Monday, January 31, 2011

A Concert of Prayer

Each and every instrument makes a beautiful sound. A collection of  instruments playing together makes a beautiful concert. Individual prayers are like instruments delivering sweet sounds to the ear of God. Collective prayers present a whole concert to Him. Dear family and friends, please join me as I join the blogosphere of pray-ers storming the gates of heaven, asking God to touch and heal Susan of cancer. Click here to join those who will be praying a novena for nine days (nights) in a row, January 31st to February 8th from 8 to 9pm. And if that's not your preferred style of praying, please, please, beseech God in any way comfortable to you on Susan's behalf -- especially during the same days and hours as our Catholic sisters. Our prayers together will make a beautiful concert, a sweet sound on behalf of a sweet sister.

To get to know Susan, read the lovely post about her at http://wrecklamation.blogspot.com/2011/01/fighting-together-with-prayer.html or click the link to her blog, Toddler Planet, or click the Lego princess/warrior in the left sidebar.

Oh, I just can't help myself... in case you're not the clicking type here is part of Wrecklamation's blog post honoring Susan --  In my posting on Lymphedema Sleeves, I talked about my friend, Susan Niebur aka Whymommy, who is currently participating in a clinical trial to battle a locally metastatic cancer, her fourth cancer in as many years. Susan is an amazing person. She shines with love. She radiates joy. She makes you want to be a better person. In the short time she has been part of our church community, she has drawn so many people to her, just like moths to a flame. It might be her cheery smile and her ability to see the goodness in life; it might be her obvious love for her husband and children; it might be her wit, her intelligence, her kindness, her gentleness. I'm not sure.

What I am sure of, however, is that many people have expressed to me the desire to pray as a community for Susan. And, as a result, we are joining together starting next Monday, January 31, to say a novena (communal or private prayer, said over nine days or hours). We will say the novena in our church chapel and we are inviting those who cannot be there in person to pray with us between the hours of 8 and 9, every night from January 31 through February 8.
 
 

Friday, January 28, 2011

A Whole Lotta Love


If you look closely you'll notice a red marker on the face of this cute little four-year-old. She came from pre-school with a red design on her cheek. I asked if they were face-painting today. "No," she said, "Brooke drawed on me."

Oh the hazards of school days. So we snuggled and watched a little Toy Story. It's good for what ails you.

The other day we watched and listened to David sing one of the girls' favorite songs, Stand, by Rascal Flatts.

No kidding, I think Audrey knows all the words.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Way Below Zero

Sunday was a gorgeous sunny day... bitter cold, but sunny. The deer were busy foraging. They pawed the ground and burrowed their faces in the snow, looking for a few tasty blades of grass. I hope they got enough to fill their bellies. Such beautiful animals... the pictures are fuzzy, but it makes them look soft and pet-able, doesn't it?



The clear, star-filled, cloudless night sky made for a frigid, frosty, frozen morning. No school cancellations, but lots of buses wouldn't start, and some that did start wouldn't keep going. I'm guessing it was a half day for most of the schools... not half a day time-wise, half a student body.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

6 Degrees 6 More Inches

That's Fahrenheit and snow. Brrrr. The only reason I'm blogging is that my laptop keeps me warm. I read an article about laptop computers contributing to infertility problems. Yeah, I can see it -- but I'm not male and I'm well past my child-bearing years. So I'm snuggled up with this not so cuddly piece of technology keeping me warm. The house is actually pretty comfortable...all considered. It seems our expensive new windows are paying us back in comfort. Now the draftiest part of the house is the floor, but with all the snow piled up around the foundation (offering a wind block to the crawl spaces) even the floor draft isn't so bad. The furnace hums constantly making me ever so grateful for the free gas that fuels it.Tom has been able to coax the tractor along just enough to keep our long driveway cleared, and we take turns knocking the icicles off the eaves. My skis are lined up by the side door just in case I decide to use them.

So the cold snap and snow are less troublesome to us in our corner of the world than to New York City, New Jersey, and so many southern states. Speaking of cold southern states. Our very good friends just returned from a trip south to meet their very first newborn grandchild. I love babies. They've been sending me pictures right along to let me in on a bit of the fun. Baby's momma and daddy said she's allowed to make an appearance on my blog -- so get a look at this little (pink) sweetheart -- Charlotte.



Alert
Asleep  
Oh so sweet!
Just look at her, swimming in that little pink striped outfit. But don't we know...she'll grow. Quick as a bunny, she'll grow. I sure hope I can get my hands on her before she grows too much.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

No Twitter Gadget

I tweeted a story from the CDT of State College -- but for some reason the twitter gadget is broken so I removed it from my blog. But here is an awesome story I read thanks to a high school friend who shared this on facebook -- thanks Patty.

SAINT ANDREW’S

Coat man’s kind heart warms up the needy

Click here to read about a more than generous act of caring and compassion. Inspiring. Heartwarming.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

More Snow!

We got another foot and a half of snow this weekend. Whew. For a day or two I was afraid we were going to run out. Last weekend we could see some patches of grass. Well that's fixed now. Everything is covered with cold, sparkly, white fluff. Tom's plow is frozen so we're hoping the snow showers are done for a bit. We can manage this but not much more. On a side note,  I'm concerned for the people in the southeastern states who are getting snow, the likes of which they haven't seen since 1940. But I'll bet the kids are loving it!

The new year is off to a good start. I've got Christmas put away. The thank you notes are written and sent. Resolutions made. Sweets eradicated from the house (or well hidden). Now there's no excuse at hand... I must get the skis out of the barn  If memory serves me right, I always enjoy skiing around the property. So why oh why am I dragging my feet? Tomorrow, I'll do it tomorrow.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Tom's Birthday

I love when Tom has a birthday. He catches up to me. It's a long three months from October 4th to January 2nd. But we're the same now... again. Doesn't he look happy about it?
He's happy because we had such nice company with us to celebrate his birthday. There were balloons and streamers, and he got to watch Merry Madagascar and play outside in the snow. Can't beat that!

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Pictures to go with Previous Post

Christmas Eve Dinner at our house 
Christmas Eve Party at Shaffer's new house

Matt & Erin's den with a large TV and big game trophies
Nathan & Mel sharing a big chair                                                                                                                                                                                          


Christmas morning...breakfast for three...
We forgot to take our camera to Tom & Maggie's, so I have no pictures. I'll have to get Melanie to share. She took some pix of the lovely table set with her grandma's china...a wedding present to her and Dave from Grandma Blais.

The day after Christmas Tom & Anne Bruce hosted our family get-together...

Ali and Dave
Nathan, Tom, and Pop
The next generation filling up plates
The Gips family