Beach in November

A greeting from Rosemary:

(Awwww... so cute!) :)

Anyway... :)

Our Sunday afternoon adventure today, we went up to Grafton and went on the ferry across the river to a little beach on the other side. It was a great little place to watch motorboats, picnic, and play in the water/sand/mud.

Afterwards, we got soft-serve ice cream in Grafton and walked around licking our cones.

Yummy!!!

Switching Rooms

We've done some major moving of furniture in the past few days, right after our cousins left. We bought a new bunk bed and a crib for Rosemary, and switched around all the beds. The queen bed which was in Gloria's and my room we moved down to the guest room in the basement. We moved all the other furniture out of that room and put in two sets of bunk beds. That is now the girls' 'dormitory'. The bottom bunk of one set of bunk beds is empty until Rosemary is big enough to sleep there. Well, it's not exactly empty... in the meantime there are a couple hundred of Cecily's and Gloria's dolls and stuffed animals. Don't ask me where they'll put them all when Rosemary starts sleeping alone. :D

 Top: Cecily

Bottom: Rosemary... right now, stuffed animals and dolls

 Top: Sylvia

Bottom: Gloria (the cute little monkey)

In the 'fishbowl' room which used to be Cecily's and Bjorn's, we put the other bunk bed and one of our old twin beds which was in storage. That is now the boys' 'dormitory'.

 This is actually quite a big room! It didn't seem like it with the big bunk bed right in the middle. 

 Top: Thor (who is very pleased about that)

Bottom: Bjorn

Compare this picture to this other picture when this desk was Cecily's. Boys' minds and girls' minds tend to be rather different when it comes to what they want on their desks! :)

As for the room which used to be Knut's and Thor's, it is now a lovely sitting/dressing room for the girls with our dressers, Cecily's desk (which used to be mine), a bookshelf, and our instruments and music stand.

Our 'wanted' wall with Christmas 'wanted' lists, pretend 'wanted' posters for criminals, and advertising posters for help with homework or buying old toys or whatever. This wall is in the girls' sitting room, just because that's where we found a single wall without a window in it or furniture against it. The boys can put things on as long as it's approved by Cecily or me.

Cecily wants a swivel chair for Christmas... in the meantime she'll pretend

Cecily gets my desk because it's too big and heavy to bring up to my new office!!! Yes, I (hallelujah) have my own little office in the attic loft! It's unfinished, with plywood floor and just the paper cover of the insulation for the sloped ceiling, and the big air conditioner unit is at one end, but do I care? In a way I'm glad that it's so unfinished because that means I don't have to worry about scratching the floor or staining the walls! :) We also use this office for a CCC meeting room, and had a meeting in it today! I haven't finished moving up furniture and rugs and 'beautifying' it, but here is what it looks like right now (with the chairs from the meeting still up there):

Papa built a beautiful ladder just two days ago for me which is absolutely wonderful! It attaches with metal 'hooks' so I can lift it up to unfasten it and move it to a different place in the opening as I want. And yet, it's very sturdy and reliable! Thank you so much, Papa! :)



Josh here,

Just finished my morning Bible reading, and was amused to note that the Scripture I used from memory last night for our family Bible time came from the same passage (Romans 12). Last night I quoted, "Do not be conformed to the image of this world, but be transformed by the continual renewing of your mind..." (NIV, with an extra word added). We took two weeks off school while family was visiting, so last night was a pep talk designed to get us in the right frame of mind - to buckle down and get back to work, and to mentally prepare ourselves for the tasksthat lay before us.
The only problem is that they will probably need that reminder again this morning. And again a little later on. And again. And again, until it's so ingrained into their heads that they no longer need frequent reminders, but only occasional ones.
I rather like to make startling comments that on the surface seem harsh or crazy, and then explain what I really meant by what I just said. Sometimes that gets me into trouble with those who are easily offended, but here's one of those phrases: We don't need to read any more Bible. Personally, I already know enough of the Bible to keep me going for the rest of my life. What I need is to live out what I already know, and once I master that, THEN I can read some more. In other words, we must be doers of the Word, and not hearers only. My problem is not that I haven't heard - (Indeed, I've read it straight through several times), my problem is that I don't do everything I've heard yet. I need continual reminders to do what I have read, hence the pep talk last night, and that's why our family verse is Heb. 10:24, "Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds." We all need to keep reminding each other of how we are to live.
One problem is that we have fallen prey to political correctness and this silly idea that we must never offend one another. 'Hogwash' I say! We've adopted that idea, and yet society is now more offended by everyone else than ever. The Word commands us to 'rebuke one another in love' and that means we must risk offending them. We are to speak the Truth with love and tact, and we've heard the phrase, "truth hurts." It's true.
A very wise man once told me what he believed to be one of the signs of spiritual maturity: "The inability to get, or to remain offended." Wow - the inability to get offended. Can you imagine such a person? Wouldn't you love to know that person? Think of the opposite kind of person - one who gets offended at everything. We all try and avoid people like that. What about you? Are you easily offended? How would you know? Others see your blind spots more than you can, maybe you should ask others. After all, our family verse is all about that. One tip though - people don't want to offend you by telling you you're easily offended - you may have to drag it out of them, but a good friend will tell you where your problems are. Your spouse knows you best, and will probably be only too happy to let you know your weaknesses!
Anyway, I'd better get on with the day. I don't want to make this post so long that it offends anyone. (yuk yuk!) God Bless you all.
Josh