It's Almost Here!

We are counting down the days 'til Christmas. The manger scene is up, the trees are decorated, home made luminaries grace our front step. Today we made dozens of paper snowflakes to adorn our front windows. The grass however is still green in places, and I often go out for the mail in bare feet. I have mixed emotions. I like that I am not out shoveling and that it is not too cold for my morning walks. I miss the white stuff though. It really adds to the festive feel.

One thing doesn't change though. I love to read the Bible stories with my boys and talk about how wonderful it was that Jesus came as a tiny baby to that long ago stable in Bethlehem. I know, I know....we need to keep Christmas in our hearts year round. That baby should be our daily focus. However, with all the talk of Holiday trees, and Season's greetings, I think it has been good for us as Christians to be able to put a special focus on this birth one day a year even if no one knows when the actual day was. It has heightened our urge to share this wonderful gift God gave us, it has been an opportunity to share the gospel message over and over.....I think it will be sadly missed when it sinks into the mire of holidays that have nothing to do with the birth of that special Child. I will miss Christmas all around us when the political powers that be, wipe it out. Did you buy a 'Holiday' tree instead of a Christmas tree? Did you wish the people at work, "Best of the Season"? Are you listening to the songs of the season pumping out on the radio and realizing they have nothing to do with Christ? I will celebrate His birth as long as I have breath to do so, and I am not ashamed to wish you a Merry CHRISTMAS.

A little candle light makes for a very cozy home.

Nativity made by 3 year old hands 25 years ago.

My...um...lovely Christmas village. It was invaded by those plastic 'Homies" from gum ball machines, years ago and every year they return.

Home made luminaries! Lovely, lighting the way up our front step.

Decently December

Ahh, change. A new entrance to our local waste station. I love things that stay the same. I want the same old traditions and patterns and I want to drive in the same old driveway when I go to the dump!!!

 

December is kind this year. It came in with a cold crisp day but beautiful sunshine. I wandered outside today to escape the closeness of the house and reveled in the fact that it is December but my petunias are still in bloom along the west wall of the house, and the grass is still lush and green where my dryer vents. Winter will be short this year...not that I dislike winter, but a little is nicer than a lot.

My desk top timer tells me it is only 23 days, 2 hours, 56 minutes, and 28 seconds to Christmas. There was so much I planned to do. I love crafts and the kiddos that make them, but everyone is getting older and the interest has waned a little, thank goodness for two little granddaughters that came for cookies and to help Granny set up my Christmas village. God knows I am a mama that loves babies and this two and four year old fill up what would otherwise be a big gap.

A late night visitor that chomped down on the mouse block in the attic, I'm thinking. He came out obligingly and died where I could see him. His relatives were not so kind. It kinda smells around here.

Soon I will post the pics of our decorating efforts, but for now I am getting my house in order and trying to slow down and focus on the reason we celebrate Christmas in the first place. Bible in hand, I am heading off to bed with a cup of tea. Get your devotions done ladies! It ties everything together.

November......Hmmm.

"Something told the wild geese it was time to go, Summer sun was on their wing but something whispered 'snow'. - Rachael Fields

Its been a lovely fall. I needed a break from teaching and we headed to Lyn Falls.

November is a saddish month.The sky lately is dull and gray and threatens snow although it is too warm for it to do so. The trees are bare and stark against the sky. The lawns are slowly turning a tired brown. The birds are fewer and more bold and boisterous than the shy wrens and sparrows and finches that grace our back yard in the summer. A friend who was visiting from Ottawa ( and has only been in Canada a few years) thought the bluejays were pets. "Nope," I told her, "Just very bold Canadian birds."

I could go broke buying peanuts. Good thing we limit it to a dozen a day. 

In November I think about my mother. She passed away 6 years ago and for the first few years the pain of losing her was raw and hurt hard this time of year. This year though, my memories seem to have grown more tender, a time for looking at old pictures, reminiscing with the kids about all that was good and dear about her, especially her strong faith in the Lord, and it draws me closer to Him myself. Her favorite psalm was 104, and when I read verse 33, "I will sing to the Lord as long as I live, I will sing praise to my God as long as I have my being", I am grateful that she lived that verse all the years I knew her.

The boys had a great time, but Gord's back complained a bit.

We have enough squirrels to populate a National Park, living in our yard. This guy was on look out. "Watch out for the crazy lady with the broom."

Fall Harvest Feasting....Mmmmm.I love

I love this time of year and the delicious food it inspires. On one of the first really cold days, I put together a pot of chilli, and yes, I used a few of those left over garden tomatoes that were still clinging to the vine. It was so tasty with a side of homemade bread.

These beauties were on sale at the local grocery store and we ate apple crisp, apple sauce and just plain ole' apples. Yum.

Two apple crisps ready to go!

Top it all off with a cold October sky in all its loveliness, and you can see why I love fall.

This is a picture our preteen took from high atop the neighbor's pine tree. Made my heart skip a beat. Ahh well, not many years ago, I would have been up there myself. I almost went up with him but thought the better of it.

God blesses us daily, but often just in the ordinary days of life. He is there as we do the same old same old, day in, day out. But here in blog land, we tend to extract more out of the ordinary than we do in our own homes. Lets point these little joys and blessings out to our families too. We are truly in the palm of His hand!

Falling In Love With Fall

All our winter friends are returning. After a summer of no food in the feeders, the word is out! She's feeding us again guys!

I was in Goodwill again this week. I found this lovely candle holder. In case you can't read what it says, it is taken from Jeremiah 29:11. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and give you a future and a hope." Gotta love that....and a nice little reminder on my coffee table is a good visual aid!

I love this fall sunshine that permeates my kitchen while I'm making supper. I still need to distribute the gourds throughout the house, but for now, I'm enjoying them in the kitchen. And the apples...I don't peel 4 bushels with the apple peeler like I did when all seven kids lived at home, but I love the smell and who turns down a nice apple crisp?

My baubles. I have had these for several years. I 'borrowed' them from an old chandelier in a house we were leaving. They catch that gorgeous sun and fill the whole kitchen with light.

Hmmm....blogger tipped this on its side, but you still get the general idea. The sun was even brighter than in the other pic so I thought I'd include this one.

And ahhhh...my bittersweet. At least I think it is. I wade into the swamp up to my thighs while my boys laugh by the roadside. But I always come back triumphant! This dries out lovely and then I put a miniscule dab of hot glue on each berry (yes, I'm a little weird) so they don't roll off, I have also tried modge-podging them. Any way, I love bringing in wild things from outside.

All in all, fall is my favorite season, walks on chilly days, leaves everywhere, animals hunkering down for winter, the food, the glorious colors. Makes me want to sing!

1. Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices,
   Who wondrous things has done, in Whom this world rejoices;
   Who from our mothers’ arms has blessed us on our way
   With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.
2. Oh, may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,
   With ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us;
   And keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed;
   And guard us through all ills in this world, till the next!
3. All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given,
   The Son and Him Who reigns with Them in highest Heaven;
   The one eternal God, Whom earth and Heav’n adore;
   For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.

I love this old hymn. We sang it in church every Thanksgiving when I was little. I'm enjoying Fall, and I am enjoying the wonderful blessings God continually gives us.

Wings In a September Sky

Jon, our 23 year old decided Sunday was a good day to test his paraglider wing at the beach.

We couldn't have hoped for a nicer day.

He left the motor at home but practiced a lot of control.

As I watched this large wing pull my son across the sand, I wondered how concerned I will be when I actually see him strap on his motor and sail into the sky. Flying has never been something that excites me too much...and the broken props he has dragged home from a couple of botched attempts haven't helped set me at ease. Ahh well. He is young and fearless...and his life is in the hands of One far greater than I.

That said, we had a lovely day at the beach with several of our children and some friends. Picnic lunches, sand and sun are usually a great combination. And so goodbye to summer and hello to Fall and all it's possibilities. Look for fall decoration pics soon!

Of Books and Boys and School Days

Our dining room looks peaceful, flowers on the table, a nice cloth. Not for long. As of Tuesday, it will once again be transformed into a learning area, littered with books and art supplies, microscopes and magnets.

We are a 'book' family. The main school books reside here in the corner behind the dining room door. These are the curriculum books I use. Mostly Abeka.

Instead of fine china, or a fancy bowl, my china cabinet is graced with a globe and a fat dictionary.

Our favorite reading area is just off the dining room which is convenient. We often laze on opposite ends and do spelling words, grammar and flash cards.

The living room holds art books, gardening books, and a large assortment of books for grandkids.

It also holds our videos and DVDs.

Our bedroom has a wide assortment of Christian books from hubby's Bible College days and anything new we've added since.

Even the family room has a bookshelf which is loaded with the old classics and a collection of old school readers.

The boys keep all their favorites on shelves by their beds. For Patrick that means tons of nature books.

For Rob, his old Hardy Boy books, Calvin and Hobbes and lots of sets from various authors.

We also have a 'flotsam' shelf!

When I say we love books, I mean it. I grew up in a reading home where Friday was library night. We would all go to the Athens Library and then go home with our selections and sit and read. With my own kids, Tuesday afternoons became the highlight of the week. We dragged out the banana boxes and went to Mallorytown library or Brockville library. 5 books each was the rule but it usually became 7 or 8 because there was so much to choose from...and we lugged the boxes home and read all afternoon and well into the night.

I have gotten rid of a lot of books over the years so we are down to just the few you see in my pictures. 'Wink wink." They are my old friends, these books...Lost In the Barrens by Farley Mowatt, Little Britches by Ralph Moody, Freckles by Gene Stratton Porter, Pierre Berton's Canada, Christy by Catherine Marshall. The list goes on....and on....and on. Someday perhaps my grandchildren will walk around carrying an entire library in a small electronic device, but I prefer the feel and the smell of old pages, and crisp new pages and a book in my hand.

What a great blessing it is to be allowed to homeschool these children of mine. I am very grateful that at 51, when a lot of women are edging toward retirement, I still have years of homeschooling ahead of me, and the joy of teaching these last two boys how to become the men God wants them to be. Happy homeschooling everyone!