If It Were Snow!

It would add up to feet!

The rain is coming down so
hard I could hear it from the
comfort of my bed.

It was such that I thought
perhaps the forecasters got
it wrong and that I might
be hearing sleet.

However, after a quick peek
it is just heavy rain.

So our pretty white snow will
be washed away and the mud will
be our prominent feature.

Poor Chelsea may resign herself to
the artificial tree...
Getting a real one would be such a
messy proposition and she is so
ready to get to decorating.

Well, it is back to the candle kitchen
for me. I have not run out of orders
yet...It has been months now, of
steady work. What a blessing!

Last night I made a special candle.

Saturday, at the craft show,
a woman stopped in front
of my display and said,
"I love these candles."
I replied,
"You like soy candles, or..."
She said, "No, I love your candles!"

Turns out she had purchased one last
year and was very happy to get to order
another of the exact same scent.
Birds of Paradise.

So, my counter last night looked like
that game of which of these things is
not like the other.

A lot of green potpourri spice candles
and one teal Birds of Paradise.
The kids had friends over and they
had been popping in and out of the kitchen.
I told them that something had gone wrong.
How strange that this candle would turn
that color!

They were perplexed for just a bit until
I 'fessed up. I would feel badly for them
but I think they have some video of me that
should be burned...
It is dangerous to be in our house when
the kids' friends are here.
They are all into photography.
Lets just say that I was on the floor
putting on some Christmas Music... there
may be video of my less flattering side.

It got quiet and then there was a lot
of giggling when I suggested they might
not want to be taking such a photo!
It was then that I found out it was
video! Great!

It is very common for me to come around
a corner and find a camera in my face.
I have come to just make a face and let
them take the picture. It has to come
out so ugly that they just delete it.
Really!

So, if I pick on them a bit...
it is justified!

I do hope you find many reasons
to smile today...and you know a good
belly laugh is great for you...
so look for the funny in life,
if you can.

Thanks for stopping by!

Social Children

It seems they are always headed
somewhere to do something together.

Often they will meet friends.


Mikey looks serious.
Thank goodness...
since he is behind the wheel!



Jonathan is always our DJ in the car.
He almost never gets into the car
without his huge CD case.




Chelsea loves that Mikey can drive!
She is always trying to get him to take
her somewhere!



The kids took these photos as they went to a movie
with friends a few weeks ago...

Your Home Acrostics!

I loved your HOME Acrostics so
I thought I would share them among
the photos of the beautiful snow.
I went out this morning and slipped
and slid around with in my Sunday
Finest.
Can you say cold feet??



So, therefore, I would appreciate
it if you would ooh and ahhh over
them, o.k?
Just kidding!



Speaking of HOMES...
this evening there is the sound of
many young voices all through this
home as we have a houseful of teens.
Love it!!!

A happy home sound, indeed.

Vickie, who writes with a wicked
sense of humor from a Texas
farm wrote this...who knew she
was so sensitive...what with
disposin' of all of those
gophers and everything!

H - haven for the family
O - open arms and hearts
M - molded in the image of Christ
E - ever enjoying each other




Carol got to my sentimental side when she
wrote...
H~ happy laughter from our grandson is delightful
O~ old time hymns being played on the piano
M~ memories being created each day
E~ each person showing love

As a retired teacher, Carol knows how to
write!




Susan, from New Jersey, had these
thoughts about HOME...

Healthy surroundings and meals
Open hearts
Memories made here
Everyone accepted and loved

I think I would love to visit
Susan. I would be accepted and
loved...that is a good thing.
Hospitality!



Last but definitely not least,
Freda, a very fun and recent
retiree who is incredibly crafty
said this about HOME...

Helping Hands
Open Hearts
Merry Laughter
Everyone Sharing



Now don't these things just tell
you so much about those who wrote
them? I can just imagine enjoying
sweet fellowship with each and every
one of these ladies!



I love the hues of blue in all of these photos.
It has been a while since I have had time to
play along on Mondays so I am going to do so
when the link is up.

If you have time I would encourage you
to visit these blogs and Smiling Sally for a list
of bloggers who feature something BLUE!

Have a totally wonderful day!

Snowed In...By Choice!

Today was my only Craft Show
of the year. It was easy to
be in the Christmas Spirit with
big fluffy snowflakes falling
outside. The windows near me
were perfectly placed for a
quick glance or a longing gaze.
Sometimes just the thought of
going out with my camera was
nearly irresistible. However,
since I did not remember to
take my camera it was an obvious
non-issue.

The crafter beside me had tables
and tables of boxwood trees and
Christmas greens.

I was one of three with candles
and one of those had hers priced
$2 less per jar. Oh, I fought with
myself about lowering the price, but
in the end knew that the quality and
service that come with my candles
justify their price.

It was very embarrassing when a very
dear friend of the other soy candle maker
purchased a hot chocolate mug from me.

She actually left the room and returned
to make the purchase after discussing
it with her husband.

She was apologizing to her best friend
all the while... saying how
much she loved it...and could use the
mug...etc. Oh dear!

By the time I left the Craft show there
was snow on the roads and already accidents
were happening. We were warned to avoid a
certain road because of one.

So...upon arriving home we discussed our
plans for the rest of the day.

You see, My Uncle Steve is visiting.
He is working on a project that is closer
to our home than his, which is in Virginia.
Our original plans were that he was going to
take all of us out for dinner.
That sounded great to us!

After watching the snow continue and the temperatures
begin to drop we decided to opt for pizza, subs and
a couple of movies.

It is so very, very pretty outside!
It is so very, very warm in here!

The fire is going in the fireplace
downstairs. It will be a delightful
evening to throw in Elf and Ice Age,
then pop popcorn, Chelsea is talking
of homemade hot cocoa...
we will enjoy some
family time.

See you later!
I'm off to enjoy our
snowed in evening!

Hope I can stay awake!
LOL

A Celebration!

Remember the liver biopsy that happened
about six...maybe eight weeks ago?

Well, we never heard results from the
doctor and Warren's follow up appointment
had to be postponed due to an unexpected
trip to Sight and Sound's Branson sight.

We felt that if the results had been
urgent we would have received a call...
this was our frame of mind about it -
most of the time. Of course, there were
times when we were just content to not
know and hope for the best.

Today was the day.
We went into the office with our pulses
just a bit elevated...

The nurse practitioner gave us the good
news. No liver damage to speak of and
no cancer or cirrhosis!

Whew!

You realize at some point that you have
just exhaled worries that have been
tucked in the back of your brain for a
very long time.

So...tonight those of us who were available,
that was Warren, Jonathan, Georgia and Myself
went to a delightful restaurant to celebrate!

We had dinner at The Brasserie.




I love this place.
Warren and I had been here once
before but it was much smaller and
less impressive then.
Even so, I remembered it well.

Tonight I called ahead and was told
that we should ask for the Pittsburgh
Steelers Room. Well, since we are fans
of the Steelers,that sounded great to me!

Check it out!






There was some sort of need to
attempt to take the ball from
Ben Roethlisberger...




or was that
his burger we consumed?


While there were plenty of others in the restaurant,
we were blessed to have this room to ourselves.
I must say that I was very impressed with the
service and the tasty food served at The Brasserie.

I do hope that if you get to Lancaster County you will
check this place out.

You'll have the option of "fine dining" or
the more casual bar/lounge area.
This was the reason we ended up in the
"Pittsburgh Room". While I knew that
Georgia and I would likely have preferred
the "fine dining" section, I was pretty sure
that the guys would not. The sweet young lady
who took my call read the situation perfectly
and made a wonderful suggestion.

You can see their web site HERE.

By the way, we spoke with the
owner on the way out and expressed
our pleasure with the experience.
He has no idea that I intended to
blog about our evening but I suspect
he wouldn't mind. Since he was doing
everything right!

We are so grateful for Warren's wonderful
results. We never know how these things
will turn out but we do know the One who
does know these things. He has blessed us
greatly in this situation.

Have an outstanding day!

Piano Lesson Incentives

Did you know that it does not
take much to get a certain little
girl to work really hard at her
piano lesson?
I have been teaching
Miss Sarah to play the piano.



Her Mom blogs here.
Sarah loves the lesson but is a
fairly typical student when it comes
to practicing. She often just plain
forgets to do it.

Watching her progress in the lessons
I cannot imagine how fast she would
fly through the basics if she put in
more time at home...so...yesterday I
found a simple but time tested way to
get her excited.



Stickers!

I know it doesn't seem like much but
Sarah was nearly bouncing off her seat
because she earned four stickers!
She could not wait to show her Mom,
who she was sure would be "so proud!"

I remember my first year or so of lessons.
I wanted those stickers.
They meant that I had conquered a piece.
I, too, could not get excited about
practicing. There were days that Mom
and I went head to head over it and I
would play with tears running down my
face. But I would play.

It has paid off.

Today, while I am not a great pianist,
I can play just about any song in the
hymnal and enjoy playing for church.

Sarah is looking forward
to playing at church.
I am excited for her.
Watching her determination to get it
right makes my whole day!

So...Hats off...to my very
first piano student!
Here's to lots and lots
of stickers to come!!

Love You, Sarah!

Now, go Practice!

LOL,

Mrs. K

It is December First!!!

Amazing, isn't it?
How the time flies.

We had a guest speaker,
of sorts, on Sunday.
Our friend, Denny, spoke.
He agreed to fill in when
our Associate Pastor ended
up in the Hospital and our
Senior Pastor was out of
town for Thanksgiving.

Denny talked about time.
How there are markers in the
timeline that help us to place
things and keep things organized
for us. For example the assassination
of JFK or September 11, 2001.
He used the text in
Psalm 90 where it talks
about God's view on time.
"A thousand years is like a day".

I tend to think sometimes that a
day feels like a thousand years...
lol.

All I know lately is that time seems
to be in such a high speed that I
cannot believe how late in this year
of 2009 it is.

Last night was so much fun.
It was our boys Graduation Planning
Meeting. In May of next year they
will complete this leg of their
educational journey. All of these
years of school will be done and
life will be so full of possibility.

I do hope they will use their time
granted on earth wisely.
Every parent wants that for their
children, I believe.

Last night was also the BIG night
for getting rid of all of the
hundreds of candles that have filled
our living room and dining room for
the past several weeks.

That was fun!
People are so great.
I love their enthusiasm and
joy as they see the fruits of
their fundraising labors come
to fruition.

We were able to reduce the price
of the Formal Ticket from $46 to
$15! They were thrilled and
applause burst out! Now that made
all of those early mornings to late
nights in the kitchen worth while!

Time, it is something to take note
of. What are we spending it on?
Are we aware that it is fleeting?

There have been two deaths in this
past week that I have noted because I
know the families in one way or another.

Those families have differing takes
on their losses. One lost a wife and
mother at the age of 56, another lost
a mother at the age of 89.
The loss is deep in either case.
Time seems just so short when it
comes to things such as this.

However, our perspective on time is going
to shift one day. Once we are loosed from
earth's timetable and shift to God's we will
see a thousand years as if it were a day.

Hmmm....wonder what that will be like?

I think it will be wonderful, if spent
in the presence of a Holy and loving
Heavenly Father!

Oh...that will be bliss!

Cherish your time here,
but look forward to a life
where time means oh, so little!