A Discussion About God and Heaven

Yesterday I picked Jaydon up from his after school program and we started our Gammy night.  As we were driving to my house he asked me who the smartest person in the world was.  I replied that he was.  But that wasn't the answer he was looking for so I suggested that it was his mommy.  He then said, "No Gammy, it's God!" and then we had a deep theological discussion.  We discussed that God knew everything and then went into further discussion about where God is.  I replied that God was in heaven but he was everywhere, too.  Then Jaydon asked, "Did God die?" and I asked why he asked that.  His reply was "Well, if God is in heaven he must have died."  So I tried to explain that we have to die to go to heaven but God had not died to go there, that he had created heaven and lives there.  After some more discussion I reminded him about Ethan.  We talked about that Ethan was in heaven and he was waiting for us.  Then he asked if I was going to die, and, of course, I told him yes but that if he believed in Jesus and had Jesus in his heart that then when he died we would be together in heaven.  This was a pretty heavy discusion topic for both of us  but I'm glad we had an opportunity to talk about these things.  I realized that it is hard to tell a 6 year old things that we just accept as part of our faith in God.

Paper Shredders

Okay, I never believed in the no-homework excuse of "my dog ate it" (really, come on a dog does not eat paper) but now I understand and know that it is a very valid excuse. Tonight before I left for choir practice I had to pick up a Talbot's catalog that was shredded into a million little pieces, some of which were slobberey. Yes, I had heard the noise when they first started and I told them to "leave it" (a command they know very well). But I stepped away for just a minute or two and that's when the paper shredders went into work. What a mess!

But I didn't learn my lesson. I had two more catalogs in the floor and after I got home and let the pups out they started shredding them. I got on them and as I reached down to pick up the catalogs I saw Blossom tear into my Quilt Festival class schedule so I had to rescue that, too. So, when you have babies in the house you do not leave anything in the floor that they can shred or chew on (including sandals). But if you need anything shredded, do leave that in the floor but be prepared that you will have to pick up the shreds from all over your house when they are done! Little darlings....

Flashback

I had a major flashback today. Jaydon went to work with me today. He had been to work with me before for two afternoons before he left for his summer trip. Today was a long day, and once or twice he got restless but he did good for a little 6 1/2 year old guy. During the afternoon he asked for a sticky pad and wrote "Gammy" on it. Then he put the little sticky-note on the bottom of my monitor. As he was writing the note I remembered that Stephanie had also gone to work with me when she was young. I think she was probably older, maybe 10 or 11, when she first went to work with me. What I remembered was that she would write little notes to me. I had kept one for a long time in the front of my day planner, and I still have it somewhere as I could not bear to part with it. It was written on a little green memo pad that we used to write notes to co-workers (yes, this was way before we had e-mail and we actually wrote real notes to each other!). I don't remember exactly what she wrote but she thanked me for bringing her to work with me and that she loved me.

She went to work with me frequently as she got older and was hired by my employer during one high school summer (that was an eye opening experience for her). I always thought it was good for her to go with me as it taught her proper conduct in an office setting as well as learning some basic office skills. But as I watched Jaydon today I realized that the time I had spent with his Mommy in my office was priceless, I will never have that time again. And I will keep his little sticky note for a long, long time, too. I hope I created memories for him...he created memories for me.

And, tonight Batman made an appearance in my neighborhood!

Welcome Home!

Jaydon came home Friday night and he and I were reunited today. I've got a few days off and we are going to catch up on some of the things we've missed doing this summer. It is hard to believe that school starts a week from tomorrow. Summers really do fly by. Jaydon is already looking forward to getting out all my fall decorations and tonight we read two fall books (Five Little Pumpkins and the Berenstein Bears Trick or Treat) so I think he is ready for fall!

Jaydon has spent the day getting reacquainted with everything. He was surprised to see Baylee and tonight he and Cameron really played well together. And we played outside until dark, too. It is so good to have him home. I couldn't help but think of the story of the prodigal son where he returns and his father orders a feast and a celebration in his honor. No, Jaydon is not the prodigal son, and he was only gone for a few weeks but now I understand that father's joy at the return of his son.

Five things to be thankful for...

I did an earlier post on thinking of 5 things you are thankful for, so here goes for tonight

1. Air conditioning(that works) in my house

2. Air conditioning (that works) in my car

3. Ceiling fans (especially over my bed)

4. Sprinkler systems with an automatic timer and all sprinkler heads working properly

5. See below....

Sawyer, Blossom & Baylee

Cam Jam and his friends

Erin sent this to me Friday morning. I looked at it again today and it made me smile, again, so I thought I would post it here. Everyone needs a good "smile moment" to get through the day!

Baylee, again

I just had to add another picture of Baylee! She really is so pretty, the pictures just don't seem to capture it. She is the quietest, calmest puppy I have ever had. Took her to the vet today and she checked out fine, except she has ear infections so we came home with ear drops. I'm going to add a page to the blog for her in the next day or two. And in spite of her shyness and fear of other dogs she has made friends with Blossom and Sawyer, curled up with them last night at bedtime and slept through the night!

Welcome Baylee

This is Baylee. She is a full English Cream long haired miniature dachshund and she is now a part of our household!
Baylee was born April 16, 2010 so she is not quite 4 months old and weighs 7 pounds. She is very quiet and sweet and likes to be held. She is settling in very well with Sawyer and Blossom. I got her through the same kennel as Sawyer and Blossom, but she was actually born and bred in another kennel. She will have limited registration with the American Kennel Club. More pictures to come!

Creativity, part 2

I did a post in May on creativity but it is something that has been on my mind a lot lately. I had started an "idear" book while on my New England trip (idear is a New England word!) and I've jotted down a lot of ideas to keep them from running away from me.

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I'm also working on starting a small company where I would do something creative. Again, I have lots of ideas but not sure which direction to take. I know God is guiding me, and I know I need to start small. Yes, there is that word again. It keeps popping into my mind so I know it will need to be a part of my plan.

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I've also been looking at things like on-line scrapbooking, ooooo lot of possibilities there, too. I'm trying out a journal software program and am exploring the possibilities of doing some writing. The program is supposed to allow me to export to Blogger, but haven't gotten it to work yet. And I still want to write a cookbook. And, like my last post, the possibilities with needle and thread bring me the greatest joy.

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So the ideas flow, now I need to move forward and put them into reality. When the ideas start there is no stopping! Now if I could just find a creative way to clean my house and do my chores that are never quite done....

Needle and Thread

I don't know what it is about a needle and thread that I love so much. I've always found comfort in doing something with a needle and thread. My mother was an excellent seamstress and apparently so was her mother. My dad's grandmother, who died long before I was born, was also very accomplished and even tailored for a living, or so I was told. But I don't think my love was actually fostered by them. It is just something deep within me.

Several weekends ago I journeyed north a few miles to a little town where the local quilt guild was having their quilt show. I used to belong to this guild and have attended their shows before so I knew it would be good. Now this year there seemed to be fewer vendors, but that was okay since I hardly need to buy anything after the week in New England. The quilts on display were very varied, a little of everything. One with hand quilting caught my eye and I moved closer to view the quilting (which was excellent, tiny well spaced stitches). But on the quilt was little squares where the quilt maker had embroidered something, I don't really remember what. I've never really cared for the embroidered quilts so have never really spent much time looking at them. But there were several others with embroidery and I'm not sure what sparked this but I remembered a tote bag that I had started probably 7 years or more ago. On one side of the tote bag is a little embroidered scene with a quilt shop and some flowers. I had worked on it off and on and always grumbled when I did. The fabric was a linen type weave but it was bumpy and somewhat hard to work on and it was too thick to trace the pattern on to so I had to actually draw the picture on the fabric. And it wasnt really what I wanted to be doing but I thought the bag would be cute to have. So I would work on it and then put it away, but I remembered this project while walking around the show.

So I came home, inspired by all the quilts I had seen, and pulled out this little tote bag project. Much to my amazement it was almost done. And I was surprised at what a neat job I had done on it. So I picked it up with renewed resolve to finish it in time to take to the Houston Quilt Festival in November. I've been taking it outside while the dogs play (when it isn't too hot) and I've enjoyed just sitting and sewing on it. I find it so relaxing to have a needle in my hand. I also have a quilt for Jaydon that I'm hand quilting, it has been in the frame literally for years as my hand quilting is so slow. But I also enjoy the quilting. There's something about pulling the needle and the thread through the fabric that I just love, deep down in my soul.

This is the picture I'm embroidering and the fabric behind it is the strips I sewed together for the fabric to make the outside of the bag. The little picture is actually sewn onto an outside pocket of the bag!

The Last Day of My Trip

This quilt was painted on the back of the New England Quilt Museum as a fund raiser for the Museum

I've been meaning to complete my little travelogue, so here goes. The last morning of the tour we loaded on the bus and drove to Lowell, Massachusetts. Lowell was a town that developed as the Industrial Revolution caught on and people began leaving their farms to work in factories. I was disappointed that the the video in the visitor center wouldn't boot up as I would have liked to have had more information on the start and the decline of the town. Many of the factories were fabric mills staffed by farm girls who worked to send money home. I did buy a small book about the early days of the factories. Efforts are being made to revitalize Lowell with loft apartments and trendy eating places but our guide said that it really had not taken root. The town wasn't very interesting to look at...all the buildings were red brick and most were abandoned factories. We did visit the New England Quilt Museum and while their exhibit area was small the quilts displayed were well documented (they rotate the exhibit from their archives) and they had an excellent shop where I, uh, made more purchases.

Then we were back on the bus and back to Boston and Quincy Market for lunch and then drop off at either our hotel or the airport. I was annoyed at this point because I could have caught an earlier flight than the tour had indicated but it all worked out very well. I went out during the afternoon and made more pictures and explored Boston and discovered a National Parks Store (in a basement) that had an excellent selection of books (yes, I bought some).

For dinner I met up with 10 other ladies from our group that had to stay over for a next day flight and we had a very nice meal at "Mr. Dooley's Pub" next door to the hotel. No air conditioning here, but good food and they had Samuel Adams Seasonal beer on tap so I got to try that (it was good but not really cold enough for me). I think that was the end of my beer drinking career! We lingered for a while over dinner as we all agreed what a wonderful week we had had together!