Lunar Eclipse

Isn't that a great picture of the eclipse, I did not take it, I took it from one of my favorite websites http://www.pasty.com/cam/ it is a website in the Keewenaw peninsula, that is just wonderful, they share pictures everyday and this month is their 10th anniversary, so if you click on the "Cameo" that is next to each picture there is a video with historical facts relating to the U.P. Hope you are having a good week, I am off to get my hair cut and buy groceries. My sister Micki commented on my blog yesterday that it looks like all I do is quilt, I wish!!! But I do try to get downstairs to my sewing room at least for a little while each day if I am not working. Happy Thursday - remember God is good, all the time!!

A mess again?!

I was not kidding - I get working on stuff and just end up with piles and piles! I can only stand it for so long and then one day I will stop and clean it all up. You thought I was kidding until you looked at the pictures, right!!

It might be fair to say I am having a little trouble staying focused. I have a couple different projects going, I am just playing with some colors of fabric and then I went and bought a new book! Never know what I will be doing next. This mess reminded me of a verse in the Bible, "God is not a God of confusion." ok - so I am not confused, just very distracted, or maybe just not focused - ok it's a mess - what can I say!!

Dreary Day!

It is a very dreary gray day here in central Illinois - not too cold, just gray. Nick is at work, Wendell has been laying down all afternoon, he is not feeling too well - hopefully not the flu that has been going around. The hospital has been full - everytime I have to travel through the ER for paperwork I hold my breath, I really don't want to catch it! On the brighter side - the forsythia branches have dropped most of their flowers and now are growing and developing leaves!!! If they grow roots I will plant them! I had also cut some Red twig dogwood branches and brought them in at the same time, only for the color of the stems (red), however they also are flowering and developing leaves. I am going to wait and see what they do - verrry interesting! God is so good - when things look the darkest, in the middle of winter and all appears dead, we get bright yellow flowers and green leaves, He is here, He is the creator of all and in Him we all have life. "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die..."John 11 25 and 26. Hallelujah!

Happy Birthday to my first born!

11 days old Elementary School Senior Picture

Beautiful at birth and everyday since. I am so proud of you! Despite many challenges, you just keep smiling. You are a wonderful mother, Nick is such a great kid - only a year of school to go - you have done a great job raising him! Cassie and Daphne are beautiful and way too smart! I remember when you were in school, you were so meticulous, always studying and always getting good grades - I would almost bet you still have all your notebooks from school and in order! (unless Johnny made you throw them away) Tania you are beautiful inside and out and I am proud of you and proud to be your mother!! I remember the night you were born, my labor started about 5:00 in the morning, I stayed home until 5:00 that night, and I was dialated to 6 when I got to the hospital, the nurses could not believe I walked in. At 1 minute after midnight you were born - screaming at the top of your lungs! I loved the name Tania, and of course your middle name, Theresa, is my moms first name and my middle name. I love that you named Cassie with Theresa as her middle name too. Grandma would have loved that! You look alot like my mom, in fact when some people look at Grandma's wedding picture, they ask if it is you!!! You nursed well, but within a few weeks you developed colic - I remember walking the floors with you night after night, I just felt terrible, there was nothing I could do to make you feel better. As you know that is hard for a mom, but you finally grew out of it - thank the Lord! Learning you were deaf and then trying to learn sign language was another challenge for all of us, but when you finally decided you wanted to learn to sign you just took off!! You were like Helen Keller, walking around and pointing to things for us to teach you the sign for it. You started school full days when you were 3 1/2 years old - Mrs File was your first teacher - she is 92 years old now! Kathy Stansfield was your next teacher, she is retired now and married (Kathy Cook), we go to church together and are in the same Small Group on Sunday mornings. You were always an excellent student - sooo smart! You trusted Christ when you were in grade school and we have seen the evidence of Him in your life, as well as how you have brought your children to church so they will come to know Christ as well. In all the hard times in your life I have seen you turn to God, and He has always been faithful. Well the years have flown by - you will be 35 tomorrow, February 20th - but you will always be my baby! I am so proud of the woman you have become!

Happy Birthday - I love you!

Happy Valentines Day!

The doorbell rang last night and when I opened it there was Nick standing there holding the giant stuffed heart with the heart box of candy "Happy Valentines Day!!". what a surprise, he says I always complain about not being remembered, so he did that - how sweet - I kissed him all over his face. He is 16, has a car, and supposes himself to be a pretty cool guy so... he was not too impressed about the kisses, but oh well - I am his grandma - so he should be used to it. I made the little striped card for him and gave him a large bag of skittles (his favorite, like his mother chocolate is not his preferred sweet - hard to believe that huh?!) Wendell got me the "Hot lips" box of candy, filled with fudge truffles, yumm! and the very sweet card with the red heart on it. I made the black and pink card for him and gave him a large York mint - he does not like to eat alot of candy so I don't get too carried away.

I decided to hang the large stuffed heart on the door in honor of the day, I am sure Nick will get a kick out of it when he gets home.

I got the most beautiful picture of Caylee in my email this morning also, but for some reason I can't upload it, I think it is because Dewitt photos owns it. So you will have to go to http://www.dewitt-photos.com/ to see it. Chris is in Baltimore for 2 weeks and Caylee is having a hard time being away from dad - please say a prayer for her.

Hope you are having a great day - Love to all!

Forsythias in winter

2 weeks ago today I went and trimmed some forsythia branches and brought them in and put them in water. When I came home from Kentucky today they were in full bloom. A reminder that spring is coming! I was just catching up on two of my friends blogs, Dr Fox, who has leukemia who has found a speed bump in his treatment, he has infection in his organs and will have to take treatment that will make him sick and can cause kidney damage, and then in the same breath he is praising God for GREAT NEWS - they have a donor who is a 10 point match, a 26 year old male. Plans are for the bone marrow transplant the first week or so of March. Please pray for him as he goes through all this treatment to prepare him for the transplant and that he will be healthy by then. My other friend has a 5 month old son who has been diagnosed with a disease that will affect his life and thiers. What a difficult time for them as they learn all about it and how to deal with it. On her blog she has the song "I will praise Him in the storm" playing, a reminder to all of us where her strength comes from as she lifts her hands and heart toward heaven. Psalm 121:1 says "I look to the mountains, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth."

Dear Father, bless these families, strengthen and guide them, give them wisdom and give them peace. Show us how we can be a help, in prayer or in action, lead us to know what to do and what not to do! We love you Lord and know You are in control of all, we need only trust You. Spring is coming, there will be sunshine and flowers and green grass. Thank you for these bright yellow forsythia blooms that are a reminder of Your faithfulness.

Off to Louisville to play!

The boys are giving each other "high fives" The weather was very warm - they were taking a peak outside. As you may have seen on the weather, there were many tornadoes in this area and south of here, at midnight the tornadoe alarms went off, and we spent some time in the closet under the stairs, there was not loss of life in Kentucky, but as you know there were 55 lives lost in Tennessee and Arkansas - lets all remember to pray for these families and those who were injured. Have a great day!!!

Snow!

Snow! Snow! Snow! And more snow! Notice our poor tree damaged by the ice, we had it trimmed, hopefully it will sprout new branches and live! As you can see, the rabbit that lives under our little barn was out and about this morning and left his tracks in the snow. I know this is not much to you yoopers, but this is major for Jacksonville, Illinois! We have about 10 inches on the ground, school is called off. It is very windy and out of town there is nothing but empty corn and bean fields for miles and miles and miles, nothing to stop the wind, so the visibility is poor. I got called into work because one of the girls from out of town can't get in. So I better go. Have a great day!