Beautiful Blessings - 8/26/15

~ Flying to Africa in the Little Tyke's playcube! I love listening to their adventures in flight! Heehee!!!! I think the plane is about to crash though XD
~ Listening to the katydids and crickets sing "When the Saints Go Marching In"! Seriously! Thats the rythm that they are doing! They are so talented that they even have the echo ;~)

~ Finding beautiful patterns and textures in the yarn!

~ L-Jo and T-bug making sure that even Turtlebunny gets to play Bingo!
~ Reading 7 chapters in one of my books for history!

Beautiful Blessings - 8/7/15

~ Listening to Lil' G research horses in the encyclopedia so she can figure out what kind of horse her toy horse is.

~ Listening to all the night-time bugs and birds and tree frogs.

~ Listening to Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance music.

~ Listening to the kids I babysat for the first time in months play with my sisters in the play kitchen...all sorts of yummy goodies made in that lil' kitchen!
~ Listening to kitties' soft steps and perfect purrs. <3

(He curled up on the end of my bed while I was napping <3 I love my Ansel!!)

George Washington Carver

Reading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can learn more than what is in books, for they speak with the voice of God.
George Washington Carver

36 days till X'mas

Traditions! (I love that song from The Fiddler on the Roof!)

Our Christmas traditions begin on Thanksgiving. After all the visitors leave, we watch "It's A Wonderful Life." The weekend after Thanksgiving we get out Christmas tree. We bundle up, and go out to Mexico NY to chop down our own. We have our favorite Christmas tree farm that we started going to a few years ago. After we get the Christmas tree, we put on Christmas music and send my sisters to bed. Mom, Dad, and I decorate the Christmas tree. We put on white lights and red ribbon first. The red ribbon reminds us of the story of Jesus' birth, how it wove in and our through prophecies in the Old Testament. 

We then put on our special ornaments like the ones we get for the year we were born. 

Then we finish with icicles and snowflakes. Every year we get a new snowflake to add to our collection. One year we had a homemade one. 

We also put up our homemade stockings from my Aunt over the top of the corner cupboard as my family exceeded the space on the fireplace. The kids wake up the next morning and are so excited to see the tree looking so pretty and special. During this time, I create and make Christmas presents for my four sisters. 

We go to Lights on the Lake sometime early to mid-December. 

We started the tradition of putting on a Christmas performance for nursing homes with several of my friends. I am the leader of the group. Some sing, some dance, and some play an instrument. We have fun spreading Christmas cheer. 

Towards Christmas we get out a plate of plastic cookies and a little sign that says "Cookies for Noah". When one of my sisters was little, she had just talked about Noah's Ark in Sunday School, so when Santa was popping out all over the place, she thought he was Noah.

On Christmas Eve, we get ready and dressed in our pretty Christmas dresses and go to Church. The Church has dimmed the lights and we each get a candle to hold. We sing Christmas carols like Silent Night, Angels We Have Heard on High and Joy to The World. Then my Pastor retells the Christmas story. We finish by lighting our candles and singing. After we drive around looking at Christmas lights. We always go by the tree Downtown. My sisters love to see it's pretty lights twinkling. We head home and each open one Christmas present. Then my sisters go to bed, and we pull out all the Christmas presents out of hiding spots. We set up the Little People Nativity while Dad starts chopping up fruit for breakfast.

The next morning we can open our stockings but no other presents till Mom gets up. Dad and I finish getting food ready for our Special Christmas brunch. We have fruit, like pomegranate, kiwi, starfruit, mango, and more. We also have cheese like apple smoked Gouda, cheddar, Colby Jack. We bake brie in a pastry and have a loaf of french bread. We snack on the leftovers until we have dinner. After we finish breakfast we get to open our presents. Then we get to play/use them. We like to invite my Great Grandma over and we spend the evening together. My family has many wonderful Christmas traditions, these are just a few. Christmas is our favorite time of year.

What are your Traditions?  

P.S. We are getting our Christmas tree next weekend!!!!

(Last year's tree!)

Good to Be Alive by Jason Gray

I heard this song on K-Love radio station, and adored it.

(Who knows what this is??)

When they had as the song of the week, I had to download it.

These are the lyrics:

Hold on

Is this really the life I'm living?

Cause I don't feel like I deserve it

Every day that I wake, every breath that I take you’ve given

So right here, right now

While the sun is shining down

I wanna live like there's no tomorrow

Love like I'm on borrowed time

It's good to be alive, yeah

Hold on

If the life that we've been given

Is made beautiful in the living

And the joy that we get brings joy to the heart of the giver

Then right here, right now

This is the song I'm singing out

I wanna live like there's no tomorrow

Love like I'm on borrowed time

It's good to be alive

[x2]

I won’t take it for granted

I won’t waste another second

All I want is to give you

A life well lived, to say “thank you”

I wanna live like there's no tomorrow

Love like I'm on borrowed time

It's good to be, it's good to be alive

I wanna live like there's no tomorrow

Love like I'm on borrowed time

It's good to be alive

I won’t take it for granted

I won’t waste another second

All I want is to give you

A life well lived, to say “thank you”  

SO TRUE!

Friendly Friday: My Music boxes

My music boxes each tell a story.

About me.

This one, the girl and the bear, is from my Grandma.  She said it looked like me and my Uncle's bear Goldie. And it did/does. The tune:

Playmate, come out and play with me
And bring your dolly 3
Climb up my apple tree
Slide down my rainbow
Into my cellar door
And we’ll be jolly friends
Forever more, more, more, more!
Playmate, I cannot play with you
My dolly has the flu
Boo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo
Ain’t got no rainbow
Ain’t got no cellar door
But we’ll be jolly friends
Forever more, more, more, more
Say, say oh playmate
Come out and play with me
We’ll have a tea party
Under my cherry tree
Dance on my back porch
Roll on my grassy floor
And we’ll be jolly friends
Forever more, more, more, more!
Playmate, I cannot play with you
My dolly has the flu
Boo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo
Ain’t got no back porch
Ain’t got no grassy floor
But we’ll be jolly friends
Forever more, more, more, more
Say, say oh playmate
Come out and play with me
We’ll sing so happily
Swing from my willow tree
Jump through my sprinkler
Hopscotch to number 4
And we’ll be jolly friends
Forever more, more, more, more!
Playmate, I cannot play with you
My dolly has the flu
Boo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo
Ain’t got no sprinkler
Ain’t got no number 4
But we’ll be jolly friends
Forever more, more, more, more

These 2 each have a separate story.  The right is the first time I was an Angel in the Moscow Ballet Nutcracker. One day this past spring, the cat knocked it over. :~( A very good friend at Church fixed it for me. The left is the second time I was an angel. They both play different tunes from the Nutcracker.

These 3 are for left: When I was a Variation, middle & left: When I was a mouse, (2x). I danced 5 times in the nutcracker, The Moscow Ballet Nutcracker!I loved doing it. The 2 nutcracker boxes play the same tune as the Angel music box on the left. The other plays "You are my sunshine". My Mom used to sing me that every day before I took a nap.

This is from my "adopted" "aunt', a really good friend of the family. When ever I play it, I think of her. I do not know the name of the tune, but it is really familiar.

This is my absolutely favorite one. (The worst picture is of my favorite music box). It doesn't look like much but I could sit and listen to the unknown tune for hours. It was in a piano, but the piano broke. I saved this part, I love it so much.

What music makes you think of your past?

Sister

My baby sister was born today. Sweetest thing in the world. It dawned on me she is a person, not the one born before, but a NEW person! :~)

She is the sweetest thing.

Psalm 127:3
Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him.

May my sister grow to Love, Listen, and Learn, from her heavenly Father, God!

I love you, sweet little sister!! :~) 

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