Thankful

Oh so much to be thankful for.~An Active Husband who inspires me to move around more and reminds me that I'm... "tougher than I think I am".

~Kids with a sense of Humor who are quick witted like their Dad and keep me laughing.

~Tylenol Oh what would I do without it?

~My Faith The Savior Jesus Christ is a constant strength to me. I am blessed in a multitude of ways every single day by a Heavenly Father who knows me.

~A Missionary Son Thing 1 is strong and faithful and courageous. I love reading his letters every week watching him grow and learn. He is my example.

~Friends in real life and in blog life. You strengthen me and make me want to be a better person.

~The Sun Fashionista and I watched the sun rise while we did yoga this morning. Just kinda makes you want to breathe deeper and work harder.

The list could go on all day and through tomorrow.
Happy Thanksgiving.

Home

~Vanilla~

From Grandma Hazel

If you would make the wrong things right
Begin at home, there lies a lifetime toil.
Weed your own garden fair, for all men's sight,
Before you plan to till another's soil.

Today

~Vanilla~

From Grandma Lillian

This is the beginning of a new day.
God has given me this day to use as I will.
I can waste it or use it for good.
What I do today is important because
I am exchanging a day of my life for it.
When tomorrow comes this day will be gone forever.
Leaving something in its place that
I have traded for it.
I want it to be good, not evil, success, not failure.
In order that I may not forget the
price I paid for it.

The Legacy of Hands

I remember once as a child my Aunt Joyce telling me I had pretty hands. She may have said it to try and inspire me to stop biting my fingernails, or maybe she believed it. I think I believed her because every now and then I think about that compliment and I look at my hands and wonder.

When sitting in a church meeting recently I looked at the hands of a younger woman sitting on one side of me with her young, soft, smooth elastic skin. Then I looked to the other side of me at the hands of an elderly woman with wrinkled skin and arthritic bent knuckles. Then I looked at my own hands with loosening skin and a multitude of little scars because my own klutziness often exhibits itself with wounds on my hands. I used to be embarrassed when comparing my hands to the hands of a younger woman, but then looking at the older ones I realized how much more beautiful those hands were. I am no longer embarrassed of my hands but grateful for them and the opportunities I have had to really use them.

~ Vanilla ~

The Legacy of Hands
by Barbara S. Newbold

I look at the shape of my hands,
fingers, callouses, and lines;
And the years trace back
through ancestors and loved ones,
And I wonder....

Whose hands do mine resemble?
Whose pattern did my square hands follow?
Where did my round finger tips come from?
Who had the deep lines that cross my palm?

Who loved to feel the paintbrush
in their fingers as I do?
Who loved to touch a child's soft hair,
Or stroke a cheek?
Or feel an elderly beloved hand
clasped in theirs?
Whose hands loved the feel of
smooth piano keys under their palm?
Whose cared for the ill,
and prepared bread for their neighbor?
My hands feel the penetration of Spirits gone by....

Whose hands grasped the rail of an unsteady vessel,
As it tossed the sea toward the promised land?
Or pushed a dusty wagon across the prairie?
Whose fingers first turned the pages of the sacred records?

My hands are created from the determined,
caring service and love,
Handed to me from generations gone by.....
A legacy to be nurtured, appreciated,
and carefully passed on
To the children of the future.
by Barbara S. Newbold

Happy Thanksgiving Week.

On Giving Thanks

George Washington's First
Thanksgiving Day Proclamation

As I was searching my family cookbook for some good traditional foods for Thanksgiving, I came across this Proclamation given by George Washington in October 1789. After coming across this treasure I researched it a bit.
Here at "Archiving Early America"
http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/firsts/thanksgiving/
I learned that people in the colonies had been having Thanksgiving celebrations for many years throughout the year but it was with this proclamation that it became "designated by the new national government."

General Thanksgiving

By the PRESIDENT of the United States of America
A PROCLAMATION

Source: The Massachusetts Centinel
Wednesday, October 14, 1789
Also found in Past and Present Recipes
~ Family Favorites
Click HERE to see the original document.

Whereas, it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor, and;

Whereas, both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to recommend to the people of the United States a day of PUBLICK THANKSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness;

NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, and that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed;-- for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish Constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;-- for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge;-- and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also, that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions;-- to enable us all, whether in publick or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us); and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; ...to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally, to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New-York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine.

(signed) George Washington

Click HERE to see the original document.

6WS Fun to say, Fun to hear!

It doesn't matter if you're saying the word itself or one that it defines...

Onomatopoeia

IS

Fun to say, Fun to hear!!

A word that imitates the sound it represents
Buzz

Snap

Snort

Whap

Smack

Slurp

Splash

Wow

Gush

Kerplunk

Buzz

Crash

Whirr

Clang

Hiss

Purr

Squeak

Mumble

Hush

Boom

Oink

Meow

Roar

Ruff

Slither

Tweet

Do you have some favorite onomatopoeia?

How about some good old Batman sounds?

Those crazy words that flashed on the screen...

Onamatopoeia

And now for some
~Vanilla~
"Our deeds still travel with us from afar,
And what we have been makes us what we are."
George Eliot

More Six Word Fun
with Call me Cate

Amelia Bedelia

~Vanilla~
Woman's sphere is bounded only
By the talents God has given
And her duty lies wherever
Earth can be made more like Heaven.

Amelia Bedelia what a wonderful girl.
She has a problem free philosophy, Amelia Bedelia.
She tends to make everyone around her crazy until she cooks something and then they are so taken by her kitchen magic that they always want her around.
One Amelia Bedelia situation that I remember often is when she was asked to dust the furniture. Completely confused by this request, she finds "dusting powder" which is actually face powder and spreads it gleefully around the living room.
What is it with the word dust?

Recently I posted a recipe that said to 'grease' the pan and 'dust' with flour. I know this means to sprinkle all purpose flour over the shortening that I have carefully spread over my pan.

But... when I dust the living room, I want to remove the dust and polish the wood. Dust is also the stuff that collects on said furniture thus needing to be removed. It's also the stuff flying through the air on a windy day in Idaho.

And how about grease? It's something that splatters all over your favorite shirt if you forget to wear an apron when you cook bacon. It's something you put on a hinge to get it to stop creaking. It's something that has something to do with cars. And it's the process used to spread shortening onto your pan before 'dusting' with flour to keep your cake from sticking. Oh, and it's also what shortening or it's counterpart is often called.

What a crazy language we speak.

Amelia Bedelia (because you can't just say Amelia...) falls into these ruts all the time. Remember when she teaches the students to plant light bulbs instead of tulip bulbs?

Or sprays water all over the bridal shower?Do you think there's a language out there without these kinds of confusing word plays? What are some words you've run into lately that play those kinds of games?
Do you have a favorite Amelia Bedelia conundrum?
(did I use that word correctly? It's such a fun word I just had to use it.
Another favorite: onomatopoeia. Try it... it's fun for the tongue. And so is what it means!)