Birthday yarn turned into...

Purse & Cosmetic Bag

Crochet Tools Case

Check this out: http://www.celticcrossroads.ie/.

David, Sarah and I love celtic music. This coming Sunday, we have FREE tickets for the family to go see this group at Blumenthal Performing Arts Center in Charlotte.

I can't wait, the group has seven members and between them play 21 different instruments.

Been A While

Well, today is the first day in at least 4 weeks that I've been headache free for most of the day. It's 4pm now and a little one is coming on, but hopefully can be controlled with aspirin.

Last week was my 44th birthday. But, Isabelle (age 5) told me I looked 21. Now I know that at 5 she hasn't completely comprehended the significance of numbers, but what she said made me smile.

My sweeties, David, and kiddos, like to make me a cake on my birthday. It's always fun to sit back and listen to them as they work together. Most years I chose a new recipe from the Hershey's website. This year I was craving a simple white cake from a mix. So much to their dismay, that's what they made me. It was just what I wanted.

They also fed my crochet addiction. Two hand carved hooks and a nostepinne made by a friends husband. You must check out his work at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5663156.

Then they also bought me the yarn I'[d been wanting to make my own version of this http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/granny-square-pucker-purse.

I'm well on my way to getting it done and might be able to post pics when I finish.

We also had to completely rebuild our main pc after being hit by a "drive-by" virus. It took David and me a week of working on it here and there to get it all back and online. BUT in the process both kids have decided they want to learn top build their own pc. So...that is another project in the wings.


School is going well, I see improvement every day. Tho' we are behind the "schedule", we are able to stop to smell the roses, or watch the backhoe as the case may be. Even though my kids are 10 & 12, they still love to watch the heavy equipment working. I'm so glad that we are free to teach our children in freedom and able to follow their interests. It still amazes me what they know, when I know I haven't taught them that.

Migraines and My Walk w/ God

Thanks for your prayer and encouragement. After almost 11 days, the migraine has gone. I still need to be VERY careful about what I eat; some of the things that I thought I could re-introduce into my diet are definite no-nos.

So, on it goes. I must be diligent in watching for “dangerous” ingredients like MSG, malt vinegar, anything fermented, the list goes on. But it’s worth it to avoid the headaches as much as possible.

It’s the same in my walk with GOD. There are things that are not good for me; things that make me have an attitude headache, things I should avoid. But I am not always as diligent as I should be. Something may not be "bad" per say, but they may not be good for me.

I love to read. It isn't "bad" to read. BUT I tend to read everything else and put God's Word, lower than last. Why is this? I say I treasure His Word, but I don't act like it.

Actions speak louder than words.

Oh, that I would put action to my words, and follow through.

Reading With Annabel

Every Monday, (almost) Sarah reads to Annabel.

Annabel is a therapy dog.

Sarah was having trouble reading, so we changed our phonics curriculum and started reading with Annabel.

Since February, her reading has improved immensely.

She is now reading Charlotte's Web and Bridge to Terabithia.

Annabel is a Scottish Terrier. She was rescued and then adopted. She is a beautiful dog, in personality as well as face.

Her owner, MaryLou is a wonderful lady who uses her love of animals to help others.

Thanks, MaryLou!!

Conversation at Lunch

Today at lunch we talked about how we will look back on our lives and reflect. Will we say, "I wish I had done more."? Or will we be content that we have lived our lived in such a way that God was glorified.

CS Lewis said, "Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

So, will I be pleased with just going to church on Sunday, or will I choose to do the hard things?
Am I willing to pray that God will truly bless me? That He will expand my territory?

I'm currently reading " Beyond Jabez" by Bruce Wilkinson. Bruce states, " None of us can predict what form God's gifts will take. They may come in material form, or they my be spiritual or relational. Or something else entirely. But they will be good because they come from the King of givers." This book really explains "The Prayer of Jabez". The prayer is not a magic formula. It's about opening yourself to God and being willing to allow Him to use you.

Are you afraid to let God use you? Pastor Fred said a few weeks ago that, " The reason we have idols, is that we don't trust God. We wonder if He will let us down." So is your fear an idol?

Pray that He will reveal any idols in your life. I challenge you to really seek God, to ask Him for His blessing, and to expand your territory. So that at the end of your life, He will say "Well done."

Fun with I & E

One of our favorite things to do is have I & E over to play. They are almost 5 and 2. We have soo much fun, playing with duplos, watercolor painting, jumping on the mini-tramp, playing with ALL the baby dolls, reading, eating lunch....

As soon as they leave, my 2 ask, "When can they come back?" So we pretty much have a standing date for Tuesday at 9.

Todays question from E, "Miss Susan, where is your 'bebe'?"

Me, "My baby's are Daniel and Sarah."

E: "Miss Susan, where is your bebe?"

E has a new baby brother, born this past mother's day, and I guess he thinks that no home is complete without a "bebe".

They grow up too fast!!

Some thing's I've been reminded of since we've been having I & E over this summer.

• If your spoons are too big for a 2-year-old mouth, a small measuring spoon works just fine.
• If said 2-year-old gets a measuring spoon to eat with, his big sister will need one too.
• I can read the same story over and over and over and over...
• Play-dough is fun
• So is painting
• A manicure by an almost 5-year-old is soo fun!! ( you should have seen my purple nails!)

I LOVE kids!! Even in the midst of headaches, hot weather, whatever, taking care of someone's children always brings a smile to me face and fills me with joy.
Thank you to all the parents who let me watch their children. It means a lot to me.

Daniel bought a digital camera...

Before you get all excited, it's a digital spy camera from wild planet that he got on sale at Target. It only holds 18 pictures at a time, so we have to download it very often. But it is cool and does take fairly good pictures for a "toy".

Q: What is the first thing you expect a bank teller to be able to do?

A: Count your money accurately!!!


Today I had to make a small deposit of cash, rolled coins, and a money order at the local bank that I use mainly for buying and selling homeschool curriculum.

It was the first day of a merger, so I'll give them some slack for computer problems, learning a new system etc.

BUT, it took 2 tellers 10 minutes to count my deposit of less than $100. My 10 year old was in with me and she kept telling them how much it added up to. They had to re-count several times and kept getting the wrong total!!

Object lesson: kids, this is why I make you practice counting money and giving back accurate change at home. This is why you do your own transactions when you're buying something.

BUT, I did remain calm and gracious, which was not my temperment, my God working in me. So, will we drop this bank? I think I'll give them several more chances.

At least their web banking was easy and accurate!

Sarah's 10th Birthday

We celebrated Sarah's 10th birthday this past Sunday. We had both sets of grandparents, 8 kids plus our 2, 2 sets of parents and 2 single gals, for a total of 20 people!

She had a great time playing dodge ball, having a super- soaker fight, icing cupcakes, watching "Pinky and the Brain".

We started after church with lunch around 1 and had folks here until 8. Most of them left by 5, but we had also offered to "babysit" one families kids so they could have a church meeting.

It was a tiring, busy, fun day. After all, 10 is special, it's the first time you have 2 digits in your age.


Thanks to Karl for manning the grill, I kept forgetting and the dogs would've been burnt.
Thanks to my Mom for the photos, I'll get a digital camera one of these days.
Thanks to Pam for helping with the cupcakes,

Especially, Thanks to everyone for giving up Sunday afternoon naps, letting their kids get way too tired, wet, full of sugar, over-stimulated watching goofy cartoons, and whatever else they got into.

It was a wonderful day, full of fun, no fights, laughter and conversation.

come back again!!

Replacing Fiber Rush Chair Seats

This week I am replacing the seats in 2 of our dining room chairs. These chairs are hand crafted by a man in Spruce Pine, NC and were part of our wedding present from Davids parents.



Unfortunately, when we first got married, I had a calico cat that decided to use 2 of the chair seats for her scratching post. Add to that the daily, constant use that the chairs see, and it was way past time to fix them. I've had the information about how to do it for quite a while. I also had some free material to use that my friend Wanda gave me before they moved.



So, Memorial Day, when David was home, I decided to tear one of the chairs down and give it a try. It's not hard, but it is tiring and hard on my sore shoulder. So the test chair gave me a good idea of what to do, I ran out of material, and couldn't finish the job.



Tuesday, I placed an order for more supplies from my wonderful basketry supplier. http://www.ncbasketworks.com/ and by Wednesday afternoon my supplies were here.



I didn't do anything else until yesterday, Sarah's birthday party was Sunday afternoon and that took precedent until then. More about that later.



So today and tomorrow, I plan on getting both chairs done. My mom wants to come down and learn the technique in case she ever needs to do any for their ministry with JAARS.





Here is a picture from the website of this type of chair seat.

What do you think? When I checked on having this done 2 years ago, the price started at $50 per chair. At the time I thought it was a ridiculous price. Now that I've had a tiny bit of experience, I totally agree with the price, and would probably charge more!

Of Fish and Kids

Daniel and Sarah love to go to the creek at the edge of my parents property. They collect various critters and bring them home. Right now we have 1 fish, the lone survivor of about 30 from last summer. One "crayfish" I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it's in that family. And numerous snails, some which have hatched from eggs they collected and others that were already about the size of English peas.

It's been interesting to watch the critters grow and change. Surprisingly, they tolerate very little attention, unlike store-bought fish. So even though they have let the water go way to long, the critters seem to be thriving.

I guess when we started this homeschooling journey almost 7 years ago, I would never have been willing to have the bugs, birds, critters, etc that we have observed and fed and dealt. But homeschooling has taught me to tolerate yucky stuff. (Finding a pretty much intact squirrel skeleton was a biggie). Snake skin? No problem, lets measure it, take photos, write about it...

Now, I still won't let them get any rodent type pets, or lizards, or birds, but observing in the great outdoors? That's a different thing all together.

Isn't God's creation amazing?

Well Here I Am

Today, we're watching 2 wonderful children while Mom and Papa take baby #3 to the Pediatrician for a checkup.



These kiddos are wonderful fun to have around. Their infectious laugh, wonderful commentaries and stories, and they're only 2 and 4.5.



I'll certainly miss them when they move.



My kiddos will too. They love being big brother and sister to them.