Thankful Thursday

Our hostess Iris chose the theme of Physical /Spiritual.

Stamina!
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!

Thursday Thirteen

1. dishes

I started my Thursday the 13th with the dishes. Once the children were off, I hurried into the kitchen and got a good start. By 9 a.m. it was time of use savings on the electricity and I began the dishwasher and clothes dryer.

I had to stop here to rest a bit.

2. Labeling price tags
I was able to to a assembly line pricing. I set up several cards with denominations per sheet. The earrings are finished and separated into category. Glass with glass and semi-precious stones together.

3. Going to Costco

for the big shop for the social, got home and unloaded half way ( the cold stuff)
When 10 am hit it was time for the store to open. I went there and after one and a half hours shopping, I was just finished at the register as Trisha called form her doctors office where I was to meet her. I hurried home and unloaded the cold stuffs and put it away, and took off.

4.Meeting Trisha halfway

s
I left with the table like this to return with what I needed to make the table look...

like this...
That was so kind of you Trisha, Thank you. They prepared the trees (dusted them) and let me use them for the show. This is the Christmas table display.

5. I was able to stop by my hair dresser
I was able to walk into the door, she was available at that moment. I got to get my hair washed and cut and out the door in 15 minutes! No one here even noticed (Kids gave the daddy man a hard evening. He was just over tired)

6. Dropped into the party store and got some balloons
and saw a nice plastic tub for the ice and waters for $.5 well it was in the wrong place it was really $ 9.99...The girl said I can still give it to you because a coupon that was good for $5.with a minimum amount (that I met) qualified me! COOL HA! Oh she gave me two extra balloons, she had made the latex ones neglecting to tell me of the Mylar. I choose Mylar and she extended an unexpected gift to the kids of the two anti pop filled latex ones.

7. Drove on home
to see the mail carrier and give her an invite.
Unloaded the Costco non-perishables and the trees and set up the trees .
Did more labeling of price tags.

8. It is now 1:30 Ye Ha!
The it became 3:15 With the kids home and a nice snack for them .Dash went right to the chores board.
The play date got here at 4:30, expecting the Mother, 9 yr old and a 1 month old when I opened the door ...here was a 14 year old big sister dropping off the 9 year old! The mother has never even met me! The kid stayed till 5:30. Dove will probobly never see her again fot tomorrow she is moving to a new school. The girl played well with my kids. Then my kids hit the homework.

9. Framing the botanicals

I found some frames of things from our former decor.
These I found .25 dents a print some 20 years ago. I fell in love with them then and now again I am just thrill to frame them. Job not done today but perhaps tomorrow.
They are for the guest bathroom they go so well with the curtins and the wall boarder.

10. The kids are now cooperating with a new program I instigated.
Each week they start out with $5. possible to maintain.
Each time they do not do a chore listed or asked of them I remind them once. Itf not done the loose a quarter .

Dash is pretty good and even eager to see what I have written. It is fun to leave little love notes.

His room after 4 days!

That's a seven year old boys closet!
Ye Ha!

11. Dove is easily distracted

she is focused by recourse. Unfortunately she has had a bit more penalty. Yesterday I was told she had done something ,however she had not. I docked her .25 for a lie. Later I recanted and told her truth is just something you should do. You should not be paid for it. It was between us. Please do not lie to me again. I gave her half of the docked 50 cents back.

She really is making good effort. Problem is under the bed she stuffed things/ Each day I will asign a box to sort out.

She sill get docked for not doing her Viola practice. That is a part of what is required of the homework.

12. Never got to the floor...
so tomorrow I will mop.

13. The lanyards...
were my afternoon project,

I had all of them strung, yet needed to finish the findings off.

I had a few ones that have been around. Now...

I have several finished.
Labeling them and pricing can be done tomorrow.

Love is kind!

I finished these yesterday and it sorta finished my back!
Beloved said..."NO blinds today! you matter more than the dust!"...
Even so my back is fussy tonight. Really hurts a lot down low , dog gone it!
Morning began with Dash off on the bus and Dove in tow to the orthodontist.

Dove got new bands and wires today
Meow...My little pink panther.

She finished up at 9:45 just in time for me to do my service work shift at the school. Today I worked with three kids teaching them about the writers web
Main Idea
branching out to
Topic
branching out to
detail.
How to do the introduction of the main idea and develop a paragraph for each topic using the topic details. They had four topic to do. It was a lot of fun.
One child had sentence structure issues, one had a problem with focus and the other had an attitude and attention issue due to neglect at home (thinks I).
I set strong but loving boundaries and watched the third one overcome a drama for negative distraction. She rallied and I was proud of her. This is a child who has to sit away from the other kids because of her personality and drama. It is tough to get her to come around. So it was a successful time. The other two were able to be empowered with some tricks to help them as well.

I stayed for lunch with the class and enjoyed Dove's little girl fellowship. Dash came and gave me a little boy kiss (peck) on my cheek, OH I am rich!

I came home at noon and was able to tend to half of the floors and detail through the hall into the studio. It is finished now. Tomorrow the dining room and living room detailed and then mop all the space .Then shop for the refreshments for the event, and meet my girl friend half way to get her table top trees for a Christmas table display.

Well I want to go visit some of you. I'll close .
Ya all be blessed and know that you are loved.

A love so amazing that it is unfathomable.
That is how God feels about each of you!

Wordless Wendsday

I planted grew and picked them
No one else has ever touched them.
It is so cool!

The Purpose of Dogs

A Dog's Purpose (from a 6-year old)
Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolf hound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little boy Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.

I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home. As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.



The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker's Death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives.
Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, 'I know why. Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation. He said, 'People are born so that they can learn how to live a good Life-- like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?' The six-year-old continued, 'Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long.'

Live simply.
Love generously.
Care deeply.
Speak kindly.
Remember, if a dog was the teacher you would learn things like:
When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.
Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.
Take naps.
Stretch before rising.
Run, romp, and play daily.
Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.
On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.
When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
Be loyal.
Never pretend to be something you're not.
If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them gently.

ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY DAY!

Tackle It Tuesday *Cleaning the wooden blinds*

Sorry for the lack of words earlier.
I just got back from Bible Study...
I have many wood blinds in my home, and have thought many hours about an easier technique to clean them.

This is what I have come up with...

Having Asthma and allergies I find this a must!

The best investment you can make as far as general usefulness is a few dozen good cloth baby diapers. Yes, hear me out. They are good to use during he infant years for the butt or as I did for general butt drying. I used disposable diapers.
Having these cloth ones you have the BEST soft cotton for years of service.
They are now used in my home for general cleaning. Of course they were sanitized years ago.
Wet the cloth with ONLY water! Yep nothing else.
If you use cleaners they will leave a residue and you will shoot (all your efforts) yourself in the foot!
So with only a wet cloth I begin.

Turn the blinds downward
Wipe in a downward stroke form top to bottom a section at a time to keep your place.
rinse out the cloth...

Now turn the blind upward
wipe upward,a section at a time, to keep your place.
rinse the cloth again.

Now open the blind at a 45* downward angle and you will see a little line of dust on each stat.
Now is the one by one, but it will go a lot faster.
This method is much more efficient for me.
I can do a single window blind in 15 minute...

The light through the blind will reveal any missed slates, just step back.

11 singles and 1 double window down I have a total of 16 single and 2 double windows .
With all the window I have, I find the blinds much easier than the fabric treatments we once had.
Dash and I both have breathing issues and this keeps us healthier. Avoiding medication is better that taking it to have to deal with all the extra dust.

Days End
8:30 p.m.
I was able to get three more done in the living room.
It is really making my back hurt to do it.

The children s laundry is also finished and they got it all put away.
That was a task in it self.
Well as tired as I am I have just realized that with Dove's orthodontist appointment at 8:30 and my service work at the school with her peers. My morning is used up tomorrow. I better pull myself up and keep going.
I hope you all had a great day.

Trunk Show and Social

This invitation altered to protect the family.
If you are a local reader, leave a comment with your email, and I can give you our location
(if I know you) :)

"I believe in God it is time to believe in myself"

Well I worked on the studio and the dispays all day.
What do you think?
Any suggestions?
Tips of success?
I do appreciate your prayerful support also.
This is a big stretch for me.
I have sold crafts years ago in the driveway, but this is inside my home.
Beloved has agreed to be here to cover me during both events.

"I can do all things through He who strengthens me"

Cleaning your Ironing board, Charity is a lesson that begins at home. Samaritan's Purse

Happy Lunch hour to you.
Or in my case a short blog break to rest my bones and muscles a bit before heading back into tasks.
Morning was a hit with the heart shaped egg fryer.

Dash however wanted nothing to do with school ever again. He has been hassled by a kid who has no physical boundaries.
Friday last I had to call the school and was forced to have to leave a message for the Principle that the boy was putting his finger up Dash's bum and other kids as well. Dash has had enough of this kids antics. I had told him the chain of command. The aide has been doing nothing and the teacher was not present. Dash came to me and I went to the top!
So I had to ask the bus driver to keep and eye on Dash for he was panicked into an upset tummy, over going to school today. I did my best to nurture and empower him. I could not let him run from the fears, I as Mom (broken heart ) had to gently, yet forcefully insist he go to school. I did however call the school post haste and spoke at length with the Principle. We figured out that Dash was to embarrassed to say that the boy had done this to him, so he spoke of the third party only. He did not want the other kid to either get in trouble or to have to face retaliation. The Principle also talked with the other boy (who I was assured would not be attending school today) . I was assured that he would let Dash know of the kids absence. So my Son could relax and go about his day. He has no school tomarrow for the holiday.

Dash liked his heart shaped egg McMommy.

The womans dress form was not long nude for I started an aprin to gather in the produce from the garden and the eggs.

It was a little scrap of fabric this is all there was of it.
Check out the saying on it! I thought how perfect!

Last night My Daddy Man and I taught the children about reaching out to other kids.
In South America children have great need and low supply...
We taught them about some children who hunt in garbage dumps and have never really had anything new.
We then took them to the store and walked with them through the realizations that a toothbrush is a privilege as is tooth paste.
So as we gathered what they thought a child would (should they as well) like.
We re focused them away from self contentedness over and over again as we shopped for the Christmas child they each were offered to give to. This was hard and tedious but should we all as parents take that time and energy to "train up our children in the way they should go, so that when they are old they will NOT depart from it"...

You too can help Samaritan's Purse
In the west the Colorado collection site sends to South America. Other sites throughout the U.S. send around the globe where need can be met. Donations of cash can help them with shipping foods as well.
On Christmas Morning Two children in South America will receive a letter from my children. They will let those kids know that they are not alone and that somewhere on this planet another person cared enough to share.

So I began my blinds cleaning project in earnest 4 down 8 single window and two double window to go. At 15 minutes a window I may be able to finish the job by tomorrow afternoon.

Here is a free tip
Use a sticky roller to clean you ironing board. They get dusty and full of lint too.
This is great for after a project that leaves fibers on the board.
Nice little tool to pick up spilled beads too.

My cover is clean and ready for the next job.

Well my lunch is over I have to set back to task.
Refreshed and energized by that healthy tuna salad here I go!

Magic Marker Monday

Now am I the only one...
Or does any one else see the profound beauty through my child's (Dove's) eyes.

Wall paper boarder in bathroom , sewing room decor

Beloved hung the hooks for my dress forms.
I use these when I am making clothing for the family.
The beauty of the forms is also for me Art of a simple kind.

He hung the double hooks so I will then be able to hang the garments on the hooks as well.
I will have good lighting to pin and alter near the door.

I know they are nudes but they are beautiful.
To them who are pure all things are pure.
There is a fellow I see at the bus stop in the mornings and he photographs jewelery professionally.
He is teaching me about photography in regards to jewelry. If I ever get my courage up and start me Etsy store these will also be used for display.

I saw this this morning so...

begin , I the task of papering the guest /kids bath. I found this boarder for $1.60 a 15 ft roll, some time back. I was just taking a time out. I finished the light fixture trim, having to do so with the fixture in place. So with the hardest part done. Now rested I will go play some more. I really enjoy wall papering. It is a skill I have developed over many a year. These little boarders are an easy way to spruse up a room. I think it will take up just 4 rols at most. Just because I like to relax and trim easily. I am sure if it were expensive I would be much less generous with myself then as to waste it.
A $6. job perhaps, and it was too cute for the theme I was shooting for.
I just know it was Gods provision. He and I play like that. I just receive what he offers , and boy does he have good taste.

I really liked the way it turned out. It is finished all the way to the window, it just does not show in this picture.

All done with the paper. Know I just have to do the fun part to decorate it.