Happy Birthday...

...to the best gift I ever received!

 A nice hot home cooked meal waiting for him after a 12 hour day.

(this might not seem that HUGE, but for me, it is...he's a meat and potatoes guy and I'm a soup and salad girl....makes meal planning hard, but for special days I try...)

 Creamed chicken over smashed potatoes and biscuits...and I used the same chicken in my white chicken chili!  That's a good plan, right?

Tired, but happy...I'm kinda crazy about this guy.

Oh, there were 2 slices of cheese cake, but we ate them so fast, I didn't get a picture.  

And, thank you Wal-Mart for packaging them in a 2 slice package.  

Otherwise, he would have been having a donut or muffin!

I love you for always and for ever, little husband...happiest of days to you!

Sprung Spring? Or Not.

In honor of the springing of Spring, my newly acquired knitting skills and my general love for all things lambkin, I completed my first knitted creature.

Hi!  Wanna play?

Her name is Hope.
As in Springs Eternal....

And while Hope is springing eternal, the season is still a bit waffly....this is what I found on my car this morning.

Yes, my little husband loves me!  And I love the little ways he shows me....

So, today was cold and snowy and blowy, but by Wednesday it will be in the 60s again....yep, that's pretty much the springing of Spring in this neck of the woods.

Love Birds!

   Rich and Lynda go to church with me.  They are two of my heroes.  This weekend we got to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary with them....50 years!  That's just one of the reasons they are heroes to me.  They are smart and kind and generous and funny...they live the faith they profess!  See?  Heroes.

It was fine celebration.

See how happy they are?

Rich is a printer and he reprinted EXACTLY, on the very same press, the wedding invitations from 50 years ago, along with their love story beginnings.  Their two sweet daughters took care of all the decorations and favors...usually it is snowy in February in our part of the world, so we got beautiful golden snowflakes.  

Beautiful cake and when Lynda got her 18 choices narrowed down to 2 the baker chef told her not to worry...one layer was chocolate and one was lemon!

The party was held at the Greenbrier, WV's most famous resort.  It's pretty dang fancy.

Here they are with their personalized Wooliness....

...and here it is up close.  It is one of my new favorites.  See how they are looking lovingly at each other.  Well, Lynda lovingly and maybe Rich a little surprised that she would look at him that way. Surprised and happy!

My little husband and I all cleaned up.  I did the math and we will be 93 and 99 when it is time for our 50th!  I'm thinking we will celebrate that one in Heaven!

Love...find it and hold on!  

Potential

Lately, I have been feeling a bit different some how.
Does that ever happen to you?  Do you sometimes sense a shift in who you are?  Do you still feel like you have the potential to BECOME?
This feeling comes over me every once in awhile and I like it....
What triggers the feeling?
A new challenge?  A challenge accomplished?  A nudge from God?

I don't know.  But, I like it.

Currently I am becoming lighter, free-er, more focused, but less intense...is that possible?

I'm learning new things...knitting!  I love learning new things.  I am starting new things...teaching Sunday school.  I love teaching.

I am making new friends...all of you guys!  That stretches me...maybe I will be tall and skinny soon!

Just like the beautiful new yarn that I bought today for my next project....full of potential.

 The potential to become that sweet cardigan that I can embellish with my felt creations.

 The potential to become a horrible tangled mess.

But I am choosing to hold onto the picture of the cardigan in all of its sweetness.

And talk about sweetness...I bought yarn to make my first animal friend, too....a little lamb.  I have a soft spot for lambs because the very idea of the Good Shepherd makes me want to be in His flock...a lamb of God.

Don't you just love the sheep on the yarn wrapper checking out the knitted sheep?  If you need to knit a little flock for yourself, visit Linda at www.mamma4earth.com   She has lots of cute ones and even a brand new swan pattern today on her blog.

So, embrace your potential to become more and more who you were born to be...a lamb of God!

peace

Spent the past weekend at my dad's with my little husband, my sweet niece, Ana, and the Mercy dog!  This trip has always been a bit fraught with....what????
I love the time I get to visit with my dad.  We cook soup (something that he did all of our lives growing up), we watch TV, we take walks with the dog, we sit quietly, we listen respectfully to the same stories over and over and over and understand that they are new to him each time he tells them.  We laugh at the funny parts.
I always take something to create.  He watches and critiques....he is the other artist in the family.  This is what I took to finish this time...

...and it struck me that no matter what the visit is fraught with...anxiety, sadness, possibilities, stress...I can choose peace.

I can choose to remember who my dad was and learn to love and appreciate who he is now...who he is becoming.  I can choose to be his peaceful place where he is accepted and enjoyed.  I see some bright spots...he had made soup on his own sometime this week and it was seriously yummy!  Our Mercy girl seems to understand, too.  She will go outside with him, but won't go for a walk with him if one of us isn't there...and that's a good thing.  He couldn't hold her if she decided to go adventuring!  He knew Ana and was thrilled she was there.  When we hold hands to pray, he rubs the top of my hand with his thumb....ahhh, peace.

peace....choose peace when you can....

THE HAT...the Seussical Hat!

Here it is all finished...even though I stayed way late at my lesson!  I just couldn't leave while I was that close to being finished....nice teacher!

Do you see why I call it a Seussical hat?
My little husband looks even better in this nonsense than me, but he's not home for a photo!  There is still a little snow on the ground even though we are pushing 45 degrees, so people don't think I am completely coco puffs!  Right?

Now, for you knitters, here are some closer up shots so you can see how I did....

 See the nice point on top?  Still undecided about the pom pom...might have to come off...so the point is more visible....

 See how cool it looks where I had to decrease to get to the nice point?

And just the sheer fluffiness of it all.  It is warm and fluffy and outrageous....what's not to like?

Am I ready for an easy cardigan?  Suggestions?  Something plain so I can embellish with some of my woolliness...flowers, sheep, polka spots????

Kristen, (and anyone else who knows) which is the easiest animal to start with?

So there.  Ta Da!

Peaceful Place

Yes, I have been gone for awhile.  And i feel a little bit bad about that, but really, I have just been in a quiet, even, uneventful place.  Work is going swimmingly...who knew I would like 5th graders...most days, anyway!  It isn't as much fun as kindergarten, but neither is it as much stress.  Perhaps I am making a difference with these few (well, 26!) that I tutor...at least they know they are loved and appreciated and safe and not the bottom of the heap, for awhile.
My knitting is coming along.  I have had to rip out a few rows, but only once!  I am learning to knit more loosely so that the yarn will actually slide over the needles!  In the middle of knitting one day, I got up to leave the room for only a minute and this is what I came back to...

Yes.  My crazy kitty boy, Skippy Jo Lohr, attacked my yarn!  Luckily, the hat in progress was under the flipped back blanket.  Can you see it's little multicolored fuzzy bit sticking out?

It has been an extremely mild winter here and for weeks and weeks I was afraid I was going to have to take the blame for that.  I bought boots.  Good to 25 degrees below and 10' tall.  They are the first boots that I have bought for years.  And the very tallest (I have she serious sized calves that don't play well with most boots) that I have ever had.  Last year in our snowpocalypse I had to live with little short boots, so this year I was determined to be ready...And here are the lovely, languishing (yes, I wanted to use that word really much) boots all ready...and waiting...and waiting....and waiting.

And finally, this past weekend, we got SNOW!  I was so happy that I even wore my new boots to church and didn't even take shoes to change into.  Our church is up the mountain and when we have this much, they have MORE!  Happy boots and a clean conscience!  Can't blame me and my boots any longer.  

I even walked to work today in my new boots...easier than cleaning off the car!

A friend's first grandbaby was born and he needed a little woolie art for his bedroom.

It says Sleep Well, Dryver.

And this is what my little husband does for fun.  He takes little pieces of paper, folds them and

makes things!

So, see I have been happily puttering away here.

Oh, and trying to choose a stove and fridge!  We want gas and no electronics or gadgets....
   still searching....

Hope you come back to visit and read.  I will try not to be so long this time.  I did finally figure out how to do it all on my new MacBook Pro....well, I think I did.
Can you see it and read it?

Share your love with lots tomorrow!