Story of the Sixth picture in Sixth folder

Some of my friends have blogged about (and "tagged" me to do so, too) the Sixth picture in the sixth folder. My directories are subdivided into folders by person which are then in turn subdivided by year and then subdivided by date of processing. Needless to say I have several "sixth picture"s in the "sixth folder"s (too much accountant in me I guess)! But strictly speaking, this picture wins the honor:

Now there's a wonderful story behind this pic, like all of yours. This is, of course, a birthday party. It's from when my youngest son turned 4 and wanted a "Spiderman cake" because he had seen one at a bakery (he really had no idea who Spiderman was :) but liked that cake design best!) My oldest son (age 24 at the time) took this great photo with his super-duper-I-could-never-afford-it-camera so it's better quality than any of mine! The brithday boy shares the same birthday with his Dad but shares the "bad hair day" look with Mom! Really, I miss those curls which are now kept sheared off because he hates being so hot on his head (his hair is really thick!) and says they are "too baby-ish". [BIG SIGH INSERTED HERE FROM ME!] That year he got a "three wheeler" (aka "Big Wheel") for his birthday and had been out in a rather warm day for March, got sweaty and continued to run his fingers through his hair to try to cool off. Thus the "Don King" look!
It is amazing to me that he is now 6 (going on 7) and it seems like only weeks ago that he had this 4 year-old birthday. Where does time fly to???

(Share your 6th pic in your 6th folder and the story behind it, too. COmment here and let me know when you do -)

Am I a "Princess"?

Recently I had the chance to complain about share my experiences about someone that has been somewhat frustrating to deal with lately with a friend who has a similar case she has to deal with daily. In our conversation, I realized that we both were describing the people who were frustrating us so much as being "a princess". Now, mind you, these are both older women we were discussing (yeah, even older than ME!) and they deserved our respect - but sometimes it's just plain hard!! Anyway, I was greatly convicted of being judgmental (as well as disrespectful) and after having confessed with my partner in crime sister that I was wrong to vent, and most of all wrong to even have those frustrated, judgmental thoughts to begin with, I then proceeded to ask the Lord to reveal to me if I was being "the princess" in my own home/family/circle of friends. [I love calling my daughters "princesses", but you know the difference between "princess" and "prince-hiss" as well as I do.] And of course, looking in the mirror is so much harder than looking at others, so yes, I had to admit that often my own motives, actions and words are purely selfish and not the least bit considerate of others. It's frustrating to have older women who not only fall short of your "Titus 2" expectations but are simply harder to deal with than your preschooler, but I am so far short of the "Titus 2" ideals myself that I have my work cut out for me right here and now. I do want to be a Daughter of the King, just not a "princess". And the only way I know to try to be such is to quit looking at others and focus on the One who I want to be more like. Only with HIS help can I quit being the wicked witch and grow into something more like what my sister and I (and most other women) desire. "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" is one of my favorite hymns and now I want to make it a daily prayer. Keep me accountable, will you?

One of These Days

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

(Yes, Tracy, this is one that I did, with the help of my children. They loved helping me match the pictures and sound and we used it as a "computer lesson" - that was my excuse, anyway!! Most of the pictures are ones that my two oldest sons took but there are a few we got from common sources.)

Happenin's 'round here....

On the farm -
We've finished the last batch of pear preserves, picked (and eaten!) lots and lots of muscadine grapes, cleared out the garden and planted fall cabbage and collards, transplanted some small pansies into the flower beds which are still beautiful while they await the first frost, tended to the four little pecan trees that we are growing from seed for experimental purposes, picked a few apples and getting ready to harvest more over at a relative's house (hoping to have enough sunny days to dry them), and transplanted two tomato plants from the garden into pots so that we can hopefully continue to have tomatoes after the first few frosts. We've confirmed our tree order and D has plans to help two different pecan growers in the next few weeks as they shake, harvest, dry, sort and package their nuts.


On the home front -
This week we have visited Alamance Battleground for their Living History Days (see Beth's post and pictures), talked a long time about flintlock muskets with the 6yo, crammed in several days of all 8 subjects, went to piano lessons, soccer games, practiced Awana verses, made black walnut ink for the quill pen that we made last week, painted my MIL's rental houses steps (5 sets of steps), sorted fall clothes and packed away summer ones, and will be going to the State Fair . We're planning on helping add to one of the ag exhibits next fall which will include pecans as a NC crop, so we are going to enjoy the fair but also to be thinking/planning how to help with that particular exhibit in the future.

In the family -
My uncle that we went to see a few weeks ago passed away during the early morning hours on Monday. So I took an unplanned trip to my sister's late Tuesday night, rode with her to/from the memorial service, and returned home late Wednesday. Thank you for your prayers for my safety - the drive couldn't have gone any smoother! My aunt and the family are all doing well.

In my heart -
Lately everywhere I turn I am reminded that God has a covenant with each of us as believers in the redeeming grace of Jesus. Not a contract (dependent on our actions) , but a covenant (eternal, unbreakable, unchangeable). It's just almost unimaginable that no matter how we screw up we are still His children, still saved by grace, still loved by an Almighty, Eternal Creator. Eph. 2:8-10 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

Pumpkin Pun

Q: What do you get if you divide the circumference
of your pumpkin by it's diameter?

A: Pumpkin Pi

Brief updates....

Pray for our friends who were in an accident last Sat. night and thankfully not physically badly hurt but are suffering deep emotions as they help a Mom who lost both legs......
Pray for a friend whose son is in Afghanistan on a mission and they haven't heard from him in almost 3 weeks....
Praise that my MIL's latest tests look good and no sign of recurrence of lymphoma....
Pray for my BIL and SIL as they are now in month 5 after losing their daughter in a motorcycle accident and must face this month her birthday, two annual family outings without her, and just continued grief in general.....
Thanks - let me know how to pray for you!
-F

Slideshow

A friend asked me to repost the slideshow of "God of Wonders" that I did almost a year ago. So by request ;)

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Field Trip

Earlier this week we went with some friends to the "Country Doctor Museum". I had taken my second and third children years ago (when I was pregnant with #4 I think?) and it was interesting then but they have added a lot of things and our tour guide was great! The herb garden was still in nice shape (it hasn't frosted yet) so the children got to grind their own herbal mixture and see the "pill shaper" demonstrated. One of the most interesting things to us was the iron lung machine (my mother had polio and although she wasn't put into an iron lung because there weren't any in her part of the country in the late 1920s it really helped my children relate to the trauma and severity of the disease). The children loved seeing the amputation kits from the Civil War and we even saw someone with our last name on the old docto's ledger from the Depression Era. Unfortunately (actually I think fortunately!) their leeches had recently died and the new ones hadn't yet arrived! If you're ever in the area, it's well worth stopping by to see.

Kids say the funniest things....

The other day in the library we passed a book display with Halloween/Fall Jokes and stories. My 6yo asked, "What is that monster"?
I replied as I hurried out the door, "That's Frankenstein".
His reply? "Oh, I didn't know FrankLenstein was a monster, I thought FrankLenstein was a President!! "