Highlights of 2012

Highlights/Firsts, Either/Or.

These are in (somewhat) chronological order:

• Saw Courageous in a movie theater
• Self-published my first knitting pattern!!
• Knit my first garment/sweater for me
• Submitted a design to a knitting magazine for the first time (it was rejected)
• Watched my friend Sharyssa in her first Spotlight performance, Music Man!
• Turned 15
• Took a family vacation to Tennessee 
• 'visited' Mississippi for the first time
• Helped surprise my friend Sharyssa for her Sweet 16 
• Participated in my first knitting event centered around the Olympics
• Worked on my first summer job-on a farm
• Went to a Jamie Grace Concert!
• Watched my brother Josiah in his first Morris Theatre Guild performance, Rooster in Annie!
• Went to my first knitting convention, Stitches Midwest!
• Went to see my friend Sharyssa audition for Fiddler on the Roof (and watched it consequently :)
• Celebrated 500 posts on my blog!
• Celebrated Joseph's 1st birthday (and many other siblings' birthdays too :)
• Watched the Hobbit the day it came out-a first!

God has been so good to me this year, and I can't wait to see what happens next year!

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness."  Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV)

Update: I can't believe I forgot to add 'The Hobbit' to it.

I Bring You Tidings of Great Joy

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!

May we all have our joy in the Only, True, Perfect, Gift of the Season.

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called 
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,  
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." 
Isaiah 9:6 (ESV)

I haven't been writing much lately, and the things I have written haven't been anything very funny or interesting, according to me. I like writing-I love writing-but sometimes I don't feel like writing, but I write anyway. Good writing takes practice. Hopefully, the more I write the better I'll get. It doesn't matter if it doesn't sound good the first time or if I don't think it's perfect. It's not going to be. I'm not perfect-I can't be perfect, and my writing won't be perfect. I can only do my best, relying on God and his truth.

"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13 (ESV)

God will use me, my writing, and whatever else I do to bring glory to Himself. I just need to trust Him.

Yesterday

Yesterday, wow, it seems like so long ago. :)

Josiah, Katherine, and I and Khyrstyn and Sharyssa did sign language for special music during church. We signed to One Silent Night by FFH. That was fun!

Mary Ann's and my piano recital was a little while after church. Mary Ann played Away in a Manger and I played A Pachelbel Christmas, it was a medley of Christmas carols with Canon in D throughout. I think I talked about it back when I was assigned it. I liked listening to everyone's pieces.

The same group of us signed again at the recital. I think it went a little better the second time. I'm not sure, they both had their pros and cons.

Big Boy Joseph

He can walk while pushing a little shopping cart. Today I walked behind him and watched as he pushed the cart from around the living room and down the hallway. Kristian was with us, too, helping Joseph maneuver around highchairs and other obstacles. When we got to the stairs Joseph sat down and crawled over to them.

Kristian explained, "He likes climbing up the stairs better than shopping."

Yes, he can climb up the stairs too. We need to watch this kid-this big boy.

Dreams of Eggnog, Dancing in Their Heads

One of my childhood dreams has been realized today. 

Let me explain: When I was little I would always imagine what it would be like when I grew up. I would go out for coffee every day, you know the special coffees with tons of sugar and whipped cream, plus a donut, of course. I would be able to drink as much milk as I wanted, and I could eat a whole box of crispy flakes with dried strawberries by myself. 

And, of course, at Christmastime I would buy a whole carton of eggnog to drink just for me. Glasses and glasses of it. 

Like I said, today at the age of fifteen (in my imaginings it was usually once I was an adult) I've had that dream realized.

OK, so I didn't get the whole carton of either of those, but it's still a TON of eggnog. Because I helped Mom. :)

Wednesday...

...at 9:12 pm, and I haven't finished my school or knitted the quota of Christmas presents for the day. Such is life...

But I woke up at 10 something, went shopping with Mom some of the afternoon, and we went to our library to hear the high school's madrigal singers. It sounded really great!

Christmas is...

Coming! That's the song on the radio right now. :)

And I'm 62% done with presents:

Just keep knitting,
just keep knitting,
just keep, just keep,
just keep knitting. 

Except right now I'm going to work on a story I'm writing about the Civil War for school-sort of. 

First Snow!!!!!!!!!

It's been snowing here!!!!!!!!

We listened to the First Snowfall by Michael W. Smith like we do every year when it first snows. It is a very special occasion!

I went outside to see if I could catch one on my tongue. One landed on my cheek, and I screamed (with joy of course!) then I went back inside. It's kind of cold out there!

Fun Weekend

I didn't post yesterday because by the time my work was done, we were going to a friend's house for a game night, and then when we got back, Mom and Katherine had started painting the ceiling in the living room and the computer was covered in plastic.

It was a lot of fun last night, but I received two injuries, sort of. We were playing Spoons and in the melee where everyone was trying to grab a spoon, I got scratched on the back of my hand. It bled, and it hurt a little the rest of the night.

Also, I was drinking Hawaiian Punch and someone said something funny and so, I, trying not to spit the punch all over, instead tried spitting it back in my cup, but right before that I had been about to swallow, and so it ended up going up my nose. It was a gulp, so it started running back out right away. I probably looked like I had a bloody nose. :) I was blowing punch out of my nose for the next few minutes.

Why do I always seem to write about things going up my nose on my blog? I mean there's this post right now and this one.

Pretty soon I'm going to start helping with food for the Christmas tea we are going to this evening. Can't wait!

Then tomorrow we're going to a Sing-it-Yourself Messiah. Yay!

Thursday Remnants

I had piano lessons today.

This afternoon, some of us went to a nursing home to play our Christmas pieces for the residents. The home as a beautiful piano, it's worth going just to play on it, I say. :)

So I haven't finished my school or worked on any Christmas presents, but, oh well.

Wednesday

I've finished my school and work.

Johnathan, Mary Ann, and I have been playing Johnathan's hybrid of Settlers of Catan and Settlers of America, which he calls Ultimate Catan. It's fun. We've been playing a lot of Settlers of ___  games lately.

They're taking away time from Christmas presents. I keep resisting. Must stop...Must knit...

Julia and Socks

A couple days ago, Julia asked me if I would make her something.

"Socks." She said.

"Sure, but it will have to be a while since I have to finish Christmas presents first."

"Pink and purple."

"OK, I'll have to see if I have some yarn for it."

Yesterday she walked up to me and told me, "You don't have to make me socks, Rebekah."

Then she went to Anna and asked her to make her some socks-pink and purple, expressly stated.

Josiah said that she must be going down the list. She asked him for pink and purple socks last year...

Liberty and Justice

We're watching Liberty and Justice today. Mom said, "Well, we're watching Liberty and Justice, I wonder when we're going to watch "For All!"."

Libby can do the 'taco' tongue!

...and wink!

"Bye for now! I've got to go catch my little brother..."

Special Sequel Saturday

I'm going to post the second part of my story that's why it's a sequel Saturday.

I will start a little before I left off on Thursday:

“Peter! You’re as bad as the rest, keeping poor Charlotte from her story, and Nellie too!” cried his wife.
    “Oh, Hettie, they can afford to wait a trifling moment, we’re hardly started on our long journey,” he contended.
    “Well, well, well,” cut in Grandfather, “I’ll start again, and this time, no interrupting.” He gave Robert and his son a knowing look.
    “When I was a little boy,” and he paused to make sure everyone was listening, “there were no trains to ride to and from all the states in our great country. There were no steamboats passing down rivers and canals.”
    Robert groaned. He was remembering the time he got sick on a steamboat. Trains are much, much better, he thought.
    Then he realized everyone was looking at him, and he straightened up in his seat.         Grandfather went on, “When I was your age Nellie, a young lad of eleven, my father decided to move out west, down to the wilderness of Kentucky. We packed up our belongings, well some of them, and drove out in a covered wagon. My brother James and I were sad to have to leave some of our things behind, and our little sister Edith cried her eyes out because she had to leave her doll's cradle, but Papa promised to make her a new one and she soon was happy again.”
    “I have a cradle for my dollth!” Charlotte exclaimed.
    “So you do, my little Lottie, so you do...and Papa sold our beloved ponies to buy some oxen to haul the wagon.”
    “How awful!” cried Nellie, “What were their names, Grandfather?”
    “Pet and Spot, the sweetest ponies in the world. But don’t feel bad, they went to a little girl in the town about your age, who took care of them well.”
    “How do you know, Grandfather?” Robert asked.
    “When I came back to visit when I was older, I found them in perfect condition, perhaps better treated than we had treated them, and they had had a colt named Sugar.”
    “Sugar, oh Sugar! She was a sweet pony, aptly named, I daresay.” Mother interposed.
    “How do you know, Mother?” queried Nellie.
    “Why, I used to ride Sugar all the time.”
    “The same one? Why, were you the little girl who kept them?” asked Robert.
    “No, No!” Mother smiled, “I wasn’t alive back then.”
    “Who was it, Grandfather? I can tell you wish us to know, the way you’re smiling.” Nellie declared.
    “That little girl was your grandmother, your father’s mother.”
    “You married the little girl with the horses!” Robert cried.
    “Yes, I married her, and she came back to live with me in the Kentucky wilderness.”
    “You took the hortheth with you, didn’t you, Grandfather?” Charlotte asked with pleading eyes.
    "Oh, yes, Charlotte...As I was saying we traveled to Kentucky in our covered wagon with some of our belongings and settled down near where we all live now. There's a big difference between now and then. I had to travel on a horse many miles for many days to go see my old home and my dear Agnes, for that was her name. But...your brother Percy only has to travel a couple days on some new-fangled train to visit his family and someday soon, his ladylove."
    Grandfather's eyes twinkled, Father winked at Charlotte, Mother sighed, and Nellie giggled while Robert slouched in his seat, his arms folded, and rolled his eyes. Grandfather grabbed Robert's ear and pulled him up straight, all the while grinning from ear to ear and teased, "Someday you too, Robert."
    "Ha!" cried Robert, his face red with embarrassment.
    Several days later, the Weston family, including Percy, were all dressed up and riding in a carriage to a Christmas party. There was a glorious spread of food: turkey, ham, potatoes, green beans, corncakes, cranberry sauce, jellies and preserves of every kind of fruit, and delicious pies and cakes. Robert stuffed himself and then he and Nellie retreated to a corner when the music began and partners shuffled onto the dance floor.
    Out of the corner of her eye, Nellie saw Percy approach a young lady, the same Percy who a year ago would have shuddered to even think of such a thing, and after a moment, they were seen gliding together toward the dance. She nudged Robert towards their direction and whispered, "See! Grandfather's right! He always is, isn't he?"
    Robert made a face, strode over to the table, and popped a pickle in his mouth.

                    The End

Fabulous Friday

;) Had to follow this trend I've been doing... :)

I finished my school already! (Fabulous :)

Mom assigned us jobs for clearing off shelves and cabinets so she can paint the ceiling, and I cleared and dusted the top of the cupboards above the sink. And...I got a piece of cheesecake for reward. It was fabulous!

I've got some knitting done today, Christmas presents of course. Fabulous!

Terrific Thursday

Well, it fits in with yesterday's Wonderful Wednesday. It's more of a strange or weird Thursday, but there is no synonym for those words that starts with a 'T'.

I've done all my schoolwork for today, plus having piano lessons. That's Terrific! I started the next Christmas present last evening after finishing the last one, if I work hard at it, I might be able to get them done in time. Terrific!

Do you want to hear part of my story for school? I thought you might:

                      Covered Wagons and Steam Trains

    Nellie gazed out the window, watching trees and buildings fly by. What fun it is to ride on a train! she thought. Nellie and her family: her father, mother, younger brother Robert, and younger sister Charlotte, along with her grandfather, were traveling on rails to bring her older brother Percy home for the Christmas holidays. Percy was away at boarding school in New York, far from their home in Kentucky, and Nellie was very excited to see him.
    “How long it has been since we've seen Percy!” she cried aloud to no one in particular.
    “Indeed!” replied her grandfather, “but, we are quite blessed to be able to see him at all during his time in school.”
    “How come, Grandfather?” inquired Robert.
    “Why?” corrected his mother, straightening her bonnet.
    “Yeth, why Grandfather?” lisped Charlotte, “Grandfather will tell me, won’t he?”
    “Yes, I will,” assured Grandfather, pulling the little girl on his lap. “You see, when I was your age...” and he paused while Nellie and Robert scurried over to his seat on the train and snuggled close to him, their eyes bright with anticipation.
    “Go on, Grandfather,” Nellie exclaimed. “I love to hear your stories of when you were little like us.”
    “Of course, I was just waiting for you to get ready,” he replied, adjusting his cap on his head. “Ahem,” he cleared his throat.
    “Oh, get on with it, Grandfather!” demanded Robert.
    “Robert Cole Weston!” Father scolded, “Respect your elders!”
    “Beg pardon, Grandfather,” Robert uttered ashamedly.
    “You are entirely forgiven,” Grandfather responded, “I was impatient when I was a little boy like you too.”
    “But I’m almost nine! I’m not so little!”
    “True, True! I was impatient to grow up too.”
    “Grandfather, pleathe tell uth the thtory, pleathe,” begged the little one on his lap, patting his leathery cheek.
    “Oh, dear, I’m sorry, quite forgot, quite forgot,” muttered Grandfather, “Well, let’s see, where was I? Ah! Yes! When I was a little boy...”
    At this, his son let out a little chuckle.
    “Peter! You’re as bad as the rest, keeping poor Charlotte from her story, and Nellie too!” cried his wife.
    “Oh, Hettie, they can afford to wait a trifling moment, we’re hardly started on our long journey,” he contended.

Wonderful Wednesday

Except I have a headache. :(

I've done most of my housework, but the only school I've done is work on my paper, well this is a story. But I've finished it and I'm quite happy with it. I think I'll post it on my blog someday this week.

I've finished another Christmas present today (Yay!), so 54% done with all of them.

Oh, and here are a few fun pictures of Joseph:

It's also Wedding Anniversary Wednesday.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!!!

Tuesday

We had school today; that's about it.

Yesterday the Baffas came over and Mrs. Baffa, Mom, Susannah, and I played Settlers of America. Dad made Mississippi Mud Brownies, and Mom, Stephen, Josiah, and I watched the third Lord of the Rings.

And I'm about 52% done with Christmas presents. Yay!!!!!!

Joseph's Birthday and Thanksgiving Pics

Little Pumpkins Mom made for Joseph's Birthday.

Mary Ann with her birthday Bears jersey.

These are tiles from Stephen's birthday Bananagrams.

Here's a Wikipedia link about the game.

Thanksgiving Turkey-Surprise!

Isn't this sweet!!!

It's A Special Day!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!!!!!
I love you! Thanks for being such a great example!!

Anna and Mary Ann made this banner for Mom.

This was Mary Ann's part.

Anna's...

...and Anna's...

...and Anna's.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

And we had two great days on Thursday and Friday, with Thanksgiving celebrations on both days. It was fun to see family and friends and have fun (and eat food-delicious food). Many good things start with the letter 'f'!

Starting yesterday I've been greatly enjoying listening to Christmas music. Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow....

It Was a Fun Day...

...Katherine and I stayed at the hotel with Grandma and Grandpa and ate breakfast there. I had a waffle.

We went back home and cleaned up the house, and visited with our cousins Diana, Hannah, her boyfriend Kevin, and Ashleigh, and then we ate at Chili's with them. That was fun!

After we got home, I rested a little, but Dad wanted to play Ultimate Frisbee. But before everyone was assembled we practiced a little by throwing around the Frisbee. I was bending over to fix my shoe and I heard Josiah say, "Watch out!", but before I could do anything, I felt the Frisbee hit the bridge of my nose soundly. Thwack!

My whole nose hurts, wherever I touch it (no, there is nothing wrong with my finger, though I did stab my hand with a fork yesterday-and it bled :( ), but part of it hurts all the time. My glasses don't feel like they are on right, I wonder if my nose is swollen. It's better than it was.

This incident led to my first bloody nose in my whole life. Now I can't walk around saying I've never had a bloody nose in my life.

Momentous Occasion

Happy 1st Birthday Joseph!!!!!!!

I hope you have a wonderful birthday with lots of yummy things to eat and family around you!

Monday Rambles

Since it's Thanksgiving on Thursday we have two weeks to do one week's worth of school. Hurrah!!! I don't have to be worried today. I'm very happy because my weekly (bi-weekly, at the moment) paper is proving to be twice as long as it needs to be. Hurray, for un-fluffy papers!

Now that I have my schoolwork done I should work on Christmas presents, but right now I'm enjoying some computer time. In a little while...

Josiah and Johnathan are at their first Miracle Worker rehearsal. Go Percy and Jimmie!

I guess that's it for today...

Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy...

...19th Birthday Stephen!!!!!!!!!

Busy Fun

It's been a busy, fun day.

I woke up at 6:40, and watched the second movie of Lord of the Rings with Mom, Stephen, and Josiah.

I had breakfast in the middle somewhere, and afterwards made some pretzel m&m treats for a knitting potluck some of us were going to at Le Mouton Rouge. Then I got ready and made spinach salad for the same thing and we (Mom, Josiah, Katherine, Anna, and I) left. We had a fun time talking and eating and knitting. :) For as long as we were there I didn't get much knitting done, but I had fun and that was the point. Right?

After we got home I had to put the potatoes in for supper and then I got on here to post something, among other things. Sometime tonight I have to make cranberry sauce for the Thanksgiving Meal tomorrow at church. Plus, I have to wake up early because we are having choir practice before Sunday School, since we are singing in the service.

Friday

It's Friday and I finished my school really early today. Yay!!! Then I don't have to be worried that I have to spend time making chili for supper. Ooh, chili... That sounds nice and warm right now.

Katherine and I have been reading (well, listening) to Persuasion by Jane Austen the last week or so. With only two chapters to go, I'm thinking we'll finish it today. Plus, maybe I'll get some more Christmas knitting done. My time is severely dwindling...

Stealing the Words From My Mouth

I was doing something with Julia, and she said to me, "You have red stuff on your cheeks."

A couple minutes later, I finished helping her than I looked at her face and exclaimed, "You have red stuff on your cheeks!"

"No! I said that to you!"

As a parting note...

Here They Are To Save The Day

I didn't witness this, but I had to post these.

Plus, this funny picture of Grandt:

Joseph Pictures

I'm not sure why, but I find this picture pretty funny.

Classic Joseph-Concentrating and Thinking

Look at that big boy handing things to his sister!

Umm, I can't remember anyone exactly saying that I couldn't eat sticks...

I think he looks so big in this picture playing with LEGOs.