What's Going On, Spring?

It’s been quite bitter out there since your arrival two days ago and I just had someone tell me there may be some kind of coastal storm with some “ahem” snow in the forecast? Don’t you know that Easter is less than ten days away?

Come on now. Get yourself together there. See that picture up above? We expect that is the kind of beauty we’ll be seeing in the near future. You need to be taking the necessary steps towards it and what you’re doing right now is not the way to go.

Happy Birthday to Our Twenty Year Old

Seems this blog is used primarily now for recording and recognizing birthdays in my family. But what better place than this to put photos of my beloveds and express my love for them as they grow and mature?

Now it's Neesie's turn once again and guess what? We no longer have a teenager in this house. Twenty years old and I cannot believe it! From that adorable curly haired baby, to the cute little girl with braids, to the budding adolescence, to the pretty teen, and now to the lovely young lady, we have been thankful for her each and every stage.

So to Neesie: Now a college student, now working with your first love, children, whenever you can, we're very thankful to see you now pretty officially a young woman. We're friends now on a different level and I'm grateful we can talk and laugh together, which we do often. I'm most grateful to see you striving to be faithful to your Lord in every area of life. May He bless you for that. Your love for your nieces is a precious thing and why they adore you as they do. Now that the twelve years difference seems more narrow, we're also happy to see your friendship with your sister growing on a different level as you mature. Keep it up; she's a wonderful resource for you, partly because of her godly character and partly because of her love for you.

We all love you and are shooting for you in the future. Waiting to see all that God has in store for you. Keep looking to Him! 

Happy Birthday, Sweet Daughter! (Psalm 121)

Love, Mom

Shana! Happy Birthday!

Is it true? You are FOUR? Really and truly have you gotten to be THAT old? Well, just yesterday we were carrying you around and then I remember watching you toddling after you first started to walk, but now all of a sudden you're not so little any more. Now you help Mommy take care of Sariah and even know just how big to make the pieces when you feed her things. You are so helpful and so caring about everybody else and there is no doubt that pleases God. And you know what is really special? You WANT to please God, just like your sister does. Nothing makes PopPop and Nanna happier than that.

We're glad you enjoy life so much, Shana-bana. It's so much fun watching you twirl 'round and 'round and listen to you chatter and hearing the cute little songs you like to sing. You make it a habit to brighten up the days of others around you. You know what? I think you're always going to be that way and and I hope so because that is why your friends like playing with you so much.

Stay as you are now and keep trying to learn more about Jesus. Always follow Him and you will have a good life, no matter how old you get to be. Thank you for all the hugs and kisses you like to give. It makes us happy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY and we love you!

PopPop and Nanna

Another One Year Old!

 Yes, that is right!!! We have another grandchild who is turning one. This time it's Sariah Grace's turn. Sometimes called Sariah, oftentimes "Gracie," words cannot tell you what an absolute delight she is to her mommy and daddy, her sisters who ADORE her, her Auntie Nee who often gets to spend lots of time with her, and not least of all, her PopPop and Nanna. And it does not stop there. She has Grandmom and Pop on daddy's side, along with other aunties and uncles and cousins who find her pretty special too. And we can't even stop there. At the church we attend we have loads of people who enjoy our little missy every chance they get. And well, now I will stop there because I could go on and on and bore you. But you get the picture--she's been a very popular baby!

So it's been one year ago little Gracie entered this world and captivated us all. Petite, cuddly, and oh so cute,he continues to captivate us. Words cannot express how blessed we are by her being a part of our lives. The fact that she came after two others makes her no less a treasure. And a treasure and little gem in our family she surely is. Her mom recently told me her life verse is Colossians 3:17. How our prayer for our little Sariah Grace is that all her life she will at least try, prayerfully, to do everything to please her Savior. And that means, of course, that she will know and love Jesus, and that he WILL be her Savior from a very early age.

Happy Birthday,  Sariah!  You are precious to us and to your heavenly Father. Trust Him in all the years He gives you on this earth.

Lovingly, PopPop and Nanna

Our Six Year Old

So you're six! Where did the little baby GOOOO?! We have had six whole years to love and get to know you, and we love you more and more with each passing year. We love your cheerfulness and how you like to do so many things. We like it that you enjoy doing things all by yourself and you don't give up trying when things are hard to do. We like doing things WITH you. But most of all, we are happy that you love Jesus and want to please Him. Your daddy and mommy tell us about many of the things you say and do to honor God and we see some of those things for ourselves. We will keep praying for you that you will always continue to be this way.

Keeping being just as you are as you grow older. You make everybody happy. And thank you that you're always glad to come to PopPop and Nanna's house. It brightens our lives when you and your sisters come. It's our favorite part of life!!

God's blessings to you and Happy Birthday, Sweetheart. Many hugs and kisses.

Love, 

PopPop and Nanna

P.S. And look what you did! This picture is of you and the Lego camper set we gave you on Sunday that you put together with just some help from Daddy getting started, but mostly you did it all by yourself. See? That's what we mean about you!

Does Jesus Care?

He certainly does. Hope all is well among many of my dear old friends this day. Have a blessed Lord's Day.

Blessings to You, Memorial Day

And 620,000 casualties from the Civil War.

DD went to the Union cemetery at Gettysburg on Saturday. Heart wrenching. Thank God for preserving our country through all these wars, even the one which threatened from within. Praying He’ll preserve us from turning our backs on Him altogether. A different kind of warfare.

It is Finished

(Image Credit: http://heycheng.tumblr.com)

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. 1 Peter 3:18

Still Gonna Die

For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. -    1 Timothy 4:8  

Still Gonna Die by Old Dogs (1998)

So your taking better care of your body, becoming more aware of your body, responding to your bodies needs, everything you hear and read about diets, nutrition, and sleeping position, and detoxifying the system and buying machines that they advertise to help you exercise, herbs to revitalize you if your traumatized, soaps that will sanitize, spays to deodorize, liquids to neutralize, acids and pesticides, free weights to maximize your strength and muscle size, shots that will immunize, pills to reenergize you but remember that for all your pain and gain eventually the story ends the same

So you quit smoking but your still gonna die, cut out coking but your still gonna die
Eliminate everything fatty or fried, and you get real healthy but your still gonna die

Stop drinking booze and your still gonna die, stay away from Kool’s and son your still gonna die
You can cut out coffee and never get high but your still gonna, still gonna, still gonna die

Your still gonna, still gonna, still gonna die, still gonna, still gonna, still gonna die
You can even give a roller one more try but when the music is over your still gonna die

Put seat belts in your car your still gonna die, cut nicotine and tar your still gonna die
You can exercise that cellulite off of your thigh, get slimmer and trimmer but your still gonna die

Stop kissing and tell your still gonna die, you can eat a lot of oat bran but your still gonna die
You can search for UFO’s up in the sky, they might fly you to Mars where your still gonna die

Your still gonna, still gonna, still gonna die, still gonna, still gonna, still gonna die
And all the Reeboks and Nikes and Diggers you buy, you can jog up to heaven and your still gonna die

Drink Ginseng tonic your still gonna die, try high colonics your still gonna die
You can have yourself frozen suspended in time, but when they do thaw you out your still gonna die

You can have safe sex your still gonna die, you can switch to Crest but your still gonna die
You can get rid of stress, get a lot of rest, get an aids test, enroll if Estes
Move out west where it’s sunny and dry, and you’ll live to be a hundred but your still gonna die

Your still gonna, still gonna, still gonna die, still gonna, still gonna, still gonna die
So you better have some fun before you say bye-bye
Cause your still gonna, still gonna, still gonna still gonna,
Still gonna, still gonna, still gonna die

Have You Been There?

So today I get the following email from a "friend?" LOL Enjoy!

I have been in many places, but I've never been in Cahoots. Apparently, you can't go alone. You have to be in Cahoots with someone.

I've also never been in Cognito. I hear no one recognizes you there.

I have, however, been in Sane. They don't have an airport; you have to be driven there. I have made several trips there, thanks to my friends, family and work.

I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump, and I'm not too much on physical activity anymore.

I have also been in Doubt. That is a sad place to go, and I try not to visit there too often.

I've been in Flexible, but only when it was very important to stand firm.

Sometimes I'm in Capable, and I go there more often as I'm getting older.

One of my favorite places to be is in Suspense! It really gets the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the old heart! At my age I need all the stimuli I can get!

I may have been in Continent, but I don't remember what country I was in.

Today is one of the many National Mental Health Days throughout the year. You can do your bit by remembering to send an e-mail to at least one unstable person. My job is done!

Life is too short for negative drama & petty things. So laugh insanely, love truly and forgive quickly!

From one to another: I hope everyone is happy in your head - we're all doing pretty good in mine!

Mom's Clothesline

Well, hi, folks. Sorry I'm not blogging much these days, but hope all is well with my old friends. Got this email a few days ago, and yesterday my clothesline fell down, so it seemed appropriate to post this while my dear hubby right now tries to hook it to a different tree.

Love this one and yes, there were people who really did all the correct things in hanging clothes.

I remember my grandmother and mother doing all of these things.

Of course you washed the whites first, then the medium colored and last was the dark dirty work clothes. I've seen this done in during a drought, you used the wash water to wash the floor, then it was dumped on the few dried veggies you had growing. The rinse water you washed the kids feet and it also got dumped on the veggie patches.

Remembering Mom's Clothesline

There is one thing that's left out. We had a long wooden pole (clothes pole) that was used to push the clotheslines up so that longer items (sheets/pants/etc.) didn't brush the ground and get dirty.

You have to be a "certain age" to appreciate this one....

(But you YOUNGER ones can read about "The GOOD ol' days"!!)

I can hear my mother now.....

THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES:

(If you don't even know what clotheslines are, better skip this.)

1. You had to hang the socks by the toes... NOT the top.

2. You hung pants by the BOTTOM/cuffs... NOT the waistbands.

3. You had to WASH the clothesline(s) before hanging any clothes - walk the entire length of each line with a damp cloth around the lines.

4. You had to hang the clothes in a certain order, and always hang "whites" with "whites," and hang them first.

5. You NEVER hung a shirt by the shoulders - always by the tail! What would the neighbors think?

6. Wash day on a Monday! NEVER hang clothes on the weekend, or on Sunday, for Heaven's sake!

7. Hang the sheets and towels on the OUTSIDE lines so you could hide your "unmentionables" in the middle (perverts & busybodies, y'know!)

8. It didn't matter if it was sub-zero weather... clothes would "freeze-dry."

9. ALWAYS gather the clothes pins when taking down dry clothes! Pins left on the lines were "tacky"!

10. If you were efficient, you would line the clothes up so that each item did not need two clothes pins, but shared one of the clothes pins with the next washed item.

11. Clothes off of the line before dinner time, neatly folded in the clothes basket, and ready to be ironed.

12. IRONED???!! Well, that's a whole OTHER subject!



And now a POEM ...


A clothesline was a news forecast, To neighbours passing by,

There were no secrets you could keep, When clothes were hung to dry.

It also was a friendly link, For neighbours always knew

If company had stopped on by, To spend a night or two.

For then you'd see the "fancy sheets", And towels upon the line;

You'd see the "company table cloths", With intricate designs.

The line announced a baby's birth, From folks who lived inside,

As brand new infant clothes were hung, So carefully with pride!

The ages of the children could, So readily be known

By watching how the sizes changed, You'd know how much they'd grown!

It also told when illness struck, As extra sheets were hung;

Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe too, Haphazardly were strung.

It also said, "On vacation now", When lines hung limp and bare.

It told, "We're back!" when full lines sagged, With not an inch to spare!

New folks in town were scorned upon, If wash was dingy and gray,

As neighbours' carefully raised their brows, And looked the other way.

But clotheslines now are of the past, For dryers make work much less.

Now what goes on inside a home, Is anybody's guess!

I really miss that way of life, It was a friendly sign

When neighbors' knew each other best... By what hung out on that line.

Merry Christmas!!

Many blessings to you and your family as we celebrate His first coming!

Thou didst leave thy throne 
And thy kingly crown 
ManyWhen thou camest to earth for me, 
But in Bethlehem's home 
Was there found no room 
For Thy holy nativity: 
O come to my heart Lord Jesus; 
There is room in my heart for thee! 

Heaven's arches rang 
When the angels sang 
Proclaiming Thy royal degree; 
But of lowly birth 
Cam'st Thou, Lord, on earth, 
And in great humility; 
O come to my heart Lord Jesus; 
There is room in my heart for thee! 

The foxes found rest 
And the bird its nest 
In the shade of the forest tree; 
But Thy couch was the sod, 
O Thou Son of God, 
In the deserts of Galilee: 
O come to my heart Lord Jesus; 
There is room in my heart for thee! 

Thou camest, O Lord, 
With the living word, 
That should set Thy people free; 
But, with mocking scorn, 
And with crown of thorn, 
They bore Thee to Calvary: 
O come to my heart Lord Jesus; 
Thy Cross is my only plea! 

When heaven's arches shall ring, 
And her choirs shall sing 
At Thy coming to victory, 
Let they voice call me home, 
Saying, 'Yet there is room- 
There is room at My side for thee!' 
And my heart shall rejoice, Lord Jesus, 
When Thou camest and callest for me.

For Waltons Lovers

Giving Thanks

If these darling creatures can give thanks for God's provisions, then surely we can. Hope you are all well and your families blessed of the Lord. We are doing fine.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cooler Corn

Photograph by Scott DeSimon This is one of those forwards I like to pass on from time to time, so here it is: Am I the only person who hasn't heard of "cooler corn"? As an obsessive food nerd, you'd expect that I would have at least heard of it, but over the weekend I was blindsided by the simple genius of this method for cooking loads of corn on the cob perfectly. I was hepped to it while visiting my family in Maine. Short story: We like corn on the cob. And with eight adults at the table, that means a couple of dozen ears. We would have used the lobster pot to cook them all, but the lobster pot was busy steaming lobster.Then my sister, a capable Maine cook with years of camping experience says "let's do cooler corn!" Before I can ask "what is cooler corn?" a Coleman cooler appears from the garage, is wiped clean, then filled with the shucked ears. Next, two kettles-full of boiling water are poured over the corn and the top closed. Then nothing. When we sat down to dinner 30 minutes later and opened it, the corn was perfectly cooked. My mind was blown. And I'm told that the corn will remain at the perfect level of doneness for a couple of hours. Turns out, Cooler Corn is pretty well known among the outdoorsy set But for those of us who avoid tents as much as possible, it's perfect for large barbecues and way less of mess than grilling. In fact, I may even buy another cooler just so I'm ready for next summer. Now that I'm in the know.

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