The Kite

How bright on the blue

Is a kite when it's new!

With a dive and a dip

It snaps its tail

Then soars like a ship

With only a sail

As over tides

Of wind it rides,

Climbs to the crest

Of a gust and pulls,

Then seems to rest

As the wind falls.

When string goes slack

You wind it back

And run until 

A new breeze blows

And its wings fill

And up it goes!

How bright on the blue

Is a kite when it's new!

But raggeder thing

You never will see

When it flaps on a string

In the top of a tree.

by Harry Behn

A New Year

Here I am, already feeling behind. The calendar is ready to flip to the third day of 2012, and I'm still shouting "HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!" and enjoying the slow-paced days we've been having around here.

Ah, me. Oh, well. Here we go! I have many goals and ideas floating around this all-too-crowded brain of mine. They are keeping me up at night, and getting me all flustered during the day. So, I've taken to writing them down and I'll attack them one-by-one, a bit at a time. Much I'm hoping to share with you - my family, my friends.

I'll once again be whittling away at my stuff-piles, and focusing in on schooling the younger ones, and looking to creating a more joyful and peaceful home-haven for my family. I'll be re-vamping my Big Shopping/Cooking master lists. I've been ruminating some good reading material, ideas and thoughts I'll share soon. I am also working on priorities - time in God's Word for myself, Bible lessons with the children, before we attack our other work and play for the day.

So, as I sit here, spoiled lady-of-the-house that I am, swiveling in my new office chair, donning my new apron, sipping from my new Christmas mug, nibbling my DARK chocolate-covered cherries, (Yes, my family was very good to me this Christmas season.) I am also composing and organizing and setting goals for all that I want to share with you this year.

First, though, I'll be taking you back through the 2011 calendar, so be watching!

May the Lord shine upon you and bless you each new day, week, month, year. Each one is a bright and shining gift from Him.

Treasure Hunter

That's what I call Luke these days. In the last couple of months, he has come across the most amazing things. Just look at some of his latest treasures -



This arrowhead is absolutely perfect! A friend of ours came out with his 2 sons not long ago, and joined Mike, Luke and Gabe hunting arrowheads. They scoured the bridge bottoms behind our house. They found many pieces, a few almost-intact arrowheads. But, Luke brought home the grand prize. They also brought home bunches of little chips of rock, little slivers, that had come off in the process of making the tools/arrowheads. You could almost see the people of long ago, gathering near the creek, making these sharp points in order to provide food for the family, clothing to wear, etc. We know that at some time in history, Indians have lived on this land, because we have found some evidence here and there through the years, like bits and pieces of arrowheads. I think this one is the best of them all. Very Cool Indeed!



And then, recently, we purchased a piece of property nearby. Once the previous owner had cleared out, Dad and the kids went exploring and searching, to see what was left behind. See what Luke brought home?


A 25-gallon fish aquarium! He tested to see if it would hold water (very important, don't you think?), scrubbed it clean, and now . . .



it is on display, ready and waiting for new residents. How many fish will a 25-gallon tank hold? I don't know yet, but WAY more than that dinky little 5-gallon tank we used to have set up (which we used to think was kind big, by the way).


And now, for the piece d' resistance (I have no idea if I spelled this correctly, but blogger didn't flag it as a spelling mistake - just read it with a french accent please)!





my 18 year old son now has wheels! And dreams, lol.

A '59 Chevy Apache. He won't be traveling very far in this classic just yet, but once he hauls it out of the pasture and gets it into the garage, he'll be hitting the road in no time. Well, maybe it will take some time, but he's already making plans and researching what it'll take to get this thing running.







It inspires me, the way Luke can look at a cast-off object and be able to envision potential, usefulness, and new life. He loves rolling up his shirt sleeves and applying elbow grease along with his creativity and imagination to bring something all worn out back into service.

It makes me think of our Creator - I'm so thankful that He was willing to send His Son to the cross and to take each of us in our imperfect bodies with sinful hearts and make them new again.

"Therefore,if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become now." 2 Corinthians 5:17

Getting Started

Blog. I really do think it is an ugly word. CyberJournal? Sounds a bit cold and robot-like. Really the purpose of this project is to document the happenings of our home for family and friends. So, this online journal is an experiment, to see if Mom can enter the high-tech world.