Posted on by
Reply


And all the loveliest things there be
come simply, so it seems to me. ~ E.Millay

The Beautiful

Though we travel
the world over
to find the beautiful,
we must carry it with us
or we find it not.  Ralph waldo emerson

Today I arrived home with a van loaded full of my groceries and my children.  The children were hyper-active and their tongues were, too.  The groceries were melting and I was in charge.  But, I had to stop to take a few pictures of some flowers in my garden.  The air was cool and crisp so I was surprised to see tiny drops of dew in the hearts of the flowers.  These flowers have been blooming in my garden for days.  I’m so thankful that I saw them today.  Really saw them.

He hath made every thing beautiful in His time.
Ecclesiastes 3:11

Things are beautiful if you
LOVE THEM.  J Anouilh

For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
over and around us lies.
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

Appreciate the Beautiful

Posted on by
Reply

 

“To Everything there is a season

                       and a time to every purpose under Heaven”

Ecclesiastes 3:1

Hi!  I’m back!  I’ve been a little under the weather.  I’ve been been very stressed out, if truth be told.  Nothing terrible has happened, I’m just trying to adjust to my new life.  As most of you know, we moved in July to a new house.  It’s been a dream come true and my family and I love our new place.  But, at the same time, it IS an adjustment.  Also, I am now a HOMESCHOOLING MOM, officially, as of yesterday.  I have been a bundle of nerves over it.  Really, that’s the perfect description!  A BUNDLE OF NERVES!  And when I’m really nervous, I retreat within myself.  I brood.  I don’t speak or communicate like I normally do.  Hence, no blog entries!

Joyfully, I am feeling more like myself today.  School was great and the kids are outside fishing in the pond.  I can see David out the window as I type.  The sun is shining and I can hear the buzzing of insects and the singing of birds.  I am so happy and thankful to be in this place in my life. . . . . . .

 

 

This picture is UPSIDE-DOWN for a reason!  I thought the different perspective was beautiful.


 My Jacob is finally a country boy.  I love the rolled up jeans and the 3-cornered hat.  Jacob has a huge interest in the Revolutionary War and we bought him the hat while we were in Sturbridge, MA.  By the way, He ACTUALLY CAUGHT ONE! 

 

My David.


 

Once again, Sister is wearing her GREEN dress.  How many times have we all seen that dress in my blog pictures?  It’s funny how we all have our most favorite outfit and Grace is no exception.  I took this picture yesterday on a walk with the kids.  This field is up behind our house in the State woods. 

I hope all of you are having a wonderful day. 

The King of love my Shepherd is, Whose goodness faileth never;  I nothing lack if I am His and He is mine forever.

Where streams of living water flow my ransomed soul He leadeth, and where the verdant pastures grow with food celestial feedeth.

In death’s dark vale I fear no ill with Thee, dear Lord, beside me;  Thy rod and staff my comfort still, Thy cross before to guide me.

And so through all the length of days They goodness faileth never:  Good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise within Thy house forever.

Written by Henry W. Baker, 1821-1877

 

Posted on by
Reply

 

Welcome September!

My family: Rich holding David, Grace, Jacob, Ethan, Me, Caleb

I can’t believe we celebrate our 11th anniversary this month!

We took the children to Old Sturbridge Village in MA yesterday. Thought you would enjoy seeing some pictures.

SHANDA’S EXCITING FIESTA FIND!

Posted on by
Reply


This is me, first thing this morning, with my new bowl.

Look what I found last night!  For those of you who don’t know me . . . .I collect Fiestaware, made by Homer Laughlin China Co.  My dear friend and fellow xanga member EBABE also collects it.  It’s so much fun.

Anyway, the newest color is HEATHER and I decided to go to MACY’S last night to see if they had anything new.  I entered the store and off in the distance I could see the fiesta display.  I saw a stack of boxes with a big, shallow bowl displayed on the top.  No!  Could it be?  A PRESENTATION BOWL IN HEATHER?????  I walked quickly. . . .and. . . . YES, oh YES, it WAS!  And with gold lettering on the bottom with those thrilling words;  “Exclusively for Macy’s”!!  Should I buy the whole stack?  No, better not.  Not when one bowl is 50 dollars!  I looked in 3 boxes before I found it:  The Perfect One. . . . .and with lots of loving, backward glances I went to pay for my fanastic find.

I went up to the register and it rang up for 53 dollars. 
But wait! 
“Let me go see if that’s supposed to be on sale” said the nice lady.  When she came back, she rang up the bowl again, saying “This is 30% off.  That’ll be 35 dollars!”  I squealed for joy!  Should I go get another one at such a good price?  No.  Better not.  What would my husband say?

So out the door of Macy’s I went, holding the bag with my new fiesta presentation bowl in HEATHER.  The first thing I wanted to do was tell a friend.  Not just any friend, my fiesta partner-in-crime, Lea Ann!  (and let’s face it, she’s the only one I know personally that can truly share my joy when it comes to fiesta!)


Shanda and Lea Ann. . . . . .April 11, 2006, at Lea Ann’s new home in TX.  I’m holding the LILAC DISC PITCHER that she GAVE me, and now she says I have to give it back. . . . . .

Family News

Posted on by
Reply

This is just a quick note to say that Rich and I are home schooling, not just Jacob, but also our 2 other school-age children.  Jacob is in 4th, Ethan is in 3rd, and Grace is in 2nd.

This is unexpected, Ethan and Grace were enrolled in our now non-existent school at our church.  It’s very painful for me to see the ministry end, but I know it is all part of God’s plan. 

I ask for prayer for my family.  We need wisdom and Christ-like attitudes as we tackle this new stage in our family.  Pray that I will be strong, giving up is not an option!

We plan on starting officially within the next week or 2. 

I know this picture is hard to see—it is a picture of my 3 older children when they were all preschoolers.  We had so much fun in those early years and now that we are homeschooling, I am looking forward to that special closeness again.

Let your lives be influenced by those who know and love God, truly and sincerely

Posted on by
Reply

I didn’t go to her funeral.
I was trying to avoid pain.  How selfish of me, I am so ashamed. 
But, last night in church I found her program and took it home with me.  As I read it this morning, the tears streamed down my face.
I loved her so much, this small elderly woman with the face that loved me back with God’s own love.  She always had sweet and kind words for me and she always had a loving touch for the children.  Toward the end she was only in church sporadically, but thank the Lord I always ran to the nursery to get baby Caleb so that he too could receive her special touch.  How she loved my babies, how she loved to talk of God!  I can hear her voice praying so passionately with me on the few Wednesday night prayer meetings in which we were able to pray together.  How I remember her words as she encouraged me to be a godly wife and a mother.
She was so humble. 
Here is her little biography, written by her son and published in her funeral program as a testimony to what God can do with a woman’s sacrificial life:

Ana Soledade grew up in the humble circumstances of rural Portugal in the 1920’s.  Obidos, Portugal was a beautiful land of patchwork fields, oxcarts, threshing floors and old Moorish castles.  For Ana, however, it was a world of endless toil.  Work made her a domestic for the rich, a field hand in the olive groves and even a mine laborer who hauled gypsum ore from deep in the earth.  But she was also a woman of dreams.  Eventually her dreams blossomed out of her indefatigable spirit and she found herself holding passage to America.

Her indomitable spirit and deep faith in God demanded of her a high aspiration in this new America of hope.  Encouraged by the kindness of friends in Pennsylvania who taught her English, she established herself in the Hartford area in 1949.  She now had with her a partner-her long awaited husband, Samuel.  Together they started a family and worked the hard life of raising children and scraping together an economy in post war America.

Their great love bore babies, first Samuel and David, then quickly Daniel and later Thome.  By 1954, the woman who loved children so deeply now had an apartment on Main Street bursting with kids.  Mom couldn’t be happier.  You see for this woman sacrificing for her children was as natural as making coldo verde.  There was no personal sacrifice too great for her children’s health, schooling, clean clothes, or even just fun.  There were birthdays, and holidays, times at the beach and work in the yard.  The idea was always to be just together.  Us boys were the lucky beneficiaries of having an angel of a mother.  To complete the family picture with the feminine, God surprised us all, but especially dad, with a baby girl.  She was our special little princess and mom named her Judite.  How mom loved this child and cultivated in her a legacy of love by instructions and sensibilities.

For mom it was always family, always home, always love that mattered.  Her heart was so big.  Only God knew how great a love she shared with us.  We understood by glimpses her love in the joy that beamed in her bright smile or the passion that cried out from the tears of her prayers in our behalf.  Oh mother, for us, your family, you are the reality of love and the poetry of life lived for your beloved.

The years passed quickly.  Mom basked in the accomplishments of her children.  Her grandchildren brought a new cycle of family life and joy to her big heart.  Mom and dad appreciated some of the special experiences of life together.  They went on trips to Israel, Hawaii, and spent many winters in Florida serving God through mission societies in which they volunteered.  The years passed and together mom and dad saw the milestones of their lives together go by, 40  years, 50 years of marriage.  Then mom was eighty years old!  We loved our darling so much, but we saw her slipping from our lives as her body weakened.  Her heart began to get sick.  This August day in 2006, together as a family, we are saying goodbye to the angel of our lives the greatest good that God ever brought us.  We share these memories with you because they are all about love and love was her heart.

Beef and Noodles

Posted on by
17

I don’t know if it’s because
fall is in the air, or it’s just the mood I’m in, but I have been feeling very         
domestic lately.

I’ve been reading magazines and cookbooks and finding myself staring off into space, dreaming. 
I like to collect pictures and quotes from books and magazines and I paste and/or scribble it all in a scrapbook.

These are some quotes I found the other day from an old issue of “Country Home”:

“Defining “Country”:
*a warm welcome that makes friends and family want to stay       
*a simple place to relax and get away, not pretentious
*colors and patterns, vibrant or gentle, that are felt as well as seen
*treasures of a lifetime, whatever brings a smile and evokes a memory
*fondness for the old and a creative touch that blends the new
*the sound of birds and the smell of flowers through an open window
*lots of good food to share”  Feb. 1998

And, speaking of food:

I found a fantastic recipe yesterday.  It was so satisfying that I danced around the kitchen, provoking wide eyes and a comment from my 3 year old, something about being crazy.  I’m thrilled with the recipe because it reminds me of the wonderful, fragrant, homey, and filling Amish cooking I had in Lancaster County, PA.

Beef and Noodles          

salt and pepper to taste                         1/2 c. butter
3 to 4 pound beef roast                           3 T. flour
3 T. vinegar                                         3/4 c. cold water
3/4 c. warm water                                16 oz. medium egg noodles, 
48 oz. can beef broth                              uncooked

Salt and pepper both sides of the roast; place in a slow cooker.  Add vinegar and warm water; heat on low setting all day, about 8 hours.  Shred with 2 forks; set aside.  Pour broth from slow cooker into a Dutch oven; add beef broth and butter.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer.  In a small bowl, whisk flour into cold water; gradually stir into broth mixture.  Bring to a boil for 5 minutes; add noodles.  Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes; stir in shredded beef.  Heat until noodles are soft.  Serves 6 to 8.

I enjoyed the whole process and put my face down in the pan to smell the wonderfully buttery mix of flavor:

It is good in many ways: smell, touch (the steamy hotness while stirring the broth), taste. . . . .most of all the TASTE!
 
Antiquing:
I’m starting to go in the direction of antiquing to accessorize my home, instead of buying retail.  I like the idea of poking around in shops–old shops, dusty, full of stuff, with the anticipation of finding some used, wonderful thing that I can take home with me.  Here are some magazine quotes from a married couple who love to buy antiques for their home and use them in everyday life.  I enjoyed their thoughts:
“I don’t want to go crazy if something gets broken.  I don’t want to worry about things that much”
“We enjoy everything we have, and we like to look at it every single day”
“I look at things and say, Would it make me happy to look at that every single day?  If it will, I’ll probably buy it”
“Cruise, no.  Fancy dinner, no.  We said, ‘Let’s go antiquing!'”
“We truly put our hearts into working on the house and making it a
wonderful place to live.
Every morning we start out the day sitting on the porch,
watching the geese on the pond.
I have a sign that says, Be Thankful
and every day we say we’re thankful  
that we’re here.”         
If I have a goal with this blog today, I suppose it would be to inspire.  It’s so much fun to enjoy our lives! If boredom has set in, it is very easy to spice things up a bit by trying a new recipe, learning a new skill, reading, or exploring your neighborhoods, local towns, or even the backyard!  Redecorate an entire room or simply make a small change.  It doesn’t have to cost a thing or take too much time.  For example, the other day I washed out a large pickle jar, filled it with pinecones that the kids brought home from grandma’s woods, put the lid on and tied a pretty piece of fabric around the rim.  Quick, easy, and satisfying!    
 
ENJOY LIFE

Just a Little Something

Posted on by
Reply

 

‘I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string.’
-L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Avonlea