John Mayer - Heart of Life with additional lyrics, MSG

The Heart of Life is good...

Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now (Live, 1970)

Something I used to listen to and play on the piano.

Dennis the Menace

This is one of the reasons we never pretended that Santa Claus was real,
we wanted our kids to believe that God is real. I understand that some
won't agree with me but it's my opinion and I can live with it. We tried
to do the best we knew how with our children. I'm all for fantasy and
make-believe and pretend but I want those things to be in a different
catagory, not grouping God with myths and fables.

God Is Like This

I cannot see the wind at all
Or hold it in my hand,
And yet I know there is a wind
Because it swirls the sand.
I know there is a wondrous wind
Because I glimpse its power
Whenever it bends low a tree
Or sways the smallest flower.

And God is very much like this,
Invisible as air,
I cannot touch or see Him, yet
I know that He is there
Because I glimpse His wondrous works
And goodness everywhere.
~Rowena Bennett~

Tagged

I have been "chosen"~ er~ tagged by Crown Princess to reveal 7 random things about myself.
1. I wanted be an archaeologist when I was little.
I loved King Tut and the pyramids.
2. I loved "Heidi" when I was little, I so wanted to live
in Switzerland.

3. We celebrated our 30th anniversary on a ship in Alaska.


4. I love Orangina. I got these glasses
at a cafe in Paris. We asked if we could
buy them but the waiter let us take them.

5. I love Paris!!!! We visited Paris in 2000.
This is my daughter, Melissa, and me.

6. I love Switzerland. I would live there if I could.

7. I am part German on my mother's side of the family.
"Kimmel" is the surname. This is a picture of my mother
and me in Heidelberg, Germany in 2000.

Wordless Wednesday-"Day and Night"

View other Wordless Wednesday participants over at Blue Momma

Sting

I love this song. I play it over and over when I am driving. It's so beautiful.

My Offspring

~Autumn Fires~
In the other gardens
And all up the vale,
From the autumn bonfires
See the smoke trail!
Pleasant summer over
And all the summer flowers,
The red fire blazes,
The grey smoke towers.
Sing a song of seasons!
Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer,

Fires in the fall!~Robert Louis Stevenson~

These are my babies, how time flies!

Lifehouse - Storm (album version)

~I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship~~Louisa May Alcott~

Fun Monday

This Fun Monday's host is Deborah, The Humble Housewife. She wants to know what holiday tradition we celebrate every year. Here at our house Thanksgiving has always been our favorite holiday. We just can't wait for the turkey and dressing. Through the years we have celebrated this holiday at our parent's house, usually taking turns between my parents and my husband's. This sometimes included traveling to my dad's house in Texas. We haven't got a tradition that I can think of that has been consistent other than to be thankful. A few years when our children were young and home-schooled, we would put a kernel of dried corn on the each person's plate to represent the pilgrim's and Indian's first Thanksgiving. We would then take turns telling what we were thankful for. Ooh, ended that with a preposition, sorry. There is one recipe that I learned from my mother-in-law that is a tradition at our house every Thanksgiving. I had never had this before I married my hubby. His mom made it every year and so I began that tradition. It is Waldorf Salad. Here is the recipe:
Classis Waldorf Salad
2 cups diced apple
1 cup 1-inch julienne celery sticks
1/2 cup broken walnuts
1 cup minature marshmallows
1/4 cup mayonaisse
1 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
dash salt
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 cup seedless grapes, cut in halves
Combine apple, celery, grapes, marshmallows, and nuts. Blend mayonaisse, sugar, lemon juice, and salt. Fold in whipped cream; fold into apple mixture; chill.
I'm going to have to admit that I make the mixture sweeter by adding more sugar than a tablespoon of sugar. If you make the mayonaisse mixture first in a jar and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator to blend, it seems to taste better. This is such a pretty salad and goes right along with the turkey and dressing at the table. It's not like a dessert but just like serving cranberry sauce with everything else.

P.S. I guess another tradition for me has been to make the pumpkin and pecan pies for Thanksgiving. I do that wherever we go.
P.P.S. I thought of something else. On New Year's Eve, my husband plays a Jimi Hendrix rendition of Auld Lang Syne with his guitar and his Marshall stack for all the town to hear. We live way out in the country so the town would be lucky to hear it on a cold, clear night. We also save big fireworks from the Fourth of July and set those off at midnight.

Little Women

An excerpt from Little Women:
"O Jo, it's not so bad as that?" cried Laurie.
"Yes, it is. She doesn't know us, she doesn't even talk about the flocks of green doves, as she calls the vine leaves on the wall. She doesn't look like my Beth, and there's nobody to help us bear it; Mother and Father both gone, and God seems so far away I can't find Him."
As the tears streamed fast down poor Jo's cheeks, she stretched out her hand in a helpless sort of way, as if groping in the dark, and Laurie took it in his, whispering with a lump in his throat: "I'm here. Hold on to me, Jo dear!"
She could not speak, but she did "hold on," and seemed to lead her nearer to the Divine arm which alone could uphold her in her trouble. Laurie longed to say something tender and comfortable, but no fitting words came to him, so he stood silent, gently stroking her bent head as her mother used to do. Soon she dried the tears which had relieved her, and looked up with a grateful face. "I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship." ~Louisa May Alcott~

John Mayer

No way November

Live 8 - Beautiful Day

It's a beautiful day! Don't let it get away.

It's a Beautiful Day

It's a beautiful day today. The leaves are beginning to change on my Bradford pear, maple, and oak trees.
The temperatures are in the low sixties in the day and cooler at night.

Of course we all know about photosynthesis and that chlorophyll is what gives plants their green color. I found a little site that tells about this color change in leaves. It is Science Made Simple. The yellows and oranges are covered up with the green until it disappears in the fall. The bright reds and purples in leaves come from glucose trapped in the leaves after the photosynthesis stops. The brown color in oak leaves comes from wastes left in the leaves. They make a beautiful display of color for us to enjoy. There is a season for everything.

Byrds -

There is a season for everything.

For Everything There is a Season

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
A time to be born and a time to die,
A time to plant and a time to uproot,
A time to kill and a time to heal,
A time to tear down and a time to build,
A time to weep and a time to laugh,
A time to mourn and a time to dance,
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
A time to embrace and a time to refrain,
A time to search and a time to give up,
A time to tear and a time to mend,
A time to be silent and a time to speak,
A time to love and a time to hate,
A time for war and a time for peace.
What does the worker gain from his toil? I have seen the burden God has
laid upon men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also
set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has
done from the beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men
than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink,
and find satisfaction in all his toil--this is the gift of God. I know that everything
God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it.
God does it so that men will revere Him. Ecclesiastes 3: 1-14

NaBloPoMo

I began last year looking for some kind of forum or discussion board for women. My husband has joined several guitar forums and discussion boards and has met many people both here and internationally. They discuss guitars, amps, music, and life in general. He buys, sells, and trades pedals, guitars, and amps. He enjoys this pasttime very much. So I thought one day I would look around to see what was available to my interests such as sewing, music, and cooking. I could not find any discussion groups or forums! I did not know a thing about blogging. I had heard the word "blog" but didn't know what it meant. I tried out a myspace page but it was not what I wanted so I deleted it. My kids did not think it was cool for their mom to have a myspace and it wasn't any fun for me either. The only part I liked was the ability to post pictures and to write a blog. That was last year. In August this year, I read an article in the newspaper about "Confessions of a Pioneer Woman". I went to the computer and looked her up and began to read. It was so interesting. I read every day and caught myself up. I really was enjoying this. I began to notice the comments of some people were highlighted and if you clicked on their name, you could go to their blog. I was amazed at how fun this was getting to be. I read several people's blogs and began to think "why don't I do this" or rather "how do I do this?" So I asked Janet "How do you do this?" She very nicely gave me some help and I started a blog on blogspot immediately. I am still learning some new things and I expect eventually I will get some help to modify my blog and make it more "me" but this is how I began blogging. I am finding it a wonderful outlet for expression. Posting pictures and writing my feelings and interests down is liberating. I am so glad I found blogging. I hope to continue many years.

Wordless Wednesday-"Wynona" Judd or Ryder?

Home Schooling and Counted Cross Stitching

I used to love to cross stitch. I haven't done it in years, not since my children were young. Melissa in NZ and Nin are inspiring me to get busy and do some sewing again. I used to sew my daughters and my dresses, all matching of course! That was back in the day. I cross stitched this little Precious Moments boy and girl when I was pregnant with my first child.

I loved these blocks and wooden toys and books as much as my children did.

The Complete Tales of Beatrice Potter, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, the Little House on the Prairie, and Little Visits with God. We had so many good books. I used Ramalda Spaulding's Writing Road to Reading and Saxon Math and Cuisinart rods and Christian Liberty Academy History and Language. And so much more...

These were good times.

God put a smile upon my face

Laughter does good like a medicine!