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.
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.
I can't believe our oldest grandchild is 9 today...
only one more year in single digits.
This picture was snapped when we were on vacation
in New York state (I stand corrected - this was actually in Maine). Grace was 3.
She was going to be a flower girl in Amy's wedding but had a bad cold and couldn't attend. She showed up after the wedding in her dress and crown of flowers with a brave little smile.
She did get to be in Dawn's wedding the following year,
a little older...
practicing with Mommy with hair styles.
Back in the days when candy was a no-no. (ha ha)
One of my favorite pictures.
She is a delight and adds a beautiful dimension to our family dynamic.
It's been a long cold winter. There have been no moments of getting outside to trim bushes or pick up sticks and debris in the yard because there are mounds of snow in all the gardens. Even the yard has been too deep with snow until the last couple of days, but I still can't walk around out there because the melting has created huge ponds. Fortunately, our house sits a little higher than the rest of the yard, but it looks like a castle with a moat all around it! And the water table is so high right now that we have little streams in our basement running toward the drains.
So cabin fever has fueled my desire to do something besides reading after dinner. I've taken several trips to Jo-Ann Fabrics and searched the web for fabric and yarn. I learned to crochet while I was in college and made quite a few sweaters, scarves, hats, blankets, afghans, etc., but it's been many long years since I've taken up hook and yarn. In fact, a couple of years ago, I gave all my crochet hooks to one of my daughters.
This time around, my first attempt was a child's hat. Christy made quite a few of these hats and I liked the pattern, so I bought the pattern for myself and attempted it. Here it is on a very cute little model!I also made a scarf for myself. It seems like I haven't lost the touch!I think Andy has been a little bored, too. He is working on our "yellow" bathroom, the one off the foyer. When we built that part of the house, we put in a door from that bathroom into Mom & Dad's bedroom. However, in all the 5 years that they've been here now, they never used that door. In fact, they put a curtain on that wall in their bedroom and placed a bureau in front of it. So we decided to take out the door and replace the shower stall with a full bath tub with shower. It seemed more practical for our upstairs guests. The shower stall was so small that even I was uncomfortable when I used it. Several weeks ago, Andy took out the door and closed off the space.
Then this last past Saturday, Andy and a plumber friend took out the shower and put in the tub. The water is hooked up and it's usable, but there are still some finishing touches to be done.
Before The door is gone.
new tub
Several months ago, the girls decided they wanted to make an effort to get together once a month so they could visit and the cousins could play together. In January we hung out at Christy's one day. February got away from us, but today we went up to the gym where Amy works and spent a couple of hours there. Unfortunately, 3 of Christy's kids were sick during the night and she wasn't able to join us. After we ate a nice lunch that Amy provided, we spent the rest of our time at the pool. Andy and Amy went in with Chase. He loved it. Amy took Joanna in the water, but she kept trying to climb out of the tube she was floating in. And Kira didn't like the water either. In fact, she had an allergic reaction to the chemicals in the pool and her little tummy got all red and itchy.
It was so much fun being together. Chase and Joanna were so excited when we arrived, then with all the swimming and playing, I heard from the mommies that all the kids fell asleep in the car on their way home. And I confess that I closed my eyes and slept for about 15 minutes, too.
Even as much as I've enjoyed getting back to crocheting and have a couple more projects I'd like to work on, I'm ready for spring. Can't wait for warmer weather and a few more colors besides white, brown and gray.
As our girls were growing up, we were constantly reading to them and encouraging them to read books on their own. This love of books developed their own writing skills. I still have some of the things they've written and get lots of warm fuzzies when I go through the files and read again what they wrote when they were 9 or 10 years old.
Here's a poem Christy wrote when she was 10: Monopoly, monopoly, monopoly; oh, how I love you so. You are so plain and simple, as everybody knows. Oh, I love to play you a lot because you are so fun; I like to play you with people like Sis, Dad and Mum. I like to get Boardwalk and Park Place because I get a lot of money, but when other people get them, it is not quite so funny, funny, funny. I do not like to land on "income tax" or "luxury tax," too. And when I do land on them, I start crying, "boo, hoo, hoo." Jail, does anybody like to go to jail, jail, jail? No, I do not think so, because when you go in, you start looking frail. This is all I can write now of Monopoly, I will have to leave you now to go play Monopoly!
I sent a copy of the poem to Parker Brothers and actually got a letter back from them thanking Christy for the very complimentary letter. The person who wrote said she enjoyed the poem, and they passed it around the office for everyone to read.
I found a diary that Amy wrote in. Here is one day's entry:
Dear Diary. Today is Thursday, the day I play with Kristen and Mom is babysitting. And of course, I'm doing my school work. Help. I wish that when I was born, I would know how to do school work, then I wouldn't have to go to school. That would be great. Love, Amy.
Dawn was the prolific writer. I have a stack of her "books." She was very imaginative, putting a price on the cover of her book, a picture on the front. On the back page, she did a summary of the story with a hook to pull you into reading. For The Missing Mouse story, she wrote: "Missing mouse is about a mouse that has suddenly disappeared. This is a case for Big Cheeze. This story is very funny and surprising at times. This book has a surprise ending. I liked this book so I think you will too." Read this book and find out for yourself how funny it is." She also included on the inside back page a bio of the author. [Dawn Wallin was born in 1979 on February 3 in Voorhees, NJ and is now 10 years old. This is her third book. She likes to read and write a lot, and we hope that she will continue to do this.] Here are some of the titles for her stories: Soccer Threat, Missing Mouse, The Climbing Tree, The Bully, The Missing Mouse Caper, etc.Sometimes the girls worked together at concocting a story or developing a play. And they also liked to involve neighbor kids and friends invited over from church on a Sunday afternoon. They also liked to use a typewriter I had at the time (in the days before computers). And how many plays did Andy and I get to watch through the years?! It warms a parent's heart to see her daughters working and playing together harmoniously and enjoying sisterly camaraderie.
I'm very thankful for each of our girls and that they love each other and love being together. What a blessing.
Book love. It will make your hours pleasant to you as long as you live. (Anthony Trollope)
I love to read. I read everything that crosses my path: cereal boxes, pasta packages, every page of every book I pick up, including the preface and introduction, acknowledgments, back fly leaf, author bio, etc. etc. etc.
Several years ago, I received a book, Honey for a Woman's Heart by Gladys Hunt, from Christy as a Christmas present.What a great resource that book has been for me. The book is divided up into chapters: Nonfiction, Classics, Genre Fiction, Biography, Poetry, Spiritual Growth Books. In each chapter, she lists books that fit those categories.
Our town library has a great resource. I can choose a book I want to read, then go to the library's website and see if they have it. If they do, I put in my request and in a day or two, they call me to tell me it's waiting for me to pick it up. If they don't have it, I can put in an inter-library loan request, and they'll get that one for me, too. What a deal!
So here is my first book report in a series I intend to do. This book was actually recommended to me by a fellow lover of books - Scottish Chiefs by Jane Porter. The language she uses in the book is so descriptive and rich. I was hooked by the first paragraph:
Bright was the summer of 1296. The war which had desolated Scotland was then at an end. Ambition seemed satiated; and the vanquished, after having passed under the yoke of their enemy, concluded they might wear their chains in peace. Such were the hopes of those Scottish noblemen who, early in the preceding spring, had signed the bond of submission to a ruthless conqueror, purchasing life at the price of all that makes life estimable, - liberty and honor.
This is the story of William Wallace, the people's hero of Scotland. I did not like the Hollywood film version of the story at all. However, the book showed Wallace's character in a way that touched my heart. He was forgiving and gracious toward his enemies, as well as loyal to his country and integrous in his actions. A hero is sure to have enemies who are jealous of his popularity, even at the expense of the security of the nation. But Wallace had faith in God and didn't take vengeance on those who were out to destroy him.
Here is another example of the beautiful language of the story as told by Jane Porter.
After having traversed many a weary rood, the venerable minstrel of the house of Wallace, exhausted by fatigue, sat down on the declivity of a steep craig. The burning beams of the midday sun now beat upon the rocks, but a few berries from the brambles, which knit themselves over the path, with a draught of water from a friendly burn, offered themselves to revive his enfeebled limbs. Insufficient as they appeared, he took them, and strengthened by half an hour’s rest, again he grasped his staff to pursue his way.
Do you know what a "rood" is? Or, what is the meaning of "declivity?"
There are many things about reading that broadens the mind. For one thing, you use your imagination. For many of us, TV has robbed us of the ability to use our imaginations. All the images we see on the screen are doing the work for us. But they are actually someone else's ideas of what the story should look like, not mine.
For another, you are able to go places and see things you wouldn't otherwise be able to experience. Books can also take years, where a movie is only 2-3 hours. How can a plot or character be realistically developed in that short amount of time? Some movies do a good job, but it's still unrealistic. Real life is not lived in 2-3 hours, or 1/2 hour as in a sit-com.
I was not only inspired by the life of William Wallace, but also gained a new understanding of the conflict between Scotland and England at the beginning of the 1300's. It was a pleasant way to learn history.
All anyone can talk about right now is SNOW. The news talks about it...did you know that currently all 50 states have snow on the ground? Yes, even Hawaii on the tops of mountains. And we're not talking about global warming anymore, now it's "climate change." Does that mean we're going to have to worry about moving toward another ice age?! Hmmm. Which could be worse, I wonder: burning up or freezing to death?
Well, here in our neck of the woods, we had neighbors who lost power in the Tuesday/Wednesday storm. But we stayed cozy and warm in our house. The winds were severe and many trees were uprooted and limbs were broken.
The snow is so deep that I couldn't walk around in our yard, so I ordered a pair of knee high boots. They arrived yesterday, so this morning I took a stroll around our property and down to the pond to see how things were. The top layer of snow was crusty in some spots and I could walk right on top of it. In other spots, it was powdery and soft and I broke through to the tops of my boots. It was quite an adventure! But I did get some pictures:
my new boots
huge tree at the pond - uprooted
ice skating, anyone?
or how about just relaxing by the pond?
a little snow cap on the sassafras tree
The sun shining the morning after the storm
We've received 71 inches of snow so far. And just think...the winter is not over yet. There are still 36 days till spring and sometimes our worst snowstorms are in March. Yikes! Where will we put it if we do get more?
Pedicure
Flowers
I 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.
We 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.
