Marta's sharp elbows and the sweat of Niclas's brow, the family eventually arrives at an increasingly comfortable life in California's Central Valley. The second half of the story, told from the point of view of constitutionally timid daughter Hildemara Rose, is less deeply imagined. So many events happen as history rapidly unrolls in the background that the narrative feels too much like an outline for a Lifetime TV offering about a couple buffeted by the winds of WWII. Writers like Rivers are why people buy Christian fiction: it's dramatic, engaging, and acknowledges the bedroom without going inside. This well-told tale will have readers eagerly awaiting the story's resolution. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Product Description
The first in an epic two-book saga by beloved author Francine Rivers, this sweeping story explores the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters over several generations. Near the turn of the 20th century, fiery Marta leaves Switzerland determined to find life on her own terms. Her journey takes her through Europe and finally lands her with children and husband in tow in the central valley of California. Marta’s experiences convince her that only the strong survive. Hildie, Marta’s oldest daughter, has a heart to serve others, and her calling as a nurse gives her independence, if not the respect of her mother. Amid the drama of WWII, Hildie marries and begins a family of her own. She wants her daughter never to doubt her love—but the challenges of life conspire against her vow. Each woman is forced to confront her faulty but well-meaning desire to help her daughter find her God-given place in the world.

Sounds good. I can't wait.

One month and one week to go.

Let the countdown begin.

Sunday Chit Chat

2010-02-07T16:39:00.009-07:00

It's 4:30 in the afternoon on Superbowl Sunday and I don't know how I scored it but I am home alone, just me and the dogs and a napping Ava Claire that is. The game is playing quietly in the background, my dog is snuggled up next to me, my next knitting project is laying in front of me and I am reading a few blogs. Life is good!

We had a good Sunday morning at church and then my son-in-law brought over some boneless pork ribs that we served with baked potatoes. It was delicious. After the dishes we actually took the babies outside to play in the back yard. The sun is shining today, a rare sight these days due to our winter inversion, and it is probably in the low 50's. It is just gorgeous outside. And the babies loved it. They walked all over the yard investigating all kinds of interesting things. Things like water in the dog bowl, dead leaves clustered up on the fence line, and little pebbles held untold fascination to them.

I have been knitting up a storm and just finished my favorite hat of all time. It is Itty Bitty Hats Bunny Tail hat. I just love it. I used the RY Cashsoft baby yarn and it is the softest and sweetest yarn ever. Here is a picture of my little grandgirl modeling it.

It has the sweetest little ears with pink bows. And my favorite thing is the little bunny tale on the back.

I am going to start one for Tyler that will be brown with no bows of course.

Yesterday I stumbled on the best idea. I have been trying to think of some organized way to store my knitting needles for quite some time now. I have been keeping them all together in a plastic bag and I am constantly trying to find the right size and a matching pair. Inspiration struck. I have had a Pam*pered Ch*ef Tool Turn-about on my kitchen counter for years and one day I finally got tired of seeing all my wooden spoons, spatulas and whisks on the counter all the time and I put them all in a drawer. I was going to take the Tool Turn-about to goodwill but yesterday I realized what a good knitting needle organizer it would be.

Perfect! I love it when I come up with a good idea. I just wish it happened more often.

Oh, and I think I figured out a remedy for this problem. As much as I love my grandbabies I will never, ever pay so much money to make a toy that may or may not be played with and loved. But I found a yarn a Michael's craft store that will work just fine and I can use my 40% off coupons every week until I have 11 skeins. It was the largest bear that was going to cost the most and I figure I can now make him for about $30. Much more reasonable. It's not the quality of yarn as what the pattern calls for, but it's a toy. It's just a toy.

Oh and happy day. We recently had a Hobby Lobby open in our area and I went shopping in it Friday night. I can't believe how HUGE it is.

I'll leave you with a few more pictures of my little grandbabies.

Book Review - Angels by Dr.David Jeremiah

2010-02-05T14:24:00.003-07:00

Like most people, I have always been fascinated by angels. I have never run into one that I'm aware of, but I have always wondered if I have "seen one unaware". So when Waterbrook Multnomah Press asked me to review "Angels" by Dr. David Jeremiah, I jumped at the opportunity.

It's a great read. What I appreciated about it the most is that it sticks ONLY with what the Bible has to say about angels. Dr. Jeremiah talks about who angels are and who they are not. I feel that I learned a lot from this little book and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the subject of angels.

Here is the bio:

What are angels? What is their role in God’s plan? Are they present? Do they appear? Do they give us personal insight about our work, our worship?

Many contemporary beliefs about angels are based on misconception and myth. Dr. David Jeremiah uses scripture to unveil the remarkable truth about these agents of heaven, and their role and work in our world—and lives.

More than 60,000 units of this powerful book have sold in two past editions. This repackage of the original 1996 paperback will surely capture the attention of readers of all ages who seek a broad and thorough survey of scripture that clearly separates fact from fiction as it relates to angels. The book will appeal to the thousands who follow Dr. Jeremiah’s books, and radio and TV broadcasts.

Relevant, little known biblical facts help readers sharpen their knowledge and sensitivities toward the spiritual reality of angels. Dr. Jeremiah’s enlightening findings are supported with illustrations and insights from Billy Graham, Corrie ten Boom, C.S. Lewis, and more.

You can buy this book right here.

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Winner Winner!

2010-01-31T16:13:00.003-07:00

I was supposed to pick a winner for the Tea With Hezbollah on Friday. But I didn't because after a very stressful and busy week in our church my husband needed to get away. So we did. We went to a hotel on Friday and sat in the hot tub, went out to a nice dinner and watched a movie in our room. We slept in late and then went downstairs and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast. After we checked out of our hotel we went to the mall (I haven't been there in more than a year) and just walked around holding hands and window shopping. We split a big caramel roll with our coffee and watched people. Finally we went to the big bookstore and bought each other an audio book for Valentine's Day.

Audio books? For Valentine's Day?

Well, yes.

My husband is leaving soon for Peru to be a part of a Work and Witness trip from our church. He has been looking for a book to load on to his iPod to use on the long plane trip. We perused the shelves and he finally chose All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriott. We both read those books years ago and enjoyed them immensely. I told him it was a good choice because it would make him laugh.

Ever since my word of the year - Serenity - was revealed to me I have been thinking about reading the entire Mitford Series again this year. Because I honestly don't know of a more serene place than Mitford. I thought it would be fun to listen to the books this year while I knit and sew. So I chose At Home in Mitford - the first of the series. I can't wait to start. After I got home I looked in iTunes and discovered that you can download the entire unabridged edition of Shepherd's Abiding - the eighth book in the Mitford series for 95 cents! You better believe I jumped on that.

Anyway, the weekend was just what the doctor ordered.

Now, to the winner of Tea With Hezbollah. I had asked you to share what Middle Eastern country you would be interested in visiting and I was really surprised to learn how many of you would love to go to Turkey. I guess it surprises me because in 2007 my husband and I went on a cruise that traced the 2nd and 3rd missionary journey of the Apostle Paul. We started in Italy, went to Greece and finished up in Turkey. I was beyond excited to go to Italy and Greece but Turkey, well Turkey just didn't excite me. I didn't know anything about it and I wasn't really sure I wanted to. It sounded like a scary place to me. Turkey actually turned out to be my favorite part of the whole trip. It was exotic, mystifying, different and more full of church history than I ever imagined. The highlight of the trip was Ephesus. Oh Ephesus! I had no idea how much of that city was still standing. To walk on the very streets that Paul walked on, to sit in the amphitheater where Christians were martyred, to run my hands along the walls of the shops was more than I could contain. I will never forget as we walked toward the city as we rounded the corner and saw that city before me - it took my breath away - literally. I would go back in a minute.

Anyway, the winner. I need to announce the winner.

And the winner is . . . . .

Bev from Girl Raised in the South! Congratulations Bev - I know you will enjoy this book. Just email me your address at rgryan(at)nnu(dot)edu and I will put it in the mail to you.

Now I am going to get back to playing with some sweet little grandbabies that happen to be pulling on my legs. I love it!

Knitting

2010-01-29T09:34:00.008-07:00

I started knitting a couple of years ago and I cannot begin to tell you how much of an addiction it has become. It is like therapy for me. And since I figure the laying-on-a-couch- kind of therapy is a bit expensive - I reason that the money I spend on knitting is in all reality, actually a savings.

My husband says if I save him any more money he is going to go broke.

Anyway, as I was saying, knitting is what I love to do lately. It's the perfect way to de-stress at the end of the day. I tend to love smaller projects (think instant gratification) and I find myself knitting things mostly for my grandbabies. I especially love the books by Susan B. Anderson, Itty Bitty Hats, Itty Bitty Nursery and Itty Bitty Toys. I highly recommend them to any knitter - new or experienced. Even if I'm not knitting I love to just browse through the books. I also love her blog and I am always thrilled when she posts a free pattern as she so often does.

My knitting to-do list has grown. A lot.

This morning I was thrilled to see she finally finished her pattern for these guys:

The pattern is called The Three Brrrr's - isn't that perfect? I love them! They are all one pattern using different needle size and yarn weight to achieve the different sizes. They look so snuggly and fun. My fingers are just itching to knit them.

I am going to have three grandbabies by this Christmas and I could just see it - the big bear for Tyler, the middle sized bear for sweet Ava Claire and the baby bear for the baby. Perfect!

I happily went online to buy the pattern and the yarns and was totally blown away when I saw what it would cost.

$229 ! But not to worry - the shipping is free.

I feel so much better now.

Apparently I need to rethink my philosphy on the laying-on-the-couch type of therapy.

Obviously I didn't place my order but I am the kind of person who likes to follow a pattern TO-THE-TEE which includes using the exact same kind of yarn the pattern calls for. (And by telling you that I completely realize that I just exposed my slight CDO tendancies, which other people call OCD but I prefer CDO because that's in alphabetical order as it should be.)

I'm going to have to think outside of the box on this one. Because no matter how I try to figure it - $229 for knit polar bears for my grandbabies for Christmas

just

doesn't

compute.

Not even I can bear to save my husband that much money.

A Sweet Heart

2010-01-27T17:00:00.007-07:00

So one day this week my little sweetheart and I decided to make some Sweet Hearts since Valentine's Day is around the corner and all.

So he took up his station at the end of the counter and set right to work.

We opted to use pre-made pie crust. That's much easier. We cut out hearts - twenty hearts to be exact.

It is said that the uglier your stone is = the better it works. Obviously mine works really, really well.

Next we put a dollop of raspberry jelly in the middle of each heart. Truth be told, we ate some of the raspberry jelly right off the spoon. Mommy's might not do that sort of thing - but grandma's do!

Next we moistened the edge of each heart and laid another heart on top. Then we crimped the edges together with a fork. Easy peasy.

Oh, by the way. That football shaped cookie in the upper row? That was a special cookie made for Tyler - who LOVES footballs. It made his day.

Then we stuck them in the oven set at 350 degrees. And waited.

They were worth the wait. We dusted them with powdered sugar.

And then we dug in.

Tic . . . .

Tac . . . . .

Toe . . . .

They didn't last long.

P.S. Did you notice my new little ticker over to the right? I am elated!

Book Review: Tea with Hezbollah

2010-01-22T09:56:00.008-07:00

Tea With Hezbollah - Sitting At the Enemies Table - Our Journey Through the Middle East by Ted Dekker and Carl Medearis

When I agreed to review this book, I must have been in a hurry that day, because I truly thought I read that this was fiction. I imagined it being similar to The Kite Runner or something like that. When I received the book and thumbed through the pages I quickly realized how mistaken I was. This is a non-fiction book, a travel journal of sorts. It is the story of a 2 week trip through the Middle East involving meetings with high-level leaders of groups and militia that we would consider enemies of our country in every way. Mr. Dekker and Mr. Medearis desired to interview these men and ask them questions that would help their readers "get to know" them on a more personal level. The premise was that if we could see each other as just "people" and not "enemies" perhaps we would find it easier to practice Jesus' greatest command - Love your neighbor as yourself. So he asked questions such as "What makes you laugh?", "What movies to you like?" "What kind of a car do you drive?", "What misconceptions does the Arab world have about America?" and "What misconceptions do Arabs have of Americans?".

Fascinating idea. Fascinating book. Is it possible to obey Jesus' command when it comes to people in the Arab world, people we are told would love to kill us? Is it possible for them to love us in America?

What I thought .....

Mr. Dekker repeatedly states in the book that he was not interested in debating politics or religion. Personally, I don't think he batted 100% on that statement. I felt that he ventured into a bit of unnecessary criticism of America. Some of his statements should have at least been labeled as his own opinion instead of stating them as though they were facts of truth. However, I do believe overall he tried to be honest and I do believe that his quest was a genuine endeavor.

The book contains the actual transcripts of questions and answers with the people he interviewed. People such as Osama Bin Laden's brothers. Mufti's. Arab leaders in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Beruit, Damascus and Jerusalem. Some of these people have been targeted by our government as well as others to kill. How they were able to gain access is incredible and I wondered if the questions had been previewed or not. I suspect they may have been - but that's just my opinion.

The book was an easy read and hard to put down. It made me think about things that made me uncomfortable. It stretched my thinking. One thing in particular I learned was that the term "Christian" doesn't mean the same thing to all people as it does to me. In fact, all people in the eastern world view everyone in the west as Christians. The name of Christ has been distorted and stretched into something very unrecognizable to the people I know who bear His name.

Mr. Dekker never pointed out that although the religion of Islam accepts and reveres Jesus as a great prophet - they don't accept Him as the Son of God. In fact, the biggest problem the religion of Islam has with Christianity is that we believe that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are three in one. They are very offended by this and believe that we are polytheistic - the biggest offense there could be in their opinion. This matters a great deal in their conception of us and while they are okay with us promoting Jesus, they cannot accept that we worship Him - because they see Him as a totally separate "God". Perhaps making more of an effort to help them understand the Trinity could help in them understanding we do not worship more than one God.

I have always believed that the century's old struggle over a piece of land no bigger than the state of Rhode Island has much more to do with spiritual warfare than it has to do with the never ending fight between the people who inhabit the earth. This is bigger than anything humanity is capable of solving. This is more than we can comprehend. The spiritual battle is not going to be resolved until the day the trumpet sounds. I don't think we can really expect the physical battle to stop before then either.

Did Jesus give the world an impossible teaching? I don't think so. We are human, so we will never do it perfectly. But I believe this command was given to individuals, not governments. The parable of the Good Samaritan was shared to help us as individuals - to teach us how to behave, how to live. By following Jesus' teaching we will become more Christlike and through that our governments will improve - but governments will never be completely made up of followers of Christ. I don't believe governments will ever be able to live in perfect peace - Jesus said the same thing. I was thankful that Mr. Dekker declared he was not a pacifist and he was not promoting pacifism. I believe in "Peace through strength" and I appreciate our country's strong military. It is necessary to keep us safe.

In conclusion, I started reading this book certain I would not like it. I am proud of my country and proud to be an American and I felt this book was going to bash America - which is so popular these days. I ended up feeling glad that I read it. As I said earlier, it stretched my thinking and gave me new ideas to consider. I am begging my husband to read it so we can discuss it. This is the kind of book that needs to be discussed.

Would you like to read this book? Waterbrook Multnomah sent me an extra copy to give away on my blog. Leave a comment telling me what middle eastern country, if any, you would like to visit. I will leave this contest open until this Friday the 29th at noon. And then I will draw a name to find a winner.

If you would like to purchase a copy you may go here, here or here.

This book was provided for review by the Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Cheer Cheer for Cheerios!

2010-01-21T09:50:00.006-07:00

Having grandbabies around the house has us experiencing a lot of dejavoux. Our living room could give any Fisher Price showroom a run for its money. My book shelves are stocked with diapers and wipes. My pantry is filled with small juice boxes with straws attached and animal cookies.

And I love it. I just love it.

Recently Myblogspark and General Mills sent me some coupons to try some free boxes of GM cereals. Being the old people that we are, one thing we haven't bought in I don't know how many years is good old fashioned Cheerio's. So we used the coupons to get some regular Cheerios and also the Honey Nut kind. My goodness - I forgot how good they are! And Tyler and Ava Claire giggle and giggle when they see us pull out the box.

Cheerio's aren't just good for breakfast. They make a great snack. They make a good dinner when you are just too tired to cook and there aren't enough people around to serve a full course meal to. And they are good for you too. Chuck and I find ourselves reading a lot more labels these days. Labels that tell us things we need to know about salt and fat and cholesterol. This is a good label.

So Cheerios aren't just for babies. They are good for all of us. They are simple. They are nutritious. They are good. If you would like to get some coupons to buy your own just click here. They also have lots of other types of cereals that have healthy labels too. So just in case it's been a while since you have meandered down the cereal aisle - check it out.

Maybe you could have some for dinner tonight.

p.s. Another good thing about General Mills is that they use Box Tops for Education. Having a daughter who is a teacher has taught me how important these little labels are for getting things to use in the classroom. It's a great program. Save all those little labels and turn them in to your local public school.

January . . .

2010-01-15T10:14:00.009-07:00

January has got to be the dreariest month of the year in my neck of the woods. It is cold. It is foggy. It is icy. I think I would like it better if I could stay home all day and quilt. Yes, making quilts in January seems like the right thing to do.

A flannel quilt with ragged seams. Just the right size to snuggle in while reading, or wrap up in to rock a grandbaby or two. The kind of quilt that looks better the more you wash and dry it. A quilt that everybody in the house fights over and they think it's theirs because they grabbed it first. It's the quilt that you always, always, always find the dog curled up in.

I think I shall make a quilt.

Praying

2010-01-13T12:40:00.003-07:00

Please join me in prayer for my friend Denise. She and I connected on the world-wide-web when we found each other through a parents of missionaries website. We are both grandmothers who were left behind as our children took their children to serve our Lord in far away places.

Denise's daughter and family serve in Haiti.

Please pray for their safety and the safety of the children in the orphanages they work in.

God be with them.

Worth Reading

2010-01-12T10:12:00.002-07:00

Just popping in to share a couple of great blog reads I have enjoyed lately.

This one really spoke to my heart and I have been thinking about it for a couple of days now. Can you imagine what life would be like if we had no one to cleanse us of our sin? Unthinkable. For those who may not know, Amanda is Beth Moore's daughter. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree my friends.

And this one by Bev of GRITS speaks mightily of being where you are - fully. Powerful good advice. Advice that resonates with my word for the year - Serenity. I don't need to be going a hundred miles an hour - doing everything I can - trying to make everybody happy. I need to be where I am completely and relish every moment of it and gleaning the most I can from it. Ahhh.... that gives me a strange, uncommon sense of peace in my spirit. Thanks Bev!

And Antique Mommy always manages to jerk a tear from at least one of my eyes. This post did it for sure. I read it during the Christmas season and I am still thinking about it - a sure sign that it reached the depths of my heart. The tender moments of motherhood are so meaningful and I always admire that AM captures and illustrates them so beautifully through her words. I wish I had done a better job of capturing those moments in my own life when my kids were so little.

I hope you enjoy these links as much as I have.

The One Day Way

2010-01-10T07:57:00.006-07:00

Update - Wow, being it is Sunday I didn't check my email until this evening. I am happy to announce that the winner of The One Day Way is my very own sister, Lisa, who lives in North Dakota! Congratulations Lisa - I will put the book in the mail tomorrow!

Many times the fresh new start that January brings is to our plans to lose weight. Waterbrook Press sent me a book to review and I would like to take the opportunity to share it with you.

I have struggled with weight for many years and I do not believe there is a solution or weight loss program that will work magic. To me the key to success is a lifestyle change - and that is major. I don't like diet plans or formulas that guarentee that you will lose X amount of weight in X amount of time. It's all a gimmick in my opinion.

That is why I liked this book - The One Day Way. It is a practical approach that doesn't offer any magic recipes or techniques. Instead it shares mostly about how to "think" about a diet. How to live it. One day at a time.

Author Chantel Hobbs breaks the chains of past diet debacles and frees readers from unrealistic goals. She teaches daily fitness tasks that develop into lasting habits. By focusing energy and attention on doing the right things every day, she frees readers to achieve their weight-loss goals one day at a time.

I’ve got great news for you: You are about to feel better and look better beginning today! Today is truly a new opportunity for you to reach your weight loss goals. No, you won’t fit into your “skinny jeans” today, but I’m going to show you how each day will get you closer to that goal.

Yesterday’s mistakes are gone so let them go. You can’t control tomorrow, so stop worrying about it. Today is your opportunity to lose weight, get strong, and look great. It won’t happen overnight, but you can build a new life by changing your actions immediately and I’m here to show you how to make the changes that will create the new lifestyle you dream of: body, mind, and spirit. Best of all, you will start celebrating right away!

Come on, my friend. Let’s get started! By opening this book, I’ll show you how to unlock every tool you need to lose weight and get fit —and stay that way for the rest of your life. Success can be yours, what are you waiting for?

Chantel

The One-Day Way produces lasting results by taking you back to basics. No more complicated weight-loss strategies. No more expensive diet plans that achieve only temporary results. Instead, you will lose weight and get fit with Chantel Hobbs’s simple, high-energy meal plans and her at-home program for cardio exercise and strength training. She will teach you how to change the way you think, which leads to new actions. Before you know it you will be strong, fit, and healthy. All it takes is doing things differently for twenty-four hours—and then repeating it.

The One-Day Way gives you everything you need to lose weight and get fit in body, mind, and spirit:

* Break free from past dieting defeats
* Learn a realistic, life-changing way to measure success
* Change the way you think so you can change your life
* Translate your dreams into goals, and your goals into lasting achievements
* Get strong with thirty-one simple exercises, no fancy equipment required
* Take advantage of ten ways to eat better while you lose weight

By focusing on food, faith, and fitness, Chantel shows you not only how to lose weight, but how to build the new life you were designed to live. You don’t have to wait any longer. The One-Day Way gives you all the tools for success, starting right now.

Author Bio:

The author of Never Say Diet and The Never Say Diet Personal Fitness Trainer, Chantel Hobbs is a motivational speaker, life coach, personal trainer, marathon runner, wife, and mother of four whose story has been featured on Oprah, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Fox & Friends, the 700 Club, and the covers of People and First magazines. She appears weekly on two fitness-themed radio programs and promotes her One-Day Way Learning System on television. Visit Chantel at ChantelHobbs.com for fitness updates and coaching tips.

[For more information about this book, visit the publisher's web site.]

Note: A copy of this book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing was kind enough to send me another copy of this book for a give away on my blog. So the first person who emails me their mailing address to rgryan(at)nnu(dot)edu will be sent a copy. Good luck!

2010

2010-01-02T09:29:00.011-07:00

2010. It sounds like a sci-fi movie doesn't it? Do you say Two Thousand Ten or Twenty Ten? It doesn't just roll off the tongue like 1990 or 1978 or one of those years.

I remember when I was in the sixth grade one of our math assignments was to figure out how old we would be in the year 2000. I remember thinking that the year 2000 would be scary and unknown and we might be flying around in saucers like the Jetson's did and seeing each other on a screen when we talked on the phone. (Well, I guess with Skype that last part came true.) And then when I realized I would be 42 in the year 2000 I felt better because I couldn't imagine ever getting that old.

Well, it came faster than I ever imagined it and I've already passed it up by a whole decade. Ouch!

Personally I am glad to close the door on 2009. It wasn't a very happy year for me. Our family was dealt some pretty tough situations - things that are really, really hard and painful. For some reason 2009 became the year of broken marraiges among our friends and family and let me tell you that divorce doesn't just ruin a marraige - it ruins everything around it. It ruins relationships between parents and kids and friends and family. I understand now why God says in Malachi that He hates divorce. I hate it too. It is completely and totally devastating and we are still reeling from much of it. Dealing with our kids moving to Peru was hard and then we had to face another difficult circumstance in our family that completely knocked us to the ground and to be honest it took me some time to decide if I wanted to get back up again.

But the good thing about starting fresh each year is also knowing that God is able. We don't walk in despair - we walk in Hope - and His mercies are new every morning. They are not limited or measured. So as I turn my calendar page to a new and fresh beginning, in my heart I find myself anticipating what God is going to do this year. How is He going to work? Who's lives are going to be changed? What miracles am I going to witness? I would love to see some miracles!

I decided to pray for a word for the year - like so many of you do. I was a little afraid to do so because it reminds me of the time I prayed for patience. God gave me lots of things to practice on to develop the virtue and I determined NEVER to do that again! So I kept thinking what if He gives me a word like that. As I prayed, one word kept coming to mind and because it's not a word I use in my vocabulary, I suspected it was my word for the year. To be honest I don't even truly understand what the word means. My word for the year is - Serenity. I have to admit that my first thought was "Yikes - does that mean I'm going to keep having all kinds of trials so I can practice being serene?" I looked it up in the dictionary and it said

serenity
n 1: a disposition free from stress or emotion [syn: repose, quiet,
placidity, tranquillity, tranquility]
2: the absence of mental stress or anxiety [syn: peace, peacefulness,
peace of mind, repose, heartsease, ataraxis]

Sounds like a good place to be. The antonym to serenity is agitation. Yeah, I know all about that word. So I'm curious to see what God has in store for me this year. I'll keep you posted.

On another note, 2010 has already brought some changes to our home. I am free to share this information with you now although we have known it for a few weeks. As you know our kids came home from Peru in November for a visit through the holidays. They were scheduled to go back on this Tuesday. However, they have made the decision to not go back. At all. Ever. And I'm sure you are thinking that I am doing the Happy Dance and am delirious with excitement.

And you would be wrong.

I know. I makes no sense.

It has actually been quite difficult to watch them work through the process of making this decision. They are staying because their house never did sell and it was a matter of facing foreclosure or staying and taking care of their responsibility. They chose the latter but it involves so much confusion and frustration and wondering why they felt God called them to go only to have to cut their contract short. They still have parts of their hearts in Peru and are just so confused. My mom always said when your kids are little they have little problems and when they are big they have big problems. She was so right. I have just been praying that God will give them peace with their decision. A place of serenity. (Hmmmmm.....there's that word I never use.) We are so proud of them. Just being willing to give up everything they had and go to a place they had never been proves how much they are willing to follow their Lord.

Don't get me wrong - I AM happy to have them home and be with sweet little Tyler. But right now it feels a little selfish to feel that way. They are going to be living with us for a while because they have renters in their house that are paying part of the mortgage and they need to keep it that way to get caught up. We are having lots of wonderful time with them and our grandson. Michelle was able to get her job back and it looks like Brad will be getting his back too. In this economy - that is nothing short of a miracle. God has rained down blessing after blessing upon them since making their decision and I can't help but feel it is His way of telling them He is proud of them and He loves them. I don't know the answers to all the questions - I am ready to put this all in the past and move on to a new day. I pray they will soon be there too.

Today I am going to take down the rest of Christmas that remains in the house. As much as I love the beautiful decorations - I also love the clean and roomy feeling that putting it all away gives.

It's a new day. It's time to move on.

I am going to look over my pattern books and supplies and lay out a plan of what I want to make next. I have been knitting for months now and I feel its time to switch back to quilting for a while.

I am determined to focus more on my writing this year. I don't think I have shared yet that I was published for the very first time in December. I have to admit it was quite a thrill to see my name in print and read my very own byline. My plan is to try to get published more in magazines to help build my resume so that a book publisher will be more likely to look at my work. I have a good start on my book and it is time to get it done. My goal is to attend another writer's conference and meet with more publishers. Maybe this year?

So it's time to close the door on the past and step confidently into today. And tomorrow. And the day after. There will be lots of good and happy and there will inevitably be times of sad and frustration, but of this we can be sure - God will walk each step of the way guiding us with His great hand of love. And knowing that is enough.

Happy 2010!