what’s up?

I have been reading blogs instead of writing my own.


Laura is so good about sharing some of the month’s specials at Azure.  I hope those oranges are available this time!  We have eaten almost 46# of apples in the past two weeks.   I meant to count how many apples come in a 20-pound box.

Conny has a great series going for February ♥  Check it out!

I was pleased to see pictures from Bible Night #2 near Prague!  They handed out another 60 Czech Bibles.  God is working!

I was saddened and sobered by Jaynee Lockwood’s post “The Sound of No Hope.”  I am praying for God’s hand to work in lives in Mexico as well.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

On a more trivial note, we missed Friday’s Chocolate Breakfast.  But we are still eating our Christmas chocolates here.  Seriously.  Saturday night Tim & I went to a Sunday school party that was pretty fun.  Mostly it was just nice to enjoy an evening with my favorite guy.  :-)

I finished To Kill a Mockingbird, so I indulged myself with another Francine Rivers book…





… and a Jane Austen movie…
     

…and I’m still in Season One of Lark Rise to Candleford via YouTube

…while trying to keep up with laundry, meals, schoolwork, etc…

fwiw, I did iron a lot of flannel while watching P&P  ;-)

You can see why I haven’t been posting here!

I’m really glad I don’t have snow shovel duty.

I haven’t taken any pictures during our recent blizzard.  (The photo above is from the Iowa City Press Citizen website.)  Thankfully Tim has made it safely to/from work this week.  The rest of us are happily staying indoors where it is warm.  A friend called today … She drove home on black ice yesterday.  Praise the Lord she is able to stay home today.

What’s left on my immediate TO DO List? 

• Buns and cookies for Saturday’s South Story Sportmen’s Adventure 
• Encouraging the Computer Geek to study and pass his driver’s permit test.  (It occurred to me this morning that he needs a photo ID before he can apply for his passport… which we should have applied for in January)
• Calling my mom to see what she learned today at the doctor’s
• Vacuuming my gritty kitchen floor…

Hurray for leftover lasagna for supper!

~ Not quite a daybook, but I’m done for today ~

Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord,

that thou fulfil it.

Colossians 4:17

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

...Thursday's Edit...  OH HAPPY DAY!  I remembered incorrectly.  The CG does NOT need his photo ID (driver's permit) before we apply for his passport.  YAY!
One less thing on the Overdue List.  :-)

who’s your valentine?

 

And how long has it been since you told him why?

Courtney at Women Living Well has another post in the 25 Day Praise Plan ~ this time it’s about forgiveness and ten ideas for communicating love to your husband.

 

Courtney’s story about reconciling after a fight with her husband reminds me of a story Jen Igarashi wrote… The Hag, the Ogre, and the Chocolate Cake. 

Go on, read it now, I’ll wait.                       

 

 

It can’t just be me since Jen wrote that… but I can so relate to being a Hag more often than I’d like to remember.  I am thankful that God is still working on me, to make me more like Jesus Christ… meek and humble and kind.  Isn’t that amazing?!

 

Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

Philippians 2:2-3

daybook 1/25/11

 

FOR TODAY  

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Outside my window...

it is overcast, but the mid-20s temp is still appreciated

Less that 8 weeks until spring!

Looking outside, I have to tell a funny story from last night… All of a sudden, we heard a lot of mooing and wondered what could be plaguing the cattle.  Well, it was Bullwinkle who was belly-aching …at the wood-splitter.  Tim went out to see who was upset about what, and Bullwinkle ran off, giving up the charge he was preparing.  Silly bull.

I am thinking...

I would really like my right hand back ~ it’s a bother to not be able to DO.

Hopefully the wrist wrap will help it to heal.

I am thankful …

… for the arrival of Sarita & Jeff’s new baby boy, who I am calling Speed :-)

… that John & Tara had a beautiful baby girl just yesterday!

… for a productive Saturday inside and outside (lots of international food prepared in the kitchen and all of the calves were finally rounded up to be banded and/or tagged)

… for our first Azure Standard order ~ Yum!

… for life (Psalm 139)

…for life eternal

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)                       Ephesians 2:4-5

I am praying for...

... the Rettigs & the church in Prague ~ Bible Night tomorrow January 26!

… the sale of my mother-in-law’s home

… Amber’s dad (recently had more chemo)

… Diane and family

… Grant S., who is doing well on his meds now ~ praying for stability

… the broken marriages of J & S and R & K

… the W family

… Cinnamon and EMichelle, who are both expecting babies AND missing their deployed hubbies

… Jason as he begins boot camp  (& his sweet wife Laura)

… my mom & dad, both scheduled for further tests at Mayo West

From the learning rooms...

We are close to half-way done with our school year!

The Bigs have a content quiz in Bible Doctrines tomorrow.

The Youngers have been enjoying coloring pictures and maps while I read about Ancient Greece to them.

Buying a car, formal proofs, book report on Brother Andrew, espanol, preparing for dramatic monologues, writing friendly letters

From the kitchen...

The Cowgirl is making potato buns for lunch  :-)

A package of cooked turkey is thawing ~ I think tonight will be Alfredo.

Tomorrow we can have the leftover beef roast in fajitas.

I am creating...

a “healthy” BMI ~ ha ha!

I am going...

to sew in my sewing room soon!  I worked at rearranging and cleaning on Saturday.   Those new babies need their blankets!

I am reading...

Genesis and Matthew

He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?  And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Matthew 16:15-16

 

 

I gave up on Reading Lolita in Tehran

I am hoping...

Tim will have a profitable time at a grazing conference this week.

I am hearing...

(earlier) a contest in Bible Doctrines class ~ I think my “students watching” won  ;-)

(now) girls shouting Spanish vocabulary at each other (drilling with flashcards?) and the washer draining

Around the house...

The washer is doing its duty.

Kids are studying.

Library books need to be returned.

The pile of flannel is still calling to me…

If I looked, I am sure I could find dust bunnies have been multiplying

One of my favorite things...

watching the Green Bay Packers win!

Pondering these words...

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139:23-24

 

A few plans for the rest of the week:

Wednesday ~ church

Thursday ~ buying club delivery, violin lesson

Friday ~ Chocolate Breakfast with Van & Bonnie, piano lessons & groceries

Here is a picture for thought...

the Cowgirl and the Popper mixing up the potato buns last night

      

 

Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord,

that thou fulfil it.

Colossians 4:17

~ Find more Daybooks at Peggy's ~

post #306?  :-)
Ugh, I don't like it when I edit and the whole format gets messed up...  :-(  So sorry!

more than hearts and flowers

25 Day Praise Plan at Women Living Well

Each week the challenge will be the same - to praise, encourage, inspire, admire, build up, thank and appreciate your husband. But each week Courtney will give you different ways to express your praise. Feel free to tweak it for what you think is best for your husband.
Week 1 starts TODAY! began LAST WEEK!
Look for ways to praise your husband verbally. Praise him in front of the kids, friends, family, co-workers, on facebook, tweet it - get praise out anyway you can! Try to mention something noteworthy he has done - in his role as provider, father, husband, lover, or friend. If the thought of trying to come up with one terrifies you, then pray right now that God will give you new eyes to see your husband as God does. Then open your mouth and say something kind and uplifting to your husband today and tomorrow and the next day until Valentine's Day arrives!
(If you want a devotional to go along with this Nancy Leigh DeMoss has an amazing Marriage pdf here)

Week 2 January 26th - This week we will be a little more creative with our praise. I will give you many ideas of fun things you can do to praise your husband such as surprising him with a love message on the mirror, a message packed in his lunch, using sidewalk chalk to write on the driveway, write a poem, making a toast to him at dinner with friends etc. Get creative with your selflessness!

~~~ ♥ ~~~

...And just for the record, THIS really is post #305… I think.  :-)

giveaway at CHK :-)

 

Sylvia at the Christian HomeKeeper Network is giving away FIVE copies of Shoshanna’s dvd called “Making Herbs Simple.”  Well, since our Miss Artist is a huge fan of the Bulk Herb Store already, I know she will be delighted if we happen to win a dvd!

 

If you are interested in getting started with herbs, check it out! 

If not, check out the CHK Network anyway!  ;-)

truth can be painfully clear

 
Norma Leah McCorvey, better known by the legal pseudonym "Jane Roe", was the plaintiff in the landmark American lawsuit Roe v. Wade in 1973. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned individual states' laws against abortion by ruling them unconstitutional. Later, McCorvey's opinions on abortion changed, and she is now active in pro-life causes.
Norma McCorvey released her first book in 1994, an autobiography entitled I Am Roe.  McCorvey's second book, Won by Love, was published in 1998. She explained her change on the stance of abortion with the following comments:

I was sitting in O.R.'s offices when I noticed a fetal development poster. The progression was so obvious, the eyes were so sweet. It hurt my heart, just looking at them. I ran outside and finally, it dawned on me. 'Norma', I said to myself, 'They're right'. I had worked with pregnant women for years. I had been through three pregnancies and deliveries myself. I should have known. Yet something in that poster made me lose my breath. I kept seeing the picture of that tiny, 10-week-old embryo, and I said to myself, that's a baby! It's as if blinders just fell off my eyes and I suddenly understood the truth — that's a baby!
I felt crushed under the truth of this realization. I had to face up to the awful reality. Abortion wasn't about 'products of conception'. It wasn't about 'missed periods'. It was about children being killed in their mother's wombs. All those years I was wrong. Signing that affidavit, I was wrong. Working in an abortion clinic, I was wrong. No more of this first trimester, second trimester, third trimester stuff. Abortion — at any point — was wrong. It was so clear. Painfully clear.

Above information found at wikipedia.

  Embryo at 56 days.  Picture from this website.

I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. 

Psalm 139:14-16

 

The sanctity of life doesn’t end…
                 

on my mind Friday

 

Like Sylvia at Christian HomeKeepersNetwork I am thinking about sewing!

 

 

  

…and reading  :-)

 

Instead I am in the kitchen (mostly)…

My brother requested more bread – which means grinding flax seed.

           

 

And while I have the oven hot, I will bake a few cookies for my family (not for me – ahem)  This is easy with cookie dough already in the freezer.  The darker dough has rye flour and lots of peanut butter as I recall.

My kids will S>M>I>L>E> when we have fresh bread and cookies for lunch!

     

 

Outside is fresh snow and temps below zero that kept Tim’s trucks parked this morning… He drove the Suburban to work instead, since it sleeps in the wonderful heated garage.

  

 

What’s on your mind today??