WISDOM

What is the best piece of advice you have been given?  I have been thinking about this...going back many years trying to recall a teacher, a friend, a parent, a priest who has given to me the best piece of advice.  And you know what?  The one thing that someone said...and it was a counselor from Serenity Lane when I was receiving help for understanding Lacey's addiction...be kind and caring with your words!  I don't know, to me that is so profound and should be very easy to do.  And for some it is, it is just who they are, how they are made up, but for others, it isn't easy.

When I did a Bible Study lesson on the Proverbs several years back, I totally fell in love with that book of the Bible.  Oh my gosh, it just really spoke to my heart and life and I thought, how easy and wonderful this is and if everyone took those words to heart, how could we have fighting and wars, and harsh words even in families.  But God made us all a little different and He gave us free choice....and do you see, this is where it can all fall apart.  If you don't choose to follow God, then there is something missing in your heart.  You really are not FREE.  In Proverbs 15:1 it says:  "A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare."  In other words, a kind word turns away anger.  I think most of us have heard the saying:  "you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar".  It means more can be accomplished by being pleasant than by being disagreeable.  Yet there are people in our lives who just have to be "right" to the point of being obnoxious or arrogant.  Can we change our attitude?  I think we can...will it take a lot of conscious work?  You bet, and it will not be easy.  But really what is our purpose here on earth?  To fight?  To be the one who is right?  To alienate loved ones? 

Proverbs 3:3-4 says, "Never let loyalty and kindness leave you!...write them deep within your heart.  Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation."

I don't know about you, but I personally want people to like me!  I want people to think kindly of me.  I want people to say,  "Oh I know Colleen, she is a really nice person, so kind and generous".  My reputation speaks to my character and I pray that I am in favor with God.

So I am thinking:  what Words of Wisdom do I want to pass on to my children, grandchildren and one day great-grandchildren.  The Bible is full of the Words of Wisdom so I am sure it will come from there...keeping God in their heart and FIRST place in their life and then relying on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

More pondering and thinking to be done, for sure...as this could be the "Mantra" my family will always remember.  Scott's father, Bill who currently is nearing 88 years has always said, "You get what you give" and that is a "Mantra" that everyone in the family says!  I have said it myself to strangers standing in a grocery line,  "You can go ahead of me...are you sure?....YUP!  You get what you give...pass it on"!  What a Legacy!

Yet another MOUSE story!

Yes, sad but true!  You see there was this little itty bitty space at the corner of a door and because the back patio is not poured yet, the little space is there, so I wadded up a napkin and stuck it in the corner.  Now I know what you are thinking...a napkin?  But a mouse will surely chew through a napkin.  Yes, I know, but that gives me the warning and guess what?  It worked!  The napkin was shredded and pulled away, so I got right on trapping that little guy.  And what I noticed was that he not only shredded the napkin he/she also started on the rubber tubing on the threshold and even on the wood!  All to get out, or to get in...I am not sure!  But I was ON IT!  So the first thing I did was set that electronic trap again and two other traps...I did NOT have any more of those "V" traps that snap your fingers off...but I was willing to go with these for the night.  Well, about 11:30 I get out of bed cause I am just so nervous about a mouse traipsing through my house...and guess what!!  The electronic trap was FLASHING!!  I caught one!!  OMG!!!   OMG!!!  I was beside myself, what to do?  I gingerly picked it up and sure enough, there was the tail...OMG!  It twitched!!  YIKES...I quickly put it back down on the floor.  I was beside myself what to do with it....so I stayed up an hour to keep my eye on it and it stayed in that trap...I wasn't sure how long it took to really give that guy a good enough "jolt" to kill it. 

Well, I finally decided I would put the whole thing into a plastic bag and leave it for Scott in the morning...he did say he would take care of any mouse in the electronic trap...So the next morning I get up and tell Scott he needs to get rid of this mouse and I open the plastic bag and .....the mouse is GONE!! YES!!  Gone as in NOT there!
However...the other trap had a mouse....Now is it the same one who was foolish enough to still go for more food for nourishment to get out of this house?  I don't know, but at least I caught one!  The next night I set all the traps again and once again I caught the bugger in the electronic trap!  Now I have had three nights free of mouse...am I done?  NOOOOOoooooo!  I live in the country..however I think I will set some traps outside the doors to get them before they get into the house.   Don't you think that is a good plan??

Birthday times Three

It is that time of the year when we have our three girls having summer birthdays!  Lily starts us off on June 26, she was 7 years old!  And she is finally toothless!  Yeah, she has lost two teeth and was so excited to finally have a loose tooth!  I love her SMILE!  And a BIG smile she has with the cash she received!!

Here is Ellie getting a thumbs up from her cousin Caleb.  She is modeling some clothes that Lacey gave to her.  She is nine years old (going on 20! if you get my 'drift'!!)  A delightful girl, full of attitude and sometimes sassiness...but always caring and thoughtful!

The last of the birthday girls is our sweet little "Addison June"!...called 'Buggie' by her parents and even Jalen, I call her Addie!   Buggie started when she was born and her middle name is June, so she became the "June Bug", but of course, like most things we shorten it and it soon has just stuck as "Buggie"!  Hah!  I told her dad not too long ago that he should probably start calling her by name because I don't think she will like it much when she is in school and her mom or dad call her "Buggie!"  She has the most beautiful big blue eyes and long lashes...what a doll!  She got a fairy dress with wings from her other Papa Steve and she was in heaven with that little outfit!

Here is our youngest, now 14 months old and such a cutie, let me tell you!  He gives the best hugs ever...just wraps his little arms around your neck and hugs or he will tuck both arms down in front of him as you hold him and lays his head on your shoulder....love those little snuggly moments! (and 'moments' they are, because he is a busy little guy!)

I didn't get a good shot of Jalen, but he is helping Addie open her gifts.  Her Pa Steve is in the background along with Lily and her other cousin, Avery. The kiddos had so much fun..we had the jumping castle up and running for them to jump and bounce in...a slip and slide...a little pool...and Addie got a really cool water sprinkler that shoots out water but has balls in it so the water pushes the balls up a tube and flying into the air!  Such fun for the kids!

Another Birthday Celebration at the Lavender Bleu Tea Room

Wouldn't you say 98 is a pretty impressive number to reach in your living on this earth?  Well, this is a picture of Marie, she is my friend's mother and on July 11 she will officially be 98!  She is an awesome person, really incredible what she does at this age.  She keeps up on all her stretching and moving and walking...she reads her bible every day and several newspapers, too!

She had a slice of quiche, a scone and some fruit, plus a little dessert with a candle for her birthday! Three other friends joined me in celebrating this day with Marie.  Sitting next to Marie is someone from her church, she is 20 years younger than Marie..a mere 78!!  She is in charge of the "Amazing Gray's" bible study group at her church...do you get the idea that all those in this bible study have "gray hair"?  That is a pretty clever title, I think!  Standing from the right is Mary's friend Karen and then Linda, who lives two doors down from Mary and Marie (Marie moved out here from the Chicago area two years ago).  Linda has earned her wings...yes for the last two years that Marie has been living with her daughter, Linda goes over every week day and helps Marie get her compression socks on and makes sure she gets down the stairs and is seated at the table for her morning meal.  Linda gets the summer off as Mary is a kindergarten teacher, so she takes over during the summer and any school holidays!  I pitch in for Linda whenever she is out of town or has an appointment.  But mostly Linda lovingly takes this responsibility and Mary is forever grateful to her!

We had a delightful time enjoying each others company and the delicious food that is served!  What a great place for lady friends to meet and spend the afternoon!

53 year Friendship

Toni, Peggy, Nancy, me, Linda, Maria, Judy....we met at the Lavender Bleu shop in Willamette, they have a delightful "Tea Room" and they serve the most delicious lunch.  My friend Linda came down for 4 days for a visit and I planned this little reunion for us because we all went to Medjugorje last May and even though I see these ladies all the time from church, Linda does not.  It was really good to get together and catch up with each other.

Linda and I have been friends for 53 years...we went to St. Edward's together and she lived just up the street from me, so we would walk home from school together and soon we became BFF's!  In junior high, her family moved to Des Moines, WA and so we had to settle for weekend visits and extended weeks in the summer.  Our friendship continued and thrived, even through my move down to Milwaukie, OR.  I was in her wedding and she was my Matron of Honor.  She had two boys, I had two girls....and on it went. 

We share the same faith and the same love of paper crafting!  We spent nearly all four days sitting in the craft room making cards.  We would inspire each other and encourage and make fun of, and be silly and laugh ourselves into fits of hysteria.  We had such a wonderful time this visit.  And we got a lot accomplished, I must say!

With her encouragement and her own card inspiration, she helped me to take a hold of the more professional 'markers' and color!  She finally said to me,  "Okay now I am jealous because you are really coloring great!"
It is so fantastic to have a girl friend that you can totally be yourself with and be silly and nutty and crazy and laugh until your sides hurt...that is what BFF's are right?

So here are a few of the cards that I made while she was here...

I hope we don't have to wait a year before we are able to get back together and create and laugh again.

Visiting a piece of Heaven

My good friend, Liz invited me and another friend, Becky to her house for a little luncheon and special 'girlfriend' time....you know, talk...talk....talk....whatever is on our minds.  We can go for hours and we did this time too!  We spent four hours and most likely could have gone much longer...one of these days we will have to have a sleep over!  Oh, we are going to do just that in September with 4 other girlfriends that we graduated with from high school.  Now that is going to be one fun weekend!

Back to the story...Liz lives out in Colton and is surrouned by 40 acres.  Twenty belong to her and 20 to her parents so you can indeed picture that she lives in her own park (that is what she says!)  I say it is a bit of paradise...set off the road, up a slight incline, horses in the field in front of her house, special little handmade artsy items placed strategically in her yard, tall fir trees, tree houses for the once young children of the house,  a very peaceful and beautiful setting.                        
                                                                                                                                                               This little house was built with wood they cut and milled from their property...it is a little 'playhouse' just waiting for grandchildren!!  It has two raised platforms for beds for the little ones.  What a wonderful place to grow up!