Christmas, Christmas!

They say Christmas is a season, right?  And so its only appropriate if it is spread across the days and weeks of the month.  And so, in our family this year, it was!

At the beginning of the month our house was all neat, clean, and calm.  Just the way us old folks have come to like it.  But then, we started decorating.

Its always  messiest right before its done.  And so, the place was a mess for a while.

But then it was done.  Put the Christmas music on and it was a great start to the holidays!

The plan this year called for us to be out of town on Christmas day but we still wanted to share Christmas with as many of our kids and their families as possible.  So they came in waves.

Maulbeere and hubby were the first.  They came over for an afternoon.  An afternoon that included gift opening and a nice Christmas dinner.

Himbeere was in on the festivities.  No surprise here, he was happy with what he got.  He's worse than his Mom about finding out what he's getting.  We got some of this stuff for him several weeks ago and he managed to find out in advance what most of it was.  So, of course, he was pretty happy to finally get it.

So to make things interesting, we made him work for at least one of them.  After wrapping it in nice, pretty, festive wrapping paper, we encased it in packing tape.  Layers and layers.  He got to spend lots of time unwrapping it.  Had lots of fun with it.

We all opened the presents and then sat down for yummy food.

Good food with family - what Christmas is all about!  At least, some of it.

A little later into the month, Blaubeere and her kids came over to help us continue the celebrations.

Our concession to exterior decorations is one of those lights you shine at  your house, that lights up the whole exterior with some Christmassy themed lights.  We got it last year but it suffered an accident and needed some repairs before it was up to working this year.

This light pokes into the ground in the front yard with a stake.  But last year the stake got broke so we had no way to poke the light into the ground.

In order to use the light this year we had to figure out a way to stick it into the ground.  Himbeere figured it all out.  He acquired a pipe the right size and, with his new grinder, cut it down to length and put a nice point on it.  With a little help, it was soon ready.

So the pipe went into the ground.

And the light went into the pipe. That was a group effort.  When it was all done it worked quite nicely for the whole Christmas season, lighting up the front of the house very nicely.

Once the light was up and ready the festivities moved inside.  This visit was our baking day.

There's one young lady that likes to bake cookies.

Maybe the mixing beater has something to do with it.  In any case, she enjoys making cookies.  All parts of it.

Cookies, cookies, and more cookies.  We made several kinds and ended up with lots of cookies.

We made what are called "Cowboy Cookies".  Is that appropriate for Christmas?  Of course!  I grew up with a Mom that made Christmas cookies by the dozens, and dozens of varieties.  We had an enclosed back porch and she'd store them out there, in the cold, in five gallon tins, two and three such tins, all full of cookies.  We had to have permission to get any out, but of course, there was always snitching going on.  Yummy, cold cookies.  As fun to make as they were to eat!

We also made chocolate chip cookies, everybody's favorite.

And last, and funnest, we made sugar cookies.  They are so fun to make, especially cutting out the different shapes.

Everybody got involved in the sugar cookies. Everybody loves picking shapes and cutting cookies.  We have a large collection of cookie cutters.  Blaubeere brought her collection as well, which is pretty good sized. Some of the shapes were not particularly Christmas themed, but it was still a lot of fun picking and cutting. And funnest of all!  Once all the cookies were cut and baked, then comes the frosting!

Lots of colors and sprinkles.  Can't leave out the sprinkles!

Creativity unleashed, that's what decorating sugar cookies is.  Pure, unadulterated fecundity of the mind!  I love it!  Creations, colors, decorations, limited only by the imagination!

Everybody had a lot of fun with that part.

Then we left the mess in the kitchen and went into the other room for another round of gift opening.  More fun!

Always fun to decorate a kid or two as the wrapping paper came off the gifts.

Its so fun opening gifts with grandkids.  Kids are what make Christmas gift giving fun.

Another round of gifts, another mess of paper.  But it was fun, a good time!

As the time to hit the road approached, we still had not opened our gifts to each other or the gifts that had been mailed to us by kids that we weren't going to be able to see.

So on the last evening before the leaving, Brombeere and I did that.  It was nice, although there was no one to wear the wrapping paper.

We were all packed and ready, the car was as loaded as we could be - there was some stuff we'd use in the morning getting up and dressed.  But then everything would get thrown into a suitcase, which would be tossed in the car and off we'd go!

A month before, when we had been visiting Heidlebeere and helping her get moved, I had been talking to her oldest about the trip and how we were going to get to see her cousins.  She had liked that idea and wanted to help so she made me a ticket, to help me get there.  Fortunately, I had hung onto the ticket so I was all set.

So, morning came; we got up, got dressed, threw the bags in the car, and hit the road.  After driving and driving and driving and driving we made the trip in record time.  It was so nice to be there and have all the driving done.  We had left our house Saturday morning and arrived at Moosbeere's house in time to go to church with them Sunday morning.  That had been the goal, to get to church with them, because the kids were singing in the Christmas program they were having.  Little kids are so fun to watch sing in church, all the surreptitious little waving, squirming, and wiggling that goes on, some of it not so discrete.  Very entertaining.

One of the communities decorates their city and county building every December.  Lots of lights, a very pretty display put on by both the city and local merchants.  So later in the evening we went and walked around the grounds to take a look.

While it was chilly, it was not too cold.  It was actually a very pleasant time walking around, seeing the lights.

Lots of lights, it was a very nice time.

We'd been able to make such good time on the drive out because the weather had been clear and, for the vast majority of the way, the roads had been dry.  But over night that night it snowed.  Everything was covered with a blanket of fresh, new snow.  It was very nice to wake up to.

And you know kids and new snow.  They had to get out and play in it!  Moosbeere lives on a hill side so they have their own sleigh hill right in their own back yard.  So after making and decorating a few snowmen, they got the sleighs out and hit the slopes.

Everybody got into the fun.  At one point, as the kids were coming down the hillside, Moosbeere ran across the yard and took a flying leap over the top.

We managed to preserve his graceful leap on film!  Lots of fun going on!

Then, when everyone had their fill of cold and snow, we all went inside and started baking stuff.  Yay, more baking! A Christmas tradition we've observed for years has been to make candy cane bread.

We hadn't done any of this while at home so we did it here, with Moosebeere's kids.  Little kids are so fun to bake with.

Its a fun part of Christmas, partly so because we always manage to have kids and grandkids around to help.

Candy cane bread, a delightful tradition -  a sweet bread, with some kind of fruit or chocolate filling, covered with a glaze.

And the candy cane bread wasn't the only goodies being made.  We also had cookies and truffles.

The truffles were made of ground cookies, coated with chocolate.  Some whole cookies also were covered with chocolate.

Lots of good, quality help.  Or at least eager help.

We worked and the tray of goodies began to fill up!

Pretty soon there were goodies all over the place.  That was good because the plan was to make plates of treats and deliver them to neighbors.  Let them share in all those calories, right!?  Then, it was back home, kids in jammies, read the Christmas story from the scriptures, and put the kids in bed quick so Santa could some.  Or something like that.

What really happened after the kids went to bed, and to sleep, was the grownups did all the assembly work that needed to be done ...

... and laid out all the gifts and stockings.  From one generation to the next, the tradition continues.  No wonder parents always resist early Christmas mornings.  They've been up all night.

Finally, a little after 1:00 am, everything was already for the morning and the grownups could go to bed.  Its so nice to take a last look at Christmas Eve, all ready for Christmas morning.  And then to bed!

And Christmas morning, three very excited little children were up way earlier than the grownups wanted to be.  Little kids are so fun to watch.  The excitement has been building for days and weeks and now the big day is finally here!

Little kids get distracted by the gifts they're opening and sometimes have to be reminded that there's more than one gift to open.

They want to open everything right now and play with it.

Parents, meanwhile, are trying to contain the mess and keep the festivities moving.  Little kids make Christmas so much funner!

One of the last gifts the kids opened was a undersized basketball.  They puzzled a bit over that one until someone suggested they look in the basement to see if there was more to it than just a small basketball.  There they found a couple more balls and a backstop.  That was a lot of fun.

And, as with all the other gift openings, there was a mess of wrapping paper.  We had done a fairly good job of keeping it contained as we went this time so clean up, while lots more paper, was still easier.

The rest of the day and the next were pretty low key.  We just hung out at the house and played with all the new stuff.  Then, Thursday, we ventured into town again.  It had snowed a little each day so the canyons and the mountains were real pretty as we drove into town.

It was nice to be back in the mountains again, even if we weren't right up in or on the mountains. Just seeing them all around us was nice.  It had been too long.

The evening began with meeting up with my sister and brother and their spouses for dinner.  Unfortunately, our oldest sister hadn't been able to make it over.  She lives out of state but closer than we do.  Still, she hadn't been able to get the time off work to come play with us. So the rest of us met up for dinner, lots of gab, and a generally good time visiting and catching up. Its unfortunate that we live so far away that we're not able to see them any more often.

Then we went over to Temple Square to see the lights there.

I must admit, I thought these were better.  Much less commercial.  Just a touch more class.  Or maybe its just the setting.  And it was nice to hear the Temple  Square missionaries singing Christmas carols and primary songs while we were wandering around.  In any case, I was really glad we made the time to go see them.  Its been far too long.

Too soon the visit was over and it was time to head back home.  One last look at the mountains as we drove out of town and we were on our way home.  And so we drove and drove and drove again.  Only instead of going straight home, we were headed to Heidlebeere's house.

Hundreds and hundreds of miles later we arrived.  The plan was to celebrate New Years with her.

It was fun.  Heidlebeere had planned several games.  She'd made some shooters and we had a marshmallow war.  The dog loved that, lots of goodies to mooch off the floor.  Everyone had a good time with that one.

Toilet paper toss games.  All while waiting for midnight to watch the ball drop.  Everyone had a good time.

Even the dog enjoyed the chaos.  Alas, New Years morning we had to hit the road for the final trip home.  I had the next day off but Brombeere had to be to work on the 2nd of January.

Each time we had to drive we were blessed with good weather and good roads. Plenty of snow in between but during those times we had to drive, the roads were good and we made good time.

Our Christmas spilled into January this year.  The weekend after we got back Schwartzbeere and his family came over.  Maulbeere also came back again to get in on the fun.

Once again, the house was full of little kids and all the fun that goes with them.

We had another round of excited little kids and gift opening.  This little man was getting to be an expert at ripping paper and wrapping off gifts.  That's almost as much fun as what's inside!

Little kids, so much fun to watch.

Pretty soon the room was deep in paper and boxes, definitely the sign of a good time.

Before long everything was open and everyone was settling in to enjoy their gifts.

This is what happens when you leave a two year old unsupervised with some M&Ms.  Proof positive that M&M do melt in your hands, as well as your mouth.

And so it was that the Christmas season at our house was spread out over days and weeks and more than a whole month.  Well into January the tree and decorations stayed up. We were observing Epiphany?  Maybe the Gregorian equivalent of Epiphany, which is January 19th instead of January 6th?  Nah, it was partly because of our busy schedule that made finding the time difficult.  But it was largely the fact that it was nice to have the decorations out, the gentle light when the Christmas tree lights were the only lights on in the house.  The cheery feeling of the season lingering.  It was nice.

But eventually it was time to put it all away.  First to go was the light in the front yard.  It had done a fine job of lighting up the front of the house all season but it was time to take it down.  Taking the light off the pipe was easy enough but the pipe itself was frozen in the ground.  Solid.  There would be no pulling the pipe out until spring, when the ground thawed out.  Ah, well.

Then the boxes all came upstairs so we could start taking decorations down and putting them away.

And then, at just over seven weeks from when they went up, it was time for the decorations to come down. 

We spent an evening taking decorations off the tree and gathering them in from where they had spent the season scattered all over the house, including a few in the kitchen and bathroom.  And that's not counting the Christmassy kitchen towels that had hung in the kitchen all season. 

At the end of the evening the tree and pretty much all the decorations were down, boxed, and hauled back downstairs to the storeroom.  There is still a little of the regular home decor to put back out, but the Christmas decorations were gone.  We actually had "pine needles" to clean up, even though we have an artificial tree.  And some lazy bum dumped their real tree in front of our house so we'll have to hang on to it until the city comes around to pick them all up in the spring. I don't think there was ever a Christmas in my whole life where the decorations had stayed up as long as this year.  It was nice in a lot of ways.

This was a good Christmas season.  We got to see a lot of family, we traveled like crazy people and were blessed to have been able to travel safely over thousands of miles, with storm after storm lining up just right so we could drive on good roads in between.  We had a good time, a very good time.  The Lord was good to us.  So was our family.  We are blessed.

A Pickin' and A Grinnin'

On my Mom's side of the family we didn't really have family reunions.  She only had one sister and she and her family lived only about 20 miles away.  She also lived right next door to my Mom's parents.  So we saw them frequently, all year, every year.  I suppose you might count Christmas as a reunion.  We would all meet at my grandparent's house and have a Christmas celebration that included a talent show.  That's another story.  On my Dad's side, the family was a little bigger.  There were ten kids in his family and while most of them lived within a 60 mile radius of us, a couple lived in other states.  So we always had a big reunion in the summer and a smaller one around Thanksgiving.  Most of those ten had several kids as well so by the time I was in finishing high school reunions were getting to be pretty good sized because everyone made an effort to attend.  At that point, we were getting 70 to 80 people each year.  I loved it.

Anyway, one year we had a talent show at the summer reunion.  It was held at the family home, which was a farm.  They pulled one of the hay wagons into the back yard at the house, set up some stairs and it became the stage.  Then each family did their talent.  Our family did a musical number.  It was a humorous number.  I played the banjo, my sister played the mouth organ, and everybody sang along.

The lyrics were pretty simple and there were lots of verses.  You could probably find it on YouTube. I'm pretty sure we didn't do all the verses available, but here they are.

"Oh, I wish I were a little bar of soap.
Oh, I wish I were a little bar of soap.
I would slippy and I'd slidey,
Over everybody's hidey.
Oh, I wish I were a little bar of soap.

"Oh, I wish I were a little hunk of mud.
Oh, I wish I were a little hunk of mud.
I would ooey and I'd gooey,
Under everybody's shoey.
Oh, I wish I were a little hunk of mud.

"Oh, I wish I were a little can of pop.
Oh, I wish I were a little can of pop.
I'd go down with a slurp,
and come up with a burp.
Oh, I wish I were a little can of pop.

"Oh, I wish I were a little slippery root.
Oh, I wish I were a little slippery root.
I would sit upon the trail,
And knock everyone on his tail.
Oh, I wish I were a little slippery root.

"Oh, I wish I were a little mosquito.
Oh, I wish I were a little mosquito.
I'd buzzy and I'd bitey,
Under everybody's nighty.
Oh, I wish I were a little mosquito.

"Oh, I wish I were a little squirty orange.
Oh, I wish I were a little squirty orange.
I'd go squirty, squirty, squirty,
Over everybody's shirty.
Oh, I wish I were a little squirty orange.

"Oh, I wish I were a little foreign car.
Oh, I wish I were a little foreign car.
I'd go speedy, speedy, speedy
Over everybody's feety.
Oh, I wish I were a little foreign car.

"Oh, I wish I were a fishy in the sea.
Oh, I wish I were a fishy in the sea.
Wouldn't I look cute
Without my swimming suit?
Oh, I wish I were a fishy in the sea.

"Oh, I wish I were a little safety pin.
Oh, I wish I were a little safety pin.
Wouldn't it be fun
If I suddenly came undone?
Oh, I wish I were a little safety pin.

"Oh, I wish I were a little band-aid strip.
Oh, I wish I were a little band-aid strip.
I'd stick to your hairs
And pull them out in pairs.
Oh, I wish I were a little band-aid strip.

"Oh, I wish I were a little stinky skunk.
Oh, I wish I were a little stinky skunk.
I'd sit up in the trees
And perfume all the breeze.
Oh, I wish I were a little stinky skunk.

"Oh, I wish I were a little sparrow bird.
Oh, I wish I were a little sparrow bird.
I'd sit up on the steeple
and dump on all the people.
Oh, I wish I were a little sparrow bird.

"Oh, I wish I were a creepy scary ghost.
Oh, I wish I were a creepy scary ghost.
I'd give you such a scare
That you'd lose your underwear.
Oh, I wish I were a creepy scary ghost."

One of the unique things about the performance was that I was playing a banjo that belonged to my great-grandfather.  My Dad had found it on the ranch, in one of the out buildings, a year or two before this reunion and had it restored.  So the day of the reunion, it was looking and sounding pretty good.  I had been playing around with it and my parents decided we should learn this song and my sister and I could do the accompaniment on the mouth organ and banjo.  It actually turned out pretty good, as I recall.

My great-grandpa's story with his banjo playing is pretty unique.  As I've heard it, he was pretty accomplished on the banjo and used to play on his own as well as with others whenever there was an occasion.  He lived in the days before radio so people were a lot more inclined to learn to play an instrument, or sing, or both and provide their own entertainment.  People would get together and whoever could play would provide the music, an informal, spontaneous band.  He did that, too.  Then, when he was older, he was in a sawmill accident and his left hand was severed.  The hand was reattached but he didn't have the dexterity it took to play the banjo anymore.  But he got around that by having his wife do the fingering while he did the picking.  That would have been interesting to see.  Anyway, Blaubeere has the banjo now and is working on learning to play.  Its a nice tradition.

The banjo in this picture isn't the same one, my great-grandpa's.  Its one that Blaubeere got. Nevertheless, I think its nice that its in the family and getting good use, that someone is learning to play.  I like that.  Actually, her sister, Edrbeere, is also learning - to play the guitar.  Maybe some day we can have our own rendition of Dueling Banjos.  Any duet would be fun. That'd be something!

Commonplace Book

A collection of thoughts, ideas, anecdotes, poems, observations, and quotes that stood out and caught my attention, some with comment, some without. Essentially a scrapbook, a repository of thoughts too good to just pass over and let go.

“[E]ven after [a big bell] is silent you can put your hands on the metal and feel the last tingle of vibrations, as though it were still singing to itself, private music of its own which we can't hear “

(Peter Dickinson, English author, Time and the Clock Mice)

 “If you lay silently in nature, the animals come to you.”

(Anonymous)

 “Behaving and knowing are inseparably linked. So defined, the gospel is inexhaustible because there is not only so much to know, but also so much to become! The vital truths are not merely accumulated in the mind but are expressed in life as well.”

(Neal A Maxwell, The Inexhaustible Gospel, BYU Devotional, August 18,1982)

“Our eyes capture thousands of beautiful pictures every day.”

(Pradeepa Pandiyan, amateur photographer, India)

“Sometimes, in the mutual climb along the straight and narrow path, brothers and sisters, we need friends to shout warnings to us or to give us instructions, but we also need those moments when warm whispers can help us to keep putting one foot in front of the other.”

(Neal A Maxwell, Insights from my Life, BYU Devotional, October 26,1976)

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

(Galatians 5:22-23)

“You may be exhausted, but don’t ever give up.”

(Neil L Anderson, Wounded, October Conference 2018)

“Because any life you take is not just one life. There will always be a family connected to that life.”

(Rukiye Abdul-Mutakallim, spoken to the boy (Javon Coulter) who murdered her son, Suliman Ahmed Abdul-Mutakallim, November 2, 2017 in South Cumminsville, OH, offering her family to help Javon live a better life then and when he is eventually released from prison)

“A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness that comes it.”

(Albert Einstein, written in 1922, in German on hotel stationery, and given to a messenger who refused a tip. In 2017 the note sold at auction for $1.56m)

“Neal [Maxwell] said his testimony came in three ways. Early in his home life, he experienced the witness of the Spirit, followed afterward by intellectual and experiential conversions. He found that the witness of the Spirit is more sure but that the other witnesses would increasingly corroborate his spiritual impressions.”

(Bruce C Hafen, A Disciple's Life, the Autobiography of Neal A Maxwell, Deseret Book 2002, 67)

“What was the object of gathering the … people of God in any age of the world? … The main object was to build unto the Lord a house whereby He could reveal unto His people the ordinances of His house and the glories of His kingdom, and teach the people the way of salvation”

(Joseph Smith, Teachings of the President's out e the Church: Joseph Smith (2007), 415-19)

“Never has anyone offered so much to so many in so few words as when Jesus said, “Here am I, send me.” (Abr. 3:27.)

(Neal A Maxwell, Jesus of Nazareth, Savior and King, April Conference 1976)

“In these days of uncertainty and unrest, liberty-loving peoples’ greatest responsibility and paramount duty is to preserve and proclaim the freedom of the individual, his relationship to Deity, and the necessity of obedience to the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Only, thus will mankind find peace and happiness.”

(David O McKay, Improvement Era, December 1962, p. 903.)

“Just as a flood-lighted temple is more beautiful in a severe storm or in a heavy fog, so the gospel of Jesus Christ is more glorious in times of inward storm and of personal sorrow and tormenting conflict.”

(Harold B Lee, Conference Report, Apr. 1965, p. 16).

“Money may be the husk of many things, but not the kernel. It brings you food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; acquaintances, but not friends; servants, but not faithfulness; days of joy, but not peace or happiness”

(In The Forbes Scrapbook of Thoughts on the Business of Life, New York: Forbes, Inc., 1968, p. 88). 

Like Her Great, Great Grandmother

Since before I was born, My grandmother wore her hair long, but braided up.  Real long.  To the point that she would wind the braid into a coil around the top of her head.

1942

For the longest time, I had never seen her with her hair any other way. It wasn't until near the end of her life that she cut it and no longer wore it braided and coiled.  I never thought of it as long because, coiled up like it always was, it did not appear to be all that long.

1954

But the coil was quite thick, and the braid went around her head a number of times.  We were visiting once and I saw her in her room brushing it out one evening as she got ready for bed.  I was amazed at how long it was when it was uncoiled and upbraided. It went well down her back, nearly to the seat of the chair she was sitting on. 

1959

That was many, many years ago now.

Then, the other day, we were visiting Heidlebeere.  It was Sunday morning and the kids were getting dressed up for church.  I'm not sure how they settled on the hair style, but her youngest wore her hair braided and coiled around her head.

It reminded me of  my grandmother so much.  It was amazing.  No where near as long, but Grandma had a few years more at it than this little sweetheart.

In many ways, this young lady bears a certain resemblance to a hummingbird.  Getting her to pose for a few pictures is not the easiest thing in the world.  But her Grandma has a certain magic and we got some good pictures.

Its funny how things can bring back memories from so long ago.  This little angel stirred up some pleasant memories for me Sunday.  It was nice.

Shout of Acclamation!

From the Fall of Man, in the Garden of Eden, when mankind was put out of the presence of God, mankind was in darkness. 

But adding his voice to all the other prophets that had lived and prophesied, since the beginning, Isaiah prophesied that it would not be forever.  While death and sin had been introduced into the world, it was not to be permanent.

Isaiah was a prophet during a time when Israel was not so righteous.  So naturally a lot of his messages have to do with the dismal future Israel faced because of its disobedience.  Scattering and affliction were a common theme in Isaiah's writings.  But part of his mission was to also prophesy to future generations so deliverance was also a common theme in Isaiah's writings. Part of his mission was to prophesy of the time when God would fulfill His covenants that He had made to Israel.

And so Isaiah gave us one of my favorite passages of deliverance.  He spoke of the reason Israel would not have to remain in darkness forever.  But not only deliverance from their earthly affliction and sorrow, but from death and hell as well.

"The people that walk in darkness have seen a great light: They that dwell in in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.  Thou has multiplied the nations, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For thou has broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.  For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning an fuel of fire."

And then, after explaining that the people, all mankind, would not remain in darkness or under the pall of death and hell forever, but be delivered and have reason to celebrate more than they had ever known, he breaks forth in acclamation at the source of their deliverance!

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

"Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the Throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgement and with justice henceforth even forever." (Isaiah 9:2-7)

This is why we celebrate Christmas, because those that were in darkness can now move into the light.  This is why there is hope, because unto us a child was born!  Never was there a greater reason to rejoice!  No doubt, His gift was the greatest gift ever given.  How right it is that we should celebrate His birth.  How right it is that our celebration should be centered on Him and His gift.

Praise the LORD!

Yes, give praise, O servants of the LORD.

Praise the name of the LORD!

Blessed be the name of the LORD

now and forever.

Everywhere—from east to west—

praise the name of the LORD.

For the LORD is high above the nations;

his glory is higher than the heavens.

Who can be compared with the LORD our God,

who is enthroned on high?

He stoops to look down

on heaven and on earth.

He lifts the poor from the dust

and the needy from the garbage dump.

He sets them among princes,

even the princes of his own people!

(Psalms 113:1-8

New Living Translation)

The Art Project

Several years ago, about the time school was getting ready to start, a couple of the kids decided to do an art project.  Schwarzbeere was quite pleased that his big sister was going to work with him to get it done.  It was quite the undertaking.

They got their materials out and figured out how they were going to approach it.

There was some tracing involved.  Since they were doing body outlines, this took a minute.

Their canvas was pretty big, so it took several minutes.

Then they traded places and the tracing continued.

Once they had all the tracing done, then the detail work began.  If you thought the tracing took a while, the filling and coloring really took them some time.

Team work, they kept at it and kept working.

In the end, I thought they ended up with quite the work of art!  I liked it.  They were pretty happy with it, too.  It was a fun afternoon.

Kinda Soupy

Not too long ago, at the school where Brombeere teaches, they had a contest, a challenge for the kids.  The kids in third grade got points for good behavior.  Then, at the end of the period, those with the most points got a prize.  The prize was to hit the teacher of your choice, from those that volunteered, with a pie.  There ended up being several teachers volunteer to be on the receiving end of the pie, including Brombeere.  There were several more teachers volunteer than there were students to throw pies - she figured the odds were good she wouldn't get picked.  She was wrong.

She got picked and she got a pie.  They let the kids stand nice and close so there was no chance of missing.  And he didn't miss.  Not even a little.

Maybe he was coached in how to effectively put a pie in someone's face.  At any rate, he did a good job.  And everyone had a good time.  Three cheers for Brombeere, the good sport!