Aiden is 7

Happy birthday, Aiden!

When a grandchild turns 7, it's a treat to go to Grammy & Poppop's house for an overnight and all day excursion. Aiden turned 7 on Saturday, April 17, so I left work early on Monday and went to get him. He had been eager to come over and had been packed for a month. He forgot the list of things he wanted to do, but we were able to make up a new one.

1. watch a movie (The Fox and the Hound)2. draw

3. read books

4. ride bikes

5. make a carrot cake

All too soon, it was time to return him to his parents and siblings. But we stayed and had pizza with the family. His Lindsay grandparents, as well as cousins and an aunt and uncle also joined us for the celebration.Aiden was the first boy in our family after raising 3 daughters, then having a granddaughter. I was so excited to finally have a grandson that I went out and bought a toy tool set, some trucks and balls. Aiden is not a rough and tumble boy, though. He's quiet and sensitive, considerate, helpful and generous - very pleasant to have around. (He's cute, too!)On Wednesday night, we had another Ladies Night Out at our church. There were 130 women who attended our 2nd annual Tea. The ladies who helped in the planning outdid themselves with the decorations to make it look like spring. And the food was delicious, too. Our speaker was a lady who had gone through 2 different cancers. She had just started chemo for breast cancer when she found out she also had endometrial cancer. She was an excellent speaker - a wonderful evening.It's hard for me to get to sleep after these evenings. They're so exciting and get the adrenaline going so that it's difficult to unwind and relax when I get home. I was still tossing and turning well past midnight. I think the adrenaline was still in overdrive today because I felt good, not a bit tired. We'll see how I feel tomorrow! What goes up must come down.

A New Hobby

My job has changed a lot in the last 18 years. When I started, I didn't have a computer, but did all the typing on a typewriter. Thankfully, it was electric! Over time, a computer was added to the office, then the copier became more sophisticated and precise. I learned all kinds of things, including power point, excel, word and publisher. We print all our own letterhead and envelopes, brochures and literature in the office on a copier, laser printers and a high speed duplicator.

Five to six years ago, a young lady joined our office staff with a bent toward graphic arts. She worked part time in the office while working toward a degree in graphic design. After she got her degree, she started working full time and has added quite a professional touch to our brochures. I learned a lot from watching her and asking her questions, but I was pretty limited in what I could do myself. So I decided to take an online course in photo shop from Burlington County College. I've completed 10 classes out of 12 and have learned a lot. The photo shop program is a powerful one and I'm only scratching the surface with what I've learned so far. But it's been fun experimenting.

In one of my assignments, I had to take a picture (that was provided) and make some changes/enhancements. This particular picture was taken with the light in back of the subject so the facial features were too dark. But in photo shop, that can be fixed:

Voila!

Or you can put borders on or in your picture:

Or you make it a black and white picture, leaving just red!

So now I had an idea on one of my own pictures.
These pansies are so pretty and cheerful,
but there is too much brown around them.

Hmmm...well, that's the general idea, but it's not centered. I think it's back to the drawing board! It looks like I might know just enough to be dangerous!

In case anyone cares...

Things I love:
(besides God & family)

1. the color RED
2. spring
3. a clean, neat & organized house
4. all my friends
5. routine & quiet evenings at home



Things I hate:

1. the color gray
2. pollen and dust
3. messiness
4. onion grass
5. politics

Easter Sunday

It was a beautiful day of worshiping the risen Christ in church with fellow believers and playing with family at home on a lovely spring day.

After church we had a non-traditional dinner of salmon on the grill, orzo pasta salad, Caesar's salad, chocolate chip pumpkin bread, rolls and apple crisp with ice cream. Christian and Ricky hid a couple dozen eggs and the kids hunted around the yard for them.

playing games with Poppop

Dawn and Tommy were not with us because they were with Tommy's family. But Dawn and Kira stayed overnight on Saturday into Sunday at our house because of her directing the choir in all the Easter services. So we got to see all our daughters with their husbands and children in one day.

what a happy girl

Putting the holy back in the holi-day

I've heard it said we shouldn't call it "Easter" because the word came from "Ishtar" who was the pagan goddess of fertility. Well, there are a lot of similarities not only in the way the words sound, but also in the symbols and pictures used to promote the holiday. But I contend that God is the originator of the idea of spring and resurrection and the world has always been the imitator and distorter of God's ideas.

So I'm not going to boycott Easter with its bunnies, chicks and chocolate. Instead, I'm going to allow the holiday to remind me of the empty cross and grave. I think God was very creative in timing the cross and resurrection in the spring. What a beautiful picture - after the despair and darkness of the cross (winter) comes the glorious hope of the resurrection (spring).

Our pastor likes to say at Christmas time: "We need to put the holy back in the holiday." Holidays originally meant holy days. And certainly Christmas and Easter are both gifts from God for us to remember Him and His work on our behalf.

It's a beautiful day today - Good Friday. I had a day off work and spent the morning working in the yard and gardens. Andy and I worked together a little until his back couldn't stand it any more. We cleaned off the deck and raked out dead leaves from the gardens. A friend gave me some miniature irises that I planted in a spot that needed something.

After lunch I took my lounge chair and spent an hour relaxing on the deck in the sun. This was the view from my chair:

I was delighted to notice that the lilacs I planted last summer are getting green and budding and even putting out new little shoots.

I can’t deny it and have no wish to: my favorite time of the year is SPRING. The earth is filled with your love, O Lord. (Psalm 119:64)

Signs of Spring

Sandals

PedicureFlowersI planted these pansies last fall and they made it through the winter to cheer up our spring. They were undaunted by all the snow Andy piled on them when he shoveled off the walks.

RobinWe are very glad to have winter behind us, hopefully, to stay FAR behind. Andy is in a lot of pain from his back. We think it started from all the shoveling he did this winter. It has gotten progressively worse until Monday when he could hardly even walk. He went to the doctor, had some x-rays done, and the prognosis is a bulging disk. Apparently a nerve is being pinched which is causing numbness down his leg, on top of pain when he sits or walks or stands - not much relief unless he lies down, and even then, it has to be in a certain position. I feel bad for him...it's hard to see him so incapacitated.

Counting my blessings

1. I'm very thankful that the long cold winter is over ~ at least for a day or two! Today was very spring-like with greening grass, blue skies, robins busily flitting about, swelling buds on the trees, radiant warming sun.

With the forecast predicting warm weather (in the 70's) the rest of the week, I anticipate the flood waters receding.

Our "little" pond

2. I'm thankful for my health. It's a shame we sometimes have to experience sickness before we realize just how good it feels to feel good. All of a sudden, last Sunday evening, I came down with a doozy of a bad cold. I went to work on Monday for an hour and a half, then home to bed for the rest of the day. I also lounged around and rested all day Tuesday. But even though I came down hard, it didn't last and I was back to work as usual on Wednesday, working the rest of the week.

3. I'm thankful for the pastors and people I work with. There are 6 pastors on staff at our church and each of them is a pleasure to work with. On March 3 & 4, we all went away on a staff retreat to Sandy Cove Ministries Conference Center in NorthEast, MD. All their wives and kids went, too. It was such a good time to relax and just be together, something that is rare in our busy lives of ministering to others.

The view from our hotel window - the Chesapeake Bay

Playing together

4. I'm thankful for our family. Although I've known for several weeks, Amy just announced to the rest of the family that she is pregnant with baby #3. That will make 9 grandchildren for us. How exciting. Our oldest grandchild, Grace, just turned 9 years old. When the kids turn 7, we're inviting them to spend an overnight with us to do whatever they want. I was intending to get Grace closer to her birthday, but had to put it off because of being sick last week. So this past Monday, I left work early and drove up to get her. When we got back, she helped me make dinner. She had made up a list of things she wanted to do and we were able to cross everything off the list and add a few more. (We hadn't had eat ice cream on the list, but did that anyway!) We had her all day Tuesday, leaving the house around 4:00 pm, then driving to C & C's for dinner and dessert with the family. She is a delight to be with.

Playing free cell and getting her hair done

Taking a hike on water logged trailsWow - a stretch of trail with no water!

finding treasures along the way

a certain 9 year old is tired

what a candle!

5. Along with family, I'm specifically thankful for my husband. He is so good to me, encouraging and loving me sacrificially. He is a blessing to me and an example of Christ's unconditional love.

6. Above all, I'm so thankful for the salvation I enjoy in Christ. His divine power has given me everything I need for life and godliness.