Your Dreaming Pillowcase

Tomorrow I am going to teach an enrichment class. We are going to do these pillowcases that can be turned into bags by pulling a string. I made some years ago for our kids and grandchildren (at the time). You sleep on the case from Thanksgiving to Christmas Day. Then you bring it down to put small presents in! Each person can keep track of their things that way. I made these for our home teaching family.

Here is the poem I made up to go with it.

Your Dreaming Pillow Case
A new tradition we will start,
But you will have to do your part!
From Thanksgiving to Christmas, use this case.
It will catch your dreams and keep them in place.
Each night as you lie down in bed,
This pillowcase will hold your head.
Dream of Jesus in the hay or dream of Santa 'til Christmas Day.
And remember we love you with all of our heart,
You'll always be near even though we're apart.
P.S. On Christmas morning, pull the string - you'll have a bag for the gifts Santa brings!

(P.S.) MY FAMILY - If you would like one of these (and don't already have one), let me know.

Kindness Begins With Me

For our book club this month, we have been reading Breakfast With Buddha by Roland Merullo. It is a story of a trip to North Dakota taken by an average Joe and a Siberian monk (you will have to read it to find out why they were travelling together)! At one point on their six day journey, they meet an educated couple who quite unknowingly, come off as cynical and judgmental. During a conversation, they ask Rinpoche (the monk) about the eleven languages that he speaks. I thought this part was classic.

Matthew drew his head back in surprise (after learning that Rinpoche spoke eleven languages), actual or feigned, I could not tell. "Really. Say something, then in Italian, or Russian, or Greek. Or are they languages none of us might know, your eleven?"
Rinpoche looked at him for a long moment, until the silence grew awkward around us, and then he said, "Kindness is one language I know." And he spoke the phrase kindly, too, as if it were simply a statement of fact.

What a lesson for all of us to learn! I know that I need to use the language of kindness much more often. I am sharp with people on the phone or when contesting something I feel is wrong. Kindness and humor goes a lot further than sarcasm and angry words. There is much to treating everyone as we would be treated.

The Frost Is On The .... Begonia!

We had a frost last week. Looks like the tropical begonia that I received for my birthday from a friend couldn't take it. The other little plant that I received at the RS Spring Social is still green. But that won't last either. Winter is coming even though we had wonderful weather for Halloween yesterday. I was thinking about the seasons of our lives. I am now nearing the "winter" season having been blessed with a wonderful "spring" and "summer". I guess I am in the latter part of my "fall". But unlike begonias that fade when the first frost hits, I hope that I can follow the examples of my parents and live well all through the winter. They are truly remarkable people and at 92, are still going strong. Sometimes they may feel a little wilted, but they are still able to do so much. I am so grateful for their health. They have truly lived through their seasons well and I hope to do the same.

Slowly But Surely ...

Remember our disaster from the toilet upstairs? Here is the ceiling a few weeks ago. And right under it is the ceiling now - note the old light fixture and the new one.

Note the old chandilier in the dining room and then the new one in the next picture. Also see the new ceiling lights that are in the kitchen (and upstairs hall) and the one without the knob is in the entrance hall.

And here is the basement - you see the new gray floor (and part of the old white one). It was completed yesterday. Now we just have to move things back (and get rid of a lot).

Our handyman, Rick, has to come on Saturdays and after work so it has taken a long time to get this done - and it has been a mess for several weeks! He keeps telling us that if we would let him come on Sundays, he would be able to finish faster. But we feel like our home is a special, dedicated place and didn't feel good about that.

We found a home for the bedroom furniture that was in the basement. A woman who is new to the ward is recently divorced and wants it for her daughter. She has to find someone to move it out for her. We gave some of our wheat to a family who lost their food storage in a fire and some to a family who need it for their large family since the dad is out of work.

Rick broke apart the old couch for us and we got it out to the trash on Monday - they took it all!

So, slowly we are getting back to normal. We will be glad to get things in order and go through and throw away a lot of things. We will be better ready to move to a smaller place sometime next year.

One More

Darling Chandler wanted to be a Civil War Confederate soldier. So here is my attempt. He will look so handsome in this. Hope he likes it and that it fits ok. I know it looks big but I think he is going to tuck the pantlegs into some sort of boot.

A Fall Visit to the Arboretum

Today was Columbus Day and Dad had a holiday so we decided to go to the Morton Arboretum. We entered about 8:15 and headed to a place where you could hike to see a mammoth rock. We were about eaten alive by mosquitoes before we finally returned to the car. It was beautiful but those little pests were so annoying!
Here's Dad with Elvis the Scarecrow.
Here I am with a couple of crazy scarecrow friends. The local Girl Scouts made the scarecrows - I thought this was the best of all. Scarecrows weaving the maypole.

Looking across the lake - not too much color in this picture but the scene was beautiful. The colors aren't as vibrant as they were in real life. Fall is a wonderful time of year and we enjoyed being in nature today.

Last of the Costume Parade (2008)

Here is Steve's scarecrow outfit (supposed to be the one from Oz). Kim is going as the Wicked Witch and the girls are both going to be Dorothy! And here is Jill's Happy costume from the Seven Drarfs - the faculty at her school is doing the Snow White theme this year. I wonder why they chose Jill as "Happy" - could it be that she is always cheerful? I think so but she would have made a beautiful Snow White too.
If you enlarge the picture, you can see that the hat has attached beard and eyebrows! Hope this works. The shoes are my old slippers covered with fleece.
These go in the mail today. Then Halloween is over for me for this year. It was fun!