The Same, Yet Different

The Lord says He knew us even before He created us in our Mother's womb.

Olivia and Emma have the same parents (us), but they are SO different.
Which is a good thing because they balance each other out...
and drive each other crazy sometimes. :o)
They have a very special friendship.
(Excuse the wrinkles, this was after a loooong day!)

Now, I have to tell you, very few girls are more proud of being a GRITS (Girls Raised In The South), than Olivia! Jeff and I talk from time to time about moving back to New York, that is when Olivia digs her boots in and says, "I refuse to move north of the Mason Dixon Line!"

Olivia has begged me for YEARS to make her a hoop skirt. I did buy two patterns a few years ago, but that is as far as I have gotten. I keep telling HER to make it! :o) Well... Friday she made this outfit...WITHOUT the patterns. The shirt she already had, but she made the hoop slip using wire from her dad's workshop! :o) Then she rummaged through our stack of fabric and went to cutting and sewing! She bribed her sister into being her dress form...note how happy Emma is about it!

I think she did an outstanding job!

She was SO HAPPY,

it was like a dream come true to finally have a hoop skirt.

I am thankful for her sweet spirit, her love of history and femininity!

With the best dog in the world!

Our Southern Belle!
The daughter of two Northerners...
now that is called God's grace! lol

Then there came Emma!

God knew exactly what our family needed.

She is WONDERFUL!
She loves life!
She has more compassion in her little finger than I have is my whole body!

I am looking forward to what God has in store for her.

We have a couple of events coming up that Olivia can dress in her hoop skirt! Today she wore it to a Harvest Festival and handed out fliers for our Guild's upcoming quilt show.
She had a ball!
Here she is with Emma, who would not be caught dead in a hoop skirt,
but she is happy for her SISTER! :o)

God created them so differently, yet the same,
to bring glory to Him.

HE created them with different gifts, interest and style.

They don't have to dress the same,
or do the same things to love and support each other.

Wouldn't it be nice if all Christians would love each other despite our differences?

Birthdays are Great!

Yesterday, I turned 42 and I have to say it was one of the best birthdays ever! :o) I received some lovely gifts form a couple of ladies at church which included a sugar scrub from my friend Kelly, who makes her own bath products...they are WONDERFUL!

Olivia made this cute cake. It's cupcakes on top of a cake.
I pretty much just picked the M&Ms off! :o)
Believe it or not we're not real big cake eaters.

My Mom came to visit Sunday and brought me a bunch of pampering goodies. A friend from high school brought me a bunch of mean goodies, denture glue, reading glasses, muscle rub, etc... I am only 6 weeks older than him and he LOVES to remind me of that! So now I am plotting, I mean planning ;o) his gift in a few weeks.

My brother from Miami called and sang happy birthday to me...
for the first time in our adult lives, maybe we are finally growing up.

My kids bought me a BUNCH of things too. I'll tell ya... it's great when they get older and start to make good money...no more Dollar Tree nick knacks. lol But I must say, I feel bad they spent so much money on me. It's not that it is not appreciated, but I'd rather them SAVE their money. Anyway, all I really want is everyone HOME and HAPPY! Things don't really matter, love, family and God are all that really matters. After 2 years of having a prodigal, it is WONDERFUL to have him home and wanting to be home!

Then yesterday afternoon, my silly friends the Whites (minus hubby who was at work), caroled me a Happy Birthday song! Now wasn't THAT sweet! Plus they gave me a beautiful picture for lemonade. I just love it.

My online friend of 6 years, we run a reversal group together, she gave me a gift certificate to CBD for $42...wow! I hope she remembers me when I am 100! lol

All of that to say...God is so good to me, not because of the gifts, cards and phone calls yesterday, not because of the MANY material blessings He grants everyday, but because He created me for a purpose. He created me for good, although I am not always good. :o/ He knew me even before I was formed in my mother's womb. Christ paid for my sins even before I was born. How dare we complain about life, or birthdays or age. The Bible is the only book that does view age as a curse. It does not view gray hair as something to be ashamed of. With age comes wisdom. I'd much rather be filled with wisdom than beauty.

Each day is a gift from the Lord, each day is another opportunity to share Christ in one way or another. Each day He gives me I can teach my children to look to Jesus. Each day I have with my husband I can be his helper and encourage him to fight the good fight.

Life is good...hard, but good. Age is good. Birthdays are good. Let's quit treating age like it is a curse when it is really a blessing, a gift from our Heavenly Father!

My Favorite Projects

We snapped a few pictures after church today. The older the kids get the harder it is to get a picture. Actually, it is Jeff that makes photos hard to do. His personality is so easy going...except for taking pictures, you'd think you were asking him for blood or something! His parents tell me when he was a kid he would cry and throw things at the camera. When Josh was little he hated pictures too, although he didn't throw things, he'd just cry or go hide...now here he is, slap in the center! :o) He was also setting the timer on the camera today and running into place. :o)

Those that know me well, know I usually have a half a dozen projects going at one time. I have 2 baby blankets in the basket next to the recliner, about 5 quilts cut out...but not put together yet, several sewing patterns waiting to be cut, I started a jute/beaded necklace about 2 weeks ago...and the list goes on... :o/ BUT I do get things done, just not as fast as I start them. :o)

As much as I like to make things, I'd have to say that my family, especially my husband, are my favorite projects. They are my life long project that I want to pour my whole life into. They are the project that God himself gave me. Unlike finishing a quilt or catering a wedding reception, I will never see the complete project of my family, because it is God that is responsible for the results, and hopefully these results will carry on for generations. When I finish a quilt, a cake, or whatever... I can take a step back and look at it. I can see my mistakes and wish I would have done some things differently, and that is how I feel about being a wife and mother. Jeff and I just celebrated our 21st anniversary. There are many things I wish I would have done differently, but then again, those things make up who we are. God uses all those things for our good and His glory. What a mess things would be if it were all up to us!!!

I am so thankful that God gave me this special project, this calling (mission) in life, to be a wife and mother. I am even more thankful that I am God's chosen project, and that He has promised to FINISH ME (unlike my boxes of unfinished projects). When I am done doing the things He has for me to do, He will bring me home...HOME to enjoy Him forever! Until then may I be clay in the Potter's hands.

The BEST dog in the world!

Giving Praise

We have so much to be thankful for, and as I try to prepare my heart for worship tomorrow I am trying to focus on God's blessings. Sad how we pray so earnestly for things, then spend so little time praising...or maybe that is just me? How often do we enjoy hearing our children say 'I love you', without asking for something in return?!

Sunday morning our Prodigal came home RETENTIVE! He shed many tears and then asked each one of us, one at a time, for forgivness. When he came to our door knocking, his first words to me were, "I want to go to church today!", then he burst into tears.

He was met at church by the Church (the Body of Christ), with open arms and alot of love. It was beautiful to see so many people show love to a one who has been a rebel...a royal jerk! (I can say that because I am his MOM) ;o)

He has moved back home and we are working on things. I never dreamed that it would be so hard to parent 'adults'. It is a tough balance trying to parent (guide) and letting them walk and fall all on their own.

But tonight I am thanking God for His mercy, because He is the ONLY ONE that can turn hearts!

Other things to be thankful for:

Jeff got some work lined up (halleluia!)
Jeff, Josh and the rest of the Fire Dept. were able to fight 2 big fires without getting hurt!
Our Sewing Party went off smoothly, 32 dresses made! whoo hoo!
Car insurance issue resolved, I think...
Olivia is leaning alot of new CHALLENGING things with her new piano teacher.
Emma is showing great improvement in many of her homemaking skills.
We were able to make plans to go to Atlanta to the Entrepreneurs Conference.

There are many other things, but I'll talk to the Lord about that now...

Have a blessed Lord's Day, focus on Him, because everything else is meaningless!

Our Church

I love our church .
We are a fairly young church. Our church building is less than 2 years old,
but it has a colonial design that is simple and beautiful!
When you walk in this building you know you are at church,
it has a very reverent atmosphere.
I just LOVE church windows, as you can see below.
I love going to church, I love to worship, I love communion,
I love to be fed with the Word,
and I love fellowship with the Saints.


Jeremiah 7:2
" Stand in the gate of the LORD'S house and proclaim there this word and say,
'Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah,
who enter by these gates to worship the LORD!'"

Psalm 66:4
" All the earth will worship You,And will sing praises to You;
They will sing praises to Your name." Selah.





Psalm 95:6
Come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.

John 4:23
"But an hour is coming, and now is,
when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth;
for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.


Psalm 2:11
Worship the LORD with reverence and rejoice with trembling.

Revelation 13:8
All who dwell on the earth will worship him,
everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation
of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.

Sisters!

Last Tuesday after our time at the quiting guild,
we stopped to snap a few (well more than a few) pictures at the park.

I hope they will be best friends all of their life!

Silly girls!

Anyone that knows Emma, THIS expression is the REAL her...
caution, she is probably cooking something up!

Living with 3 Fiber Artist

Being creative is a double edged sword. Jeff and I have always strived for our children to have a wide range of skills, we try to expose to them to things that will make them think and be productive. All of this is good, but it can become chaotic if a few of us are being 'productive' at the same time, in the same room, in a small house. :o)

JUST TODAY:

Olivia thought she'd try her hand at making tea with some mint leaves from her herb garden. It tasted OK, she'll have to tweak it a bit, but at least she is learning.

NOW I'M GOING TO BE REAL TRANSPARENT WITH ALL OF YOU! NONE OF THIS IS 'STAGED', THIS IS REALLY HOW WE ARE LIVING THIS WEEK.

This is our coffee table today; a quilt Olivia is working on,
a scarf I am crocheting on (while we sit and read together or listen to lectures on CD),
and you'll see a science book buried under that. :o)

We have everything happening in the living room. The ironing board has some tea bags that Olivia just sewed up and also a quilt that I am piecing together.

Here is one chair with a stack of fabric I am working from,
a bag of nice quilting scraps my Mom got from a rummage sale,
and a skirt that Olivia just finished making (she's made 2 since yesterday).

Here is Emma working on her quilt (and watching the Beverly Hillbillies...lol), a cutting table set up, an ironing board, and scraps and threads everywhere! btw...we do sweep and pick up a couple of times a day, but then we get back to work. :o) Actually, my girls are having a fit that I am showing these pictures. What is that verse 'where there is no oxen the stall is clean'?

Emma is really getting the hang of that perfect 1/4" seam.

Here she is with her Gordian Knot top. It still needs to be quilted.

We have also kept up the laundry, meals, piano practice and a few school lessons. When Jeff walked in (and over) today, I said, "Honey, this is the price of having 3 Fiber Artist in your home." Which he is fine with it, he knows we are being busy and that we do not live like this all the time. :o)

Am I a Bad Sport?

My husband takes his work and providing for his family very seriously, as he should. :o) One of his short comings in life is that he does not play enough. I've tried to change that about him for over 20 years, but I think he is pretty much settled in his ways. But what I don't get is that he is GOOD at everything he plays. Not only is he good, but he is humble about it all. He never makes a big deal about winning, but it's almost like he can't loose. To me it is no fun to play pool, golf, horseshoes, cards, chess, bowling, badmitten, etc... who wants to play a game knowing you'll loose each time? Does that make me a bad sport? ;o)

Tonight the girls, Jeff and I were outside playing badmitten. Now you have to know how Jeff is, he treats me like I am some sort of royalty, so when we are on opposing teams he will take it easy on me, and when we were on the same team he will run circles around me so I don't have to do much of anything. lol... The girls did not find this very amusing, but on the other hand, they are use to it. I hope they have husbands that love them so dearly!

btw, one game that I CAN beat him at is Pictionary...guess what we never get to play?

Food and Friends

We hosted a cookout for a new family in our community that are fellow home educators. We invited them, and 3 other families over. Everyone brought a little something and we had a good time. The guys played horse shoes, the kids played Frisbee and badmitten, and we women folk sat around and visited.

(Olivia blowing bubbles with the little ones)

Olivia was such a big blessing by helping with the little ones. This is just one way that older girls (and boys) can minister to families, by caring for the younger ones so moms can relax and have some good adult conversation. I am so thankful for my daughters and their love for children. I pray that God has made their quiver LARGE, and that God fills it FULL!

Here is Taylor who is swinging with her baby sister, Chandler. Taylor will make a great Mom one day. I look forward to see what God will do with her love for family and home. Their family is adopting a baby from Liberia.Chandler-Mae and her lovely Mom.

Trish (aka Farm Girl)...I wish I could work as
hard as she does and still look as good as she does!
Hannah, Trish's daughter, with dirt and worms (chocolate pudding and gummy worms).

Here are the intellectuals of the group playing chess!
Andy, Tucker, Scott and Chandler

Johnny and Joshua playing Frisbee.

Jeff and Chandler...she such a doll.

Well that was just a few shots, I missed capturing alot of faces...oh well, maybe next time.
:o)