Camera Fun

Ta Da!

His First Point...More or Less

Bode (I hope you are remembering to pronounce it as "Bodie".) is a Hungarian Vizsla and he was bred to hunt.  Vizsla's are in the hunter/pointer group.  I was told that he would eventually point, even though we won't be taking him hunting I thought that would be cool to see.

Well, last night I got to see him actually do his first point, although it was incredibly brief.  He'd been following his prey around for several HOURS...really.  He was so  focused!  It was very apparent that he was serious about stalking.  This was not his usual puppy play.

He'd spy his prey and slink forward, ever so quietly.  He'd hold a position for a LOOOONG time and then creep forward a bit at a time.    I grabbed the camera and snapped, too soon.  Then I saw him kind of stretch forward, his tail (what's left of it) pointing straight behind, a front paw then pulled up...  I grabbed the camera again... too late.  He sprang out of it so quickly!  As you see, I got him as he tried to pounce on his prey.  I'm guessing he isn't quite mature enough yet to hold it too long but it was something beautiful to see!

All this great hunting occurred in our living room.  You see, his prey was a house fly!

I Don't Know What I Think of This

The other night, shortly after supper, a knock came on our door.  When I answered it, I found a young man, college age, standing there with a stack of books.  He told me he was earning money for college in the fall.

(In the interest of full disclosure, this is NOT my door, nor does it look anything like my door...but I like this door quite a lot.)

The first book he showed me was a cookbook.  I politely looked through it a bit as he talked.  It was a nice book with lovely pictures and great nutritional facts.  However, I told him I was not interested as I had a stack of cookbooks.

He then showed me several other books, all religious.  I recognized some of them.  I told him my husband was my pastor and that I had access to a lot of theological books.  He said, "Well, let me show you one you maybe don't have access to."  It was a book with a lot of prophesy in it, he told me.  I finally just point blank asked him what church he was with.  He told me and I told him I really wasn't interested.  He politely thanked me for my time and gave me one of their pamphlets as a "free gift".

After he left, I pondered my reaction to this visit.  What do you think of it?  Even if I don't believe quite the same as him, I didn't mind that he wanted to share his belief.  He was polite when I declined his sales pitch.  I think what bothers me is that his schpeel started out rather deceptive, acting as though he was selling a cookbook to earn college money.  It became very obvious that was just part of the ploy to expose me to his religious beliefs.  Hmmm.... 

I just don't know what I think.  What do you think about this technique?  I'll be anxious to read your comments.

Happy Birthday, Ben!

Our middle child and first son, Ben, was born 26 years ago today.  He was such a fun child to raise!  Ben was all about adventure and there were NO dull moments in his childhood!

Ben was a quaint little kid.  Once, after falling down outside when running, he asked me to make a "no running" rule.  I declined and he cried, "Then this sort of thing is going to just keep happening!"  This picture was taken after he'd broken his arm falling from a piece of playground equipment.  I guess I should have made a rule about that.

Ben's first dog was Chloe.  They were so cute together!

I always thought he was a particularly handsome little boy!

This was an adventure that went askew.  He was stuck in the roll-away!  Although I was horrified when I found him, realizing he could've slipped further and suffocated, I still stopped long enough to snap a photo.  What kind of mother does that?!

Ben LIVED to climb.  At age 2 he asked me, during church, if he could climb the walls after the service as they had some interesting indentations and such.  At age 6 he got into some trouble for climbing on top of a library!  Yikes!

Ben loved his siblings.  I especially liked watching him teach Sam (8 years younger) how to do things such as play Nintendo.  And Ben always deferred to Maria (4 years older) on important issues.  He sometimes referred to her as his other mother.

Ben grew up into a nice looking young man as well.  He has a grown-up job...

grown-up responsibilities...

and a beautiful wife...

...Who made a 2 day drive with him to surprise me when I was in the hospital last summer.

But he's still my sweet little boy!

I thank God I am Ben's mother!  He has enhanced our lives more than he knows!

A Day Off

I wrote out an entire post this morning.  I didn't like it. 

So, I decided to take the day off.

See you tomorrow!

Did I Cross The Line?

When Peace, like a River

When Peace, like a River,

attendeth my way;

When sorrows, like sea billows, roll;

Whatever my lot,

thou has taught me to say,

It is well, it is well

with my soul.

Text: Horatio G. Spafford, 1828-1888

Tune: Philip P. Bliss, 1838-1876

I Can't Help Myself

I really, really love water.  It calls to me! Yesterday I returned to the dam with the overflow waterfall, along with my friend, Diane.  We explored the canyon below as well.  Wyoming has a lot of beauty!  The day was sparkling and we both felt refreshed and grateful.  The pelicans were especially fun!  Maybe the pictures will give you a little break from routine as well.

Please check back tomorrow for one more river photo. 

 I'm saving the best for the last!

The Power and the Glory!

Happy Anniversary to Maria and Eric

Once upon a time, well 10 years ago...

As a parent, one of the things you hope for is that your children will be surrounded by love.  To see our daughter cherished by this young man is a beautiful thing.  You should see the admiration and respect in her eyes at she looks at him still today.

Happy Anniversary to Maria and Eric, a great team!

The Tale of the Poor Little Flower

I have three of these matching planters out on our deck.  I planted four flowers in each and am waiting for them to fill out.  I think they'll be lovely.

However, last night I found one of the pots looking like this...

It may be hard to see but there are only three flowers.  The one on the left had been pulled out!  I found it lying on the deck and quickly replanted it, watering it tenderly.  I had hope for its recovery.   I did not see who did this evil deed so I won't name names.

Today I went out and found that the same poor little plant had once again been uprooted. 

It's poor little pitiful body was lying nearby.

The situation didn't look so hopeful this time.

Nevertheless, I couldn't help but try it again. 

Would it be wrong to put this little guy on the prayer chain?

I will keep you posted.

Bummer Day for Bumblebee

Bumblebee, one of our grandogs (or is it with 2 d's...granddogs?) came by for a visit yesterday.  She belongs to our daughter and son-in-law.  See here to understand how loved this pooch is...  http://maria-rose.blogspot.com/2008/03/good-gravy.html      Anyway, she and our new pup, Bode (Be sure to pronounce it Bodie even if it is just in your head.) play together and have a good time. 

Yesterday, though things went bad.  I wasn't home at the time and don't really know what happened but the result was that Bumblebee ended up with a torn nail.  I don't mean that the nail was chipped.  The nail was tearing away from her foot.  Mike was here and had to deal with it.  There was blood.  It was apparent that a trip to the vet was necessary.  Mike took her in and as it turned out, the vet had to give Bumblebee anesthesia in order to do a little surgery! 

I was the one who picked her up from the vet.  She was all excited and jumped up to greet me.  Actually, she did that several times, which surprised me since she was wounded.  Apparently she finally realized that fact, quit jumping, and limped out to the car where she insisted that I needed to lift her in.  Poor Bum.

I don't know if you've been around Basset Hounds much but they often have droopy eyes.  Bumblebee's really aren't too much that way but something about anesthesia makes her eyes look really red and weird.  I don't think she'd mind if I showed you a picture.   Doesn't she look sad?  Really, she isn't.  She perked up and played and ate normally, so don't be worried.  She sporting a cool new bandage!

I hope you heal up quickly, Miss Bumblebee!

Bode's Slide Ride

Come Holy Spirit

image from: stchristophermv.org

Come, gracious Spirit, heav'nly dove,

With light and comfort from above.

Come, be our guardian and our guide;

O'er every thought and step preside.

The Light of truth to us display

And make us know and choose your way;

Plant holy fear in every heart,

That we from God may ne'er depart.

Lead us to Christ, the living way,

Nor let us from his pastures stray;

Lead us to holiness, the road

That we must take to dwell with God.

Lead us to heav'n, that we may share

Fullness of joy forever there;

Lead us to our eternal rest,

To be with god forever blest.

text: Martin Luther

Tune: Erfurt, 1524

Come to Me

33 years ago today Mike sang this song, one he wrote, as I walked down the aisle toward him...

COME TO ME

I woke up this morning and I thanked my Lucky Star

That I get to know and love this person that you are

I opened up my window and the wind walked right in

Blowing warm and gentle so soft upon my skin

It reminded me of you and the way you love to please

You're flowing ever faithful, you're the whispering of peace

chorus:

Come to me, you're my serenity

Lay me down in understanding, Lift me up along my way

To walk with you into this day

Come to me for an eternity

Your spirit and mine

Another day has come to pass, another step into my life

Another passenger has coming aboard to be my loving wife

You sure can wait a long time for the seasonn to be right

And you can watch the stars above

You can wish with all your might

But I'll place my bet on true love

It's the kind that comes to stay

It holds on in the darkness, it lights the brand new day

25 years later he wrote...

I Want To Go On With You

chorus: I want to go on with you

That's what my headlines say

That's my big news today

I want to go on with you

Through the good times, through the trials

I wanna walk the future miles with you

I want to go on with you

I'm lookin back now on all our time

I'm reminiscing and I guess that's fine

In fact, that's what I want to do

I want a chance just to say

That I've had many good days with you

I want to journey here some more

And dance upon life's floor with you.

chorus

I'm hoping that these words are okay

But I think I know you feel the same way

You have really been good for me

I know I'm a better man

 You have helped me understand what's true

So I need to say thankful words

For my life's been stirred by you.

Mike, I'm so grateful that I've had all these years with you. 

I still find you fascinating! 

I am so very grateful for our time together. 

You are a good man and I love sharing this life with you!  

Happy Anniversary!

  (Go to this site for these and other Mike Struck originals.)  http://origin.cdbaby.com/cd/mikestruck 

Underestimating Children

Do you think we underestimate children?  I do.  I don't believe we should expect a child to think as an adult or anything.  I don't think we need to be stressing our children by trying to stuff them with knowledge.  However, I know that I've been guilty of not explaining or teaching things to children just because I underestimated their ability to learn.

Maria and Eric have been showing letters to Cordy for a long time.  She has books that show "a" is for apple and such.  Maria said she'd recently been writing Cordelia's name and Cordy said it.  Maria, realizing Cordy now recognized her own name, tried teaching our names to her.  I didn't know anything about this and when they were over to our place, Maria wrote this...

Maria then said, "Where's Mama's name?" and continued on in random order.  Cordelia was successful at identifying (by pointing) at each word.  You can see how Maria marked under the p and m in our titles, which I thought was clever, helping Cordy see the difference.  Maria did not claim that Cordelia was reading or anything, but it was pretty cool to see that she was recognizing words.  She's only 20 months old, and I'm sure I wouldn't have thought to try that yet.  I would have underestimated her ability to learn this.  The important part of this is that Cordelia was proud of herself; it was a fun experience for her.  She also let us know when she was done performing as well!

This picture doesn't really have anything to do with this post. 

It was taken last month.

I just like to put up pictures of that sweet smile.

Give me a break!  I'm a grandma!





Edify!

Edify, this is a very important word to me.  It goes through my head a lot.  Sometimes it really annoys me.

(from firstcal.org)

The definition of edify includes "to build up, to construct, to strengthen a person" as well as "to inform or enlighten intellectually or spiritually." (from dictionary.reference.com)  When I consider if something is edifying or not, I ask myself if any good can come from it.

I suppose you wonder why such a nice word can be annoying.  Well, sometimes I just want to say stuff, whatever I'm thinking.  It may be something that would classify as gossip or it may be something just a little bit mean.  Why do I want to say things like that?  I don't know, but sometimes I just do.   I'm not proud of it but there it is.  It may be something like, "Hey, have you gained weight?" or "Did you hear that so-and-so cheated on his wife?"  It is even possible to SOUND sweet when you say it.

(from Kerripom.com)

Also, if you say "bless her heart" after such a comment, it's ok, right?

WRONG.  WRONG.  WRONG.

Usually the word "edify" comes to mind when I take time to think before I speak.  I'm guessing the Holy Spirit is responsible for that.  I'll have these little brakes screeching in my head and I find myself thinking, against my will, "Is this edifying?"  Rats!  I am usually, but not always, able to stop myself from blabbering out the non-edifying thoughts. 

On the flip side, sometimes I find myself thinking edifying thoughts about someone but don't make the effort to share those thoughts with them.  I'm trying to notice when I DO have an edifying thought so that I may pass it on.  Even that can be difficult.  Maybe they will think I am a weirdo.  What if they think I am trying to butter them up or think I am being phoney? 

I have to say, though, I've yet to get a bad reaction when I pass on an edifying thought to someone.  It might be one-on-one or it might be saying something edifying in front of a group, but it needs to be said.  This world can be dark and scarey, but we are called to be bright lights of hope, letting Jesus shine from the inside out.  We are to encourage and build-up others.

(from Centralaz.com)



                    Maybe striving for an attitude of edification is where it all starts.

                                   This is a link to a post on a blog I enjoy.
          http://loveinactionjourney.blogspot.com/2011/06/speaking-up-loud-clear.html 
            Janine elegantly writes on this subject.  You could say it is an edifying post. 

So, now you know about being edifying.  Now you know why sometimes I look like I have a little struggle going on in my head as I am questioning myself, "Will this be edifying in any way?"  What are your thoughts on the subject?  Does edification come easily to you?  Tell me about ways you've found you can be edifying.