of graduations, postponed carnivals and grape salad

Last night was our baby girls graduation party.

Yes, I have shed a few tears.

It is hard for me to believe that we are at the end of another child's home school journey.

It is hard for me to believe that she is done.

I truly am not sure where the time has gone.

But it has.

We had a whole passel of special people over to celebrate this landmark
in our precious third child's life. Including a dear friend of hers who flew in from Alabama to spend this special time with her and all of us.

She even got to skype with her bestie from Tanzania.
:)

She is our middle, middle,
Third of Five.
Laid back as they come.

Sweet as pie and twice as nice.
And I don't just say that 'cuz I'm her momma.

You can ask anyone.
:)

Each one of our children is precious to us, for obvious,
and not so obvious reasons.

Our daughter, Candice, is a joy.
She is sweet, kind, lovely, gentle and even tempered.

I actually have a post I am working on, dedicated just to her, along with pictures,
pictures and more pictures.

I have a lot to say to her.

And about her...
and not the time
(or the tissues)
to put it all down right now.

But I have to say how very much we love her, and how very proud we are of her.

I love you, Candice Marie!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, for the postponed carnival

Today our "end of the school year" Home school carnival
was planned to be held at Chasity's and Daniel's house.

It was going to be stupendous.

Spectacular.

Super di duper!

They have both done a tremendous amount of work preparing and creating
fun~filled activities sure to delight!

It was going to be one amazing day.

Alas...the weather had other plans that did not include a fabulosa carnival...

rain,
drizzle,
and more rain.

***sigh***

Disappointed kiddos and adults.

We have all been looking forward to this carnival for weeks; the fun and fellowship,
and then the cook out/ potluck that was to follow.
Not to mention the beginning of summer break.
What?
Home school momma's need a break too!
:)

The good news is, it will be re-scheduled for a week or two from this Saturday,
so all is not lost.
(Small consolation to our little ones.)

The accidental good news is, we get to eat grape salad TWICE...
since I already made if before the aforementioned super duper carnival was postponed, and I will make it again when it's time for the real deal.

This salad is AMBROSIA.
It is a favorite of Chasity's, Shauna's and mine.

yum.

We first had it at a church potluck supper.
None of us thought that it looked good...brown sugar and grapes...
um, I don't think so.

We were WRONG.

You gotta try this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grape Salad
8 oz. whipped cream cheese (Too pricey for me; I just whip 8oz. of regular crm. chz.)
8 oz. sour cream
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cool whip
1 tsp. vanilla

1 bag green grapes (not really sure how many that is...I just guess)
1 bag seedless red grapes (see above, and yes I have accidentally bought seeded)

Mix first five ingredients until smooth.
Wash and halve grapes.
Seed them, or see if your sweet graduate and her friend will do it.
:)
Turn grapes gently into mixture.

Topping:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
2 tbsp. melted butter

Mix together with fork and sprinkle over grape salad.
Press down and create "seal" with topping.
Can be eaten immediately or refrigerated and served the next day.

Sooo yummy!
You don't need dessert with this on the dinner table!

Love to you all.
Have a wonderful LORD's Day.

~m

One girl's treasure...

(mine, that is)

Just might be called "junk" by aforementioned auction~goers hubby.
***sigh***

Fellas.

But we girlie~girls had a wonderful day off!
(Ahem, the fellas, not pictured here, had a day off too, but it did
not include any auction purchases.)
We all needed a day off.
Too much...um...everything lately...

It was a perfectly, perfect day for an auction.
And I went.
All. Day. Long.
I am one happy mamma.
I "heart" auctions, oh yes I do.

Vintage linens, vintage children's toys,
antique furniture just screaming for a coat of white paint,
galvanized washtubs crying out for ice and cold drinks at your daughters upcoming graduation,
vintage cameras and camera cases, antique luncheon sets,
big ol' barrels that have to be good for something,
vintage sewing supplies...spools and spools of cotton thread wrapped on real wooden spools...
and OOOHHH the buttons...
and the cutest tin shabby white hamper with pink roses, EVER!

I could write so much more about today. The sights, sounds and smells of an auction are story telling worthy, let me tell you...Like my new found friend, Don.

He is 82,
loves auctions like me,
goes to the very same office as I do to receive radiation treatments for cancer,
takes oxycodon for pain, like my hubby,
lives just a few blocks away from my sweet daughters family.
Is crazy about his kids, grandkids and great grandkids.
(Like me, minus the greats, though once I have them, I'm sure I'll be crazy about them too)
It's a small world.
He is a widow that loves to chat with strangers and make new friends (moi)
and he doesn't have a church home.
I hope to talk to Don more very soon.

It was odd that on this, my day off, I could not help but ponder how many of the hundreds of people there might have been battling cancer too.
Some that might know it, and some not yet even diagnosed.

More sobering to me, the thought that, most likely, many were in a worse condition spiritually, lost in sin, but not even realizing their need for the Great Physician.
It is easy to chat small talk.
Why does it take such effort to turn the talk to God and Church?
Just a reminder for me to be trying harder,
to be more aware all the time of what really matters.

It was a good day.
Maybe I will write more later, but tonight, I am tired and heading to bed.
I just had to post a few pics.
:)

More to come once I clean up my junk, ***ahem***,
(cough cough)
I mean treasures.
Can you say ***Happiness***?
Have a wonderful Lord's Day!
~m

Etsy Shoppe and Coupon

Welcome to my Shoppe! I'm Deborah Marie and I'm so glad you stopped by!

I love God, my family, antiquing, auctions, junking, primitives, all things vintage, sewing, decorating and crafting!

My style is a mixture of Farmhouse~meets~shabby~funky~junk~loving anything white.

I love feminine and girly, oh yes I do! I'm hoping to make a lot more clothing soon...lovely layered skirts for the littles.

I hope you enjoy some of my vintage finds incorporated into beautiful vintage inspired and hand made goods!

Take a look around, if you feel inspired to make something similar, hooray for you! Crafting is inspiring and I love getting inspiration from other muses myself! If you see something in your budget that is oh-so-you, or a perfect gift for a friend or loved one, feel free to shop!

Warm wishes and happy shopping!

Free shipping this month only!

coupon code is:LOVINGSPRING

I'm excited and hopeful! Enjoy!

Warmly,
m.

Mother's Day, Meanderings and Motivation

I'm afraid this might be a rambling post...

I know. I know.

That may strike fear in some of your hearts as I tend to put out some purdy long posts as it is.

Bwahaha!

But at least you are not a captive audience.
You can always click that little "X" up there and walk away.
Or if you have a few minutes,
you might pour yourself a nice cup of hot tea...
or hot cocoa,
maybe a glass of lemonade if it's a scorcher in your neck of the woods...
curl up in your favorite spot on the couch with your laptop,
or cozy up in your computer chair and sit a while.

Just a lot of this and that in my head.
A few things to say.
Nothing particularly important.
Just some ramblings about a lot of different things lately.
Random tidbits,
happy memories,
plans for the future,
Hopes for tomorrow,
contented thoughts about today...
wow...
I'm even rambling about rambling...
nice.
:)

Our beautiful start to this LORD's day, began with Worship of course.
Made all the sweeter to me, because my dear hubby hobbled his way
to services with us.
It was painful, but he is one tough cookie.
And he went back with us tonight too.
Thankfully, every day he is making progress.
We go back to the surgeon this Friday to get the bandages off and staples out...eek.
He is hopeful that we can stop giving him his nightly Lovinox shots in the stomach.
Blood. Clot. Prevention.
Yep.

He has given some serious thought as to how dying from a blood clot might not be so bad.

Probably not just ONE of the worst parts of this broken leg dilemma,
but THE worst...

Hubby is needle phobic.

I am not on his most favorite people lists for at least a few minutes of every day.
But we are getting by...

but onto Mother's Day!

My Mother's day actually started Saturday night, when Josh got home from work.
We were all busy wrestling a bed out of his old room
(that he is still in)
that we had moved out of his new room
(so I could paint)
when he got home from work...that is another story...
but really, you don't have that much time...(and hubby is a callin' me...)

After it was moved and the huffing and puffing had subsided, I sailed into the kitchen
to point out how lovely it was to look out the kitchen door at the beautiful,
newly sided exterior wall...
Then when I turned around, I saw this breathtaking bouquet of
multi-colored roses on the table.

The kiddos had a good laugh at my expense for missing this gi-normous bouquet,
in my haste to point out the work Robert and Dustin had accomplished, while Josh was at work (besides all the painting that Candice and I accomplished...I love productive days!)

Ahem.
O.k.
On to today.
(which by the time you read this will be yesterday.)

Purdy Pictures

This is the beautiful Mother's Day bouquet that my super duper children
plotted,
planned
and purchased.
***happy sigh****
I do love those chilluns of mine!
Not to mention purdy flowers!

I sure wish I was better at snapping family pictures.
Ashley and Nathan and our sweet grandblessings, Angelbaby and Sugarbear all came over today.
The whole brood back in the nest for a day.
Happiness. Pure. And. Simple.

I do love having all my chicks and grand chicks under my wings.

But, did I snap one single, solitary photo of that sweet crew?
Nope.
Nada.
As in Not One.
Tonight (hence the lighting not being sooo great) I thunk to snap some
pictures of these BE-UTE-I-FUL flowers...
but my kiddos...
sigh...


I am down right partial to family! I know with every cell of my being how blessed I am to have my dear hubby and sweet children. Every day they are more precious to me...
I'll get to some more thoughts about counting our blessings and focusing on today in a minute...
I warned you it would be rambly.

Anyway...
We decided, yesterday, that the perfect Mother's Day would include carry out pizza on paper plates and a nap some time in the day.

Mission Accomplished!

After stuffing our faces (and tummies) with stuffed crust pizza,
I cozied up with those little babies and read some stories upstairs in our study.
Then, I settled in our comfy, white, over pillowed bed with my sweet grand blessings.
Just in case you didn't know: A nap with your grand babies is PURE BLISS.

Did I mention the day included flowers?
Yep!

So it was a perfectly lovely day.
I couldn't have asked for better.
While we girls all napped in various cozy locations, the fellas played Kansasopoly.
(Well, thankfully, poor, broken legged hubby napped also. This was a long day for him.)
Then we visited some more, snacked a little more,
laughed a lot and listened to a little music.Tonight, after evening worship, hubby relaxed and propped up his leg a bit
while Candice and I got a nice walk in and the boys went for a short bike ride with Josh while he ran.

It was the perfect Springtime evening walk.

Every time Chasity, Shauna and I would run, we always talked about how God rewarded us with something beautiful in His nature for us to see, hear or enjoy.
Many a run we spotted vibrant, indigo buntings, always flitting right ahead of us as we ran.
Songbirds, deer, rainbows, heron, sunsets (alas...not to many sunrises in our running history), owls, bats, butterflies...always something beautiful.

Tonight was no different.
As Candice and I set off down our gravel road the cool of the evening almost sang a springtime lullaby to us both. Without sounding downright daft, nature is enthralling to me. I often feel wrapped in a cocoon of contentment and calming peace when I walk or run down our little country road.
As we walked we talked. We listened to each other and the lovely sounds around us, and we just soaked in the beautiful gift of this spring evening.

There was a sweet smell, like honeysuckle, already on the gentle breeze, with a tangy whiff of cedar every now and then. We talked about her upcoming graduation as we heard an owl calling from the tree tops and the peepers chirruped to us every step of the way.

I have three favorite sounds in nature.
Frogs singing.
Owls hooting.
and my most favorite of all...
the tender~sweet call of the whippoorwill.

As we huffed and puffed our way up the big hill, we caught sight of a bat...
then another,
and then one more.

Then we heard the first cicadas singing their summertime chorus with the frogs...but the best was yet to come.

As we made our way home,
the first sweet notes of a whippoorwill drifted to our ears.
Then we heard another, then another as their song followed us all the way home.

I can't put into words how moved I feel when I hear this simple creature singing.
It moves me deeply, unexpectedly every time I hear one call.
I don't care if you call me sappy.
It overwhelms me, but in a good way.

It is another reminder that I am
blessed above measure.

Thankful.

Grateful for another day with my husband,
with my children,
and grandchildren,
in our home here in the country.
Thankful to enjoy another Spring.
Another evening.

Focused on today and so thankful for it.

It is liberating to shake off tomorrow.

Box it up.

Put it aside.

Save it for tomorrow...when it will be today.

But today, just focus on today.

I've not mastered it yet.

But each day that I do,
as worry or wondering creeps in,
and I am able to stop it,
and leave tomorrow right where it belongs...
and bring my focus back to today,
it's like a heavy, heavy burden lifts off of my shoulders.

Liberating is the best word I can come up with.

It's so easy to borrow trouble worrying about things that may never come to pass,
or about things we can not change in the past,
or that are beyond our control in the future.

God wants something better for us.

His plan is one of peace.

No matter what is going on.
No matter how deep the pain and suffering.

He wants us to be Peaceful.

Content to live in today.

I love days that I get this.

I hope to get this more often.

Not just on easy days like today,
where I see all these blessings right in my face.
But on the cloudy days too.
The life is hard in your face days.

I'm working hard to live in today.

Working hard to see what a blessing today is.

I love this old saying/prayer:

Dear Father,
Please grant me
the serenity to accept the things I can not change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.

It seems so trite.

But it's the truth.

It's talking about living in today.

So, let's get to it...
well,
after a good nights sleep.

Dear hubby is calling, "Marie, you coming to bed?"

Nite friends.
Love,
~m.

p.s. the motivation is get out there and move!!! God will reward you with something beautiful every day if you just get up, get out, and get busy!
Love to you all.

Reminiscing

Things have settled down a bit.

Hubby is home and resting much better than at that noisy, pokey
(as in needle pokey, not slow pokey...well that too)
beeping, blinking,
wake-you-up-to-see-how-you're-resting hospital.

As for me,

I am past the half way point with my radiation and feeling pretty good!
Twenty down, sixteen to go.

Our to-do list is still ever so long...

and has, of course, been put on hold as life keeps changing our plans.

But, with surgery over,
David resting,
me glad to be over half way done,
I am in a get busy mood.
Make hay while the sun shines!
(or do it quick before the next crisis hits!! :) )

So, we are back at it.

Chipping away at yard work,
house work,
painting,
mending,
sewing...
ah....happy sigh...
I do love to chip away at lists you know!

However, I didn't get to the promised picture taking of the "new" house,
or of any new projects...
I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you did not ask, "Why?"
:)

Though our kiddos have done a stupendous job of "keeping house" and
keeping up with school during these rough patches...
things are a bit muddled and not in tip top shape,
and I,
little ol' moi,
refuse to post pictures of the new part of the house with dust bunnies
and dirt clods all over the place...
it just takes a day or two around here in the Spring and things begin to grow...
right in the living room...
Yup.

Anyway,
while doing all of this cleaning,
sorting,
get busy or get rid of it...
I came across a picture CD,
a few actually.
But this one was a lovely little CD
with some purrddyy pictures on it of days gone by.

We love parties 'round here.
Have I mentioned that?
Baby shower.
Bridal Shower.
Birthday.
Holiday.
Graduation.
(one coming up as a matter of fact)
Fun Family Night.
Any. Old. Reason.
That's what I'm talkin' about!

Ahem...where was I?
Ah yes, the CD.
It was a bridal shower we did for one of my oldest daughter's best friends,
Rebecca.
Shauna and Chasity and I hosted it...
and, well...
we do especially love to throw a girlie party!

So since I'm not ready to post any new pictures,

I thought I would post a few of Rebecca's sweet little shower...
oohh~la~la~lovely!!

And yummy!

It seems like it was just yesterday!

Hopefully soon I'll get around to posting some new pictures of the "new" house.

Thanks for reminiscing with me.

Hope your evening is sweet.
Love to you all.
~m

Back at it...sorta...

After months of being away from creating,

well...not counting painting walls,
ceilings
and furniture...

I am,

I think,

ready to work on the wild raspberry shop again.

It seems a little strange to be doing this solo,
but I think it will be o.k.

Chas is following her heart and pursuing photography,
and I am following mine with this little shop.

I have always wanted a home business that's not so much a business, but a hobby and a joy. In sewing, crafting, creating beautiful things, I find a great outlet that fits in perfectly with my role as wife, mama/grandmama and home maker. One that will not be top priority, but will fit in nicely with our family life.

Amidst all the chaos and struggles, right now may seem like an odd time for me to be doing this.

But frankly,
opening up a little shop again
is a welcome diversion.

With Shauna's illness life kind of stopped.

I don't regret it a bit.
I'm not complaining.
It just was~is so.

We stopped running,
gardening,
crafting,
sewing.

Things just seemed hard.

Chas and I have talked about it often.

It was just hard to do those things when Shauna couldn't.
We didn't even have the desire to.
None of it felt right.

But now, what is there left for us to do?

We kept waiting, hoping, praying that she would get better.

And now she is gone.

Our lives will NEVER be the same.

Our Joy has been tempered with a bitter sweet quality that will never be what it once was.

We have learned a lot.
We are continuing to learn a lot.
Lessons we really didn't want to learn.
Lessons that are harder than hard.
Lessons that focus us sharply on Heaven,

but also lessons that focus us on
finding and enjoying the beauty of TODAY.

We long for the day when we can be with her again...
but until then we have to put one foot in front of the other.

We have to live and do,
like she would want us to do,
like God wants us to do.

So, I am.

I am excited about it.
I think Shauna would be excited with me and for me.
She would have so many great ideas, and pictures to show me that she had saved.
Her blue eyes would sparkle as she said "Oh, do you know what I saw??? Did I show you...???"

Chasity always came up with great ideas she had found on a beautiful blog, or a cute little shop she had stumbled upon, or a great magazine photo...
I'm not sure I'll do so great without the two of them to inspire me...
but I know it is going to be good for me.
It is going to be fun and I am looking forward to just...
trying.

I am going to try to take pictures of my sewing/craft room this week.
(certain friends keep asking for pictures...ahem, Joy)

I already put a few goodies back in the shop with some new pictures of them.

The lighting in my sewing room (thanks to hubby) is really nice.
That, along with the vintage and antique pieces
I have been picking up cheap the last few months
(auctions....sigh....I do LOVE auctions...)
should make for some nice pictures,
even by this pitifully amateur photographer.

We'll see.

Anyway.

Whatever happens I'm trying to dance in the rain.
~~~~~~~
Hubby and I were home and worshiped watching OABS this morning.
Tonight we all left him here to worship with OABS solo.
I had not left him yet, but of course he did fine.
He just stayed put.
:)
We had a lovely family supper tonight,
after evening worship,
full of laughter, stories, good food and good times.
I am so grateful for the family that God has blessed us with.
We just love each other so much!

I hope your weekend was blessed with friends, family, Faith and love as well!

Love to you all,
~m.

Learning to dance in the Rain

Thank you for your continued love and prayers.

We have been home from the hospital for a few hours now.

David is settled in nicely and I have most things unpacked and put away. Unfortunately he had to wait over an hour to take more pain meds once we got home. Moving around is NOT fun at all for him, but he is very tough and not a complainer. His pale face, clinched jaw and sweaty forehead are sadly dead give aways, though.

But now I can hear soft snoring coming from his chair right behind me, and I am thankful he is resting so well. He really needs it.

He will be having surgery to put in pins, screws and plates to try to fuse the many pieces of his broken fibula (if I didn't mix it up, it is the larger of the two bones) back together. The tibia has only one fracture. We are very, VERY thankful it was not worse...just a fraction of an inch higher and his knee would have been crushed too...even harder to repair. Pretty things do not happen to a strong leg, even one belonging to my Superman hubby, when it is crushed between an Expedition tow hook on a front bumper and a tool box.

It was just an accident, but the person who was responsible (or irresponsible in my way of thinking) was fired. David did not want him to be. He holds no ill will or grudge, but it was his bosses decision and I think the right one. It was quite a painful and costly mistake to make, and at my poor husband's (and the shops) expense.

We pray for no infection, no falls and no further damage before they can operate some time in the next two weeks, and for the pain to be able to be controlled. We sure would appreciate your prayers for the same.

We are a bit of a pair...after stopping to get his prescriptions, and a pizza so I wouldn't have to cook, he had to sit and watch me struggle to carry in a few bags that were overloaded. My soreness/tenderness/weakness on the right side has been worse the last few days. Probably just a bit of stress and not sleeping well aggravated it a bit...those hospital chair beds...ahem...not great.

Along with that, I am already a bit pink. I have always preferred medium~ rare,
to well done, and I am hoping that is how I will turn out! :)

Before anyone hollers something about our kiddos helping, Josh was at work,
and we let Candice, Robert and Dustin go on to a Youth Rally tonight.

It all got done, just a bit slower than I would have liked.
We are way too young to feel this decrepit and I double dog dare any of you to say any differently!!! :)

One day at a time though, and we will be just fine. These difficult times make us realize our blessings and point out our need for our Father, our friends and our family.
We really do love you all and are so grateful for you.

I am most especially grateful for our God that does not shun me when I am weak and fearful, as I have often been in the last several months, crying out for strength, begging Him to increase my Faith and to help me to not be afraid, whatever the future holds.

We have had a lot of discussions/Bible studies/ prayers about how hard life has been, how we want it to be easier, how we are sometimes afraid it might not be...and how, while we MAY ask God to help times to not be so hard, we must realize the answer may be NO...
so the deeper focus of our prayer life is to ask God for STRENGTH for whatever lies ahead,
and for a cheerful heart to handle it.

I know I am not telling you anything new.

But let me say, knowing this, and living this are two different things.

I have been through hard times before, and I survived

LOTS of folks have, and are, going through harder times than us, right now.

But I think(and I suspect others do to) that I have still tended to live in that "God will take care of it, everything will be o.k." simplistic attitude.

I am not saying that God WON'T take care of us.

No.
NO.
NO!

I am not saying that at all.

I am saying that sometimes God taking care of us
just may not be what we have in mind
AT ALL.

We mean "God, make it EASY!"

We mean "God, I'll be faithful and not worry if you just don't make it too hard."

We tend to let ourselves feel protected from the big physical struggles/illnesses/traumas,
things that God NEVER promised to protect us from.

Then, guess what?
When they come, our faith is shaken,
some times destroyed because it was built on false hope and misguided trust.
God's promise of Peace is a Spiritual one.
Yes He is here with us now, in this Life.
Yes He hears our every prayer.
But His Peace is not like the world's peace.
Jesus said that Himself.
It is a confidence of perfect peace and rest after this hard, hard life is over.

It's a peace we get now for the promise we'll receive some day.

It's sobering.

I think it is difficult to properly focus on sometimes,

because we are caught up in wanting a more perfect life down here.
An easier life.

NOW IT'S NOT WRONG TO WANT IT EASIER!

It's just,
friends,
we might need to grow our spiritual maturity level a little...

or a lot

and realize
that it just might not get easier for a while.

Again, I'm not telling you, or me, anything new.

I'm not telling you I like it,
or I've got it down.

If you've read much of what I have posted on facebook lately,
You'll know my struggle with this.

I wonder if when God looks down at me he sees a child
"kicking and screaming"...
that's the visual image I have of myself sometimes.
A tantruming child shouting "I don't want it this way!!!

Yep. Knowing it and living it are two different things.

I am working on it.
Boy, I get tired of saying that.
:)

I recently came across a beautiful saying that I believe carries an Heaven sent message:

"Life is not about waiting for the STORM to pass...

It's about learning to dance in the rain."

These words walk hand in hand with my struggle...with knowing what I need to do, and working on doing it.
These words speak to me like the words of God Himself

No, I haven't gone off my rocker.
No, I'm not elevating a saying to be equal to God's word

It's simply HIS idea I see in these words.

Don't let trouble knock you down...stay happy, faithful and focused on Heaven.

I hope that if you're like me, and you catch yourself waiting for the perfect,
trouble free day, that you will
stop it.

THIS is the best day we are going to get and the only day we get TODAY.

You know the old saying "Make hay while the sun shines" Meaning, seize the moment to do the work at hand...well, that's right.

But as Christians, we need to be making hay all the time in the sun and in the rain.
Kind of live in the sunshine, or make our own...Hmm...another post talking about sunshine again.

That has been the thought in my heart.
Struggles and Rain always makes me think of Sunshine and Shauna,
now more than ever.
That is how Shauna lived.
She had a whole passel of rainy days,
yet she still lived in the sunshine.

I am working with all my might to dance in the rain.

Like Shauna did.

Like God wants me to.

I don't and won't always get it right but I'm trying.

I hope you do too,
and I thank you for helping me to.

Love you all.

I'm gonna go kiss my hubby really softly on top of his head,
get a drink of water and finish my movie.
Nite friends.

~m