October

{Rafe's 9th Birthday}

October, you are almost done. You have been filled with lots of football and soccer, field trips and birthday parties, rain and cold, and the flu.
I am just now catching my breath.
No time for writing, and what little internet time I had, I spent doing family history research. That has uncovered so much really great information. Each branch of my family has uncovered some truly amazing people and stories.
My favorite would be Mark Twain. I find that connection so awesome. It is a closer relation than most that I found. It's really wonderful to have blood relatives that came over as colonists, but it was so long ago that it's hard to feel a connection.
I have solved a few family mysteries and uncovered a few very sad stories.
My research is slowing down for now, I have invested much time, and now need to get back to focusing on the family I have here and now. I has been a wild ride. I am sure that my research won't stop completely. There is a always information to be found.
I do have to say one thing. Genealogy research has kept me distracted enough that I didn't have such a hard adjustment to the kids going back to school. Maybe a planned distraction is what I need each new school year. Yeah, that sounds like a great idea.
October and November are birthday months for our kids. We are 1 down and 3 to go. I am ready with the gifts, now we just need to figure out a few friend get-togethers to celebrate.
I started wrapping Christmas gifts this past week. It always feels weird doing that in October. If I am not finished and wrapped by the end of November, I teeter on insanity during December. There is so much fun to be had with my kids, that honestly I don't want the added stress of shopping and wrapping. December for me is about music, gift crafting, baking, reading Christmas stories by the fire, snow (sometimes), and just being together. Keeping it simple.
I am 2/3 the way through book six of the Outlander series. That's the other thing that has been distracting me. Each book is about 1000 pages. It takes me a few weeks of reading here and there. Still, that is a lot of reading. More than I usually read for sure. I have book 7 on order, it should be her just in time.
Knitting gets put to the side when I read this much. I haven't the talent to do both. I did finish up a washcloth a few days ago, it will become a Christmas gift with a yummy bar of almond/oatmeal soap in a pretty little box. My raglan cardigan still needs the sleeve finished..........
I am off this morning to have breakfast with my mom and sister. It was my little sis' birthday yesterday. Maybe we'll wander around a bit, too. Coffee for sure.

Have a blessed Monday, Tami

children's books

I was looking through our well loved collection of children's books the other day. We have a large bookshelf in the dining room (really our dining room functions more as a library). We have spent years filling the shelves with mostly thrifted books. When my kids were really little and I needed to give them incentive to join in on one of Mama's treasure hunting trips, I would offer to let them pick out a book. A house full of books was easier for me to rationalize than a house full of toys and trinkets. As the children are getting older, and all reading on their own,  I mourn those days a little bit. Many of our picture books sit untouched. In an effort to muster some picture book love, I suggested that we choose a few books per night and read our way through our entire collection. It did get their attention for a few days.
Because I simply cannot resist, I keep bringing home picture books from the library. I love them. The kids all want "chapter books". If it has chapters, they want to read it. As the shelves fill with chapter books and novels, my practical side tells me to weed through the picture books and let some of them go. There are powerful memories attached to some of these books. I have a particular weakness in keeping them because I do not have a single book from my childhood. I do have a very sentimental grandma though, that saved a few of my Dad's books for me.

{As always, when I write like this, I am working things out in my head.}

I fully admit that the picture books at this point are mostly for me, in a feeble attempt to keep the kiddos little for a bit longer. There I said it.

I honestly believe that when they are grown they will be happy that we kept their favorites. This would have been my wish for my childhood books.
This is what I will do. I will keep these books for my children, and the most loved, I will keep for my grandchildren. I need not be in a rush to weed through them. I like them there, even if they are untouched. It reminds my children that we are a family that loves books. It reminds me of when they were littler, and want to hold onto that too. Perhaps some time soon, we will pass on a few of our lesser favorites to make room for the new (new-to-us). Maybe tonight we'll continue our way through them, you never know when a new favorite will be discovered.

In the spirit of picture books, here is our list of absolute favorites.

The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman
Any of the original Arthur books by Marc Brown
So Many Bunnies by Rick Walton/Paige Miglio
The entire Brambly Hedge collection by Jill Barklem
Annika's Secret Wish by Beverly Lewis
My First Little House Books
The Little Bear series by Else Holmlund Minarik
Kiss Good Night by Amy Hest
The Elves and the Shoemaker illustrated by Jim LaMarche
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
The entire James Herriot collection of animal stories
Santa Mouse by Michael Brown
Andrew Henry's Meadow by Doris Burn
Any of the Corduroy books by Don Freeman
Niccolini's Song by Chuck Wilcoxen
Shawnee Bill's Enchanted Five-Ride Carousel by Cooper Edens/Daniel Lane
The Fly Guy series by Tedd Arnold
The Mitten, The Hat, Hedgie's Surprise (anything) by Jan Brett
No, David by David Shannon
Somewhere in the Ocean by Jennifer Ward/TJ Marsh
Olive, the Other Reindeer by Vivian Marsh/J. Otto Seibold
Charlie and Lola books by Lauren Child
Wolf Watch by Kay Winters

As a read aloud The Little House on the Prairie books have been our favorite.

There are so many more that we have loved. We really like using the library. The books listed are the ones we own, that have been read so many times, they are practically memorized.
Reading to my children has been one of my greatest pleasures in parenting. I figure that I have a few more years until they don't ask anymore. I will enjoy every moment until then.

Have a blessed day, Tami

weekend

Another weeekend full of baseball. The weather cooperated beautifully. What a treat.
We also squeezed in a date night (Chipotle and The Hunger Games), yard work, a couple of yummy meals, a little tidying up, and a birthday party.
I have been reading Free Range Chicken Gardens by Jessi Bloom and The Quarter-Acre Farm by Spring Warren. I find myself wanting to take copious notes from both of these books. Such great information. Both of these books were available from our local library. Score.
No-Spend March is winding down. I have found it to be a great success. We had a few unexpected repairs to pay for, but countered them by selling a few things on Craigslist. Yes.
I accidentally made Ricotta cheese! I had a batch of yogurt fail (a first) - when I heated it back up again to re-culture it, the whey separated and the curds curdled! Voila Ricotta. I finished straining it, salted it a bit, and used it to make Pasta Lasagna. What a happy mistake.
I have jumped on the Instagram bandwagon. What a fun app. I don't have much use for my Iphone, but this is fun.

Have a blessed Monday,
Tami

::look what I made::

{I love the look of this vintage book}

One of my surprises of Christmas happened after Christmas.
Specifically a fabulous after Christmas sale.

{loving Pandora indie radio}

Eric bought me a Kindle Fire !

Wow is this thing cool.
Of course, I needed a case.
And of course, I had to make one.

Here it is.

I love it!
I took a vintage book, ripped out the guts, and made the inside look pretty.
With a bit of hot glue, fabric scraps, cardboard, elastic, and foam ~ Voila!
I didn't find any tutorials on the subject, so I had to rely on a few photos out there for how to construct it. I think it came out very well.

{can you spot it on the bookshelf ?}

It sits on the bookshelf and looks like a vintage book.
Yes.

Blessings, Tami

::I heart books::

 

I like to know how to do stuff. And I like to read about other people doing cool stuff. And I like to be transported away (for a bit) by a fantastic story.

This is why I love books, and not so much ebooks, but touch them, smell them books. I like seeing them all lined up (sometimes by color arranged like a rainbow). I just love books.

We do not have an enormous collection of books, but the ones we do have are well loved for sure. We love the library, too. I should be a librarian sometime. Yeah, I'd be good at that.

Children's books are my all time favorites. The artwork is such a gift . The art makes reading them such an enormous pleasure. I would love to be skilled enough to write and illustrate a children's book. Writing one is definitely on my life list.

I recently had all of my 2007-2009 blog posts bound into a hardcover book through Blurb.
I have used them before and find it pretty straight-forward. I had to spend a few days
editing to get it to look just right. What a treasure this will be in the years to come.

I have no idea what the future holds for Joyful Noise, but I like knowing my words are forever on our bookshelf. I enjoy seeing my kids look at it, it's a book about them and they like that.

 

No matter what the future brings technology-wise, I will always own books.

I like having words and knowledge at my fingertips. Their physical presence in our home speaks coziness and comfort to me.

I heart books.

Blessings, Tami

Above Rubies

I received the latest issue of "Above Rubies" magazine this last week. Can I tell you just how much of an encouragement this magazine is to me. I was reading through the first article titled "From Our Home to Yours" and was immediately convicted and encouraged at the same time.

Nancy writes:

"I wrote about catching moments to pray and read the Word of God even in the midst of mothering your little children. When raising my little ones I could not leave and go off to have a Quiet Time. I had to do it in the midst of noise and everything happening around me. I remember one time feeling such a need to pray. I went to my bedroom, taking my little ones with me. They played with toys while I kneeled at my bed and prayed. I was enjoying the presence of the Lord and oblivious to their noise....Don't despair dear mother. God created you with the ability to do many things at once! You can cope! The only thing that stops you from coping is your negative thinking! Believe that you can do it. Rejoice in everything that is happening. Embrace your motherhood and have a great time!"

Somewhere along the line I have convinced myself that if I don't have my quiet time in the morning before my family rises, that it isn't good enough. UGH!

God wants me all the time, any time.

I am a person that has internal dialogue with God all day long. I am very good at "tuning out" the background noise. Until now I didn't realize that some days this *is* my Quiet Time with the Lord.

I realize now how hard I have been on myself regarding my morning quiet time. Failing at that has made me less likely to seek Him at other times of the day, as if it's not the right time for Him. But, I can seek Him anytime and He is there.

If you would like to subscribe to Nancy Campbell's magazine "Above Rubies" I would so encourage you to do so. Go to http://www.aboverubies.org/ - this is a free publication and they rely solely on the grace of God and the generosity of their readers to make the magazine.

I pray that you are all having a beautiful and blessed week. In God's Love, Tami

Middle Time

I came across this beautiful poem on Laurie Elliot's blog, Blue Forest Soapbox. I just had to share.

MIDDLE TIME

Between the exhilaration of Beginning

and the satisfaction of Concluding

is the Middle Time

of enduring, changing, trying,

despairing, continuing, becoming.

Jesus Christ was the man of God’s Middle Time

between Creation and . . . Accomplishment.

Through him God said of Creation,“Without mistake.”

And of Accomplishment,“Without doubt.”

And we, in our Middle Times

of wondering, waiting, hurrying,

hesitating, regretting, revising;

We who have begun many things—

and seen but few completed;

We who are becoming more—and less;

through the evidence of God’s Middle Time

have a stabilizing hint

that we are not mistakes,

that we are irreplaceable,

that our Being is of interest

and our Doing is of purpose,

that our Being and our Doing

are surrounded by AMEN.

Jesus Christ is the Completer

of unfinished people

with unfinished work

in unfinished times.

May he keep us from sinking, ceasing,

wasting, solidifying—that we may be for him

experimenters, enablers, encouragers,

and associates in Accomplishment.
-- Lona Fowler

Isn't that just the most beautiful. It inspires me beyond words. Thank you Laurie for letting me share it.

I pray that you all have a blessed and peaceful day. (she types as her children are all wrestling on the floor and creating the utmost in joyful noise......LOL)

In God's Immense Love, Tami

"Little Things"

"Little Things" by Elisabeth Elliot
When we were growing up our parents taught us, by both word and example, to pay attention to little things.

If you do a thing at all, do it thoroughly: make the sheets really smooth on the bed, sweep all the corners and move all the chairs when you sweep the kitchen, roll the toothpaste tube neatly and put the cap back on, clean the hair out of your brush each time you use it, hang your towels straight on the rod, fold your napkin and put it into the silver ring before you leave the table, never wet your finger when you turn pages.

They kept promises made to us as faithfully as they kept those made to adults. They taught us to do the same. You didn't accept an invitation to a party and then not turn up, or agree to help with a Vacation Bible School and back out because a more interesting activity presented itself...

When I went to boarding school the same principles I had been taught at home were emphasized. There was a hallway with small oriental rugs which we called "Character Hall" because the headmistress, Mrs. DuBose, could look down that hall from the armchair where she sat in the lobby and spot any student who kicked up a corner of the rug and did not replace it. She would call out to correct him, "It's those tiny little things in your life which will crack you up when you get out of this school!"

In the little things our character was revealed. Our response would make our break us. "Don't go around with a Bible under your arm if you didn't sweep under the bed," she said, for she would have no pious talk coming out of a messy room.

"Great thoughts go best with common duties. Whatever therefore may be your office regard it as a fragment in an immeasurable ministry of love" (Bishop Brooke Foss Westcott, b. 1825).

It is not easy to find children or adults who are dependable, careful, thorough, and faithful. So many lives seem honeycombed with small failures, neglectful of the little things that make the difference between order and chaos. Perhaps it is because they are so seldom taught that visible things are signs of an invisible reality; that common duties may be "an immeasurable ministry of love."

The spiritual training of souls must be inseparable from practical disciplines, as Jesus so plainly taught; "the man who can be trusted in little things can be trusted in great; the man who is dishonest in little things will be dishonest in great. If then you cannot be trusted with money, that tainted thing, who will trust you with genuine riches! And if you cannot be trusted with what is not yours, who will give you what is your very own?" (Luke 16:10-12 JB).

From "Keep a Quiet Heart" by Elisabeth Elliot

What a wonderful passage to ponder again and again.

Have a blessed and restful night. In God's Love, Tami

My *Gem*

"The Golden Gems of Life" by S.C. Ferguson & E.A. Allen.

It is finally here. I have shared *gems* from this precious book before, and I now have an original copy of my very own.

My search for this book began after Jewels quoted from it, on her"Eyes of Wonder" blog. I was so enthralled by the beautiful language and the timeless wisdom.

My challenge was to find a copy that was in decent condition and didn't cost a fortune. I found this very loved, and a little tattered 1883 version for $10.00. A steal in my book.

The book included hidden in it's pages, the original receipt, at a cost of $3.50 to the purchaser in 1883.

When I touch the pages, I can imagine the hands that have read through the passages over the last 125 years.

Wow....that's what I love about old things, they have had such a life before me. What did the original owner dress like, did she read it by kerosene lamp in her favorite rocking chair? What fun to imagine. I can see little markings she made in passages that she wanted to remember.

It's pages are filled with beautiful wisdom and such artistic writings. Some of the more interesting content titles are Home Circle, Duties of Married Life, True Nobility, God in Nature, and so many more that take me back in time.
Here are some of my favorites:

"Kindness makes sunshine wherever it goes. It folds its way into the hidden chambers of the heart, and brings forth hidden treasures, which harshness would have sealed up forever. Kindness makes the mother's lullaby sweeter than the song of a lark.....Kindness is the real law of life, the link that connects earth with heaven."

"Either patience must be a quality graciously inherent in the heart of man, or it must be acquired as the lesson of year's experience, if he would enjoy the greatest good life".

"And say to mothers what a holy charge is theirs; with what a kingly power their love might rule the fountains of the new-born mind; warn them to wake at early dawn and sow good seed before the world has sown its tares." ~ Mrs. Sigourney

One quiet evening very soon, I will spend some time pouring over this precious book in it's entirety. What a fascinating look into life 100+ years ago, and how wonderful to know it's wisdom still speaks today.
If you get a chance you can read over parts of the book online here.

Have a truly blessed and restful night with your precious treasures. In God's Love, Tami

Keep on Cookin'

I have been reading a book called "Something From the Oven: Reinventing Dinner in 1950's America" by Laura Shapiro.

Little Jenny Wren recommended it, and is it ever an eye-opener.

I grew up during the 1970's, and I would say that most of our meals were packaged and or assembled from packaged ingredients. I really never realized until adulthood, that food is so much better for you if you make it yourself. I also realized that my grocery budget could be drastically reduced by making my own bread, granola, sauces, dressings, etc. And they taste so much better too!

There are a few very interesting things, that really made me think.

"Factory conditions imposed strict limits on the sensory qualities possible in packaged foods, making them predominantly very sweet, very salty, or very bland. The more such qualities were reflected in a family's home cooking, the more acceptable they became-so much so that in the worst of the nations cooking, even dishes made from scratch paid homage to factory flavors."

and

"During the first decades of the twentieth century millions of American palates adjusted to artificial flavors and then welcomed them; and consumers started to let the food industry make a great many decisions on matters of taste that people in the past had always made for themselves."

And did you know that convenience foods really started to take off after WWII because the companies that made military rations didn't want to go out of business, so they repackaged them as "a homemaker's best friend" ?!!!?

What really gets me is now we all have a taste for bad food! My family is not the first to prefer pancakes made with Krusteaz, instead of my whole wheat variety. And don't even get me started about fake maple syrup and how my family prefers it over the real thing. After reading this book I feel like we've been tricked by the food industry.

One thing I do know, the more I prepare wholesome made-from-scratch meals, the more my family has a taste for it. Just like millions of Americans have grown accustomed to the taste of artificial food, my family has now grown accustomed to food made from scratch. It has taken years though.

What really saddens me is that it takes alot of will-power and determination to resist the temptation. It would be sooooooooo easy to just grab a quick meal from the nearest grocery store. They really do make it too easy. Sometimes I wish there weren't so many choices.

What keeps me cooking, is the peace of mind I get from knowing I am feeding my family the best way I know how. They are thriving, strong, healthy, bright, and beautiful. Healthy and whole foods are a big part of the reason.

I would highly recommend reading this book. Beware though.......you will be very dis-enchanted with the food industry :~)

I pray that you are having a healthy and happy week. In God's Love, Tami