Project 365 - Week 3

It is time for Project 365 - Week 3 and I am running a bit behind.  I have too many projects and not enough time.  Sorry I am a wee bit late getting this up and running.  Want to see everyone else's pictures?  If you do then hop over to The Frans Clan by clicking here and check them out.

 

Sunday, January 13th

Football is on at my house. Whooo hooo....So I am busy crafting.  I also took a nice long nap.

 

Monday, January 14th

Finished up wreath number one for my front door.

 

 Tuesday, January 15th

 

 

Frank has been steadily uploading his Israel pictures and I had to share these.  This is Jerusalem in miniature.  If youi have ever been to Ave Maria Grotto in Cullman you have seen Jerusalem in miniature, but it is nothing like this.  This is amazing.  Frank and I have decided we are going in 2015 when he graduates from Course of Study School and I retire.

 

Wednesday, January 16th

Rain, rain, go away.  I am tired of wet and gray!  It started raining when Frank left for Israel and has rained every day since then.  He left on December 31st!  I want to get outside and take pictures....but alas....it does nothing but rain.

 

Thursday, January 17th

We bowled tonight.  Yes, it is still raining.  Mae Lynn (cancer survivor) wore this little headband thing tonight.  It is designed to keep her head and ears warm and I love it.  I must have one.  I took pictures of it so Mrs. Shirley can see it and either teach me how to do this...or let me pay her to do it for me.

 

Friday, January 18th

 

Mail ran on Thursday and I found a ton of new yarn when I came home on Thursday night.  I got it all displayed because I have some ladies coming to buy scarves.  I also worked like the devil tonight trying to get several done that I thought they might be interested in.  I am selling them for 10.00 if anyone out there is interested.  Let me know what colors you might want and I will try and make it happen for you.

Saturday, January 19th

Breakfast at the Farmhouse Restaurant with the Kramers and precious Collin.  I love this child.  His nickname is Schnitzel.

 Lunch in Newnan at the Dwarf House Chick-Fil-A.  I made Frank get tin the pictrue so you could see how small the door is.  We went to Newnan to see about finding more yarn at Michaels and Hobby Lobby.  I came up empty at both stores.  Everyone has begun to make the little scarves.  I sold 8 this morning.  Have a great week!

One Hump Or Two?

Frank rode a camel when he was in Israel.  The owner was so excited to see the group of 29.  Two minutes for five dollars would be a good fair for the day.  The owner was from a Bedoin tribe.  Did you know that for years scientists believed that camels - like unicorns, mermaids, and the American Indian - were just a mythical creature used to market cigarettes. That was until scientists discovered the existence of real-life camels in the Egyptian desert in 1967. I personally thought that all camels were alike until Saturday morning when Beth's grandson informed us that there was a difference in a one hump and two hump camel.  Out of the mouth of babes.  Dromedary is the name for one-hump camels. This type of camel is common to Africa and the Middle East. It was exported all over the world and is now relatively common in Australia and North America, where is has been used sporadically over the years as a pack animal. Dromedary camels are much more common than two hump camels and much less common than camel cigarettes.   Bactrian Camels are much less common than dromedary (one-hump). Bactrian camels are native to the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. Aside from the obvious difference of the number of humps, Bactrian Camels differ in a few other key ways. For example, the Bactrian camel grows a thick coat of hair each winter. That coat of hair falls off every spring. This is to deal with the extreme variation of temperature in the Gobi desert where summer highs often top 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and winter months can see significant amounts of snow. In general, Bactrian camels are much more mild-mannered than their hot-tempered dromedary kin. (The Dromedary camel has a uniform length of hair year round.) Estimates for the number of Bactrian Camels in North America range from about 400-800 head.  I found it fascinating that you can cross breed the two types of camels. Some people would expect that by breeding a one-hump camel with a two-hump camel that the result might be a three hump camel. The actual math equation is closer to this: one-hump camel + two-hump camel=a camel with one really large hump.

Ride em cowboys....or would you call them...camelboys????  Would you ride a camel? 

Five Minute Friday - Cherished

Around here we write for five minutes flat on Fridays.  We write because we love words and the relief it is to just write them without worrying if they’re just right or not. So we take five minutes on Friday and write like we used to finger paint. For joy in the process. No matter how messy the result.

Got five minutes? Come and write with us!

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments. That is like the one rule we all really care about. For reals.OK, are you ready? Lisa-Jo givs us a word and she says she has had this word on her heart for you all week. So take some time to write about our word for the day and link up.  It is amazingly fun.

Cherished

 

GO: 

When I saw this word today I immediately took a stroll down memory lane and pulled up the words to my favorite Association song, "Cherished."  I remember hearing this song and claiming  the chorus just for me...."Cherished is the word I use to describe.  All the feeling that I have hiding here for you inside.  You don't know how many times I've wished that I had told you.  You don't know how many times I've wished that I could hold you.  You don't know how many times I've wished that I could mold you into someone who could Cherish me as much as I cherish you.  And I do cherish you.  Cherish is the word."  When I was in high school that song rocked my world.  Every now and then I hear it on XM and Frank and I will sing it together.  I do cherish him.   When I hear the word cherished I think of a special possession.  I have a mandolin that belonged to my grandfather.  It is a cherished possession of mine.  When I touch it I can see him playing it.  When I pick it up I can smell his after shave and see his long fingers stroking the strings.  Cherished...how I felt about my daughter from the moment they laid her tiny little being in my arms.  Cherished...how I felt the day Frank and I stood before our family and friends at the Arbor and exchanged vows.  I felt just like the words to Mark Wills song, "I do, cherish you...For the rest of my life...You don't have to think twice...I will, love you still, from the depths of my soul...t's beyond my control
I've waited so long to say this to you...If you're asking do I love you this much, I do."Cherished....is how I feel when I read Isaiah 40:11 - "Like a shepherd He will tend His flock,
In His arm He will gather the lambs.  And carry them in His bosom;  That is cherished to the inth degree.  I am cherished by God because I am one of those sheep that Isaiah talks about.  Since most of you know I am very into music...it seems fit that I end with some words by Kool and the Gang about cherishing, "cherish the love we had, we should cherish the life we live..cherish the love, cherish the life, cherish the love.."

STOP:



A Girl and Her Caterpillar

Why, you might ask, is this pink toy microwave sitting askew on my lawn?

I’ll tell you why.

There was a worm inside of it.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t a worm.

Maybe it was a caterpillar. Still. Ew. And I’m sorry, I don’t trust things that don't have feet that I can clearly see.

But let me back up.

After I put Natalie to bed I noticed the microwave sitting on the patio and I assumed she forgot to bring it in. It had been raining and I didn’t want it getting ruined because I could only imagine the drama that would bring if it no longer worked.

“MY MICROWAVVVEEE!” I pictured Natalie wailing. “What happened to my MICROWAVEEEE!!? It’s not BEEPING ANYMORE!”

The microwave door was opened a bit and when I went to pick it up, that’s when I saw the black beady eyes of the caterpillar.

I did what any other self respecting adult would do in that situation: I tossed the microwave in the air and screamed like Macaulay Culkin.

When I realized nothing was attacking me and that I was being ridiculous over a caterpillar, I stopped. I was slightly offended that no one around me checked to make sure I wasn’t being attacked but then again, lots of noise comes from my house so everyone probably thinks, “It’s just Amber being her kooky self again. The woman runs into her home to get her children to smile for pictures for craps sake!”

There are no pictures of the caterpillar as it was tossed somewhere in the yard when I tossed the microwave.

I did not break the microwave since it landed in the grass, thank goodness.

However…the next morning Natalie rushed out back and was like, “Where’s Princess?” and I was like, “Is that what you named the wagon out there?” because she takes after me and likes to name inanimate objects and she said, “No. My caterpillar. I put her out here in her HOME.”

And that’s when it dawned on me that its home was the pink microwave.

I told Natalie that Princess had turned into a butterfly and flown away and that she wanted me to tell her thank you for her hospitality. I did not tell her that Princess probably died due to a brain trauma from being thrown across a yard. I did tell her that keeping insects in the microwave was not nice, as they needed to eat and, you know, breathe.

Will she listen to me? I’m not sure. But in the future if I see a toy with a door/trap/closure outside, I’ll head over to it with caution.

And yes I’m well aware that I’m a wimp.

The Tutor's Daughter

 

About The Book:  Emma Smallwood, determined to help her widowed father when his boarding school fails, accompanies him to the cliff-top manor of a baronet and his four sons. But soon after they arrive and begin teaching the two younger boys, mysterious things begin to happen. Who does Emma hear playing the pianoforte at night, only to find the music room empty? And who begins sneaking into her bedchamber, leaving behind strange mementoes?  The baronet's older sons, Phillip and Henry Weston, wrestle with problems-and secrets-of their own. They both remember the studious Miss Smallwood from their days at her father's academy. But now one of them finds himself unexpectedly drawn to her...When suspicious acts escalate, can Emma figure out which brother to blame and which to trust with her heart?

 

Link to buy the book: http://ow.ly/gI7qC   

 

About The Author:  Julie Klassen loves all things Jane--Jane Eyre and Jane Austen. A graduate of the University of Illinois, Julie worked in publishing for sixteen years and now writes full time. She has won the Christy Award: Historical Romance for The Silent Governess (2010) and The Girl in the Gatehouse (2011) which also won the 2010 Midwest Book Award for Genre Fiction. Julie and her husband have two sons and live in a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota.  Find out more about Julie at http://www.julieklassen.com/.

 

My Thoughts On The Book:  I am a big fan of Julie Klassen and I loved how she swept me away to Cornwall.  I loved the mystery in this story and really thought at first that I knew exactly who  the trickster was, but later I began to wonder if I was right with my judgement call.  I was shocked at the end when I realized how wrong I was.  Klassen's characters are well-developed and easy to relate to. This is a marvelous story! Julie Klassen is a superb writer that knows how to catch you from the beginning and hold on to you until the very last page. Once I began reading I could not put the book down.  There was just enough mystery and suspense coupled with  twists and turns that kept me guessing throughout the entire story. A great read!
 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Litfuse Group review program for bloggers. I was not required to write a positive review. All they asked for was an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Things That Annoy Me Thursday: Exploding Toys

It was a toy shark.

Natalie has always loved sharks for some reason. If we go to a store and she sees a toy shark she’s like, “I’d sure love to have that shark!”

Anyway, the toy shark that she had died.

Exploded.

There’s its inards. Only it’s not just in that tiny space. No. It’s all over my house. The stairs. The carpeted floors. The bare floors. The cat box. ???

How did the shark die? Well, Natalie can be rough with her toys. If you squeeze such toys hard enough, they break apart and....tiny, white dots. Everywhere.

So right now I am annoyed with toys that plump up with tiny, white dots because I have a feeling that dots are going to linger even after I’ve vacuumed.


(And after I wrote this, I found a dot in my purse. Ugh!)

If It Is Wednesday Then This Must Be Hodgepodge!

Welcome to this week's edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge! We've got quite a crowd playing along every week which is really fun. Be sure to hop pver to Joyce's blog and link up and then jump around and visit the neighbors once you've added your link. Here are my answers to this weeks questions:
1. Lake Superior University has once again published a list of words/phrases they think should be banished from the Queen's English...here's the list for 2013- fiscal cliff, kick the can down the road, double down, job creators/creation, passion/passionate, yolo (acronym for you only live once), spoiler alert, bucket list, trending, superfood, boneless wings, and guru.  Which of these words would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why?  I would like to see most of them banished.  Kicking a can in my day was something you did for fun.  The only two groupings I use are passion/passionate and creators/creation.  The rest...can go down the tubes.
2. When was the last time you rode a train? Where did you go?  I have ridden many times, I have even been on a derailed train just outside of Okechobee, Florida when I was fifteen,  and I think my last venture was to Chattanooga. 

3. Bagels-yay or nay? Favorite 'flavor'? Favorite topping?  Yeah for bagels and my favorite topping is cream cheese.  New Yorks bagels are amazing.  Ess-a Bagel is my favorite place....Manhatten, New York.  It is on First Avenue. They are huge and to die for.

4. 'Tis the season of awards shows....if you could star in a movie already made, which one would you choose?  I'm going to go with Joyce and her choice of Under the Tuscan Sun. I too would love to spend a few months in a charming villa set in the Tuscan countryside.

5. The move towards single gender classrooms has been making the news in recent months...what say you? Do you think kids perform better if separated by gender and are taught differently or is that discrimination? If you're a parent is this something you'd support in regard to your own children? 
Education is never one size fits all. I'm sure there are some children who learn better under this model, and others who perform better in a mixed setting.  The thing is that California, Texas, and New York try these strange models and by the time everyone else is on board they have moved on to something else.  As a teacher I say...pay us what we are worth and let us do our jobs!

6. What's your favorite thing about staying in a hotel?  Being pampered and the pool.  That is why I prefer hotels/motels over camping....someone else does all the work for you.

7. Do you have a 'word' for 2013? What's the story behind your choice?  My word for the year is grace.  I want to have more of it and show it more often.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
I love chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookies.  I especially love them right out of the oven....hot and soft.  What is your favorite cookie and why?