A sweet gift from a friend

NORTH SCHOOL
by Oney Jones
for my dear Friend Michelle

Marme plans the lessons
her daughters learn them well.
Marme watches...and listens...
and does her job to tell

Them they are going to Canada!
An adventure will be had!
"We stay together- as a family
this time--we go with Dad!"

Friends and family now so far south
This North Country is quiet and cold.
A moose saunters up to the deck
His majestic presence so bold!

The snow is pouring down
Coating all land and trees in sight.
Marme watches her beloved girls witness this
And senses their delight.

A better lesson was never planned
Than seeing the Northern Nature
And more Art of His mighty hand.

For Today, February 1, 2010

On this day, February 1, 2010

Outside my Window….Ice laced leafless aspen trees.

I am thinking… that I am getting more excited all the time at what the Lord is doing in our midst.

From the learning rooms… It’s Creative Week. We’ll be making cards, sewing aprons, Mae will start a dance class, Chica will start swim lessons and we’ll read, read, read.

I am thankful for…Grace.

From the kitchen… Stew & hot bread, and other good things we’ll make this week in anticipation of house guests.

I am sewing… we’ll sew those aprons this week, I hope.

I am reading…Tirzah and Hudson Taylor and Maria, A Match Made in Heaven by John Pollock Maria,

I am hearing…The “noise” of playing, singing, waiting…waiting for Daddy to come home from week. It’s 7:30, WHERE IS THAT MAN?

A few plans for the week…to make Valentines, to sew aprons, to READ.

One of my favorite things… hugs from my girls.

Pondering…”’I must make haste, he thought, for I have lost so much time. I wonder whether SELF has really gone quite away, or whether he will come back to look for me again. ‘ So he kept his sword in his hand and looked carefully from side to side, among the rocks and bushes, as he went along.” Little Pilgrim’s Progress, Chapter 20.
Will Self ever really be gone in this life?

From the picture archives...
So where did that little girl go?

Grandmama Still Makes Snow Angels

My mother is known for being one fun grandmother. She sent my sister and me an email today that simply said FOR MY GRANDKIDS...Grandmama still makes snow angels.

An a beautiful angel she made. Although my girls seemed to be more impressed with her shadow on the picture. They were quite excited to "see" Grandmama!

Olympic Torch ~ 2010

I Wanna Be One of Them

A passion is rising up in me, beginning to burn and take hold of me...and today I heard this song with new ears...

Lord I have a heavy burden of all I've seen and know
It's more than I can handle
But your word is burning like a fire shut up in my bones
and I cannot let it go

And when I'm weary and overwrought
with so many battles left unfought

I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard
I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them

Lord it's all that I can't carry and cannot leave behind
it often overwhelms me
but when I think of all who've gone before and lived the faithful life
their courage compells me
And when I'm weary and overwrought
with so many battles left unfought

I think of Paul and Silas in the prison yard
I hear their song of freedom rising to the stars

I see the shepherd Moses in the Pharohs court
I hear his call for freedom for the people of the Lord

And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them

I see the long quiet walk along the Underground Railroad
I see the slave awakening to the value of her soul

I see the young missionary and the angry spear
I see his family returning with no trace of fear

I see the long hard shadows of Calcutta nights
I see the sister standing by the dying man's side

I see the young girl huddled on the brothel floor
I see the man with a passion come and kicking down the door

I see the man of sorrows and his long troubled road
I see the world on his shoulders and my easy load

And when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
and when the Saints go marching in
I want to be one of them
I want to be one of them
I want to be one of them
I want to be one of them

A Quiet Morning at Moose Acres

A completed unit on Sea Turtles

Some of the books read since our arrival
View from my kitchen window
signs of a Happy Helper
Seeking wisdom
Math, Nature Studies or Science? How about all 3 at once...

Peppermint Tea with a spot of Honey makes Math sweeter

Art in Nature

The girls had an art assignment. To look out a window and choose one tree. To draw a branch of the tree. To draw the tree. To draw the tree with surrounding trees. I'm not sure why these art lessons are more about creating frustration than learning, but that is where we've been for the last couple of weeks.

And each time, God has revealed Himself to us. The Great Artistic Master displays some of HIS work, a young moose, big fluffy snowflakes, tall bare aspens laden with snow, and today...this pretty little woodpecker.
It is one of my hopes that these moments soaking up God's beauty will inspire us to great beauty, on the canvas of our hearts and mind.

For today...

On this morning, January 25, 2010

Outside my Window….Blue ice, a blue wintery morning with frozen ice crystals falling gently upon the tall bare trees.

I am thinking… Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound. That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but day by day more of what is lost is found and redeemed.
From the learning rooms…Learning more about how to keep house, artistic expression, and workboxes brimming with interesting tidbits of wisdom, information and ideas.

I am thankful for…a husband who hears me, loves me and spends our early mornings in the Word with me.

From the kitchen… Baking a chicken for several meals 

I am sewing… actually, getting the girls ready to sew some aprons.

I am reading…Tirzah and Hudson Taylor and Maria, A Match Made in Heaven by John Pollock Maria,

I am hearing…The hum of the furnace, baby, it’s cold outside!

A few plans for the week…to inquire about and hopefully schedule ballet & gymnastic classes for my sweet daughters.

One of my favorite things… morning Psalms & Proverbs with my Beloved.

From my picture files...