Christmas projects? You want Christmas projects!!

Started these Christmas/concert cloths numerous weeks ago, and the boys looked good in them. They were very excited at concert time, as it was Hans' first one. He spoke very clearly and Judas was proud to be in every play.

Seeing this brings me to tears of thanksgiving at the Wonderful Artist who has touched up my window pain after I tried to touch up mine for Him below. It makes me think of His humility coming into the world as a baby. It is about 2 inches wide and I compared it to my huge, flashy, colorful one that I spent a few hours on. His is small, simple, and delicate...but oh my! Take a closer look and see the detail and the sparkle that the sun works into it, and it's like a miracle. The same thing happens when we examine his coming to earth more fully, it's a miracle. This story is the most incredible one I have ever heard and I never tire of hearing it, the virgin birth, angels, wise men, prophet, priest and all. It is simply wonderful!!

Just for Me

From rich to poor

From being The Helper to being helpless

From King to peasant

From honor to humility

From royal robes to nakedness

From glory to wretchedness

From peace to turmoil

From strength to weakness

From ruler to servant

From righteousness to sinner

Just for me

-Nelda Baer

This is one of my projects, these gloves are gifts for my sons and little nephews and nieces. They are studded with diamonds and the inside is cammo for the boys. The leather is imitation, but I had a great time making them.

These are also gifts for the families that I love. We also made these type of sides for the lanterns that we made for our Christmas craft project. It would have a candle burning inside it to make it glow, where as these glow from the sunlight.

This is my front window this year, it turned out a bit on the pale side...but we are enjoying it nun the less. It says "Arise and shine for your light has come." Is. 60

Merry Christmas Friends and God bless you all!!

For Katie, Wingham

Heavenly Joy

You could only see her when the weather was good

And then, just like the sun, she would come out to light up our world.

Bright, happy, full of jolly chit-chat

You could always count on her to let you know that she loved you

By her kind gestures...

a pat on the shoulder...

a touch of her soft old hand...

a whisper in your ear...

a comment or two of her memories.

She left behind some tearful folks

Who long to see her again

But somehow it's easier to let her go

When we picture her enjoying her heavenly rest

From the way she lived her life,

We know that her joy will go on,

Become greater and more full.

-Nelda Baer

Butterfly Grove 09

I'll never forget stopping at the entrance of Butterfly Grove this year soon after my Birthday in April. Rodney had put up the swing in my absence and I just stood there breathing in the invitation to fellowship that an empty park bench always gives me. I was there with my sister Melissa and I feasted my eyes and heart, reveling in its beauty.

Rod and I have this thing about me being a month older then he is. I always tease him that I'm boss until he catches up with me, so I have the pants on from April to June and have the privilege of having my requests granted for a while. This year I asked him to please have the swing ready for my birthday, and it was so.

I have the sweetest memories of that place to count thanks to Rodney and his kindness. The first of them being the time when the three apple trees at the center of the grove began blooming in the spring. I remember sitting there listening to the oodles of bees buzzing in the bright sunlight. Then a week later watching as the petals fell much like snowflakes softly to the ground.

Those few weeks that Melissa was here, also in the spring, she got me all interested in the many kinds of birds she found back there. Chickadees, Song Sparrows, Red Wings, just to name a few of the more common ones. We would sit with the binoculars and chat.

After the garden was full of plants, generously given to me by Susie the gardener and her daughter, there were the night sights. June brings the most beautiful lightning bug show you could possibly wish for. Rodney and I would sit on the swing and watch them come and go on moonlit nights.

Having the pleasure to bring Dora back there was one of the highlights of the year as well. We both brought an instrument along and let that music lift us. We climbed the huge old oak tree with it's reaching branches, and caught up on the last 15 years.

Now being fall, there is something very special to me there that I haven't ever seen before - a squirrel. He scurries and scampers to grab some of the apples that are covering the ground right under the swing. You sit there and hear a "plop" ever so often as the apples fall, but the squirrel has the tree branches loaded with half eaten ones. He chirps and fusses and seems busy as anyone at harvest time, it is a delight to watch.

I'm also very pleased that the Winghammers have taken a shine to the place. There is always someone there and it has been suggested that we should have a guest book to sign there, or find and way for people to book it. This is music to my ears as that is what it is intended for.

I FOUND DORA!!!

Look who I found! A great person I met in the east when I was there in about 1993 for 6 weeks. Dora Alexander is someone I never forgot and have been asking about ever sense then. We got in contact through the McAdam family in Crystal Spring and had a short visit there about a month ago.

It was wonderful to see her again, and getting to know more about her is a pleasure. We are communicating and she has awakened that artistic part of me again, that seems to have died sense I was hospitalized 5 years ago. She helped me see that being an artist isn't just turning out a painting ever so often, but a way to live. Getting every bit of juice out of every sweet moment that we live on earth.

Doesn't she just sparkle?? This is one beautiful woman and I'm so glad that we could get in touch. She sent me a butterfly all the way from South Amarica, it is just too beautiful!!
Sorry about the no show pictures. Need new batteries.

Delishious Dirt

Judas' Birthday was a few weeks ago and I made a big fuss about dirt, that was the theme of the party anyway. We had a muddy tug of war in the water filled sandbox and his side won. There was a prise for the most warms found and the best mud sculpture. We were almost rained out but it came down just after presents were opened and the food was consumed. Lucky. We had planned to have a sleepover and a swim with the boys after the party, but had to postpone that for the day after when things dried out.

I made a delicious dirt desert and put a worm on every cupcake and topped it off with ice tea (muddy water) with gummy worms crawling at the bottom. It was great fun!!

JBK is growing into a fairly responsible young man, he is very helpful and kind hearted, just like his Papa. He is mastering his reading skills at 7 and has a good handle on his math as well. The kids are taking some more swimming lessons at Southport and I call him 'The Fish' to boost his confidence.

There is one thing that I'm struggling to teach him as he is smack dab in the "Me" stage and that is being good or doing good not just because someone is watching or praising him. I'm working on having him doing his best just because God sees everything we do. It's not as simple to a 7 year old as it sounds, but I can see the progress in his taking some of the responsibility of caring for himself and others when no one is around.

He listens to an endless array of stories that build his character and I sure knot his responses to some traets like honesty and caring even when he is the center of his world for now.

I was pondering yesterday as I watched my sons giggling and eating their night lunch out on the porch in their PJ's that if this was the only blessing I ever had, being the mother of two beautiful boys, it would be all I'd ever need to know happiness.

Last season pics

Not Cronologic

Boys in winter

New additions to family


Bench at park that Rod made for my birthday.

Had very special friends over for my birthday, they brought me bright tulips and carnations. It was my aunt Lana and her two beautiful daughters, Sonya and Debra.

Slapped a cake together for B-day.

These are my two treasures.
Thanks Deb for the pic

Boys at my house got me some flowers for Mothers Day.

Elisha play at the school.

Sonya this is for you, who helped make the alter.

Happy with it??

Look what I found!

WWOOOWW!! Ask God for a little wisdom and He just pores it on you. You have to read this if the past post spoke to you in any way. It is a quiz as to how humble we are in our relationships. My friend and cousen Selma always talked about brokenness and I never really know that it was just another word for humility. Here is the link.