“As a blind man has no idea of colours, so we have no idea of the manner by which the all-wise God perceives and understands all things.”
Isaac Newton
“There is a place
of quiet rest
near to the heart of God”
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Author Archives: Shanda
I wish I was outside taking pictures. But, it’s too cold and my battery needs to charge.
It is so special to see Rich out there with Jacob, Ethan, and David. They are ice skating on the pond! I just looked out the window and they are all skating nicely and seem to be naturals. Rich bought Jacob and David skates last night. He bought some for Grace, too but they ended up being way too big, they fit ME! 
Here are some encouraging quotes and poems:
He’s helping me now, -this moment,
Though I may not see it or hear,
Perhaps by a friend far distant,
Perhaps by a stranger near,
Perhaps by a spoken message,
Perhaps by the printed word;
In ways that I know and know not,
I have the help of the Lord. Annie Flint
My soul shall make her boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. Ps. 34:2,3
“Oh friends, don’t give up! Don’t quit! God is not dead, and He has not gone out of the business! He still loves to help those who trust Him.” Grace Knowlton
Light is not in the wick,
not in the candle,
but in the burning.
God’s Spirit is like a flame
which kindles in the heart.
It can never be explained,
but souls are strangely warmed and stirred.
“This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Saviour, all the day long”
Keep sweet. Keep sweet.
This is the only way;
This is the way,
We’ll win the day
If we just keep sweet.
“The enemy has no power over a praising Christian. Praise is our most powerful weapon. It is like a two-edged sword. One side brings health to your own spirit, the other side cuts down the enemy. The enemies that threaten my inner life are so formidable! Fear and doubt are the worst. They creep into my safe house on silent little cat-feet in the quiet of the night or sometimes they come like a giant, rushing wave to overwhelm in the midst of a busy day. Can praise drive these two ugly ones away? For me, the most effective praise tool is singing—simple songs of praise to the Lord of my life, songs of love and thanksgiving. Fear and doubt must flee.”
Claire Killman
Here is a site that I found that has the words and music to many favorite hymns. Even the children enjoy picking one and singing along:
http://my.homewithgod.com/heavenlymidis2/index.html
Sweet Simple Things
Just for fun
Sweet Simple things. . . . .
Rich making me coffee before he left for work
a calm school day
when we laughed when Caleb came out of my room with my neglected coffee. . . .he was drinking it. . . . .
when we tried making beads out of homemade playdough. When we baked them in the oven they puffed out like strange marshmallows.
when we made cookies (jam thumbprints)
seeing Caleb’s reaction to his cookie (he ate the jam out first)
receiving Caleb’s hug and face rub into my clean outfit. . .now I am walking around with jam on myself
taking a nap
hearing yet another “Little Liza” story. Making them up is “all the rage” at my house (the imagination is amazing!)
talking with friends on the phone
reading “Spot”. . . again. . .and that “truck book” again. . . .
being trapped in the house because of the cold
making homemade soup
waiting for my husband to get home
knowing it’s FRIDAY!
(he came home with roses)
“In the deepest snows, the path which I used from the highway to my house, about half a mile long, might have been represented by a meandering dotted line, with wide intervals between the dots. For a week of even weather I took exactly the same number of steps, and of the same length, coming and going, stepping deliberately and with the precision of a pair of dividers in my own deep tracks,-to such routine the winter reduces us,-yet often they were filled with heaven’s own blue. But no weather interfered fatally with my walks, or rather my going abroad, for I frequently tramped eight or ten miles through the deepest snow to keep an appointment with a beech-tree, or a yellow-birch, or an old acquaintance among the pines; when the ice and snow causing their limbs to droop, and so sharpening their tops, had changed the pines into fir-trees; wading to the tops of the highest hills when snow was nearly two feet deep on a level, and shaking down another snow-storm on my head at every step; or sometimes creeping and floundering thither on my hands and knees, when the hunters had gone to their winter quarters.” THOREAU, in Walden
“Most of Nature’s Blue is in the Sky” Gladys Taber
She is surrounded by blue, with treasures in her hands: a chunk of ice that looks like crystal and her toy dog.
Green calm below, blue quietness above.
John Greenleaf Whittier
"Most of Nature's Blue is in the Sky" Gladys Taber
She is surrounded by blue, with treasures in her hands: a chunk of ice that looks like crystal and her toy dog.
Green calm below, blue quietness above.
John Greenleaf Whittier
a time to laugh
Sometimes I have to be creative to get the children to sit in a row, look at the camera, and smile. This time, I said to them, “Ok everyone! Look at the camera and say, “I LOVE GRANDMA’s ELBOW!!” Jacob thought it was so funny that he fell right off his seat. I took both pictures in a matter of seconds. . . .
(David is trying to look really tough in the first picture. Then look at him in the second, about to CRY because his back end got cold!)
What a hoot.
gratitude
*edit* later. . . . . . .
Today was the first day the children were able to play on the frozen solid very safe pond. (I wrote all that so my Mom wouldn’t worry). Rich went all over it, jumping and testing it to be sure.
Ethan and Grace shared a pair of ice skates. I looked out the window once just in time to watch Ethan kneel down in front of Grace, who was perched on a rock like a queen on her thrown. Ethan pulled off her boots and put the skates on her feet. When he was done, she got down and clomped off, and E stood up and pulled on his gloves. The whole exchange was done nonchalantly. But, this Momma was PROUD and glad to have witnessed this loving act.
Ethan and Jacob can start on their sled up here by the house, glide down the hill, turn, and go down the bank onto the pond and across to the other side. When I saw THAT, I was amazed!
We made homemade chili today.
Grace fell on the pond and hit her head on the ice and Rich ran right down to her and carried her up to the house. When they came in she told me, “I was wishing Dad would come and then he was RIGHT THERE.”
I have been resting all day. I overdid it yesterday and was extremely distraught by the end of the day. . . when I was finally in bed I cried instead of sleeping. It was after midnight before I was asleep. And of course Caleb woke up at the difficult hour of 5.
So, I rested and spent time on my bed going through a stack of old “Real Simple” magazines. It’s so therapeutic to do so with a pair of scissors, a journal, and some glue. I have a little pile of clippings to send off to dear Joanna (my tried and true friend since college days, we’ve written back and forth and kept in constant touch for over 10 years now).
My cat has kept me company all day. I was wearing a new necklace and he likes to look at it and get it with his teeth! Another time I was laying on my back, propped up on pillows reading and he reached up to “get my eye’ that he noticed was moving back and forth, back and forth across the words of the book. Of course he was very careful not to scratch. (He’s on my lap now as I type.)
The “birds” are all tucked into bed for the night. It’s been a busy day. A good family day for us, all together.
I was able to go outside this morning with my camera. Jacob, Ethan, and Grace were up and outside by 7 and they didn’t come in until almost 9! It was lovely being out, but I was afraid I was going to slip and fall. There are some hilly spots on our property. Perfect for sledding but hard for Mommy to walk on. (um. Did I just call myself Mommy?)
A snow girl made by Grace:
I could have invented lace today.
Who, I say, WHO lives HERE? This is a hole that is way over by the woods at the end of one of the ponds. (AWAY from the house, in other words) Grace says Angie was investigating and that’s her pawprint in the picture. Does a mouse family live here? I feel a Beatrix Potter moment coming on!
My little bird:
Walking in a
Winter Wonderland
David’s new Curious George book
Caleb was disappointed with the book. There was no Thomas the tank engine and the sentences were too long and confusing for him. Maybe he should have stayed in his playpen, look at his face! He’s thinking, “This book is awful!”
Do you see my new find hanging on the wall? It is that square open-work iron wall hanging. I bought it at an antique store for far less than Pottery barn’s prices! And that’s a vintage light green fiesta plate hanging next to the corner of it. There is another plate in the opposite corner.
Waldenbooks is going out of business so yesterday after my doctor’s appt. I went to the mall to see if I could find anything. I bought:
The entire boxed set of the Narnia series. It is paperback but the books are heavy, substantial, with sewn binding and full color original illustrations.
A boxed set of “Kit” American Girl books.
3 American Girl mystery books.
An American Girl horse book.
That Curious George book seen in above photos.
# 8 of the Master and Commander series for me.
Betty Crocker’s Cooky book–because my Grandma had the same one.
I also went to Sears and bought a pair of Lands End gray lounge pants (they are very cute and so cozy) and a red sweater (bright color to cheer me up!) and a pretty tunic shirt (I like the neckline).
My friend Karen watched the kids while I was gone and when I got home she called out the door, “What did you get?” and I said,
“Clothes and Books!”
Good to be Home 