Imagination is Child’s Play

There’s some irony in what I’m about to say….I find myself longing for the “good old days” more and more.  So in addition to the irony, let me add that by making that statement I really am officially over the hill.

Specifically what I miss is the way children used to play.  So much of what we did was based on imagination and the belief that we could do anything.

My brother and I spent hours – literally – playing with Legos.  The Lego from years ago was not like the fancy packages in the stores now and in fact, those packages would probably sneer at our antique bricks.  But since we were limited to squares and shapes instead of premade people, we built reindeer as our people.  Sometimes we’d build enough reindeer that we practically would have an army!  We also had trays made for Legos, so we would use those as the reindeer houses and build furniture on them.  And each family would interact with the other reindeer tray houses nearby.

The reindeer families would play, go to work, fight off the bad guys and live their lives.  And when we would finish our play we would take the structures apart so that we could start fresh the next day.

My concern is all the games and toys that take away so much of the imagination part of play.  We were out to eat dinner recently and saw a youngish boy sitting at the table with his family, his head down and thumbs moving feverishly on his electronic game.  Where is the interaction in the family?

Of course what got my thoughts headed this direction was my darling granddaughter Brooklyn.  She’ll be 3 in about 6 weeks and when we were recently in Oklahoma celebrating Mother’s Day I caught her playing and was able to video it.  Usually when she sees the camera she gets a case of the sillies and it doesn’t work.

She’s playing with some M&M plastic figures (buddies she calls them) that in a previous life were part of a string of lights to hang outside.  Mom had washed them and Brook had a grand time playing with them.  Watching her kind of bounce the “buddy” that was talking is what made me think back.  I so remember doing that – whichever reindeer we would be holding would be bounced when we would make it talk.

And I really am aware that there are some good things that come out of the electronic games and I’ll have a post on that soon.  Today was a combination full heart from watching Brooklyn play and remembering playing toys with my brother.

Life is good.   :)

Semi-Shabby Chic Herb Planter

Seriously now, I want all of you to be very impressed with me on publishing this post.  Because this is a perfect example of how things don’t always go as planned.

I had an idea of a great shabby chic sort of pot to plant some herb seeds in.  Truly it was so pretty in my head.

And this is what I ended up with.  I know, it’s not hideous, but it’s also nothing special.  What IS special is my dog Joe that I decided not to crop out of the picture.  :)

My idea was to paint a clay pot with a butter cream ceramcoat paint, then use a sharpie to write the name of different herbs across the pot.  Next I took some medium grade sandpaper and scuffed it up a bit to give it more of an aged appearance.  I topped it off with a jaunty bow and stood back to see.

I’m really kind of “meh” about the whole thing, but since it isn’t hideous I decided to go ahead and plant my parsley seeds.  Right now it’s living in the windowsill behind my kitchen sink so that I can keep an eye on it. 

I learned when I planted my wheatgrass seeds indoors that the best way to water seedlings is with a water sprayer.  The new potting soils don’t seem to absorb the water as much and it runs to the edge of the pot and soaks in there.  Since my seeds are scattered over the top I needed them to be wet also, so the sprayer works wonders.

Life, In Spite of Me – Kristen Jane Anderson with Tricia Goyer – and a Giveaway!

** This Giveaway is Now Closed**

After her fatal choice... extraordinary hope.
Why does my life have to be so painful?
What's wrong with me?
It's not going to get better.
It could all be over soon, and then I won't hurt anymore.

Kristen Anderson thought she had the picture perfect life until strokes of gray dimmed her outlook on life. Once a happy child, Kristen's world darkened after three friends and her grandmother died within two years. Still reeling from these losses, she was raped by a friend she thought she could trust. She soon spiraled into a depression that didn't seem to have a bottom.

One January night, the seventeen-year-old made a decision: She no longer wanted to deal with the emotional pain that smothered her. She lay down on a set of cold railroad tracks and waited-for a freight train to send her to heaven...and peace.

Fear coursed through me. I squeezed my eyes tighter.

It's going to be over now. The pain is going to end. I'll be in heaven soon.

As the train whistle blew, the vibration of my body stilled.

The sound stopped. The wind stopped. The train stopped.

Am I dead yet?

Amazingly, Kristen survived her suicide attempt... but the 33 freight cars that ran over her severed her legs. Now she not only had to deal with depression; she also had to face the physical pain and life without legs.

But Kristen's story didn't end there. After her darkest days Kristen discovered a real purpose for living. Now, in her compelling book Life, In Spite of Me, Kristen shares her journey from despair to hope.

Includes letters from Kristen that share messages she wishes someone would have told her-when she was depressed and struggling with loss, shame from sexual abuse, and suicidal thoughts.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Tricia Goyer is the author of twenty-four books including Songbird Under a German Moon, The Swiss Courier, and the mommy memoir, Blue Like Play Dough. She won Historical Novel of the Year in 2005 and 2006 from ACFW, and was honored with the Writer of the Year award from Mt. Hermon Writer's Conference in 2003. Tricia's book Life Interrupted was a finalist for the Gold Medallion in 2005. In addition to her novels, Tricia writes non-fiction books and magazine articles for publications like MomSense and Thriving Family. Tricia is a regular speaker at conventions and conferences, and has been a workshop presenter at the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) International Conventions.  She and her family make their home in Little Rock, Arkansas where they are part of the ministry of FamilyLife. For more info, please visit www.triciagoyer.com

MY REVIEW:I’ll be honest – what led me to review this book was the fact that I love Tricia Goyer as an author. But what kept me reading was the story itself.

The voice of this book is different than most - Kristen talks almost in a monotone and I believe that's part of what makes this book so impactful. By talking in this voice she's able to convey her fears and almost detachment.

The premise of the book makes it difficult to say that I loved it and can't wait for you to read it. Honestly though, I haven't stopped thinking about this book even after I finished reading it. There are some lessons to be learned here and that makes it a must read.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

While reading it I was trying to identify with Kristen and sometimes that can be difficult as a grandmother to relate to a teenage girl.  But all the pieces fell into place for me at the end of the book when I read the note from Jan Anderson, Kristen’s mom.  I could relate to her – her fear, helplessness and disbelief.

I sincerely hope that this book makes it way into church and school libraries everywhere.  What Kristen has to say and how she found her purpose – or rather, how God showed her her purpose – is something that all teens should read.

A GIVEAWAY!: And on that note – I have a copy of this book to offer to one lucky reader!  Simply leave a comment on this post and you will have a chance to win.  I’ll close this on Friday the 28th so that the book can get in the mail.

FTC DISCLAIMER: I received a review copy of this book from Litfuse in exchange for my honest review. If you'd like to see more reviews of this book, please visit the tour at Litfuse.

Brooklyn is a Finer Thing in My Life

Ahhh….Finer Things.  I love the idea of celebrating the Finer Things in life.  Even better is the fact that Finer Things are not the usual diamonds, fancy homes, etc.  The Finer Things in my life are the people, not the things.

I’d like to highlight one of the special people in my life – my granddaughter Brooklyn.  She’ll be 3 in a few short weeks and really is a joy to be around.

After going out to dinner the other night we went by the kids’ house to drop them off.  The instant we got out of the truck she spied the sprinkler in the neighbor’s yard and her eyes got big and her grin got bigger.

She would run close to the sprinkler, let a few drops hit her, then run back to us laughing.  What a delight – and a great reminder of when we were younger and would do the same thing.  She did manage to convince her grandpa to get close with her and her laughter rang out when she saw the drops of water on his jeans.

The close encounter with the sprinkler had her running to mommy to ask if she could water the plants.  Ah the things a two year must do – chores already!

But with a grin like this there is no doubt at all in my mind that she enjoyed every minute of it!

My granddaughter Brooklyn is definitely one of the Finer things in my life.  :)

Thank You Card – And Decorated Gift Cookies

I found myself in need of a Thank You card recently and this is what I came up with, with the help of a friend.  It’s actually quite a bit different than what I normally do – not quite as girly or overtly pink (but I did sneak some in!).  Overall I’m very pleased with it though and it’s already in the mail!

Stampin Up supplies used:  Watercolor Trio stamp set, Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, all inks and cardstock

And now the reason for the thank you card!  Mother’s Day weekend of course was a wonderful time.  After church Keith, Brooklyn (granddaughter) and I went to brunch with my mom, his mom and dad, my brother and sister-in-law.  It’s so very special to me that both sides of our family get along so well and enjoy being together – a true blessing.

When we all got to the restaurant Michele, my sister-in-law, came inside carrying beautiful gift bags and gave one to me, my mom, mother-in-law and gave me one to take home to my daughter-in-law.

They were so cute!  She’d ordered some personalized cookies from a gal in town that does this from her home.  Each bag had a cookie with our name on it and the bag contained more mom cookies and a cute flower cookie.  Such a darling and thoughtful idea.

I’ve thought about this quite a bit and have decided I’m going to try my hand at cookies like this.  I don’t hope to become as good as this professional was, but what I have learned is that it’s ok – the impact of this gift was great and I’m going to assume that others would like to receive it as well.

Don’t you just love when somebody out of the blue gives you a gift that you love so much that you want to do the same for somebody else?

Cup and Saucer Bird Feeder

I saw this idea somewhere online and it stuck in the back of my head.  When I happened to be at Goodwill last week poking around this idea suddenly burst forth and demanded to have attention.  The one I saw online used a teacup and saucer, but the ones I saw were so tiny that I just didn’t see much point.  I wanted cute, but I also wanted function.

I finally found a little dessert bowl and plate.  The plate is somewhere between saucer and dinner plate to give you an idea of size.  And I get tickled to think that the bowl, plate and spoon cost all of $1.78 – the best kind of project!

I am *enormously* pleased with how this came out!  I’ll admit that I haven’t seen any birds on it yet, but it’s only been outside for about 12 hours, so I am still hopeful.

Here’s how I made it:

To help get the pieces to stick together better I used a Medium grade sandpaper.  I sanded the bottom of the bowl, the top of the plate where the bowl would sit, and the backside of the spoon.

I used 30 Minute Slow-Cure Epoxy simply because that is what Keith had on his work bench and it said that it worked on glass.

On the bottom of the plate I glued a 1/2” copper cap (.53 cents at Lowe’s) after sanding it.  I let it set overnight to be sure the epoxy was good and dry.

We used 1/2” copper pipe that Keith hammered into the ground.  I just placed the feeder on top of the pipe and since it’s a good tight fit that’s all I did.

I found some bird food at Lowe’s for the pretty birds – goldfinch, cardinal, chickadee – since I’m hoping to entice them to stay.  I’ve seen quite a few around, so we’ll see.

And that’s it!  A very inexpensive birdfeeder for me because we just happened to have a piece of copper pipe in the garage.  I spent $2.31 and if I had bought the copper pipe it would add another $7 to the project.  Not bad at all.