Happy Blog Day!

The organizer of Blog Day would like us to share international links.
Here are a few that I visit and enjoy :o)

Looby Lou in Australia

Homeschooling in Ireland

Fluffa in France

Elizabethan Costume Not international but from a different time altogether.

Angry Chicken Also not international...but a talented artist that I thought you would enjoy visiting.

I hope you enjoy those sites. The last two are new to me as I just found them by following links. I can't wait to go back and see more of the items Miz Angry Chicken has created.

Thank you all for making blogging an especially enriching activity here at Quiet Life.
It wouldn't be as fun or interesting without your comments.

And just so I get some comments today...

The Question of the Day;

What toppings do you like on a hamburger?

In our house everyone eats their hamburgers with just ketchup.
Except me.

I'll take the works.

There is a little bar in Madison called The Village Bar.
They serve food ;o)
We think they have the best burgers in town.
I have mine with pickles, grilled onions, ketchup and a dark mustard (don't really know what kind of mustard it is, but it is a bit spicy and very good)

I rarely order a hamburger at a restaurant. But if you come to Madison, I highly recommend The Village Bar's burgers!

Ummm... burger...

Encourage one another,
Donna

Don't you think the spell checker on a blog....should recognize the word BLOG?

Beauty, Actually

....is all around.

Last night, as I came over a small hill, on the way home from Old Navy, I looked to the farm land to my right and thought, 'how beautiful'. Then I looked to my left and just above a small shopping center, I noticed the sky dotted was with petite puffy clouds.

And I thought Beauty, actually, is all around.


So here is an assignment, if you choose to accept it;
Take a picture of something beautiful within one mile of where you live.
Post it on your website or send the photo to me and I will post it for you.

Here is my email: booshay6@charter.net

Anything beautiful will do :o)

All skate!

Encourage one another,
Donna

I will post pictures that come in this morning right away. I will be gone for much of the afternoon and early evening (first soccer game of the season for Emma and the Tigers) but I will be back tonight hoping to find my inbox full of beautiful pictures from....all around.
Leave me a note if you post your beautiful image on your site.
Thanks!

Lea sends a photo of her backyard in rural North Carolina.



Thank you Lea! So pretty and wild.






Here is the field I mentioned earlier. Isn't it lovely?





Michele sends a picture of her beautiful Jack. Very close to home :o)






Hillary shares a dramatic Kansas sunset! Very nice!





The Texas sky from Amy...even bigger than the New Jersy sky :o)





Peggy's quiet dirt lane. Perfect for walking a dog!





Crissy's little bakers, baking puff pastry in the shape of pigs. Perfect!




MargaretWV sends us a picture of her BACKYARD! How about that view!





A surburban beauty in Arizona...thanks to Janet.





Melissa shares a lovely country road in Missouri.





Sometimes flowers are even more beautiful when they start as a seed in your own garden! Thank you, Samantha. What a sunny....flower!


How wonderful to come home tonight and find so much beauty in my inbox!
Thank you all for sharing!

xxxooo

Donna

Around the world Aug. 31st looks like 3108.
These numbers inspired a man to create Blog Day 2005.

Visit this website to learn more Blog Day 2005

I enjoy reading blogs from around the world. On Wednesday I will highlight five blogs that I think you will like...from around the world.

It's a small world after all :o)




Closer to home

Katie is such a picky eater, it drives me crazy.
Last night we went to a special ice cream store called Cold Stone.

You choose a flavor of ice cream and a topping. The workers mix it together for you.

Emma and I chose 'Birthday Cake' flavor and Katie chose chocolate with sprinkles.
As I was paying, Katie whispers to me, 'I don't like it.'

Honestly.

I try not to lose my cool...but this is very frustrating and wasteful.

And can you imagine me going to the ice cream store and telling her she couldn't have any ice cream because I know she will not like it.

Yeah, I can imagine the Madison Social Services taking me away and charging me with neglect.

Judge, she was buying ice cream for herself but wouldn't buy any for her little daughter.

And as they dragged me to the slammer I would be pleading,

'She wouldn't like it...she won't eat it...'


Okay. I get it. She doesn't care about food.
But how do I deal with this, practically?

Why am I such a slow learner about some things?

Should I have just shared?
Should we have left her home with her daddy?
Should I have chosen the flavor?

If you have a picky eater and have some good advice, I'd love to hear it.


Encourage one another,
Donna

p.s. Praying for those in the path of Katrina.

I just love the old hymns, the songs the whole congregation knows. In many of them I find rich theology, tradition and familiarity.


The Praise songs are often weak and better sung around a camp fire than in a church...

But here is Praise song that I love. It brings tears to my eyes. It shares some deep truths and just a little mushiness :o)

On Wednesday, the little band Emma plays with at church, played this for the teens.


Knowing You
by Graham Kendrick

"his song comes from words penned by the Apostle Paul while in jail, waiting execution. It touches the head and heart of the follower of Jesus Christ, because it lifts up our best friend as the most important "thing" in our lives."

All I once held dear, built my life upon,
all this world reveres and wars to own,
all I once thought gain I have counted loss,
spent and worthless now compared to this.

Knowing You, Jesus, knowing You.
There is no greater thing.
You're my all, You're the best, You're my joy,
my righteousness; and I love You, Lord.

Now my heart's desire is to know You more,
to be found in You and known as Yours,
to possess by faith what I could not earn,
all surpassing gift of righteousness.

Knowing You, Jesus, knowing You.
There is no greater thing.
You're my all, You're the best, You're my joy,
my righteousness; and I love You, Lord.

Oh, to know the pow'r of Your risen life,
and to know You in Your suffering,
to become like You in Your death,
My Lord, so with You to live and never die.

Knowing You, Jesus, knowing You.
There is no greater thing.
You're my all, You're the best, You're my joy,
my righteousness; and I love You, Lord.

Knowing You, Jesus, knowing You.
There is no greater thing.
You're my all, You're the best, You're my joy, my righteousness;
You're my all, You're the best, You're my joy, my righteousness;
You're my all, You're the best, You're my joy, my righteousness;
and I love You, Lord.

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. -- Philippians 3:7-11


Encourage one another,
Donna

As you may know, we do not have any children living nearby...
But Katie has found a playmate right next door.

It's Mia.

The jingle of her tags tells us that she is outside.
And the fact that she is a puppy means she is always willing to romp and play.





Katie and her girlfriend, Mia.


Gotta run...more later today,

Encourage one another,
Donna

The Friday Feast


Appetizer
Do you get excited when the season begins to change? Which season do you most look forward to?

Soup
Who was the first person you had a crush on?

Salad
Would you consider yourself to be strict when it comes to grammar and spelling? What's an example of the worst error you've seen?

Main Course
Who has a birthday coming up, and what will you give them as a gift?

Dessert
If you could have any new piece of clothing for free, what would you pick?






I remember watching the Monkees television show. (It debuted in 1966)
It was very silly. Peter Tork as my favorite.

He was my first little crush.

One day, when I was about 10 years old, I came home from the drugstore with a '16 magazine'.
My mother told me I couldn't read those magazines until I was 16.
Okay then... I never bought another one.

I did have a huge crush all thorough High School on Phil Russell of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Scour the papers, watch every game, crazy wild crush.
I even a picture of the two of us together.
My one moment with him...I was speechless...and dying of embarrassment.

Too bad we don't have a scanner. That picture is priceless!

I think our crushes date us, don't you?

Encourage one another,
Donna

p.s. Nod to Melene for the crush question...she was asking about crushes at her blog earlier this week and I thought it would be a fun question to ask here!

Morning!

Do you feel queasy when you wake up much earlier than usual?

Both Emma and I made our way to Old Navy this morning feeling like we were about to....um....hurl.

I told her that our bodies just weren't use to being upright at this time of day.
Hopefully she will feel better as the morning wears on.

As we waited outside the Old Navy we noticed three other cars arrive. They parked in the outer section of the parking lot. Then all three drivers emerged from their cars at the same time. They were all employees at Old Navy.
They park and wait for one another to walk to the store as a group.

Now isn't that sensible.
Made me kinda teary to see them taking care of one another.

*************

I bought the most glorious yarn last night.





It is just the softest worsted weight wool. Created by Lorna's Laces.

I am knitting a scarf with it. The pattern I am using is so easy yet it has a very nice look...and it does not curl!
I hate when my scarves curl.

The pattern I have says to cast on 23 stitches...but that was too thin.
So I cast on 29. (It needs to be an odd number)
I am using a size nine needle. (Anything around there will work :o)

Row One: Knit Two, Purl Two, until the last three stitches, Purl Two, Knit the last stitch.
Row Two: Repeat Row One.

This makes a very nice fat rib stitch.

Try it. You'll like it!

I found a picture of a completed 'Mistake Rib' scarf.

Click here to see it.

Purdy...and very easy!


Oh, and by the way, I threw a dress over my nightgown.
No problem :o)

Did you know, your comments cheer me along during the day?
Well, they do.

Thank you :o)

Encourage one another,
Donna

It's a sign.

God is definitely telling me NOT to clean the carpet.

Our new, only used once, carpet cleaner is kaput.

This is the second time this has happened.

We use a carpet cleaner once and the second time we drag that big boy out of the basement...it will. not. work.

Did you know that carpet cleaners, Bissell Carpet Cleaners, are made to work only one time?

Well. They are.

I called as asked the poor woman on the phone.

Her name was Joy.

I said, "What kind of appliance only works once?"

I don't think we will take it back and try this for a third time.

"What do you think I am, dumb or something?"



I am not meant to clean carpets.

It's clear to me.

Call it a sign, woman's intuition...or God sending me a messege...

Not gonna do it.

Exasperated in Wisconsin,
Donna

It's 5:51 and Emma and her dad have both headed to work.

This is quite normal for Patrick, but not for young Emma.

This morning in the dark, I heard her quietly going from her bedroom to the bathroom. Bump, bump went her door.

Quietly a thought came into my mind. It started as a thought and quickly became a small fear.

Emma would driving herself to work and therefore she would be getting out of the car, in that big dark parking lot, all by herself.

Nope.

This will not do.

"Emma," I call, "Can you park close?"

"No."

"Do you know how to hold you keys when you walk alone in the dark?"

"No."

think.think. think.

'Well, one of us will just go with her, it's just too unsafe.' I think to myself as I ease my way down the stairs.

'Emma, what time are you planning on leaving?'

'5:40'

'Patrick, can you follow her there?'

'No problem.'

Oh good. She will be as safe as we can keep her.



We let go pretty well...
Emma is very mature and most of me knows she would have been fine this morning.

(By the look Emma gave me, I could tell that she felt she would have been fine.
But I just gave her an extra hug and sighed, "It just might not be safe.")



My mother's intuition kicked in this morning, in the dark, telling me to keep her safe.

And so she is...safe.

Tomorrow morning Emma will work at 5:00 am.
I will be driving her.

Do you think I need to get dressed?


Encourage one another,
Donna

I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. (Psalm 4:8)

Last night, our internet host was down.
All night.
I did not like it one bit.


A letter from Matthew greeted me in the in-box this morning.
It was a very nice gift.

He is safe in Omaha.
Yeah!

Hey, Matthew! Guess what we had for dinner last night?Chop Suey.

We were shopping at Millers and Emma said,
"We can have chop suey now that Matthew's gone."
So we did.

********





Katie and I read The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton.
This was Katie's first time hearing the story. When the little house was stuck in the city she looks so unhappy. (Her front step is frowning a bit)

Katie says, "This is a sad story. She is sad. Look at her frown."
I say, " Maybe there will be a happy ending."

As I turn the last page Katie remarks,

"You were right! It does have a happy ending."

Yup....this is the age I was meant to teach :o)
It's right up my alley!
I know almost all of the answers!


Question of the day.

If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one ability or quality, what would it be?

Brought to you by Question of the Day

Oh... I know what I would like....

Answer in the comments :o)

Encourage one another,
Donna

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Sometimes change is so gradual that you hardly even notice it.
Sometimes it turns your world upside down.

Today I watch Emma drive off to Madison to begin her Biology class.
Last year I had to drive her. Last year it was chemistry.
Small changes. Good changes.

Today I watch Matthew load his car and head back to Omaha.
He is a fraction more prepared this year.
I think he is ready to be a student.
I hope.
More small changes, but very good changes.


I bet those of you with young children think sending a child off to college is a huge change.
And it is...
But we had a year where everything changed so dramatically that since then I have faced changes...with much less anxiety.

Here is a little run down of what changed starting Dec. 24th 1999.
Katie Grace was born. I was 42. Patrick was even older :o)
Patrick Jr. was applying to colleges which we had to visit.
Our bakery was given one month to vacate the building. Meaning it would have to be closed.
Husband looks for new employment.
Husband finds new employment in town three hours away. (Complete career change)
We put the house on the market.
Patrick Jr. graduates from High School. Class of 2000.
The next day, husband moves to Madison to start new job.
I stay home with three children, try to sell house, prepare oldest to go to college.
Drive Patrick to Omaha for college.
"Bye, honey. We love you. Have fun. Do your best."
Homeschool Matthew, Emma and Katie.
Visit with hubby on weekends.
Finally sell the house, six months after we put it on the market.
Say goodbye to many long time friends in Marinette and move to Madison in Jan. 2001.

What a year!

See how sending our boy to college was lost in all of the changes way back when.



It's true, I will miss having Matthew home with us.
He is like a big puppy. He wrestles with Katie, and keeps me company on the couch,
and he is always looking for food.

I have high hopes for him, tho.
He needs to grow and learn and figure out what his life is going to be about.

So, I will cheer him on the best I can from home :o)

Note to self:
Go buy a phone card.
Give to Matthew.

Note to Matthew:

Goodbye. We love you. Have fun. Do your best.

Be always coming home, Son.
Be always coming home.

Love,
Mom

I am comforted by life's stability, by earth's unchangeableness. What has seemed new and frightening assumes its place in the unfolding of knowledge. It is good to know our universe. What is new is only new to us.




Growth itself contains the germ of happiness.

_Pearl S. Buck

Encourage one another,
Donna

Week 35- Picture Book Preschool
Week One for Katie and me.

Sherry Early from Semicolon has written a reading program for young children.
She groups the books in themes, assigns a character trait and Bible verse and even suggests activities that go along with the theme.

This week's theme is Cities.
All seven books were found through our inter-library loan program.

Katie love The Big Green Pocketbook. (It is the story of a little girl and her mother taking the bus into the city and running errands.)
This is a very gentle, sweet story.

Sherry recommends taking a bus ride in the city and then writing a little story about it.

We will do this :o)

Thanks Sherry for your excellent and helpful product!


******

The Cancer Prevention book, Hershey Bar and movie were not on Sherry's list.
Just mine.

********

Thank for the fun comments yesterday!
I loved all of the quotes!
Well...maybe not the Napoleon Dynamite quote...but I'll bet that was the one that made little Janet smile :o)

Not that there's anything wrong with ND....I'm just so out of the loop on that one :o)


Encourage one another,
Donna

p.s. "Gimmie your tots."

Our little village sounded the tornado sirens three times last night.
Each time, the sun was shining and there was little to no rain.
What we did see was the most glorious hill of shaving cream clouds.



Feeling a little foolish we trotted to the basement only to wander back upstairs in ten minutes.

This morning we learn that those fabulous clouds were filled with tornadoes.
Big ones.
The tornadoes hit a town twenty miles to the east of us.
Many homes leveled, one person is dead, and many others hospitalized.

What a strange and sad night.


Friday Feast

Appetizer
Did you sleep good last night?

Soup
What is your current computer desktop image?

Salad
When was the last time you planted something, what was it and where did it go?

Main Course
What's your favorite condiment?

Dessert
Share a quote that you like, for whatever reason.


I'll put my answers in the comments.

Encourage one another,
Donna

"Both harder and easier than what we are trying to do....The real problem of the Christian life comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in. And so on, all day..."

-C.S. Lewis

This wonderful quote was spotted at Laney's sister's blog, Running with Sissors.
Laurie is a relatively new blogger...but she's a natural, just like her big sister.(Laurie is facing many changes and writes a very touching blog about it on Aug. 15th)
And ya know what, their mom blogs too! And she is funny and wise and has raised a super family, find her at Jersey Girl
(Check sidebar for Laney's link)


Now, back to that great quote. I would add fears and worries to the things that come rushing at me like wild animals each morning. But Mr. Lewis sends us in the right direction...

...listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter life come in...

I just love that....so much!


This quote brought a little tear yesterday, too.

Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. ~Christopher Robin

Well..that just breaks my heart.
Doesn't everyone need to hear those tender words whispered to them...
just once.


Always Remember,
Donna

From the Devotional Classic, A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie

(I don't want to take credit for anyone else's words...like last week when a few of you thought I had such wise words to say on serving...and it was Sally Clarkson speaking :o)

I'm more the editor-type than the deep-original-thinking-type.
I'm much better suited to point the way to those much wiser than me.)

"Lord of my life. whose law I fain would keep, whose fellowship I fain would enjoy, and whose service I would fain to be loyal, I kneel before Thee as Thou sendest me forth to the work of another day.

For this new day I give Thee humble thanks: for its gladness and its brightness: for its long hours waiting to be filled with joyous and helpful labour: for its open doors of possibility: for its hope of new beginnings.
Quicken in my heart, I beseech Thee, the desire to avail myself richly of this day's opportunity. Let me not break faith with any of yesterday's promises, nor leave unrepaired any of yesterday's wrongs. Let me see no fellow traveller in distress and pass by on the other side...Where deed of mine can help to make this world a better place for men to live in, where word of mine can cheer a despondent heart or brace a weak will, where prayer of mine can serve the extension of Christ's Kingdom, there let me do and speak and pray

This day, O Lord-
give me courtesy:
give me meekness of being, with decision of character:
give me longsuffering:
give me charity:
give me sincerity of speech:
give me diligence in my allotted task.

Grant me the grace to be worthy of His name.
Amen."

My preferred allotted task.

Take a look at the heel of this sock. See the little stripes of color?
This is what I expected to see in the whole sock. BUT since I knit my socks with a ribbing at the ankle and at the top of the foot...Opal Crocodile has decided to make pooling, rainbow, lightning bolts all over the sock.

The knitting adventure continues.


And I wish you could hear to two cardnials calling to one another in our back yard.
They have so much to say to one another?

What could it be?

"Hey Mabel, meet 'cha at the Sugar Maple."


Where's Dr. Dolittle when ya need him?

Encourage one another,
Donna

Every day...a new beginning

In the first three years of our cats life she never threw up a hair ball.
Now in the last two weeks I'd say I have been the unfortunate one to find five...hum, what is the right word...piles, blobs, of hairballs.

Should we be worried about this?


****************


Here are a few of the tasty things we ate in Missouri.

ONION-ROASTED POTATOES

1 envelope Lipton® Recipe Secrets® Onion Soup Mix
4 all-purpose potatoes, cut into large chunks (about 2 lbs.)
1/3 cup vegetable oil




1. In large bowl, toss all ingredients until evenly coated.

2. In 13 x 9-inch baking or roasting pan, arrange potatoes.

3. Bake at 425°, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 35 minutes or until potatoes are tender and golden brown.


Sister Sue puts the potatoes, oil, and Lipton soup in a large zip-lock bag to mix.
They turned out great!


The other meal we had that was easy and very satisfying Ceasar Salad with Oven Baked Crispy Chicken Strips.

Now I always thought one had to use a gazillion ingredients to make Ceasar Salad...and a hairy anchovie. But no. Here is how Sue made this meal.

Tear up romaine lettuce into a big bowl. Pour on a as much bottled Ceasar Salad dressing as needed to coat the lettuce. Add croutons.

Bake Schwans Crispy Chicken Strips for 20 minutes (turning once).

Serve with Diet Dr. Pepper.

Just kidding....but ya know...it's just the way it is for me.

This was just soooo good. I have already made this for our family.
I purchased the Annie's Ceasar Salad Dressing. The dressing had very nice flavor.
Emma chose the croutons.

Sue- What salad dressing did you use?

The ribs were amazing too! But a little complicated for me to duplicate. In other words I can't remember the name of the rub... or the sauce.

But they we perfect in every way :o)


My favorite thing to eat in the summer is sliced tomatoes and cottage cheese.
It makes my mouth water just thinking of it!


Eating Well Magazine has some great looking recipes again this month.
Pick it up if you get a chance.
It also has an excellent food pyramid inside.

Have you tried any new and easy recipes lately?
Care to share them?

I know what I am having for dinner :o)

Encourage one another,
Donna

Was anyone bothered by the hairball story...and then the recipes?
Sorry bout that ;o)
What cha' gonna do?

Weekend Update

The college boys have come and gone. Luke and Blake (both very nice guys) were in our home but to sleep and eat a little. The Cold Play concert they attended at Alpine Valley was great.
Matthew reports that 17 songs were sung, that their 'seats' were good and it did not rain!
It did, however, take 2 1/2 hours to get out of the parking lot. (To tell the truth this would have ruined the concert for me) Matthew and his friends just pulled over and went to sleep. A police officer knocked on their window to wake them up and send them on their way.

Ah...to be that laid back...


Patrick, Katie and I drove to Black River Falls to collect out camper.
Emma was as happy to see us as we were to see her! I got two very nice long hugs :o)

Emma shared her camp adventures with us all the way home.
We stopped at Culver's for a post-campfood meal.

The dirt and the heat did not deter my little city girl. She loved being with the other campers...it's all about the company for her. She is blessed to have so many friends. (We happen to think she likes just about everyone and rarely finds she does not get along with someone.)

The campers studied the book of Mark for the two weeks of camp.
One of the classes Emma especially liked was on the Five Love Languages.

According to my husband I mentioned the price of gas about 45 times during the weekend.

This bothers me so much more than it does my hubby.
It is freaking me out.

I'm obsessing right now as I sit here and think about it.

Let it go....

Breathe...

Cast your cares...


Did you have a good weekend?
What did you do?

Encourage one another,
Donna

Planning to Serve

My children need to have a ministry. However small or trivial it may seem, they need me to help them develop the passion for and the habit of serving other people in the Lord's name. In fact, even though it is now the "day of small things," I want them to dream of big things they can do to reach out, minister and serve. I want them to grow not just believing, but seeing that God will use even the smallest servant to accomplish great things.

However, if I want my children to have a heart for the lost, they must see me reaching out to the lost with a passion for their souls. If I want them to have a heart to serve others, they must see me serving others joyfully and without complaint....Even as the disciples saw Jesus model servanthood before their eyes day after day, so my children will notice and respond to my example if they see me serving them and others in our home day after day with a thankful and joyful heart.

Practically, this part of my life requires careful and strategic planning, orelse it will be swept aside in the rush of a busy life. It is my responsibility to create opportunities for my children to minister to others-to generously share their money, food, or toys; to give up their bedrooms for traveling missionaries; to volunteer for childcare during the church meetings; to serve meals at a homeless kitchen; to teach a smaller children's Sunday school class; to visit a nursing home.

...These are not just duties, but acts of unselfish service that train their hearts to look to the needs of others first.

...Be sure you focus in on eternal issues, on the areas that prepare their heads, hearts and hands to be useful to God-knowing God's truth, becoming godly people, and doing God's work of ministry and service. These are the priorities that will give them an excitement for using their academic training and their gifts and abilities for God's purposes.

...because it will count for eternity.

Seasons of a Mother's Heart by Sally Clarkson

I need this type of nudge. Serving others can so easily be lost in the hustle and the bustle. I agree that it takes planning.

So far, I'd say, I get a C.

Much work to be done.


But for now we are off to gather Emma from camp.
Oh, the ride home will be wonderful!


Encourage one another,
Donna

The Friday Feast with a few minor adjustments.

Appetizer
Briefly describe your schooling style.

Soup
List 3 things you'd like to accomplish before the end of 2005.

Salad
When you're online, what do you spend the most time reading/playing/doing? Suggest a site for us to visit.

Main Course
What would the title of your autobiography be?

Dessert
Do you eat meals at regular times? Do you/did you/will you eat meals as a family?

My oh my, I will need to put on the old thinkin' cap for this bunch of questions.




*********

Official Movie Link for Bride and Prejudice






I have been wanting to see this movie for months.
Patrick finally scored it last Friday ( the store only had one copy)

I knew it was Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice done the Bollywood way, but I had no idea just how Bollywood it would be.

What makes a Bollywood movie a Bollywood?

They sing. They dance. Joyfully.
They wear brilliant colors and the sets are spectacular.

And they never kiss.

So just when you might expect a kiss...you get an elaborate 'Oliver' kind of production number. (Think; Who will Buy from Oliver or any number from Grease)

I thought it was a very cheerful, colorful film.
It is a small cinematic/cultural lesson too.

I can't wait for Emma to see Bride and Prejudice.

Have you seen it yet?


Looking forward to reading your Friday Feast answers.

Going to get Emma tomorrow. I miss her so much.
Matthew has friends coming to town tonight. They are going to see COLD PLAY at Alpine Valley! How great is that? The only time I have been to Alpine Valley was for a Steve Martin concert. Well...EXCUSE ME!


Encourage one another,
Donna

Our trip to Columbia and The Lake of the Ozarks

The water was the only place to be!
Sister Sue helped Katie feel comfortable in the water. She started her out with the floaty noodles on the first day and by the second day she was comfortable with just the life jacket. Katie will always remember her Aunt Sue as her swim instructor :o)



Boat rides were good too! This night-time ride was especially fun and refreshing!



Here Katie rides with her big boy cousins. Above you see Kurt and Jeff (two of Sue's boys. Kurt has a twin Wes, who looks just like him...he was at band camp) and Katie and Steven. Steven is Cindy's baby who will be going to college to study and play baseball in the fall.
They are all genuinely nice boys! They get along so well, are very polite, and sweetly and patiently kept a little five year old girl company.
Their parents have done well!



Here's Cindy. The life of the party!
Katie will remember dancing the Cha-cha with Auntie Cindy :o)

There were long talks, delicious food (Sue make some amazing ribs and roasted potatoes!), and many hours spent in and on the lake.
The boys fished, Cindy stalked chipmunks and Sue bobbed.

Sue and Katie urged Cindy and I to get in the lake on the second day...
and we did...and we really enjoyed it!

Janet- We went to Mugs up...just for you :o)
Mugs Up is a very tiny, ancient drive-up restaurant. They serve very tasty loose beef sandwiches...with soft buns, grilled onions and cheese whiz.
It is definitely a local favorite!

So that's what I did on my summer vacation.

I wish our whole family could have gone because I know my big kids would have had a blast with their cousins! It gets harder and harder to plan vacations with so many people going in different directions!

Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.

Benjamin Franklin

Live.
Love.
Learn.
Laugh.
A lot.

Encourage one another,
Donna

We're home!

Just wanted to share a funny picture...and I will be back tomorrow morning to post more :o)



Katie is a trend setter at The Lake of the Ozarks!

Missed you,
Donna

Must Love Dogs the movie

If you want to see Lloyd Dobler all grown up,
go see Must Love Dogs. John Cusack really does play Lloyd again!
And since I like Lloyd from Say Anything. This was a treat!




It just so happens that I watched Under the Tuscan Sun today. (What a dreamy movie)
Diane Lane plays the same character in Must Love Dogs as she plays in Under the Tuscan Sun.
Which was fine with me. Cause I think she is an interesting actress.

The story line was predictable but the film was filled with many fun family members (great funny sisters) and friends.
I also enjoyed the dialog. It was quite witty. And Christopher Plummer recites a beautiful poem named Brown Penny, I think.



I thought it was a charming movie and I look forward to seeing it again.


So about the Friday Five... I better put my thinking cap on since The Friday Feast has not posted their questions yet! Don't they know I blog in the morning?


Friday Five

Do you have a pet? What is it? Names please.
How near is your nearest sibling?
How far away is your farthest?
How did you meet your husband. If you have one. If not, where do you meet nice men?
Does living in a Villa in Tuscany appeal to you?


Diane Lane's hair looks so much prettier when she curls it. So does mine.
I'm going to start curling my hair!

Friday Fives in the comments box...

I found the poem.

I whispered, 'I am too young,'
And then, 'I am old enough';
Wherefore I threw a penny
To find out if I might love.
'Go and love, go and love, young man,
If the lady be young and fair.'
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
I am looped in the loops of her hair.

O love is the crooked thing,
There is nobody wise enough
To find out all that is in it,
For he would be thinking of love
Till the stars had run away
And the shadows eaten the moon.
Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,
One cannot begin it too soon.
-Yeats

Encourage one another,
Donna

Katie just woke up, made her way down the stairs, came into my view and said,

I have a tail. (holding her blankie at her tailbone)
Can we do school?

Sure! I know what she is after...her new Singapore workbooks.
They came in the mail yesterday. (Fastest Rainbow shipment ever! I ordered on the internet on Saturday and received the package yesterday.)

I let her do a few pages last night. Thirteen pages. zip. zip. zip.
At this rate she will be in First Grade math by Labor Day!
Oh well. Then I buy First Grade stuff :o)

I have changed so much over the last eleven years!
(homeschooling-wise and other-wise)

I was tied to school hours and school days.
We started exactly at 8:30 and ended by noon.
Everything was new.
I had three children to teach.

Now I have Miss Independent, 11th grader. (Who happens to be away at camp. For. two. weeks!)

And my busy, enthusiastic, needs-to-do-everything-with-mommy Kindergartener Katie.

****Update

Katie just walked up to me and asked me what she needed to do next. I asked her to show me the page she had finished. She had correctly drawn a line between the cars and their garages. The directions say 'ask the child to tell you what color the garages are.' So I ask Katie, she points at the colors and says,
"rojo, yellow, white-o, green and azul."

Thank you Dora :o)

On the opposite page are four balloons with the words red, blue yellow and green written in them.

She just read them to me! Now this was a surprise.
Some she said in Spanish and some in English. he he

But since I am now Miss Laid-Back teacher, I think this is all delightful and funny.

And boy is it going to be fun to teach this little one!


On the other hand....I took a peek at the Saxon Algebra 2 book last night and let me tell you, my eyes were glazing over by chapter Two! Man, those Dive CD's better be super helpful. Please Lord.


In other news...


So we have the Maytag repairman coming today.
I am going to see Must Love Dogs with a very sweet woman and her friends tonight.
I have two field trips to organize by tomorrow and
Laundry to do...so I have clean clothes to take to Missouri.

Yep. I am going to see sisters Sue and Cindy in Missouri this weekend. Just Katie and me. My sister Sue keeps telling me how hot it is down there. And I keep saying, 'We don't have to leave the house...I am just coming to visit with you and Cindy!' I haven't seen them since October. Can't wait!

That's all for now.

How are your plans coming for the school year?
Do you like teaching the early grades or the older grades?

I forgot how much I like teaching the early years. I'm much more comfortable with the material :o)

Encourage one another,

Donna

Some mothers are kissing mothers and some are scolding mothers, but it is love just the same, and most mothers kiss and scold together. ~Pearl S. Buck


My mother had a slender, small body, but a large heart - a heart so large that everybody's joys found welcome in it, and hospitable accommodation. ~Mark Twain


I am thankful for a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home.... I am thankful for the piles of laundry and ironing because it means my loved ones are nearby. ~Nancie J. Carmody


Nothing better than having loved ones nearby!

Encourage one another,
Donna

A little secret


I have a favorite blog that I don't list on the sidebar.
I don't list it because it is rawer than the other blogs I read.

But man, can she write. She is funny and very honest.

Her blog could be and should be a book.

It's that good.

And now she has finally had a child, after years and years of painful infertility and pregnancy loss. *sniff*

If you need some encouragement or want to be reminded of what it is like to have a newborn baby, stop by Chez Miscarriage


Here is a quote I lift right off of Julie D's blog

Yesterday morning I read it to Katie (no twaddle for her)

And then I read it to Patrick and Matthew at the dinner table.

(Cindy, this is rare indeed, when the adults in this family let me read out loud to them. But, hey, when I come to Missouri I can bring along a copy of Seventeenth Summer if you'd like :o)

It's just that good. I thought the words might touch my unsure college boy.

1. God was all-complete, all-blessed in Himself; but it was His will to create a world for His glory. He is Almighty, and might have done all things Himself, but it has been His will to bring about His purposes by the beings He has created. We are all created to His glory --- we are created to do His will. I am created to do something or to be something for which no one else is created; I have a place in God's counsels, in God's world, which no one else has; whether I be rich or poor, despised or esteemed by man, God knows me and calls me by my name.

2. God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission --- I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. Somehow I am necessary for His purposes, as necessary in my place as an Archangel in his --- if, indeed, I fail, He can raise another, as He could make the stones children of Abraham. Yet I have a part in this great work; I am a link in a chain, a bond of connexion between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do His work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it, if I do but keep His commandments and serve Him in my calling.

3. Therefore I will trust Him. Whatever, wherever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him; if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. My sickness, or perplexity, or sorrow may be necessary causes of some great end, which is quite beyond us. He does nothing in vain; He may prolong my life, He may shorten it; He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends, He may throw me among strangers, He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide the future from me --- still He knows what He is about.

O Adonai, O Ruler of Israel, Thou that guidest Joseph like a flock, O Emmanuel, O Sapientia, I give myself to Thee. I trust Thee wholly. Thou art wiser than I --- more loving to me than I myself. Deign to fulfil Thy high purposes in me whatever they be --- work in and through me. I am born to serve Thee, to be Thine, to be Thy instrument. Let me be Thy blind instrument. I ask not to see --- I ask not to know --- I ask simply to be used.

Venerable John Henry Newman

This portion touched me;

"If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him; if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. My sickness, or perplexity, or sorrow may be necessary causes of some great end, which is quite beyond us. He does nothing in vain"



Here is the portion I thought might be a blessing for my college boy to hear.

"God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission --- I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next."



Encourage one another,
Donna

Photo Shoot Stats:

Photo by Katie Gracie

7:00 a.m. Monday morning

Katie and Donna in their pajamas on the front lawn.

Modeling handknit socks made with Regia Tip-Top.

Worn with slip on gym shoes.

Not Keds. Not Chuckies.


Overheard on Saturday upon leaving Kohl's;

Lynn: Do you want to try Famous Footwear?

Donna: Do they have name brands?

(kindly)Lynn: That's why it's called Famous Footwear.

Donna- Oh.


And just for the record.

It was Lynn's idea to go shoe shopping instead of knitting...
And I bought shoes. She didn't.

And also just for the record.

This happens to me all the time.

he he

I'll bet Imelda Marcos never had as much fun shopping for shoes as we did!

Question for the day;

Have you become friends with anyone you met (first) on the internet?

Encourage one another,
Donna