Bless me lucky charms! ;)

"Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me."

"No one should ever say that it was my ignorance if I did or showed forth anything however small according to God's good pleasure; but let this be your conclusion and let it so be thought, that - as is the perfect truth - it was the gift of God."

                                      -Saint Patrick

happy st. patrick's day!

Decembrrrrrr......

Perhaps it's because of our busy schedule.
Maybe, blogging hasn't been a top priority these days.
It could be due to the fact that life has been SO Downton-Abbey-esque that we can't even stand fictional drama right now.

 

Just maybe, life has been absolutely full and bursting to the seams with a wide array of excitements, sorrows, fun, struggle and grace that to sit down and catch you all up is quite frankly, overwhelming.
Any way you look at it, this blog deserves a bit of attention, and today I'm planning on doing just that.

 

These past weeks have flown by like no one's business! It seems like a few days ago we were placing pumpkins and scarecrows on every shelf, and now we've decked the halls with boughs of holly! ;)

Not too long ago we were enjoying the first crisp autumn breezes, and now I'm anticipating that first magical snowfall. 

 

 We are well into the holiday season, and I had fun making you all a Christmas Checklist.

To Read: Ann Voskamp's The Greatest Gift. (I bought this book for Mom and it is one of the best Advent books we've come across. Pretty much a must-read.)

To Watch: Louie Giglio's The Twelve Words of Christmas (DVD or online here) and all of those holiday classics (Christmas in Connecticut, White Christmas, The Christmas Child, Eloise at Christmastime, etc ;)

To Hear: Lady Antebellum's On This Winter's Night album, Disney's Frozen Soundtrack, and Anthem Light's Simple Little Christmas album. 

To Drink: Caramel Brulee Latte from Starbuck's. 

To Do: Get together a group of your bestest friends and ice-skate. It's one of our favorite activities to do this time of year. :)

To Make: This caramel sauce. Put it on your icecream, garnish desserts, or my favorite---make caramel lattes! 

To Sing: Obviously, this category is enormous. Go around the house singing your favorite carol, if you don't sing, hum or whistle, and make everyone around you smile. (or if you're like Anna and I...be crazy and do this)

To Decorate: These cute fellows and any nook or cranny you can fit holiday cheer! Spruce up your desk or office with white lights. (snowmen are good too. Especially ones named Olaf. ;) 

Cheers,

Sarah

We're Wishing You

A Star-Spangled

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Fire-Cracking

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Cake-Eating

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Anthem-Belting

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Small-town Lovin'

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High-Flying

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Bluegrass-Listening

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Cook-out filled

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Patriotism-soused

INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!!

"My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy!" ~Thomas Jefferson 

"The Teachers says, 'My time is at hand.'"

Now on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.”’”So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve. ²¹ Now as they were eating, He said,“Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.” And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, “Lord, is it I?”
He answered and said, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me. The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, “Rabbi, is it I?”He said to him, “You have said it.”

Matthew 26:17-25 

Tonight our church is having a Seder meal for the first time. I'm looking forward to the beauty and symbolism of it all. :) 

Wearin of the Green!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!!

This morning Mom was a dear and had set up a sweet St. Patricks Day treat for us, including Lucky Charms with green milk! :D We all wore at least a little bit of green on us, so that we could escape the pinches. And it was particularly nice lunch at church---enough corned beef to feed practically everyone! So, anyways, here are some of the pins that have inspired me this St. Patrick's Day: 

St. Patrick's Day cake! 

Key-lime icecream

Mint-Chocolate-Chip Milkshake

Thin Mint Smoothie

St. Patty's day rainbow gift I sent this number with Daniel so that even though he wasn't here, he could have a proper Irishish day. :)

Fun Irish-themed jar full of goodies

-Sarah

World Travellers at Last!

It has long been on Rachel's and my bucket lists to travel out of the country. Well, the plans have finally been ironed out and in two months and 3 days we'll be on our way to all of the places above pictured.!!!!!! It's a dream come true. Literally.

.....seeing the sights.....

.....meeting the people....

....learning a little of the language....

.....knowing the history...

....eating the food....

It's gonna be awesome! :) <3 Sarah and Rachel

The Wearin' O' the Green...plus a goat for good measure.

We have evil geniuses for pets. Other people call them goats, but I don't. They are so clever in a dastardly way that they made horrendous noises all last night so that when I finally woke up by my alarm this morning I looked out and got a turn because one of them was laying flat on her side and totally not moving. At least two of our does are pregnant and about to kid, so I was kind of worried about her. I went outside and she didn't even move till I was about 15 feet away. They were fine. But they'd managed to get me outside at 7:30 in the morning. So I sat down on the front porch and returned a phone-call to a friend. :D I was glad she hadn't wanted to sleep in this weekend, otherwise it might have been a bit early for her. Oh well. :D

I have so many things I ought to be doing instead of blogging.

Finishing Les Miserables for one...

...making breakfast for another...

...beginning to write back to three friends for a third...

...girding myself up for Saturday church-cleaning...

...memorizing the next chunk of Psalm 33...

...Yeah. I'd better get going! :D....

...this is random, but I really want to see War Horse! I also really want one of the chocolate chess-bars I made for choir on Tuesday...I also want biscuits for breakfast after writing a blog post about them. :D Oh! To close out this post since it is Saint Patrick's Day, check out this phenomenal sign-language guy signing to "The Rocky Road to Dublin" by The High Kings! It's amazing!

Wear green, everyone! :) -Rachel

The Day of Leaplings! :)

I woke up this morning and I knew something was strange about today...Today must be something special, I thought. Quite logically, I rolled over to check my calender, and so it is! You see, today only comes once every four years. *Runs to hug February 29th* In honor of this very special day, I thought I'd write a Leap-Day-ish sort of post for your amusement.

Nope--it's not about these cute little guys, despite what you might think.

It is, essentially, a catch-all day for the random, tail-ends of the last three years. A glorious little miss-fit day, if you will. Leap-Year-Day sets me thinking in random directions, such as "If you are born on Feb. 29, when should you celebrate your birthday on the 'years'? The 28th? The 1st?" I thought this was a cute little poem:

The First 4 Leap Years
By Raenell Dawn, 2002

I'm a little Leapling, smart and fun.
When I turn four, I'll really be one.
I'm a little Leapy, with lots to do.
When I turn eight, I'll really be two.
I'm a little Leaper, with lots to see.
When I turn twelve, I'll really be three.
I'm a Leap Day Baby, and so much more.
When I turn sixteen, I'll really be four.

I don't know about you, but I love all these little incidental holidays--whoever thought up Leap-Year was quite brilliant in an English-Language sort of way.

"English Language? What on earth are you talking about?"

Oh. I'm sorry. Only the fact that English makes no sense at all and neither does Leap-Year...that is, till you turn it upside down and look at it and see it is rather helpful after all. :) But it is rather sad, for when I looked up Leap Year online, there is very little said about it. Really, we must remedy this. We must make it a happy day for all the birthday-people who are overlooked 3 years out of 4.

Happy Birthday to you! We love you even though the calender slights you so often! :)

I had a good laugh over the difficulties that could potentially assail a "leapling." See this bit of Wikipedia's page:

A person born on February 29 may be called a "leapling" or a "leaper".^[14] In common years they usually celebrate their birthdays on February 28 or March 1. In some situations, March 1 is used as the birthday in a non-leap year since it is the day following February 28.
Technically, a leapling will have fewer birthday anniversaries than their age in years. This phenomenon is exploited when a person claims to be only a quarter of their actual age, by counting their leap-year birthday anniversaries only. In Gilbert and Sullivan's 1879 comic opera The Pirates of Penzance, Frederic the pirate apprentice discovers that he is bound to serve the pirates until his 21st birthday rather than until his 21st year.

Oh oh oh! And this is the best bit. Single Girls of my Acquaintance? This is your year to shine...ahem...

Haha! Apparently by old tradition, women can propose to their men during the Leap Year. [And more specifically, on Leap Day] See this excerpt from the Wikipedia page:

Supposedly, a 1288 law by Queen Margaret of Scotland (then age five and living in Norway), required that fines be levied if a marriage proposal was refused by the man; compensation ranged from a kiss to £1 to a silk gown, in order to soften the blow

 This post-card made me laugh too:

 What a to-do! What a mad, merry day! :) I hope you enjoyed this rambling, crazy little post and that you might have learned to appreciate this quirky day all the more! Happy Leap-Year-Day everyone!

-Rachel

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree...

Shocking. Absolutely unacceptable! December 12 and nary a post about Christmas yet on this blog! I will admit to having been a lazy-bones in posting on this blog. It started with good intentions: Give y'all some of Sarah in stead of me for a change, but then I ditched you. Sorry, chaps! So gird yourself up and get ready for some fabulous posts from now till Christmas. We'll be having posts about our Christmas traditions, music, recipes, pictures, and much more to make up for our negligence beforehand. :)

This post is about our Christmas tree. The more Christmas trees I see, the more I realize that ours is a little different--we know some families who have themed trees--all silver and gold or blue and white. Some families swear by the parents decorating the tree. Some families have bought their ornaments at one time and keep buying new ones each year. 

Our Christmas tree, somehow, is not like any of these.

The bottom limbs are always sagging from too many ornaments hung there by the littlest people. Our ornaments have no rhyme nor reason to them--the collection has grown with each child in the family. We haven't a color scheme at all--there's everything from gold to purple to turquoise to copper. But I think it's beautiful. The ornaments are not just decorations--they are memories, and practically part of the family. There are some things that hold honored court with the tree branches this year that have hung there every year since I was a wee little thing myself. I can remember peeping into the depths of the tree to see my favorite ornaments illuminated by the colorful Christmas lights...inhaling the clean, wintry scent of fir, and feeling that somehow everything was right in the world. You know what? It's still that way. If I just get close enough to the tree, bend low enough to look at it as I did when I was a child, and then just be, Christmas gains all of the wonder it had for me as a little girl. That being said, I thought I'd show you some of my favorites of our ornaments. Get ready for the lovely, the uncouth, the homemade, but the best of our ornament collection. ;)

 

This is an angel my Gentleman woodburned with my name the year he got a wood-burning set. I can still recall his sheepish grin as I unwrapped it and hung it on the tree. The little thread is frayed now, but I love it just the same.

Here is a pretty feather-angel that I've always loved, even before Scotland became my heartland-after-America. :)

Relics of the years when Dad and Mama taught music in the public schools...there's an entire marching band of these fellows. Actually, we have a rather musical tree with a quantity of trombones, tubas, and other paraphenalia on it, though I suspicion the youngest kids haven't the foggiest idea why. 

The ice-cube man I bought Mama. Isn't he stinkin' cute? 

A little bit of retro-ness to brighten the tree. :)

 Ah. And who could forget the Christmas Pickle? It's a Victorian Tradition that we started with Daniel partly as a joke because he loves pickles so much. You're s'posed to hide the pickle in the tree and whoever finds it has...good luck or something. Anyway, it's now a family favorite.

These little hand-print reindeer and the like crowd our tree like fall-leaves. :D

Before Cracker Barrel stopped giving out free biscuits, it was one of our favorite family restaurants. :P

This little musical-note has a rather Gift-Of-The-Magi-Christmas-Miracle story behind it. ;) It was made by a very poor little girl Dad taught in band who wanted to give him a Christmas present but couldn't afford anything, so she made him this ornament. Dad always gets to hang it up and get sentimental.

And last but not least we have the little dove glass-ball. It has its own midnight blue velvet box, and we always handle it extremely carefully like we did as children, even though I routinely handle things just as delicate now. It's almost a sacred duty, hanging it on the tree. ;) There are many many more ornaments that are just as beloved, but I didn't want to bore you. :) I hope you enjoyed this first peep in our Christmasing. :) 

~Rachel

P.S. Thanks for your patience as we give our blog a beautifying treatment. :P

My Thanksgiving Day 1

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Thanksgiving is coming on us, and it's too important to pass this holiday by without making sure I recognize the real reason for it. So, from now to Thursday I'll be posting one thing I'm thankful for each day. :) 

#1. My Family

(not everyone was here....)

-Sarah

"O I wish I was a Lassie" : National Tartan Day! :)

"Oh ye tak' the high road
And I'll tak' the low road,
And I'll be in Scotland 'afore ye...."

So today is the day every American who observes such holidays digs up their Scottish genealogy and displays their clan tartan proudly. Or, if you are like me, you bemoan the fact that you came from the Irish MacWilliams, and look up your Scottish cousin's tartans! :P
So pretty much, here we are! These are the MacLeod Clan's crests! (MacWilliams being an offshoot of the MacLeod clan) The motto: Murus Aheneus Esto means: "Hold Fast" which relates to the time when the Clan Chieftain wrestled a bull to the ground and the crowd shouted "Hold Fast!" *Swoons at thought* ;)
I love the language of heraldry, and learning what various symbols mean. The crest within the crest badge is blazoned a bull's head cabossed sable, horned Or, between two flags gules, staved at the first. Basically, all these various symbols stand for such tangible things as diamonds, gold, rubies, and topaz, and for such virtues as faith, obedience, and gentility. Better and better! :)
As a clan badge, we can also wear a sprig of juniper in our hats, or for ladys, at the shoulder of our tartan sash. Which brings me to our tartan! :)

"What an unusual dress, Molly. Is that the tartan of your father's clan?"
"Oh...no, Mrs. Hamley. Papa said it was not like any proper tartan he'd ever seen. But Miss Rose said it was the latest fashion in London last season."
~Molly Gibson of Wives and Daughters


These are the tartans of the MacLeod clan. The loud yellow one was designed in 1841 under the name "MacLeod". It is sometimes called Dress MacLeod, or MacLeod of Lewis, supposedly to come from that side of the family. (though it was designed after the family of Lewes had ceased to be chiefs)
The blue tartan was recorded in 1831 but is thought to be much older. It is sometimes called MacLeod of Harris.
So here I am, sitting on National Tartan day wearing a bright and springy plaid shirt....and hoping that there is some genealogical mistake and we are actually from the Scottish MacWilliams. However it is, I have enjoyed the research I did! :)
~Rachel

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.

Holdidayish Thoughts! Yay!

I am so glad that it is "That" time of year again! The holidays are fast approaching! Yay! Actually, they have crept up on us this year! Yesterday, after helping the Wilsons with their pick-up day, Mama was driving home and casually reminded me that "Daniel's graduation was two weeks from today! " (yesterday now) And Thanksgiving is Thursday! We've had such a blessed year! The Lord has been so faithful! I can't believe that this is the second Thanksgiving in this lovely home! We are all getting excited! Our pigs are back from the butcher as a tidy array of sausage, bacon, and the like, our harvest of sweet potatoes was bountiful, and we still have, (despite my dire calculations) plenty of my pickles in the cabinets! Dad and a friend have worked tirelessly to get our woodstove up and working, and we have maplewood from a job to burn in it... Dad still has polish under his nails from making the stove all black and shiny!
I have begun making presents for everyone in our family and some friends! I make it a challenge to try to spend the least money I can, and come up with lovely gifts! My standards for homemade gifts are rather high. When one hears about a "homemade Christmas" we tend to think of pencil cases made out of a felt-covered tin can, or a hand stitched pillow that will come apart the first time anyone dares to lean their weary head against it. But I have alot of fun planning things that are actually worthwhile! Last year I illustrated a book of my poems for Mama and gave that to her. The year before I made several books of words to praise songs for Dad since he has a hard time sometimes without them. :) Dad is probably the hardest to find something for. He always tells me with a twinkle in his eye that all he wants are "peace, hope, and love" so one year I made three heart-shaped ornaments and embroidered, "peace", "hope", and "love" them. Now he must give me other ideas! :) I have already done something for Sarah that I dare not say here because this is her blog too. Daniel has put me in an absolute pickle, for I must come up with three fabulous presents in 5 weeks! (grad. birthday, and Christmas)
I am so excited about Advent! It is one of my favorite seasons of the year! The word literally means "waiting" and is a period of four weeks before Christmas. We will fill ya'll in on that later! It is so exciting! I have been asked by Mrs. Mickey to plan out the cooking day for Daniel's graduation! Fun! (At least, I hope so! Alot of responsability! Pray for me because if I can't do it, all ya'll will go hungry! ;) Dad has almost relented from his rule of "No Christmas music before Thanksgiving". We call it "practicing" and then sing it as much as we want since such a thing is necessary to sound great during the holidays! :) We still have venison left from last fall! And a hunter just came and dropped off a venison ham for us- fresh! All these guys are butterin' us up since ours is the only land they aren't allowed to hunt on in this section! We have no intention of letting strange rednecks with mean hounds run ragged all over here and chase our deer off, but we enjoy the venison they give us in the fall, and the barbeque in the summer! :) Well, I must go put Abby to bed! (Duty calls!) Hope this rambling wasn't too unseasonal! Oh! Also, am I getting old? (17?) At the turkey pick-up day, someone asked me, "Oh! Are you Scott's wife?" (the father of Morgan who is older than me?) I was nearly dumbstruck but found it amusing! :) Goodnight all you bloggy-people out there! And have a blessed Thanksgiving! "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good- His mercy endures forever!"
(And maybe by next post I'll have a pilgrim poem made up or something! (I love writing poems!)

Excitedly,
Rachel