Aha!

Please forgive all double pictures. I was having technical difficulty's.

Recently, I've been looking for what style I like as far as home decor, clothing, personality. Not just a general something or the other I sort of like. Something that's really "me". Thanks to Laurel, I think I about summed it up into three words:

Storybook. Woodsy. Leafy.

Maybe I could even throw fairy in there somewhere. So, here are some things that say "me"
all over them .






bramblewoodfashion: So sweet. Rosette Applique Top with Emma Bust Line - maurices.com">
I'm going to dress my kids close to this company's style. TEA















In Christ,
Jillian

I saw a Teenager Moose!

Yesterday, I walked into my room and looked outside. I saw a big moving thing and looked more closely. It was a moose walking on our property. When I told everybody, nobody believed me. But soon everybody was looking at the moose. My Mother grabbed the camera and took a few pictures.

When my Mom pointed the camera out the window the moose stopped in its tracks. I guess it likes having its picture taken!

So that was an adventure for us. My mom guessed it was not an adult, but a teenager moose.

A Weekend of Great Joy

Sunday was the twelfth birthday of Hayley Joy Carstensen. And it was a blast of fun like only she could arrange. In addition to parents, sisters, (and Roman) there were eight guests with whom games were played, pizza eaten, and ice cream devoured.

Listening to the dinner table conversation was very amusing. At this birthday party they discussed how the apostles were crucified and which Bible characters they wished to be. Christian, homeschool kids are different, and it was great.

A water fight was the order of the evening: balloons, guns, buckets, and hoses. Everyone was yelling, running, thoroughly soaked by the time the parents came for the boys. If moisture and smiles could indicate fun level, I'd say everyone was top of the chart.

Gifts were, of course very popular, the girls sedated watching, making sweet comments...

...the boys clowning around, in general being boys. We sent them home, but the girls stayed the night. They talked and giggled till long after I was asleep. The next morning we did everyone's hair, made cinnamon rolls, cleaned up the house, and took them all to church. It was an eventful weekend, and I think Hayley had a great celebration.

She is a wonderful sister, whose enthusiasm for life knows no bounds. She is growing in the knowledge of the Lord, she will be a beautiful woman one day, and am proud to be her sister.

Some Pleasant Thoughts

In Summer

by Paul Laurence Dunbar

Oh, summer has clothed the earth 

In a cloak from the loom of the sun! 

And a mantle, too, of the skies' soft blue, 

And a belt where the rivers run.  

And now for the kiss of the wind, 

And the touch of the air's soft hands, 

With the rest from strife and the heat of life, 

With the freedom of lakes and lands.  

I envy the farmer's boy 

Who sings as he follows the plow; 

While the shining green of the young blades lean 

To the breezes that cool his brow.  

He sings to the dewy morn, 

No thought of another's ear; 

But the song he sings is a chant for kings 

And the whole wide world to hear.  

He sings of the joys of life, 

Of the pleasures of work and rest, 

From an o'erfull heart, without aim or art; 

'T is a song of the merriest.  

O ye who toil in the town, 

And ye who moil in the mart, 

Hear the artless song, and your faith made strong 

Shall renew your joy of heart.  

Oh, poor were the worth of the world 

If never a song were heard,— 

If the sting of grief had no relief, 

And never a heart were stirred.

So, long as the streams run down, 
And as long as the robins trill, 
Let us taunt old Care with a merry air, 
And sing in the face of ill.

I am enjoying the gardening season and simply wish for more time out in the sun. Work never ends, beginning at sunrise, ending at sunset. Yet Creation is vast, and to be enjoyed vastly. May you all enjoy the season upon us.

Bed in Summer
by Robert Louis Stevenson
In winter I get up at night And dress by yellow candle-light. In summer, quite the other way, I have to go to bed by day. I have to go to bed and see The birds still hopping on the tree, Or hear the grown-up people’s feet Still going past me in the street. And does it not seem hard to you, When all the sky is clear and blue, And I should like so much to play, To have to go to bed by day?