Monthly Archives: June 2012

4th of July Fun and Fireworks

25 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by in beach sunsets, beauty, faith, fireworks shows, fun stuff for grandparents, Fun stuff for kids, Hearts Filled With Joy, parade floats, sandcastles, thunder storms and lighning, wisdom and understanding

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The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Psalm 19:1

The fireworks displays on the 4th of July have always been for me the most beautiful and exciting part of each celebration.  A few years ago I was very disappointed that the sky was cloudy and rainy and we were not planing to go see the fireworks.  As the sky grew darker and darker, a great thunderstorm rolled in and we could see flashes of light and hear rumbles of thunder in the distance.  As I watched out my window I saw one of the  best fireworks shows I had ever seen with  bolts of lightning zigzagging across the sky and huge crashes of thunder. I shall always remember it as the year that God provided the fireworks and it was awesomely magnificent!

Fun Stuff For Kids  

In our small town when I was growing up, the 4th of July  celebration began with a parade.  When I was very small I was allowed to ride on the vintage firetruck   at the front of the parade.  It was a little scary when they blew the siren but I was reassured when I saw my father walking along beside the firetruck  and my mother waving in the crowd.  When I was a little older we decorated my doll carriage and I felt very grown up walking my baby doll in the parade.  I always wanted to be a part of the parade and often decorated my bike spending hours using colored crepe paper and winding it in between  the spokes on the tires.

Following the parade the town put on a small carnival in the park and I remember riding a little train and playing carnival games in hopes of winning a stuffed animal.  I don’t think I ever won but it was fun trying.

We always had a wonderful picnic dinner that Mother prepared when I arrived home.  Roast beef on homemade rolls with chips and icy cold deviled eggs and marshmallow fruit salad.  Dessert was strawberry shortcake on made from scratch muffin cakes, divided in half and covered with big scoops of vanilla ice cream, fresh strawberries and a dab of whip cream.    Yum, it was delicious!  This was always followed by the town putting on a fantastic fireworks show about dusk.  We would take a large blanket to the park and lie down snuggling up to each other and ooh and ah after each one went off.  Those sure were fun times

Float Building for the Parade  

After I was married, we moved to a small town that also had a wonderful 4th of July  parade and fireworks. Each year we had so much fun dreaming up and putting together a float that consisted of a wagon and some big boxes.  It was usually pulled by our oldest son on his  tricycle or bike.  One year we did, “You’ve Come A Long Way Baby” with a covered wagon and a rocket ship.

                 Our daughter rode in the rocket ship and her baby brother in the covered wagon and they were quite content with lollypops to stay put.  Our oldest son pulled it on his bicycle and he deserves the award because it was quite a load!

Another year we built a train which we named “The Liberty Belle.”  Our son the engineer pulled his baby sister who rode quite happily in the caboose. 

One of the most fun floats we ever built was when my sister, her husband and son came down to visit and we designed the Pollution Plucker.  It had multiple arms and legs made out of bathroom and  kitchen utensils.  It was a very funny looking contraption and had all the parade viewers laughing as the kids rode by pulling it on their trikes.  It was designed to be a litter picker upper and the two boys were dressed like litter bugs with bits of paper glued to their outfits.  The idea was to harness your litterbugs.  Our daughter dressed in her best white dress was happy to ride inside it.  Needless to say it won first prize which thrilled the kids.  I think every town needs a Pollution Plucker!

Sand Castle Fireworks  

Now that we have grand kids, we have discovered that one of the best fireworks shows is on the beach.  The excitement begins early in the day.            We set up our lounge chairs and watch a beautiful sunset going down over               the ocean.  The children wade in the reflected light along the beach searching   for shells.

Then the Uncles and Dads provide an early display of Roman Candles shot from a large sand castle that they have worked on with the kids throughout the day.  As it grows darker we can see beautiful fireworks being shot off all all along the beach.  Seeing all these beautiful star-bursts in so many colors and listening to the laughter of the grand kids with their faces lit up with light from their sparklers fills my heart with joy. And so I look up and whisper a prayer of thankfulness to my Savior that we live in freedom and I pray that God will continue to bless America and enable all the people of the world to live in freedom. 

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Wisdom and Knowledge illuminations

18 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by in Christianity, faith, Fun stuff for kids, sandcastles, wisdom and understanding

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“How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!”  Proverbs 16:16

A Tower of Knowledge  Where do you look for knowledge?  What are the blocks you’ve used to build your tower of knowledge?  Where do you look for wisdom?  If I am working on my computer and ask a question of either my son or husband, I usually receive the  answer, “Just Google it.”   So that’s what I do and what a wealth of information I have discovered on Google! 

I am also a terrible speller and how I love the fact that my misspelled words now have a red squiggly line under them that is not marked by some disgruntled teacher who lowers the grade on my paper. No, my computer wizard marks my mistakes and with a right click on my mouse gives me suggestions for the correct spelling, never criticizing my errors.  We’ve come a long way from looking up words in the dictionary and using white out to cover our mistakes.

You are probably familiar with the G.P.S. global positioning system.  Our grandson  named ours Grace and use to ask the question, “But how does Grace know exactly where we are and where we are going?”  He always wanted to trick her when my husband picked him up from school.  They frequently took different routes home, but she always “recalculated” and gave the correct directions to reach their destination.

And have you heard about Siri?  She is a voice-activated “Personal assistant” on the iPhone 4S.  My son has one and we all had a fun time thinking up questions to ask  her at our last family get together.   Her answers about marriage and her likes and dislikes had us in stitches.  She is always very polite and has knowledge about all sorts of subjects or will provide a Google search list if needed.  Recently I read that Apple is providing her with new databases of knowledge which will include being able to make dinner reservations and retrieve sports scores.  Several automakers are planing to integrate  their new cars with a steering wheel mounted button that will enable the driver to use Siri to make hands free and eyes free calls, play music, compose text messages and get map direction.  Sounds like a very smart thing to have.  I’m all for anything safety related!

But accumulated facts are not wisdom.  And what man calls wisdom is not always  safe to follow.  Several times we have followed our G.P.S. directions and ended up on some country road far from our destination.  Worldly advice may be a trap that leads you to take unsafe risks.  Most of the time man’s advice is colored by his own greed and limited knowledge and is not in our best interest.  The only word we can continually trust is God’s Word.  “For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”  Proverbs 2:6

The Tower of Babel

The eleventh chapter of Genesis describes how the people became so pride filled  that they wanted to make a name for themselves by building a city with a tower in it that would reach up to heaven.  They wanted to glorify themselves and refused to recognize that only by the grace of God did they have the ability to build a city and tower. “This is the one I esteem:  he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.”   Isaiah 66:2b      At that time all the people in the world   had one language, but God hates pride   and scattered them from there over all the earth  and they stopped building the city.  “That is why it was called Babel – because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world.”   Genesis 11:9

Fun Stuff For Kids:   Building a Tower of Babel  after explaining the Bible story.

Technology today seems to have no limits and is constantly changing.  I love being able to stay in touch with friends and family and even meet new friends around the  world by blogging.  Men have come up with some fantastic devices to enable us to communicate with each other and to almost never get lost, but God has given us something even more amazing.  We do not have to dial a number or hook up to the internet or wait for a menu.  He has enabled  us to have instant communication with Him, our Awesome God never makes us wait. God has promised that when we call to him he will answer us and His wisdom is omniscient, omnipresent and  omnipotent.  “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and  unsearchable things you do not know.”  Jeremiah 33:3

God gave each believer the Holy Spirit to guide him and keep him from losing the way.  “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.”  Psalm 32:8 

God not only gives the best way to reach our destination, but he has also designed the best way that personally fits each individual.  His system enables us to follow the only way that will bring us lasting joy and fulfill his purpose for our lives.  Whenever you have a problem or decision to make, the best thing you can do is first pray about it and then look in the Bible for answers.  Don’t make a hasty decision based on what men say or your own knowledge.  Only God can guide you to make the best choices for your life. “Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.” Isaiah 64:4   “My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.”  Proverbs 2:2-5

Father’s Day Tribute

11 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by in Christianity, crafts, Father's Day Love, fun stuff for grandparents, Fun stuff for kids, wisdom and understanding

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“Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it.”   Proverbs 22:6

Children love to walk in their Father’s shoes if given the opportunity.  This is a  picture of Shepherd our 8th grandchild walking in his grandfather’s shoes.  We constantly set an example for our children and they will be much more likely to follow what we do than what we say.

I believe that a family that prays and plays together has a much better chance of staying together.  I am thankful that both of my daughter’s husbands provide great examples for their children by the lives they lead.  Honesty and loyalty, love and respect and a strong trusting faith in Jesus Christ is continually taught not just by their words but by their actions as well.

I am also so blessed that my husband is a man who cares deeply about his family and shows it.  Our children and grandchildren know that they can count on him to find time to be there when they need him, to listen to them, understand them and play with them because he loves them with all his heart. 

If one of our children was in a ball game, a recital or school program, he always managed to leave work early to come to it.  Weekends were spent at home playing with the kids and our vacations were some of the best family times of all.  Following you will find a list of wonderful memories with Dad that one of our daughters made a few years ago.  This list was written before she had children of her own and I know that it would be much longer now.

  • roses every Valentines Day  
  • Teaching me to drive
  • Basketball in the driveway
  • building a clubhouse
  • leaving work early to come to my basketball games
  • me and Dad verses Jim in basketball
  • teaching me to play golf
  • buying 5 notebooks even if I needed only 1 (always doing above and beyond no matter what)
  • wedding day – walking down the aisle with him  
  • watching Celtics games together on T.V,
  • watching U.K. games together
  • staying up until I came in at night
  • always glad to hear my voice on the phone
  • Chauffeur when needed
  • going to piano lessons in old car
  • restoring old 39 Ford together and winning prize  
  • letting me play in Cub Scouts car race/camp out and cookout
  • wonderful vacations
  • building all those fences for the dogs
  • building a doghouse for Snoopy with me
  • all his jokes
  • all his laughter
  • always so patient and loving with Mother and us
  • wonderful example and my #1 cheerleader

Two dozen reasons that mean so much and I know that if our other children and now the grandchildren made lists, they too would be able to think of countless reasons why their Dad (Daddo) always makes them feel loved.  And we want you to know that we love you more than you can ever imagine!  Thanks and Happy Father’s Day!

Father’s Day present craft

Remembrance rock paperweight

  • rock for paperweight ( if your child goes fishing with Dad or plays at a nearby  stream let him choose a rock about 4″ by 4″ with a smooth top for this project) or a small tile for a “surprise project” bought at Home Depot on a trip with Dad would also work
  • Elmer’s glue
  • hot glue gun
  • Mod Podge clear drying sealer and clean brush
  • small photograph of child or child and Dad. VERY IMPORTANT TO USE A STORE MADE PHOTOGRAPH, I tried printing photos on photo paper with my inkjet printer 3 times and even allowed it to dry overnight.  The photo looked great, but the Mod Podge lifted ink off paper.
  • thin piece of cardboard large enough to mount picture on
  • felt large enough to cover bottom of rock

If using a creek stone be sure to wash and dry the rock thoroughly before beginning  this project.  Check to be sure that picture will fit top of rock or cut to fit.  Mount picture on the thin piece of cardboard with Elmer’s glue and let dry.  Use hot glue gun to secure picture to top of rock. Lightly brush several thin coats of Mod Podge over picture and top of rock allowing each to dry thoroughly before adding another.  When finished glue a piece of felt to bottom of rock so it will not scratch your furniture.

Let your child wrap up his remembrance rock in pretty paper and delight Dad with the gift he made him.

Any Father’s Day tribute would not be complete without mentioning my own   wonderful Dad.  He loved God, worked hard, took us to Sunday school and church every Sunday and inspired me to always try to do my best.  I have  many wonderful memories of evenings together with him.  Summertime was such a special time and  I use to love to sit and talk with him while he grilled burgers in the backyard.  Occasionally for a real treat, we made homemade strawberry or peach ice cream with a hand crank freezer.  

Daddy had an on going battle with the squirrels that would raid our bird feeder.   He was always trying to come up with some hilarious invention to stop them and of course the inventions never worked, but provided many laughs when we would watch the squirrels succeed in getting up, over or around the latest contraption.  I wish I could show him the bird-feeder we have now that takes squirrels for a little merry-go-round ride when they try to raid the feeder.  So  far the squirrels have not outsmarted this new design as long as we remember to keep it charged up.  Daddy would have loved it!

When I was little he made a wonderful log cabin playhouse for my sister and me in the woods behind our house.  I usually imagined that it was my bakery and spent hours and hours of fun fixing delicious treats and decorating them with honeysuckle berries.

Be sure to take lots of pictures with your children having fun times with your  parents.  I wish I had more pictures of my Dad, but he was always the one behind the camera.  He loved making things for my children  and once made a car and a boat for them to play in when we were coming to visit.  He also made wooden boats for them to sail down our creek and planted wildflowers in our woods for me to enjoy.  It is such a blessing to have a caring,  thoughtful, loving father, and I just wish my Dad  was still around so I could hug him and tell him just how much I love him.

GARDEN JOY illuminations

04 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by in beauty, Christianity, favorite songs, flower gardens, health, Hearts Filled With Joy, music, roses, spring flowers, wisdom and understanding, worry

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“By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me – a prayer to the God of my life.”   Psalm 42:8  

Are weeds of worry and care choking the joy of your spirit?  A beautiful spirit must  be regularly watered with trust and faith.

“IN THE GARDEN”  by C. Austin Miles  

“I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses.
And the voice I hear falling on my ear;
the Son of God discloses.

And he walks with me and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own.
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.   He speaks and the sound of His voice is so sweet
the birds hush their singing.  
And the melody that He gave to me
within my heart is ringing.

And he walks with me and He talks with me,
And he tells me I am His own.   And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.”

The only way to be renewed in your spirit is through Divine Companionship.  Walking and talking with the LORD, resting and thinking of Him, loving and praising Him.  Find your joy in Him!  

“Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far out weighs them all.”          II Corinthians 4:16, 17

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”     II Corinthians 4:18