Celina, Liz again

I don't want to be constatly posting about Elizabeth,but she is sooooooo sweet! Today me and my brothers were sick but so we stayed home while Mom and Dad went to a funeral. So most of the day we spent downstairs watching movies. Elizabeth is aloud to be out of her pen in the basement, only if she stays out of Mom and Dad's room. So almost the whole time we were watching movies I was setting on the floor with her on my lap. She is a slight bit too big to be a lap dog, but she thinks she is a perfect lap dog. It kinda hurts when she sits up becuase her feet dig into my legs, but when she is laying down asleep I feel like I have an over sized, fuzzy warm newborn laying in my lap. (I know not a good thing to compare humans to animals but she is soooo soft and warm)

Celina, Queen Elizabeth

I got the dog!!!!!!!!! She is sooooooooooooooo cute and sweet! She is a little big to be a lap dog but she thinks she is :) I was going to put pictures on but it is not working :( If you want pictures I can email them to you but she is a sweety!

Lyd, Faith's Birthday

Well Faith's birthday was yesterday and it was a blast. We had donuts for breakfast and then I started on school. She doubled up on all her school so she wouldn't have to do any school on her birthday so I got mom all to myself :). When Dad came home we ordered pizza and she opened her gifts. We then watched Emma and had cake and ice cream. Sadly, though, today I had a horrible stomach ache from all the sweets and sugar. That is most of her special day #18 :).

~Lydia

Celina, Dad the Handyman

With us working on the lake house my dad has had to do a lot of things that he would have never thought of doing before. He has made shelves and stuff before, but now he knows how to do sooo much more! My dad does not really like the unknowns so it has kinda been a strain on him, but now he could almost be a builder with all he has done! He has taken wall board off, hung dry wall up, done the plumbing for our sinks, and much more! (oh and he also bought a second home!) Thanks Dad!!!

Lydia, 100

Today is our 100th day of school! It has been really fun! I have loved my subjects especially, French, Science, History, and Language. We didn't really celebrate much other than cute 100 decorated napkins. I love Homeschooling and I hope I can do it all through high school.

~Lydia

Celina, pics

So I have been so pumped about my dog that I might get and redoing my closet, so hear are some pics -

that is the coloring of the dog that I am going to look at on Friday, This is some puppies I like the black and white coloring-

This is a picture to give you an idea of how I am going to do my closet-

I will use different colors and I won't use wall paper, but along the same lines as this :)

Grace- Mend 'em Up, Move 'em Out

Mend 'em Up, Move 'em Out

Mending on endless seams

I think all I do is fix Graham's jeans

His jeans they are worked to a thread

I am surprised that he doesn't also wear them to bed

Running, jumping, rolling on the ground

The seams, they can't take it! The holes begin to abound

Gracie is cleaning out Graham's drawers

She smiles at the chaotic mess that tidy people abhor

Her smile vanishes, quicker than light

When she sees his three pairs of jeans, her face turns white

"I have fixed these before, this has to be a lie."

Not so my dear, what you see is not a trick to your eyes

His jeans, they are ripped, at all the wrong places

I must fix them soon, or we will have embarrassed faces

"If I fix them again, they will just rip once more."

But the holes are just too large to ignore

She sighs, and takes up her thread and needle

"I don't know what I would do with myself without this sly little weasel."

"He needs a big sister, or he wouldn't survive."

Said Gracie the proud mender and sister, now isn't she very wise?

God undoubtedly put me in Graham's life

To be his continual mender and sister, until the end of time

Celina, The Sweet thangs

A couple of weeks ago me and my brothers decide that we wanted to make something yummy, fun, and slightly sweet. So Preston got on the computer and started looking up breakfast ideas, he found a recipe for cake donuts. So we tried them. We have made nine at a time out of the same dough and it has lasted us for three breakfasts. Yum! Today we have cut up the last bit of it *sniff sniff*

For the last mouth or two, as you all know, I have been looking for a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel to start breeding with. I have mostly been trying to save money, (Those things are EXPENSIVE!!!) but yesterday I was looking at the Ebay Classified section and I found a free, registered, three year old, non-fixed, registered female Cavalier!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mom and dad have given me permission to go look at her on Friday!!

I have also put my desk on Craigslist so I can get a smaller one and make my closet a small little office area. i was getting kinda discouraged because no one had emailed me about it, but yesterday TWO People emailed me. So I might have I new desk soon :)

Just thought that I should share some of those "Sweet thangs" in my life. God always knows when to pop those in on ya :) ENJOY THOSE THINGS!!!!

Faith

Hi!

My 18th birthday is coming up this Thursday and I am getting more and more excited about it as it gets closer. I thought I'd write a sentence about each year from 13 to present. :)

#13- A year marked with being intensely happy one moment and depressed the next. I just couldn't wait to be all grown up and 16. I also went to a horse camp for the first time. Over all, not my favorite year.
#14- Ah, now I started high school and orchestra. I was starting to learn to be more independent and less self conscious. I really enjoyed being this age.
#15- Yay, I got my permit and I was soo excited to start driving! I struggled most with rebellion and not being afraid to voice what I liked, not what others liked.
#16- Sweet Sixteen! Driving by myself opened up a whole new world of independence that was both great and a little scary at the same time. When I was thirteen I thought this was the age to be, but I didn't feel any different and certainly not the grown up, self-assured women I'd thought I would be. :) I had to learn to balance my new found freedom with sweet compliance with all the new rules that went with it. ("sweet" is the key word there)
#17- I have loved being this age! I feel like I have been "forced" to grow and mature even more as I have been pushed out of my comfort zone through college interviews, volunteering at a stable for handicapped people, among other various things. I have also grown in my faith and trust in God through World View Academy and having to give my stress and fears about the future to Him.

I expect the coming year will be full of many more changes and opportunities to deepen my relationship with God and to grow to become a more confident and compassionate person.

Jessica~Admin

Lydia, you are up to be admin.

Celina- I disabled my admin'ship' but I think I should have abled Lydia's first. Did I do it wrong or is there still a way to access it?

Thanks!!

Jessica~Valentines Reminder

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~Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not ~ ~insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but ~ ~rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all ~ ~ things.

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1 Corinthians 13: 4-7

Lydia, Valentine's

Hi!
I just made some homemade valentine's and they were a blast! I really enjoy making cards and decorating things and I thought I would post about it. All I did was cut cards out of white paper and decorate it with different tissue paper, assorted ribbons, and cut out red hearts. I usually just use the ones you get at the store, but this year I decided to try homemade ones and I really liked it. Well I thought I would share some pictures so here you go! P.S. The one on the right side is my moms birthday card. I glued the peach tissue paper on and then put a ribbon around it :).

~Lydia

Jessica~ Idea

Ok, so my computer is being a booger and won't let me comment so I'll just have to post my comment!! :)

On Celina's post about the writing contest, this was my comment that wouldn't be published.

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Hmm.... I like the idea of the writing contest, but I also agree with Grace. So, I've got an idea if you all like it.
How about ( if we want to) each girl can make a short story, post it on here and each of us vote on what it is best... hmm...I'm not very good at expressing my ideas, let me put it in an example. Let's say, Celina writes a short story, and Grace and Lydia and I also. At the end of each story, we can give it different awards. Like Grace's might have "Most Imaginative" and Lydia's might have "Most Heartwarming" etc... catch my drift? Just an idea.
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Tell me what you think!!

Grace- Blogging Ideas and Phobias

Okay, I might have been a little too blunt about the writing, but I was speaking from my heart. Now we have the issue of, "WHAT DO WE WRITE?"

I have faced this before, because I have my own blog http://graciemobile.com/ ,and I often get stuck. But I think that a big problem is that people are afraid of blogging about certain things. Or they think, "Maybe I could, oh, no, no one would want to read that." But it's not true. We don't want to hear every private detail of your personal life, but we don't mind hearing about a new recipe you have discovered, or a new way to use nail polish, the cute purse you got at Wal-Mart, or what the kids you were baby sitting said.

I read another blog that is written for girls. It is an excellent blog, with a pretty good message, but it is almost strictly spiritual. I often crave to read what other girls who are like minded are doing in their normal lives. How they are handling situations, what they are learning, what they sewed or cooked or grew, what books they are reading, how they helped make their sister's birthday special, etc.

Have you ever heard of the Cosby show? I bet you all have, but if not, just ask your parents, they will tell you pretty quick. We love to watch the Cosby show at the G home. It is funny, entertaining, and so real. And one reason that we enjoy it so much, is because they show how real life is humorous and a constant adventure.

God also can speak through you on a blog. I was going to write something Google buzz, I like to write funny and witty things, but this time, I just couldn't think of anything. Then I heard the words to this BarlowGirl song called, "Average Girl" playing in my head. So I typed in the words. After several comments going back in forth between friends about the words the "Average Girl" song and another BG one called, "Clothes" one of my friends commented. She said that the song and the messages we had been discussing had really helped her.

Discussing things that you enjoy is a lovely way to share your personality with people. Celina, you are really good at sharing what you are enjoying presently in your life. Your posts about your lake house and orchestra reflect your enjoyment of life and fun. That is really neat, and I would love to read more about them. When we talk at church, you have lots of neat experiences and funny stories to share. We would love to hear them on here as well.

Jessica, you have a neat way of bringing a message across through a story. Your "parables" and "fairytales" have brought tears to my eyes before. You have an incredible mind and a very neat ability to share it, and I love chatting with you. Though you wouldn't want to share everything that we chat about, a lot of things that you say are really neat and I think that we would all benefit from hearing them.

Lydia, we have shared many conversations whether in person or online that have really built me up and encouraged me. You are wonderful person in that way, and you have a really neat knowledge of music, animals, plants, and many other things. I would love to hear more about these things and I sure the rest of the gals would too.

I don't know if Rebekah is still on here or not, but her posts are challenging and often have a neat message. We would like to hear more.

For any other girls who write on here, we would love lots of posts about your life, your interests, what you are presently doing, your mess-ups and triumphs, bring it on!

When I can't think of what to write, I sit there in think. Or sometimes I don't have to, they just come to me during my everyday life. I might see someone riding a bike, and that makes me think of a special memory I have about an old bike I got years ago(I actually have one), and so I write pieces in my head. Then later, I write them down. Right now I am writing a book like that, bit by bit in my head.

And if you are desperate, picture posts are awesome! That's what I resort to when I can't think of anything else. Examples-

http://graciemobile.com/2010/06/26/cheap-toys/

http://graciemobile.com/2010/06/26/belle-of-the-ball/

http://graciemobile.com/2010/11/11/creativity-has-rewards/

Okay okay, so maybe I am trying to get a little more business for my site, but hey, I am an opportunist. And they are decent examples, right?

Lydia, Me too

I have not been writing either Grace, sorry. I have been having trouble thinking of stuff. I will try to get better at it.

~Lydia

Celina, I am Sorry Grace

I know that I have not been writing very much, but I will try to be better. What do you guys think of having some writing contests and having our parents vote. We could do story's and stuff. So tell me what you think!

Grace- Howdy...anyone here?

Uh, gals, I'm getting lonely. This site used to be a lot more fun when everyone was fresh and ready to write, but now that you have gotten rid of the rosy "new blog" thing, I am almost the only one on here.

So I am humbly requesting that some of you try to rekindle the desire to write. This is a really neat way to connect and learn from each other, and I miss all of you. So please come back to heartsofpurity!

Grace- Applesauce Bread

This is an amazing recipe!

http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/healthy-treat-for-today-applesauce-bread

Grace-Snow, and the Colors of Winter

Yep. It happened. A blizzard in Missouri. Boy oh boy! What a gift Jesus, imagine, a blizzard in Missouri. I have always wanted to see a blizzard, and so God gave me one. Isn't He the sweetest thing? ;)

A lot of people are complaining about the weather, but I find it to be a joy. Think, how often do you get this much snow? It is so fun to jump into the drifts, or to fall straight backwards. That feels really cool, because the snow instantly forms to your body, making the most comfortable bed ever.

Ah, the entire world is transformed into a fairyland in the snow. Duller colors that are usually lost in the vivid greens and blues of summer and spring are suddenly brought into view with the pure white. The sturdy browns of the trees, the deep and soothing green of the evergreens with a nice contrast of the snow on the branches. And every time it snows the red birds come out, showing up brilliantly in the whites, greens, grays, and browns.

The sky is lovely. A winter sky(this is from an artist's point of view, because I study nature with a brush and pallet in mind) is composed of around 4 colors. A soft grayish pink, a grayish blue, a pale almost white yellow, and then gray. But they mix together into a soft pearl gray that sets off the rest of the scene, sometimes showing patches of pink or yellow.

And a winter sunset? Nothing beats that. Then the sky turns into a deep and cold navy blue, a few bold silver stars come out. Thin purple-gray clouds hover around the golden horizon. Bright pink streaks and brilliant oranges are painted across directly near the setting sun. This panorama reflects beautifully off of the snow. Then, the world glitters and sparkles like a millions of jewels.

A winter night is spectacular too. Especially a snowy one with a full moon. The air is crisp and clear, and the moon lights up the whole world so brightly that you can see almost every line. The snow glitters and sparkles silver, and deep blue shadows form in the drifts. I could walk for hours in the snowy moonlight.

A winter morning is a time to be awake and alive. The air is crisp and clear. Winter birds sing crisply, their songs extended by the clearness of the air. The yellow-gray sun rises slowly, now shining on the snow pale pink and yellow. The colors of the day begin to warm themselves up. A winter morning is not a thing to miss.

Winter days? Nothin' like it. The sun barely melts the snow down to make it perfect for sledding and snow balls. The snow glitters like diamonds in the bright sun, and the winter blue-gray sky burns brightly, sometimes with wisps of white clouds. How beautiful a winter day is.

For those that love the spring and summer, I can understand your joy. Spring is a time of life, of new creations, of the world once more transforming. But you cannot have spring without winter. Why, if we never had winter, the creatures and plants of the spring would grow old and faded. The world would never be cleaned, the crawlies would overpopulate, and eventually, the soil would wear down and become dry.

God created each season for a purpose. And He clearly created winter for a rest period for all of the plants and animals. The snows melt deep into the ground to water the hidden and sleeping seeds that hibernate during the cold months. Then once the warm sun hits them, they burst into baby green shoots that will one day bloom. If we never had a change from spring and summer, you would not enjoy them as much as you do now.

So let me say this, look forward to spring and summer, but don't let your impatience overflow. Wait quietly like the little seeds, and then when the warm sun hits you, burst forth like a green shoot. But until then, try to enjoy the season you are in. This is difficult for me as well, because when I finish one thing, I am always ready for the next. But if you stop, pause, and look, you will discover beautiful things that are hidden at first when you only glance. So look, and take in the colors and treasures of winter.