He Leadeth Me

Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graff My rating: 5 of 5 stars I loved this book. The main character is Annie who reminds me somewhat of Junie B. Jones. Annie is facing the loss of her brother and is worried that she might die too. It's hard to imagine a book where you are chuckling one minute and crying the next. Lisa Graff definitely has her pulse on the feelings of childhood. View all my reviews >>

If you are looking for a book that will encourage you to use your "giftedness" to be the person that God wants you to be and that you want to be, this is the book for you. A special thank you to our minister, Jim MacKenzie, for recommending this book to me. The Me I Want to Be: Becoming God's Best Version of You by John Ortberg My rating: 5 of 5 stars Excellent, excellent book with practical ideas for being all God wants me to be. This is my review published on Goodreads www.goodreads.com. If you are not familiar with Goodreads, I highly recommend that you visit the site. Goodreads provides a way to keep track of books that you read and to read the reviews of other book lovers. HAPPY READING!!

The only "rule" for Fun Photo Friday is that I scan through my photos and pick five that I want to share. No deep thought here. Today, the first one I saw was the last one in this post, so I decided to make it a Reading Edition of Fun Photo Friday. My sweet Grandson, Caleb, has always been a reader. He has so many people in his life, most notably his mom and dad, who have made reading to him a priority from the time he was born. Climbing into a bucket of books is sheer joy. This book was a gift from his great grandparents, Sweetie and Poppy. What joy because this was the first book that he "read". When Nana would leave out the words, Caleb would fill them in. This was a book project that I did when I was teaching fourth graders. Each time a student read a book during the year, they would fill out an index card with the title of the book, the author, and an illustration. At the end of the school year, some of my more industrious little girls hooked each card tog...

One of the joys of retirement is that I get to read more than I did when I was working full time. For those of you who know how much I love to read, that might seem impossible, but it is true. My friend Debi recommended The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. With a title like that, how could I refuse? As a lover of historical fiction, this book was a joy to read. It combined history of the aftermath of WWII on the beautiful British island of Guernsey. That sounds dreary, but the book is anything but dreary. It is fun, beautifully written and very romantic. It also deals a great deal with books that people love. I'll let you find out how that all combines for a great read. Finally, since my first love is children's literature, I was fascinated to find this note from the author of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society , Mary Ann Shaffer. "I must tender special thanks to my niece, Annie, who stepped in to finish this book after unexpected health ...

The Patio Home we are leasing has someone who comes and plows out the driveway, sidewalks, and streets when it snows. We happily watching this man's hard work this morning from the comfort of our warm and cozy home. Now you might wonder what is controversial about that. Well, here is the issue. Since the home we are buying does not have the same service, I very kindly offered to buy my sweet husband a snow shovel. He, on the other hand, being the enlightened man that he is, said that he would buy me one. So you get to vote with your comments. Who should shovel snow? The husband or the wife?

What a great time I had last weekend with Kelly and Adrian helping them "nest" before Little One arrives. Does it surprise anyone that this baby will have lots of books in his/her nursery? What a sweet little mama! Shower Day! Kelly and her friend Rene are due just a few weeks apart! At the end of the day, the new dad enjoys one of Little One's books.

Today is the third installment of Fun Photo Friday where I scroll through my photos and choose the first five that catch my eye. Image courtesy of Follett Library Resources. This is the 25th Anniversary of The Very Busy Spider. You might want to check out Eric Carle's Blog. I'm so happy to be a citizen of the greatest nation on earth. I think this was the first time that Ducca "flew" Caleb around in his super hero cape. This is now the way that Caleb leaves our house every single time. Ducca flies him out to the car. I know it's hard to tell, but this is a ground view of the HUGE hot air balloon of the Everyready Bunny. At last year's visit to the Houston Livestock Show, Caleb borrowed Woody's hat. Have a delightful weekend everyone.

What fun I had with Kelly and Adrian attending a shower and getting the nursery ready for "Little One." In this picture, K was sharing with A all of the wonderful gifts she received. More pictures coming soon!

I am leaving today to go to Dallas to be with Kelly and Adrian for a baby shower and to help them "nest" before this wonderful new adventure of parenthood begins. I am VERY excited. Photo courtesy of The Graphics Fairy. But, Baby Aaron, Mandy and Jeremy's new little one, is "knocking at the door" wanting to come see us, so I am also a little nervous about being away. Aaron, please listen to your Nana. We are so excited about your arrival, along with your cousins arrival, but PLEASE wait until Nana gets home. Is that a deal????

I know there are child labor laws, so please, no one turn me in, but it sure is fun watching a 3 year old wash the dishes! Note the "tatoos" on his arms. And just look how much he is enjoying it!

As I mentioned in my first installment of FUN Photo Friday, I just scroll through my photos and the ones that JUMP out at me are the ones that I post. We don't have long to wait now. April 15th is coming quickly, but not quickly enough for this Nana. Aaron and "Little One" are being highly anticipated. Last year was the first year that Caleb really "got" Easter egg dying. I can't wait to share that fun activity with him again. This is Caleb's best friend, Sophie (a year and a half ago.) His best quote of the week was this. When we went to see the construction on his new house, he showed me the guest room and said, "This is where my friends will sleep. It is OK for girls to sleep here. Sophie is going to sleep here. She is my BESTEST friend." I replied, "I thought I was your best friend, Caleb." He very seriously said, "You are very, very nice." What he was too polite to add was, "but you are not my bestest friend....

After several requests for a close up of my UGLY Sweater, here are the details. I NEVER wore this in real life. (My apologies to the person who did). Beautiful embroidered leaves. Lovely floral accents. Delicate beadwork. The UGLY sweater in all its glory. The beautiful sweater was purchased for $6.00 at The ARK, a thrift store in Colorado Springs. It will soon find new home in the Colorado Springs Goodwill if you are interested.

One of the joys of moving to a new place is getting to make new friends. I am so fortunate to have the new friends you see below. Most of the time, they dress better than what you are seeing now. We were having an UGLY SWEATER CONTEST. Group Picture Mother and Daughter, Joan and Tammy Kelly (I was taking a picture of her taking a picture.) Julie, Letha (who won the contest) and Jackie Sarah and Lisa (with Kelly in the background) Deb (whose hair is not always pink) and Vicky Vanessa Mother and Daughter, Crystal and Joyce Katie, Laurie, and Christina What a fun group of women!