Thursday Thoughts

Thursday is almost over. I got the "crud" yesterday and spent a miserable day in bed (well, when I wasn't in the little room next door to the bedroom!) It was as if I lived in a protective bubble when everyone else was getting sick. I really thought I had escaped. But on the first day that I could actually crash, I crashed big time. It's unbelievable how good I feel today compared to yesterday.

Thanks for your prayers once again for Kristen. The meds are doing what they're supposed to be doing and she's feeling good once again. I want so badly for her to feel good for more than a week or two at a time!



While we had the girls this time, it was "spirit week" at their school. One day was Crazy Hair Day - Care Bear did her own and I helped Feisty. Care Bear also did Katie's for her.























That was a beautiful pre-spring warm day, and the girls had a great time after school. They decided to do a show for me - Taylor Swift song complete with all sorts of choreography - with a pile of old crunchy snow as the stage.








I had to take a few pictures as I was out and about that day. This is a view on the way to the kids' school - so beautiful.

I just have to ask you -- would you do this ----

if the shoreline looked like this???

I was so excited to get this in the mail this week - right on schedule. It looks white in the picture, but it is a lovely beige (called khaki) and goes well with the little bear I posed with the set. Now I just have to figure out a place to put it in my cupboards - I figure maybe some of my old stuff can pass for vintage at the Habitat store. Thanks again, Becky (Butler's Wife)!







The most exciting thing of the week - last week I took my "lost and found" diamond to our favorite jewelers - the young woman who waited on me was fabulous. She doesn't look anywhere near old enough, but she says she's been there for 17 years. She must have worked there in high school. She had an immediate idea how to salvage my original, sentimental bands, and make the stone secure for the rest of my life. It doesn't stand up high off the band any more, but I love the new look. What do you think??

And last but not least - WOO-HOO!!

March Monday

How can it be March?? It is a shiny, cold day with a bit of fresh snow on the ground. Very little. March is traditionally our wettest month, and that doesn't mean rain. I'm looking forward to some color sometime this month.

I found these the first week in March last year. . .

Then - at the end of the month - just before April ---

I have to say that the last two weeks have been tough. The flu bug has wreaked havoc on the family - everybody but me so far. Kristen, Feisty, Katie, Care Bear, and Grandpa all have had some form of flu or another. Miss Emma has a really bad cold today and is really cranky. I was giving them baths, which usually calms them. Emma was crying in the tub when I heard Katie humming "You are My Sunshine" - the song Kristen always sings to them when they're upset. It was a sweet moment in a stressful morning.

Stressful two weeks - I have had the girlies for the better part of two weeks. And it looks like a lot of this week will be more of the same. Kristen ended up in the hospital last night with some chest pains and shortness of breath. Pretty scary stuff. Please pray for her and for us. They're running every test known to man.

UPDATE: Kristen just called to say that after every test, every prick, all the medical procedures, they decided she has bronchitis and are sending her home with an antibiotic. Seems like a lot of overkill! They say that all of the problems she's had in the last two weeks are related. I don't know - but at least she's coming home.

I'm trying to live within my "word of the year" - TRUST. It is difficult. I am trying to follow these 3 scriptures that were in my devotional today and know that the post I did on Facebook Friday is true today - "

When you get to your wit's end, you'll find God lives there. (Unknown source)

I want to pay attention to what I posted yesterday on FB -

'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to take Him at His word, Just to rest upon His promise, Just to know, "Thus saith the Lord." (Louisa M.R. Stead)

Here are the verses I am standing on today:

Matthew 6:20 - For this reason I say to you, "Do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body than clothing?"

Luke 12:25-26 - Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest.

Psalm 29:11 - The Lord gives strength to His people; the Lord blesses His people with peace.

So - I am struggling with worry/trust, knowing which I should be doing.

While Miss Emma is sleeping this morning, Miss Katie is enjoying being by herself with me and playing with everything she can find -



and reading ---

Show and Tell Friday

This was my first "Friday Show and Tell," which I did back in November, 2007. I thought I'd re-run it, since I have many new friends since I first posted it. This picture of my husband's great grandparents with their children (his grandpa and sisters) hung on our wall for quite awhile before I learned the amazing story behind it.

The picture was taken in probably 1891 in northern Wisconsin. Great-Grandpa Wickstrom was a logger and had built the log house for his family. Grandpa Odin Wickstrom was the eldest of 7 and had the two sisters at the time of the picture, with another one on the way. He was 6 or 7 at this time.




Remember the show "Growing Pains" with Kirk Cameron, Tracy Gold, Joanna Kerns, and Alan Thicke? One night my daughter, Kristen, who was a teen at the time, was watching the show as she did every week. She noticed this picture in the opening collage and recognized it as one of the pictures hanging in our den. The word got around the family quickly and we all tuned in and paid close attention to the opening credits.

With some detective work, it was discovered that the picture had been hanging in the Wisconsin State Historical Society in a display of log cabins built with that particular roof design. The show's writers chose to use the picture in the beginning of their show.

Anna died with the birth of her 8th child, who did not survive either. Great Grandpa Nils' sister married Anna's father after her mother died, so his sister became his mother-in-law!


For more Show and Tell stories, go to Cindy's place, My Romantic Home.

Monday Musings

It's been a tough week, but also a very good one. Our new pastor arrived and we had a great installation service this morning, and a delicious dinner together.

The weight loss journey is going well. I haven't felt this in control for a very long time. It's been fun to be on this adventure with my sister and my sister-in-law. My sis and I have fought our weight demons for years, but never together. It's good to be on the road together.

It's been four weeks since we weighed, so it was very exciting. Wearing things I haven't been able to fit in for the last couple of years is really fun - like getting a whole new wardrobe. (BTW, I've also lost 16 inches overall - amazing!)

The verses that go along with each day's study guide are always so appropriate. I especially love this one, from The Living Bible. I Corinthians 6:12-13 - "I can do anything I want to if Christ has not said no, but some of these things aren't good for me. Even if I'm allowed to do them, I'll refuse to if I think they might get such a grip on me that I can't easily stop if I want to. For instance, take the matter of eating. God has given us an appetite for food and stomachs to digest it. But that doesn't mean we should eat more than we need."

It has also been a very good week in another sense. I won two drawings here in Blogland - this is amazing! First, Gigi offered Beth Moore's newest book, So Long, Insecurity - You've Been a Bad Friend to Us. I am looking forward to reading it, and then passing it on to Kristen. Thank you so much, Gigi!

Then, unbelievably, I won the drawing over at Butler's Wife for this beautiful gift being offered by CSN Stores. I am so excited, because most of my cooking and baking utensils are quite "used up" after 37 years - I often think everyone should have another shower at about 30 years, don't you? Here's what is coming - so exciting! Thank you, Becky!!

I want to share this wonderful story I got by e-mail this week - I love it:

A Sunday School teacher decided to have her young class memorize one of the most quoted passages in the Bible - Psalm 23.. She gave the youngsters a month to learn the chapter.

Little Rick was excited about the task - but he just couldn't remember the Psalm. After much practice, he could barely get past the first line.

On the day that the kids were scheduled to recite Psalm 23 in front of the congregation, Ricky was so nervous. When it was his turn, he stepped up to the microphone and said proudly, "The Lord is my Shepherd, and that's all I need to know."

I have a new obsession - and a confession. How could I have gone 6 years without discovering the show NCIS? I have been overdosing on it for the last two weeks, as they've run marathons which have recorded on my DVR. I love the characters, the writing is fabulous, the interaction of the group is amazing - I like to watch them more than even the plot. I hope I get caught up soon!

I just came back from Hootin' Anni's place and she presented me with this lovely award - thank you so much, Anni! If you haven't visited Anni before, you must - she's a hoot, just like her name implies - and very, very talented.

I always like to leave you with something fun - the twins eating in various places in the house. The final one was tonight - a bit of snack after church - they're spending the night with us - they both climbed on the table and shared Grandpa's food -

Have a wonderful week!

Miracles Still Happen!

Thank you all for your prayers about my missing diamond. Yesterday while the littles and I were out running errands, I gave them little baggies with snackies - including a few Valentine M&M's. Today, when I went to put Katie in her car seat, I saw a few spare candies that had gathered in the back of her seat. I saw this little grayish/silvery looking thing there in the middle - momentarily I thought it was a little stone. Well, it was. But a very valuable little stone! My little stone! Katie has been sitting on a diamond for 5 days!!

Thank you, Lord, and thank you, friends! (See previous post if you don't have a clue what I'm talking about)!