Snow and Child Safety

This is particularly a picture of our daughter, Chelle, in her cool new hat. I think she really needed it that day. See the snow on the road in front of her house? That is the most snow I can remember seeing in Nashville all four winters I was there in college. If you are a northerner, or Yankee to them...at least at the time I was there, you would not want to be on those roads. It is not so much that they haven't been plowed  nor have salt on them, but mainly because the people have NO IDEA how to drive when it is like that. NONE! At least most of their drivers are like that. I, for example could get around on that, but I would be hit by someone else. Of course they do have a very serious problem with ice there with generally higher temperatures there than here.

It is fairly warm here now. the high was 59 and they are forecasting 51 tomorrow with guess what coming on Friday!  Winter is not done yet, here anyway.

By the way, I always admire everyone's hats for cold weather, yet never wear one myself.

Children love to play in the snow; but I found out something tonight that would make our children unsafe at school.

While watching TV, I heard this:

Delaware Schools Push to Allow Kids to Choose Their Own Race, Gender Without Parental Knowledge

Yes, so I've been reading online to find all the facts and am REALLY APPALLED by what I've read.

These are not just teenagers, which is bad enough, but very young children as young as 5. There are many ramifications. 

I understand this has not yet been passed in Delaware...but if it is, it will be the 17th state (plus Washington DC)  to do this.  

If you have children or grand children, you must check this out. We must not sit quietly and let this happen to our children.

New Shoes

Julia gets some new shoes while in Ohio.

My book about Christmas arrived today from Shutterfly. It is always fun to look through the books, even though 'm quite familiar with all the pages from working  with them so long.

I've worked on the next volume quite a bit today. I have 43 pages started already, so there is still no lack of pictures.  I have a few pages that may drop by the wayside as things progress...we will see.

At the present time, we have worn ourselves out already and it is only 11:00  PM, but I am already nodding off, so I will close now, with this short prayer, Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If  I should die before  I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. I wonder if little ones are still taught to say that prayer. I'll have to google to find out.....later.....

Abuelos Birthday

I figure some will ask me to explain this layout which is stranger than my usual work.  Well, those who were there at Abuelos, will have an idea about what this is, but  it still makes a weird layout. For the rest of you, this background was the wall between the men's and ladies' restrooms. Why, I do not know.

This was taken on the 11th of January. Phyllis birthday is January the 14th.

Today, this same group, minus Robin and  plus Paulette, celebrated the birthday of Sali, who turned (censored) on the 21st.  We will not announce the number of years, since I'm the oldest and all of a sudden am sensitive to age.  There is no layout  of that occasion yet. It will come later this week, hopefully.

May our good father in heaven, the God of Love watch over us and shelter us under this wing.

Very Fortunate

Here we go back before Christmas again...but just one day before. These pictures were taken on Christmas Eve. John's family had stayed at the Aloft Hotel in South Bend, Indiana on the way to our house for Christmas. Their lobby was the place the pictures were taken. It looks like a pretty cool place and the kids look like they were quite happy to wait there for breakfast that morning.

I wish everyone was as fortunate as I am. Today we had a wonderful church service and Bible class, then lunch with some new friends. I've worked pretty steadily on the computer, while washing clothes, etc. But on top of all that, we were introduced to a new show on TV tonight at 10:00. It is the Mark Levin show, Life, Liberty and Levin. It was very interesting. I like Levin's manner. His is very high brow, but clear.

This is a description of the show published online:

"Airing each Sunday at 10PM/ET, Life, Liberty & Levin will explore the fundamental values and principles undergirding American society, culture, politics, and current events, and their relevance to the nation’s future and everyday lives of citizens.  The hour-long program will feature Levin’s lively in-depth and long-form interviews and powerful debate style with consequential guests covering history, philosophy, and economics.  Levin will also capitalize on his extraordinary knowledge and compelling perspective as a constitutional lawyer to discuss the American founding, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution."

One thing i really admire is his soft spoken reasoning. He does not yell, is not overpowering. Very different from most on the 'news' channels. 

Cousins

I'm not sure how this picture slipped from sight and didn't make it into my last summer book, but it is just too pretty to leave out; so it will make it's appearance here first and then in my next book. It features our two oldest girls, Kim and April and their cousin, Tracey. I love the colors they were wearing that day. I hope I've done them justice with this colorful layout.

I am praying for the total revival of this precious nation.  Please join me.

A Break for 'Tea'

Finally, I'm getting to some more recent photos...at least they were taken this calendar year.  I love these pictures. I always like pictures of little ones and their tea sets.

It is late and one thing I read today would be very meaningful to anyone at certain times of their lives. I am copying it from a newsletter I received from Rick Warren this morning. I would suggest everyone read it.  If you don't need it right now, there will come a time that it could mean a whole lot to you.  It can be a big comfort sometimes just knowing why things are happening as they are and that it is for your own good...

Rick Warren...

“Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!’ But Jacob 

said, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me’”(Genesis 32:26 NLT).

Obviously, when God and Jacob entered their wrestling match, God 

could have overpowered Jacob and ended things instantly. Why did 

God let the struggle go on?

Here’s the lesson: When God allows a crisis into your life, he doesn’t

solve it immediately. He lets it go on for a while because he wants to 

see if you’re really serious about seeking him. If God answered every 

prayer immediately, you’d begin to think God was a big vending machine: 

Put in a prayer, pull out whatever you need.

I can’t tell you how many people say, “Rick, I am praying for a financial 

miracle in my life. I am so in debt and I’m praying for a financial miracle.” 

I sometimes want to say, “Did you get in debt supernaturally?” The truth 

is often no. Some people have poor financial habits that keep them stuck 

in debt. Your debt may be the result of foolish decisions. You may have 

spent more money than you were making. Or maybe you didn’t save for 

the lean times that inevitably come in life. Or maybe you didn’t use your 

money wisely.

Why should God just bail you out? If God just instantly bailed you out of a 

financial crisis rooted in your poor choices, then tomorrow you’d go out 

and overspend again. You wouldn’t learn discipline, or money management, 

or wisdom, or persistence. God is not just going to bail you out of the debt 

you got yourself into; he will help you get out of debt, but he wants to build 

your character in the process.

If you’re in a crisis right now, hang in there! Don’t give up. Don’t run from it. 

Don’t try to escape. Most problems you have in your life didn’t get there 

overnight. You may have worked years getting yourself into this mess. 

You may have some ingrained patterns, bad responses, and wrong habits 

that have built up over the years. So God isn’t going to remove those all at 

once. It’s kind of like peeling an onion; he takes it off one layer at a time. 

But here’s the hope. God is with you and he is for you. When you ask God 

for help, and trust him to provide, you will experience the peace of his 

wisdom and blessing.

Here Comes Santa

I know I should move on from Christmas, but that is all I've been scrapbooking since then that special day. I have finished now with that, but I haven't accomplished anything much at all in the last few days...as far as scrapbooking goes. Looks like tomorrow will be another busy day. Hopefully though, tomorrow night I will be able to post a most recent layout.

Anyway, I really do like this photo of Ron, whom several call Santa. One of the ladies at church just told him Sunday that she had told one of the children there that he was Santa, the REAL Santa. The child asked her if he really was the real Santa, and she whispered, yes, but don't tell anyone.  So, I imagine all the kids at church have heard it by now.

I really need to get him a Santa Claus outfit before next Christmas.


We need to get involved with our children, NOW.  We need to know what they are doing and with whom. We have left raising them to strangers for way too long. They do not learn to respect anyone in  authority, because so many have not even been taught to respect their own parents and to obey.

Obedience has become a thing of the past. We've kowtowed to our children much too long. We have not disciplined them at all, but handed them everything on a golden platter. WE have caused this mess. Now we must be the ones to correct the situation. It won't be easy. We must have God's help.

Please pray that God will lead us to a solution for the school shootings, so that we can once again feel comfortable sending our children out the door in the mornings.

Best In a Long Time

I published another book yesterday. I'm using Shutterfly now that My Publisher was bought out and closed down by them. It was a rush to finish it in time to get a good discount. This is the introduction page for that book. I made it in a big hurry. Tonight when I decided to put it on the blog to describe our Christmas this past year, I realized there was a typo. Well it was too late for the book, so it will go to press with the word 'an' in place of the word and.  Since I was working with a jpg instead of a psd, I had to improvise a correction. I blotted out the 'an' and added the ampersand.

Anyway, I doubt if you can read it easily, if you are using a phone, so I'm copying it here:

Christmas More Than a Day

This year Christmas was much more than just a day, thanks to our son, Mark, who planned

that all would meet here for the holiday. It was a perfect gift for us to see them. Sadly, Tim was not able to come, but everyone else made an appearance at least one day during that time. Mark arrived first looking bedraggled because of his long trip. Ron didn't recognize him when he went to the airport to pick him up.  However by the next day, after some rest, he was just fine.

John and family arrived with their children on Christmas Eve, just in time for our candlelight service at church.  We especially enjoyed Christmas day, since there were a multitude of gifts under the tree and little grandchildren to open them.

Chelle and her children came to next day.  This was also a surprise to us. She sent the fortune cookie message she had just gotten and it said travel was in her immediate future. LOL That evening, they arrived.

During that week April and Kim also drove to see us.

It was our best Christmas since our youngest child, John left Ohio.

 The big deal is they all live in different states, the closest being 4 hours away and two came across the country to be here.  Mark alone from California and John with his family from Colorado.

By the way, as I retyped this onto this page, I found another typo. I inverted the r and s once while typing the word Christmas.

Pastry Chef

We are blessed to have the best daughter in law a person could have. She is selfless and loves her family tremendously. I could go on and on, but this could turn into a book. 

So now I'll just tell about her coming to our home over Christmas and doing the cooking! Everything was wonderful and especially her apple pie. The first one was so very good we all raved about it. Then she baked another one just as good, or maybe even a bit better, because it was so full of her great combination of apples. And on top of that, she used the extra crust to make cinnamon sticks that were out of this world good.

Needless to say, we surely did hate to see her and our son and their children go back to Colorado. We really would love to have them  close by.  I promise if they ever do move back, we won't make her cook all the time.

First a Singer...

Mason is a great singer. He is so good that he got what I call a scholarship for voice lessons. Now, he is taking up the piano as well. He got this keyboard for Christmas. I'm anxious to see what he can do in a few months. Oh, I know, I took lessons myself, but I started at the young age of eight without any knowledge of music at all. I took lessons for 6 years. I can read music, of course, but I don't have a wide handspan and that makes being a really good pianist impossible. I've let it go over the years, but still enjoy once a year or so, sitting down with a book of music and trying again. I still have to look at music to play.

Mason's grandfather, my husband, Ron can play from memory. I love it. He actually plays the accordion, but it translates for him, so he can play many of the same songs on both. He got his musical talent from his mother, who played piano by ear, and his father who played a bingo and sang in a quartet. Mason has evidently inherited his music ability. Go, Mason, Go!

If I Had One Wish

Boy do we miss these kids around here. Can we do Christmas again next week?  Sorry, I know, I need to get real. Hoping to see them this summer. It is hard to wait though.

If I were granted one wish, anything in the world I could have, it would be the gift of being able to see all my kids and grandkids at least once a week for the rest of my life. All the money in the world couldn't buy that!

Quite a Guy

Since I used a very small font on the page, I'll repeat it here: Aussie is generally working on something, but occasionally  he comes up for air and we get to have some fun with him.

Here we are on December 29th, the day before they left to go home to Tennessee.

Aussie is quite a guy. Brilliant  and fun at the same time. I love his sense of humor, much like my dad's, so I really get it and like to play along.

It  has been a very busy week.  Monday, we drove to Toledo to meet our youngest son, John, who was in Detroit  on business, for dinner. After dinner he gave us the cremated remains of our  middle  son, Mark, whom I've told about lately here on the blog.  

As I told John, I wanted to hug him so badly. Since Mark's passing, I  have wanted to hug all of our kids. The last time I was with Mark in December, I didn't know it would be the very last time this side of heaven.  Even with all Mark's suffering, I just never thought of losing him. It is not something a parent wants to do ever.

I want all of our 'kids' to know I love them so much.

Last Hug

The print is small, so I'm copying it here. "These photos were taken Dec 28th. January 20th we found out Mark had passed away at home in California. Sad for us, but Mark was in heaven."

There is no sadness up there, no pain, so tears. All is perfect for him now. We would have liked to have said our good byes, but  we have to be happy we all got to see him over the Christmas break.
And of course thrilled that he  is at home with God and that we can look forward to seeing him again up there in the heavenly realms.

The only sibling who missed seeing him in December was his older brother, Tim, who lives in Florida and didn't leave the sunshine to venture north.

Work in Progress

It is soooo much fun to have the kids here. This seemed to be Oliver's response to Caleb's Dabbing.

Being the middle child, he seems to feel a need for attention...and these poses did it. In my book, he is a star. Who could help but get a kick out of this! He is as cute as can be...an ever changing work in progress.

Again, I'm copying here an email from a friend who writes: Daily Encouragement- Bring the Parchments. This is short, but a very good lesson, something most of us need to think about.

  “So the Lord [Yahweh] God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, ‘Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel’” (Genesis 3:14-15, NIV).

        “cursed.”  This is the first time this word is spoken, and it is the last word in the Old Testament.  This curse was not fully addressed until Christ came. 

        “You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.”   The serpent looked totally different before the fall.  He was a low-life, and God gave him a body that reflected his nature. 

        “I will put enmity (intense blood feud) between you and the woman…he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”  The first gospel message brings the promise of redemption.  Enmity means there will be harsh conflict.  The offspring of the woman (Christ) would crush the serpent’s head (fatal blow), and in the process Christ’s heel would be bruised (hurt but not defeated).  The serpent was instrumental in the undoing of the woman, and in turn, the woman would bring down the serpent through her offspring. 

        Interesting passage: “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Romans 16:20).  The terminology is carried over from Genesis 3.  Paul promised that the evil perpetrated by the Roman Empire on the church would be dealt with soon. 

        Also note:  The man and woman responded to God, but not the serpent.  He was nowhere to be found.  Had he hung around, he had no defense to offer.

        Thank God for the heel that crushed the head.  

Best Ever Apple Pie

Beth found some great apples here that she can't get in CA. I wish I could remember what kind they were. She made an apple pie that was out of this world and got gobbled up really fast. Then naturally, we kept talking about it. YUMMY!

Well, Beth who is happy to please, baked another one, even prettier and just as good...

As you can see, Julia jumped in to help her Mommy. Love those girls.

No More Room at the Inn

Chelle and the triplets Ashley, Mason and Aussie,  came to visit for a few days over their Christmas vacation. It was great to have them here with Chelle's brother, John and his family. They had not gotten together for nearly 6 years. And best of all they got to see their brother Mark, and their sisters  Kim and April. It was a crowded house, but we had lots of fun.

Since some of you may be reading on a phone,  I will copy the message on the page here:

It was a special week, when Ashley and her brothers got to visit with their younger cousins; two of them, they had never met. With all of us in our house, there were wall to wall people. All right, Ashley and I are exaggerating a bit, but most were sleeping on sofas, chairs and blow up mattresses. To say the least, there was no more room at the inn!
      Christmas week, 2017

In my email today,  I got my Daily Encouragement- Bring the Parchments message from Jim Chilton. It is so good, I'm copying it here for you:

        “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord [Yahweh] God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord [Yahweh] God among the trees of the garden.  But the Lord [Yahweh] God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’  He answered, ‘I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.’  And he said, ‘Who told you that you were naked?  Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?’  The man said, ‘The woman you put here with me – she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.’  Then the Lord [Yahweh] God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?’  The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate’” (Genesis 3:8-13, NIV).

        “I was afraid.”  This is the first time in Scripture that fear is mentioned.  Sin ushers in shame and fear. 

        “Have you eaten from the tree?”  God knew the answers, but just like a parent talking to guilty child who ate the cookie, He asks. 

“The woman you put here with me…”  Man loves to blame, justify, and excuse his transgression.  In the political world, we call this spin.  The woman made me do it.  It’s your fault, God; you put her here!”  Translation:  I am a victim!  I need therapy and government assistance.  People do this all the time.  Adam doesn’t fall on his face and repent.  No, it’s easier to blame someone else – someone we’re supposed to love and protect. 

        “What’s is this you have done?”  God is speaking to Eve, now.  Turns out that she's also a victim because she was snookered.  She was the first to say, “The devil made me do it!”  Ladies, the devil doesn’t make you do anything!

        We are the problem.  You and me.  Pride.  Stop blaming!

We Love Books

One of my favorite things about teaching is getting to read books to the little ones. And when those little ones are my grandchildren that makes it much more fun.  

While Julia's family was here for Christmas, I didn't get to read as much as I would have liked, but it was really enjoyable when I got the chance. Julia and Oliver are both too young to read on their own. 

I was  really excited to see  Julia's expressions  while  I read. I'm so thankful for these pictures.

Happy Birthday Caleb!

This is rare, but I'm posting a layout that is not yet complete. Hopefully, I will finish it before the 3rd. If so, I will add the finished copy.

This is Caleb our oldest grandchild in Colorado. Caleb is very easy to love and appreciate. He is very serious about his schoolwork and his sports, but he is also a lot of fun. 

I love both the looks here, first this serious pose and then the big smile in the second picture.  The pictures were taken three days after Christmas while he and his family were here for the holiday. 

Born on February 2,  (Ground Hog Day) 2010, he is now 8 years old. 

Caleb, WE LOVE YOU VERY MUCH and WE ARE PROUD OF YOU. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Here is an additional photo of his family with Ron and me.