Christmas memories

Christmas is and always will be my most favorite time of the year. It was a great year this year and we got to spend Christmas eve with two of our children and with five of our grandchildren. My cousin who is as close to me as a sister came to visit over the holidays and it was so nice to talk about things we did as children. She is a Christian so it was a double joy to talk about things of the Lord. We will have to make every effort to visit her in the summer along with some of Davids relatives. So to all of you thanks for the cards and Terri thank you for the things you sent as they were awesome and we have really enjoyed those cookies. The jam we are saving for another time. Thanks to all of you and have a grand New Year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Christmas still is the most wonderful time of the year. With everyone happy and looking forward to time off from work. But do these people understand the reason we celebrate this wonderful story of the birth of our Savior. So much business and hurry and no one taking the time to remember that it all started two thousand years ago. Last night on public television they gave the account of Jesus Birth from the eyes of Mathew, Mark, Luke and John. For once it was an accurate account and was a blessing to hear from the Pastors that gave the history lesson. So many want to forget the above but they do not know what the message holds for them, the love of a Savior and eternal life. Let us remember to pray for those who do not want to accept this good news.

Christmas

This is always such a wonderful time of the year. We are starting to decorate the house and it looks so festive. It will most likely be a white Christmas and with the lights of homes that are decorated on the outside it is so beautiful. But let us through all the hustle and bustle remember those who are not fortunate like we are. There still are many hurting people out there that we need to help and can in many ways. Giving money to toys for tots.,donateing clothes and furniture to familys that lost everything in a fire & etc. If you look hard enough it is not hard to find ways to help many. We should thank God for all he has given us at this time of year because we have so much.

Christmas

This is one of our grandsons on a cold damp day. We have lots of these days this time of year but with lots of snow. So far we have had maybe an inch and a half. If only it would stay this way it would be a wonderful winter. Unfortunatly we know that this will never be but it has been wonderful to have for a very long time one of the best Novembers. Our grandson in this picture is 14 and is growing far to fast as is all our grandchildren. Life as the Lord tells us is but a vapor and fanishes quickly. How great to know that because of His sacrifice on the cross we have the hope of eternal life with Him. Christmas will soon be upon us and with all the hustle and bustle let us not forget the reason for which we are celebrating, our Lords birth.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving day and our Turkey trot (a 10K race) at our famous penninsula along lake Erie. What are you thankful for and is it only at thanksgiving that we sit down and ponder the things that God gives us? Our thanksgiving did not turn out to the way we had looked forward to but what did we glean from the things in our life that do not always work out like we have planned. We had planned a day with our out of town family but it was not to be because our precious grandaughter came down with the H1N1 flu. So since our daughter-in-law had the turkey we decided to just have a regular meal. Where we happy for the food God gave us to eat? Where we happy to be alone since all our other children had other places to go? It sounds so simple doesn't it to say thanks to God for what was know ones fault and do we except these changes in our lives that come when we least expect them. But we did thank God for watching over our children that were not here with us. We thanked God for our youngest son and grandson who after watching his race came back home with us to spend the morning with us. When does God stop teaching us? Never This is an awesome lesson to learn that God feels our dissapointments and hears our prayers and knows how much we depend on His wisdom and we constantly learn from Him. Everything that comes into our lives is for a reason and what a blessing you can glean from this knowledge. We thank God that He is healing our grandaughter, that he watched over her and is healing her body. We thank God for our daily food, for His watch care over us, for taking the time to listen us, for our health, and for the simple things that come into our lives that we forget to say thank you Lord. What a Great God we have and we praise Him for all we have. So let us remember to not just put Thanksgiving aside to thank the one who created us but for each and everyday He gives us our breaths to breath.

bar cookies

Guess what I made up a cookie receipe because the jam we bought last year (sugar free) has turned to wine. In the refrig no less. So what was I going to do with this jam that was expensive. So I dreamed up this receipe. 2 cups flour 2 sticks butter (I used margerine) 1/2 cup of sugar. Mix all together with your hands until it looks crumbly. Pat into a 13 x 9" inch pan and bake for 12 minutes. While that is baking mix 1 cup flour and 1 stick margerine like the above and when crumbly add 3/4 cup coconut and nuts (oppional) and 1/2 cup choc. chips. Remove pan from oven when done and let cook for a few minutes. Pour over this mixture any kind of jam you have and spread evenly. On top of this sprinkle 2 cups of choc. chips and then the cup of crumbled coconut mixture and return to oven and bake another 30 minutes. It really turned out great. And if my husband liked it (he likes almost anything) I am sure all of you will too. Have a great day.

Psalm 104:2b&3

You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens; you lay out the rafters of your home in the rain clouds. You make the clouds your chariots; you ride upon the wings of the wind. There is not much else to say about this photo as the Lord had said it all. Driving up 10 thousand feet to be atop this mountain was amazing and being on top of the clouds made you think of what heaven must be like.

a windy day

The first few days we were in Hawaii the trade winds were not blowing and that is why some of the native population did not like the hot humid weather. However, when we took this trip to the rain forest high in the mountains the trades had started again and it was very windy on this day. The forest was amazing as the trees and vegetation was very differant from what we have on the main land. In the forest there are wild boars that are very dangerous and thousands of wild chickans. This was an awsome trip as the scenery was very beautiful and in the background you can see a very small town along the water.

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

This is a model of the Arizona as it lays in the harbor with the memorial built over it. It is very hard to get a true picture of what you see when you ride the boat to the memorial. Pictures cannot describe the feeling you get when you see the ship laying under the water and bringing to your mind that you are standing over the ship that has become a tomb. Before you go out on the launch there is this museum that you have a chance to go thru and see pictures of the event that took place so many years ago. After the museum you are shown footage of the actual attack on Pearl Harbor which brought tears to your eyes and many memories. My husband and I were six years old when this took place and I vividly remember President Rosevelt addressing the nation that we were at war. The sad thing to remember was that there were 30 pairs of brothers that lost their lives and several fathers and sons. This memorial is truly a wonderful tribute to those who died for our country.

Gen.1:1

And God created the heavens and the earth: Here is a little of the history of Hawaii. It was formed by erupting volcano's. There are 132 islands (some are atolls) and only 8 that are inhabited by man. They believe that the first to arrive on the island came from Samoa in the year 1000AD. They are a very proud people and are extremly glad to be part of the United States. We learned alot from the tour guides that took us around the two islands we were on. This is truly an amazing place and the handy work of our Lord and Savior can be seen with the knowledge what a true artist He is.

aloha

This is one picture we took on our bus tour of Hawaii. God was so good to give us the opportunity to see one of his wonders of this world. It truly was and still is a paradise. It was the best vacation that David and I ever took and were glad we were still in good shape to appreciate all the beauty that surrounded us. The grand cannon that we saw of course was another one of our trips we loved but nothing can compare to a tropical island. In the next few months I will send many more of our pictures so that you can see them.

God answers prayer

Matthew 5:44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Isn't God wonderful. He answered our prayer about the couple that was just really not very nice about sharing the pool were we seniors work out. So I began to pray for this couple and continue to do so and everything worked out fine. Next he also answered our prayers for our Grandson who was having trouble with one of his fellow students and asked help from his teacher. So when someone tells you that God does not take the time to hear our petitions please note that even the smallest request is answered maybe not in our time but His. It may be soon or later but He does hear us.

Proverbs 7:1 My son keep my commandments within you.

Last week was a trying week for all us Senior Citizens that work out in our warm water pool at the YMCA. We have come to the conclusion that there sometimes is not a real respect for those of us with gray hair. We have done water excercises in this pool for eight years as we cannot use the cold water pool since it is too cold for some of us that have health problems. Two weeks ago a husband and wife became extremely angry with us as they wanted to swim in our area of the pool and created quite a scene. The Y said we had to make do and make space for them which we have done but still they keep coming closer and closer to those of us that want to do the excercises. It is not a small pool and they would have lots of other areas to go to swim. Why am I telling you this because remember that the Bible teaches us to respect each other and especially those of us that have lived many years and can still be a help to those that surround us. We ask that you pray for this couple as the husband has caused trouble in other areas of the Y and does need help in managing his anger.

Our new car

This is our new car which is a 2008 Mercury Sable. It has leather seats and lots of other nice things. We were looking at foreign cars but they were out of our price range. Anyway for us this is a very nice change from our other car. Car shopping has not changed from what it was 10 years ago and was the same haggling like before

but that is the business and most likely will be that way 10 years from now. Our weather has been just great these past few days and is supposed to be like this all week. It is about time as we sure did need the sunshine. Everyone is predicting a very cold winter so let us hope that they are all wrong.

Every day living

I finally got this painting finished and am calling it a day at the park. It was fun to paint and great to do something a little bit different. Now I am making new curtains for two of my rooms and those are easy to do as it is all straight sewing. We are getting lots of cucumbers and squash but no tomatoes as of yet. It sure has been a very strange summer. We will soon be going to Hawaii in about five weeks and it will be wonderful to be on a tropical island with lots of sunshine.

A great family

This was taken last year but no one has changed to much. Our son and family visited us last month and we all had a great time except for poor Terri our daughter-in-law as she spent most of her visit in the hospital with diverticulitus. Life sure has its trying moments but with Gods healing Terri was able to leave the Hospital in time to head back home. After our son and family left our other son came to visit so we had alot of company in the month of July but we got to see five of our grandkids that we only get to see once or twice a year. The amazing thing was how well all our grandchildren loved being together. Our youngest son has just one child a boy and he was in seventh heaven getting to know these cousins that he had not seen in many years. So we did have all 10 grandkids together at different times but it was hectic but joyfull at the same time. God is good all the time

Romans 8:26

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. " I love this verse because there are times when things come into our lives that we have a hard time sitting down and praying for. This is when the Holy Spirit takes over and knows our hearts and takes over to pray as we ought but for some reason have a hard time coming up with the words. There is so much to learn about the love that God shows us and sometimes we fail to realize just how much we are loved. Take time to love the Lord and thank Him for the tough times in our lives that He knows about and grieves with us.

Hi, This is our happy birhtday girl who just turned one on July 3rd. We gave her her own little birthday cake and you can see how much she enjoyed eating it. Of course it was the bathtub when she was all done. To take care of Mckenzie you need special running shoes as she has more energy than most babies her age. Anyway just wanted you to see how much she enjoyed her birthday.

Hi, Well I finally have had the time to write in my blog. So much has been going on that it was hard to find the time to sit and write. This is a picture of our grandaughter that graduated from High School in June. It was a grand affair and the ceremony was nice since she graduated from a small school and there were only 30 students graduating. After the ceremony we all went into the commons for cake and punch. On Sunday of that week my son and daughter-in-law had a open house at their home with lots of people coming. It was a busy week and we had lots of fun. Now it is off to Liberty college for Marybeth. When we got home from North Carolina it was back to the gym for excersise and planting the garden and just the mundane things you do around the house. We have had monsoon rains in our area for a whole week and there was lots of flooding around the area. We sit up high on the top of a hill so we were not affected like other people in the communites that surround us. It has been a very cold and wet spring and summer does not look much better. Well hopefully in a few days the sun will come out and it will warm up.

country breakfast casserole

this is a great casserole to take to a picnic or Church breakfast. 1 (7-ounce) reduced-fat turkey smoked sausage, thinly sliced. 1 1/2 cups shredded reduced fat-sharp cheddar cheese, divided. 6 beaten eggs. 1 cup water. 12 cup skim milk 1 (2.4-ounce) original country gravy mix. 5 cups frozen (or thawed) potatoes O'Brien. (If you don't have them at your store just use hash browns). 1.Cook sausage in a large nonstick skillet on medium 4 minutes or until brown, stirring occasionally. Scatter in an 8-by-11-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle 1 cup cheese over sausage. In a medium bowl, beat eggs, water, milk and gravy mix with wire whisk until well-blended. Pour over cheese. Spoon potatoes over mixture. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Refrigerate overnight: heat oven to 325 degrees. Sprinkle casserole with paprika (optional) Bake uncovered, 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. serves 8 per serving 266 calories 16 grams protein 12 grams fat 4.5 grams saturated fat

Psalm 121

I lift my eyes to the hills---where does my help come from?---My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. In the news this morning it was assumed that someone found the missing link that would make it clear that we came from monkeys. We all know that not only does our help come from the Lord but we also know that He formed us from the dirt of the earth and made us perfect and whole and with fingers and toes etc. My body is perfectly formed just as the Lord of Heaven intended it to be and no Scientist will ever change my mind. I praise God everyday for my body and even though it is showing signs of getting old it still is a wonderful work of art.

spring

Is'nt spring glorious. Spring and Fall are my two favorite times of the year and although we do not have a spring like I remember when I was a young girl it still is so great to see everything come to life. Our geese in our parks pond have five little babies and they are so cute. It is to bad that they have to grow up to be such messy birds. Our pennisula (a beach and nature sanctuary) is showing signs of so much coming to life; birds, deer, coyetes and much more. We have at this time of year about 90% of the birds in this country migrating and it is a haven for many bird watchers from all over the area and other states. We have so much to be thankful for with all the beauty that God has put in our lives to appreciate. We should be praising Him everyday as we have so very much.

Gods goodness

I just read my grandsons testimony on the blog spot that my daughter-in-law writes (heartsinservice.blogspot.com). After reading this tremendous testimony I certainly hope many read it because it is a real testimonial of the struggles of my grandson and yet he remains true to his love for the Lord. It is a lesson for all of us because how many times do we struggle with things in our lives and say oh how come I am going through all of this and why me. I am having a hard time to adjusting to some of the physical changes in my life as I grow older and taking medicines I never thought I would have to take but after reading Nathans testimony my struggles are nothing and I should be praising the Lord for the good health that I do have. I thank my Saviour for always being with me and bringing me to my knees when I fail to realize how very fortunate I am to be able to still do the things I can. I am praising God for Nathan and know that He is by his side and will do great and wonderful things for him and know that God never fails and brought Nathan into our lives to teach us some very important lessons.

Gods precious gifts

The wonderful thing about being a grandmother is watching how your grandchildren relate to family situations. Bryce is 13 one of our older grandchildren and Mckenzie is almost 10 months old and it is great to see how cousins can enjoy each other even though there is a big difference in age. Bryce is an only child and Mckenzie has three brothers but it was so much fun to see the older cousin take so much interest in his girl cousin. God is so good and we are so thankful that some of our grandchildren can see each other and become friends. This blog is a god send since we can share pictures of one another to see how each of the kids are growing. Our grandaughter that lives in New York State recently put on the blog her paintings and I was amazed at how talented she is. Emily you are going to be a great artist some day.

sunshine at last

This is the side of our home and what is so exciting is we are having sunshine. Hooray. It is a welcome sight since just a few days ago it was snowing. March was not to bad but April has been not so good. My poor flowers where just starting to come up and then and even now there still is snow on them. But it will come to an end and then the grass will be green and when everything dries out we can start planting our garden. We think spring has finally arrived since the snow birds from Florida are starting to come back home.

A Happy Marriage

Hebrews 13:4a Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept pure: It seems that lately our Pastor at Church is very concerned about the State of marriage among the Christians in our Church. I came upon a list that was written by a Christian author about what makes a happy marriage. Here is the list: 1. God has you here to serve one another. Love acted out is serving. 2. Women need respect and nurturing. Love your wife so she knows you'd lay your life down for her. Continue to date her and admire her. Share a hobby-find something you can do to have fun together. 3. Laugh offen. 4. Be patient. Love crumbles quickley under the weight of unmet expectations. 5. Spend more time trying to fix yourself than your spouse. 6. Keep short accounts. "The Bible says, Do not let the sun go down while you are angry." Make it a habit to forgive. 7. Determine up front that divorce is not a option. 8.Learn about love languages. Not all people show love or receive it the same way. You want a back rub and your spouse wants a clean kitchen. The love languages are fairly simple: acts of service, time,physical touch, gifts and words of affirmation. Learn them. Love is better received when its in the language that person speaks. 9. Words of affirmation are a love language for all men. 10. Men are born to be leaders. He cannot lead unless she gives him the confidence to do so. If you love your husband, build him up. Confident men do not seek love outside the home. ( These then are the ten points that make up a good marriage). My husband and I will be married for 49 years in the fall and if you think these 49 years were easy I can tell you they were not. We had our highs and our lows, we had our valleys and our mountain tops and without God as our pilot we most likely would have not survived. Marriage is hard but also wonderful and it needs lots of work. I have to tell you that finding your spouse love language is a must. Mine is I like the physical, the touching and the hugging, my husband loves food (this is not a joke) and all I need to do is make something he really loves to eat and I touch his love language. I hope all of you benifit from this list. God bless all of you and a happy marriage to all

Spring

Oh the joys of Spring time and the thrill of watching the weather begin to show signs of the coming flowers and green grass. It has been such a long winter and the longing for warmer weather effects all of us here in this part of the country. The lake is still very cold with patches of ice so that we still get cold winds and cold temperatures at night. But God tells us that there is a time for everything and right now it is the time for the earth to begin its cycle that He had declared when He formed the earth. It brings to mind the wonders that were created for our pleasure and to how much we take for granted. I pray that all of you would stop and thank our Creator for the wonders that are upon our Earth for us to enjoy.

spring

Although this picture was taken last summer it will not be to long before we in this area of our country will see the beautiful things come into bloom. We had a slight snow last night but not to much and hopefully it will be our last. My daffidills are coming up as I can see the start of the lilly's and it won't be to long before the grass starts to turn green. The only problem we have is the moles every year distroy our yard in certain areas. We have tried everything possible and there is no way we can get rid of them. So we decided that nothing works we will just leave them alone and acept the fact they will be with us every year. Life is busy and it is hard to find the time to do the things we enjoy but then if we had to much time on our hands we would most likely get very bored. My husband and I go to the gym three times a week for a couple hours and this is a good thing since we are both 74 (my birthday will be in a few weeks) so we need the excercise to keep up our strength. The strength is needed as we take care of our four year old grandson for two days and he is a bundle of energy and keeps us on our toes. So life is very good we also are active with our Church friends which is one of Gods blessings. We praise God everyday for family and friends and they are truly a gift from God. My diet because I am on coumadin has changed some what and some of the foods I love I have to limit the amount and days of the week I eat them so it is an adjustment. Today however, I am going to eat saurkraut which is on my list that I can only eat on occasion so I will really enjoy my dinner .

Psalm 19;1

The heavens declare the Glory of God;the skies proclaim the work of His hands. What a wonderful God we have to make our world and all that is around us so beautiful for us to take in. But do we really look at this world through Gods eyes our ours. What do our eyes see or don't see and if we took the time to ponder what is around us I think we would look at things a little bit differantly. As I have been growing older and my body has started to age I am begging to look at myself thru the eyes of the Heavenly Father that has created me. We take so much of our good health for granted and when it starts to faid away we suddenly realize how important it is to take care of this body God gave us when we are young. Right now I am at the age when things are not quite what they used to be and now find myself taking medicine I thought I would never have to take. I started taking Coumadin to thin my blood and find because of this I have to watch what I eat and must maintain a strict diet. I need a certain amount of vitamin K to make sure I get enough so that I do not get my blood to thin. These are changes that who would have thought would be in my life but then God never promised that all would be well and we learn just how much we need Him in our lives to get through these tough times. I often think what would my life have been like if I never would have taken Jesus as my Savior. I praise Him daily for all that He has brought into my life.;the good and the bad.

winter blues

I had to look up one of my sunny summer pictures to remind me of what it looks like to see the sun and the green grass on a beautiful warm day. The winter we have had this year has been extremly cold with lots of snow and right about now everyone is very tired of the winter. But we also must remember that spring will come and then the warm hot summer which is over far to fast. Those of us that live in the north have these kinds of seasons and although we are used to them toward the end of the winter season we get the bla's. God gives us these season's because he puts them there for the earth to have cicles of rest. So if you are feeling a little depressed because of the weather like me I try get out my picture books and find the photos I have taken over the years of the warm weather to remind me that it is not to far off.

Ecclesiastes 3:l There is a time for everything

Our Pastor has been giving us a series of sermons on Ecclesiastes and on Sunday we had for scripture the third chapter. I guess it was very apropriate since this winter has been for ever and ever. Extreme cold and so much snow that at times you wonder if it will ever end. And then you find in scripture that there is a time for everything and right now it is the time of cold and snow and short days. But then right now the days are getting longer and the sun is shining more often and you realize that soon it will be the time of spring with the birds singing and the warm air blowing over the land. The grass will soon be getting green, but not yet, and then you realize that Gods plan is always best and for the winter to end it will be in His time. We should take each day and hold them dear and not wish for them to end because our time on earth is fleeting and we should be thanking the Lord for these days he has given to us. So remember to thank God for the snow and the cold because in due time it will be spring.

painting

Hey guys have you worked on your painting? Have you gotten the paints for you to work with? I finished my painting and will try to dream up something that will be completely different than what we did before. So if you have any ideas of what you would like to paint send them to me. Hope you are keeping up with all your school work. We are getting very tired of this winter and can't wait for it to warm up. Erie may set a record for snow this year and that is not such a good record to have. Have fun with what ever you are doing.

cute baby

This is an update on Mckenzie who is now seven months old. She is sitting up and manages to get around on the floor with lots of twists and turns. It is wonderful to be able to watch this little one grow up and see each developement stage. We were unable to appreciate this with many of our other grandchildren since they live far from home. That is one thing in our mobile society that we have lost over the years because so many children are forced to leave home and find work in other Cities. This is not a bad thing since we trust the Lord to place our children were He wants them to be. Also with the internet we can keep in touch with one another thru pictures and cell phones.

purse finished

I guess I never showed you the finished product of the latest purse that I did. It kind of is a wild one this time. I have probably made about 15 of them and have given alot of them away. Each time I make one I improve on the style which I designed myself. Some friends and I had been talking about two things we can never find that are completely what we are looking for, purses and bras. I think I have a drawer full of bras that I can't stand and have yet been able to find one that is comfortable. I wonder how many people have the same problem as I do. The problem is you find one that is great and then the company does away with the design and you can no longer find one in the store that is similar. Anyway that is just my little thing that does bother me and does to other women so that I am not alone. Also since I am talking about things that seem to be hard to find how about some of the clothes that are not designed for older women or are designed for very young girls that make them look years older than they are. Well I guess I got those things off of my chest.

Hi guys: How is your painting coming. Hooray I got a picture that finaly came out. Have you worked on your apples and do they look like the ones in my picture? Mine is almost done and just needs a final few touches. I added a squirel to my painting but you do not have to. I hope you are enjoying the painting this way. Let me know and maybe we can do another . Can you imagine that we have over 200 inches of snow were we live and I suppose I should take a picture as it has been a very long time that we have had this much. Dad and I enjoy going to the gym and at first I wondered how I would like working out with my husband since for nine years I went by myself. Well it has worked out great as we each to our own thing and he really has taken a liking to walking the track and working on the weight machines. Plus my husband loves talking to people and has found a few men that he gets a chance to talk to. So our life as retired people is very busy and that is a very good thing because God never intended for senior citizens to just sit around the house and do nothing. Well hope those of you that are no longer working can find things to do to keep busy.

Hi. Now what I want you to do for step four is to start drawing the apples that are going to go beside and in front of the tree stump. I am not sending a picture because I do not think it will show up very well. So remember apples are not a complete circle so when you draw them take an apple and study it. The color I want you to use is light red and mix some purple into it to make a deep red color. This will be the under painting for your apple. When it is dry take light red and plain red to cover the underpainting of the apple. You should have a very pretty shade of apple and we will stop at this point. Remember to make a fair amount of apples in the painting to look like some one dropped them from a bucket. I will take a picture of mine and see if it will show up but it may not. Keep at your work and let me know how you are doing.

Now we are doing step three. I hope you can see it pretty good. I want you to draw with chalk a tree stump to the left of your painting. Remember to make it look old and out of shape. Use brunt sienna, blue, red, purple and a little white. You can paint it messy and uneven as this makes it look like bark. When it is dry you can start to paint some very dark areas to look like holes in the stump. Because your light is coming from the left you take white and a very little orange to paint along the left side of the stump to show your light source. On the right side of the stump you should paint a hint of blue to make it stand out and show that it is not flat but has some roundness to it. Forget about the red and other stuff I painted as I went ahead a little. The red is going to be apples in the forground and we will do that in step four. It is very cold here and very snowy (120 inches) so that is why I figured it would be fun for us to start this painting. Good luck and keep at it because the more you paint the more comfortable you will get and also better.

Now on the dried canvas from above we will start to pain the back ground for our picture. It will be all grass of differant shades. In the left top canvas take some yellow and white and paint the corner about a 1/4 of the way down and 1/2 way to the middle. This is your light source. On the other side you will take hookers green, a little orange and yellow green and start painting the other side from top to bottom and slowly start easing the paint to blend into the light part of the painting. At the bottom of the right side of the painting add a little earth tones (brown or burnt sienna) but do not make it to dark. When you are finished with this, take a very small brush and take white and green together to start make grass. You don't have to make tons of it just make a hint of weeds and large blades to show that you are in a meadow. Good luck Do not get discouraged as it does not have to be perfect at this point.

Hey Kids- here is a project painting we can do together. To paint the back ground like I did take red, white, blue, green, purple and just paint the whole background so you can see a little of each color. You don't have to be fussy as we are going to cover it with the beginning of the painting. Good luck.

Well Christmas is over and as always it went far to fast. The house is cleaned and all back in order and it seems like this year we did not even have a Christmas. A nother New Year is starting and since I am not in the mood to paint a picture I decided to make another purse. I found this crazy material that caught my eye and thought that it would make a great summer purse. I don't make fancy ones like my friend as she sells hers for $50 to $80 dollars. Mine are the kind that you can throw around and when they get dirty throw them in the wash. They work for me and it gives me something to do. Christmas was as always a time to enjoy eating all the goodies that people put before you and as expected to gain a few pounds. Hooray I only gained two pounds and am very proud of myself. However, my husband and I have decided that we will give up eating alot of meat. So many of our meals will be meatless and when we do eat it it will be chicken breast or fish. We pray that we will stick to eat as the Dean Orish plan is to eat very little meat and stick to lots of vegetables and fruit. I will keep you all posted on some of the meals that turn out good. -

Happy New Year and it is hard to believe it is 2009 already and you wonder were 2008 has gone. Life is but a whisper the bible tells us and yes it is and the older you get the faster the years slip by. Today is sunny here in the part of the country that borders one of the great lakes and unfortunatly we get very little sunshine during the winter months. Some can't stand all the dark sunless days so they head south but those of us that don't mind and are hardy souls enjoy the long dark days and all the snow (maybe not all the time) and get lots done. I spend many days reading, sewing and painting. My husband and I like to visit our friends that are getting older and can't get out like they used to and spend time with them. We also look after our three year old grandson twice a week that keeps us young as he is a very active child. Our city has lots that you can find to do during the week so we never get bored. So enjoy the coming year as before you know it, it will be gone.