A Small Reminder

For all these smallnesses
I thank you, Lord:

small children
and small needs;
small meals to cook,
small talk to heed,
and a small book
from which to read
small stories;
small hurts to heal,
small disappointments, too,
as real
as ours;
small glories
to discover
in bugs,
pebbles,
flowers.

When day is through
my mind is small,
my strength is gone;
and as I gather
each dear one
I pray, "Bless each
for Jesus' sake-
such angels sleeping,
imps awake!"

What wears me out
are little things:
angels minus shining wings.
Forgive me, Lord,
if I have whined;
...it takes so much
to keep them shined;
yet each small rub
has its reward,
for they have blessed ME.

Thank you,
Lord.

By Ruth Bell Graham
Sitting by my Laughing Fire

In the Sewing Room

A new set of pillowcases featuring vintage pink lace. Now the big question- who will end up with these pillowcases on their bed? Hannah has already put her request in.

Cake Decorating

The girls have been inspired by several cake decorating books from the library. They have been anxious to try their hand at it- too bad we don't know what to do with all this cake!

Brian picked up some "healthy" shortening at the store so that the girls could make icing and cake the "right" way- the way specified in the cake books. They made these cakes gluten-free with lemon flavoring. The icing tastes like wedding cake icing that I remember - soft and creamy. I had just the smallest taste on a fork and everyone else had a small sliver of cake last night.

Hannah's cake

I should mention that the girls made a two-layer cake but each decorated one layer- their cakes are not usually so short! Yes, gluten-free cakes will not rise the same as wheat flour will, but there is not THAT much difference!

Frisco, Colorado


Psalm 150

Praise the Lord.

Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre;
praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute,
praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbols.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

In the Sewing Room

Hope in her new robe. The sleeves have been hemmed since this photo was taken. I had a robe made from the same pattern when I was her age. Mine, however, was made with Raggedy Ann and Andy fabric and had a red ribbon at the waist.

Dog Days of Summer on the Windswept Plains

It sure is hard for me to blog without my camera!! I look forward to it coming back to me after it's fixed. Brian's camera is a fancy one that takes pictures of a large size that have to be sized down first. That extra step makes adding photos seem harder than perhaps it is.

We are in our second week of school and so far so good. Despite my best intentions, I did not work with Hope with her reading over our break, but apparently this was not an issue as she is reading well at a second grade level. She is starting in the second reader instead of the first like the others did and is having the easiest time with reading of all of my children (and I have had two excellent readers before her). God is merciful - this gives me more energy to work with Abby in her reading struggles.

We are reading "Christy" for group reading and it has been a hit with the two older girls. Hannah requested LOTS of the series "Biography" from the library and we have enjoyed learning about Annie Oakley, Dick Van Dyke, Beethoven and others over lunch. Hannah and Abby have also been pouring over library books on cake decorating and they are anxious to get to the store for some supplies. They made a beautiful anniversary cake for Brian and I last week.

Even though I love summer break and the change of pace it brings, I miss the closeness of homeschooling- all the hours my children and I spend together, learning and laughing. It feels good to be back and "connected" again.

It has been HOT outside, with afternoon and evening thunderstorms every night. Last night we ate by candlelight because the lights kept going on and off due to all the lightning. There are not many days we long for air conditioning, but these are the times we do! We are grateful for our big fan that at least moves the air to keep us cooler. Even Abby, my lover of all things summertime, said she was looking forward to fall!

I finished a fall/winter robe for Hope (I'll try to post a picture of it) - nice cozy flannel- that she wears all the time now. Yes, it is terribly hot outside, but Hope is hotter still as she happily won't take that thing off! As the newness wanes, I hope we can persuade her to save it for cooler days and nights!

Looking forward to a delicious dinner- turkey breast cooking in the oven, waiting to be chopped up and put on a nice green salad!

Sixteen years ago today. How time flies!

Happy Birthday Hope!

Pictures of some of my favorite men

Family Reunion

A lot of hugging...especially by Hope

Face painting... With Jessica as Padame Amidala

Hope painted Uncle Jon, who looked like he had a bad rash by the end

Abby painted Danny as Jack Sparrow

Del was decorated by his children...

Abby and Karia

Chalissa getting ready for S'mores

Jacob and Mia

Singing with Jon

Jacob and Shepard playing down by the creek

Jackson was admired by all the kiddos

Danny and Del in charge of the cookout

A Few Pictures From Last Week

Jessica

Dad and Judy

Zulay and Danny

Joy, Virgil and Mia

Jon, Christy and Jackson

Del, Debra, Shepard, Karia and Chalissa

Hiking on a mountain trail

Because I haven't sized these pictures down, they take a LONG time to load. I will have to wait for Brian to resize them so I can post more. But, we all (I assume!) had a great time and made a lot of wonderful memories.

Fun in the Mountains

Just thought I'd pop in with a few photos of our family reunion so far. Brian is busy taking lots of pictures, so when we get home, we'll post some of our favorites.

We've been enjoying the pool and lots of good food and fellowship. Today we'll head into Breckenridge for some sightseeing- I've located two quilt shops on Main Street that will need checking out!

For a very limited time...

You can go to Youtube.com and type in "anne audition" into the search engine. You can scroll down through all the girls and find Abby under the name "Windsweptplains". Click on that and you can see her two minute audition. We are under no delusions that she is going to be chosen for a part in the new Anne of Green Gables movie, but I was so proud of her that my little dyslexic read and memorized a two minute speech. It was a fun experience and we look forward to when the new movie comes out next year!

We will be leaving this video on YouTube only for another week or so before taking it down.

Pictures of Breckenridge

Our state flower, the Columbine

Brian returned today from his two day business trip with some pictures of his time in the mountains. Here are a few of them.

Jackson

Jon and Christy sent more pictures of Jackson yesterday. We are looking forward to kissing those sweet cheeks soon!

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Romans 8: 1-4

Photo taken by Brian's dad of the Metolis River, Oregon

Bed Jacket from a 1940's Pattern

I used our old, dying camera for these pictures. I hope the details show up alright. The jacket is a bit wrinkly since I wore it last night. Everyone thought I was pretty fancy getting ready for bed!

Daily Summer Life on the Windswept Plains

The last pictures on our poor smashed camera were ones taken by Hope- of weeds. Above is one of the more interesting specimens.

The ten baby bunnies left us this weekend. They went to the "bunny lady" who will give them to those teachers requesting class pets. These bunnies were the best yet in terms of personality. The bunny lady asked the girls to breed for the stock show in January (bunnies to sell). She wants only purebreds, so we will work on breeding next according to the types she needs for the show.


In other summer news, Hannah is taking an online Regency costuming class. It runs for six weeks and she is just starting week two. She is also continuing in her love of reading Shakespeare over the school break and we have many library books on the bard all over the house.

Abby went today to a new dentist in town. There is not much in our town other than a post office, farm equipment store and a gas station, so to find a dentist here (and one covered by our insurance) is a novel thing. When Abby got her braces off, she discovered a cavity in one of her front teeth, so I tried to locate a dentist specializing in cosmetic procedures. This dentist office is state of the art- the dentist took pictures of each of her teeth with a little camera that looks like just another dental device that displays the pictures immediately on a computer screen. They also have digital x-rays and goodness knows what else. I bought some expensive toothpaste from the office designed to help harden her enamel with liquid calcium since we seem to be prone to decay despite good hygiene and diet.

Jacob is enjoying his summer break by playing with legos and other toys and by playing outside. Hope is doing well- a few days a week she gets knee pain and we are able to take care of it in a few minutes!!

I had a fun phone conversation yesterday with a friend (one of my bridesmaids) who I haven't talked to in ten years. She and her family have been living overseas and now they are nearby for the time being. I am looking forward to getting together with them soon and meeting her children for the first time!

In the sewing room:
finished: a 1940's bed jacket
halfway done: a silk dress from one of my mother's 1960's patterns
up next: a blouse for Abby

Sunday dinner:
chicken
peas and corn
coleslaw
mashed potatoes :)

What? No Pictures?

A certain child, who shall remain nameless, took the new camera outside and set it on the grass today. Another child, also remaining nameless, ran through the grass and on top of the camera, thus destroying our new camera.

A husband (not nameless), when he bought the camera, did something his wife would not approve of (being frugal and all)- he bought a warranty. Now the wife thinks he is a genius and the camera will be replaced. However, the replacement takes about two months to arrive.

Now we are trying to figure out how we will manage for that long especially with our family reunion coming up.

A Favorite Hymn

Softly and Tenderly

Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,
Calling for you and for me;
See, on the portals He's waiting and watching,
Watching for you and for me.

Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading,
Pleading for you and for me?
Why should we linger and heed not His mercies,
Mercies for you and for me.

Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing,
Passing from you and from me;
Shadows are gathering, the death's night is coming,
Coming for you and for me.

O for the wonderful love He has promised,
Promised for you and for me!
Though we have sinned, He has mercy and pardon,
Pardon for you and for me.

Refrain:
Come hone, come home,
Ye who are weary, come home;
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
Calling, O sinner, come home.

By Will L. Thompson