Hello!

 A selfie from March 18 this year... sort of a "Throwback Thursday!"

A is for Alphabet

I just remembered a post I wrote back in September called An Alphabet "Soup-er" Idea. This was supposed to inspire me to write blog posts more consistently. As the recent saying goes, "Epic fail." But now I have remembered this idea, so let's get started....

A is for Alphabet

When I was in the third grade, our class was assigned a writing exercise: If you could be anything, what would you be? (I'm not sure if this was the exact assignment, but I'm close.)

I chose the alphabet. As the alphabet, I could form all of the words necessary to write about anything in the world! Just think of the books I could make and all of the things I could help people learn.

Sometimes I wish I still had this assignment, but maybe it's for the best. My memory of it might be better than it actually was. But the concept was pretty good for a third-grader, if I do say so myself!

Christmas Eve Eve

After a night of snow and a morning of sleet, today was the perfect day to stay home.

I read a novel, Flags Out Front by Douglas Wilson.

I ellipticalized while starting to read said novel.

Lew and I worked on getting through my Christmas Movie Checklist. (After tonight we will have only one left — It's A Wonderful Life — which we will watch tomorrow.)

Dad made a Pat's Pizza run for supper, and I tried a new item (new for me, anyway): the Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad pizza. It was delicious!

And now I am off to watch Emmett Otter's Jug-Band Christmas!

TBT: My Dinner!

I suppose posting a photo of tonight's dinner doesn't really meet Throwback Thursday's intent.

But, hey, it's my blog!

And it was my dinner! Yum....

TBT: Eli and Adam

I believe this photo was taken on August 10, 2013.

 

Big brother is holding his newborn baby brother.

 

Love!

 

 

TBT: Wedding "Belles"

This coming Monday (July 20th) is our anniversary. Lew and I will have been married for 15 years!

The above photo was taken on the day we got married, which was on a Thursday. We are with all three of our nieces: Sarah, Kaelen, and Kelsey. The girls have all grown up since then. Lew and I have a few more gray hairs.

It looks like Lew has a halo. He doesn't. He's wearing his sunglasses on top of his head - a practice that he continues to this day.

Photo credit:  Grammy!

Happy Birthday, Kaelen!

Today is niece Kaelen's 24th birthday, so Throwback Thursday is easy this week.  Enjoy these photos from Kaelen's early days.  (And who are those people in the pics with her? Yikes!)  Smile!

It was love at first sight!

Napping with Aunt Tracy.

Napping with Papa.

Grandma likes to show off her grandchildren!

Aunt Tracy sings a lullaby.

Aunt Debbie is always good for a laugh!

Three sisters and a baby.

The new (and very sleepy) parents.

Happy Birthday, Kaelen!

Driveway Art

Lew and I hosted our housechurch group meeting last night. The weather was nice, so we met on the deck while the kids had fun with the sidewalk chart in our driveway.

 

So I am "throwing back" all the way to yesterday. That's okay, right? :)

 

A series of photos walking down the driveway:

 

A "splash" of color:

 

Pizza pie!

 

Body tracing, dress included:

 

Body tracing, flowing hair included:

 

Flower!

 

Coming soon, to a country near you:

 

An Anniversary Throwback

 

 

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!!!

 

 

Three Amigos And Cat

About three weeks ago I had the privilege of babysitting Eli and Adam in the morning. They came to my house and we had loads of fun. We even took some "ourselfies" with Eli as the photographer.

 

These might not be major throwback pictures of me, but they are of the boys. They change so much every time I see them!

 

Jerry gets in on the action.

 

Jerry got away!

 

Cocoa and Sadie

I have shared lots of photos of cats on my blog, but I haven't shared too many of dogs.  Both of my sisters each have a dog, so how about a couple photos of them for Throwback Thursday?  :)

Kim's dog, Cocoa.
He is definitely ready to pull Santa's sleigh!

Debbie's dog, Sadie, with me last Christmas.
(I am the one wearing glasses.)

Kurt's Room

For Throwback Thursday.... The last picture I took of Kurt, and he is with his best friend Jerry.

 

I know this photo is from the last week and a half while Kim was visiting because I see a water bottle on the shelf by the bed.

 

When we first adopted Kurt he stayed in the guestroom for about a week. It is only fitting that his final photo is in this room.

 

Kurt and Jerry, friends forever....

 

Yummy Face

For TBT: One of my favorite photos of Eli!

 

 

"L" is for Love

Just looked through some "old" photos on my iPad and decided on the following for Throwback Thursday. I think this picture is two years old, which makes sense since Eli is only 3!

 

I hope that Eli will continue to enjoy reading as much as Tia does!

 

 

The Clothes Monster

I don't think my mother has ever discarded a single item of clothing in her life. (Yes, I am exaggerating a wee bit.)

I believe this because I carried over 3/4 of her hanging clothes upstairs and jammed them into my guest room closet. I saw clothing that I don't ever remember her wearing. I saw at least a dozen items that used to be mine; she must have saved them from the Goodwill pile! Up and down the stairs I went....

At some point she and I will need to go through these clothes more carefully, but for now I needed to make space in their closet for my father's stuff.  He has been using a wardrobe for his things, but that piece of furniture needs to be moved out of the bedroom for better wheelchair accessibility. (Mom can walk, but she will need to use a chair a lot at first so she doesn't get overtired.)

To summarize this week's Throwback Thursday tale: Today I stored items of clothing I already got rid of years ago.

For the Family Album

Have you ever met someone as an adult and then found photographic evidence of your paths crossing earlier in life? I have seen some news stories recently about people this has happened to.

Today I share my own personal instance of this.

The year is 1986.... Lew, Matt, and Matt's mom attended the same church I did, although we didn't really know each other. (We did know of each other.)

Lew and I were recently looking at a church directory from that year. I saw a particularly ugly candid photo of myself, but I still pointed it out to Lew. (U-g-l-y!)  Anyway, there is a cute little boy standing in front of me. Lew looked a little closer and said, "That's Matt!"

Very cool.

Here is that photo. (The quality isn't great because it was a small shot in a collage. And those two people weren't really wearing football helmets - I added those. Ha ha!)

Maybe Matt and I could recreate this photo. But I no longer have that Minnie Mouse sweatshirt. And I'm pretty sure Matt's t-shirt won't fit him now.   ;-)

The Original Living Room Floor

When Lew and I were doing the house remodel eight years ago, I took some photos of the hardwood floor in the living room before we put the carpet in.

 

The floor is in pretty rough shape, but I do love the pattern of the layout. If we didn't need something more maintainable, I would consider restoring it!

 

 

Floors Galore, Part 2

I'm pleased to report that we are going with the flooring that I selected (see Tuesday's post). For the record, Lew did originally choose the wrong one, but he claims he really had no preference. I guess his actual preference was (and is) my happiness. (Thanks, Sweetie!)

To prepare for the new floor installation, I spent yesterday morning and much of today clearing "little stuff" out of our living room. I am storing most of it in the guest room upstairs. I still have a bit to do, but I have made great progress.

And this leads me to why this post fits in the "Throwback Thursday" category: I am apparently under the impression that my body is 25 years younger than it actually is. I am very sore and achy from lifting and carrying stuff and from going up and down the stairs multiple times....

I just hope this doesn't become "Throw Back Out Thursday!"

Pals

I am "throwing back" to the days when I spoke of my cats a lot more on my blog. It's been some time since I've shared a photo of them, and they both agreed it was about time. They were feeling sort of left out! ;-)

 

Kurt and Jerry, two sweet kitties.

 

A Path For Prayer

I had planned on sharing earlier about the women's event we held at church the first weekend of February, but then "life" happened. I took a blogging hiatus after my mother-in-law passed away and I've just been trying to get moving again the past couple weeks.

 

We got the idea for our event from the book Sensible Shoes by Sharon Garlough Brown. I previously wrote a blog post about the book. (Click HERE to read that post.)

 

The characters in the book learn several different spiritual practices, one of which is a prayer walk. They used a labyrinth, so I made one! (I wanted it for the mini-pilgrimage that I did with the girls, but I also wanted to use it for the women's event.) I made it with a no-longer-used king-size top sheet, duck tape, and stick-on letters. I put clear packing tape over the letters to keep the letters from being kicked off by the kids (or by me).

 

One way to pray while walking the labyrinth: On the way to the center, focus your prayer on releasing your sin, tension, frustrations, etc. to God. In the center, receive from God – His blessings, His guidance, His comfort, whatever He desires to give you. Then on the walk out of the labyrinth, focus your prayer on returning to the world and serving God.

 

Here are a few photos of my creation! (This counts as a "Throwback Thursday" post, right?!)

 

The overview. The center is large enough to put a stool or small chair.

Entering the labyrinth. Yes, those are my feet.

The center. I ran out of Es so I used upside-down 3s!

Leaving the center.