Call the Midwife

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Oh how I love this show.

1. When I am watching Jenny, it is like I am watching my mom.
2. The music is great.  First season especially.
3. I love all things childbirth.
4. I'm fond of Brits.
5. I was born in 1957.  This is the year the first season is set in.
6. Very likable characters.



Watch season one if you can find it.

1. Tivo
2. Netflix
3. PBS
4. Buy it
5. Amazon Instant Video

Our favorite gal Chummy is in season one and not in a lot of season two.
We love Chummy.  You will too.

Season two is airing now on PBS at 7:00 on Sunday nights (central).


Are you watching it?
What do you like about Call the Midwife?
Who is your favorite character?

Toodles,
Donna

Baby Luncheon. Asher loves to run.

Melinda's sweet aunt planned a lovely luncheon for Melinda on Saturday!
Katie and I were so happy to be able to go and celebrate with them.



This delicious cookie had almond frosting on it.  It was good!  Have you heard of that?



We got pedicures.
We needed them.
Me the most.
My chair was so stinkin' uncomfortable...I thought I was going to slide right into the water.



We drove against the windy wind all the way.
It wore me out.



Asher is shy around me.
Does not really want to sit by me.
But I am a grown up and understand.



He could do this for hours and hours.



Cute little smile.

Here is your photography tip for the day;
Use your big head to cast a shadow on your subject to create that precious open shade.



I am so thankful for my beautiful family.

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It really mean it.

Love
Donna

Can't wait!

Katie and I are heading to Omaha in a few minutes!  We are so excited to see Matthew and Melinda and Asher!!!
I promise to take lots of pictures of that beautiful boy.
And some of Asher too.

ha!


I did a mini session today, in my garage and kitchen of the girl next door.

And then I made (am making) chicken spaghetti to take with me for dinner tonight.

I took a few shots of Katie first.




I love when she curls her hair!


I wish you all a great, warm, sunny weekend!
Don't forget...you are still here....
you are called to be here...

Be strong and courageous.
You can do it!

Love you,
Donna

I love Langston Hughes' poetry

Still Here

been scared and battered.
My hopes the wind done scattered.
Snow has friz me,
Sun has baked me,

Looks like between 'em they done
Tried to make me

Stop laughin', stop lovin', stop livin'--
But I don't care!
I'm still here! 

~Langston Hughes

 Encourage one another,

Donna

Love you. Mean it.

“There is nothing that can replace the absence of someone dear to us, and one should not even attempt to do so. One must simply hold out and endure it. At first that sounds very hard, but at the same time it is also a great comfort. For to the extent the emptiness truly remains unfilled one remains connected to the other person through it. It is wrong to say that God fills the emptiness. God in no way fills it but much more leaves it precisely unfilled and thus helps us preserve -- even in pain -- the authentic relationship. Further more, the more beautiful and full the remembrances, the more difficult the separation. But gratitude transforms the torment of memory into silent joy. One bears what was lovely in the past not as a thorn but as a precious gift deep within, a hidden treasure of which one can always be certain.”  

~ D. Bonhoeffer

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)

~eecummings

Love Always

Donna

I have been blessed...

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I don't take this to mean that I am a blessing to others....
I understand this to mean that I am the one who is blessed to see beauty...
it makes me so happy every day to find things of beauty all around me.

words, songs, images, people, things, actions...


sometimes things are so beautiful
I can't hold it in and I cry


I feel so fortunate to have friends, like you, to share these things with.
It's so much better to share.
Not so much fun all alone.


Thanks for being here.

Encourage one another,
Donna

p.s. and now...i am hungry for that sandwich

Bonoeffer & a before-after shot.

The Fuhrer Principle chapter was not my favorite to read.
But I think I will have to read it again anyway...because one of the most important questions
we have about this time in history is 'How did this man, this evil monster, take over Germany?'

It still boggles the mind.

He was elected and immediately implemented his own set of rules.
Apparently no one could stop him.

Like North Korea.  No one in his country can stop him.
They probably think he's swell.
Well.... the ones who are not in prison camps and whatnot.

But could this take place in America?

I do think there are big changes put in place by our government that many people do not want
and are helpless to stop.

If a law was passed over night here in America that restricted your freedoms, like in the Reichstag Fire Edict, would the government be able to get away with it?  Would it be opposed?  Would you be willing to fight to regain the liberties guaranteed in the Constitution?


********

Last night the sun came out for a little while and I took a handful of pictures of Katie.



Here is the picture before I edited it.
I had Katie put her head in the shade of the tree trunk so there wouldn't be harsh light or shadows on her face.  As you can see the sun hit one side of her hair.



How I edited it. Photoshop.
1. Rotate 180º
2. crop to 5 x 7
3. sharpen
4. contrast with 'just a little kick' action 65%
5. color balance.  moved slider toward yellow
6. removed one blemish.  (I hate the word pimple)


So that's how it goes :o)


Happy Monday!
Lots of love!

Donna

Weekly Pin Roundup

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I am on the mailing list for Purlsoho and I actually love getting their emails.
I don't crochet...but these wash cloths make me want to learn.

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I was nodding my head in agreement when I saw this t-shirt.

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This touched my heart.

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Even tho I have not been quilting in quite some time...I still love fabric.

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One day I'm tearing out my cabinets.

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Astonishing.



We are off to a baseball filled weekend.
We played at 9:15 this morning and will play again at 2:30.
The sun is shining and it is 30 º out.  The field was dry so that was fab.
We play again tomorrow...but there is rain in the forecast.
We shall see what the wind will blow our way.

Wishing you sunny skies and dry fields!

Love
Donna

The Play.

I told Katie she could wear her 'bold' lipstick for the play.  She was very happy.
She did ask me if this was a good color for her....and I really don't know these things.
I think it looks nice but someone more experienced in the coloring/makeup world would have to tell her.  I am super clueless.


Katie played a character called Fairy Merryperry.  She was the fairy godmother.
This play was written by someone in the Madison area, I think. And guess what?
The man who wrote the music was at the play!  Now. I have googled and can not find his name but he was very kind to be there.



Katie started out as a townsperson.






Singing with Cinderella.  They sang a song called Backwards.
It was cute.




The end.



Music teacher looking so pretty.

All students must be in the play, they work on it all semester.
Most of the kids seem to enjoy it very much.  I didn't see too many long faces.


What a special event!!
We love it because Katie loves every bit of it!!

Well done Blessed Sacrament Jr. High!
Thanks to the teachers and volunteers!!
You really are a wonderful group!


Off to watch the news.
Sending love and prayers across the country.

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Encourage one another,
Donna Elsie

American Idol. Music that touches the heart.

I just love Kree and said she would win....but.....

...last night Amber did something I've never seen done well on Idol before, she sang a Barbra Streisand song and it was wonderful.

Barbra songs make me think of Suzy.
And they make me cry.

Candice sang this song from Prince of Egypt beautifully.  I loved it.

Five ladies left on Idol. Their plan of choosing bad male singers paid off and now they will finally have a female winner.  I actually think it would have been smarter to get good guys too and then pick a male and female winner this year.
I actually think it's a brilliant idea.

Anyone?


Last night the Boston Bruins played a hockey game and the crowd stole the show by singing the Star Spangled Banner with heart and voices.

The best kind of singing don't you think?





****

Thinking of the folks in Texas this morning.  Hoping the helpers will show up for that small community.  Bless ya'll.

****

Encourage one another and sing with heart!
Donna

Found in my flickr stream.....

Two thousand and eight.

Five years seems like forever ago.



"Screws fall out all the time, the world is an imperfect place."
~the breakfast club

We all know that something is eternal. And it ain’t houses and it ain’t names, and it ain’t earth, and it ain’t even the stars . . . everybody knows in their bones that something is eternal, and that something has to do with human beings. All the greatest people ever lived have been telling us that for five thousand years and yet you’d be surprised how people are always losing hold of it. There’s something way down deep that’s eternal about every human being.
-stage manager, in the play OUR TOWN” 

"You will lose someone you can’t live without,and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly—that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp." 
Anne Lamott






Looking through the raindrops to see the beauty,
Donna

Mr. Rogers said.

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What a wise thing to say to a child.
We ARE helpless in most of these tragic events.  Watching from afar.
Fred's mom was encouraging her son to immediately look for the positive and not
become paralyzed with fear.

It was a very good thing to say to a child.

The child within me
also felt comforted.


****




One year ago today,
Ginny met a bicycle.




And the grass was green.

I think Ginny has grown into her tongue.  It doesn't hang quite a long anymore.
I always thought it was so funny.


*****


We have sun for a bit again today.  A few hours yesterday and a few hours today.
It's so lovely and bright and beautiful.

I am so very thankful.

What happens matters,
Donna