Friday Faves #18 Smell

Friday Fave #18 - Favorite Smell

My favorite isn't one particular smell. Ever been somewhere and you smell something that reminds you of a place you've been before? The kind of smell that brings back fond memories? It doesn't happen often, but when it does, I love it! There are times I've walked into a building or out into the fresh air and if I closed my eyes, it would have put me back to a different place and different time. Sounds weird, I know, but it does happen!

These are the more specific smells I enjoy...

• coffee
• cinnamon
• carnation flowers
• fresh bread baking
• lavender

I also love walking into the Yankee Candle store and smelling all the candles mixed together - yummy!! I'm not particularly fond of the floral scents, but any country smells or baked goods smells are my favorites....Shortbread Cookie, Macintosh, Spiced Pumpkin, Autumn Wreath, Sugarcane & Vanilla, Juicy Peach, and Harvest...to name a few.

Talented and comical - who could ask for more?!?

This is SO my son Lionel when he's older. He plays the violin already and I could totally see him cutting up on stage like these guys! Gotta love it...a bit of humor, yet extremely talented!


Here is their homepage if you want to hear more. I just spent 30 min. laughing at my computer from watching other videos they have on their site. These guys are a riot!!!

Photo Hunt #105 - Twisted

Here is Sweet-Pea with her hair all 'twisted' and curled. I always love it when her hair is full like this, although it's not easy to care for!


Here is Lionel sitting on the swing with it all 'twisted'. I used to love doing that when I was young, but I always felt sick after it untwisted and flew you back in the other direction.

Friday Faves #17 Literary Character

Friday Fave #17 - Favorite Literary Character

I have to admit that I can't think of just one...sorry. I love several of the characters in Jane Austen's novels. One of my favorites has to be Col. Brandon from Sense & Sensibility. He is extremely loyal, loving and has a way about him that just draws you in. At first Maryann isn't interested in him, but I believe she truly falls in love with him...not because he's good looking or has lots of money, but because he is honest, sincere, gentle and extremely patient...he had to be to tolerate her childish behavior at first!

I also love the character Anne in Anne of Green Gables. I believe Lucy Maud Montgomery (the author) used her own background as the basis for her character and setting of the story. If you've never read the book, I highly recommend it. The movies are also wonderful, so if you're not a book lover, at least watch the movies!!!

Thursday Thirteen #13

13 of my favorite quotes from George Washington's book:

"RULES of CIVILITY & DECENT BEHAVIOUR in Company and Conversation"

This book was real. George Washington carried it with him in his coat pocket where ever he went. He exhibited notable manners throughout his life and practicing decent behaviour was at the top of his list! He wrote these down when he was just 14 years old. Oh boy...if only kids today would care so much about manners and decent behaviour at that young age it would be a different world!

Keep in mind that these were written around 1746, so they may sound silly to us in the 21st century! Ahh, that's why I love them so much!!! (The capital words are not my errors, that's how they're written).

1. When in Company, put not your Hands to any Part of the Body, not usually Discovered.

2. Put not off your Cloths in the presence of Others, nor go out your Chamber half Dressed.

3. Shake not the head, Feet, or Legs roll not the Eyes lift not one eyebrow higher than the other wry not the mouth, and bedew no mans face with your Spittle, by approaching too near him when you Speak.

4. In visiting the Sick, do not Presently play the Physician if you be not Knowing therein.

5. Wear not your Cloths, foul, ripped or Dusty but See they be Brushed once every day at least and take heed that you approach not to any Uncleaness.

6. Run not in the Streets, neither go too slowly nor with Mouth open go not Shaking your Arms kick not the earth with R feet, go not upon the Toes, nor in a Dancing fashion.

7. Go not thither, where you know not, whether you Shall be Welcome or not. Give not Advice without being Asked & when desired do it briefly.

8. Gaze not on the marks or blemishes of Others and ask not how they came. What you may Speak in Secret to your Friend deliver not before others.

9. Speak not in an unknown Tongue in Company but in your own Language and that as those of Quality do and not as the Vulgar; Sublime matters treat Seriously.

10. Being Set at meat Scratch not neither Spit Cough or blow your Nose except there's a Necessity for it.

11. If you Soak bread in the Sauce let it be no more than what you put in your Mouth at a time and blow not your broth at Table but Stay till Cools of it Self.

12. Rinse not your mouth in the presence of others.

13. When you speak of God or his attributes, let it be seriously & with reverence. Honor & obey your natural parents although they be poor.

Oh I absolutely love number 13, especially that last part..."although they be poor"! George did meal well in all his rules. He tried to be the best he could be when others were around. He tried to be honest, loyal, civil and respectful. Those rules, as out-dated as they may seem, are good enough to use today. I purchased a nice hard cover copy of the book and read them with my children. Yes, they giggle at most of them, but we try to re-word them so they're appropriate for today's time. Try it with your kids...here's a link to where you can read the entire list online.

Test everything...hold on to what is good!

God clearly tells us in the Bible to "Test everything. Hold on to the good." (I Th. 5:21) He also said: "And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many...For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." (Matthew 24:11, 24) Who are the elect? Christians...Bible believing, born again, Christ loving Christians! Me...and hopefully YOU!

My reason for this post was to throw a warning at you. I was browsing the internet tonight and came across some very disturbing news about Oprah. Please don't think that I follow her or even like to watch her - I don't! I did watch her "Big Give" once, but I felt that her 'giving' was all in vain! That's not how we are to give to others. We are to give from the heart, not from the wallets of someone with tons of money!! True giving comes from sacrifice.

Anyhow...I found this video which reveals some of who Oprah truly is. She has such an influence because she's rich, she's on national TV, and many many housewives and people who are home later in the afternoon watch her show. Her new book club has shed some light as to her beliefs and what she stands for. This little video clip is from a company that wrote a book about it all called "Dont Drink The Kool-Aid: Oprah, Obama and The Occult." I am not putting it here as an advertisement for the book, but as an eye-opener to those of you who do like Oprah. Be on your guard! Be careful...as the Bible says...false prophets come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves!!! If you go to the site mentioned at the end of the video, you'll see more video clips about Oprah and her book club. It's pretty scary that her deceit is right out there in the open, yet many people aren't seeing it!



So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! (I Cor. 10:12)

Fun Historical Field Trip

We went on another great field trip with our homeschool group this past week. We had to travel a ways to get there, but it was worth it! Since history is our absolute favorite subject, this was the perfect place for us...it was a visit to the oldest stone house in New England...built in 1639.

Here's a bit of history about the house: The house was owned by a puritan minister. It was built by the settlers who had help from the local Native Americans living in the area approx. 32 years after Jamestown and 19 years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth. They called their new home the plantation of Menuncatuck after the Native Americans who lived here.


Here is a view of the house from the main road.



Lionel & Sweet-Pea in front of the house.



Waiting to go inside the house - complete with notebooks in hand. They had a scavenger hunt inside...they had a list of items they had to find which were typical of the time period in which the house was built. They learned quite a bit!



Here they are standing beside the statue erected in honor of Rev. Whitfield, the puritan who came here from England to find freedom. He did end up going back to England once there was a new reigning King - one who favored the puritan beliefs.



Here is our group on the tour. Our tour guide was very nice (the lady in the green coat)...she was very patient with some of the younger kids on the trip.



Sweet-Pea on the very cool spiral staircase which led from the first floor to the second floor. There also was an attic full of great items, from clothes to weaving looms to war items.



This is the main hall of the home...this room was used as the kitchen and main living area. There was a drop down wall attached to the ceiling which would divide the room into two separate rooms if the need arose.



This was one of the bedrooms. There were 3 bedrooms on the 2nd floor. All of them were quite unique but fairly comfortable - as comfortable as one could be in the 17th century!!



Here is Lionel posing with the Revolutionary War uniforms...pretty awesome huh?!? He wished he wore his 3 pointed hat to the house, but we forgot to bring it.



Here are Lionel and Sweet-Pea with two of their good friends up in the attic of the home.



Yeah, this is Lionel acting silly - yet again!! He finds humor in everything, I love that about him! This cannon was actually used in the war of 1812...can't you just imagine hearing Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture playing in the background? ha ha


We had a great time on our trip today. There's something to be said about hands-on learning vs. textbook learning. My kids both enjoy seeing, touching and experiencing history rather than reading all about it the old fashioned way. We like to read living books which tell history in story form. Beautiful Feet curriculum is the way to go if you're like us!

You've Come a Long Way Baby!

Cody has really come a long way since we got him over a month ago. We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but he knows we love him and we sense that he's 'at home' with us now.

Photo Hunt #104 - Glass

I've posted this photo before, but this is one of my favorite pieces of glass. It's a hand blown glass ornament with a handmade glass elephant inside. It was given to me the year I came home from living in South Africa. It's over 20 years old already and it's still in great shape - I just have to keep it far out of reach from everyone when putting it on my Christmas tree!

Friday Faves #16 Comic Strip

Friday Fave #16 - Favorite comic strip

I don't have any one particular favorite comic strip, but there are a few great comic artists out there. I prefer the Christian comic writers since I can relate to their funny ideas. Here are a few of my favorites...



Kevin Spear:




Reverend Fun:





Todd Wilson:


(Been there...done that!)

Thursday Thirteen #12

13 of my favorite catalogs

I seem to get quite a few catalogs in the mail these days. Some I just look at and throw right in the trash, some I put away for another day and some I actually look forward to getting in the mail! Here are 13 catalogs I do enjoy getting....

1. CBD (Christian Book Distributors)
2. BBC America Shop
3. Foster and Smith
4. Home Science Tools
5. Museum Replicas Limited
6. Beautiful Feet Books
7. Timberdoodle
8. Vision Forum
9. Discount Dance Supply
10. Spillsbury
11. Plow & Hearth
12. American Girl
13. Scottish Lion Imports

Isn't it amazing how at Christmas time our mailboxes get bombarded by every catalog company on earth?!? I'm sure if it were Christmas time, I'd be sorting through hundreds of catalogs trying to figure out what my favorite ones were...but these I get year round. Got any favorites I forgot to mention?? List them here in the comments section, I'll have to check 'em out...in my spare time, that is!

The Civil War....Risk....and Peanut Butter Cookies

The past few days have been quiet for us. Edward has been home sick from work with the flu (nothing too bad, mainly a cold type flu - but bad enough to make him weak and tired). We were supposed to go out for Lionel's birthday, but that was put on hold. Edwards birthday is coming up soon too, so we will celebrate them together now. We've been watching movies, playing games and hanging out together. It's been nice actually!

Lionel got a Risk board game for his birthday - something he's been wanting for a long time. He loves history and geography, so this was the perfect game for him. We just finished watching Gettysburg, and are going to watch Gods and Generals this week - can't wait. Buying him a Civil War hat for his birthday was a HUGE hit! He's already got a Revolutionary hat...hmm, what's next?!? Here he is sporting his new hat....



Well, today Lionel taught me how to play the game. He, Daddy and I played for hours, and still we're not done. It's amazing how quickly the game can turn though. This is my first time playing, but I have to say I'm creaming the two boys!!! I have defeated and conquered Australia and the surrounding areas, all of Africa and the entire Asian continent! Woo hoo!!! Lionel owns most of South America and Daddy owns all of North America and most of Europe. It's fun to watch them battle it out. The two of them keep fighting at the borders and they're totally forgetting I own 1/2 of the world! ha ha Here's a photo of the board so far - not a great one, but you'll get the point. I'm red, Lionel is blue and Daddy is green - hard to tell the difference between their pieces, but check out all that red!!!! (Yea, I'm just so humble tonight, aren't I?)



Since Sweet-Pea hasn't been able to play the game, she has been in the kitchen doing what she does best...baking cookies! She LOVES watching the FoodTV channel. I think part of Daddy has wiped off onto her...Daddy went to Johnson & Wales years ago and got his Culinary Degree - the same time as Emeril Lagasse...they were in the same class. Whoop-de-do! ha ha Anyhow...she has been so eager to get in the kitchen and bake, so today she made peanut butter cookies - all on her own! The only part I helped her with was putting the trays in the oven and taking them out when the cookies were done. We all enjoyed eating them after dinner...and boy were they good!!!





Have a happy day!

Dale Jarrett

I've always been a HUGE Dale Jarrett NASCAR fan. Lionel got me into NASCAR, and since he had his favorite drivers, I had to have mine. I picked the underdog. I didn't want to root for anyone that was too popular. I always thought it was good to pick someone who is respected and has high values and morals, so I picked Dale. Actually, there's more to Dale Jarrett than many people know - he was the 1999 Winston Cup Champion. Not too many men hold that title. He also is a born again Christian...which is better than winning any race! I will miss cheering him on in the races, but at least he'll be there in the announcers booth the rest of this season. I guess I'll have to retire my UPS Dale Jarrett racing jacket now...but I refuse to put away the model UPS truck and race car from my desk! = ) Here is a moving tribute that was made especially for Dale. We'll miss you Dale!!!!!!