Friday, October 31, 2008

Special Days This Autumn

Blowing out Seven candles is hard work! My beautiful, precious firstborn! Eternal soul ever dear to me. May God hear your mother's prayers for the preservation of your sweet heart.
My bear design was last minute work-can you see the drippiness? A friend offered to let me use her Wilton decorating kit next time.I could use that and more time another time!

Alex's Aunt S. was making a rare visit and managed to get to help Alex cut his volcano cake.We held Alex's birthday celebration at the soup kitchen where we volunteer.I worked like mad making food and a Lot of cake to reach around for everyone! It was a bit wild! Aunt S. helped keep everything running smoothly so that sure did help.


The volcano cake also got done pretty last minute-Alex still looks satisfied.
Alex,my artist,my fix-it man and a generous soul, I look forward to working with you in Vineyard of the Lord as you grow older,Lord willing!



Last,but absolutely not least on the last day of this month,I remember the first, which marked 8 years of matrimony with the biggest boy of all and Chief Pilgrim in our house,my sweet Lee.
It's only getting better, like a vintage wine or something,sweetie! Or maybe an aged cheese?
Above is how we started our special day with a cheesecake,a card and special chocolates from my sister.Lovely! We tried to have a romantic dinner at a long agreed upon spot in an Indian American cafe,but it was a little difficult to get too carried away with Wrenbird squirming around in our booth! We did a few other things afterwards including going to the dollar store and each getting the other a gift of the type one would usually think to buy for one's beloved before one marries and tend to forget to think of after one marries. We hid our gifts from one another and opened them later. My gift to Lee was a hanging frog to hang on his mirror in the van.
You see? The type of gift I would usually forget to think of. The object was love,not price tags! Whoever said you couldn't enjoy yourself on a small budget? I dreamed up that idea and Lee enjoyed it so much! He got me some neat stuff too!
Well,we returned home from one fall fest tonight and plan to do a booth at one with our other fellowship tomorrow.I dressed up as a Peruvian lady wearing a Peruvian tablecloth as a sort of dress/skirt over my clothes and a Guatamalen tablecloth as a shawl. I carried a Peruvian handbag and wore a Peruvian hat and managed to snag a tie for Most Unique in the costume contest. I think Lee thought I wouldn't dare do the catwalk! Heh!
I dressed Wrenbird as a Peruvian baby and rustled up a Native American costume for Jess, a fireman one for Alex and Chels went as a purple robed princess.
Today,as it often is,was busy.Laundry often pursues me and today after Wrenbird being sick a lot,I had poop stains, puke stains and I don't know what else to clean up. Still working on it!
I still am changing the family wardrobe over too,which is no small task I tell you! Storing what can work for next summer,giving away what won't,tossing what's practically threadbare and replacing with bits and pieces of warm clothes from storage is actually a whole organizational feat! I love my sister for buying Jess warm winter pajamas for his birthday! We have almost all our coats set for the cold season and now proceed to fillin the sweater gaps. And where do we store and organize everything?
In the middle of everything, our landlords asked for a bed platform and mattress and boxspring set I'd forgotten they were loaning us.So I had to quickly clean and tear bedrooms apart,removing pieces from their respective spots.Thankfully, we had an air mattress loaned from my sister so the boys had a temporary bed!
Well, I should proceed to other late night tasks! Be well. Marcella




Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Blackboard Ideas

http://www.hollymathisinteriors.com/ Here are some great blackboard ideas-I'm thinking of a certain soon to be 4 year old's birthday! Or perhaps a dollhouse made out of an old dresser so we can build various stories....Hmmnnn.
Marcella

Sunday, October 26, 2008

An Awesome Chariot

Straining grape pulp from free grapes Abuela and Abuelo picked for us.My,how we feasted on fresh grapes too!

Today an aquaintance of ours and the very good friend of some of our best friends passed away. She was close to death for a number of days but rather quickly took a turn for the worse. And it got me reflecting on death.For a Christian the part of death that's sad is the leavetaking,I guess. The good-byes.It's like going on a long,long trip or rather like moving away from a beloved neighborhood forever. And when you love someone,you don't want to say good-bye for long.See you later is much preferred. But dying,especially for those left behind,feels so permanent. For the human part of us, we know and plan to meet one another in that place we call Heaven. But it feels so different from our current reality that it's hard to comprehend.If we dig a little deeper the soul knows and yearns to return Home,our real Home and our Father,Abba Father.

This is where I want to focus and teach my children to focus on . I remind and teach them that true reality is that our bodies are shells for the everlasting Real part of us which comes and returns to the Father.I tell them about Home,of golden places. I want them to have an underlying reality of something bigger and truer than what meets the eye.

"...but I know to be absent from this body, is to be present with the Lord,and from what I know of Him,that must be pretty good." approx. words Sara Groves song

Let's learn to think of death as a natural part of life, to live more comfortably with it's ever present shadow in our lives. So Death, when you come with your Awesome strength, you will not take me entirely by surprise. I'm gonna be sad for those left behind,but beyond that I want to rejoice when that impressive chariot of yours rolls up. For I trust Paradise is the destination.

May we all meet one day at the golden gates! Glory!! Marcella


Thursday, October 16, 2008

Enjoy the Weekend !

Jess and Alex at an international fair one weekend.

Is it cheating if I didn't exercise and still want to wish you a happy weekend? Good! Happy weekend everyone!

And if you need quick meals for a busy weekend I noticed Hillbilly Housewife has lots of nice recipes up right now! http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com
Marcella

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

A Blog beauty to share

Garden harvest-photo styled on his own by Jess.

When I was in my late teens, homesteading and homemaking books and magazines were my big interest.I was gaga about handmade things. Dreams of homey, rustic places to creatively and frugally live filled my mind.
God stepped in. I got married and my life was shaken and turned topsy turvy in so many,many ways! I'm a newly turned 26 now, with a husband and four children to boot. Our lives overflow with -well life! Ministry for our beloved Jesus eats up our extra time. But in all the living and growing and experiencing (how can eight or nine years seem like they held so much?) I feel like I've come rather full circle. Homemaking as an art, homemade, homegrown is what I care for as a woman and enjoy as God sees fit, in this my pilgrimage time on Earth. These days I thank God for little moments. In uncertain times and even in more"certain" times there are never any guarantees. Nothing except this moment. And God the Father can be in each of them !

A favorite blog in the "home" category is back, as I excitedly discovered today! May I introduce you to www.eyesofwonder.typepad.com. I leave you with this goody. May you enjoy your homemaking today! Marcella

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Soup,Exercise and Prayer

Jess making phonics cards,using pictures cut from old magazines...

It's an amazing season in life right now for us. First I'll explain my hiatus from this blog though! You see, I'd made a deal with myself that if I kept my exercise routine, I was allowed to blog. Well, with life so full, I have really struggled to add my exercise routine in there these days. But a season of many long distance visitors is about over, I crashed for about a day-barely able to muster the energy to do basics and all that rest helped me start over, and a new element or two is coming into our lives which have not been there for quite a long time and are met with much thankfulness for the routine and order they should bring to us. All that to say I feel like exercise is doable again. And my fingers itch to blog. You can look to see me around again.....

Soup is definitely in order these days! All kinds. Some sharp, smelly cheese or even a milder slice is very good to go with this. Bread is good too. Crunchy apples for snacks refreshes your palate. Wonderful autumn food abounds. Eat it with gratefulness to the Giver of Life and all blessings.

Prayer. Praying without ceasing is never too out of date. God wants to hear from us. A lot. Want to see good things happening in your life and in the lives of others? What are you sowing? Idle thoughts or fervent prayer?

Seek the kingdom of God, friends! You will never be sorry!
Marci