Imagination

AH Halloween, A time where you can dress up and be
any one or thing you want to be. In my youth I remember
dressing up but in my children's childhood they were many
things this is just one of my favorites of them
a Ballerina and Robin Hood , The Robin Hood outfit
was homemade from a sweatshirt and it also was used one
year as Peter Pan and another year as Tinker Bell.

there were The Red and Pink Power Rangers , we had a
Rag doll one year and then of course a witch, ninja, a scary white
masked guy. Cruella De ville and many others over the years.

but a few years ago as they decided it would be the last time
they dressed for Halloween my son decided to be Charlie Chaplin
and he did look the part!! even portrayed Mr. Chaplin's walk from
his little Tramp movies!! everywhere he walked in the neighborhood
they kept saying wow he is Charlie Chaplin, My Daughter decided
she was ready to give up the candy bit but loved the dress up still
last year she used her imagination and at created a last minute
costume of being all things recyclable for instance she used a
Garbage liner as the main part of her costume and then cut and
glued a bunch of recyclable things to it and won a prize!! she made this
costume in less than an hour!
this year she is just being a fairy of her own creation.

the joy and fun of watching all children letting their imagination
soar to all things on Halloween is fun. watching them use
their imagination on a daily basis is priceless!

Happy Halloween or as I used to tell my kids
when they were young

Happy Imagination Day!!!

Cotton

In my home town around this
time of year all you see are
cotton fields from a distance they
are beautiful yet up close how you
look at it can be beautiful as well
every year it seems as though there is
one less field due to building houses.
but looking at the ones that are around
gets you to think about what this little cotton
flower does , yes it is the lively-hood
of farmers, it produces cotton balls, cotton
swabs, and all the cotton fabrics we use
in our life. and it all started from a little
seed that bloomed to this! this time of year
I really enjoy seeing these beautiful cotton
fields. I once had the experience of picking
one can cut your fingers good if you don't pay
attention. !

still yet they are beautiful to gaze at.

Missing my gal

My Beautiful girl is
away at a prayer conference
and the house feels different
just knowing she is not home.

she let me know she arrived safely
and that she is doing many things
one being she was leading a small group
there and they were also going to do
community service.

I have said it many times but
I am truly blessed by my children.
I am in awe of my gals courage
to be as strong in her convictions
as she is and follow a path she loves
when most teenagers today are
not.

she will be back Sunday and I can't
wait for her to share with me
next weekend she and I are off to
a weekend retreat.

Dentist Fear

Thursday I had to
go to the Dentist
a place I truly hate
to visit but I had
to have work done
that I had been putting
off and so I started the
process of "Healing" myself

I don't know why I dislike
going to the dentist
maybe it's because I had
a bad experience once but
I thought i was over it. All I know is, I don't
like getting shots in my gums to numb
me. because sometimes I swear I am not
completely numb, but I hate the feeling after
cause I always feel like I am drooling !

Last night my mouth was so swollen it hurt
and it was hard to drink or have anything soft to eat.
when i was little Mama would give me a chicken pot pie
or a milkshake I did not have either of those around and
I was not in the mood to go out and get one. (yes I could
have sent my hubby or son but I did not even want to do
that! ) I just wanted to get my pj's on and be a couch potato!

well this Morning I treated myself to a pumpkin muffin
(well half of a pumpkin muffin) from Mimi's Cafe

I have two more appointments then all my dental
work will be done!

THANKS

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

I just wanted to say Thank You for all your
prayers and to update you on my family
in San Diego.

They were blessed and able to return to their home
on Wed. their oldest son is a firefighter
so he is working the fires. My sister and her
husband and a whole bunch of their military
friends are helping out at a shelter that was
set up. so for all your continued prayers
my family thanks you.

Old Fashion Fun

When I was a girl the neighbor- hood
kids would gather around and play Chinese jump rope
it was a fun game.

another favorite was hopscotch
and it was such a blast to find the
best marker for the game. I had a
favorite old chain that my mom gave me it
was all knotted up but it was an excellent hopscotch marker


Another fun homemade
game we used to play was
the Bamboo dance game.
we lived by a creek and would
get two bamboo's for the game
it was kind of like Chinese jump rope
only it moved fast and you had to get
your feet out of the middle before it got
caught in the bamboo. the other game
we played with bamboo was of course
the LIMBO and to see " how low could we go"!

other favorites were "Red Rover" "Green Light , Red Light"
telephone, Ghost in the grave yard ( especially this time of year!)
scavenger hunt and raking up big piles of leaves and jumping
into them, crack the whip, and charades, I remember one of my nephews was
a very excellent player he once had to act like a piece of bacon in a
frying pan and no one could guess what he was!!! ( that proved his
acting ability and he did do some plays in school where his talents
showed. and there were many other fun games.

I wonder if children now days even know about any of
these old fashioned fun games which made us use our
imagination and be creative. It gave us fun and exercise
and it was kids being kids. not anything in a kids world today
of everything has to be electronic in order to have fun.

walnuts

When I was a little girl
I remember always going to
my Grandpa's house and
he had huge walnut trees
and he would always
get us to pick up the walnuts
by making a game out of it.

Lastnight my other half
came home with a basket
of walnuts and this memory
of my childhood came rushing!

I liked that game my Grandpa made
us play and I remember how he would
take them and crack the shells and give
us the nut and sometimes placed
sugar on them for us he would also
give us pumpkin seeds or (pepitos)
as he would call them. I was kind of
hesitant to eat the pumpkin seed for
fear just like eating a watermelon seed
that it would grow inside of me
(when your young you believe
stupid things!)
anyway, thanks to Grandpa
I do love walnuts and pumpkins.

prayers

For all that read this blog
I have a request and I hope
you will answer it

I am asking for your prayers
for some friends and family members
who have been evacuated from their
homes due to the fires in the San Diego area.

please pray that their homes remain safe
but should they lose their possessions that
they can find strength in the comfort that family and
friends will be there for them and that
the Lord is and will guide them.

thanks

desert

Kiel at Grandma's

The stillness of the desert has always
made me ponder many things. I love the
sounds of the coyote and the other animals
that live there. the feel of the
wind blowing as it is gentle or strong
and the beauty of the sunrise in
the early morning and the sunset
in the evening.

I am fortunate that once a year during the
month of November
I get to be in that atmosphere
when we visit my husband's family
in Arizona, yes there is not really a
whole lot to do there but every now and
then a different kind of natural solitude is
worth the long drive!

crazy

Since Friday-night I have been feeling

CRAZY Tired!!!

worked fri got off at 1:00Pm.
waited three hours for my daughter
watched my daughter go on her field trip
drove home , saw my son for 5 sec as he
was headed out the door.

my hubby and I had dinner at taco bell
( to tired to cook!!)
went back to daughter's school and waited
daughter showed up at 11:15 drove home

got 5 hours sleep and back in the car
to daughter's school early this morning
got her Starbucks ( we needed the caffine!)
took her to her school watched her depart.

came back home tried to go back to sleep
can't not that type of person once I am awake
I stay awake. did some errands with my hubby
drove back to pick daughter up.

I hope the good LORD knows what a supportive
parent I am better yet I hope my daughter knows!!
(kidding) she does!!!!

bouncy baby contraptions

child not related to me

what an invention someone made a long time ago
I remember placing my children in this contraption
only to have them laugh and have a good time in it
while giving me the time to enjoy watching them and
also giving me a break from trying to keep them entertained.

and so I hear the tradition has passed on to many other children
but I in particular I am talking about how the new generation in my
related family have found this wonderful contraption for the baby
and just fun to watch the child enjoy themselves. and what
fun it is to video tape them making memories for the remember when
part of the child's life.

bravo to whoever invented this fun jumping device
for it has given many a infant lot's of exercise and just plain
fun!.

Landslide

I have been feeling like a landslide for a while now
today especially and have had the song playing over and
over in my head so here it is.(p.s. it is one
of my favorite songs and it is appropriate for
how I feel today.)

I took my love, I took it down
climbed a mountain and I turned around
I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
till the landslide brought me down.

oh, mirror in the sky what is love
can the child in my heart rise above
can I sail through the changing ocean tides
can I handle the seasons of my life

well I've been afraid of changing
cause I've built my life around you
but time makes you bolder
children get older
I'm getting older too

oh, take my love take it down
climb a mountain and turn around
if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
well the landslide will bring it down

if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
well maybe the landslide will bring it down.

a pubelo indian prayer

Hold on to what is good
even if it's a handful of earth
hold on to what you believe
even if it's a tree that stands
by itself.
Hold on to what you must do
even if it's a long way from here
hold on to your life
even if it's easier to let go
hold on to my hand
even if someday I 'll be gone
away from you.

Fun Saturday

This Past Saturday my daughter and I had a fun day
we went shopping at the outlets with my two older nieces
and one of their daughters. the photos above are just some
of the shops we stopped and shopped in .

first off Pac-Sun where some shopping was done
then we realized it was lunch time so we went to
Mimi's cafe where we all enjoyed a wonderful pumpkin muffin
with our meal.

then we headed for Old Navy where we all came
out with a big bag and then to fossil where we admired many things
including a beautiful brown handbag ( and for those who know me it was
not me who fell in love with this certain handbag. although I saw one
that caught my eye as well but I did not buy it as of yet!!!! yes, I am a
handbag Junkie!!!!) I came out with a little coin purse.

then to J. Jill where my nieces found the bargains they were hoping to find.
then one of my nieces headed home and the four remaining
went to Bath & Body where I splurged a bit and then my gal
found the bargain she was hoping for at Charlotte Russe
then a quick pick me up at Starbuck's and back home we went
we had such a wonderful time and we are hoping to do it again
sometime soon.

Shopping can be so much fun when you have great company to
do it with.

What Lies

you only live once

I love this quote and just wanted to share!

self thought

when I look in the mirror I find that
Sometimes I am always doing a reality check
on how I see myself. then I stop and read this quote

psalters

My son loves the study of different cultures
and inherited a love for antiques and old instruments.

we came across a psalter similar to one my husband and
I purchased just recently. my son loves music and he
is the type that can teach himself to play.

the psalter is a very old Celtic type instrument
though it is played with a bow one side sounds like a
piano the other like a harp. it plays beautiful music
the one we purchased is hand made in a small town in
Or. in many ways it is some- what similar to a dulcimer
like they used to play in the old country ( that will be
another instrument my son is wanting to learn how to play)
and I am sure once he masters this he will work on getting
a dulcimer to add to his collection.

I am glad for the love of his music.

water

And Jesus said "come to the water and stand by my side


" I know you are thirsty you won't be denied"

tranquility

Create tranquility it is a lush garden for the soul to grow!

Change Bandit

Every Year a radio station near my area
puts on a radio a thon along with the hospital foundation
to raise money for this hospital.

I have first hand experience with this as my daughter had
knee surgery here last year the staff is so gentle and kind
with the children and friendly and caring to the parents.

last Thursday the foundation and sponsors always throw what
they call a " Change Bandit Bash" where they put on a concert
with a country artist and give out food for all the change bandits
that bring their "loot bags of change" it is a great celebration
I did not get to attend last weeks festivites but my pals did
and they had a great time there is always next year.( I do this
every year!)

The children in this hospital amaze me and their strength is
so encouraging I am in total awe of all of them they are there
from different kinds of cancer to rare illnesses that I can not
even begin to imagine and as I said the staff treat the child
with such love and care and they give that same treatment
to the families. I know I love being a "change Bandit"