Mar 19, 2010

Blog Backgrounds etc...

I just discovered another FREE site to prettify my blog (yours 2).

Check out LeeLou (that is where I got the current look).

I also like the cutest blog on the block which is the site I have been using.

I LOVE changing the appearence of my blog!  It's kinda like redecorating a room, lol!

Check them out.

Mar 18, 2010

Haiti Relief

Lots of folks are sending $$ and going to Haiti to help the earthquake victims. Our church is also trying to help. We are a small ARP congregation. Most of our membership is in the 60+-age range. We have a missionary couple that we support both financially and with prayer and other forms of encouragement.
P & B were injured in the earthquake. Injured is putting it lightly in my view. P lost his arm and B lost a lower leg. They are not letting their injuries stop them. Their heart is for the Haitian people and they are not about to let a little thing like an earthquake stop them.

So…How can we help? Most of us are not in the position to travel to Haiti and physically help. BUT we can bake, make crafts and increase our giving.



Saturday, March 27, 2010 the church is having a bake sale / craft fair.

That means the S and & have been in full craft mode for the last few weeks. And I plan on working right up to the deadline to get as much made as possible.

Here are a few photos of what we have done. (so far)



Mar 10, 2010

We finally met Axel

Here are some pictures from our visit with Jenna & Axel today.  He is so precious. 


Mar 9, 2010

Son's Blog

daniel loves to write.  stories, poems, blogs...
he has some interesting thoughts...
                                                                                              now he has entered the blogging community


 check it out
 recent entries include a poem about death, (encouraging, not morbid)
                                   an anecdote about the funny things our dog Oscar does...
                                                   how he is feeling, doing, thinking

this is one area of learning that i give him free reign, (controlled reign) so don't criticize he technique, spelling, grammar...

instead enjoy his outlook and perspective on things

Sin and Grace

"Until individuals are aware of the gravity of their sin, they will not be awed by the reality of grace." -     Alistair Begg http://www.truthforlife.org/


Why don't we view sin as sin?
Why do we brush it aside and think "I'm not so bad. At least I don't _________"
You fill in the blank.  What and who are you comparing yourself to?  Who am I comparing myself to?

Years ago when we first started homeschooling I compared the way I was teaching my kids to another mom's method.  All I saw was how poorly I did when compared to this mom and her kids.  I didn't take into account that I was different and my kids were different.  On top of that, one of the main reasons we were homeschooling was so our kids could be taught at their own pace.  That meant we slowed down on some things and sped up on others.

What does that have to do with sin?  It has everything to do with it.  You see, I was comparing my proficiency as a Mom/Teacher with another person.  A person who was a sinner like me.  A sinner who had to rely on the saving bllod of Christ just like me.  If I was comparing myself to someone in the 'good' areas of my like, wasn't it logical to compare my sin to another's?

Who are we to compare ourselves to?
Christ alone!!!

And when I compare myself to Christ, I can  see my sin with new eyes.  I see my sin for what it really is.

“This Fathomless Love”, by Steve & Vikki Cook.

© 1999 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Ministries.
From Songs for the Cross Centered Life and Everlasting.

THIS FATHOMLESS LOVE
VERSE 1


Lord, what moved Your heart to love lowly man
Before any star could herald Your praise?
And why did You come, abasing Yourself
Veiled in a robe of frail human clay?
Why would You, the pure, give Your life for the vile
The innocent seeking the guilty
To be reconciled?


CHORUS


I can’t comprehend this fathomless love
I’m gripped and amazed at what You have done
Why would the adored become the despised
To bear all the furious wrath that was mine?
How awesome this mystery
Of Your fathomless love for me


VERSE 2


Why would You adopt and take as Your own
Those who had crushed Your one precious Son?
Why mercy and grace towards Your enemies?
Your name they have cursed
And Your throne they have shunned
Oh, how could You choose
To show kindness to these?
The ones who would mock You and hate You
The ones just like me? 
 
Link to above song

Mar 7, 2010

Purse Organizers

I like/need a lot of pockets in my purse.  I like to know that in purse A, my cellphone is the outside left pocket and in purse B it is in the inner, right pocket.  I think you get the picture.

I have one purse that Mom gave me that was handmade in Africa (?), but it has NO pockets.  As a result, I don't use it often.  I did use it today because the colors in the bag go well with what I was wearing.    But when I needed to grab a cough drop, I had to practically empty the entire contents, TWICE!

With that in mind I have been looking at all the options to make an organizer to fit various purses. The purse I just mentioned is an exception, all my other purses have at least a couple of pockets.

(Un)Fortunately there are a lot of options on the WWW. (Clink on links below)
     But they can be costly, ugly, not what I had in mind, etc.

So...Mom to the rescue again.  BTW My Mom is a great source of advice & information about cooking, sewing, crocheting...

Several months ago Mom showed me a purse organizer that she made.  It had 3 sections, several pocket (zippered & not).  In short it was just what I was looking for.  And the best thing about this organizer was 1. choosing your own fabrics, and 2.  you were able to configure it to suit your needs.

What is this wonderful organizer and where can I get it??


So of course I made one!  I learned  A LOT when making this. (use the weight fabric  the pattern calls for) The directions are very detailed.  I made mistakes, and had to fix seams several times.  But in the end I am very happy with my result.

Take a look




I did make 2 significant changes. 
1.  I added the white tabs at the ends, I think they will prove helpful in removing the insert from a purse.
2.  I did not like the exposed & then covered with bias tape look for the seams, so I made a seperate cover and hand sewed it to the liner.

With all that said, I would highly recommend this pattern to anyone who sews and wants to make their own organizer.

Sunday Quote

"I hear people say, 'Why do you want to go to church? They are all just hypocrites.' I never understood why going to church made you a hypocrite because nobody goes to church because they're perfect. If you've got it all together, you don't need to go. You can go jogging with all the other perfect people on Sunday morning. Every time you go to church, you're confessing again to yourself, to your family, to the people you pass on the way there, to the people who will greet you there, that you don't have it all together, and that you need their support. You need their direction. You need some accountability, you need some help." - Rich Mullins, the "Awesome God" guy

Mar 6, 2010

Christmas 2009



Boxes stained and decorated by Daniel

closeup of the crochet hooks made by Daniel & Sarah.  Daniel made the longest one and Sarah made the others.

I love the simplicity of these hooks, the kids left the natural crooks, bark , twig spurs on them.  They are as wonderful to crochet with as they are beautiful.
This is not my first experience with hand carved hooks, but they are definately my favorite.


Finished Projects


Knitted headband/earwarmers by Sarah
crocheted felted purse by Susan
crocheted clutch purse with the fabric we will use to line it.  by Sarah
crocheted felted purse by Susan
crocheted baby hat by Susan
Pencil pouch by Sarah

Mar 5, 2010

Happy Valentine's Day!!!


This is the snow heart sculpture that the kids made for us. (it snowed the previous night)





The week before VDay the kids and I were house/gramma sitting so my parents could do their monthly week @ JAARS.
Usually my sister does this for Mom & Dad since her kids are grown but we volunterred to help this time. My sister's first grandbaby was only a couple of weeks old and I wanted her to be able to be at the hospital with her daughter and the baby as much as possible.

Soo...about Wednesday or Thursday before VDay on Saturday, my dh (darling husband)  told me that on Sunday afternoon I needed to be ready to recieve visitors between 2 & 5 in the afternoon.

In vain did I try to pick it out of him.  I was so shameless that I even tried to get our children to weasel it out of him and report back to me.  BUT let it be noted that  D & S staunchly supported their Dad in his mission without even knowing the details.

Fast forward to Friday... the kids and I and Okar (4-legged monster dog) and all our school books, leftover groceries, clothes, games, and whatever else we had dragged along, were home.  Tired, hungry but oh so glad to be home.   After dinner that evening, dh gets a mysterious call on his cell.  After the call he tells me that the plans have changed and now I have to be ready for visitors to drop by on Saturday.  A whole 24 hours earlier than planned.

Of course I was still trying to figure it out.  I made wild guesses, is K home from overseas?  Is P back from Florida?  DH only added that the visitor(s) would only be here for about 10 minutes.  At this point I was so clueless it was embarrassing.  ( I didn't even guess a flower delivery becasue most flowers in the house bother my asthma)

By this time it is lunchtime Saturday.  I don't even remember what the kids had, but they were finished and back out playing.  I do remember what dh & I had, garlic pasta with lots of hot pepper.  We were sitting at the table finishing lunch and playing a game of Blokus, when S burst in to tell her daddy that someone was in the driveway.

David told me I had to come out with him, but before doing so I glanced out the window just in time to see 4 gentlemen in tuxedos walking toward the door.  Now I'm curious, are you?

Long story short DH had hired a barbershop quartet to come and sing to me!!!  

Not only did they sing TWO songs ( Let Me Call You Swetheart & Chances Are), they also gave me a long-stem red rose and a card from David.

After being crooned to, maybe serenade is a better term, and they left, THEN I fell apart, after we were back inside.

This has definately been a memorable day, right up there with the Mothers Day when L was born and we brought supper to a very hungry papa and got to love on L when he was only hours old.

Maybe I should list my most memorable days and keep it in my Bible.  Maybe even post it...

That's a post for another day.

Mar 4, 2010

5-Weeks Old!



Aren't these the most precious pictures?  I think they are.  Axel turned 5 weeks this past Tuesday.  They have placed a new shunt and have decided that he DOES NOT need a permanent feeding tube!  He is doing so well taking a bottle that they have even removed his ng tube.

I just got a message that he is to come home on Sunday!!  

Thank you for your continued prayers.

Usually I ignore mass emails.  Not that they are all bad, but to me they seem to be chain-letters offspring.

This one got me thinking.  I've read it before and deleted it before.  Not because I disagree with it's content, but because it is too easy to just click forward and send it to everyone in your address book. 

To me it doesn't mean anything to just forward everything willy-nilly. It is critical to practice what we preach even if our preaching is done by forwarding an email.

That is why I have chosen to post a part of the most recent email about GOD on this blog instead of clicking forward.  I needed to take the time to reflect on what I was reading and make sure that I was being the kind of Christ Follower the email was talking about.

So read this post and make of it what you will.  I intend to be more deliberate about living as a Christ Follower instead of only saying I am as a tag on my signature.

I want to Follow God's Trail as the Waodoni Indians say. 

Susan



God, when I received this e-mail, I thought ..I don't have time for this ... And, this is really inappropriate during work.
Then, I realized that this kind of thinking is Exactly, what has caused lot of the problems in our world today..

We try to keep God in church on Sunday morning...
Maybe, Sunday night...
And, the unlikely event of a midweek service.

We do like to have Him around during sickness...
And, of course,at funerals.

However, we don't have time, or room, for Him during work or play...

Because.. That's  the part of our lives we think we can, and should, handle on our own.

May God forgive me for ever thinking that t here is a time or place where HE
is not to be FIRST in my life.

We should always have time to remember all HE has done for us.