The other side of the lake...Luke 8:22

Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July! We took the Dog and the canoe up to the lake for a picnic.

Somehow the Dog's cable got left in the truck so the kids decided to tie the Dog up to a bush with some baling twine. Yes, he is a very good Dog and didn't fuss much while we were eating. After lunch the canoe was taken to the lake and all the humans went for a ride or swim in the lake. After traveling across the lake and back, G and I went to check on the Dog. He met us on the way to the picnic site with a 1' piece of baling twine tied to his collar. Oops. None of the other picnickers (with their unleashed dogs) said anything to me as G and I dragged him back to the picnic site, so I am optimistic that he didn't make a nuisance out of himself while we were on the lake. After I retrieved the rest of the baling twine and the camera, we went back down to the lake and waited for the boaters. Here they are with the camera zoomed all the way. They are standing on the opposite side of the lake. The lake is only about 25 acres in size, so it was a nice one to paddle around. The rest of the family waiting (notice the baling twine on the Dog). Almost back... After returning home from the lake for supper, we went up to the city for the fireworks show. M got to attempt his first fireworks photos. That was our 4th. How was yours?

Liberty...Galatians 5:1

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." ~Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.

It was quite a week at our church. Last Tuesday evening a sweet couple made a public commitment to one another in marriage.
Yesterday they made a public commitment to their Lord and Savior through baptism.

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." Galatians 5:1

Hope you have a happy 4th of July. Remember those that have lived and died for your freedom!

It was infinite...Nahum 3:9

It has been a few years since we began celebrating Pi Day...hey, any reason to celebrate is good!

This morning got off to a slow start due to the dreaded springing forward of the time (Boo! Hiss!). Since I didn't have to endure it growing up in Indiana, I grudgingly reset the clocks two times a year now. Please, someone, make it stop!

After lunch, some friends came over and took all the boys up on the hill across from our house to do a bit of rock climbing while Sacagawea and I went up to the city to attend a school play. When we got home, the climbers still hadn't returned, so we quickly made a blackberry pi/e. It was done by the time we all finished supper. It was yummy with some homemade coconut milk ice cream!

We ended Pi Day by singing hymns 314, 159, and 265 for our evening worship. Yes, we are geeks!

O forest and every tree...Isaiah 44:23

We had another busy day last Sunday! We left the house at 8 am to drive down some roads and up to the mountains. Then, we found this road...
No tire tracks! Since it had been a day or two since the last snow, we knew we were the only ones up in these mountains. At least the only humans...
Baby bear tracks!
We also saw tracks from fox, gray squirrel, mouse, and deer.

What a beautiful morning with the sunshine above the fog...
We finally found the area The Man remembered finding a tree before, and we walked up the hill to look around. This is it!
I went back down to get a not-sleeping-anymore-G from the vehicle. We took this picture. I feel like I should reveal the epiphany I received, but, it is just a picture.
The kids enjoyed a few rides while The Man loaded the tree.
The drive down the mountain was a bit more slippery, so we (The Man) stopped to install some chains.
(Think of that as an artistic photo and not that I was too lazy and cold to roll down the window and turn around to take the pic. OK? Thanks.) Yes, he is just wearing a t-shirt. He shed the other layers because I had the heat cranked up all the way because I was cold.

The Dog also enjoyed the morning. (Again, artistic photo.)

We got home, changed clothes, changed tires (The Man put the studded tires on the van), and loaded the family for a trip over the other mountains to M's piano recital (video on Faceb*ok or you can email me for a Y*uTube link).

Back home again to put up the tree and decorate. We've been having camera and internet issues, so I didn't get around to taking this picture until just now.
Wow, that picture really makes it look sad! It does look better in the evening with lights on and star straight, and maybe it could use a bit more popcorn, but it is what it is. I'm just thrilled that it isn't too tall or too wide!

The train sets were given to the kids 1 1/2 years ago by a church member a few weeks before he died of cancer. Last summer I packed them away and told the kids that instead of sitting on their shelves collecting dust, we would get them out and set them up at Christmas. The big and little kids had so much fun setting it all up around the tree. G definitely had that sparkle in his eyes--just like a kid at Christmas!

There are no breakable ornaments on the bottom part of the tree so it is G-friendly. He's not left alone in the room anyway because of the wood stove, but he does love the sparkly ornaments.

Merry Christmas to you all! We wish God's blessings on you through this season and throughout the new year.

His understanding is infinite...Psalm 147:5

Happy Pi (3-14) Day!

Yes, I'm a geek. I get giddy on days like today. Lots of fun stuff to celebrate March 14 can be found here and here. Unfortunately a lot of the links are broken, but there are still a lot of great activities.

(I know it is Friday, but we weren't crafty this week. You can still head over to Shereen's and see the stuff of the folks who were.)

The flowers appear...Song of Solomon 2:12

We didn't do much crafting this week so I'm going to show the Valentines that the kids made last month. They used a lot of foam shapes and they did some cut-outs.

They traced heart-shaped cookie cutters (or some other shape) and cut them out.
Then they taped a flower seed packet ($0.10 at discount department stores) so the pretty flowers showed through.

That's it! The seeds can be planted by the recipient. They did something similar a few years ago for their grandmas for Mother's Day, and it could really be used for any type of greeting card.

Head over to Shereen's for more Sew Crafty Friday projects.

Love one another...John 13:34

Here is my Sew Crafty Friday project. Not very crafty, but it’s the closest we’ve come this week!

Tomorrow we are having the monthly fellowship dinner at church. Since it is so close to Valentine’s Day, we’re taking heart-shaped sugar cookies.*
We wrote Bible verses on them about love. Last year we decorated the tables with heart-shaped paper cut-outs with the entire verse on them, but with the icing we were only able to get the text or a few words. The kids are still working on some more!

Check out Shereen's blog for some real crafty stuff!

Here are just a few of the verses that we used:
Psalm 116:1
John 14:15
John 15:13
John 15:17
1 Corinthians 2:9
1 Corinthians 13:13
Galatians 5:22-23
1 John 4:7
1 John 4:19

I have pictures for at least two other blog posts, we’ll see if I can get them up this weekend.

*By the way, does anyone have a wonderful sugar cookie recipe? I used the Better Homes & Garden cook book recipe. They're ok, but I think they could be better.

Tree that is pleasant to the sight...Genesis 2:9

Merry Christmas! I wanted to get a picture up of our tree before next year. The Man and children drove up in the mountains to cut it down. The Man did better this year in not getting one that was too tall for our house.

I forgot to ask him to make sure it wasn't too wide. We got out the tape measure this morning...7'-1" tall and 7'-4" at the widest point. I didn't get to put any lights on the porch this year since they were all needed to go around the tree.

We had lots of fun with family visiting. The kids and their cousins did another Christmas pageant for us this year. Of course, we had too much food. I made a vegan turkey loaf, dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, spinach/artichoke casserole, pumpkin cookies and rolls. The Man made an apple crunch and the gravy, and J made the salad.

Here's a picture a few nights before Christmas as The Man was preparing to sand down a thrift store find. Sacagawea found it a few weeks ago browsing a Goodwill. I happened to be talking to The Man on my cellphone at the time so she asked Daddy if she could have it. Its finish needed some TLC, but it was sturdy and I thought it was well worth the $9.99 price. Fortunately we had some paint left over from her birthday presents so they all match.
Unfortunately, rather than staying in her bedroom with the matching crib and high chair, I think this rocker will become a permanent part of the living room. She does enjoy sitting in front of the wood stove rocking her baby dolls.

The Man got his own rocker for Christmas...rather, a face-to-face glider. It belonged to his grandparents, sitting in their backyard for the last 45 years, and it was one of the things The Man requested. "Are you SURE?" I had no idea what he would do with it since it had been in a state of disrepair for many years. It was ready to be sent off to the junkyard, but The Man wanted it. The Man's step-dad fixed it up for him, re-welding some pieces. He and The Man had a lot of fun re-assembling it Christmas night.
Now it is as good as new. Well, not quite. It could still use a coat of paint, but I'm sure it is much sturdier than some of the modern gliders. We'll store it in the barn this winter to keep in out of the elements and next spring we will give it a proper finish and cover.

One last picture of the tree. That is a genuine hand-made Lego ornament there. Also, a choo-choo train from long ago. We had to glue it together again this year. Styrofoam is very forgiving. And the popcorn...we'll put it back in the gallon ziploc bag to save for next year. I think this is the third year we've used those same popcorn strings.
Maybe we can pass them on down to our children some day.

Just kidding!

Unless they really want them.

Every perfect gift...James 1:17

Happy New Year! From all of us, we hope you had a wonderful holiday season.

Our big plans for the day include taking down the tree and shooting off rockets (again). We'll do that later this afternoon after The Man awakes. He just got home and went to bed because he's been working in the ER since last year. That means he hasn't slept since last year. He usually gets adequate sleep during his shifts, but last night being what it was, he didn't.

We had an enjoyable Christmas with family. There was way too much food, but at least we didn't have to visit the grocery store last week. We also received many wonderful gifts from friends and family. The one I've used the most is what I found at toe of the stocking from my parents.
Apparently my mother read this post. It is about 30 years late, but still much appreciated!

After making sure all my posts here were backed up, I just upgraded to the new Blogger. I'd put off making the switch because I just didn't want to deal with all the changes, but now is the time. I may get around to categorizing my posts. Considering I've made less than 30 posts since starting this blog, it shouldn't take me too long to categorize them all. However, considering I've only had time to post less than 30 posts since starting this blog, don't hold your breath waiting for me to find the time to do it.

Here is one of S's gifts before its maiden voyage last week. It survived.

They saw the star...Matthew 2:10

Guess what? We've been traveling again! I need to convince myself that that IS normal and plan accordingly.

We will be home for Christmas this year so The Man and children went out in the forest yesterday to find a tree. It is a beautiful BIG tree. The Man got it out of the pickup and stood it up in the front yard for me to see. "Oh, it looks a lot bigger here than it did in the forest." After careful measuring the man cut off a foot or so from the bottom and brought it into the house. After situating it in the stand and trimming some off the top it nearly reached the ceiling. All was well and fine until The Man brought in the decorations and I unpacked the star.

"It won't fit," I said. The Man agreed and started contemplating how much more he would have to cut off the tree. I told him not to cut it, but just attach it to the front of the tree. "I don't care" was the response I gave to how he would go about doing that. I really didn't care. I was tuckered out from my cleaning and bread baking marathon yesterday. I really didn't care.

With a smile, The Man looked in the produce drawer in the refrigerator. He came back and affixed the star to the tree. It was still a bit wobbly so he went and retrieved something from another drawer.

"I'm blogging this," I told him.

"You can't complain, you said you didn't care." I'm not complaining. The tree is beautiful.
When the lights are on, the produce-sized rubber band and thin strip of duct tape aren't even noticeable.
I happen to think it matches beautifully. Orange baling twine would have clashed. I probably would have complained about that.

Our most recent travels have been happy and sad. Last weekend we went to Washington to visit my brother and family, with a stop to see some special friends on the way. Prior to that we attended the memorial service for The Man's Grandpa.

He was 99 and in failing health, so although it wasn't completely unexpected, it was still very sad. Since he was a Navy man—a Pearl Harbor survivor—the honor guard came and participated in the service. It was very touching.
During this season when we remember the birth of One who came here as a babe, we also remember that He died for us so He can return with the sound of the trumpet and claim us as His own. Matthew 24:31. Praise Him!

Be thankful...Psalm 100:4

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! The Man worked on Thanksgiving so the kids and I just stayed home and prepared food for our feast on Friday. Here is J chopping an onion for our loaf.
Here is the Pilgrim family watching the onions sauté. I'm not sure why the children look so jaundiced.
Here are the Pilgrims feasting with Squanto and other Indians.

As a...charging bear...Prov. 28:15

The Man and boys returned safely from their backpacking trip on Sunday. Yesterday we went to a Labor Day picnic at some church members' house. That's A with the "Look Ma, no hands" pose on the tire swing. I didn't take any pictures of the boys on the swing...I couldn't bear to watch.

Speaking of bears...The Man called as soon as he got to work this morning. I'm not to let the kids outside unattended today. It has something to do with the big pile of something The Man saw at the end of our driveway this morning. Yes, he's sure it is from a bear...or a HUGE dog that eats lots of berries. Maybe I'll go take a picture of it...or not.

The young ones…grow up with corn…Job 39:4

Knee-high by the 4th of July? It depends on whose knee. A’s, yes.

By the way, those weeds interspersed with the corn plants are there on purpose. I read a great book from our library a few weeks ago. Weeds: Guardians of the Soil (get your copy here) encourages its readers to leave the weeds alone. According to this book, certain weeds can actually help the plants be stronger and healthier. That sounds good to me. We’ve been accidentally following this method for many years, but now we can do so without the guilt.

We hope you are having/had a wonderful 4th of July. We had a church picnic here at lunchtime. Of course our lawnmower picked last week to be obstinate after M had half the lawn mowed. It is now resting in a mechanic's shop over the holiday. This morning The Man got out the old mower to try to even out the weeds. S finally was given the chance to fulfill his lifelong dream of mowing the lawn. He even let A in on the action.

Some parts got mowed more than once, and others didn't get mowed at all. Of course M & J thought they were having too much fun. S was gracious enough to allow them to try out the contraption.

Tonight we’re going up to the city to watch the fireworks. They aren’t scheduled to start until 10 p.m. so all the kids and The Man are napping…except for the one that just got up for a drink of water, and the one that used the bathroom, and the one who is turning pages in his bed...