{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}~ January 3, 2016

Happy second Sunday after Christmas!  I love it that there are two Sundays in the Christmas season this year.  That means lots of time to sing Christmas hymns. :)

I'm going to share a montage of Christmas photos without a lot of explanation and without trying to divide them into {phfr} categories.  Each has a bit of all of them.

Our tree at home

Dave, Hannah, and I enjoyed Christmas together at home~

I later realized that all the pictures I took of Hannah are with her in her pajamas, and
since I don't think she'd appreciate me plastering my blog with those pictures, I'm just
sharing one rather discreet one.  We gave her a coloring book for grown-ups and she
loved it!

Our church's nave on Christmas morning.  Beautiful!

We spent almost a week in West Virginia with Elizabeth and her family.  So much fun!

Verity is 16 months old!

Guess who?

Elizabeth, Verity, Arane, and Justin

Story time

Is there a child alive who doesn't like to have a ride in a laundry basket? lol

Arane is three and a half.  I'm not sure when that happened . . .

We took so many group photos because in almost all of them, one or both
of the kids were wiggling and therefore blurry.  We were lucky to get even
one of  picture with us all relatively in focus!

Verity wasn't sure what to think of the pop! from our Christmas crackers, but
she enjoyed the crown.

A portable doll bed I made for Verity

This picture is of my mother-in-law, Sylvia, and her hot-off-the-presses book of poetry.  She has written poetry for most of her adult life, and some friends and family gathered 400 of them (more or less) into a professionally designed and produced book.  Here she is on Christmas Eve with her brand-spankin' new copy.

Visit Like Mother, Like Daughter for more {phfr}!

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}~ December 20, 2015

So sorry to have disappeared last week!  A relative, for whom Dave and I are the sole caregivers, went to the hospital with pneumonia.  Thanks to modern medicine and God's mercy, the illness was quickly subdued and all is well again.

{Pretty}

In this post, I showed you the conservatory we had painted in October, but I haven't yet showed you the completed "gallery" of paintings by Dave's grandmother, Dorothea Storey Kelsey.  Besides three in the living room, we gathered all her paintings in our possession into this one space, and I love it.

The wall color has more creamy yellow undertones than shows
in this photo.  It looks great with all the wood frames.

 The cellist in the middle is Dave's father, Carleton Spotts, who was the cello professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia for 34 years.  The three portraits on the right are of Dorothea, her husband Luman, and their daughter (Dave's mother) Sylvia.  The portrait over the organ is also of Luman.  I am very pleased with how this turned out and I am finally beginning to like this room. :)

{Happy}

We had a gathering at our house for friends this past Friday.  Yes, it was a Christmas party, but in a university town, if you want to have a Christmas party, you have to do it before everyone scatters for Christmas break, even if it means having it in Advent.  Last year we had not yet gotten to know anyone well enough to even have a party, so we are happy that we've built more connections and made more friends in the intervening year.  A true blessing.

 

{Funny}

Spotted on a recent Christmas shopping excursion:

But they're plastic?????????

{Real}

After many weeks of atypical dry weather, the rains finally came . . . and came . . . and came some more.  The pond level has been higher only once in my memory.  The water apparently got high enough to dislodge a volleyball that has been floating randomly around the pond for over a year.  How and when it got there we know not, but there it floats.  One day recently it almost got near enough to the shore to be fished out. Almost. Alas.

Visit Like Mother, Like Daughter for more {phfr}!

{Pretty, Funny, Happy, Real}~ Living Advent at Our House (December 6, 2015)

Like Mother, Like Daughter has been talking Advent lately, so here is my humble contribution.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Our Advent observations are pretty simple.  Neither my husband nor I grew up with Advent observations in the home.  Heck, my husband didn't even have much by way of Christmas celebrations growing up.  For the first two decades of our marriage, we wandered around broad evangelicalism, which looks askance at anything liturgical, except for Christmas and Easter (and some Calvinists don't even recognize Christmas).  For nearly the past decade we have been at home~ very much at home~ in confessional Lutheranism and have grown in our appreciation and love for the liturgy. Every year, I think, we do a little better job observing Advent.

Our Advent wreath~

You can't really see it, but it's on a cake stand, which makes it easy to move around.  I saved last year's candles and am using them again because I'm frugal like that, but I'm beginning to be afraid the shortest one will soon be too short!

                           

Besides Sunday morning divine service, we attend our church's mid-week Advent services, which is always a blessing.  I love the Advent hymns more every year.  I think my current favorite is "Of the Father's Love Begotten," followed by "Savior of the Nations, Come."

                                             

Our nativity scene is set up (without the baby Jesus) on the fireplace mantel, but I neglected to take any pictures of it.

Besides some extra charitable giving, that is the extent of our Advent observances. It is not always easy to change one's habits and thinking about Christmas and the entire month of December after decades of doing it the culture's way, which for it means the Christmas season begins the day after Thanksgiving and is over December 26. But these simple Advent practices have shaped our lives and thinking as we anticipate and prepare for Christmas and the birth of our Savior.    

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}~ November 22, 2015

Joining Like Mother, Like Daughter for {phfr}!

{Pretty}

We awoke to our first dusting of snow Saturday morning.  It soon melted, but it was exciting while it lasted!

I think winter sunsets are the prettiest of all.  The black outline of the trees is striking against the colorful sky.  This sunset was predominantly purple!

Sorry for the glare.  I took it from inside because, well, it was cold out there!

{Funny}

Dave said McDonald's has released its Advent cup a week early.  We hope it won't cause a controversy since it's not just plain purple but has a wreath and all . . .

We spotted this while getting a jump start on our Christmas shopping.  This is what I don't want for Christmas!

Thanks for visiting!

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}~ November 15, 2015

{Pretty} and {Happy}

Last week I showed you our newly painted bathroom.  This week I will give you a glimpse into our newly painted, completely pointless, glorified hallway we call the conservatory.

This room was built for growing plants.  That is its raison d'etre.  My father-in-law even had tomatoes growing in here, but I harbor no such ambitions.  Houseplants, fine.  An indoor vegetable garden, not fine.  Mostly we walk through this room to get to other places.  Nevertheless, since it is here, it may as well look nice.  I forgot to take any before pictures, but this will give you an idea of the color it used to be:

This shows the three colors we were contemplating.  The aqua is the original color we wanted to cover up.  Here is a part of the room post-painting:

I love the big fig tree!  There is plenty of natural light for the houseplants, which are to the right and can't be seen in the photo.  We have big plans for this room which I will share once they are realized.  Right now, I'm thrilled that it is painted.  And now I realize that the futon is completely the wrong color.  You can hardly see it! Steps will have to be taken.

I had a little money set aside, which I used to buy this terrarium.  I'd had my eye on it at Hobby Lobby for months and finally took the plunge when it was marked 50% off.  A few plants, a little sand (scrounged from the garage), and it looks fabulous!

I think once we are finished, I may decide this room isn't a waste of space after all!

Visit Like Mother, Like Daughter for more {phfr}!

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}~ November 2, 2015

I took pictures this week!  Hurray!

{Pretty}

We had some painting done at the end of October, which I will reveal little by little starting with the master bathroom.

As you know, we are living in my in-laws' house.  (My father-in-law died in 2014 and my mother-in-law, by her choice, is living nearby in a retirement facility.)  Their taste in colors was . . . shall we say. . . exuberant. The brighter and more intense, the better.  But, hey, it's their house and they liked it, so . . .  Nevertheless, we had the three brightest rooms painted to suit our tastes (with my mil's permission, of course).

Here is the best picture I could find to show you the wall color that used to be in the master bath~

That saturated red-orange was pretty intense, especially in such a small space.  Here's what it looks like now~

The blue is different in each picture, and in reality it's a little duskier too.  Oh, to be a better photographer!

Elizabeth made this wreath last summer for a housewarming gift.  The gray looks great against the blue!

New cabinet knobs make a difference too.  Half-price at Hobby Lobby!

{Happy}

We had visitors from two different quarters this week.  (This was after Dave was in St. Louis most of the week.)

First, Dean from the AALC national office came for dinner on his way from St. Louis to Kansas City.  Here, he and Dave are talking theology.  It's always a pleasure to spend time with Dean.

Dean (left) and Dave (right)

 And here are fellow Missourians and Potter's School teachers, Bill and Lisa.  It's a lot of fun when we get to meet in person folks we've known on-line for years!  Plus, they are a very entertaining couple!

From left to right: Bill, Lisa, yours truly, and Dave.  Photograph courtesy of Hannah

Thanks for stopping by!  Visit Like Mother, Like Daughter for more {phfr}!

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}~ November 1, 2015

Happy All Saints' Day!  I don't have a lot to share this week because I've been sick.  As in emergency room trips.  Two of them.  It turned out not to be serious, though at the time, we weren't sure.  That was the first time I'd ever been to the emergency room as a patient.  It was long and drawn-out and unpleasant, though I *am* grateful for their help and expertise.  I'm also grateful to be feeling better!

{Pretty}

This young fella came into our yard last week to eat corn that had actually been left for the geese~

The picture is not great.  I took it through the window and was lucky to get that.  He was wary as it was without me opening a window or actually going outside.  The geese did not get their corn.

{Happy}

Now that Arane is three, she is getting into the swing of holidays.  She and her sister dressed up as flowers.  Arane had a great time trick or treating . . .

{Funny}

. . . though I'm not so sure Verity, one year old, did, judging by her quizzical and concerned expression!

Visit Like Mother, Like Daughter for more {phfr}!