Caribbean cruise highlights

I'm not even sure where to start with telling you about the cruise, so we'll just jump in somewhere...

Getting off the ship at Grand Turk with Joanna and Emily..

Swimming in the pool with Emily..
Laughing in the sun with Adam, Gretchen, Eliza and Wo-wo.
And it was all because of Grandpa Jon and Grandma Marilyn (Webber) celebrating 50 years of marriage..
that inspired the 22 of us to be on a cruise together in the Caribbean.
This is our family--Left to right: Nathanael, Joanna, Will, Emily, me (Jena), Hudson and Jamie
Will's sister Gretchen's family: Eliza, Adam, Gretchen, Warren (Wo-wo)
Will's sister Melissa's family: Hayes, Gordy, Melissa, Charlotte and Annabelle
Will's brother Scott's family: Katie, Jon-Scott, Scott, Elizabeth
Katie--one of many great pics of her!
Grandpa Jon and Grandma Marilyn with their 12 grandchildren.
Crazy times at the pool with some friends they met.
Uncle Scott and Hudson enjoying fettucini.
Princess Jo.

I'm trying to decide which dessert was the best overall...
I think I'll choose this one (below) as my fave.

More pics tomorrow.

It's like the day before.. and..

we're going somewhere..

tomorrow, even.

We are going somewhere warm. Can you guess?

Florida? Yes, you are correct. We are flying into Florida and then..

taking one of these:

to a place that looks like this:
and these guys will be arriving in high style to meet us..
That's right, the Caribbean. And why have I not mentioned this and gone on and on about this? Well, there's a lot of reasons, but NOW I need to focus, pack and dye my hair blonde.

Yes, blonde. Is there any caucasian in the Caribbean who does not have blonde hair? See? I don't want to be the only one.

So, when I get all gussied up for those fancy cruise dinners, and wear an updo..
or have to be a discerning tourist on the islands..
or just hang out with the family, hedge-hogging, I'll be blonde and ditzy.

Thanks to my kids who helped me put the highlights in, thanks to my husband who gave me haircut. Thanks to my in-laws who are making this awesome cruise possible--who had the nice-ness (is that a word??) to take all 22 of us (all kids, spouses, and grandchildren) to celebrate their 50 years of marriage.

I am so blessed to be in such a wonderful, generous family.

So, I probably will not have access to internet much while I'm away for a bit. But if it is

possible, I'll throw some pictures your way here and there. It is a seven day cruise. That's about all I know for now.

I have to pack.. I mean find my concrete girdle to wear under the cocktail dress...yeah.

Pray for us. Because it really doesn't matter that my kids are traveling with me, I am still having pre-trip anxiety... (aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh)

And that just proves to you that some hedgehogs prefer to be at home rather than travel. But here I go, again. France, Germany, and now the Caribbean in the past year, already. When I get home, I'm staying home for a while. I'm going to enjoy my fire in the fireplace and adorn myself with as many children and guests and homemade pizza as I can possibly fit into my livingroom and call it luxury. But for now, I will enjoy what the rest of the world calls "luxury".

One of my student's VLOG!!

Oh, I am playing the role of "proud teacher" even though the kid who makes these videos is no longer my student at Hallstrom. S.R. is an awesome kid who does an amazing job with his creative projects. These are so cute, witty and professionally done. The last one is his sister's Beowulf project for British Lit. Good job Brandon kids!

Felted leaf scarf

Hey everybody!! This has got to be the fastest, funnest no-sew craft that I've done in at least.. a month? Anyway, Here's the skinny on how to do this.
The scarf itself is the bottom ribbing of a (felted wool) sweater. How do you felt a sweater? You just throw it in the washer and dryer. If the fabric content is 100% wool, it will "felt" or mat and mesh the fibers together.
The leaf cutouts are felted wool backed with Steam a Seam and ironed on the scarf.
Some of the shapes were hand-cut, like the green leaf image and the ginko. Others were cut with my die-cut, Sizzix. I did not even sew them down, they are just ironed on. (I am secretly hoping that my mother will help me embellish these and sew them down..Mom??)
Happy Felted Fall!

A letter to my sons, part 2

This is the second part to a letter that I am making public. You are welcome to share it with your children also. The first part is here.

Dear Sons,

I told you the context in which Daddy and I first met. We were in a "senior citizen" prayer meeting. Just the fact that he was there spoke volumes about who he was and what he valued. But it isn't enough to be in agreement with those who like good things. Those good things need to be a part of you, in order to develop character.

When people talk about developing character, it can mean a variety of things. Most often it means doing things that others would consider honorable or noble, such as opening a door for someone or waiting for your mother to take her first bite of food before you gobble down yours. But building character has so much more to do with what is going on inside of you. And if you are a quiet person, it will come out in quiet ways. If you are an outgoing person, it will come out in that way also. Regardless of your personality, character happens from the inside out.

So, how is a young man to develop this character?

"How can a young man keep his way pure?

By guarding it according to your word.

With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!

I have stored up your words in my heart, that I might not sin against you." Psalm 119: 9-11.

Daddy seemed to have an unquenchable love for the Word of God from the moment he was saved. When I met him, at the age 24, he had already read through the Bible several times through. He appeared to have studied it and was "apt to teach" at a very young age.

If you love anything more than the Word of God and God, it will show up as an idol in your life sooner or later. And you know how encouraged we are, as your parents, to see you up early reading the Word, even before you get breakfast.

And I love how these verses in Psalm 119 point the the Word of God as a way of keeping yourself pure and free from the grips of sin. It's not that you won't be tempted to sin or even fall into sin, but if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9)

It's not that Daddy never sinned--he did. But he had such a love and reverence for God that he wanted to confess his sins and keep his heart pure before the Lord.

I hope that you, my sons, will develop a love for the Word of God in the same way.

--your loving mother

Strange findings.

Now often do you see this? A squirrel on a vase.. Hey little critter! Howya doing, there, pard?
So, how did you get up there? And why are you sitting so still? Could it be that...

you were found "freshly wounded" on the side of the road and carefully transported with gloved hand and plastic baggy back home to the deck?

In other words, are you dead?

And then you were fancifully arranged with a decorative pine bough in a vase by a very weird hedgehog with an insatiable sense of humor? --who is expecting house guests in 18 minutes.

And the moment they glance out the window, they will immediately be overcome with some sort of reaction, which we are hoping to get on film. In the meantime, our family and our friend, Ryan, sit reading, studying, blogging, Bible studying, etc. waiting nonchalantly for the guests to arrive.

What I am wondering is who is going to win the theatrical award for the best "faking it" over the WOW factor of the squirrel posed (indefinitely) on the vase. Are you sitting on the edge of your seats like I am?

Phone just rang. Sure! They are going to be 22 minutes late. 22 minutes! Can you believe it?

My kids think I will NOT be able to pull it off, and they are right. But Oh, the fun of it.

And if you officially are not completely grossed out and overwhelmed at the thought of the hedgehog mommy carrying this dead animal all the way back to her house, I would like to console you Charlotte Mason purists that we dutifully drew it in our Nature Journals.

So, it was not only weird, it was educational. Except it was just Emily and I who were drawing dead squirrels in the journal. The rest of them were practicing French with Ryan at the table, who spent a few months in France. He ended up developing a really good French accent and a taste for fois gras.

And now he has the privilege of hanging out with the family of a dead animal collector and arranger.

Decorating with Dead Animals, a Youtube classic.

Dare to Decorate with roadkill, a best seller in the Home and Garden series.

My Classy Mother, by four disgruntled teenagers.

I think I'll quit while I'm ahead. When are those guests going to arrive?? I'll post up if anything exciting happens, OK?

This is what is making my home sing with Moms the Word.

Just a little help for the hedgehog..

While I was in Batavia yesterday for my pilates training through Inner Elements, we, the students and our teacher, went out to lunch at Panera Bread. We seem to go there every week, and it is such a treat--eating out and all. (At least for me, since my favorite restaurant is four feet from my oven-- i. e. the kitchen table)

But as it is with me, new best friends are always dropping into my life. And yesterday was no exception. I was trying to get my bearings in the restaurant and accidentally thought that this one table was where the rest of my friends were. Instead, it was someone else's table, so I talked to the lady at the mystery table. I also saw her in the restroom later on. She had the coolest hair. It was big and curly, and she didn't look like a hedgehog. So, I told her how cool her hair was. And then I asked her how to do it that way. And she mentioned the name of some product, "It's Aquage by Zano". She might have had more luck speaking in German than saying "Aquawwwszzzzz" to me. So, I said, "Yeah, right..like I'm going to remember aquamassage by Zapo.. when I get home??" She tried to tell me that I would really remember, but I assured her that I wouldn't, and I would never have cool hair like she did."

"So, if you bring the product to Inner Elements, I'll buy some from you." (figuring that she would promptly forget about it)

And wouldn't you know it? About 2 hours later, there's the cute little lady with the non-hedgehog looking hairdo drops into the studio. She had the product in a little baggy.

So, I offered to pay her for it, and she gave it me as a gift! Can you believe it? An entire bottle of this aquassage stuff?????? So, I thought I would just mention her studio here.

Zano Salon in Batavia. And no, she did NOT even know I was a blogger when she gave me the stuff, OK??

And, NO, I have not even had time to tame the hedgehog hairdo of mine and even try it yet, but I will! I am going to be so excited to put this on my hair and get gorgeous, baby.

And the look on my friends at the studio! "Where did you meet this lady?"

"Uh.. somewhere in the restaurant.. maybe the restroom?"

They all just shook their heads.

When I was telling my husband, Will, this crazy story, he said,

"Yeah. They don't know the half of it. Did you tell them that this kind of thing happens ALL the TIME?"

Yeah. Pretty much.

Thanks so much to: Christine McKenzie, the awesome stylist at Zanosalons.com.

This happens to men too?

Today at the end of the Hallstrom day, I drove by the lower parking lot and noticed our "Hallstrom chaplain", Dave Spooner sort of circling his vehicle with a perplexed look on his face. He appeared to be studying the front of his car with a "I'm not sure what to do next" look on his face.

As I was driving by, I rolled down the window, "Hey, do you need a jump?" "Did you lock your keys in the car?" "Flat tire?" (All of which have happened to me during the Hallstrom experience at least once..)

Instead he just looked up and said, "I have no idea what to do next. My brain is so confused."

"But your car is OK?" I asked.

"Yeah. The car is fine, but I can't even think."

"Oh.. Hallstrom brain. You'll get used to it. It's our ninth year here.."

"So, you know exactly what this is like, then."

"Yeah. Try some coffee. It helps." And I drove off.

Poor guy. I wasn't sure if I should go through the descent checklist with him or just let him figure it out on his own.

One would think it should be fairly straight-forward--going to a place where all of these other homeschooling families are for the day. Kind of fun--upbeat.. right? Except constant stimulation for 8 hours (and with women! and teenagers!) in a confined place?! And it kills even the most gregarious extroverts among us. (And that's not including the moms with nursing babies and poopy toddlers!)

If there were a program designed to single-handedly suck the life out of as many people as possible, simultaneously in the shortest amount of time, an all day homeschool co-op would be it. And yet, we love it, don't we? Don't we, Pastor Spooner? (who is now konked out on the couch, unable to even utter mono-syllables to his poor wife, who is probably all cheerful)

"How was your day, honey?"

Spooner: "Uh... are you talking to me?"

Spooner's wife: "Was it so fun being there with all the kids and families?"

Spooner: "yup. fun. What were we talking about again?"

Spooner's wife: "You know, Hallstrom.. where you were so excited to be the chaplain??"

Spooner: (puts pillow over his head and hides) "AAaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh"

Well this is purely made up, of course. But this is just what our husbands are doing with us on Tuesday nights.

Hallstrom husband: "What's for dinner, honey?"

Hallstrom wife: "What? You have GOT to be kidding."

Husband: "Oh, yeah. I forget. Hallstrom."

Hallstrom wife: "I'm taking a bath. See you in the morning."

Husband: "Pizza anyone?"

So, really. What is that is holding back the rest of you from homeschooling anyway? !!!

A letter to my sons, part 1

To my three teenage sons:

At the time of this writing, you are: 18, 14, and 13, and you are all just getting to the age where you are starting to be men. You are old enough to understand the difficulties in this life and are experiencing some of the privileges that go with manhood.

I would like to tell you what your father was like when he was a little older than you are now, since he is so humble and modest that you'll never hear it from his lips. Daddy is uncommonly humble, so much so that he probably wouldn't even think of himself as being special in any way. And someone has got to tell you in such a way that you wouldn't forget. That's why I'm choosing a letter--a public letter, so I don't have to write it again, and you can access it whenever you want.

I met Daddy when he was 24. He was sitting in a prayer meeting that was (that week) in the home of the Watson's. Everyone in that prayer meeting could have fit in our livingroom. Everyone in that prayer meeting was older, except for he (and me, of course, since I was 20).

This, in itself, was significant. Why would a 24 year old align himself with all of these old people, anyway? (You have heard me joke that Mom and Dad met in the senior citizen prayer meeting).. Is it because we both had an uncommon fascination with geriatrics? no. That is where the Word of God was being taught and honored above all other forms of foolishness. It was, and still is, the older Christians that give insight into the Word of God and have wisdom for daily living.

After that old folks prayer meeting, we would sit around have a lot of pie (Mrs. Robbins made the best pie, and Daddy still talks of it) and talk about things of the Lord. I remember old Mr. Wessman (who is now in his 90's) talk about how God provided a bag of potatoes in the middle of the road during the time of the depression. Apparently, his wife told him to bring home a bag of potatoes on his way home from work. This was during the depression, and the Lord had a big bag of potatoes land in the road right in front of him. He stopped his car, got out, and picked up the bag and threw it in the truck. "Thaaaank you, LOrd" he said in his long "yooper" accent.

This was the setting in which Mommy and Daddy got to know each other. We listened to the old people talk and tell stories about God's provision. We asked questions about doctrine and God and answered prayer. And they just beamed when I went to visit the prayer meeting. All of these people were so nurturing and protecting of Mommy. I felt very safe there.

I could see Daddy in his element. He loved the old people and delighted in their attentiveness toward him also. I could tell that Daddy was in no hurry to move on and do other things. He didn't have "something else" he needed to get to. There were no cell phones, no IPODS, no pressing needs. I will admit that it was hard for Mommy sometimes, since you know how jumpy I am. But I would diffuse some of my energy by helping out with the dishes and stuff--when they would let me.

I know you know most of this story already, but I just thought I'd tell it to you again, but I plan to tell you a lot more about Daddy and how I knew he was a godly man. We'll just start here.

-your loving Mother

Scrapping it with rug hooking

One craft I did a lot of before I started blogging was rug hooking.

What is rug hooking? Everyone thinks "latch hook" when you say rug hooking. Rug hooking is not latch hook with acrylic yarn and great big holes in the canvas.

Rug hooking is a very old craft. I can't remember the exact history, but it probably started on poor farms in the early American frontier. Poor little ladies had burlap sacks and old pieces of wool clothing in which to make rugs from. They cut the clothing or scraps into long, thin strips and hooked them into designs on the burlap.

No doubt they just designed their own patterns and made pretty shapes and figures from whatever they had on hand. It was probably the first "green" craft form that required no "new" materials.

So, here is how to hook. You place the long strip into your left hand, which is underneath the project. The hook starts on the top side of the project in your right hand. (this if for right handed people)

So, let's review. Hook in Right hand on top. Fabric strip in left hand underneath. Got it?

The tip of the hook plunges through the burlap to the back side.
Now here is what is happening on the back. (You don't actually turn and look at it when you are doing it) The left hand makes sure the fabric gets hooked on by a wrapping action.
Now the right hand pulls the strip through to the front side.
The left hand tugs a little from the underneath side to even out the loop. If this is the first loop, the end of it will just hang out on top. See all of those little wild strips around the orange leaf? Those are ends (starter and finisher ends). They eventually get cut off.
And then you start the thing again. Plunge, wrap, pull/ Plunge wrap pull. When you get the end of a strip, pull the end up to the front.
When you are finished with a section, you can trim off the little bits hanging off the front. The mere tightness of the wool in the burlap and all the stitches close together hold the thing taut. So, there is no tying off of the ends and such.

Lo and behold the rug so far.
I've been working on this piece for a couple of years on and off. When fall hits, I feel urge to get it out again.
Who knows? Maybe this year, I'll actually finish it. At the rate that I am not getting a hard wood floor, I think I'll be finished with it in no time...
The lighting is kind of off for these pics, but you get the idea. It actually goes pretty fast once you get motivated to get the project out again.
So, using old things (especially wool old things) is what is making my home sing this week.
Moms the Word: make my home sing Monday.

Protecting yourself and resting in Him

I was listening to a Q and A session from one of Paul Washer's ministry sessions on the college campus. I am guessing by the accents of the kids that it was somewhere in Texas. And I could sense the frustration in some of the voices, even through the polite southern accents, in the questions that the young campus ladies were asking.

After much discussion over what is the ideal setting for a young lady and a young man to enter a courtship relationship (parental involvement, proprietary arrangements, i.e. built in protection), the young ladies at campus are faced with some daunting realizations which they may not even be able to articulate, but may sound like this,

"but no one loves me enough to protect me"

"the last thing I want is to be burdensome to my church in going through this procedure"

"if God hasn't provided protection through my family, is it safe to assume that I am able to make my own decisions, then?" and on and on..

As I was listening to them, my heart leapt in their direction. I know the pain and the shame of wondering what to do in my own situation. At the time of my conversion, I was the first in my family to know Christ. What I was planning to do to protect myself seemed archaic and foreign to my parents who just shook their heads in amazement at my "purity plan".

I did not have the freedom to "relax" about these issues, since I knew that I was the only one taking care of things here on earth. In other words, my earthly parents weren't out there looking for someone for me, nor did they have any sense of protecting me, except what would pose itself as obvious danger. That is not to say that they did not love me--they most certainly did! But without Christ, it is so limited.

So, what is a young lady to do? What's the proper plan of trusting God to provide a husband for you and still maintain a sense of protection, if your family and local church is unable or unwilling to help you?

1) Submit where they are willing to lead. It was hard for my parents to reassume an authority role in my life after so many years of me leading an independent life (from the age of 3, I'm guessing?) But I assured them that I wanted their guidance, and if they were willing to get involved, I would do my best to follow their advice.

During this time, my mother ended up getting saved, and that made it much easier. My father is still holding out, but we are still praying for him. Actually, submitting to my parents was, for the most part, fairly straightforward at this stage. I was in college, and there wasn't much I was involved with. Occasionally I would be asked to do something that I didn't like, but I think it was good training overall.

2) Set up your own purity guidelines. Because I had dated before getting saved and had involved myself emotionally and otherwise with boys, I knew there was all too much I enjoyed about being "liked" by a boy. I set up a legal system for myself, that, with God's help, I was able to maintain. My guidelines were very strict, but I knew myself and it had to be this way.

Perhaps, a young lady with the protection of family wouldn't need to become such a stalwart as I felt I needed to be, but this was my calling for that time of my life. And God did provide much help and self control, as I trusted in him.

3) Accountability. I found this to be extremely important during this phase of my life. When I got married, my husband and I were accountable to each other, and the issues were very different. My college friends and I would get up and have a 7:00 a.m. prayer meeting on most mornings and hymn sings on Friday nights. We tried to involve ourselves with prayer and Bible study and fellowship/ outreach things when we weren't doing school work.

4) Confession. I set up guidelines to protect myself, but I also knew that the flesh was so weak. It's so easy to develop a "crush" on a guy, even though you know it's not God's best. Protecting my own emotions was (and probably still is) the hardest hurdle in protecting yourself. Letting God meet all of our emotional needs and not looking to boys and others to meet them is a huge issue. And when (not if) things go wrong, going to the Lord with a smitten, repentant heart is the only way to have victory over these things.

5) Faith. Nothing says, "I trust you, Lord" more than attempting to live a pure single life as a woman without giving in the emotional roller coasters of the feminine existence. I wish I could quantify and bottle up some of the faith I had from those days and disperse it here and there. But the reality is that my trials are not the same as they were then. You see, God did provide for me a godly husband. All the protection I lacked, he provided so abundantly. I can count on one hand the number of times that it actually has felt like work to submit to him in course of 20 years.

But I know that it is no accident that it turned out the way it did. Did I go flitting about from boy to boy and then stopping at a godly one and deciding to get married to him?

Absolutely not. I made up my mind to not even accept ONE date from a young man unless he already possessed all that it took to lead me in a godly marriage. Yes. You read that correctly. No casual dating. In essence, it was courtship. We didn't call it that back then. That was before "Vision Forum" hit the scene. But whatever it wasn't called, it was definitely weird--even for those who knew Christ.

And guess what? I was my husband's first girlfriend/ date/ love! Can you imagine the privilege for me?

And so, regardless of whether or not you come up with the same decisions and guidelines for protection that I did, I wanted to share my story with you in order that you may have hope. I am so weak. Only God could take an emotional wreck like myself and give me the grace to carry out a plan for purity. Before Christ, I used to try to protect myself out of fear. Now, I just sense His protection and operate out of confidence. And God gave me a sense of His protection and the confidence that comes with it probably from the moment I was truly converted (age 19). And this joy and peace that came from trusting in Him (although it was very hard at times!!) was one of the evidences to me that Christ really was dwelling in my heart by faith.

Darling Daughter

About two weeks ago, my darling daughter, Joanna, went to the Reformation Day Faire with some friends of ours and wore this lovely dress that she made. She's been making so many of her outfits, I thought I'd put a link to her blog, so you can see what her little creative hands have been doing.

Not that being a seamstress makes her any more special to me or the Lord. I had a friend once say that she's "not interested in reading blogs about daughters who make their own clothes"?? since that was so out of the realm of her own personal experience that it overwhelmed her.

But that's not the point. She's a young lady who loves the Lord and does something special for his glory. For someone else, this will play itself out in different ways without their little hands ever picking up a needle. And that is perfectly fine. even great. Like who cares?

I care because it is my daughter, and she loves the Lord. Today she and I took a walk with Emily to enjoy one of the many beautiful days of fall. We had such a nice time just walking together, discussing everything and nothing all at once.

I know, even though she doesn't know it yet, that some day our relationship will change. She'll grow up and have someone special to share her heart with, and our relationship will take on an entirely new dimension. And that will be good, even if it takes a while for it to be good.

But for today, I have my darling daughter. Thank you Lord.

A mid-week funny for you

Thanks to facebook friend, S. Rusk for the tip off. I watched a bunch of these one Saturday night to console myself because I couldn't go to the Brian Regan concert. LOL.