♫Oh the Weather Outside is....Beautiful! ♫

Glorious snow! 6 or 7 inches of the beautiful white stuff, and still coming down royally! :) The woods look like Narnia, Licky is having trouble walking through it, and when I look outside I fee like I'm in a snow globe that has just been turned upside down! :) Thank you Lord for this gift! :) ~Rachel

Merry Christmas!

John 1:1-5 and 14
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it....And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

"Jingle-Bell Time is a Swell Time..." :)

Hi guys! I'm sorry for lack of posting, but this Christmas season is super busy for us all, but especially Mama! And since I am the oldest girl, of course that makes me busy too! :) I have been trying to do a post with pictures for several days, but Blogger won't let me upload them! It shows me a little code that says "javascript (0)" or something, and anyhow, it doesn't work! :)

It has been a funny sort of Christmas season for us, and it took me *way* too long, but finally, I'm getting in the Christmas spirit! :) Wanna know some of the things that got me going? (Besides the knowledge that Jesus' birthday is soon, and hearing the whole stunning story again!)

• Hearing any Burl Ives, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, (etc.) Christmas song. It's gotta be from back then to give me warm-fuzzies! ;)
• Watching "Eloise At Christmastime"
• Wrapping my presents and sticking them under the tree
• Being let in on a Christmas secret, and firmly believing it is the most serious thing that must be kept on pain of death, but devising all sorts of dangerous clues in the meantime! :)
• Doing Advent as a family
• reading "Shepherds Abiding" by Jan Karon
• working late to finish a present or two
  
• Sitting late at night and feeling my eyes grow droopy as I gaze at our Christmas tree (though I find this works best the years we use colored lights)
• Wearing red
• Seeing and eating one of Sarah's *adorable* gingerbread men
  
• dancing to "Jingle Bell Rock" and "All I Want For Christmas Is You" to make the younger kids shocked ;) (They actually crack up laughing at my antics, it's so not me! :)

So now there is only one thing missing to make my Gearing-Up-For-Christmas complete! :) And that would be going Christmas Shopping with Daniel!!!! That will fully put me over the edge into Christmas-dom! :) You might remember my Christmas-Shopping-With-Daniel post last year... :) I just re-read it, and it made me laugh! All of my shopping is done except Dad and Mama's gifts...I need to get thinking! But since they love anything we give them, that shouldn't be too hard! :)

"I Love You Two" :)

Aw, this is such a sweet song- one of my favorites from "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"! :)
Watch it here:
(Sorry, but it wouldn't let me embed it! :)

You Know You've Got a Cold When...

All you want for Christmas is:


;) ~Rachel

A Year of Books

All year long, just for an experiment, I wrote down each book I read and finished. I wanted to see, by the end of the year, what I had read, how well I remembered it, and things like that! :) So here is my list, and I'll rate the books in it on the five-star scale! :) Ready? (Oh, and the ones with smileys beside them mean that I recommended that book to at least Daniel, Matthew, and Mama! :)

"The Little Boy Down The Road" - Douglas W. Phillips **** (four stars- I consider five stars a gripping book you simply cannot put down- this was a great, relaxing read though!)
"Let's Roll" - Lisa Beamer ***** ( 5 stars-This book was about the wife of Todd Beamer who was a major part of spoiling the hijackers' plans in the Penn. flight)
"Glory, Duty, and The Gold Dome" - T. Nathanial Darnell **** ( 4 stars; very satisfying read, especially as it included lots of politics :)
"To Have And To Hold" :) -Mary Johnston ***** This was an amazing book, and one that I couldn't put down, so it gets at least five stars! :)
"Rob Roy"- Sir Walter Scott **** (Four stars- the Scottish brogue, however much I love it, was a bit hard to get through at times, also, the plot dragged a bit, but still a great book!)
"I Will Repay" :) -Baroness Emmuska Orczy ***** (5 stars!!! A book in the Scarlet Pimpernel series cannot get less! ;)
"Eldorado" :) - Baroness Emmuska Oczy ***** (5 stars, but truly this ought to get at least 10 for the amount of excitement and can't-put-it-downedness it contained! I almost literally worked myself into a fever over parts of it! :)
"Sir Percy Hits Back" :) -Baroness Emmuska Orczy ***** (5 stars- those three were my fluff books for the year! ;)
"Laddie" - Evelyn Whittaker *** (3 stars- very simple, short, story)
"Mildred At Roselands" - Martha Finley **** (Better than the Elsie books, still has plot dragging problems)
"Ivanhoe" :) - Sir Walter Scott ***** (Flowery language, but WAY worth it to read this classic! :)
"The Name" :) -Franklin Graham *********** (Can we give enough stars to a person who writes a whole book about the power of Jesus's holy name? I don't think so!)
"Rose In Bloom" :) - Louisa May Alcott ***** (Very satisfying end to this Eight Cousins sequel :)
"Great Expectations" - Charles Dickens *** (3 stars...one of the stranger, darker Dickens books)
"1776" :) - David McCullough **** (4 stars- amazing history, but feels lacking at times since McCullough doesn't come from a Biblical world-view)
"The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" - Anne Bronte **** (4 stars...uncomfortably accurate peeks into the life of an alcoholic's wife...she didn't know he was one when she married him. Very sad, but very poignant, and worth the read for an older young man or woman who can divulge the great lessons in it :)
"Wives and Daughters" -Elizabeth Gaskell ***** (five stars- Great literature, but it has a horridly tantalizing ending- poor Ms. Gaskell died in the midst of writing the last chapter, so we never do find out what happens! :[ )
"North and South" - Elizabeth Gaskell ***** (five stars, great book)
"Preparing to be a Helpmeet" - Debi Pearl ***** (Five stars- she packs the punches and hits young women in the exact places so many of us struggle- great book, but take her "relating to young men" advice (at times) with a grain of salt. She doesn't always literally mean what she suggests! :)
"Lorna Doone":) - R. D. Blackmore ***** (five stars, GREAT book! :)
"Daddy-Long-Legs" - Jean Webster *** (Okay book...fluffy...not much in it...cute storyline though)
"Nicholas Nickleby" :) -Charles Dickens ***** (5 stars, as usual, his books are long, but so worth it! :)
"The Princess and Curdie" -George MacDonald *** (3 stars- good book, but this is a sequel, and I'd never read the first book, so it was lacking, for me)
"The Maiden's Bequest" - George MacDonald **** (4 stars, a very good book)
"Ogdan Nash- The Life-work of America's Laureate of Light Verse" -Douglas M. Parker *** (a very interesting book, but since Mr. Nash was not a Christian, his life was rather...plebeian at times)
"Bleak House" :)- Charles Dickens ***** (5 stars- amazing book, loved every moment of it, found Esther Summerson to be an amazing roll-model, but you've heard that all! :)
"Passion and Purity" -Elisabeth Elliot ***** (5 stars, timely advice for older young women)
"The Witch of Blackbird Pond" -Elizabeth George Speare **** (4 stars, but first let me assure you that this is not about a witch at all. These suspicious Puritans assume this girl is a witch because she grew up on a plantation in Barbados, and can swim, and does things differently than they. :)
"Let me be a Woman" - Elisabeth Elliot **** (Four stars, the format felt kind of exclusive, since she wrote it as a letter to her daughter, but it's still super good! :)
"The Adventures of Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" -Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ***** (5 stars, and a perfect read it you don't mind feeling rather dumb yourself in the light of Mr. Holmes' cleverness!)
"The Maker's Diet" - Jordan Rubin ***** (Very good book)
"Miserly Moms" - Jonni McCoy **** (Good book)
"Revision and Self-Editing" -James Scott Bell **** (four stars, very good, practical advice)
"The Cricket on The Hearth" -Charles Dickens **** (four stars, cute story, but short)
"Barnaby Rudge" -Charles Dickens *** (When he wrote this book, Dickens hadn't found his beloved style yet, so it's rather a boring book till the half-way point, and after that, a bit confusing still)

There you go! My year in reading! 35 (or 36?) books! That's approximately 14, 239 pages of text for you! :) And I really felt like I didn't read much this year! :) ~Rachel

Attention: I think we should all worry about Global Warming... ;)

White Christmases.....there's a whole song written about them....they are the staple of Christmas paintings....but I've never personally seen one. We almost had a white Christmas a few years ago...turned out to be a White-December-26th! :) One year at a Christmas party a few years back, we were talking about snow in the winter in our area (virtually non-existant some years) and one boy quipped: "♫ I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones we've never had.... ♫"
But this year there is hope. This will be our third round of snow down here this winter already! Amazing! Today we are expecting 3-6 inches of the glorious white stuff! :) I understand that for farmers snow is bothersome and in the way, but no one, even the Scroogiest Scrooge who lives within the confines of an apartment house can't resist feeling a quickening of the heart when he sees a patch of fresh snow. Whenever I wake up to a world cloaked in white, the first words that flood my heart are: "Although your sins are scarlet, I will make them white as snow..." and, just as God's grace covers my sins, the beautiful snow covers the fallow fields, and the bare trees, and turns the ugliest corner of the yard into a glistening cathedral.
Has it never inspired you with somewhat of a sense of adventure to see a stretch of snow that has never, ever, ever been walked on before? I am still little-girl enough to put on my boots, and tramp over to a patch of pristine snow, pausing at the edge to let the beauty sink in, and then tromping over it, looking over my shoulder and laughing at the big tracks I make.
It's a part of winter that I doubt I'll ever get over! :)
So I am eagerly awaiting the promised snow, the third of the season, wishing for a White Christmas at last, while wondering...
Just why is everyone so worried about global warming? :) ~Rachel

A Simple Math Equation

25-15=10 Days til Christmas!!!!! :)

and I don't know about the rest of you, but I have a *lot* of work to do!
-Sarah

:D :D :D :D At Last! :D

~Meredith and Stephen~
December 11, 2010

Jeremiah 29:11-13 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. and ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart."

May the Lord bless you both as you begin a new life together! :)

Wedding Bells Ahead :)

"Come, let's be a comfortable couple and take care of each other!
How glad we shall be, that we have somebody we are fond of always, to talk to and sit with." ;)
~Charles Dickens

This Saturday, December 11, 2010, will be the first wedding of in "Our Group"! Meredith Alexander has long been an inspiration to the young ladies in our circle who personally know her, and to many other young women around the world with her blog: Striving To Serve at Home.
The very first week our family began attending our home-church, it was the Alexander's last week there, and so I have not been able to get to know Meredith as well as I wish I could, however, I still look up to her as a shining example of what godly womanhood can be, and count her among the young women who inspire me and who I want to be like someday! :) Meredith chose to stay at home after graduating high school, but, contrary to what many would like to believe, she has had one of them most vibrant lives of any young woman I know! I cannot count how many times I have got on her blog and come away inspired and renewed by what I read. Most people, when they think of a "Stay at home daughter" conjure up some picture of knitting needles and freshly baked cookies, and someone playing the harp. (Not that I have a problem with any of those things! :) But Meredith has started numerous businesses, run a tractor service, baked cheesecakes for a tea house, and absolutely poured forth creativity, all the while choosing to live under her father's household during her single years! Meredith's devotion to the Lord, and her family, has been so encouraging to witness!
The amazing courtship story of Meredith and Stephen has been such a blessing to me, especially as I often wonder, "Is there *anyone* around for me?". Her story really shows God's amazing plan for our lives! Click here to read the story. I don't know about the other girls, but Meredith has been a bit of a celebrity in our midst! ;) I do feel like I have been watching a wonderful movie and finally, finally, the lovely Princess has found her Prince "once upon a time".

So tomorrow we are going up to their area to help with the wedding. Tomorrow the weekend of the Princess's bridal festivities will begin. Sleeping Beauty has been awakened, Cinderella has tried on the glass slipper, and since the Lord Jesus has been in every detail of their relationship so far, I have full confidence that Meredith and Stephen will live Happily Ever After. :) ~Rachel

A Christmas Letter From Us Two

If you remember our Title Tale from a while back, you'll probably love this, too! :)

Ye Merry Gentlemen, It came upon a midnight clear:

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me the Holly and the Ivy. 'Cause Good King Wenceslas Saw Three Ships come sailing in and Hark the herald angel sings, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas". O come, all ye faithful! Here we go a-wassailing to... Oh... Little Town of Bethlehem. We three kings from orient are walking in a winter wonderland and rocking around the Christmas tree. I'll be home for Christmas with Silver and Gold, so Let It Snow. Christmastime is Here, Frosty the Snowman! Angels, we have heard on high that Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer had a Blue Christmas. And Mary, Did you know that it's Christmas in Killarney? Jingle Bells Rock and Sleigh bells ring on our Sleigh Ride. It's been a Silent Night, except that Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.
All I want for Christmas:
-Is you
-I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas
-All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

But....I'm Getting Nothin' for Christmas. :(

We're Dreaming of a White Christmas,
~Rachel and Sarah

Deck the Halls! :)

I am getting so excited about Christmas! This is a time of year full of traditions, so maybe that's why we love it so much! :) Yesterday the girls sweetly decluttered all the surfaces so that we could decorate today! Yay! :) Hopefully Sarah will take lots of pictures of our tree decorating so that we can do a fun post and you can see our tree! I've discovered there are 3 kinds of tree decorators:
~The Elegant Beauty
~The Cram-As-Much-As-You-Can-Just-To-Be-Glitzy
~The Cram-As-Much-As-You-Can-Because-It-All-Has-Memories

We belong to the latter version. Our tree always looks like it belongs to a large family. First it is wrapped from the inside out with lights. Then we have legions of paper ornaments made by eight little hands over the years, mixing with elegant glass balls. We have lopsided pine-straw hearts hanging proudly beside olive-wood ornaments from Israel. There is a Christmas Pickle hidden somewhere in the branches. There are the little tin marching band people to hang up, the floppy little fabric music note that must have it's story told every year to the youngest family members who do not remember. There is the beautiful pearly blue glass ball to take out of it's velvet case, and the crystal dove with the olive branch to carefully hand to Mama to hang up. Then of course, amongst all the finery, we string popcorn and cranberries, and red and green wooden beads. We perch gold-painted pine-cones here and there. We older ones find the ornaments an old baby-sitter gave to us, and try to remember her. (I never could!) :)
To an outsider, and especially the "Elegant Beauty" tree person, our tree looks like mayhem. But it is a tree filled with precious memories and love. A tree that represents 22 years of family life. It's our tree, and has changed very little (barring the introduction of even *more* paper ornaments) over my whole life. And there's something extremely comforting in that knowledge, you know? :) We love our tree, and valiantly guard it against tinsel, and I hope that even people who are more particular about their decorating, can see that our tree is not a work of art, but a history of our family. Just as colorful, varied, and homey as we are :) ~Rachel

Miny 'appy Reterns! ;)

HAPPY 20th BIRTHDAY, DANIEL!!!!!
We love you and look forward to seeing the Lord working in you this year. :) Here are 20 things we love about you:

1. Your sense of humor
2. Your loyalty
3. Your character
4. The fact that you like to take us places. :)
5. Your passion for the Lord
6. Your passion for culture-changing
7. Our escapades with you. :)
8. Your accents
9. Your thoughtfulness
10. The fact that you're a gentleman
11. Your "witch" laugh (...long story, it's not what you think.;)
12. Your pride in your little car. ;)
13. Your stinkin' new jeans!
14. Your love of reading
15. The way you steal tastes of everything we cook
16. Your patriotism
17. The carnivore in you
18. The retriever in you ;)
19. Your musical talents

20. Your songs you write and share with us!

Love,
Rachel and Sarah

So Much More Than Turkey Day

"Some hae meat and cannae eat,
And some cae eat but want it.
But I hae meat, and I cae eat,
And tae the Lord be thankit"
~Scottish blessing

"Happy Turkey Day"- in my mind, that term conjures up some idea of a fat turkey, with those horrid white stockings, grinning while he sits safely on the grocery-store sign as his brethren are snapped up and carried home to be stuffed and roasted. It's a term that sounds completely animal and vulgar. "Happy Turkey Day!" I mean really! "Turkey Day" belongs in Golden Corral and other greasy, gluttonous restaurants like that! :)
This beautiful day is "Thanksgiving Day"- a day set aside by our forefathers to worship and thank God for all his bounteous blessings. Read this quote by George Washington:

"Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be."
- George Washington, From the Proclamation of National Thanksgiving

Notice there is no mention of eating turkey in that passage! :) To have a "Turkey Day" in November is absolutely no different than having a Hamburger Day in March. Can you imagine that? "Um...boss...I'm taking Hamburger Day off next week. You should too...the post office is stopping for the day!"
Yet for "Thanksgiving" the whole country practically stops. Why? I can assure you that if it was merely for a chance to stuff yourself with a feast, companies would be less lenient about giving their employees the day off. No. It is because our country in the past, and, I hope, many Americans now, realize the value in setting aside a day of rest to thank the Lord with. Sadly, with too many it has become merely a day of laziness and gluttony. Sorry, but I have to say it like it is! In our home, we always enjoy the huge Thanksgiving meal, and the change of pace, but the underlying reason for it all is remembered, recognized, and renewed. We take this job of giving thanks seriously! :) I know some of our friends don't much like Abraham Lincoln, but you all must realize that the quote below is so true and fitting.

"We have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us."
-Abraham Lincoln's 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation

I must agree with Mr. Lincoln. As a country we have been intoxicated with unbroken success, and we no longer feel the necessity of thanking the Lord for all his mercies. Thus the gradual decline to turning this holiday in "Turkey Day". So let's change it! There are 43 followers of this blog. And a few more who read it! If you read this post, I challenge you to spend some real time thanking God for all his blessings, and of them all, most importantly, for Jesus Christ. ~Rachel

~Psalm 100~
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Just Hear Those Sleigh Bells Ring-a-ling...Well, not yet!

It may not be time yet for Christmas music, but in our home, the Christmas spirit is already lurking around in every corner! In past years, Dad has forbidden the listening to or singing of Christmas songs until the day after Thanksgiving. But this year we moved the date to the Wilson's turkey-pick-up day! :) So for about 4 days now, we've been singing Christmas songs, outside of choir! But all that to say, I *know* Christmas does not start until after Thanksgiving! Nevertheless, I am already plotting gifts to give to people! I make many of the gifts I give, and the rest, I am going to buy thriftily! :) But I am not a cheap person. I hate giving felt-covered tin cans and telling people it's a pencil holder! ;) So rest assured, all the gifts will be the best my little self can think up, aided and abetted by an unexpected Christmas bonus from my boss! ;) (Dad! :)
The only irritation is that I can't post about my ideas till after Christmas when no one wants to hear them! :P Oh but this is the season of the year I might love best of all! (I say that each month, don't I?)
The music, the smells, the sights, the traditions, and the waiting! But most of all, I love advent, which I will talk more about! Or you can go to Daniel's blog and read his awesome Advent posts from last year! :) Ha! You know what song is playing? ♫"I'm doing my Christmas dreaming a little early this year"!♫ :P I guess it's fitting! :D Oh mercy! I'm so excited! At choir this afternoon Maryanna and I plotted gifts and and fun things like that! I'm hoping to get some good deals with Daniel when he takes us (hopefully) Black Friday shopping! :) ~Rachel

Love of Literature Review Series: Epic: The Story God is Telling

All I will say, is that if you have not read Epic, you must. This has to be one of our favorite books. John Eldredge, using Scripture and quotes from various famous books, shows the magnificent story God is writing for all mankind. At 104 pages long, it is an easy read, and one amazingly worth the hour or two you will put into reading it! One of the things I love is how he uses examples from other famous books to illustrate the faintest shadow they resemble of God's love story for us! :) Instead of describing the book to you, I'll just list several quotes from it, to give you an idea of it!

"And they lived happily ever after. Stop for just a moment, and let it be true. They lived happily ever after. These may be the most beautiful and haunting words in the entire library of mankind. Why does the end of a great story leave us with a lump in our throats and an ache in our hearts? If we haven't become entirely cynical, some of the best endings can even bring us to tears. Because God has set eternity in our hearts."

"Christianity, in its true form, tells us that there is an Author and that He is good, the essence of all that is good and beautiful and true, for He is the source of all these things. It tells us that He has set our hearts' longings within us, for He has made us to live in an Epic. It warns that truth is always in danger of being twisted and corrupted and stolen from us because there is a Villain in the Story who hates our hearts and wants to destroy us. It calls us up into a Story that is truer and deeper than any other, and assures us that we will find the meaning of our lives. What if? What if all the great stories that have ever moved you, brought you joy or tears-- what if they are telling you something about the true Story into which you were born, the Epic into which you have been cast?"

"Then Aslan turned to them and said, `You do not look so happy as I mean you to be.' Lucy said, `We're so afraid of being sent away, Aslan. And you have sent us back into our own world so often.' `No fear of that," said Aslan. "Have you not guessed?" Their hearts leaped and a wild hope rose within them. `There was a real railway accident," said Aslan softly. "Your father and mother and all of you are--as you used to call it in the Shadowlands--dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.' ....All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before." (C.S. Lewis "The Last Battle")
"If a story has been true to life in all its sorrow and hardness and longing, to life as we know it, and if it also offers that turn at the end in hope beyond hope, then our eyes swell with tears and we get a glimpse of Joy-- Joy, as Tolkien called it, beyond the walls of this world..."

Sorry to run on, but this books is *so* great! :) You have to read it! Please! It will, to quote Dad, "Bless you socks off" :)

Plot: ******************
Characters: ***************
Recommended age: 16+ (younger readers would not relate yet)

The Child: America's Battle For The Next Generation Premier! :)

Listen up everybody who reads this post!!!! This Saturday, November 20, 2010, is the National Premier of "The Child: America's Battle For The Next Generation". This is the documentary that Watchman Cinema has made this past summer, and that Daniel went on the filming tour for. If you could find a showing near you, take your whole family, your friends, anybody, a watch it! parentalrights.org has a page of showings (around 350 of them nation-wide!) here.
(Not all the showings are on November 20, so if Saturday wouldn't work for you any how, that's perfectly fine! :) We are really trying to get people to see this documentary, so please, please try to get to a showing! :) Thanks so much! ~Rachel and Sarah! (Below are a trailer, and the promo! Please watch them!!!)

A New Take On The Noble Woman

At Daughters of Destiny camp, we had been reflecting at one point in the week on Proverbs 31. This is a classic picture, as we all know, of Biblical femininity, and, to be honest, at times I have felt I have gotten all I could out of it without totally tearing the passage to shreds. But of course, God's word is never "figured out" entirely, and He brought something to mind as we read the chapter. But we got home, and I got busy, and I forgot the observation, until yesterday when I was at a Bible study, and it was once more brought to my attention. Here is the verse that caught my attention: "She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness- Prov. 31:26" I had always taken this verse to mean, as it does, that a godly woman's speech should be wise and kind. But I also was struck by a bit of a deeper meaning. "She opens her mouth with wisdom..." This points out to me, upon closer inspection, that she knew when to speak, and when to keep her mouth shut. Notice this verse did not say: "Her mouth opens with wisdom.." No, it said, "She opens her mouth with wisdom". This is a conscious decision on the woman's part to speak. Which denote a conscious decision on her part to be silent too! :)
Let's face it girls, we all like to talk. At least, more than guys generally do! Half the time, I don't think we make a conscious decision to speak, the idea just pops into our head, and the words come out easy as a wink! :) Haven't you been talking to a friend before and after-wards thought, "Wow! I can't remember what it was we were talking about, but I had fun!" :)
We girls just like to talk for talking's sake. Everything must be discussed from saying we went to a certain place, to when we went, why we went, who went with us, what we wore, what she said, what they said, what happened, what you ate there, etc. :D
I just wonder, what would happen if, just for a week, we each tried to say only things that really mattered? Not that you couldn't have a pleasant conversation, but we could take a hint from the Proverbs 31 woman, and, instead of telling the ins and outs, and whys and wherefores thereof, of every detail of what we have been doing, we could answer any inquiries pleasantly, and ask someone else a question, giving them some talking time for once! :)
I'm sure our brothers, fathers, and even our other friends would enjoy the brief respite from chatter! This afternoon I could hear a flock of noisy blackbirds flying through the woods far before I caught sight of them! I hate to make the comparison but...don't we girls often sound like that? :D Anyway, this was just a musing I had over a verse I had assumed had one meaning, and God showed me differently! Hope it was some good to another fellow-chatter! :D ~Rachel

More Costume and Hair Inspiration! :)

Recently, I've been inspired with recreating hairstyles and costumes from movies I love! (I mean, with the idea of recreating them...haven't really done it yet! :D) Some of the sites that have helped inspire me, are these:

Rapunzel's Resources: (Particularly her movie-styles. She looks at a movie, and recreates the hairstyles! The one I linked to is Esther Summerson's hairstyle in Bleak House :) It was based off of this hairstyle below :) (Yes, I know the photo's kind of dark! :)

Another blog I already spoke of was The Story of a Seamstress:This girl is so amazing with her reproduction clothing! I have loved browsing through her blog! :) So what costumes and hairstyles do I really, really, want to recreate? :) I'll tell you!

We all remember Mrs. Bank's "Suffragette" dress in Mary Poppins! I don't like the subject of the song, but this dress is just so fun! It always reminds me of a daffodil against a spring sky! :)


Another view of the same dress...the yellow would NOT work on me so close to my face, but this would be a super fun dress to make! :)


And I know this is a bad picture, but way in there, you can see the lovely yellow underskirt-my favorite part of this dress! :)

Another dress I'd love to make is the "afternoon dress" that causes Meg March so much embarrassment in Little Women! (1994) I could not find a picture of it online, but this is the dress that reminds Belle Gardiner of "forgetmenots" and is blue with little black stripes- very pretty! :)
Here is one of the many hairstyles I'd love to do! Bleak House did have some lovely ones! :)



Lady Dedlock's hairstyle is so elegant...I'm sure a lot of it is a wig, but I would love to try it!

Another view...


A closer view of the side....

Anyway! I have to go, but hope that was interesting! :) ~Rachel

Planning a Tea! :)

Hello! Sarah and I have been doing a literature-based unit study on the Victorian era called "Where the Brook and River Meet" available at Cadron Creek. We have had such fun doing this in-depth study on the era! I am sure I would never have grown to love Sir Walter Scott, John Greenleaf Whittier, and so many others unless I had dissected and poured over long poetry, learning to find the beauty in it! :) I'm also sure that we would never have been able to quote famous poetry, know about the men and women who wrote it, learned about such "obscure" people as Erasmus of Rotterdam and legions of Greek "great ones" unless we had gone though this study! Already, the information we have gathered has been profitable- since the Victorian Era is one of my favorites, I read a lot about it, and now I have a deeper understanding of that time-period; it is SO much fun to be watching a movie and recognize a quote, or two read in an old diary about a certain author and know about that author and his life...it's amazing! :) I'd say that my knowledge about the era has quadrupled at least...this is a super thorough study, and I highly recommend it! I mean, if an author so much as made a reference to a poem in a chapter title, we read that poem, researched the author, wrote a paper about the author, then if in the poem it mentioned something about a classic ancient Greek person, we researched them....it's really great!
But any how, as a final send-off from this study, Mama commissioned us to host a Victorian tea party for a couple of friends! :) We are so excited! We plan to make a meal with all the proper courses and dozens of eatables, then have a "parlor-party" where we will play, sing, and recite anything Victorian, before going outside to take a brisk walk or play croquet! Sarah and I had great fun designing the menu! We are going to have, among other things, Beef Wellington, French lemon tart, and we are going to make Petit-Fours!!!!!!! :D I love those things! They are so...Victorian! :) I wish we girls could get "The Society For The Suppression of Gossip" down in time to perform it for our guests! That is such a funny play! (And one that Anne Shirley and her friends performed at the school concert! :) But Sarah and I are trying to learn "Night of Stars" from "Tales of Hoffman": a truly beautiful song! (The Charlotte Church version anyway! :) Well, I have to go help with dinner so goodbye! -Rachel

A Grave Disappointment!

Have you ever heard a piece of music that you wish with all your heart you knew a dance to? Perhaps it was just my tired mind last night, but as I was putting Gracie back to sleep after she woke with a nightmare, I started her c.d., and immediately, wished I knew how to dance a minuet! You see, the music is a children's classical c.d., and they happened to be playing a minuet, and I couldn't keep still while it was playing! Don't ask me why! :) I have always thought a minuet sounded so elegant, and I loved the music that went with it! I have always imagined it to be a beautiful, graceful, Colonial dance. Besides, I'm always looking for new dances to teach the girls! :) So this morning, I went on an internet quest to find an instructional video for a minuet. And you know what?!? Every video I found, the people danced like frogs with wings! It was awful! :) Oh well! I guess that little wish has been speedily laid to rest! If that is what a minuet looks like, I'll stick with my Virginia Reels! :) But then I found another dance I really want to learn! I had heard of this dance, but hadn't really seen it, but here it is below! This looks SO fun! :) I'm teaching it to the girls!!!!!! ~Rachel

Love of Literature Review Series: Gone With The Wind

Okay everyone! I know I have missed several weeks of my "Love of Literature Review Series" but now we are back on track! This week's review is on "Gone With The Wind By Margaret Mitchell:

Oh boy. Where should I start? Okay. Let me briefly describe this book to you: The much loved chronicle of a selfish Southern belle's life during the Civil War. Those are the mildest terms I can use to describe this book. I cannot go further. You see, I did something entirely unusual and stopped reading it in the middle! Many years ago, as a girl of 11 or so, I tried to read the book, and since I couldn't understand very well, I never finished it then. So recently, I decided that I'd take another whack at it. After all, so many people I knew loved the book! My grandmother had stayed up 24 hours reading it as a young girl! I hoped to find some redeeming quality in the book by the end of the first few chapters...Chapter 4...nope....5? nope....6? nope....and by the time Rhett Butler's (The "hero" mind you) handkerchief was seen in the possession of a "bad woman", I simply couldn't stomach it anymore, and put the book up. This is a different review, because generally I love books, but this one I was terribly disappointed in. So let me highlight some of the main problems in this novel:

The problems:

1. Scarlett O'Hara herself: She is an A number 1 first class flirt! Selfish, willful, bitter, disrespectful....the only attractive thing about her person is her outward appearance, and this she knows all too well...add vanity to the list, will you?

2. Rhett Butler: Let me put it to you in one-word descriptions...they are quite correct: rogue, cad, wicked, vain, flirt, reprobate, wayward, crafty, ungentlemanly, wily, EW! He made me so mad throughout the book, because of the way he treated all the women- disrespectfully and as if they were his playthings if he wished. A most vile man.

3. Scarlett's relationship with Ashley Wilkes. Basically, she loves Ashley, but out of tradition, he marries his cousin Melanie. Scarlett, in revenge, marries someone she doesn't love at all, even views with contempt, becomes a widow in 2 months, and ever after as far as I got, burns with a passion for Ashley who is off to war, even though she lives with his wife...I mean seriously? That was another main issue I couldn't stomach in the book.

4. Scarlett's waywardness: She is so willful and disrespectful, and is constantly bringing disgrace upon her father's household, and herself, though Rhett convinces her little by little, the old ways are worth nothing.

The Virtues:

Melanie Wilkes: This is a girl it is easy to love because she is so opposite Scarlett's personality, and Scarlett hates her. Melanie is the only woman Rhett Butler half-way respects, and she is the proper wife for Ashley. I only wish I knew what happens to them! :/

The truth: Like it or not, there is some truth in this book: Scarlett and Rhett have a conversation at one point that goes something like this: "You sir, are no gentleman!" "You are right. And you miss, are no lady." Agreed. Then, there are several instances where the author acknowledges the "slow fade" principle. After laying waste to several traditions and customs (very good ideas some of them) Scarlett finds it easier and easier to continue on in that path.


Those were the only two redeeming qualities I found in the book so far! I would NOT recommend this book to any self-respecting person, or at least, as far as I got in the book....what do you all think, if you have read it? Do the characters reform at all? I just couldn't stand it any longer so I stopped reading! :) -Rachel

Plot: *** (as far as I got, the plot was interesting if nothing else.)
Characters: **** (Well, if you are judging strength of characters, they are all memorable.)
Morals: * (Sorry anyone who loves the book! :) Maybe if I had finished it they redeem themselves! ;)

I LOVE This Site! :)

(Click here to view a simply marvelous blog!!!!)
Ahh....I'm in 7th heaven....need I say more? :)

What Are Mothers Made Of? :)

As I tried to let Mama rest on her birthday, and make her a special birthday dinner with the girls, I was reflecting on just what does make a mother what she is. Of course, I do think and feel like a mother in many of these areas, but I am not a mother yet! :) I think we should all stop now and then and think over how much mothers do for us! :) Here are my thoughts on the subject:

I can take care of a household, do all the chores, fix meals, and keep laundry running and folded, but until I can do all of that while holding a baby in one arm and a 3 year old by the other hand, I will not know how it feels to be a mother.

I may be able to handle all the problems that come up in my life, but until I can look a weeping six-year old in the face, and listen to their little tragedies without laughing, and help them through their trials without making them feel like ridiculous "children", I do not have the ever-ready understanding of a mother.

I may be able to wrap presents beautifully and concisely, but until I can step over the untidy makings of an eight-year-old boy's gift-box to lay paper down before he spatters the table with paint and all the time praise his ingenuity, I haven' the patience of a mother.

I may be able to make a pie-crust flaky to perfection, but until I can make one with a sister standing in between my arms, helping me roll the dough flat, I don't have the foresight of a mother.

I may be able to sew a doll dress, ice a cake, do any of a number of things eight times faster than a little child, but until I can let them help, and not mind the crooked stitches, or lumpy icing, I won't be thinking like a mother.

I may be preparing a gorgeous meal, and setting the table beautifully, but until I can let a little brother light the candles, even if he uses up ten matches, and until I can all the while thread a needle for a little sister eight-hundred times, and still emerge from the kitchen with a smile on my face, I don't have the multi-tasking abilities of a mother.

I may be able to appreciate great works of art and beautiful music, but until I can hear the "Moonlight Sonata" played fifty times over, and until I can look at a 6 year old's drawing and see as much promise, and as much beauty as if it were hanging in a museum or recorded on a c.d., I don't have the eyes and ears of a mother...

Thanks Mama! :) Love, Rachel

Yet Another Double-Birthday! :)

Happy Birthday Mama and Gracie!!!!!!!!!!! :D

(By the way, this is a picture from a couple years ago, but I couldn't take the time to find another, but it's still cute! :)

We love you both soooo much! Mama, thanks for being the best Mama a family could ever have! You are always ready to have fun, and think up fun things for us to do!
Gracie, you keep us laughing at your ridiculous Eighth child antics! :) You are a sweet little girl with a personality big enough for any grown-up! We love you!!!! <3
-Rachel and Sarah

p.s I get to vote for the very first time today! :) *Yay!* :) ~Rach

Sister To Sister Inquest :)

Explanation: This is an sisterly inquest. We two are quizzing each other with previously undisclosed questions. I'll begin interviewing Her.

Me: Where were you on July 24th, 2010?

Rachel: *whispers* (where were we?) Oh yeah! Recovering from heat stroke after dancing in 105 degree weather at our birthday party! ;)

Me: What are all the alias' you've ever had for yourself?

Rachel: Alright! Charlotte Salinya, Lisa Gabachi (long story:), Josephine Ava Inkpen, Frankie Churchill, Ms. Waffle, The Inkpen Authoress

Me: So, what is the worst memory you have of your pets?

Rachel: Um.. Our dog Pepper having seizures on me as a 2 year old. :\

Me: Are you ever nervous while flying in a plane?

Rachel: Only if I think about it, or if the guy beside me sound like he's coughing up a lung-then I'm nervous I'll get sick...

Me: Final query: What's the matter with talking on the phone?

Rachel: I don't like it! I can't see people's faces. And there are long pauses. And I start blushing and repeating myself. It's awful.

Me: Well, thank you for your time-this inquest is completed.

Now I have YOU in MY clutches! ;) This is now Rachel inquiring into Sarah's business! :P

Me: Have you ever ever ever in your long legged life when you saw someone's outfit thought: "I could NEVER carry that off! But they....can?"

Sarah: Yes. Many times *rests chin in hand and drawls answer*

Me: Highly suspicioucious! ;) Let me see....what did you truly think of the Christmas tree we got last year?

Sarah: What?...What was wrong with it?....I don't remember....I.... don't....*sheepishly laughs*

Me: If you had to pick one actress that YOU yourself would replace in a favorite movie, who would it be?

Sarah: Probably Sofia Vassilieva in Eloise..I mean, I liked that roll, I liked her in it too! But I mean....

Me: What were your first and second thoughts when you walked into the study and saw me reading "Gone With The Wind" while you were still working? *dastardly chuckle* ;)

Sarah: Hah! *in a pompous sort of voice* Really? *drawling* (That was the first thought) (Her second thought was out loud and made me laugh!)

Me: If you adopted a baby from another country when you grow up, which country would you pick?

Sarah: Oh that's a hard one! Probably...Korea...or...Russian or German....

Me: Well, thank you Sarah for giving us your time!

We hope you all enjoyed this sister-to-sister post! It's been a long time since we have done something like this! -Rachel and Sarah

Our Accent! :)

We never consider ourselves to have any sort of accent. Of course, to someone from another country, we'd have an "American" accent, but I mean, here. Actually, according to a language test I did, we have a "Midwestern accent, essentially no accent, perfect for t.v., radio, etc." But while at Daughters of Destiny, we kept some of the girls in stitches over how we pronounce some words, so I thought perhaps it might give you all some amusement too. Below are the list of words, with the explanation of why we say them that way! :)

Pecan: "Pi-can" (emphasis on the "can" part- don't know why we say it that way!)
Tour: "Too-er" (Mama has always said it that way... :)
Syrup: "Seer-up" (all right you people who say it with a "u". It has a Y in it! PRONOUNCE it that way! ;)
Which, While, Whale, What, Whether, etc: "WHich, etc" (We pronounce the H in there, because it is spelled that way. Sort of a blowing sound. There are words that are spelled the way many people say these words, such as: Witch, wile, Wales, watt, weather, etc, but they have very different meanings)
Route: "Rowt" (I'm sorry, but a Root is a part of a plant. :)
Kefir: "Keefur" (Yes, we are hillbilly about this one! No "Ki-furrrr" purring thing for us! ;)
Cumin: "Coomin" (I don't like it when people say Q-min! :)
Creek: "Creak" (I never have, and never will call it a "crick"!)

So I hope you don't find our "accent" too strange. I teased two sisters and told them I pronounce "Walnut" "Wall-noot" with the emphasis on the "noot" part, and they believed me for a few seconds! :P See you later! -Rachel

A Dissection of Commenting

Hello! I was racking my brain for any sort of brilliant, clever, comment-raking-in post I could do, and obviously, did not find one. Then I began thinking of what gets some blogs so many comments.......Here I recount my official findings ;)

There are two sorts of blogs: those who have it and those who don't. Ours used to have it. For some reason, it now tends toward the doesn't side of having it. ;) I went on a mental quest to find out just what the it-possessing blogs have that we don't...and here's what I came up with:

• Catchy Blog Names (Our Family View From Us Two is a mouthful ;)
• Wonderful graphics (We are html challenged over here! Besides- our officious filter blocks everything and its brother so we can't usually even see our own background! :P)
• Familiar Blog Administrator names (Who can resist peeking at a blog owned by a person named Jo March?!?! :)
• PICTURES!! (Oh we have the cute kids in our family. We have the wonderful pictures...we just can't post them here unless we go to a closed blog! :)
• Weddings (Um......not seeing that happen anytime soon! :D )
• Blog parties (We host contests, but it doesn't have the pizazz that Scraps, for instance, has!)

I can only come to two conclusions, as I am not a Sherlock Holmes- either we have lost our touch for writing commentable posts, or life is simply busy for our followers too! :)
Sure Blogger added a Stats page, and our stats are passable, but I raked up some statistics myself that only bloggy people could notice:

• Saturday is D-Day (Dead Day) Nobody is on, no one votes on any polls, or comments on any posts. You had better just not post on a Saturday
• Polls don't tell you anything if people don't vote on them! ;)
• People like the weirdest, randomest, strangest things- try to please them, and you don't, post about how you pickled frogs' ears and played the banjo, and they'll leave you 12 comments! ;)

Anyway! This is the bent my blogging mind ran on this morning! Hope you don't mind so very much! :D -Rachel

Book And Character Review On "An Old-Fashioned Girl"

As part of the Fiesta de Octobre, Jo posted some blog post ideas. Now, these particular ones just happened to be the sort of thing I'd love to post about anyway, so I chose to write a Character overview on a character from a book or movie. I chose a book, and the book I am choosing is....An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott. This is one of my favorite of her books, with Eight Cousins a tie. Polly Milton, the character I'm highlighting in this post, is so...easy to relate to. Although "An Old-Fashioned Girl" is one of L. M. Alcott's lesser known books, I find it has just as much truth in it as "Little Women".
As Christians, we girls are all more or less what people would term "An Old-Fashioned Girl"...as one elderly lady Polly knows tells her, "Modesty seems to have gone out of fashion these days". Polly is about 14 years old at the start of the book, and is visiting some wealthy friends in the city. There, she is faced with challenges to her simple upbringing. What I love about Polly Milton is that she does struggle, but at the end of her visit, she not only has withstood temptation, but has changed in some way the family she was visiting merely by her sweet, modest conduct.
Then, half-way through the book, there is a lapse of 6 years, and our Polly is 20 years old. She has returned to the City to be a piano teacher, and help her younger brother through college to be a minister. This season of Polly is my favorite, because I can readily identify with her. Louisa May Alcott perfectly captured a wholesome, sweet, innocent young lady who is still tempted to be discontent at times, wants to see just for a bit what it would be like to be "one of those girls" who her friend Fanny associates with, gets tired of doing her "duty", gives up the love of a good man for a friend who loves and needs him, and generally comes out of all these things a brighter, and stronger woman.
One of my favorite chapters is "Forbidden Fruit" when Polly does give into a small temptation and finds that her conduct has changed some relationships, made her discontent, and generally was not worth the few hours of pleasure it gave her....So true! :)

The end of this book is amazing! I love it. Everything ends just how you'd want it! :D So I guess this was a book review as well as a character over-view! I'm sure you'll love "An Old-Fashioned Girl" so please read it! :)

Over all rating of book: *****
Over all rating of Polly Milton: ***** (I could go on.... ;)
Cautions: There is one chapter with a rather feministic point of view, but that is easily sorted through! ;)

Fiesta de Octobre Blog Party Book and Movie Answers

When I saw this last Fiesta de Octobre contest on Jo's blog, I begged Sarah to let me enter it...literature is right down my alley, and,as anyone who knows me will tell you, I could talk the hind leg off a mule about what books I love, what movie adaptations I thought were good, what characters are my favorites....(smiles at me cousin Matthew :) So, anyhow, she was a model sister and quickly agreed to giving me posting rights for this! So without further ado....

{1} It's nearly impossible to pick a favorite book, so what are your top THREE favorite books ? (other than the Bible :D) Oh dear. Only 3?!?!?...To Have And To Hold, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and...and...well, it is an old favorite, but it has shaped my creativity so, Little Women! :)

{2} Who is your favorite heroine from literature? (if you need to list more than one, that's fine) Yay! No number restriction on this one!!! :D Anne Shirley, Polly Milton (An Old-Fashioned Girl), Esther Summerson (Bleak House), Molly Gibson (Wives and Daughters), Emma Woodhouse, Eleanor Dashwood, Meg and Jo March, and So So So many more! :D

{3} Who is your favorite hero from literature? (see above note) Oh boy. Matthew could recite the list for me, he's heard it so many times! :D Sir Percy Blakeney (Scarlet Pimpernel), Capt. Percy (To Have and To Hold), James Percy (The Inheritance), (Lotsa Percys! :P) Gilbert Blythe, Roger Hamley (Wives and Daughters), Mr. Thornton (North and South), Aslan (Narnia), and TONS more! (Each book I read, I like the hero better than them all! ;)

{4} Who is your favorite author? (see note above) Louisa May Alcott, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Eleanor Estes, Jan Karon, etc.

{5} What is your favorite type of book to read? Classic story...some adventure, some old-fashioned, pure romance, lots of humor, unforgettable characters, etc.

{6} If you could be a character from literature for one day, who would you be? Why? Oh mercy. You had to make me choose?....Emma Woodhouse...what else can I say? Huge old-fashioned house, a British accent, lovely clothes, being beautiful yourself, loving family, Mr. Knightley to scold you... :D

{7} What type of reader would you call yourself? Are you an avid reader, passive reader, or even a non-reader?? AVID READER!!!!

{8} Do you like reading aloud? Yes! To listening group of people. Ignoring listeners get on my nerves!

{9} Do you like mystery stories? Yes! Well, Sherlock Holmes! He never ceases to amaze me! =)

{10}All of us have read a book at some point or another and disliked the way it ended or who married who, etc. What book(s) bother you like that, and what would you change about them? Well....As Jo said, I would rather Jo have married Laurie in Little Women...oh! and in Wives and Daughters, the author, Elizabeth Gaskell, died before she finished the book and it is right at the sweetest part so it is SO frustrating! :( But the movie finished it off in a cute, albeit...interesting way! :D

{11} Just like books, it's *very* hard to pick a favorite movie. What are you top THREE favorite movies? The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, Amazing Grace, and....Little Women...but those are equal to many many more!

{12} When it comes to movie adaptions of books, are you a purist or do you not mind changes to the storyline? If the storyline of the movie compromises the book's message, or drastically changes the story, it definitely bothers me!

{13} What is your favorite book-to-movie adaption?...BBC Does a really good job with any book I've seen them adapt...Emma is definitely a good one...Sense and Sensibility...Little Women, Lord of the Rings trilogy (okay, so they changed it a bit! :) Pride and Prejudice...

{14} What is your favorite type of movie to watch? Any well done, adventurous, exciting, and loveable movie with a solid storyline. (I despise twoddle-ly ones! :P)

{15} Do you like to watch movies with the lights off or on? Off!

{16} DVD or VHS? DVD!

{17} When you watch a movie, would you rather watch it straight through or skip around to your favorite scenes? If I have seen it more than 10 times....skipping the more boring scenes

{18} Subtitles? Depends...in North and South, at first I couldn't understand the Northern England accent, so Subtitles definitely helped!

{19} Do you make comments and ask questions during a movie, or sit in complete silence? If I haven't seen the movie, I'm quiet, but if I'm showing it someone else, I talk! :D

{20} If you could be in any movie (whether it's already been made or not) which movie would it be? Who would you want to be and why? O cool! :) Well, if I could look the part....Marguerite Blakeney in The Scarlet Pimpernel! She is beautiful and clever, it is an exciting movie, the setting is so classic, and it would be so much fun! Or any BBC movie if I could look right for the character!

Yay! That was a really fun quiz! Thanks Jo! :)

Times - Tenth Avenue North

Hey Guys! I thought I'd post this song by one of our favorite Christian bands, Tenth Avenue North. This is one of my favorite songs they do! :) I love the lyrics, because it's a great reminder of how God's love is as far as the east is from the west, and it never will end. How encouraging to be reminded of! Here you go!





Did you like it? :) Well, I'll be going! :)
-Sarah

Charlotte Church - The Last Rose Of Summer, Live

Ah...every time I look out the front windows and view our brave little roses still "bloomin' on the thorn", this lovely song comes to mind! Charlotte Church (by far one of our new favorite singers of traditional songs) has the perfect voice for this sweet, mournful Irish song! Enjoy it! :)