Cheeky Cocoa Beans

Wordless Wednesday: The Cross

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans) — Wed, 10 Dec 2014 12:00:00 +0000

This post is linked to 5 Minutes for Mom for Wordless Wednesday.

Throwback Thursday: Then and Now

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans) — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 12:00:00 +0000

Then...

Robert (7), Josiah (2), and me in February 2005

And now...

Josiah (12), Grace (8), and me in October 2014

Then...

Josiah (in the light blue cape) and Grandad (in the Hawaiian shirt) in February 2005

And now...

Josiah (in what he calls his "Happy Hoodie") in October 2014

Wordless Wednesday: Sunset

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans) — Wed, 03 Dec 2014 12:00:00 +0000

The brilliant view from my backyard (October 2014):

This post is linked to 5 Minutes for Mom for Wordless Wednesday.

Friday Night Lights and Icicles

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans) — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 02:00:00 +0000

Robert (17) had the opportunity to play football during his senior year. His team made it to the first round of the championship games (they were in 4th place and played the #1 ranked team). Here are some chronological shots from the season, including a few scenic shots of our "tour of Georgia" as we traveled to the games...some of which were around two hours away.

Robert is number 84.

With it being a small team, Robert played a variety of positions, both offensive and defensive.

Before a game

Robert is on the field in the center of this photo.

Sideline shots were often the only ones that weren't blurry. :)

Friday night lights...and an eagle in the clouds

Shot from I-20 as we drove through downtown Atlanta: the gold-domed Capitol.

Robert is on the field and centered in this photo.

Robert was one of the players who often ran in plays.

Josiah (12) at the last game, when it was below freezing (hence, the "icicles" in the title of this post).

The playoff game.

The team on the sidelines after the last game.

Throwback Thursday: January 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans) — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 15:00:00 +0000

If you have ever thought Zilpah was a good name for a paperdoll...

you might be a PK (preacher's kid).

Grace writes the names of each paperdoll on the back. The one at the bottom with the bright blue skirt is her favorite, Princess. The one at the top is mine, Emily.

She also has a paperdoll named Bilhah.

The Georgia Bulldog Ballet

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans) — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 02:48:00 +0000

I had a ticket for the Georgia Bulldog Ballet tonight...

This ticket:

Grace (8) used to put on nightly ballet performances for us at various times over the past 4 years or so for about a week at a time. We always needed tickets to attend, and usually had to purchase them from our smallest entrepreneur. So, yes, we would pay $.25 to $.50 to sit in our own living room.

Totally worth it.

Somewhere alone the way, I earned a season pass. Lucky me!

I found a bun doughnut for her hair today, and that has rekindled her love of performing, even if I haven't yet mastered using the doughnut.

Grace dances in an...ummmm...interpretive dance kind of way,

and Pachelbel's Canon is her favorite

but she's just as likely to dance to Turkey in the Straw.

The accompaniment is Josiah's keyboard, which has an extensive song bank available at the push of a button. The Georgia Bulldog Ballet is (hopefully) the only ballet in the world where you can see a ballet performance to the instrumental version of The House of the Rising Sun.

That particular song always reminds me of my days of doing collection calls for a dermatologist I worked for years ago. There was a woman whose rather awkward outgoing message on the answering machine was, "You have reached The House of the Rising Sun. Leave a message." I always wondered if she had ever listened to the lyrics...and, if so, why, oh, why, would you say such a thing?

Throwback Thursday: January 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans) — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 15:47:00 +0000

Grace (7 at the time), our newest basketball player, was ready for her first game earlier this year.

And Josiah (11 at the time) was the one who encouraged her to put on her game face...

Grace's team:

She was delighted to find that she was not the smallest on her team of 1st through 3rd grade girls, even if only by half an inch (if that!).

Wordless Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans) — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 01:04:00 +0000

A bright, hazy morning (May 2014, as I was heading home from my early morning babysitting job)...

For the record, my car was stopped and out of the road when I took this shot!

This post is linked to 5 Minutes for Mom for Wordless Wednesday.

Here's a Question...

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans) — Sat, 08 Nov 2014 04:55:00 +0000

How do you restart blogging after taking an eleven month break? I'm asking for a friend.

I still can't believe it's been eleven months. I have thought often of my poor, neglected blog, and thought about how to jump back into blogging regularly. And then I thought of how to explain my absence, and all the updating I would "need" to do...

Because my children's photos on the sidebar are about two years old now...and various links need to be redone or removed...and I haven't had short hair in a few years so my profile photo would need to be updated...

And I would put it off again..and again...because life got a bit busier during my blogging break. For instance, Robert is now a senior, with weekly football games that are close to wrapping up.

Robert is number 84. My sideline shots are the only ones where you can tell who is who.

And so here I am, just deciding to start where I am and change what I can when I can. And that will be OK.

That, and I will be in a chili cook-off tomorrow, and I'm supposed to come up with a name for my chili. All I came up with (besides "My Husband Signed Me Up For This") was Cheeky Chili. I guess this is as good a reason as any to jump back in, right? And maybe I can hit some highlights of the past eleven months with occasional "Throwback Thursday" posts.

Baby steps, y'all.

If you're interested in the chili recipe I use, click here for the recipe and click here for how I mass produce my own chili spice packets ahead of time as well as to see what changes I make to the original recipe to suit my family.

Reflection

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans) — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 02:25:00 +0000

This post is linked to 5 Minutes for Mom, In the Moment with Sarah Halstead, and Teresa at NanaHood for Wordless Wednesday.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans) — Sun, 15 Dec 2013 21:45:00 +0000

The scavenger hunt themes for this week were

The Weather Today
R is for...
Green
Joy
Drink

The weather today is cold [relatively speaking] and clear

which is a welcome change from the weather we had most of last week...

cold...

A leaf with frost on it that Grace found for me

wet...

and generally dreary-looking.

R is for...reading, of course!

Josiah (11) and Grace (7) reading on our new sofa

Josiah and Grace reading in the dark in the van

Here is Grace peeking around the green Christmas tree before a skit during this morning's worship service. I may be a little biased, but she was the prettiest of the "wise men."

Joy has much less to do with this

No, this is not my house.

or this

Yes, this is in my house...from December 2010.

and everything to do with this.

For a child has been born—for us!

the gift of a son—for us!

He’ll take over

the running of the world.

His names will be: Amazing Counselor,

Strong God,

Eternal Father,

Prince of Wholeness.

His ruling authority will grow,

and there’ll be no limits to the wholeness he brings.

He’ll rule from the historic David throne

over that promised kingdom.

He’ll put that kingdom on a firm footing

and keep it going

With fair dealing and right living,

beginning now and lasting always.

The zeal of God-of-the-Angel-Armies

will do all this.

Isaiah 9:6-7 (The Message)

I don't have a photo for drink, so why not another sky shot? This was on Friday at our homeschool group meeting. I spotted a sun dog in the sky as we were packing up to leave.

Click on the link below to see others' photographs or to join in on the fun!

WFMW: Sorting (Some) Laundry

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans) — Wed, 11 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000

I have two boys, and although they are ages 16 and 11, they wear the same size of socks as my husband and, without careful inspection (looking at the size on the tag) pretty much the same size of underwear, too. Who wants to look at each of the tags?!? Not me...especially now that it requires using my reading glasses...so this is what I do.

I used a Sharpie laundry marker to make a couple of dots on my oldest son's underwear inside the waistband. I accidentally put two dots on the very first pair (I think I thought I was holding a smaller size...I really meant to have only one dot in his, but I messed up) so all of his underwear have two dots. I put three dots on my youngest son's underwear. When my oldest son outgrows his, I just add a dot and they are passed down to my youngest son.

Socks are a little easier to sort for my guys. One wears only solid colored athletic socks (we won't comment on why...or who...), so his are easy to sort out from the pile of laundry. My husband and other son, however, wear the exact same kinds of athletic socks. I put one dot on the underside of the toes of my son's socks (both inside and outside, because I don't turn socks the "right" way as I fold) so I can easily tell which ones are his.

Really, there's no rhyme or reason to the number of dots on articles of clothing around here. Maybe later...but not now.

(Alternatively, I've heard of a couple of families who dump all the guys' (athletic) socks in one centrally located drawer/box for everyone to use. This wouldn't work for our Mr. Only-Solid-Colors...or my husband, since there is also a young Mr. Looks-Like-He-Runs-Through-Mud-Without-Shoes in the mix.)

When life gets really hectic, I put each person's socks, unsorted, in a pile and they can either match them or dump them "as is" in the sock drawer. Also, I usually buy the same kinds of socks over and over again (and we usually stick to only white socks), so when one sock gets a hole in it or goes missing, it's no big deal; there will be a match for it soon enough.

And that works for me! What works for you? Share a tip of any kind or link to your blog post in the comments, and I'll check it out! Click over to We Are THAT Family for more Works For Me Wednesday ideas.

Wordless Wednesday: Sunset

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans) — Tue, 10 Dec 2013 19:23:00 +0000

The view from my backyard...

This post is linked to 5 Minutes for Mom, In the Moment with Sarah Halstead, and Teresa at NanaHood for Wordless Wednesday.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans) — Sun, 08 Dec 2013 04:05:00 +0000

The photography prompts for this week's scavenger hunt were:

Where I stood
Silver
Tiny
In the cupboard (which I skipped entirely)
Shadows

From where I stood in the kitchen earlier this week, I looked out our window to see the last remaining bit of color on our trees in the front yard. The window was open because of much warmer temperatures that we had for a few days.

A friend braved the rain to take us both to our church's "Secret Sister" party one night. The raindrops on the windshield looked like gold and silver droplets with the house and Christmas lights behind them. (Yes, I know it's a stretch.)

Saturday was the Christmas parade in the square. I have a confession to make: in the 14 years we have lived here, this was the first time we ever made it to the Christmas parade. Most years we planned to go but something came up (other plans or obligations, illness, etc.) and some years it just never made it on our radar. We went this year, and it was wonderful!

There was a (relatively) tiny and impressive replica of the clock tower and court house as one of the floats.

And this is the real thing:

The clock tower is enveloped in shadows in the next shot.

But these two shot, from my archives and from a time when Grace was 6, are my favorite shadow photos.

June 2012

October 2012

Click on the link below to see others' photographs or to join in on the fun!

Wordless Wednesday: Venus

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans) — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 03:52:00 +0000

The speck in the upper left corner of the photo is Venus...

Another shot, zooming in, which completely changed the look of the sky:

This post is linked to 5 Minutes for Mom, In the Moment with Sarah Halstead, and Teresa at NanaHood for Wordless Wednesday.

WFMW: Homemade Bingo Games for Learning

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans) — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 03:38:00 +0000

Today I made a Bingo game for my kids to help them memorize the most common prepositions (which is how Easy Grammar Plus, a multi-grade level grammar curriculum we recently began using, starts out). My oldest two (11th and 6th grades) are the ones who will need to memorize the prepositions right now, but I figured it wouldn't hurt for my youngest (2nd grade) to play along, too. (The challenge will be getting my 11th grade son to play the game with us...but if he does, he will learn the most common prepositions the easiest way.)

I looked online and found a list of prepositions that matched the list that Easy Grammar uses, and it already had each word in small blocks...perfect for the calling cards for a Bingo game. I used Microsoft Publisher to create very simple Bingo cards with randomly placed prepositions, printed them on brightly colored (and already used on one side) paper, and this is how it all turned out:

When a player gets BINGO, he/she tells the other players a sentence using each of the prepositions in the row correctly. Also, when I drew the prepositions from the pile of calling cards, I used each preposition in a sentence.

Previously I made a Bingo game for learning how to tell time to five minutes using templates a teacher friend gave me:

Since the Time Bingo game was meant for a younger crowd, I printed the Bingo cards and calling cards on (already used on one side) card stock for durability.

Here's a close-up of one of the Bingo cards so you can see that each column has all the times that belong to either the 12, 3, 6, 8, or 10 o'clock hour. I put Grace to work gluing on the small, randomly placed (except for the hour) clocks in each of the squares on each of the cards.

Many years ago, before I was so fancy with printing out Bingo cards on the computer, I made them by hand using cereal boxes for the cards and construction paper for the calling cards. This set of cards is for number recognition--11 through 20--that I used when my oldest was little. I drew a couple of "sample" calling cards on the envelope so I knew which set they belonged to. (If I had it to do over again, I would have done 11-19 instead, assuming that 10 is readily recognized by the child.)

Here's the next set of cards I made way back when...for number recognition of the 20s. I drew a couple of "sample" calling cards on the envelope so I knew which set they belonged to, too. I didn't make a set for the 30s because by the time we played the 20s set, my son had the hang of number recognition.

These are the BINGO chips I made way back when...and still use now. They are just pieces of construction paper and I keep them in an envelope. If one (or a dozen) get lost, it's no big deal.

I keep all Bingo card sets together in one manila envelope so I only have to keep up with one set of Bingo chips. Plus, I've found that sometimes one game of Bingo leads to wanting to play other Bingo games, so this keeps it all together for an easy transition.

And that works for me! Click over to We Are THAT Family for more Works For Me Wednesday ideas.

Perhaps the best part of today was a few hours after I had played the preposition Bingo game for the first time with my youngest two children (6th and 2nd grades). I had Josiah, my 6th grader, write down as many prepositions as he could remember; he remembered 16 today. I thought I, too, would write down as many as I remembered; I remembered 20 today. Grace, my 2nd grader, walked in the room, and I asked her if she remembered any prepositions from playing the game...she remembered 19. NINETEEN...and this was after possibly never having heard the term "preposition" before today. She was tickled with these results, and I was, too. :)

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans) — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 03:14:00 +0000

This week's scavenger hunt items are:

Pattern
Sunglasses
Round
Looking in
Crunchy

Pattern

This was an awesome pattern to see tonight at our church: Operation Christmas Child boxes ready to be filled at the packing party.

The boxes looked even better filled...

(So far, our church has collected at least 120 boxes for Operation Christmas Child. November 25th is the deadline for dropping off boxes--It's not too late to put together a box that will make a difference in the life of a child! Click over for more information on drop off locations, or make a donation to help cover shipping costs. You can find a video of Si Robertson packing an OCC box at that link, too.)

Sunglasses

Here's Grace (7) sporting her sunglasses...

Round

Poor Bono has had the cone of shame for the last couple of weeks because of a wound he caused on his hip. He gets around well with it now, and actually stands still when it has had to be put back on because of him chewing at the site again, but it was quite an adjustment for him at first. (Think: Large puppy...smallish house...lots of furniture.)

Looking in

Grace received her very own Bible after memorizing the books of the Bible last week! (Yes, all of them--Old and New Testaments!)

Now she is "looking in" God's word.

Crunchy

It's crunchy leaves, of course...

Click on the link below to see others' photographs or to join in on the fun!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans) — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 02:24:00 +0000

It's time for Scavenger Hunt Sunday again! Here are my interpretations for this week's photography prompts.

Table

This photo is from July 2012, when Bono was 4 months old and would sometimes sleep with his head underneath a chair at the kitchen table. He can't do this anymore...he's too big!

Bono the Bouvier des Flanders

I decided to use a photo from archives, because otherwise this is all I have for "table": pretty much my favorite thing to see on my kitchen table!

Grace (7) has said for a while, "They spell it wrong on the label!" I asked her what she meant, and she said it should read "Mom's Favorite Cookie."

I collect

I don't really collect anything in particular, but I do like snow globes. In particular, I like the snow globes that my husband finds for me, like this one that is from Italy. (There's a movie reference here...While You Were Sleeping.)

Music

We have a resident guitar player (Robert, 16) who not only plays guitar but draws 'em, too.

He also has sheets of musical things posted on his wall for reference.

Yes!

When I saw my friend Nancy's Facebook post, saying "YES!" with the image she posted, I knew I had found my photo for this prompt.

Someone I miss

I didn't want to take a picture of a picture, so here's a doll that was my mom's. It was probably the last doll she received, and she had picked it out as a gift from her father when they went to a festival/craft fair together several years before her death. (She passed away when my oldest, Robert, now 16, was 9 months old.) Also, the record behind the doll was my grandfather's (her father).

Click on the link below to see others' photographs or to join in on the fun!

High Falls State Park...Up Close

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans) — Sun, 10 Nov 2013 02:21:00 +0000

Here are a few more photos of our recent trip to High Falls...

up close...

Click here to see the rest of my photos from this trip to High Falls.

High Falls State Park

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans) — Wed, 06 Nov 2013 03:31:00 +0000

We took a little trip over to High Falls State Park (Georgia) over the weekend. We had gorgeous weather! I took 188 photos and somehow narrowed it down to just under 30.

In case you wonder about his absence from these photos, Robert (16) was hired out for the day so he wasn't with us.

Grace and me...This was a recreation of the (failed) photos we had done a few years ago, which you can see by clicking over here. This time, however, Grace is actually looking at the camera.

High Falls was where Jason asked me to marry him. Apparently, we weren't the only ones who chose that exact spot...

I got a few stares from another group on the trail with this shot...and it was worth it.

Grace the fearless hiker. She told me Indians had left the red marks on the trees; she was at the next marked tree further down the trail. (It was immediately after this shot that she asked me to call her by her Indian name, Indiana.)

The kids found shells in at least one area at the base of the falls.

Grace balanced...

and jumped...

and, fortunately, didn't need a trip to the ER despite her repeated attempts to get there from here.

Jason spotted a lizard...camouflaged perfectly with the rocks.

and we spotted what appeared to be a blind boy walking across the rocks. (That would be our Josiah with his spy glasses on and with his walking stick.)

Jason, Josiah (11), and Grace (7). Josiah complained to Grace immediately after I took this picture, "Dad was pinching me the whole time, trying to make me mess up the picture!"

Grace's response? "That's why I didn't stand next to him!"

Moss and ferns growing on an overhead branch...

I just like red leaves.

A sunburst through leaves.

Now we're on the other side of the falls, where the trail starts off wide and flat.

This post is linked to 5 Minutes for Mom, In the Moment with Sarah Halstead, and Teresa at NanaHood for Wordless Wednesday.

Click here to see more (close up) photos from this trip to High Falls!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans) — Sun, 03 Nov 2013 18:29:00 +0000

This Sunday's scavenger hunt had a fall theme...

And I realized just how much I stay at home during the daytime. I had been ~~complaining~~ remarking to many people online about how everything was so green around here...and it is...or was...very green in my part of the neighborhood. Outside our neighborhood? Well, that's another story!

Orange

There are trees dressed in gorgeous leaves, like these orange ones.

Dress Up

The kids (and a friend) dressed up to go to a local fall festival. My kids are the ones in black: a spy (Josiah, age 11) and a ninja (Grace, age 7).

Candy

What does a ninja do with her candy? Sort it by type, of course.

...Unless she is feeling less ninja-like and puts it in a silver goblet.

Pumpkin

Grace's silly pumpkin face that she and Josiah made:

Spooky

Spooky is often a matter of perception and conditions. For instance, this photo looks rather spooky...

but the original photo does not.

And some people think cemeteries are spooky...

but Grace does not. In fact, when I stopped by a local cemetery where I've taken pictures before, she asked if she could get out because she saw a vase that had toppled over. She enjoys righting vases as well as placing loose flowers back where they belong.

Here's another cemetery shot on that same afternoon, looking up a hill in another part of the cemetery so that the lighting is changed. Spooky or not?

Grace spied more toppled vases, so we both got out of the van to walk among the grave sites. I found these four homemade grave markers--all for infants--that have piqued my interest. (These are part of the family plot you can see on the lower right side of my previous photo.)

Click on the link below to see others' photographs or to join in on the fun!

Throwback Thursday: Tee Ball

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans) — Thu, 31 Oct 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Awwww...such sweetness! Here is Robert's 2003 tee ball team lined up at the fence waiting for a turn at the tee. That's Robert (at age 6) wearing number 13.

Wordless Wednesday: Watson Mill Bridge

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans) — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 02:49:00 +0000

This is the wooden bridge at Watson Mill State Park in Georgia. At 229 feet, it is the longest covered bridge in the state. I remember walking across the bridge as a child...slightly terrified that a car would come along and run over me. (Yes, I was just a tad dramatic.)

This post is linked to 5 Minutes for Mom and Sarah Halstead at The Naptime Momtog for Wordless Wednesday.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans) — Sun, 27 Oct 2013 21:18:00 +0000

It's time for Scavenger Hunt Sunday again! Here are my interpretations...

Change

Leaves have been slow to change color around here, and the (two...yes, two) trees in our yard seem to be the last to change in our neighborhood no matter what the season--the last to be dressed for fall, the last to shed leaves for winter, the last to bloom in the spring. True to form, the leaves in our yard are still green...so this next photo is a leaf from our neighbor's yard.

I didn't notice the spider's web until I pulled the photo up on my computer...do you see it, faintly, in the upper left quadrant?

Your mood today

Robert (16) has been driving to and from his weekly guitar lesson, but Jason has always been the one to go with him...until last week, when Jason attended a conference. It's about a 30-minute drive, and this was the first time Robert had driven with me for more than 15 minutes at a time (he has his learner's permit). It was also the first time he drove with Josiah (11) and Grace (7) in the car...He did well, but my mood was, admittedly, at least a little apprehensive. This was my view during the drive, dashboard reflection and all:

And, on the way, Robert pretended in a pretty convincing way that he had made a wrong turn, since he knew the way and I didn't...so I took a picture of the trickster. (Yes, he has his father's sense of humor.)

Dark

I went with friends from church to the Women of Faith conference. It was, of course, dark during the CeCe Winans concert Friday night.

Welcome

This was the sweet and silly little face that welcomed me home after we came back from the conference:

Depth of Field

I couldn't decide which one to pick, so I'm including a few for this prompt. These are the last of my zinnia blooms for the year...

There are lots of little white flowers in the back half of my neighbor's backyard...growing among the ragweed and golden rod

...and here's a bee I stalked at an unsafe distance until I got a good shot of him.

Click on the link below to see others' photographs or to join in on the fun!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Amy @ Cheeky Cocoa Beans) — Sun, 20 Oct 2013 22:34:00 +0000

It's time for Scavenger Hunt Sunday, which has become a sort of "our week in photos" for me.

Watching and Leafy

These first two shots were taken a couple of weeks ago, when Jason found a leaf insect. I don't freak out about bugs, but I still think it's a little freaky when you can see them watching you (praying mantises in particular). I didn't know this leafy guy was watching me until I edited the photos.

I also didn't know he was grazing on our towel...

If looking at bugs is too creepy for you, here's another leafy shot. This tree grows in a nearby store parking lot, and the leaves look like brightly colored feathers once they start changing color in the fall. (As you can see, things are still very green around here in this part of Georgia.)

Still

We still have some cosmos growing in our yard. I believe this is the latest we've ever had them. Grace picked some to put in my little vase at the kitchen window.

A Good Day

Friday was a good day for the kids to play with friends at the park...

Grace (7), ever stylish in her dress, capris, and boots...with a cheerleader bear tagging along on for a ride down the slide.

and a good day to go with my husband to have supper with some friends in a nearby downtown area.

First World Problem

Oh, first world problems. We love to complain, don't we? Whether it's about missing the otherwise lovely shot because of aircraft trails marring the blue sky (like in the photo above), or about dealing with traffic,

or about clutter,

or about being cold (you know, while in a climate-controlled building and while wearing weather-appropriate clothing).

Grace huddled in a chair for warmth ;)

And all of our complaining about first world problems is going on while most of the world lives very differently...like these girls...

This is the time of year when we can give a simple gift...the gift of a shoebox full of goodies...that can go halfway around the world to brighten a child's life and let him know that someone loves him, and that God loves him.

Click over to the Samaritan's Purse/Operation Christmas Child website to learn more. You can donate online whether or not you put together a shoebox, and you can even print a tag to put on your shoebox that will let you follow where your shoebox goes. The deadline for the national collection week is November 18-25, and you can find some drop-off locations on the website.

Click on the link below to see others' photographs or to join in on the fun!