Red Hood -n- Wolf

We humans fear the beast within the wolf because we do not understand the beast within ourselves. -Gerald Hausman

Everyone who knows me, knows how much I HATE Halloween. It does nothing to honor the Light and Life of my Lord. It does far more to honor the Anti-Christ, pagan gods, fear, and death. With that said, I do love costume parties and face painting. Last night my daughter attended the youth costume party at our church. All the costumes where cute, but there still had to be one...a boy who used makeup to look like a dead person and even made a coffin out of cardboard. This is the reason I do not like costume parties at the church around Halloween time: that element of Halloween ALWAYS comes in. That is all I am going to say on the matter.

My daughter decided she wanted to be a modern Little Red Riding Hood and was hoping to use Mishka as the wolf, but I thought he was just too undisciplined and just large enough to create havoc at the party. We did not find that long, oversized red hoodie we searched for, but we did find a hooded jacket that she liked at Goodwill. After all that we talked about makeup yesterday, because I know that she does not like looking "sweet and vulnerable," so I came up with some ideas to make her Red Hood -n- Wolf, that would not be frightening or gory or bloody or whatever else that I hate about Halloween costumes and makeup. Perhaps it was skirting the edge, but I just saw it as twist on the a fairy tale and the Princess actually wanted to sit for the face painting, which she has not wanted to do in years. We also silvered her hair on the wolf side.

She won third place in the costume contest.

She originally got the idea for her costume from this picture:

Now some people see a scary Fenris about to eat a vulnerable, frightened little girl in a red hooded raincoat, but we have a Fenris, so we decided that if we just turn a bit we can see a pet Fenris, who looks threatening to everyone else, but is smiling and just wanting to play with the little girl he loves and who is smiling at him.

It is all about perspective.

Thank you, my Lord, for giving so much to my daughter and help her crave Your Light more and more.

To Bread or Not To Bread

We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive. ~C. S. Lewis

It is funny the things I want--that is, think I want--that will no doubt lead me into complicating my life more. I was driving past a farmers' market at a park one afternoon last year and the Princess asked, "What is a farmers' market?" I then said that maybe it as a good day for her to see for herself. She has enjoyed going every since. She and I both began thinking about what we could sell at one immediately and she has been trying to get me to sell my bread for years.

There are three farmers' markets in the area. The market manager of one to which we were going is a homemade bread vendor. I talked with her about what kinds of foods and crafts were allowed and the state requirements for foods like baked goods. She gave me a lot of information, but I was certain she did not want any other bread vendors at that market. There also was a homemade soap vendor, which is the other thing I would prefer to sell, if I were going to sell at a farmers' market.

One phone call on Saturday from the mother of a former next door neighbor and suddenly I have this opportunity to sell bread or even soap at the oldest of the three farmers' markets. It seems the previous vendors are not returning this year and they would like someone to offer sourdough bread and the lady thought of me as she knew I made sourdough bread because I had given her a starter some time ago.

Ever since that call I have been churning it all over in my head. The time commitment being the biggest issue: not only does it take up all Saturday morning to be at the farmers' market, which is a big thing with a husband who travels so much during the week, but I would have to make dough, knead, and bake throughout the week as well, or at least on Wednesday and Friday. I just got our home education program planned and arranged so that I do not feel distressed while we work with horses and have our errand day. I just started feeling better about my home with this new morning chore schedule. I am just not sure I can add several loaves of bread on a weekly basis...or that I would want to do so!

As I have had a few days to think this out, I was thinking that ideally I would prefer to make soap, just soap, and to do face painting too. Can you see this combination? First I paint the face of their children and then I give them a sample bar of soap to wash it off! That would be something different and I would really enjoy doing some artwork every weekend.

The problem is that I have not yet made any soap. I have read about it for years and I want to do it, but I just keep putting it off--and this is the ironic part--because I just cannot seem to fit it in. However, I think that soapmaking would be far less time consuming than sourdough breadmaking!

But I do know how to make bread...although my last loaves were pitiful. There is a science to sourdough bread making but the creation of it is still an art and I had to leave unexpectedly, letting it to rise too long. I kneaded it again, but it did not rise much even though I added flour to feed the yeast. So, even if I am not actively doing something with the bread, I have to keep my eyes on it.

Another potential problem is that when I talked to the other market manager about face painting, she was not interested in it at all. I have yet to talk to the managers of this one. I am hoping to do that some time today.

I also have some questions about licensing and such. I think I do not have to be as long as the market is a non-profit organization. So...here I am thinking way too much, spending time thinking more than praying, which is flipped the wrong way so I am likely to make the wrong decision.

~ My Lord, I do not want to take on even one thing without Your blessing, but I do not want to pass over an opportunity which You have provided either. Make it very clear to me what You wish for me to do. ~

It All Started with a Horse

Let me 'splain.
[pause]
No, there is too much. Let me sum up.
~Inigo Montoya in Princess Bride, 1987

I am writing as fast as I can because I have this really merciful gift of forgetting the details of bad things that happen by the next morning, so I am sure that I am only writing the highlights of what I remember, believe it or not!

Friday April 29th
Friday evenings we have been going to the Miss Annette's to help feed horses and clean the barn and generally do whatever Miss Annette needs to be done. Last weekend we were to have a 4-H Work Day on Saturday, but Miss Annette never passes up the opportunity to begin a job early so she started us all Friday evening. My husband worked with other men preparing to put up new fencing. Began I walking and clearing the fence line of the back pasture of growth and found the breaks and grounds of the electric fence, which would explain why one horse in particular was escaping earlier that week.

Saturday April 30th
Saturday people were assigned all kinds of jobs from putting new fencing and repairing old fencing to cleaning the barn bathroom and moving items up to the loft from out a room to be used as the new larger tack room and making signs for the Spring Fling the next weekend (which was this weekend...but we are not there yet). Anyway, I worked on finishing what I had begun the night before all alone in the back pasture with gloves and clippers enjoying the sounds of nature. I guess Miss Annette thought I was more than capable of handling it all by myself. I was thinking that I should have been somewhat sore from the work I did the night before, but I was not. I was not sore that night either, tired but not sore. In fact, oddly, I have been stronger than I ever remember being since I was a teenager--no kidding! I think it has something to do with just being around the horses. Anyway, I finished and did some cleaning of chairs and started the children on the signs and we ended up being there all day...all day with another all day commitment for the next coming weekend, which was this weekend.

Tuesday May 3rd
Tuesday was the 4-H awards ceremony. The Princess was thrilled to get a larger trophy this year because I actually kept track of the points for when we volunteer time (and all the other things) and we volunteered quite a bit of time this past year.

Thursday May 5th
My husband birthday is exactly one week after the birthday of the Princess. Only was this my errand day and he worked really late, so we planned to celebrate the next evening. Plans are such funny things!

Friday May 6th
The real excitement started on this Friday night. A trainer came to work with one teenage girl and her boarded horse, Duke. He is a large horse, newer to the barn, but generally good-natured. Apparently, though, Duke is a bit on the nervous side about certain things. The trainer worked with a pole that she would use to eventually tap the horse. He is supposed to stand his ground with his rider, but Duke, even after a few training sessions with it, has not yet made peace with that pole. He took a step back, but eventually he stood in place while she tapped him on various places. Although I was busy in the barn, I would look over from time to time and see him shiver with nervousness, but he did well. Then there is an exercise where they place a shirt on the pole. The rider is supposed to take the shirt off one pole and ride up to place it on another. Duke just did not like that idea at all and the rider was down on the ground right after she took the shirt from the pole. The girl was all right with just some bruising and scraps. The trainer calmed Duke and began to use the shirt around him to the point she lightly waved it over to touch him on various places on his body. Again, I could see Duke was tense, even more tense than before, but he stood his ground.

Then I was up by the house and had a bad advantage point so I did not see what happened later. I also am not a trainer, but my aunt trained horses for a mounted women's police group and they could put firecrackers under the horse without it bolting...eventually. I learned much from her, but some of it is just what my grandfather called "good ol' horse sense." I have been raised to appreciate there is a delicate balance in training between challenging a horse and giving him time to get comfortable with something he fears. It is a special relationship and even a good trainer can be surprised by a horse's reaction, but still.... Seeing the building tension in Duke, I would not have done the thing she did next, which was tie on a plastic bag of rocks on his saddle with no rider. This not only makes a get deal of scary, noisy sounds behind the ears of horse, which tends to make them want to bolt, but if he does take off, they hit him on the sides and back as well, which keep him going.

Off went Duke...really off! He jumped the fencing of the inner arena and was out with the other horses, who had not been put out to the back pasture. Then the herd of horses together did what herds do when frightened, which in this case was to run in a frenzy around the outer paddock. My daughter and some other girls, who were in that paddock, were grabbed and pulled into the arena by another mother. At this point I can only see dust but others saw the previous week's fence escape artist, Senoya, a boarded mare owned by another 4-H'er who was there, had decided not to jump the wire fence between them and the miniature horses paddock, but she was too committed and could not stop. She fell into and over the fence, breaking it down and two mini's joined the herd. Senoya got up and was back running with the herd also with Duke's bag of rocks slapping him and making a great deal of noise.

Now there is a danger having miniature horses in with large ones. They can get trampled or kicked in the head, so Miss Annette, a 4'9" woman with bad knees and hips, was working her way to the minis trying not to get trampled in the process herself and I was right behind her knowing that she was determined to separate them from the four large horses and two ponies. Finally the two minis and one pony split off on the opposite side of the arena of the rest on their own. One teen grabbed one mini and Miss Annette, who was smart enough to grab a lead rope before she went into the paddock, got the other. The one mini was not not in the mood to be held and I walked quickly to get a lead for the teen. During that time my husband cut the bag of rocks off Duke's saddle with his pocket knife while the trainer held him.

With horses now standing still and breathing hard, everyone was in the paddock accessing them for cuts and scraps, which thankfully were fairly minor. The three injured horses, including Duke, were brought into their stalls. With the girls holding and talking softly to them, I sprayed every injury with an antiseptic. Duke was last and he was still quite tense, but he allowed the doctoring with only a couple of hoof stomps and nervous snorts. He was also given oral antibiotic, because of the three he had the worst injuries.

My husband, in the meantime, had begun work on the fence as Miss Annette's husband was quite ill in bed and could not. This required pulling a fence pole back over and reshaping wire. I dug out the broken cement and he cemented the based of the wooden post.

With all calm and repaired we went home to what was supposed to be my husband's birthday dinner. I was in a hurry as it was so late. I turned on the oven as I began throwing together my homemade pizzas, one white sauce and one tomato with ground beef, as he requested while he and the Princess fed the rabbits. Eventually, I opened the oven to find...the remainder of the Princess' birthday cake and the partially melted plastic container it was in--No, I am not kidding! I had put it in there to keep safe as it would not fit in the refrigerator and we planned to have it that night, but since it was 9:30 PM before we began eating, that was unlikely anyway. A bit of the icing had dripped down to the bottom of the oven and, as I was cooking the pizzas, it began smoking. I could just see how adding our fire alarm going off would complete the evening, so we opened windows which was all the invitation a few flying bugs needed.

My husband also showed me the handle of a rather expensive paring knife that was in with the cake had some melted areas, but it can still be smoothed out and used, but I was sick about it. This one being a replacement of one that I accidentally threw away with a pizza box some years before.

At that point, I just gave up and just tried to eat my dinner thankfully. My husband, seeing I was at the end of my rope for the day, decided to clean up the oven himself--isn't he sweet? While looking for oven cleaner that I did not even think I had because I rarely use anything besides a good scrubber, he found that water had been leaking under the sink from the connection to the dish washer, the one that is still broken and currently in our garage. He turn it off and pulled things out to dry. After that bit of news, I just pulled the covers over my head in my bed. Actually, we all went to bed as soon as we could because the next day, which was yesterday, we were to be at the 4-H Spring Fling early to set up.

Saturday May 7th
I face painted all day, except for a short time to relieve my husband from supervising the horse and pony ride while he ate during a break in business at my own booth. Duke was not brought but the other two large horses that were injured had been and Senoya probably should not have been as she seem uneasy, but we had no incidents there.

We went back to help Annette pack everything away and feed the horses. Then we went home to have clean up and have dinner. With two showers down and the washing machine working, I decided to hold off my shower until after dinner to be assured of having hot water. We have leftover pizza and the twice baked cake, as the Princess called it, which had a crusty icing that my husband liked. It would take the prize for being the ugliest cake with melted icing blobs off the cake, but the cake itself was still moist--if you can believe it! Anyway, it went well with ice cream.

So, I finally get my turn in a nice relaxing shower and I begin thinking about tomorrow being Mother's Day and then...it dawns on me...the Princess and I were expected at the church right then for the Mother and Daughter Tea. I took a deep breath and resigned to we were not even going to try to make it, even though I really had wanted to go. The past week had been rather busy with 4-H stuff and I was tired. We all fell asleep early and my husband's sunburn looked like he might have a touch of sun poisoning.

Sunday May 7th
Well, we all made it to church and all the mothers received the nicest little notepad to stick in our purses; I so appreciated that. The Princess also made a present of hugs and kisses: the hugs being an outline of her hands attached to the outside of a quart canning jar filled with Hershey chocolate kisses, which I also greatly appreciated the jar and the chocolate as I never have enough of either one.

We stopped at Publix to get a fried chicken dinner as they are so much more reasonable than fast food chicken and tastier. We saw a teenager working there, who used to come to our church but goes to a larger one now and she had been on a short missionary trip recently. She was standing with an icing tube to help children decorate heart cakes for their mothers. We were not planing on another cake, but it was small and the Princess had fun doing it with her. The day's plans were to watch a DVD, mostly likely Avatar for the first time, with my feet up and have popcorn later on, as working outside would not have been good for my husband anyway.

Those, folks, were just some parts of my crazy week. There was more, but I am too exhausted to type it and the memory of all the bad stuff is mercifully fading...except that one thing: My husband put in a different memory card for our camera and told me the camera was already for me to use to get face painting pictures, but then it kept saying it needed formatted and would not let me format it so no pictures. He rarely messes up like that, but when he does...but in a day or two I probably will forget it also...he hopes.

~ My Lord, I am very thankful no one, including the horses, were seriously injured this week and that my husband was there to repair the fence. ~

Painting on the Artwork of God

Personally, I experience the greatest degree of pleasure in having contact with works of art. They furnish me with happy feelings of an intensity such as I cannot derive from other realms. ~Albert Einstein

There is something rather special about adding designs and colors on people. Each person is so different. Each being a challenge to paint in differing ways. The most special part, though, is knowing that each has been made by God's hand. I am painting on a being with unique qualities handmade by God. What greater works of art can there be and who am I to embellish them!

I will be face painting this coming Saturday for the 4-H Horse and Pony fall fund raiser. I also have been asked to face paint with a friend for her grandchildren's elementary school fun raiser the Friday evening before, but I am not so sure that I will be able to help with that one. She wanted to learn and she thought it would help me get business. Although I really do enjoy face painting and would like to make some money doing it, I cannot plan such events in advance and be reliable with my husband's work and travel plus having only one car and the Princess would usually have to be with me. However, I am thinking that the Lord will provide the opportunities if that is what I am to do.

I am getting excited about face painting again and I just bought a large a tool box at great price (I am beginning to really like Big Lots!) to fit in all my stuff. Although I keep adding to them every now and then, with the latest addition last spring being neon paints that actually glow under black lights and all different colors of glitter this summer, I was still doing fine with just a basket because the paints and brushes and glitter do not take much room. However, other accessories like water cups, baby wipes, paper towels, hand sanitizer, petroleum jelly (as a colorless glue, basically, for getting the glitter to stick) and such do take up space. I suppose I could put those things in a separate bag as I was doing, but it is nice to just grab the tool box and have everything already in it.

I have not done much face painting since the spring—I even have to bribe the Princess to allow me to paint her these days. So, to help get back into thinking of face painting, I thought I would post some the designs I have not put on my blog before. If you would like to see some of the ones I have posted previously, just click here.

Unicorns are favorites with girls.

This was the design the Princess had when we went to Medieval Times.

Snowflakes...just in case you could not tell.

The Princess attired for the 4-H Horse and Pony Club fun raiser last fall.

A rose to match the designs of her dress.

Butterflies in dots to match the butterfly design of her shirt.

A simple treble clef on her hand.

Giant lady bug gone wild!

My first with neons!

~ My Lord, I cannot improve any being because each is already a work of art made by You, but if it pleases You, let the people be pleased with the art I do and raise the needed funds. Oh, and good weather, my Lord, would also be much appreciated. ~

Our Victorian Princess Tea Party

Tea for you and tea for me.
Will you please come for tea?
~Unknown

The kingdom has been in preparation as the Princess wished to have a very special tea party for her birthday, as you may recall from this earlier message. Three young princesses were invited, but only one could accept the invitation as the other two were previously obligated. No matter, though, as my Princess was overjoyed even with just the one.

Preparing for tea...

This tea pot was brought from Florida from our great aunt's place. It is musical and plays "Tea For Two" when lifted up. The three boxes hold one precious gift in each, a bracelet of fresh water pearls with one rose quartz bead, for each of the invited guests; two will be hand delivered at a later time.

With all in preparation, the Princess awaits for her guest princess to arrive.

She passes the time by reading books about princesses in her princess castle tent, a gift given to her by her Royal Grandparents some years ago.

Her guest arrives. A servant (me) curtsies, "Welcome, Milady." The Princess also curtsies and welcomes her guest princess into her castle tent to show her around and chat. Soon afterward, they are presented with a choice several exotic teas. They both choose English toffee tea. While it steeps and then cools, the guest princess chooses to have her face painted with a blue butterfly with white polka dots to match her dress.

The Princess chooses a smaller design near her eye.

May I pour your tea now, Milady?

Will you be taking sugar to sweeten your tea, Milady?

The Royal Baker (me) created a cake depicting the kingdom.

Just a closer look...

The princesses are served the cake.

The cake and ice cream meet with approval!

Afterward, the story of The Princess and the Kiss was read by the Royal Story Teller (me) followed with games of Hot Potato, Blokus, sword fights, and just being giggling girls.

All the things my now nine-year-old Princess loves.

~ Thank you, my Lord, for giving us this child nine years ago. She truly has been a princess graciously given to us by God, as her name means. ~

4-H Spring Fling

The life of a man consists not in seeing visions and in dreaming dreams, but in active charity and in willing service. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Our 4-H meeting was originally scheduled on the first Tuesday evening of March, but it was postponed one week due to the possibility of icy roads. I knew from experience this particular meeting would be long. First there was to be campaigning for the upcoming vote for next year's officers. Then there was the Tackiest Queen and King Contest. I did not plan on participating and the Princess choose to play with her afternoon company, two girls from the neighborhood, rather than preparing for the contest. They did different age groups, including the adults. I took pictures of some of the winners.

This lady is the head adult leader. I promise you there was no favoritism though: she was by far the tackiest!

Squeezed in after the meeting and contest was a speaker about the local horse rescue. I would have loved that we had more time for this one. It was quite interesting. In one of those glowing moments when my Princess shows her caring heart and maturity, she asked the speaker how many horses they had saved this year. I think the woman was surprised because she was the only child who asked a truly pertinent question in regards to what she talking about. The answer was 29 since just this year since January. That number was over half of what they did last year and it is not yet mid March!

Lastly, the community service project was to prepare Easter baskets for the children's home and stacking all the chairs for clean up. I can only describe this as organized chaos, but it all gets done. By the time we took the picture with the baskets, half of the people had already left; the meeting went very late and it was a school night.

The next weekend (last weekend, actually) was the Spring Fling. It was rather chilly. The leader asked me if I would be face painting. This is kind of ironic in a way, because I became interested in face painting during the last Spring Fling, but the woman who did it then had two parties that day, so I ordered some more paints: neon colors that actually glow under black lights plus white and pink, since they are the most used colors. My husband and daughter were there, but I was busy from the time I set up until we left, with only a few breaks to warm up, that I had no idea where they were most of the time. My fingers were so cold that I felt rather clumsy with the brushes the entire day. I did not get pictures of my work; I was just too busy really. However, I had some nice complements. One family even said that they had face painting done at Disney World and that my work was far better...and cheaper at $2 to $3. Of course, all the money went to the 4-H Club and I really don't know how much I contributed. While it was all fun, the cold did get to me and it took me two days to recuperate from being unusually tired with back muscles aching.

~ My Lord, please continue to bless us through the 4-H Club and thank you for giving me a talent that can use to help raise support money for the club. ~

4-H at Christmas

Don't approach a goat from the front, a horse from the back, or a fool from any side. ~Yiddish Proverb

While my aunt and uncle were still with us, the Princess had a 4-H meeting as they always do the first Tuesday of the month. Since my husband had taken the week for vacation, he took the Princess this time; it was his first meeting although he has been to other events. For this one she was to bring a present that we chose off the Angel Tree to give to a chosen family: We had picked a toy for a two year old boy this year. The meeting was to be short, but only because they were to sing carols at a nursing home and then it was to Chick-fil-A for a free sandwich for the members and socializing.

A side note: I am not fond of fast food chain restaurants, but I have a soft spot for Chick-fil-A. They started here in Georgia. Not only are their advertisements with black and white cattle misspelling signs to get you to "eat mor chikin" adorable (although in reality that breed of cattle is used for milk, not meat) and their food is tasty, but the founder was decidedly Christian and still closes on Sunday and important holidays even to this day. They also train their employees to be very polite and help you with your tray, even when you really don't need it! These restaurants are always busy in this area...always!

Of course, I try not to pass up the opportunity to face paint when the Princess is involved in any festivities!


The following Saturday was the Christmas Parade. The adult 4-H leader almost canceled because it was so cold. The year before, our first, was very cold also, but this year was even worse.


I have to say that this is not the best parade in which to be with horses. You see, it has been customary that every entry throws candy to the children along the way and, of course, children run out from behind the tape and off the curbs to get the candy that lands in the street. The path for the parade narrows more and more as this happens. Our group is the first after Santa's sleigh, which is at the very end of the parade and, yes, he also throws candy too. By the time we begin walking the corridor, the lines are nearly nonexistent. Most people see Santa as the end of the parade. In fact, we were about half way in the parade area when people just started joining in and three men walked within a foot behind the miniatures—such are the actions of the foolish!

Just before we joined the parade, two members had been kicked. The first was because the side street, the one all the horse groups come up to join the parade, was not blocked off as it was supposed to be and cars were going down one lane. The problem occurred when two cars going the opposite direction approached each other in the one lane we were not occupying. A full-sized horse did not like that at all and kicked a girl walking behind him. She was not hurt badly as it caught her thigh and she was a good distance away—just a few more inches out and she would have been missed.

The second incident involved a miniature horse, the one my husband had been holding in the picture, actually. A man with a large bunch of white balloons approached our group and the girl holding the horse at the time had given him too much of the lead. The mini turned on her just enough to get a kick and he started to get a second, but other people grabbed them in time. This girl's lower leg was terribly swollen within just a few minutes. The kick had hit her just at the top of her knee, but the following week she was out at the stables and seemed to be healing fine—the blessing of prayers and youth!

I guess it is just inevitable that when children with horses are waiting for nearly two hours for the parade in freezing cold that they are not as on guard as they should be and none of these horses are parade trained. My aunt was in the mounted women's police and those horses were well-trained for parades, even to the point they had firecrackers set off under them without rearing or kicking, but you just never know what is going to spook a horse and parades are full of those unknowns. I was thankful that my daughter was in a safer place up on the float.

Then there was the skate. The 4-H Club rents the skating rink for the night, the next Thursday night! Those of you who know my schedule know how my Thursdays go. Well, add that I had to drop off my husband at the demo center-corporate offices and then pick him up after work, put away groceries, and fly out the door to get the rink on top of that.

I cannot begin to tell you how much I love to roller skate and I have been doing it since I could walk, but I took a bad fall on one knee about four years ago when skating that took its time healing and I have no problems with it at all now, so at this same skate last year, I skated and fell again. Although this time it was a rolling fall and I was not hurt at all—prayer does work. I decided I would do something else to occupy myself so I was not tempted to get out on the rink this time. I face painted all the members who wanted it for free. We forgot our camera this time so I have no pictures of this event at all but it was fun.

~ My Lord, thank you for hearing our prayers so that the girls healed quickly and that no one else was hurt during the parade. ~

Christmas Tree Shopping

He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree. ~ Roy L. Smith

I really don't know how we manage to do this every year, but we seem to have this uncanny ability to pick the very coldest day after Thanksgiving to go shopping for a Christmas tree. This year was no exception and was one of the coldest.

We have gotten a tree most years from a place on a corner lot. They are nice people and the Princess loves to warm by the fire while sipping their free hot spiced cider, but they don't have the selection they once did. They used to carry at least three or more different species, one being our absolute favorite: the Noble Fir. My husband eyed this Frazer Fir, but had heard of Nobles being available at a well-known nursery just a few miles further.

We got our very first Noble when we lived in Florida and have been hooked on them every since. Grown in the Northwestern United States, Nobles have a beautiful, almost spruce like appearance, with soft blue-green needles on strong branches that are spaced well, almost as if in layers giving a lacy appearance, perfect for heavy and larger ornaments as well as the most delicate being displayed without much trimming needed. Nobles hold onto their needles well, in fact, they rarely shed their needles at all, and have a lighter, somewhat citrus scent. They also are slow growing and have very thick trunks, that peek through the spaces between the branches. Honestly, they just have the perfect traditional Christmas tree appearance. All of which makes them a bit higher priced than the more common Frazer Firs and Douglas Firs.

A few years ago Nobles were scarce. Retailers that had any were much higher in price than they ever had been and we were told that we would probably not see any Nobles for at least five years. Apparently, a drought had affected them profoundly. Then the people, from whom we usually bought our trees, just did not offer them at all anymore and we had been getting Frazer Firs from them for some years. It saddened us not to buy from them this year, particularly the Princess since we have been customers ever since she was born and we are rather a loyal bunch, but this year we decided we would prefer a Noble, if we could find one.

And, found one we did. The selection was limited, but we happened upon a beauty reasonably price. It was much bushier than they usually are and we have to do far more trimming than we have even done on any of the ones we have had in the past, but seeing glimpses of the trunk through the branches made it worthwhile. The base of the trunk just fit our stand. All is well. We brought it in that evening, which is odd for us, but with my aunt and uncle coming, we wanted the tree set up should we decide to begin decorating it before or while they are here. We have a tradition of enjoying the tree in its natural state for about one day and then with lights only for up to a week before we put on the ornaments.

Before we left on our tree hunt, we went out for dinner at Steak and Shake (with coupons in hand). We shared one each of their limited-time specialty shakes: White Chocolate and Peppermint Chocolate Chip. Of course, the Princess loves putting together the cardboard cars with all those fancy stickers. Nothing like a cold milkshake to get you really chilled on the inside before going out in the cold! What were we thinking?

~ Thank you, my Lord, for reminding me that every penny spent on Christmas frivolity is still income to people who count on it at this time of year and cannot possibly be measured when compared to the delight it brings to even just one child. ~

Vacation Bible School 2009

Of all the needs a child has, the one that must be satisfied, if there is going to be hope and a hope of wholeness, is the unshaking need for an unshakable God.
~Maya Angelou (b. 1928)

Last year's VBS was the very first time I ever dropped off my child without a blood relative present, but I do think of church members as family. It was at a time when my husband was working out of state and they had plenty of adults there, so I had a just a bit over an hour to spend by myself each day for five days. It is just amazing how much I covet having a few hours to myself and then, when I finally have them, I really don't know what to do. I even had to fight the feeling that I had lost my child somewhere in the store when I did a little shopping.

This year VBS was from July 20-24 and I volunteered to face paint. I was not sure how many nights I could be there, but as it turned out, I was there all five. My husband came when he could, as he was working locally for part of the week, so he took some pictures of me painting faces. Now the thing was that nearly every child wanted painted every day, which keeps one child occupied while others are waiting because it takes a few minutes to each, and face painting had to be squeezed in between planned activities. I wish more children had been there, but I was also thankful we had only about fifteen at the most; I did some adults as well.

After working with youth for years in other churches, I know I am not one to work well in organized chaos--although I have done it, of course, and it worked out well--but for this I had my own little corner and face painting is all I was needed to do. Compared to what the other adults were doing, I think I had it easy. What you don't see in the pictures is that I was on my knees to paint the children and adults sitting in the chair, but my Lord is good, as I had absolutely no back or knee pain the entire week.

The VBS theme was superheroes of the Bible, which is why everyone was wearing a cape. I have become pretty practiced at doing various designs for girls, but not that many for boys. The girls mostly wanted horses and butterflies. The boys more often went for a Superman "S" and a Spiderman splosh, as I called it. It was a black web on the a cheek with a red background--unfortunately, we did not get a picture of one, but it was striking and one of the easiest designs I did. Actually, they all became quite easy, as things usually do with forced intensity.

The grand prize for the one who brought the most guests was a full face design, but two sisters tied so I ended up doing two instead of one.


I was so tired that by the weekend I had nothing left and I had to get the Princess prepared for a 4-H Horse Day Camp the following Tuesday, too. I was already behind with posting about our other activities, so I just got around to resizing the VBS pictures for my blog today...finally!


Tah-Dah!

~ My Lord, please bless these precious young souls and the people who are devoted to serve You by teaching them about You. ~