Happy Day to Beg for Candy!


Today is also Katie and Emma's dentist appointment. That's a little ironic :o)
This is Katie's first appointment.
How's that for a Halloween scare?

Not really :o)

I have actually only known very kind and gentle dentists!

Knowing Katie, when we leave, she will say,

"I think I want to be a dentist now!"



Around Town




Saturday was a lovely day....
Sunday was too. Only the Packers lost again and well that puts a damper on things here in the land of Cheeseheads.


I made Dana's Quick Tortellini and Spinach Soup yesterday. It was very good!
Find the recipe here.

I bought frozen spinach by accident and I think I used the wrong kind of tortellini.
But overall it was a success!

I got to use my new garlic press.

Woohoo...Party time, Donna's house!


What is your favorite kitchen gadget?
If your children trick or treat, what will they be this year?


Encourage one another,

And don't forget the major rules of trick or treating...
You must shout 'trick or treat' really loud,
and you must say thank you!

What a beautiful bride!



Annegb is the proud momma of this gorgeous bride!



Here is the bride's petite momma, Annegb.

Annegb, who are you holding in the bottom picture?
Will you share with us your best wedding tip?
And what should we avoid like the plague ;o)

Thanks for letting us have a little peek into your life.


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


Katie has been sleeping with me for the last few weeks. She had a terrible fright at gym class. (I won't go into it since it is a really long story and I only like to write short stories)

Every night her father takes her up to bed to tuck her in, have a drink of water and say a little prayer.

I come up a few minutes later to kiss and cuddle with her.

The other night I sang to her. I told her when I was younger I would sing in bed.
Quiet songs. Winsome songs.

Like True Love from High Society.

(For the record, I love to sing, but do not sing solos. Ever.)

So I lay next to uneasy Katie (unesy because of her fears...not because I'm singing)


And quietly croon.

What'll i do
When you are far away
And i am blue
What'll i do?

What'll i do?
When i am wond'ring who
Is kissing you
What'll i do?

What'll i do with just a photograph
To tell my troubles to?

When i'm alone
With only dreams of you
That won't come true
What'll i do?



What'll i do with just a photograph
To tell my troubles to?

When i'm alone
With only dreams of you
That won't come true
What'll i do?

I was singing with my eyes closed and when I opened my eyes, Katie was wiping away a tear.

Me: Oh honey, are you crying?
Katie: That was just so sweet. It made me cry.


Life is beautiful.


Encourage one another,
Donna

And tell me what movie that song is featured.
You'll never guess. It's pretty obscure.

I just love the vintage magazine covers!
Someone needs to tell this young mommy, 'Bows and arrows are better left at home' :o)


Friday Feast from the archives

Appetizer
What does the color pink make you think of?

Soup
Name something you have lost but later found.

Salad
In 3 words, describe this past week.

Main Course
What are you obsessed with?

Dessert
What kind of perfume or cologne do you like to wear?



High Hopes

I finished a pair of mittens last night.
They are a horrible mess.

I used gorgeous, expensive variegated pink, white and brown/green yarn. (Lynn, I still don't see the green)

It pooled and did such weird things.

I tried a kitchener weave for the finger tips.

Looks bad.

The thumbs are wonkey. The fit is uncomfortable.

I am so disappointed.

This yarn should have stayed in a ball...where it belonged.

It seems I have been knitting mittens too long for this to happen.

Better get myself to the local knitting store and try again.
I will use my old methods and some plain, old, soft yarn.
I need a little knitting success!





Oh, by the way, Emma said she would wear them.
She likes the color and can overlook the many imperfections.

Go Figure.


Gotta run.

See ya around the comments :o)

Encourage one another,
Donna

Congratulations White Sox fans!
What a year! A year to remember!

I've been following the excitement by visiting Steve Dahl's website.

Now the big question is....will Steve and his three sons get those White Sox tattoos???


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


Here is just the cutest dress up doll I have ever seen.

Zoe is trying to decide what to be for halloween.
What do you think she should be?

Costumes for Zoe


********

Sign Language Class

I made my girls laugh so hard yesterday during sign class.

I was signing the word towel and they needed to guess the sign. No one knew the sign (gesture drying your face with both hands). So I held my arms out like I was drying my back and went back and forth.

They screamed 'towel' and all burst out laughing!

(Maybe you had to be there. he he)

Two weeks ago I asked the girls to choose a song and learn the signs to it.
Here are the songs they chose; Kathryn-"For the Beauty of the Earth", Emily-"Jesus Loves the Little Children", Emma-"Some Day my Prince will Come". I chose "So Far Away" by Carole King.

The girls will learn Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer in December. It is a very cute song when signed!

Question of the Day

In your opinion, what was the greatest sports moment that you've witnessed, either live, on the radio, or on tv?


Encourage one another,
Donna

Have you ever heard of Walking Tacos?





Last Saturday I had the job of serving Walking Tacos at the tournament concession stand. It was a great job.
All I had to do was scoop flavored meat into a snack size bag of Fritos.

Did you know I liked assembly line work? Well I do :o)

Lynn (my assistant, he he) took the bag of Fritos and added cheese and lettuce.
The customer then added sour cream if they wished.

Well these were a big hit and they smelled wonderful.

I finally had one two hours later and thought they were yummy, indeed!

So we had them for lunch the next day :o)

We did not eat them out of the mini-Fritos bags tho.
We ate them out of big bowls!

Here's the scoop:

Large bag of Fritos
1 lb. Hamburger Meat (ground beef...drives my husband batty that I call it hamburger meat :o)
1 package taco seasoning
1 small container mild salsa
shredded cheese
shredded lettuce
sour cream


Braise the beef, add the seasoning mix and water, add about 1/4 to 1/3 C. salsa,
Heat through.
Crumble Fritos. Not too small. Not too big.
Put in the bottom of the bowl (about 1/3 cup)

Layer in the same order as the ingredient list.

Who knew Fritos could be used as a main course ingredient?
ummmm....salt....


Look what came in the mail!




Thank you, Janet, for the Mentalmultivitamin geer!
It's perfect.
We don't want our brains to turn to mush...so we will continue to Read. Think. and Learn!

And don't forget to try the Walking Tacos!

Encourage one another,
Donna

Conversation Piece of Cake!




Photo by Sharon

Soccer organizer, blog -sistah and all around creative woman, Anita, created the above cake for the Soccer Party on Saturday.

Every player was included.. every parent was delighted.
It really is the perfect way to decorate a cake for a team party!

Don't you think?


*********

And for those of you with young ones, who wonder what it will be like when your children hit the teen age years...
Do not listen to the television, the news, or the psycho-babble books...

Young adults are a joy to be around!

The young adults on that delightful cake are fun to be with, respectful, dedicated, hard working and friendly.

Look to the future with hope. :o)


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




Happy Birthday to my dear Irish twin, sweet sister Sue.
Have a great day!


**********

Encourage one another,
Donna

Mornin'

Up bright and early today...but it is not really bright and early, it is dark and early...

Katie and I are heading to a Halloween party this morning. My friend Kris likes to host parties for the little ones. The 'good parts version' of the parties we enjoyed as children.

So there will be costumes, bobbing for apples, pin the nose on the pumpkin and cookie and cupcake decorating.

Fun, huh?

Katie has decided to be a bunny.

The best part of this is, the bunny costume is Matthew's. When Matthew was three he liked to dress up...and he, like Katie never wanted to be scary. So for his birthday I bought him a beautiful velour bunny costume from a really cool costume maker (Suzo; now out of business...she is an artist...I googled her) We have bat wings and bat/cat ears from Suzo too!
Both of these costumes have held up so beautifully...and they have been WORN.

We do not think of Halloween as 'Satan's birthday' at all.
Our family enjoys the costumes and the candy and the fun memories with family and friends.

It's an American tradition. And God knows our hearts :o)

(My Halloween disclaimer...and I'm sticking with it)

I'll be back with pictures later in the day.

I have a really cute memory of my mother. She was the room mother when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade. She hid in the classroom closet during a party and jumped out to surprise the class. She was probably wearing a costume...or a hat. I wish I could remember that!

I was room mother for the boys in school when they were small. I did not wear a costume. But the kids had a nice parade around the school block on Halloween.
That was neat.

Better get going...my bunny just hopped out of bed.

Encourage one another,
Donna

What is the most memorable costume you have ever worn?

Photo Update



Farmhouse party. Decorating cupcakes and cookies.



Katie and C.W. with their marvelous pumpkins.



Katie twitching her nose...looking more like a scary bunny from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Kris had a fire going in the cast iron stove and it was cozy inside. The children played nicely but none of them wanted to get their little fingers gooey with the insides of the pumpkin. I thought kids liked gross stuff. :o)

It was really a great little party, Kris! Thanks!

By the way, I asked Kris for the recipe for her sloppy joes but she was not helpful at all! She doesn't believe in recipes!

For the feet






For the soul

So long as we are full of self, we are shocked at the faults of others. Let us think often of our own sin, and we shall be lenient to the sins of others.
... François Fénélon


God is our true Friend, who always gives us the counsel and comfort we need. Our danger lies in resisting Him; so it is essential that we acquire the habit of hearkening to His voice, or keeping silence within, and listening so as to lose nothing of what He says to us. We know well enough how to keep outward silence, and to hush our spoken words, but we know little of interior silence. It consists in hushing our idle, restless, wandering imagination, in quieting the promptings of our worldly minds, and in suppressing the crowd of unprofitable thoughts which excite and disturb the soul.
... François Fénelon



Off to the year end soccer tournament...

Encourage one another,
Donna

Friday Feast


Appetizer
Do you button shirts top-to-bottom or bottom-to-top?

Soup
What is your favorite sandwich?

Salad
What was a family project you helped work on as a child?

Main Course
When have you acted phony?

Dessert
Do you write letters or postcards? If so, to whom?

***********

I like a sandwich with as many toppings as possible. Just call me Dagwood :o)

Our mother was the Queen of the Sandwich.

She would line the white bread up in two rows (usually around 12 slices) and apply

mayonnaise
mustard
pickles
lettuce
fresh tomato slices
a shake of salt
and lunch meat.

The lunch meats we had were ham, turkey, salami, cheese, or liversausage.
She would even fry an egg and use it as the 'meat'. The only ingredient she left out of the egg sandwich was the tomato. And just so you know the yolk was a bit runny. And it was fabulous.

We didn't have a choice about ingredients. These sandwiches were made assembly line and with love!
I really don't remember any complaining.

We had Nestles chocolate milk or Kool-aid with our sandwiches.

And to this day, this is how I prepare my own sandwiches.

And our children and my husband, well, they like a sandwich with bread and meat.
Maybe a little swipe of butter...

Period.

Isn't that sad.

They will not have fond memories of sandwiches.

What will they remember?

Soup and cake and Turkey dinner, I suppose.

And Diet Dr. Pepper....and the fact that I loved them despite their picky eating habits :o)

he he

Encourage one another,
Donna

Emma and I are watching Sister Wendy:The Complete Collection.
I am pleasantly surprised by how well Emma likes the series. (I happen to love art history)
Sister Wendy analyses the paintings and gives her opinions as she floats thru centuries of art.
Sometimes I'm not sure if we are listening to fact or opinion tho.
We have a few other books that we look at after watching an episode of Wendy; The Annotated Mona Lisa and Janson's History of Art for Young People.

The Story of Painting series is pleasant and informative. I am wondering if there is another DVD/Video series you would recommend for a budding art historian?
I would like to cover sculpture and architecture too.

And since we learned a little about George Seurat yesterday...I reserved Sunday in the Park with George (Steven Sondheim play about Seurat) from the library. I love to throw a musical into the mix :o)






School is rather dry around here for Emma.
Art History is a gift to her eyes and imagination, I think.
As Martha would say; It's a good thing.

Looks like it is time to plan a trip to the Art Institute.


Encourage one another,
Donna

"Katie, come 'ere."





I'm being followed by a moon shadow
Moon shadow moon shadow
Leaping and hopping on a moon shadow
Moon shadow moon shadow



________

It's been a long time since I have seen Harold and Maude.
I wonder what I would think of it now...that I am older.
It was probably my first black comedy.
I remember thinking it was odd and funny and sad.


(And why am I thinking of Harold and Maude?
Much of the music from the movie was performed by Cat "Moonshadow" Stevens. Of course :o)

I think it's fascinating how music makes such a lasting impression on us.
Is it just me?
Do the songs of your past remind you of specific moments and events?


Always with a song in my heart,
Donna

****Amazing Race Update****
I wrote CBS/Amazing race to tell them that I felt it was very cruel to plan a trip to a race track, when one of the contestants recently lost a father there.
It was just not like them to be so insensitive.
I burst out in tears last night when that family was forced to face that track.
Bad form, AR. Bad form.

Isn't this a hoot! A Jane Austen action figure!

Thanks for the link Carmon!
Find unique action figures here

My second favorite is the Annie Oakley action figure. When I was in high school I loved the musical Annie Get You Gun. I can remember making my sister Cindy laugh as I acted out and sang some of the wild songs from the musical.

When I'm with a pistol
I sparkle like a crystal
Yes, I shine like the morning sun
But I lose all my luster
When with a bronco buster
Oh, you can't get a man with a gun

With a gu-un
With a gu-un
No, you can't get a man with a gun.

Guess who wrote those lyrics?

Irving Berlin.

I had no idea. The songs are all so goofy!

Where is his action figure? he he


What do you think is the best conversation piece in your home?


Encourage one another,
Donna

8:12
It is the perfect day to stay in bed.
It is dark outside and I hear the rain above me.

Isn't it funny, how listening to rain is a relaxing sound...but the dripping can drive you batty?




I finished some labor-intensive, cost-prohibitive, Koigu socks this weekend.
So purdy!
They are the start of my Christmas 'shopping'.

And the thought of Christmas Shopping just freaks me out a little.
One of these years, I am going to save and budget for Christmas.
And I know it will be the best thing I have ever done. I will be free and shopping will be fun. Next year. I will do it next year. Mark my words.

Twenty dollars a week should be enough.
I am 48 years old.
It's about time I have a plan!

_____________


BROOMS

On stormy days
When the wind is high
Tall trees are brooms
Sweeping the sky

They swish their branches
In buckets of rain
And swash and sweep it
Blue again.

~Dorothy Aldis


_______________

Do you plan ahead for Christmas expenses or do you do the Holiday shuffle?


Encourage one another,
Donna

The Autumn Light





Katie was out in our front yard swinging away at the baseball yesterday afternoon and I looked out and noticed how pretty the light and the leaves were. So I grabbed my little digital camera (Olumpus Stylus 300) and headed out to take some photos.

I took about seven pictures of Katie; a few action shots and a few posed in the leaves. I came back in the house to see how the pictures looked on the computer monitor. I loved how the light looked in the above photograph.

So I called for Emma to come out and let me try to get some pictures of her in the glorious light. She did, but I could not duplicate it.

The picture fairy was only on call for a short time yesterday afternoon.


Glorious, glowing, warm autumn light,
reflecting and tinting,
everything in sight.


Wishing you a beautiful, well-lit weekend.


Encourage one another,
Donna

"Every good and perfect gift is from above."
~James 1:17

Packer Bagger





Yes, I finally made the Green Bay Packer Buttonhole bag! I don't know if I will use this or sell it...

It sure turned out nicely!


Friday Feast

Appetizer
Who is someone you would consider to be a calm person?

Soup
What was your last "gut feeling" about? Were you right?

Salad
List 3 words that you really don't like how they sound.

Main Course
What kind of shampoo and conditioner do you use?

Dessert
If you found out that you definitely do have a guardian angel, what would you name it?





I do believe in angels because the Bible speaks of them.
If I had a guardian angel, I would name her Hope.

Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven,
Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "Evangeline"

(Have you read Evangeline? It is a lovely poem.)


Encourage one another,
Donna

A few days ago, young Melinda queried in the comment box,

"someday soon, I will learn to be a wonderful cook, do you think that is something you can learn? I sure hope so..."


I absolutely think you can learn to cook!
All it takes is desire and practice.


I remember hearing my mother being complimented on her delicious meals.
But then I also remember hearing that she did not know a thing when she was first married.
She was only seventeen when she was married and back then families did not go out for fast food very often at all. So the cooking responsibilities rested on her young shoulders. And cook she did.

She cooked traditional foods. (Now that I think of it...she did not bake.)

She learned from her mother, her motherin-law and from the Betty Crocker cookbook.

One of the most memorable things she prepared was a thoughtful side dish of cottage cheese, peaches and a cherry.

She would place a perfect little scoop of cottage cheese on the plate, then she placed three or four canned peach slices around the cottage cheese, to this she placed 1/2 a cherry on top of the cottage cheese.

Don't you just know that came right from a picture in a magazine :o)


I once heard a famous French chef/food critic say that one only needs to perfect ten recipes.

That's hopeful. Only ten.

Another good thing about cooking...is there is so much information and help available. Cookbooks and cooking shows are such fun. And family recipes are priceless.

I make my mother's spaghetti and my mother-in-laws meat loaf, my grandmothers' German potato salad and oatmeal.

One of my proudest cooking accomplishments is my turkey gravy.
It's wonderful.

It took many years to make enough for the whole family. (That was the tricky part...getting enough gravy out of the meager drippings)

And I learned to make gravy from watching my mother. It is one of my most vivid memories. Our warm kitchen has many warm memories for me.


Some day I would love to take a cooking class.
Chinese sounds good, right about now :o)


So, yes, anyone can learn to cook!


Care to share your top five?


Thanksgiving Dinner
Spaghetti/Lasagna
Red Velvet Cake and Carrot Cake
Potato Soup
Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip cookies

see~~ Recipes I have known and loved
for many of my favorite recipes.


Happy cooking and eating!

Encourage one another,
Donna

The best thing about the Amazing Race;

The family that arrived first last night in The Amazing Race won....

Free Gasoline For LIFE!!! All of the drivers on the team!

Our mouths were agape!

What a prize. What a prize!

Nice marketing BP.


The worst thing about The Amazing Race last night;

My favorite family was last to the finish line.

(Don't tell anyone...but I am not enjoying this season very much...not sure what it is yet...hum?)

______________________


Here is a quote I spotted yesterday on my visits around the internet;

God tends to us as the beloved and labors upon and around us for our soul's purpose. (Larry Gillick)

Wow. That is good.

'for our soul's purpose.'

God is primarily interested in the condition of our souls.

I do know this...but sometimes that truth gets lost.

Lost in circumstances.

"Create in me a clean heart, Oh God."

_______________

I finished the Go Pack Buttonhole bag last night and will felt it today.
It's rather cute. I'll post a photo tomorrow!


What do you do to keep your spirits up when it is gloomy outside?
Share you secrets :o)

Encourage one another,
Donna

This is just too good to miss!

A typical day with MFS and her family

Ongoing. All day!

Warm and Slippery Socks




The trick to knitting socks quickly is using thicker yarn and bigger needles.

Now this is probably the most obvious thing in the world...but I'm the kind of person who has to experience things, a few times, before I really 'get it'.

The U of I socks took me three days to knit.
This is such a quick project and I love it!

Knitting a pair of socks on #1 needles with sock weight yarn takes me a full two weeks.

Now, I'm not really in a big rush. No deadlines to fill, really.

But a finished project gives me a little thrill.

Thanks for sharing your great sock idea with me, Lynn.
I used a size four needle and double strands of Dale of Norway Baby Ull.
Soft and Superwash! Nice!

But watch out! They're slippery :o)

And speaking of slippery. When you were children, did you ever spray Pledge on the floor so you could have slidding contests?

That stuff is amazing :o)

_______________

Question of the Day


What is the last thing you baked from scratch?


I made homemade chicken noodle soup on Sunday.
And last night I made a grilled cheese sandwich for Emma and a hamburger for Patrick.

Cooking has been the last thing on my mind lately. I think it's time to start planning and cooking again.

At the beginning of the school year, we have soccer practice and games three nights a week and Katie has choir during the dinner hour one night of the week. On these nights I do not prepare dinner in the traditional sense.

We will have sloppy joes, pizza or cod nuggets...that sort of thing.

I AM feeding the family.

But I can do better.

How about you?


Encourage one another,
Donna

Happy 36th Birthday Brett!





Here in Wisconsin it is officially Brett Favre Day. Really.
Just read the second to last paragraph;

Wisconsin State Legislature proclaims Oct 10th.....


The Packers started the season 0-4 and we have been feeling very down about the football season. But, hope has returned to Title Town after yesterday's amazing game!

The Packers won 52-3.

And guess who was there? Emma and Patrick Sr.!

The weather was perfect, the game was perfect...
and from what I hear the F-18's flew over at exactly the right time;
Last note of the Star Spangled Banner!
Oh...chills :o)


So, happy, happy birthday, dear Brett.
You have made watching football a pleasure!

Be well and never lose the joy!


___________________


Katie sang with the children's choir at Good Shepherd's church on Sunday.
The children sang 'I've got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy, down in my heart',
Jesus loves the little children, and recited a verse with one of the leaders.

It was very sweet.

A tiny girl walked up from the congregation and stood right in from of the choir and just listened.

Katie sang well...but at one point I was worried that she was going to start tap dancing.

Inside my head I was repeating, 'Stand. still. Katie. Stand. still. Katie'

Other than that...

Thank you Beth and Stephanie.

____________


Real life calls....


Encourage one another,
Donna

Overheard this afternoon.

Patrick: Why are there M & M's on the floor?

Donna: Katie, come and pick up the M & M's.

Katie stoops to gather four or five M&M's from the floor.

Katie: Okay. What do you want me to do with them?

Donna: Eat them.

Katie: No. They're hairy!

Donna: ewww....Well, throw them out then!


First Class Mom! That's me :o)

The furnace was running this morning.
We are warm.

Last night at Emma's soccer game...we were cold.



And I finally was able to wear my 'Go Tigers' scarf!

It is soft and incredibly warm! Hooray.
(My Koigu mittens, while very cute...are not warm.)

But the good news is, I was stylin' in my scarf and the Tigers won :o)


I like the changing seasons.
Besides the chill, there is excitement in the air.
Do you feel it?

The North wind doth blow and we shall have snow,
And what will poor robin do then, poor thing?
He'll sit in a barn and keep himself warm
and hide his head under his wing, poor thing.

Encourage one another,
Donna

Who knew, so many of us were clueless little dears.
So little, so sweet, so clueless.

We need a bumper sticker!

Clueless, no more!

(((hugs))) to all the lost children.





Gather the children. Click on the link.
You will see the most fabulous-looking airplane....ever!
(Thank you Julie D. for sharing this website/photo)

Alaska Air



Friday Feast

Appetizer
Name 3 qualities that are important to you in friendship.

Soup
If you could dream about anything tonight, what would the subject matter be?

Salad
Do you usually make an effort to personally thank people who do favors for you?

Main Course
If you had to go out of town for an extended period of time, who would you trust to take care of your home and belongings?

Dessert
How do you react to practical jokes when they're played on you?



Encourage one another,
Donna

Yesterday I was helping Katie with her Math workbook.
She has been adding sets.




Do you see the little boxes on the page? The empty boxes that are waiting for a numeral?

Those little boxes brought back a sad little memory.

When I was in First or Second grade I can remember taking a test at the end of the year. I remember looking at a page with numbers and empty boxes and not knowing what to do with them.

I raised my hand.

With tears in my eyes and a big lump in my throat I said to the teacher,

"How am I supposed to know what goes in the boxes?"

To my immature little mind the problems looked like a magic trick to me.

The teacher looked at me with kindness (and I'm sure dumbfounded pity) but couldn't not help me...for it was a test.


Now, I don't know if we had been using boxes in class for months....and I wasn't paying attention. That is possible. I was a day dreamer, a window-looker-outer.
Or did the fancy State test just present the material in a new way, that I wasn't aware of. I'm not sure.

But, boy, was I lost.

The little girl who slipped through the mathematical cracks.


So yesterday I told Katie that when I was a little girl I did not understand about those boxes.
She wasn't moved, really.
She just filled in the boxes.






Encourage one another,
Donna

Here is a funny "blonde joke" for all of my agrarian friends.

The County Fair Commercial




More seriously :o)

Yesterday I was listening to an old Elisabeth Elliot tape.
It was titled What God Wants of Us.

Elisabeth focused on Micah 6:8.

Do you know it?


He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with God?


Do Justice.
Love Kindness.
Walk humbly with God.

Leave the rams, rivers of oil and the fruit of your body, at home.

What a great passage!

To walk humbly with God sounds simple but I think that is a much harder than it sounds. I think it means always, always remembering that God is God. And remembering....I am not.


Encourage one another,
Donna


"For by grace you have been saved through faith;
that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
not as the results of works, that no one should boast."

The driveway is covered with a dozen or so
tic tac toes





Socializing
Math
Logic
Problem Solving
Handwriting


A Classical Unhomeschooling Moment ;o)



A fun little Question of the Day.

Are you a know-it-all in a geeky sort of way (ala Cliff Clavin from Cheers) about anything? What is it?

Yes. I think I am a geeky know-it-all about The Princess Bride.
First the book, then the movie.

I have a copy of The Reunion Scene that was sent to me by the publisher.

Yup. Big Geek.


How about you?

Encourage one another,
Donna

October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band.

~George Cooper





Warm baby hats for Warm Woolies.
I am using a pattern from Hello Yarn


I have been knitting regularly...but don't have much to show.
These little hats are a pleasure to knit.
I am using up my leftover bits from all of the buttonhole bags!


Today will be an unusually warm day here in Wisconsin. I want to call it Indian Summer...but our trees are still mostly green and we have not had a freeze yet,
so it is not a true Indian Summer.
In fact, this weekend I noticed how very brown everything was. (Not dark brown, but tan-brown.)
A few weeks ago everything was green and yellow. Now the hills, the corn, the beans, the grasses are all brown.

It's very Arizona-like.

Except for the lack of sand and cactus :o)


Here is an interesting quote by an old newsman,

It does no harm just once in a while to acknowledge that the whole country isn't in flames, that there are people in the country besides politicians, entertainers, and criminals.

~Charles Kuralt

How true!


Encourage one another,
Donna

Dear friends,

Every prayer, every thought, every kind word and hug was felt and cherished and savored.
I can only hope to extend the same love and friendship and support to each of you as the days go by.

Love,
Donna

My cup runneth over.



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Saturday Six


Snack
Do you have any plans for this weekend?
(I know annegb has very big plans :o) I hope your daughter's wedding is wonderful)

Appetizer
When was the last time you visited a hospital?

Soup
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how ambitious are you?

Salad
Make a sentence using the letters of a body part. (Example: (mouth) My other ukelele tings healthily.)

Main Course
If you were to start a club, what would the subject matter be, and what would you name it?

Dessert
What color is the carpet/flooring in your home?


____________________


La Vita è bella


Encourage one another,
Donna