Monday, June 30, 2008

Wait




Desperately helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate...
and the Master so gently said,"Wait."


"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!"
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard? By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.

My future and all to which I relate
hangs in the balance and you tell me to Wait?"
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign.
Or even a 'no,' to which I'll resign.

You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply.

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master replied again, "Wait."


So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
and grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting...for what?"
He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine...
And He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.
I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.


You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.
You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust, just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.
You'd never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.

You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.
The glow of My comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.


The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.
You'd never know should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.


Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But oh, the loss if I lost what I'm doing in you.
So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though often My answers seem terribly late,

My most precious answer of all is still "WAIT".
by Russell Kelfer


(This post is dedicated to "My Sweet Son" who is desperately waiting.)
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Caught Up With My Quilt Blocks






I have worked really hard this weekend to get caught up with Amanda Jean's Quilt Along! I am so excited! The pictures show blocks 6-9 and then all of them together. I am very proud of them. I had a lot of fun. Every spare minute this weekend you would find me in the sewing room. I enjoyed every minute of it! How can quilting be this much fun? Only quilters would understand!

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Star Quilt Block 5 Redone





Beautiful Block, but the star pattern just didn't show up good to me.
Here is how it looked with the others on my design board.
This is the new one. I think the star pattern shows up much better.
Block # 5 is on the far right. Doesn't it show up better?
I was not satisfied with the way Block 5 in the quilt along looked. The layout was good. I just didn't think the fabric showed the star as well as it should have, so I have redone it. I am happy with it now. I am trying to catch up. Now on to Block #6!!!

Friday, June 27, 2008

Birthday Girl - Blueberries - New Dress - Friends






Alyssa in her new dress that I made for her!
Big Sis picking blueberries
Little Brother eating Blueberries
My "Sweet Grandchildren" & their friends visited me today. Their Mom had the day off, so they were having a fun day. I had a surprise for the "Birthday girl". I had made her a little sun dress. It is so cute, even if I say so myself. She actually picked out the fabric. I was so proud of this dress. It was simple to make and I had a ball doing it for her. She was so happy. Can you tell by her face? Then they went out and picked blueberries. They went home and made blueberry muffins with them. I just had to show you the picture of Alyssa, "the birthday girl", and her little friend holding hands as I walked behind them. So Precious!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Happy Birthday Alyssa! A Special Gift










































































My "Sweet little Grandaughter" is always happy. She smiles all the time. She is 8 years old tomorrow. She loves her Gran! She will do whatever I am doing and love it! She is Gran's baby!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALYSSA!

WE LOVE YOU!

GRAN & PAWPAW


Yes, her mommy & daddy were blessed to have her on their anniversary. What a great gift for my "Sweet Daughter & SIL ! What more could you ask.


Happy Aniversary Shannon & Bryan!

We wish you happiness & a lifetime together.
We love you!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Can You Tell I Love My Grandchildren?

This summer my 3 grandchildren are staying with me while their parents work. We stay pretty busy. With 3, it is constant running. (My bad leg has slowed me down some though.) The little ones are in Vacation Bible School in the mornings this week. That has helped a lot. They really enjoy it. Gran does too! My oldest "Sweet GD" & I did some errands after dropping the little ones off and then went & had our nails done. After picking the little ones up, we dropped by taco bell and ate lunch. Then we went back to my house. "Sweet GS" said, "Gran, are you going to make my shirt to my pajamas?" So what could I do but make his little shirt. He came up to me the whole time with his little dog shorts on that I made him yesterday and asked, "Are you done yet?" Once I finished the shirt, he was so excited. The shirt is actually a little big on him and it sure isn't perfect, but the funny thing is, he doesn't care about perfect. He only knows that Gran made these pajamas just for him. It was lots of fun.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Our Day

What do you do when you have to stay off of your feet?

I sewed another quilt block. I am on quilt block #5! I am trying real hard to catch up. One of my goals for 2008 was to put a puzzle together. I think I just did it! Ha! This block had 31 pieces. It was so much fun. I am proud. Can you tell? But I may end up doing this one over and switching fabric colors around. We will see.
I also sewed my "sweet little grandson" some pajama shorts. He takes after his Gran and loves to wear pajamas. He had picked out some fabric a few weeks ago with dogs on it. Today, he came to me and said, "Gran, will you sew my pajama shorts?" Well, what could I say? What would you do? I haven't sewn any clothes in so long, I forgot a few things. It was a very easy pattern but for some reason one leg of the shorts the dogs are upside down. It was so funny! He never noticed. When I told him, he just said, "The dogs are running up one leg and down the other!" What an answer! He stood up so tall and proud for his picture and said, "Gran, will I be on your blog?" So Cute! While all this was going on my oldest"Sweet grandaughter" was decorating some flip flops. Look at the picture where she is upside down working on them. It must be nice to be young. The flip flops are so cute. She cut every piece of fabric herself. I didn't help her at all. In the meantime, the middle "sweet grandaughter" has discovered talking to her friends on the phone. So when she wasn't painting or on the computer, she was on the phone. After they left, I went and fixed supper. Check out my My cooking blog!
Well, that is a little summary of what you do when you have 3 grandchildren and you have to stay off of your feet? It was a great day.

P.S. Thanks to all my blogging friends who have emailed to check on me. I am fine, just got to slow down a little. Thank you for your prayers.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

"Precious"



Block 4 (not perfect but it's mine)
Back many years ago when I was pregnant, I got a blood clot in my right leg. I had to be put on bed rest. Every once in a while, it flares up when I have been on my feet a lot. I am keeping my 3 grandchildren this summer, so I am up on them all the time. Well, last week, it flared up. It hurts so bad. I have to stay off of them as much as I can when this happens because I sure don't want a blood clot again. I am fine, but I do have to be careful when this happens. Yesterday and today as I was working on my quilt blocks for Amanda Jeans Quilt-a-long, I found myself trying to sit down as much as I could because of the pain in my leg. I thought to myself how bad it would be to be crippled or not have my leg. It made me so thankful for my legs.


Then I went to Church this morning and my Pastor was preaching about how "PRECIOUS" the Blood of Jesus is. He was telling us how sometimes we don't realize how "PRECIOUS" something is, until it is not there. Just like water.....we don't think a thing about getting a drink of water, but if it was gone we would realize how "PRECIOUS" it was. I thought it was amazing that yesterday I was thinking the same thing about my leg. I didn't realize how ''PRECIOUS" my leg was until I couldn't use it like I normally do. This has really made me stop and think. Our Lord is with us all the time and I know that, but do I always really realize how "PRECIOUS" HE is. Is it just when I need him that I call upon HIM? Is it then when I realize how HE died for me and how "PRECIOUS" HE is? I want to always be thankful that HE is here for me. I want to always know how "PRECIOUS" the blood of Jesus is.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

A Good Day















I started my day with a wonderful hot bath.
















I did a little housework.
















Enjoyed my screened in porch.
















Supper was Potato Soup, Sweet Corn Muffins,
a salad & Chocolate Cake





















I ended my day by doing Block #3
of Amanda Jeans Quiltalong!

It was a good day today!

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Simple Things















Ham & Bean Soup with Cornbread
















We use well water!
















My Garden: Better Late Than Never!
Tomatoes, Corn, Okra, Beans, Peas, Canteloupe, Squash,
Cucumbers & even gourds















Improvise:
I don't have a clothes line anymore but I have
a huge deck that works great!
















I love folding my towels on my deck in the sunshine.
Can you smell that fresh smell?

I have been hearing on the news about all of the celebrities going "green". Some of this stuff seems a little crazy to me. I heard on the news that Al Gore, who is suppose to believe in this stuff uses 20 times more energy in one month in his home, than the average household. This blew my mind. I guess to me "going green" means saving money & energy. It means not being wasteful. It means using what we have and not running to the store everytime we have a thought.

I guess I have always been a little thrifty and I don't think you have to spend a lot of money to save money. I have to admit, that since my children are grown, I have enjoyed some luxuries that I didn't have when they were small. But the gas prices, lower paychecks, and grocery prices have really got me thinking. I remember our grandparents saved every container such as margarine cups, etc.- How frugal are we? We go out and buy the "Smart Spin" as seen on t.v.! They saved things like that because they had been through the depression and hard times. They didn't have a choice. They had a rainy day fund. They paid cash for everything. Debt? They would not have thought of it. I have tried to teach my children to stay out of debt and as Dave Ramsey says,"Live like no one else, so you can live like no on else!" Most of us eat out all the time instead of cooking mainly because we are running all the time. We just don't think anything about it. Well, until now. I remember not too long ago everyone wanted a big gas guzzling SUV. Now everyone wants the little car that is good on gas! Being frugal is now popular! Imagine that?

All the talk about going green has got me to thinking more about conserving. It has also made me think of why I am at home. I am a homemaker. I used to have the mindset that I could SAVE more money staying at home, than I could MAKE outside the home, but I have to admit that I have been spoiled. I have decided that I need to think more about this and my part in my home. I have been a single mom before and had to make a living, but I have been blessed for the past 30 years to have a husband who wants me at home. I think this is such an honor and something that shouldn't be took lightly. I can't help but think of Proverbs 31: 10-31. It is my favorite scripture in the Bible and what I have always wanted to be. I loved raising my children at home. There is no amount of money that I could have made that would replace that. Yes, we had to make many sacrifices for me to be able to stay home. My children often tell me how special that eating out was because we didn't do it often. Now, eating out is never a thought.

There are so many things a woman (working outside the home or inside the home) can do to help conserve energy and save money. My 94 year old granny that most of you now know through my blog is one of the wisest women I know besides my Mom.
My granny says she has a certain day, to do certain things. Her house is immaculate, nothing fancy, but she says she doesn't need much. She lives very simply and is one of the happiest women I know. My Pawpaw died several years ago while riding his lawn mower. My granny does not live any differently than when he was alive. I know what you are thinking.....well, she lives by herself. She has lots of time. Yes, that is so true. But they say she has been this way forever. She raised 6 children. I got a little saying from her a long time ago. She said, we all choose what we want to do. If we say we don't have time for something, it is because we choose not to do it. So this has got me to thinking and doing.

Simple things that I can do:

Combine all my errands into one trip a week to save on gas.

Plan my meals and use a list at the grocery store.

Eat at home more. Cook. I try to freeze my leftovers for another meal.

Plant a garden. Instead of buying plants, I started most of my garden vegetables from seeds in January.

Instead of taking a piece of aluminum foil off of a dish and just tossing it in the garbage, I now think to myself how I can save it for another use.

I have also been thinking about the dryer in my home. It heats up my house which causes my air conditioning to run more, if I have it on. I love my windows open, so we don't have our air on too much unless it is in the 90's. I haven't had my dryer on in about a week. I am so proud. I don't have a clothesline anymore but I hung my towels and sheets on my deck across the rail. I love the smell of sheets hung outside. My clothes, I have been hanging on hangers on my screened in porch. What is so funny to me is my clothes get dry faster than if they were in the dryer.

When emptying my trash, I try to put all the trash into 1 large trash bag, compacted, instead of wasting several trash bags and replacing them with new ones.

We do not purchase paper plates & cups anymore, unless it is for a special occasion or trip.


We do not leave unnecessary lights on in our home.

I know there are many other things that I could do to save money and conserve energy. But this is just a few of the things I have been thinking about. I can't go out and buy solar panels and all the other things the celebrities are doing, but I can do little, simple things. I just want to do more. Yes, we live a great life. We are very blessed. We have a nice home and nice cars. We have a boat on the lake. We are going on vacation this year with our family. My family is blessed with their health except my son who needs prayer. There are so many people hurting. Their homes are being foreclosed on. There are people that can't find a job. This could be us and I want to do my part to prepare for that rainy day. Thanks for letting me ramble a few of my thoughts.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Our Weekend At The Lake

My Other Favorite Hobby - Fishing!

We went to the lake again this weekend. We were so blessed to have such a nice place to stay. I am not real big on staying in motels. We were so blessed because my SIL & BIL were so sweet to let us stay in their lakehouse this weekend. They were out of town, so we just pretended that it was our place. Thank you to M & G for sharing your blessings. We weren't there that much, because we spent most of the time on the lake. We got up early and then went back out and fished at night. We had so much fun. There are actually more pictures of bigger fish that "My Sweet Honey" caught but he would not let me put the pictures on here because he was hot and didn't have a shirt on. He caught the most and the biggest! Notice the picture of the tree that has a big nest in it. We were in a cove and throwing a net to catch our bait and this bird was going crazy. I guess she thought we were going to hurt her babies. The other tree--look real close. There are a lot of really strange birds in this tree. We caught so many fish, we lost count. And yes, don't laugh, but those are plastic gloves on my hands. I just got a manicure! We also love to eat lunch on the boat. We just had such a wonderful time. If I can't be quilting, this is my other favorite hobby.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Happy Anniversary

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May you always be warmed by each other's smile,
Always take time to walk and talk a while,
Always know deep down you're each other's best friend,
And enjoy the kind of love that grows and knows no end.
Wishing you an 'always' kind of love!
Happy Anniversary
To My Brother in Law & Sister in Law
We love you!

Sunday, June 8, 2008

There Is Something Better Than Quilting























Can you imagine anything that is better than quilting? I had planned to work on my quilt projects this afternoon. After church, we went out to eat and then came home. I put my P.J.'s on and went to my sewing room determined to get a quilt block made but then something happened better than quilting...........................My beautiful aunt and my little 94 year old granny came to visit! I was so excited. My aunt said that granny wanted to see my quilts. What an honor for me! I went downstairs and got my quilts to show her. Granny was impressed. It made me feel so good. It has been several years since she has come to my house. I love talking to her. I never get to see my aunt so I loved that too. I love to hear granny talk. I love to hear about her life. She said they were going to have to go and I asked her where she was going. She said I have got to get home because it will be bedtime soon. I asked her what time she went to bed. She said 7 P.m.! I asked her what time she gets up. She said well I am suppose to be up at 5:30 a.m.! I asked her why she had to get up so early. She said because she had to eat breakfast, have prayer time, get her bath, and get to sewing! I just love it! She also was talking about a book she read that told her she was not suppose to work on Sundays, so she doesn't get to sew on that day anymore. I asked her if she enjoyed sewing her quilts and she said oh yes! I told her that it would be considered a hobby and not work. She seemed happy when I told her that. I showed her my blog. I am sure she doesn't even realize what the internet is and I didn't try to explain. She looked at my laptop and said she had never saw one before. She was amazed at the last post I did about her. I read what I wrote about her. She seemed to like it even though she doesn't realize you all can see it. I had written in the last post about her, that I wondered if she dreams about quilting like I do, so I asked her. She said yes. She said she wakes up in the morning and remembers dreaming about making quilts. Isn't she so sweet? Can you tell I am proud of my granny? I just love her so. Will I get my quilt block done today? Maybe, but if I don't, it's ok, because there is something better than quilting......a visit from my granny!

Saturday, June 7, 2008

A Wonderful Day






Today was just a wonderfully peaceful day. It started with meeting my sweet Mother for breakfast at Panera Bread. My mom ordered us toasted cinnamon bagels with hazelnut cream cheese. I, of course had a coke and she had her coffee. It was delicious. We sat outside and ate and then we headed to our favorite quilt store! We had the best time. I bought some fat quarters for my star quilt that I am doing with Amanda Jean's quiltalong! I also bought a stencil. My mom bought me some more Dick & Jane fabric! I love it. The best part of course, was spending time with my Mom.

I came home to find my husband, sweating and working so hard outside. We have been very busy remodeling a house for the past few weeks and we are so tired. I asked him to come in out of the heat and take the day off. We actually have rested this afternoon which is very unusual for us. My DD & SIL, Maranda & Cory called and invited us to supper tonight so we jumped in our corvette, took the top down and enjoyed riding in the convertible. After that, we came home and watered our 2 gardens and our flowers and came in. I almost feel guilty about taking off today..........NOT! It was a wonderful day!

Friday, June 6, 2008

Grandchildren & Gardening


Brother loves watering the plants!

Big Sis tries to water plants but brother
decides to shoot her with watergun!

Little Sis planting cucumber seed!

They love the gator as much as I do!

Quiet time is not complete without remote!

Having fun at craft time!
My Grandchildren love helping me outside. This week we have been trying to put in our very late garden. They love riding on the gator. We try to do our outside work in the mornings and then go in and take baths and have a quiet time. The 2 little ones lay down for about an hour. Big Sis usually gets on the computer and I am usually folding clothes or catching up in the house. One morning this past week we made doughnuts. You can go to my cooking blog to see how we made these. My Mom used to make these for us when I was little.
After quiet time they love to do some kind of craft. Little Sis wanted to work on her blog also!
As soon as the children leave to go home, my husband & I go and work on a house we are remodeling to sell. It was a busy, tiring, but good week.