Ramblings from the end of October

*In the 14 years I have lived here we have never once had anyone ring our doorbell on this night. It's been 16 years for my husband. I don't mind.

*Fifteen years ago on this night my daughter was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. She is doing ok!!

*My little guy kind of knows what's going on this night but not really. I am ok with that.

*He has also had a huge growth spurt!! I had to buy new jeans for him because his other ones don't fit anymore. I was shocked.

*In 10 days my mom is having surgery on her other knee.

*I'm beginning to learn to burn bridges. I need to, it's time.

*My husband has been working nights for 3 weeks now and I am ready for him to be done with it. So is the little guy.

*We have beautiful weather right now and through the weekend. Indian summer and it is wonderful.

*I am shocked to think that this time next year my little guy will be in school full time. I have plans!!! LOL

*I like talking to old friends--ones I have known for many years. It's good to have a history like that with people.

*I don't cook much when my husband is on nights. I've been a slacker. I'm ok with that!!

*Still working on that gossip thing and boy is it hard, but I am better about not gossiping I think.

*If I tell you I will pray for you, I will. Usually right then and there. My husband and I were talking about this the other day. I sort of got after him for saying that he would pray and then not praying. We got that cleared up.

*I have really been liking my crochet board lately!! I am so glad I found it too. It has expanded my crocheting horizons a great deal.

*I'm sort of torn between two churches right now. I like the one we all go to a lot but they only have children's church twice a month and I don't want to just go to church twice a month. The little guy doesn't sit well through a whole service yet.
The other church we have been going to every week since my husband has been on nights. They have childrens church every week and it's nice.
What a dilemma..........

I don't think I have anything else right now.

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Matthew 7:21
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Ezekiel 34:31
And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord GOD.

Thankful Thursday

Another Thursday is here. It's another beautiful fall day too.

Today I am thankful for:
*My family--always
*that my husband is almost done working so many nights
*falling leaves
*the women at my bible study
*freedom
*choice

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Matthew 7:21
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Ezekiel 34:31
And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord GOD.

Revelation 3:5
He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

October blanket

I made this blanket for a dRaffle we are having for the friend with cancer.

It's a baby blanket and it is 28 inches wide by 39 inches long.

It's made with Homespun called "Sky Blue". I think it's a pretty color.

Autumn

This has to be my favorite time of year. For many reasons.

One of them is the leaves!! The colors of them. The vivid reds, oranges, yellows, browns and greens. It's just beautiful to see.

Autumn always has a smell to it. Maybe part of that is rotting leaves, but I know part of it is the burning leaves too. That is among my favorite smells.

The cool crisp mornings. The cool sunny days. Even if it is cold, if the sun is shining it is beautiful.

Then there is harvest time. We live near a potato field and corn fields and soy fields.

The potato field is right across the street from us and we always hear the workers in the spring and fall.

The corn fields are being harvested now too and it is strange to see empty fields now as I drive home.

This is my most favorite time of year!!

October blanket

This blanket is for the woman mentioned in my "Ponderings" post a few days ago.

It's made with Homespun "gothic" which it is that beautiful deep purple color that is one of my favorites.

It is 42 inches wide by 54 inches long.

I hope she finds it warm and snuggly and comfortable!!

Fourteen years ago...........

Fourteen years ago this month I was a newlywed by about a month. I was so excited and happy to be married.

We wanted to start a family right away and were hoping for a honeymoon baby.

I got pregnant just a month after we got married. We were very excited at the thought of a baby.

Sadly, it was not meant to be. This was my third pregnancy and I lost the baby at about 15 weeks. I was just heartbroken about it.

I got pregnant again about seven months later. Almost a year after we were married!! Our first anniversary was approaching and I was pregnant!!!

Again we were very happy about it. Sadly, it was not meant to be. This time it was an ectopic pregnancy and I had surgery at about 5 weeks gestation.

I was very ill on my first anniversary.

We waited almost 10 years to be pregnant again. Certainly not for lack of trying.

We tried medically to get pregnant and it just never happened so we gave up.

Much to out surprise and delight, I got pregnant with my little boy!!!
We were a bit nervous but the pregnancy went fairly well and I delivered my little guy at 39 weeks.

When the little guy was two years old, we were shocked to find out I was pregnant again. This would be my sixth and final pregnancy.

Sadly, it was not meant to be. I went for an ultrasound at 8 weeks and there was no heartbeat in my womb. My baby was not alive.

We were absolutely devastated by this. What a miracle to have another chance for a baby. I had a feeling of dread the days before the ultrasound and now I know why.
I think this was the hardest loss of all.

So in the end, I have two beautiful children I am blessed with. I have a beautiful daughter and and a beautiful son. I am blessed with them and my husband.

I know my four lost babies are safe in the arms of Jesus.
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1 Corinthians 1:26
For the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof.

Sunday song

Not To Us

by Chris Tomlin

The cross before me the world behind
No turning back, raise the banner high
It's not for me, it's all for You

Let the heavens shake and split the sky
Let the people clap their hands and cry
It's not for us, it's all for You


Not to us, but to Your Name be the glory
Not to us, but to Your Name be the glory

Our hearts unfold before Your throne
The only place for those who know
It's not for us, It's all for You

Send Your holy fire on this offering
Let our worship burn for the world to see
It's not for us, It's all for You

The earth is shaking, the mountains shouting
It's all for You
The waves are crashing, the sun is raging
It's all for You
The universe spinning and singing
It's all for You
The children dancing, dancing, dancing
It's all for You, It's all for You

My all for You
Not to us, but to Your Name be the glory
My all for You
Not to us, but to Your Name be the glory
My all for You
Not to us, but to Your Name be the glory
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2 John 1:6

And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.

Tiny baby hats

These are three tiny baby hats that I have made with the baby yarn.

The smallest one is 4 inches across, then 4.5 inches then 5.5 inches.

I am also making some a little bigger, they are half done right now.

A toolbox.........

A few years ago when our son was little, my husband bought this toolbox as a kit for the boy.

A couple days ago they finally got around to putting it together.

The little guy did most of the work with daddy supervising.

My son was so proud of his toolbox when he came into the house. He went right over to his tools and filled it up!!!

Friends

A year ago, we were out in Annapolis Maryland at my husbands 20th reunion at the Naval Academy.

The whole family went out and we had a good time.

While we were out there I was able to meet up with three women I had gotten to know through a message board. Yes, a message board.

A couple of these women I have known since before they had their babies. And I have seen one of them have a second baby.

To me, these women are true friends. Through thick and thin. It was a great pleasure to meet them all and their children.

And it's been a joy to see their children growing and changing and learning new things.

I am honored to call these three women friends.

So here's to Stacie, Viv, Angela and their children!!!

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for:

*my health, and the health of my family
*friends coming together to support one friend
*my husband and children
*My faith


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Psalm 118:24

24 This is the day the LORD has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.

Ponderings..

I've been in a bit of a funk the last few days. Plus I was sick Sunday.

Thankfully I am better and it didn't last long.

I've come to realize how fragile our lives on this earth are.

We aren't guaranteed to have a long and happy life and I believe there are few who do.

I belong to a message board that I have been a member of for quite some time but didn't post at much until this year. I know a lot of the women on the board from another board.

Recently one of the women has been diagnosed with a form of cancer. It is treatable.
It has just really hit home to me how fragile life really is.

This news has literally hit me like a ton of bricks.

This woman has many many people praying for her and supporting her.

If you remember, say a prayer for her.

Yeah, I know, I said stuff about message boards before, and I know there is no message board out there that is perfect. But, I've lived and learned about message boards. This message board is good.

October blanket

This blanket is made with Homespun "Cotton Candy". It is a bright hot pink and it's perfect for a little girl baby blanket.

It is 32x40.

A friend from bible study asked if I could make a blanket for her to give to someone and here it is!!

Sweetest day!!

Today is Sweetest day.

It brings back lots of memories.

I had not actually ever really heard of it until about 20 years or so ago.

My mom's cousin used to buy my Grandma, his aunt, a box of candy every Sweetest day.

We would almost always be visiting Grandma because we were off school. After I had my daughter, we would all go visit Grandma and she always had a box of Chocolates there.

Sometimes we even got our own treats from mom's cousin!!

It just brings back good and fun memories.

We don't celebrate it here and never have.

Here is some info about Sweetest Day:

Sweetest Day

A visitor to our yard!!

I happened to look out our back windows and saw this Red Tailed Hawk on a fence post.

It is huge!

We looked at it long enough to get pictures then it flew away to a tall pine tree.

Cartoons

These are cartoons from Australia.

Yarn......

I haven't bought yarn in a few months. But I bought some today.

What I needed was baby yarn to make the baby hats with. The yarn I was using was worsted weight and it's sort of too thick. It still works for the hats but I wanted to use actual baby yarn for them.

The little guy was with me and he helped me pick out the yarn!!

I think together we did a pretty good job. Blue for boys, pink for girls and some neutral colors. The color next to the green skein is actually white with multi colors in it. A neutral color.

Thankful Thursday

Another Thursday. Beautiful fall day here again.

I did my housecleaning yesterday so I could run some errands I don't normally run on Thursdays.

Today I am thankful for:
* my Husband--for working so hard for us and for bringing me dinner last night and for taking our son to Menards!!
* my little guy--he is such a joy!
* fresh food
* My daughter.
* fall days--my favorite time of year
* memories
* friendships--past, present and future. I am thankful for the people I have called friends throughout my life. I have learned valuable lessons from each and every one of them.
* for my faith in God and for His grace and mercy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zechariah 8:22
Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD.

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Posted by Pamela at 9:59 PM 0 comments
Labels: Thankful Thursda

Pregnancy and Infant loss remembrance day..........

On September 28, 2006, House Resolution # 222 was passed in the House of Representatives supporting the goals and ideals of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.

Please set aside a moment today to remember a baby you have lost.

I know a lot of women that have had pregnancy losses and sadly, infant losses.

Remember your friends who have lost too.

Here is the official site:

Pregnancy and infant loss

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jeremiah 1:5-10

5 “ Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you were born I sanctified you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

Baby hats..........

These are the baby hats I have been making. Each of them is a different pattern except for the pink and blue one. They are the same pattern, just different sizes.

I have enjoyed working on these and will continue to make more. They only take about an hour to make!

I am just using worsted weight yarn like Red Heart since I don't have any baby yarn right now.

I will be sending them to this organization for babies.

http://www.savethechildren.org/programs/health/child-survival/survive-to-5/knit-one-save-one.html

A shawl

This is another prayer Shawl I just finished.

It's for a friend of mine with three little girls. she lost her husband three years ago. We were talking about prayer shawls and I volunteered to make one for her.

She asked for green and I had this color, which is a favorite of mine.

It's Homespun and it's called "Country"

This shawl is huge. It is 101 inches long and 50 inches from neck to knees.

She can wrap her girls up too!!

Another visitor

This morning right before we were leaving for church, my little guy told me about the pheasant in the back yard.

So we looked at it for a minute then I grabbed the camera and got a picture.

It's a female and she walked around back there for a little bit. She was gone when we got home from church.

I love living out here, though I didn't when we were first married. I like the animals that visit us.

Sunday song

Mighty to save by Hillsong




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Titus 1:16


They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

A song for today

Old Days by Chicago

Old days
Good times I remember
Fun days
Filled with simple pleasures
Drive-in movies
Comic books and blue jeans
Howdy doody
Baseball cards and birthdays
Take me back
To a world gone away
Memories
Seem like yesterday

Old days
Good times I remember
Gold days
Days Ill always treasure
Funny faces
Full of love and laughter
Funny places
Summer nights and streetcars
Take me back
To a world gone away
Boyhood memories
Seem like yesterday

Old days - in my mind and in my heart to stay
Old days - darkened dreams of good times gone away
Old days - days of love and feeling fancy free
Old days - days of magic still so close to me
Old days - in my mind and in my heart to stay
Old days - darkened dreams of good times gone away
Old days - days of love and feeling fancy free
Old days - days of magic still so close to me

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for:
*my husband
*date nights
*My children
*yarn
*fall weather
*movies with a good message
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jonah 2:9
But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.

Fireproof

I highly recommend this movie to anyone!!

It had a great message and is just a good movie.

Fireproof

My husband and I had a date day.

We went to the matinee show and then out to dinner.

On the way home we stopped at church and dropped off the shawls.

God works in mysterious ways!! I met the leader of the ministry and she told me they had been praying for someone like me since their TWO crocheters had quit for health reasons!! So , we chatted and I left my shawls with them.

We had a wonderful day together.

A hat!!!

I made this baby hat!!! My first one ever. It's tiny for a newborn baby.

This is the organization that I will send the hats too when I make more.

http://www.savethechildren.org/programs/health/child-survival/survive-to-5/knit-one-save-one.html

I've been wanting to make hats for babies for charity for a long time. I also have several other patterns I plan on using.

Debt

In April my husband and I decided to get out of debt. Really get out of debt including the house payment.

We decided to take Dave Ramsey's approach with the debt snowball and it is working and we are very excited.

My husband is facilitating the FPU class at our church and we have been attending for 4 weeks now. It is a 14 week course. There are about 35 people in our class so far, with a few joining late.

So far, since April, we have paid off twenty-two thousand dollars in debt.
It hasn't been easy and at first it really was no fun.

But we had to do it the way we did to change our habits. We used to think nothing of going out and spending 80 dollars on dinner then spending another 200-300 hundred on stuff.

We quit our free spending, didn't go out to eat, and starting thinking about where our money was going and what we were doing with our money.

Along with not spending my husband has been working overtime.

We have paid off two credit cards, purchased a new refrigerator, had an expensive vet bill and paid off my car!!

This month we have finally started a full budget. Every dollar has a name to it and we have a restaurant budget!!

It's a good feeling to know we are digging out of the mess we made.

Here are some interesting things about debt:
*Our grandparents didn't have debt or credit cards
*our parents may have have a credit card
*our generation has multi debt and credit cards
*the first credit card was Diners Club and it was started in NY City in 1950
(my dad had a diners club credit card!!)
*Bankamericard and American Express were created in 1958
*Visa came on the scene in 1976!!! (this was my first Credit card!)
*Discover card started in 1986 and was owned by Sears until they sold it.

We live above our means in this country and people wonder why they don't have money!!

We are well on our way of getting totally out of debt now and we are extremely happy about it!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Proverbs 22:7 (Contemporary English Version)
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

The poor are ruled by the rich,
and those who borrow
are slaves of moneylenders.

Sunday song

Thy Word by Amy Grant

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet
And a light unto my path.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet
And a light unto my path.

When I feel afraid,
And think Ive lost my way.
Still, you're there right beside me.
Nothing will I fear
As long as you are near;
Please be near me to the end.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet
And a light unto my path.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet
And a light unto my path.

I will not forget
Your love for me and yet,
My heart forever is wandering.
Jesus by my guide,
And hold me to your side,
And I will love you to the end.

Nothing will I fear
As long as you are near;
Please be near me to the end.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet
And a light unto my path.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet
And a light unto my path.
And a light unto my path.
You're the light unto my path.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Psalm 70:4
Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified.

Isaiah 40:8
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

Baking soda....

Something so simple to make me happy!! LOL

I went to Trader Joe's today. I don't go there often since it is so far away.

Imagine my joy when I came across this baking soda, in a resealable container like my baking powder.

I have never seen it before today and was quite happy to find this.

It has always bothered me that my baking soda didn't come in a resealable package and often I have wondered if it wasn't as fresh as it could be.

Now I don't have to wonder.

It's sometimes just the small things that can make someone happy!

October blanket

Again it's not a blanket but a shawl!!

I'm having fun making these.

This one is made with Homespun "Tudor". I like how it self stripes.

It is 74 inches wide by 35 inches "long".

Talking with a friend

I was talking with a friend, a real friend yesterday about message boards.

She said that she is missing something that never was.

She is right, she and I are mourning something that never really was.

In the beginning it might have been the community we mourn but in the end, it really didn't exist.

And maybe it never did!!

Thankful Thursday

Another Thursday here. It's definitely fall with the cool weather.

Don't forget to checkout TT on my sidebar!!

Today I am thankful for:

*new eyeglasses
*that my little guy is so good at the dentist
*budgets
*days off
*changing leaves
*Gods love

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Isaiah 40:8
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

Ephesians 2:8
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God

Eyeglasses

I've really been depressed about my eyes for the last couple of years.

I love to read. I used to read at least two books a week.

I first got glasses when I was 30 years old. I only needed them to drive with and I could really drive perfectly fine without them, I still can.

It's just the reading part.

Today I had my yearly eye exam and I had a talk with the eye doctor about my glasses and my reading. He came up with a wonderful solution that practically guarantees I will be reading more.

See, last year I needed to get "progressive" lenses. That's a new name for bifocal glasses.

I ordered them, got them and just couldn't get used to them at all. In the year I have had them I barely wear them, only to drive and if I am working with crochet thread instead of yarn, or needlepointing. And I still couldn't get used to them.

At the doctor today, the assistant and the doctor both explained it to me after I told them what my issues were.

When they make "progressive" lenses, they don't go from side to side on the glasses. They are just like a half circle. Well, that really only works if you move your head from side to side when you read!!

I am not a head mover. I am an eye mover so the glasses weren't working for me!!

I was so relieved to hear this. The solution?? To get new half glasses where the lens is the WHOLE glass.

So, in essence, these are called "granny" glasses.

And I don't care!!!

All I care about is that I will enjoy reading again!!!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!