He Leadeth Me

For my 10-on-10 today, I simply went to my Christmas tree and took pictures of some of my favorite ornaments. I love the little Fisher Price school ornament that Mandy gave me last year. To the left, you can see the decoupage ornament that she made me this year. I have had this real sand dollar ornament for many years. It is very fragile and each year, despite the way I carefully wrap it up when I put away the ornaments, I am amazed that it is still in one piece. I believe it was given to me by one of my fourth grade students. I bought a set of these porcelain ornaments at Foley's (remember that department store?) years ago. I had a gentleman who tutored my fourth graders one year.  He was from a local business, and he was wonderful.  He gave me this snowman for Christmas.  I don't remember his name, but I do remember the impact he had on one of my students. I love these light bulb ornaments, but the main reason I pictured them is because C...

For today's Ten on Ten, I thought I would feature some of the most beloved children's books of all times. Little Golden Books These are some of the Little Golden Books my children had when they were young. We often read this one at bedtime. This one is backless because it was so well loved. We must have really loved this one because we still have not one, but two copies. This is a favorite of many, many children. I don't think Jeremy was too fond of this one, but Kelly loved it. A Christmas classic. Excuse the blurriness of this photo. Our books ranged in price from 39 cents to 89 cents. This one was really special because it helped teach my children how to be true friends. If you would like to know more about the history of Little Golden Books , Leonard Marcus, an excellent children's literature historian, has written a delightful book called Golden Legacy . Photo above  Copyright © 2012 Follett Library...

Sometimes it seems I am defined by the books in my life, the ones I have read, the ones I am reading, and the ones waiting to be read. My UHCL class is using two new textbooks this fall. I am enjoying learning new things to teach my students, but new textbooks are a lot of work. Our preacher, Patrick Mead, suggested this book.  It is by Sara Barton, who served as a missionary in Uganda with our friends, Greg and Jill. Sara is stretching my thinking. Another friend from church told me about Inspired Reads, a FB app which  tells you about Christian Fiction. I have downloaded several books on my IPad free of charge. Oh, dear, another way to read. I "have" to read lots of children's and young adult books for my job as an instructor of Children's Literature. This is my current shelf of library books waiting to be read. I received an e-mail from a mother the other day asking if I had some books that her children have to read for summer readin...

My daughter at Sundrenched Moments has been doing 10 on 10 for quite a while now.  You are supposed to take 10 pictures, one each hour, on the tenth day of each month to document your everyday life.   I asked her to remind me so that I could do my first 10 on 10 in May. I randomly took 10 pictures, and with my iphone at that because the memory card in my other camera was full. So here's my first 10 on 10. This was my grandmother's china. We are having a Mother-Daughter Tea at our church this Saturday and I am decorating a table.  See the coffee cups in the background? I have the most vivid memory of my Grandpa Aven pouring his hot coffee from the cup into the saucer to cool it! Then he drank his coffee from the saucer.  It's Ironing Day.   I'm painting a little table the same color as my big deck table so that the little guys will have their own place to sit.   These beautiful purple flowers are growing amongs...