The gift I really wish I could give . . .

Doesn't cost anything, but really the best gift!

To grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I'm able to give these kinds of gifts, and they're fun and meaningful and we had good laughs, smiles and hugs in the process, but alas...these gifts are fleetings.

What I'd love to be able to give these beautiful children of mine, Harrison too who fills my heart with love if not my picture frames at present, is the gift of growing in that very grace and knowledge. 

Merry Christmas my dear ones and friends! 

That gift is yours for the taking, accepting, it can come to even you and yours through the Holy Spirit, through the Word, will not cost even one dime. It won't be found in wrappings under the tree just once a year, this gift comes to you each and every day and can bring light into any darkness anytime. This gift of Christ's birth, death and resurrection is given to you and me by our one true Heavenly Father, a gift that lasts an earthly lifetime and beyond. I hope this Christmas has been filled with what you love and maybe even getting "the things" you wanted, but even if that Norman Rockwell Christmas didn't exist for you this year, I hope you feel a full heart of JOY that you received the BEST GIFT EVER in the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Something I just loved from today . . .

I spied a new addition to the chalkboard wall today and it filled my heart with gladness. 

On a day where I was happy to write this morning to Lara how fortunate and blessed she is to have the amazing life experiences she's having these days (Oh, this morning? pics from San Diego where she was doing yoga in a park and going surfing, what!!?? (-:), I end the day feeling equally fortunate and blessed!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Things I'm loving about December already! . . .

A jar of my strawberry freezer jam!

My Tarragon plant brought in from the summer that is seriously doing better than when it was outside. And there's a reason for that...it hardly ever got watered outside and it's getting watered every Sunday in here bathing in a doorwall window of bright southern sun.

Ahhh, both the French and English Thyme.

Also thriving, yay!

A decorative plant that I love the color and flow of from a flower an outdoor flower arrangement deal I bought this summer. I usually don't buy anything decorative but these guys caught my eye. Glad to have them thriving inside to use again next summer!

Good ol' Rosemary and, I think, some baby chives coming in (from Livia's third grade chive plant that keeps thriving outside). 

Besides the fact that, well, fresh herbs in the winter, I mean, come on...this is meaningful on another level for me. You see, when we lived here the first time, (Dec 1998-Dec 2003, well before a miracle happened during a time of great tragedy and I was able to move back to this place I love in Fall of 2015), every winter I always set up my Grandma M's green shelving piece she gave me in the very sunny doorwall my herbs are in now. It had three shelves (I still have it but it's in the shed holding gardening supplies) and held loads of summer plants. But, in the seven years since I've been back here, the Fall has gotten away from me with all my teaching, the tragedies of divorce and Ben's death and just life in general as a single mom/primary parent and I haven't brought any plants in until...This Year, YAY!

That means a lot to me in many ways.

(-:

Happy Thanksgiving! . . .

 

Verse of the Day from the Bible App 

and morning Pic of the Day from my front yard.

I love that there are so many different trees in this pic.

So, welp...yeah...

ev.er.y.one. just. keeps. getting. older.

(Lara, Livia, William, no Harrison still)

(-:

Check this link 

For a special Thanksgiving greeting from the guy with the great smile on the right.

All the colors!

This years menu:

Turkey cooked on the grill (Dad)

Gravy (Mom)

Mashed potatoes slow cooked in chicken broth and whole garlic cloves, then hand mashed and mixed with sour cream, probably butter too, (Kate)

Stuffing, filled with amazingness, including mushrooms (Mom)

Corn Souffle Casserole (Me)

Mashed Rutabaga (Mom)

Roasted Carrots (Kate)

Green Beans (Me)

Cabbage Salad (Kate)

Cranberries (Mom)

Pumpkin Mousse Cheesecake(Me)

Whipped Cream, homemade (Mom)

Traverse City Pie Co, Chocolate & Peanut Butter Pie (Jeff)

For some reason, I also thought we needed a side of baked mac n cheese, but then I changed course and decided to make that for this Saturday's OSU/UM game which will be right back at their house again. Last year was the first year we all came back for the game and...for the first time in for.e.ver. UM WON!! They've got a main player injured this year, so despite their no loss record right now (which I think OSU has too), we're thinking two wins in two years might be pushing it. We'll see!

Praise God from whom all Blessings Flow.

Today, Tomorrow and Always!

In times of plenty and in times of scarcity.

In times of joy and in times of sorrow.

God WILL take care of you!

November 20th extravaganza once again! . . .

Oh my goodness!

This gal is a teenager, how in the world?

(Check here for three days old)

This gal didn't have many birthday requests this year but she had just gone to a friends birthday the week before and bought her a good smelling body mist from Bed, Bath and Beyond and mentioned to her friends and me she liked that scent. She ended up getting eight products of that scent with only one duplicate, haha!

And then there was that moment that a giant, body-pillow sized squishmallow corgi dog de-squished out of its vacuum packed bag. (-:

I took a little gamble on this one. She has some round squishmallos from years past still on her bed 'cause they are really comfy, but she's kinda just about past buying stuffed animal thingys for, but the advertisement for this one sucked me in. (great sentence, ha). Anyway, I did it. It got lots of laughs and...it's on her bed tonight, she put it there. (-:

Um...yeah...what a doozy of a cake picture this is, wowza!

Anyhoo, we're pretty close to Thanksgiving this year and I've been shopping for Thanksgiving ingredients already so I don't get stuck with the masses and with empty shelves. So, that meant I didn't have it in me to also shop for and make a cake. Liv suggested a cookies n cream ice cream cake, which I bought and then lined with mini, Dove chocolate covered ice creams and topped it off with a spinning, music-making, flaming candle. As can be witnessed above. Um...yeah...what a doozy!

Tasted great though.

(-:

And after all that fun, she and her friends went to a breakout room (escape room game where they figure out clues to proceed through the game trying to get to the end of the clues to solve the puzzle before the times up, usually an hour) with a ghost theme. They were in the purple room, and a couple other rooms while I waited. They had a blast, yay!

As of today, Livia says she'd like to be an architect, she loves volleyball (got mvp for their school's last tournament), has a great group of friends, and is almost an all A student (one B+) on her last report card. She's been referred to as a kind and humble leader on her teams and very supportive of all her teammates. And I love that, as of today, age 13, we still have loads of laughs, still travel really well together and get along great. Praise be to God!

May God bless you and keep you always, Livia!

Love,

Mom

A Kale Harvest in the middle of November??!! . . . (oh, and a "new to him" car!)

Yup!

(-:

Ok, so...that's exactly right.

And right alongside the Christmas (to come) Amaryllis! (-:

I grew two plants of Kale, picked it early summer and haven't touched it since probably late July. But, it kept on growing, and I kept on keeping track of it as our weather got colder and colder. Then I heard some snow was coming, but snow had already come twice and it was fine (it's planted alongside the back of the house, southern exposure, under an overhang). So, I finally googled, "best kale recipe" as I do when googling recipes, put "best" first in the search, hahaha, and found this:

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/132785/vegetarian-kale-soup/

The kale was washed and washed and washed again last night and I'm hoping to finally have the get up and go Thursday night to get the soup going. I'm replacing the potatoes with a really cool pasta I found on sale (as one of the commenters did) since I'm not the biggest potato fan. Other than that going to follow it as written.

Then, low and behold . . . 

This blurry guy came rolling up tonight after work (in the local groceries' meat department (-:) in his own, "new to him," CAR! What?? He's been trying to make this happen since he and I had everything in place to giddy up get going on the idea the day he turned 16. He saved, I saved, but we encountered this delay and that amongst other parties that could also help make this happen...until last night. His very own amazing sister drove her old car (that her other grandparents bought for her) up to him from her apartment four hours away and handed it down to him. She, and her new job, have afforded her first, very own, very nice car that she purchased over the weekend. It's a manual, so as soon as he pulled in, and unloaded his stuff, he gave me a drive around the block. Nailed it, super smooth. Had no doubt!

Stay safe out there, William! 💜

Six years ago today, November 8th, Election Day, Ben died . . .

I was so grateful to have had/made the time to take a little walk with Alli this morning before teaching! And, I'm even starting this before my take-off too. I'll come back again later today, hopefully, to post some memories of our last trip together to the UP, the place Ben said was his "favorite place." 

We'll start to this link to a memory from last year: Initials & Hearts

And we'll add on a link from last year's reflections.

Now on to some happy memories.

(Which in 2016, '17, '18 I never thought would be possible to say)

Our last trip to the UP, end of July 2016

Hanging out on the Houghton/Hancock canal (officially called the Portage canal), Houghton side.

Big bro and little sis taking on the frigid Lake Superior!

Two brothers helping repair a porch rail. And no, they didn't break it! (-:

Big smiles at the flagpole of Fort Wilkins State Park

The annual Fort Wilkins cannon pic near Lake Fanny Hoe! (-:

Sand volleyball in Eagle Harbor after one of our favorite places to eat the Eagle Harbor Inn.

Ben's Tool Time T-shirt he doctored. It hangs in my closet with these great verses that I get to see every day. Ah Ben, such a tragedy and so dearly missed. 💔

It's that first weekend in November again (remembering what Ben endured those last years) . . .

Six years ago, on this very date, on this very day (Sunday), Ben returned from a weekend highschool retreat at Concordia University having stamped his thumb on this paper along with one of his long-time friends, Sean. It was on November 6th, just like it's November 6th today. We haven't had the same dates and days line up since then until this year. The counselor he and Sean were with that weekend, Tim, saved this for me. He saw it on a big board, I think he said, that this was placed on along with all the other kids' ones from the retreat. He took Ben and Sean's off when Ben fell and died just two days later, and tucked it away, contacting me sometime later and we finally met I think it was maybe 2019 (the original weekend was 2016 when the thumbprints were first made).

I know I've blogged before about Ben actually getting to that retreat, how we prayed in the hallyway of Concordia that morning, Friday the 4th that he would choose to attend. What a struggle it was for him to decide to go and his contacting me the week before, or the day, I'm forgetting, to see if he could still get in despite registration deadlines having passed. "Of Course!" I was so happy to exclaim! He was struggling in every single way of life up until that weekend starting with his Dad's sudden, surprise decision to break our intact family of seven with divorce the year before and all the incomprehensible experiences that followed.

He had good ol' Ben fun. 

He was SOOOO strong!

He helped with fall raking for those in need.

Got to sleep in the dorms.

And leave the messy life behind, from November 4th-November 6th, 2016. Hanging on the river (back left, naturally...doing bunny ears!) with gorgeous fall sunsets, meeting new friends and old, Concordia student mentors/leaders and being In God's Word, and song, and conversation and Word some more.

My Ben.

Who asked me, how he could get there.

During a time he wasn't living in my home for two months while his dad said he had a "safe place" for him to live, away from "the abuser." (Um...that's me btw. SP also said that to Ben's younger brother, Ben's younger brother's doctors and teachers...curious to check in and see how that worked out for the younger brother as well?  Pretty tragic results there too.)

He reached out to me, "Mom, do you think I can still go?"

He had that time at Concordia.

That brief respite.

My Ben, our most sensitive and emotional child right from birth, wore his feelings on his sleeve, felt things very deeply.

Died two days later.

Moving.

On.

October 2016. 

I had finally been able to close on our new house (old to us from having lived in it originally from December 1998-December 2003), after three denials for a mortgage having been a sixteen year stay-at-home mom, (and yes, I  STILL sing Praises to God for that blessing, literally just did the other day walking through my front lawn to get the mail, I'm in awe He provided for us in this way!) and one of the first things I did was transplant the Rose of Sharyn bush from our old house of 12 years that Ben and I planted together on his 5th birthday, to the house we returned to. That location is right outside my bedroom corner, behind the headboard of my bed. Sweet Alli hanging out with me at the time.

Summer 2022.

Ben's bush is the one on the far left, having been joined by pass me down bushes from a friend. Can you even imagine the joy I get when I round the corner of the house to this? My neighbor on this side of the house even texted this summer to say how much she was enjoying the flowers. 

This verse was part of my daily, read the bible in a year reading, this morning. It struck me. I recommend reading the entire chapter. Just as Ben left us in his earthly presence so suddenly all these years ago now, Stay Awake, for our Redeemer will return just as suddenly. 

An. October. Post. !!! . . .

 Um . . . Yeah . . . Wow . . . 

This may just be the course of this little ol' space now.

We shall see.

One post this entire month, whew!

But I mean, when you throw in a trip to . . . 

Washington D.C. 

(!!!)

In the middle of the month, things get even tighter than they already are.

Whew.

Again.

(-:

You see, eleven years ago, when my oldest took the first of now five 8th grade trips to Washington DC, I proclaimed . . . "When the youngest has her trip, I'll be chaperoning as there will be no other babies at home for me to take care of!" AND . . . eleven years later, and despite many life changes . . . I was so grateful that proclamation came true! YAY!

Here are some highlights:

Korean War Memorial

Found in a garden of the National Cathedral.

Found in the statues hall at the Capitol building.

Took to send to Lara. (-:

Who just trained for three weeks to fly a Golfstream g200 with her new company. Which is a plane that one can buy for between $5.5-$6.5 million dollars used. What??!! (-:

In an unexpected moment while touring the Arlington National Cemetery, the seating worked out so that I actually got to sit next to Livia! Ya-hoo! When asked what my favorite part of going to Washington DC was...my answer...watching Livia have a great time with her friends! Well, and...I know it's gonna sound all trite and everything with all my verses and bible reading and such but...it was new to me in DC and it was my second favorite thing, there is a Museum of the Bible now in DC. That was a neat place to go.

Ok, last couple of October things . . . 

I finally harvested my beats last week!

Didn't pick any all summer, not sure why but I wasn't in the mood.

They're all washed up and ready to be roasted. I saved the greens and hope I don't take too long to make them into something.

I'm also trying something new this year.

I've "harvested" (might be a bit overkill of a word, haha) my cilantro plant seeds which, when ground down become coriander. FYI, in some places cilantro is called coriander, just in our area we call the green plant cilantro and the seeds, when ground, coriander. Now you know. (-:

This gal has been enjoying her school volleyball season with the 7th & 8th grade team. They remained undefeated until the division championship tournament where they lost in the finals. Mind you, they lost the first game in overtime 30-29. Typically you must win by two, but as we hit 30, we all learned that the tournament organizers had evidently set a cap of points in a game to 30. We will all continue to maintain they "kinda" lost the championship!! They lost the second game 25-23. Grrr...(-: This pic is from this past weekend's Halloween 4v4 tourney she and three of her friends played in for fun (first time she's done that, they were "The Boo Crew" thus the black eye goop), and they won first place in the Silver Bracket. This weekend they play in the Lutheran Middle Schools States Tournament, whoo-hoo!

And finally, Halloween!

I missed out on the fun as I was teaching but here is Alvin from Alvin and the Chipmunks in a poor quality, second hand passed on texted picture just before heading out with her good friend, Myah. We scored that red hoodie and the last roll of yellow duck tape in the tri-county area practically, yesterday! She had fun tonight despite the rainy conditions, yay!

And now, onto November. . . 

Pink Bench Pics, Plus . . .

Pattypan Squash & the Pink Bench!

Oh, my friends.

First of all, YAY, I got back here again in September! (-:

Second, I just love my pink bench.

I can't picture where I got it years ago, but I do know I got it free and I feel like it was on the side of the road somewhere or something. It was very rickety, I must have shored it up a bit, but I have no recollection of that. Oy!

Even though it's really not a comfortable, cozy bench, it makes me smile when I perch myself there for a bit.

I do sit in it and enjoy my time in that garden.

And, this year, have chosen it as a produce pic location as can be seen above, haha!

Now this beauty I call my pumpkin eggplant.

Isn't she just the most gorgeous thing?

I keep saying I love eggplant and I really do, but, I just want to find a recipe that I really, really love. I usually just roast or saute them in a mixture of other beauties from the garden, which is just fine and lovely, but, I need to take these gorgeous creatures to the next level. Maybe tomorrow!

But, don'tcha just love how it looks like a pumpkin?

I sure do!

Pulled the last of my potatoes up Friday morning, and a few eggplant.

I loved the idea of growing potatoes but it does turn out I don't actually eat them much. So I'm working toward cooking them up tomorrow I guess before they go bad. Will likely cut thin and saute in olive oil and a little butter.

Now this bevy of eye-popping glory was from July. Made a date with my choir girlfriend and her husband to cook dinner at their house and brought these along.

Oh. My.Goodness.

Best dinner ever!

We ended up with TWO pans of this, all from my gardens but the onion, sauteed up, hit with some lemon and white wine to cook down, served on top of some pasta and alongside some grilled spicy Italian sausage. Oh, my friends. 

Mmmmmm...

I'll say it again, I am nowhere near wealthy...monetarily. I've had some really tragic and hard losses in the last 7 years, but I live daily in a state of gratitude and awe for how our Good and Gracious Lord provides for me. I'm not "happy, happy" every day, but I would struggle to find a day where at least once during the day thoughts of gratitude don't slip through my mind despite it all. I pray that any friends, family, strangers that happen upon this tiny place might get to experience that in their lifetime. It is not the striving and the things, it's being cared for by our one true Heavenly Father. So much so that He gave his only son to suffer and die for our sake, to take our sins, to wash them away and to then be resurrected three days later, leaving us with our broken, sinful nature, still whiter than snow. Wow!  Does that not surpass any gift or possible earthly striving? 

Pattypan Squash was new to my garden this year. I've enjoyed it immensely and I grow mine quite large since I guess I don't get to them quick enough but I've never found them to taste like a potato. Follow this link for more info but here's a brief synopsis from the same link: These organic summer squashes range in colour from bright yellow to green to even white. They're very similar to zucchini but a tiny bit sweeter. Pattypan squash tastes best when young and small, you let them grow too much and they’ll taste like a potato.

Oh my gosh...I just LOVE how they spell "colour," they must be from England. Recently, I guess sadly after The Queen died, I thought to myself...perhaps I should go live in Scotland when I'm 70, just sounded interesting and quiet to me (well, I guess besides the bagpipes???). We'll see. (-:

P.S. . . . this week, as of Wednesday, all my teaching days resume until Christmas break. Can I just say how incredibly grateful and then even above grateful if possible, I am for the slow start to my full blown teaching year? Tomorrow I have off until 3p.m., my last day only because I've determined that I don't attend "orientation day" at one of the co-ops at which I teach (as opposed to, that I teach at...don't end with "at," one thing I learned from SP, cause I forgot my English lessons, haha). And, Lara's in town with her paddle board, and even though it's supposed to be a high of 66 degrees, we're going to attempt a kayak/paddle board around a lake I love and she's never been to at 11a.m. 😮I believe the water will still be warm. So, so grateful for these times and moments to rest and rejuvenate for the busy schedule to come.

May God Richly Bless Your Week To Come!