White Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone! When we woke this morning, there really wasn't much snow on the ground, but then around breakfast it started snowing. And snowing. And SNOWING. And it definately did not look like it was going to stop any time soon!
I went out early to care for some animals while their family is gone, and on my drive home barely got the car up two hills that I needed to climb. Home looked real good when I got here!





Time to build a snowman!



















I thought he looked pretty good by the time we were done! A finer snowman I never did see.....
















An invitation to come and sit a while. But I think I'll take a rain-ah, snow-check on that one! Come Spring, this is where I will be!












Beautiful red Nandina berries. And unlike red Cardinals, the berries do not fly away when I want to take their picture!

















A cozy little house. But the smart owner flew south for the winter!
















Our beautiful woods--the path beckens me to come wander...


















Woods treasure...














and wild creatures! You never know what you will find in the woods!















Meanwhile, back at the ranch the very smart kitties never left their spot curled up next to the fire!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas day. And the most wonderful thing of all is Christmas is not really just a day--but a gift for all time. For all of us, for every day, when we choose to accept Jesus and His sacrifice to cover our sins.

Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow!

A Social Network Christmas

Very thought provoking little video--what it would be like if Jesus was being born in today's world. Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!

Emergency!

There was quite a bit of excitement on our street earlier this week. We were finishing eating lunch as all appeared to be normal--when all of a sudden my son said there was a strange car pulling into our driveway. I hopped up to look, and here coming down the street was not one, but THREE fire engines--and they were joining several police cars and various other emergency vehicles already parked almost in front of our house. Since we live on a small dead end road, this type of activity is definately not the normal occurance!

As I stood gazing out the window, my eyes kept looking up and down the street--trying to somehow figure out what the trouble was. All still appeared as a sleepy little neighborhood, and I could see nothing wrong!

Finally, I watched as two firemen took a ladder off of the trucks and carried it over to the roof of one of our neighbors. As they climbed up and went over to check out the chimney, I realized that our neighbor must have had a chimney fire. The weather has been unusually cold for our area, and anyone who has a fireplace or woodstove in their home is using it to help suppliment the heat from the furnace--us included!

The interesting thing to me was that from the outside, all still appeared normal at our neighbor's house. Sure, I could see smoke coming out of their chimney, but there was smoke coming out of the chimney of almost every house on the street! There really wasn't anything showing on the outside of the house to indicate the very real problem that was smouldering on the inside.

I found out later that it was the neighbors BEHIND my neighbor who looked out their window and saw flames shooting out of that house's chimney, so they called 911. My neighbors did not even realize that their chimney was on fire! What if after the firemen arrived my neighbor had looked around inside his house and thought to himself--"All looks fine. I do not need anyone to help me."? Well, he very possibly could have lost his entire house, and he and his family's lives as well. No, he had a real emergency on his hands, even though all looked fine from certain view points. Fortunately, his back neighbor had the wisdom to call 911 and get the help that was needed, before it was too late. That person had a phone that worked--a connection with the 911 office--and he used it!

All of us who live in this world of sin are trapped in our own emergency. Oh yes, things may look just fine on the outside, and maybe even look fine from our view on the inside. But there is definately trouble smouldering. But we are not without hope--we have a connection that will bring us help--if we are willing to ask for it. Do you know how to call for help? It's 1-800-PRAYER.

In the book "Steps to Christ" p. 93-95 Ellen White writes this:
"Our heavenly Father waits to bestow upon us the fullness of His blessing. It is our privilege to drink largely at the fountain of boundless love. What a wonder it is that we pray so little! God is ready and willing to hear the sincere prayer of the humblest of His children, yet there is much manifest reluctance on our part to make known our wants to God. What can the angels of heaven think of poor helpless human beings, who are subject to temptation, when God's heart of infinite love yearns toward them, ready to give them more than they can ask or think, and yet they pray so little and have so little faith? The angels love to bow before God; they love to be near Him. They regard communion with God as their highest joy;. and yet the children of earth, who need so much the help that God only can give, seem satisfied to walk without the light of His Spirit, the companionship of His presence.
The darkness of the evil one encloses those who neglect to pray. The whispered temptations of the enemy entice them to sin; and it is all because they do not make use of the priviledges that God has given them in the divine appointment of prayer. Why should the sons and daughters of God be reluctant to pray, when prayer is the key in the hand of faith to unlock heaven's storehouse, where are treasured the boundless resources of Omnipotence?"

Calling 911. Calling 1-800-PRAYER. Are we keeping our lines connected each day? Are we trying to handle things in our lives on our own, without the help that God is waiting and wanting to give us? Calling 911 may be the occasional phone call in our lives. But calling 1-800-PRAYER, needs to be the daily call in our lives. Every day, all day long. Don't try your day without it!

Are You Honorable?

This past week Alison and I took time to finally make some Christmas roll-out cookies--yum! Of course, one of the first steps is to dig through the kitchen drawer and pull out those cookie cutter shapes that are paticularly Christmas.

Out comes the candy cane shape. Out comes the star, angel, and bell. A gingerbread boy shape soon joined the others that were being piled on the countertop. I thought we had them all out, when Alison pulls out one more cookie cutter--one the shape of Texas. Now, I have absolutely nothing against the state of Texas, and I am even the one who bought that shaped cutter when we lived there--but I admit that I do not think of cookies the shape of Texas when I think of Christmas cookies! So I looked at Alison and questioned "Texas? Why the shape of Texas?" To which she looked at me as if I must be very dense, (and it was a chore to be patient with a parent such as I) and replies "Because Texas is so honorable!" (Yes, all my Texas friends--this proves that you can take the girl out of Texas but you can never take Texas out of the girl!)



I mulled this conversation around the rest of the day. Because Texas is so "Honorable".

The Bible says in 1 Chronicles 4:9 that "Jabez was more honorable than his brothers." Verse 10 goes on to record a prayer of Jabez, and it says "And God granted his request."

Proverbs 25:27 tells us that it is not honorable to seek one's own honor.

1 Thessalonians 4:4 says we need to learn how to control ourselves in a way that is holy and honorable.

And Malachi 3:16 records that "those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name."




Honorable. To act in such a way as to bring honor. When a child acts honorable, it brings honor to their parents who did much training of that child. But of course, God was the perfect parent, and Adam and Eve still sinned and did not reflect honor upon their heavenly parent.

This Christmas season, may we take time to reflect upon our Creator, and pray that we may always bring Him honor.





Last picture--this Michigan girl could not resist. Since "Honorable Texas" was coming to our house for Christmas, I thought it should be joined by "Honorable Michigan"! ;) Afterall, remember that we are known by the company we keep--so "Honorable" states should always hang out with other "Honorable" states!

Read the Bible in 90 Days!

Lately I have been pondering what I will do for my devotional time in the upcoming year. I knew I wanted to be reading in the Bible, and also add in some Bible Memorization, but hadn't come to a specific decision as to exactly what or how.

Some time ago I had run across a blog post where the person mentioned that they were reading the Bible through in 90 days. This really interested me--it was something I had never heard of. Reading the Bible through in a year, of course. But in 90 days??? Was it even possible? I mean, for a real person--not someone who gets to go to work every day and their job is to just sit in an office and read the Bible! But as I read this blog post, I discovered that there was a whole group of people doing this together--well, at the same time anyway, but using the internet to "connect" and encourage one another. Cool! But I had already missed the starting date. Rats!

Well, so I dismissed THAT idea. It was a crazy one anyway. I really didn't think I could do it, and if there was even going to be the remotest chance that I could, well, it was definately going to take a group to get me through! Well......fast forward to yesterday. Guess what I found? Another "Read the Bible in 90 Days" is forming! And they aren't starting until January 3, 2011. Cool! Maybe I should try this afterall. Yes, I may get bogged down in "real life" and not finish it in the 90 day time period, but so what? What's the worst that can happen to me--so I read part of the Bible? It can only help! :)

I've read the Bible through before, but slowly and over a long time period. Nothing wrong with that at all, but I think I am going to give this method a try. The whole purpose behind it is not to study the Bible in depth, but rather to read it quickly through so you are gaining a broad overview. A perspective that perhaps you wouldn't have gained if you had gone through that book of the Bible slowly. You can always jot down a couple notes to yourself if you run across something you want to be able to come back to later to study in depth.

I've placed a "Read the Bible in 90 Days" button in the side margin of this blog. If it all works properly, you should be able to click on it and read more about the program. Give it some thought and prayer--I'd love to have you join me!!!

GoD And DoG

Beautiful song and video. Hope you all enjoy this as much as I did. By the way--this video will only work if you are viewing it on my regular blog. If you receive this through automatic e-mails whenever I post, I do not think the video will work. So--come to www.tnquiltbug.blogspot.com

He Watches over You

This past week I was working in my kitchen and heard this loud "KerPLUNK!" I immediately knew that a bird had flown into my kitchen window, in spite of our having suncatchers hanging in the window to prevent this very thing. I peeked out the back doorway, hoping to see nothing. Hoping that whatever bird had hit would have been able to just hit and immediately take off flying again. No such luck. There he (she?) was, not only on the ground, but completely upside down with legs sticking straight up in the air. My heart sank. I was sure the bird was either already dead, or soon to die. I saw a tiny bit of movement, and realized that for now, it was still alive. I wasn't sure the best thing to do, as I didn't want to pick up the bird and therefore SCARE it into an early grave--yet at the same time I couldn't see just leaving it upside down either. I watched it for a long time, and saw no attempt to right itself. Finally, praying that I wasn't doing something harmful to it, I decided to pick it up. If it was going to die, I figured it could at least be more comfortable being right side up. I prayed that it would somehow know that I was a friend, not a foe. That I would not try to hurt it. The bird did not struggle at all as I held it gently in my hand. I called Alison to come and see it, and helped her to gently pet it's back with a finger. We called for Austin to bring his camera and take a picture (Austin--here's your photo credit for the above photo!). The bird just stayed in my hand for a very long time, just working on breathing. One of it's wings was hanging out kind of funny, but it wasn't obviously broken so I helped fold it up and tuck it in like the other wing was. And then we prayed. Jesus promises us that His Father in heaven sees when even a sparrow falls, so we claimed that promise and knew that the God of the Universe saw this little bird in my hand. We asked if it was His will, that He make this bird well again, and able to fly and live it's life.

Alison asked if she could hold the bird, so after transfering the bird to her hand I went inside to grab my camera. Coming out the back door again, I didn't think and let the screen door slam behind me--and the bird took off! We were thrilled--even if I didn't get a picture of Alison holding it! The bird flew to our maple tree just a little bit away, and perched there to rest for a while, long enough for me to get a picture of him happy!

I thought more about this bird as the rest of the day went on. This bird was knocked down hard by life (literally!). He was very vulnerable when he was down. I could have easily crushed out his life, and he would have been powerless to stop me. But instead I lifted him up, and tried my best to help him. Given a bit of rest, he was able to recover. How often are we like this bird. Knocked down by circumstances in life. Easily crushed. In need of someone to pick us up and help us rest awhile. How are we treating other people? When they are not doing well, do we crush them, or support them? Sometimes, we hold in our hand the power to lift someone up, or smash them down where they will never recover. May we always lift them up, as the true Lifegiver would have us to do.

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father." Matthew 10:29, NIV

Happiness is a Warm Puppy!

Today was finally the day. I have been WAITING for this day to come--when "Beto--World Famous CCI service-dog-in-training" would come to our house for me to puppy sit. One month and ten days ago we lost my son's sweet Lauren--his CCI service dog that he had been matched with when he was only six years old. What emptiness there is in my heart with Lauren gone--but because of the huge blessing Lauren was to Austin and our whole family, my dear friend and her daughter are puppy raising another CCI puppy. Investing. Giving to someone they do not even know, so that the blessing can keep going on. But my kitties aren't too sure about this whole idea......




After checking Beto out, with him safely tucked away in his kennel, Pumpkin decided he had better keep an eye on this thing. And the safest place seemed to be the top of the fridge! You know, close to the action but far enough away to retreat.















What a grand and glorious dog I am! I have a mission in life. I will grow and learn and go on to help make a human's life so much better.












I am learning so well too. See how good I can do the "Sit" command? And this is NOT easy. First of all, I am a puppy and therefore I want to MOVE, not SIT. Second of all, this floor is slick and therefore my feet slide if I hold my "Sit" too long!














Puppy sitting. Sitting and loving on a puppy.
Beto--CCI service-dog-in-training. A miracle growing up to change a life.

When Life Gives you Lemons--or is that Tomatoes?

Well, last week we had our first serious frost warning. And our poor garden--which we neglected due to being gone much of the summer, still had one row of tomato plants that were loaded with tomatoes! What to do? My parents often pick their tomatoes when there is a frost coming--and wrap them individually in newspaper waiting to ripen. But since 99% of mine were the small roma tomatoes, I did NOT see me wrapping each separate tomato--and THEN I read on-line that you are to unwrap each and check them each week. Not going to happen.



But neither did we want good food to go to waste. So after some thought, we decided to divide the tomatoes into a single layer if possible, in various boxes, and then just place a layer of paper over the whole layer. Had no idea if it would work and if they would ripen or not, but thought it was worth a try... And after a week in the basement, I was VERY happy to discover tomatoes ripening--even without being wrapped each one like all the experts tell you to do.












But then I had a new problem--what do to with them? I made several recipes that used them, but I still had more. Yet not enough to can, and I already had some in my freezer and didn't want to take up more freezer room. So finally decided to haul out the dehydrator! It's a good way to take care of just a few at a time. I've heard you can dry in a regular oven as well, though I have not tried that. My dehydrator just has gentle heat, and a small fan blows on them. You cut slices as uniform as you can, and it will dry them in around one day and night. (I think the oven method takes longer, as there is no fan blowing.)



You can buy extra trays for the dehydrator. I don't know how many it can go up to, but I know I have two extra trays for mine that my mother-in-law bought me years ago. The rest are ones that came with the dehydrator. Of course, the more trays you add, it takes a bit longer for the foods in the upper trays to dry.













The finished product--and believe it or not, my family snarfles these down like they were potato chips! I have to hide them if I want some to use by cutting small into pasta dishes. But I already have some hidden away (shish! Don't tell!) so I just let them munch these. You can't complain when your kids are begging you to let them eat a vegetable!

Meet Beto!

At long last, here he is! Beto--Canine Companions for Independance service dog in training! Beto is a Golden/Lab cross from CCI's breeding program. CCI choses their breeder dogs carefully, for the traits and temperments best suited for success as a service dog. There are MANY people involved in raising just one service dog to the point of graduation and being matched with a disabled person. My dear friend Kristal, and her daughter Briana (shown with Beto!) are volunteer puppy raisers for CCI. Beto is their fourth CCI pup to raise. Volunteer puppy raisers care for a CCI pup for a year to a year and a half. But it is not just feeding and pottying the dog--it is much more involved than that.






During the time that Beto lives with Kristal and Briana, they will pay for all expenses themselves--including vet shots, special food, and THREE sets of training classes. In addition to dollars, there is the additional "cost" of sleepless nights while potty training (try every two hours anyone?), and constant watching and supervision--not to mention hours and hours of training and practicing the basic obedience class things.












When Beto is old enough (around five months) they will start taking him out with them into the "real world". He will go to the grocery store, and learn that he cannot stop and sniff at the bread on the shelf. He will hear unfamiliar noises and learn that he must remain calm. He will attend church and learn that sometimes you just have to curl up and take a nap while you wait patiently for your person to be ready to leave. He will even visit resturants, and learn that you do not get to eat food that is not specifically given to you, even if it drops in front of your nose!










Later Beto will be turned in to the professional dog trainers, and he will learn to turn on and off light switches, open cupboard doors, walk behind or next to a wheel chair, and around--oh, fourty other commands!















And all of us who are fortunate enough to meet Beto, will pray and wait and watch. And maybe, if Beto agrees, he will become a Miracle. And will change someone's life forever.

Family

Well, here we are. Can't live with them, can't live without them--that's family!

Actually, we usually get along pretty well. And last month our Women's Ministries was doing a fund raiser at church and had a professional photographer come in to take pictures. Women's Ministries benefited from the number of people who came, and we got some nice photos of us!

And one of the nicest things of all, was my parents went in with me to purchase the copyrights of the pictures the photographer took of us, so now these photos belong to my parents and us--and I can therefore post them here. :)

So, since I CAN, I thought I WOULD. At least, here are the pictures I like the very best.

Hope you are enjoying a wonderful weekend with YOUR family. Happy Sabbath everyone!




Here is our engine and caboose. Eleven years between the two of them, but Alison is getting older as fast as she can to try and catch up with big brother!

















This is probably my favorite shot the photographer took. My little princess--but lest you think she always sits around the house looking calm and quiet, you usually can hardly find her staying still for one second!
















My absolute favorite teen-ager in the whole world. Yup. If you are going to have a teen, this is definately the one to have!
















And my sweetie! Guess the kids haven't worn us out too badly yet. But I still think a nap sounds good zzzzzzzzz....!




















Ah......so sweet and innocent! They would NEVER dream up any trouble for their mother, right????? But I wouldn't trade them for anything! (Not even a nap!)

In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue!

This past week, we had a few days off for Fall Break. Sooo, it seemed a perfect time for FIELD TRIPS! I had read in the newspaper that replicas of the Nina and Pinta were sailing into the town near us, and that they would be open for tours. How can a homeschooler resist that? So we had to go take a look. The Nina was built completely by hand and without the use of power tools. Our tour guide told us that the family who made her have been making this type of ship in Brazil for over 500 years! Much information is known about the Nina because Columbus later sold this ship, and had to describe in detail what the ship was like in the bill of sale. The Pinta replica was more recently built in Brazil, and is a 50% larger version than the real Pinta, built so to be able to accomidate larger groups for private parties, etc.

This photo here shows the Pinta replica.

An anchor that was aboard the Nina replica. This anchor is actually a real antique anchor--found by divers and donated to this sailing museum. Cool! We learned that the ships would carry many anchors. Sometimes they simply got stuck on something, and the sailors would have to take an ax to the rope and just cut it free. So it stands to reason that divers might find a few of them out there!

Alison and dad examining the life raft. Or actually the small "go to shore" boat, as there was no way all the crew would be able to fit into this small boat in time of emergency! Typical crew would consist of 27 men and boys. If you were a seven year old boy, you would be old enough to work on a ship.

I was surprised to see how small the cannons were, having been used to seeing much larger ones at forts. The cannons would be shot off every time the ship came to a new port. They still carry on this tradition today, but instead of shooting off cannons and taking the risk of hitting some house or building several miles away, they instead shoot off hamburger buns. I bet the ducks like them! :)

This looks like a photographer's dream! Or maybe he thinks his parents just dragged him along.......nnnnaw!

Lots and lots of lines!

And sails! These ships are built so authentic that they can sail under their own power, just like the original ones could have. But due to coast guard regulations, each ship must be outfitted with navagation devices and an engine, just in case of emergency. But whenever possible, they will sail and navagate using only the equipment that Columbus and crew would have had.

The tiller of the boat. I didn't realize that they didn't have steering wheels--those didn't come along for another 100 years or so. So all the directional changes the boat was making were made from the very back of the boat--and with the sails down, the person steering could not even SEE the front of the boat, due to the sails blocking their view! So they had at all times someone posted at the front of the boat, someone steering at the back, and a runner going inbetween each of those two!

The tiller comes out the back of the boat, and goes way down into the water. Our tour guide told us that he can change the tiller just one foot, and the boat will start to change directions! That's pretty responsive!

Happy field trippers!

Pine tar, used to coat everything to help preserve the wood. In Columbus' day, it would have been straight pine tar and would have always remained a little sticky--yuck! Now a days, on these replicas, they coat them with pine tar but have included a drying agent into the formula--much nicer!

Austin getting a try at winding the windlass--used for bringing up the 400 feet of anchor line. Three turns of the windlass brought the anchor up how much? One foot! So to draw up the whole anchor would take the better part of a whole day! This is why if there was any sort of trouble brewing, be it storm or natives, if the ship had to get away in a hurry, they would simply ax the anchors. No time to draw them in!

Heave Ho!

Ah, this is MUCH better than staying home and doing workbook pages! Throw the workbooks overboard! Make them walk the plank! (Just kidding, just kidding, I really do love books, even--gasp!--some workbooks.)

The Nina's small "run to shore" boat. By the way, this boat was built by the Brazilian family's 14 year old son. I was VERY impressed! Don't know if they are homeschoolers or not, but if not they should be--that looks like a GREAT homeschool project to me!

Maybe Alison would like to be the tiller for the Nina? Nope! She still wants to be an astronaut!

Quick hop back over onto the Pinta, for one more look before we go home.

Good-by Nina! It was great seeing you and learning more about Columbus!

Good-by Pinta! Maybe you will sail to our town again some day!