The Hundred Dresses

Happy Pink Saturday!

Something made me remember this book the other day, so I ordered it from Amazon. It came and it enchanted me once again. I read it the next morning and cried before school. Eleanor Estes tells a glorious story about forgiveness. The reader can't help but fall in love with the main character, Wanda Petronski. She is a poor little Polish girl, new at school, and the scapegoat for the other school children. I read it to my struggling readers and writers. We managed to read it from start to finish in fifty minutes. I tell you, they were captivated. These are city kids, tough and no nonsense. The story moved them (the boys, too!) and the images of the 100 dresses are poetic. I don't want to spoil the story for you but it is worth the $6.99. It is a true treasure. I thought of all the dresses we have in the basement, the remnants of many, many dress up dances for our girls. Birdie was over for dinner and when I told her about the box of dresses and Gran's picture taking plan, she agreed to help.

April (our daughter in love) wore this for her best friend's wedding

Kelli wore this to her first high school Homecoming dance

I wore this when I was a bridesmaid for my friend, Lori

Jenny wore this in my niece Amy's wedding

Kelli wore this to another Homecoming dance. It was a stressful evening. The pastie things that are supposed to take the place of a bra did NOT work and she was so sunburned from cheering at the Homecoming game, she hated all this itch! I liked it. I may have had a little too much input on this one.

My model wearing the ugly "mistake Crocs" we ordered and were too lazy to send back. We call them the Snow White shoes. Birdie took them home tonight.

Kelli's senior prom dress. Do you think my model is getting a little annoyed with this game?

The bridesmaid dresses for Brad and April's wedding

This dress had long gloves and a fancy wrap. Kelli wore it to the dance when her date got mono at the last minute and she had to call in for a back up date. He was a star and she had lots of fun!

Please read The Hundred Dresses. I promise your heart will warm up even more! Below, my cute pinkie at school allowed me to capture her constant pinkness.

She LOVES pink like you guys do!


We worked in our art journals at school and I decided to put the "go to the Dean" pass in the middle and pink the rest.
Happy Pink, my sweet Pink People! I think you should visit Cottontails Baby today. You'll love her cute Humphrey (a real nut-brown rabbit!) and HER! Also, go to Beverly's blog. She's the pink hostess with the mostest! Thanks for visiting and here are a few hugs and kisses!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Pom Pom

Oh! This is my Flutter Fairy, perched on my shoulder! She's kind of beat up due to Birdie's obsession with her. I lost her magic, gossamer threads. With her wand and her secret thread, she really can fly! Happy Pink Saturday!

Puppy Cuteness and Sue Sweetness

Meet Callie. I've been begging one of my students to PLEASE bring his puppy to school so I could see her before she grows up. His family was blessed with her this Christmas. I agree with Charles Schulz - Happiness is a warm puppy. It was freezing out in the school parking lot, but well worth it. Isn't she adorable?

The kids asked, "Who brought you flowers?" I answered, "Me. Aren't they pretty?"

Guess who The Angel Pie of Texas is? Yes, you're right! It's Sue of Collect in Texas Gal and SuKnitWitty. She called me the other night. We talked and talked like we'd known each other for one hundred years. Isn't that amazing? When we blog, we share so much of ourselves and it allows others to REALLY get to know us. Sue and I had so much to talk about! Today, a white box came in the mail and I couldn't wait to open it because I won a pearly-faced angel on Sue's birthday. Look what else was in the box? Oh that Sue. She gives and gives and gives some more! She's amazing! She knows I love Raggedy Ann, so now I have two more little darlings. She made Sam a cuddly little blanket. Do you see the cute Ann frame? I wish my face looked like Raggedy Ann's. Sue wrote me a very dear letter, too. I wish she didn't live so far away from me. I loved hearing her sweet Texas voice for the first time. She sounds like someone with a golden heart, someone who has made kind choices all her life. I think the Blog Fairy really likes me, sending such sweetie pies my way.

Stay tuned for Pink Saturday. I have something fun planned. I won't post tomorrow because I'm going to be busy getting ready for it! TGIF! The kids at school are wonderful and they've been dear this week, but I'm ready for the weekend. Brad is getting installed as the new pastor of his church so we'll go up for that. I'm excited! I'll post some photos of his little church. I hope that your Friday is filled with thankful feelings and that you have some rosy encounters with a couple really nice people. I'm working on my Nice People Hall of Fame. I had some sweet, sweet comments and I must say, "There are many really sweet somebodies out there!" YOU are one of those sweet somebodies. I have good books to read so my flannel-clad bed is beckoning. Thank you so much for popping in for a nice little hello!

A Puff of Happy

A quick post before I dash off to school (I'm going to be late - yikes!) because I found a lovely quote by Lord Byron this morning and my reading of Proverbs 27 was also spot on.
"Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life. The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray." ~ Lord Byron
Isn't that a sweet little prompt for the day? Be a rainbow.

THIS came in the mail yesterday (along with something else LOVELY that I will share with you on Pink Saturday)! I like to pick up sticks and make crosses so this book whispered, "Buy me, Silly!" when I was browsing on Amazon. I think it is going to be very sweet and special, all lined up with my creative pursuits.
Have a wonderful Wednesday, dear hearts! May you feel a swoosh of SPRING!
BIG LOVE xoxo

My Rabbit and YOUR Nice Friends

One time I made a rabbit. He has rather rosy clothes on, don't you think? Charlotte visits my blog sometimes. She has a bunny business with an office mascot named Humphrey. He liked my celery greens and asparagus featured yesterday. Kari from Writing Up a Storm shared a doll she made and I fell in love with it! That and Humphrey made me want to dig this skinny bunny out of the toy basket. I'm proud of him. While I was down in the basement rummaging around, I took a photo of some good books. I know you all love books.

Here is a line up of old journals. I wish I had all my old journals. I wish I had my eighth grade journal so I could show it to my students. I might be too embarrassed to share though.

The other day I spent some time sharpening pencils. I must have many shades to choose from.

Here's a happy, praise filled journal page. Do you ever get the urge to cut, color, write, and glue? I do!

The house is very quiet, so I really appreciate that my friend SuKnitWitty wrote me a letter. You can see it if you pop over to her blog. Oh, I keep liking the nice people. I do. I cherish kind words, understanding ears, happy gifts of images that cheer me up. Do you think you could describe a nice person you know when you comment today? I'd like to make a little Nice Person Hall of Fame on my side bar. You can use first names and describe them and their niceness. I think it would be so hopeful, so honoring of the servant-hearted ones who bless us. Here's to NICE.

Green, I Miss You!

Today I enjoyed a fizzy strawberry soda in this lovely, cheap glass. I closed my eyes and thought about the tiny store on Guemes Island, my little self putting my money on the wooden counter and walking away, the happy possessor of a bottle of Strawberry Crush. I tried to remember the smell of the sea air and the feel of my ugly little cut-off jeans (too tight in the waist ALWAYS!) but it is just too cold here for me to muster up those nostalgic moments gone by.

Oh, I LONG for flowers and I am far too cheap to buy them. I browsed around the newly refurbished floral department at our fancy grocery store. I walked by the bundles of roses (too expensive!) and the variety bouquets. I did stop when I came to the potted primroses. Nope. Maybe if I dust. Maybe then.

I'm feeling such a craving for summer that I made potato salad! It looks a bit grubby but it was delicious!

Another mayonnaise salad (so pretty before the mayo!) created and served. Aren't the colors divine?

I'm desperate for green, so I put the celery tops in a vase by the sink.
Look at the delicate asparagus! Isn't it gorgeous?

The wind blows and the temperatures have taken a dive. Bill and Jeff are off to Africa tomorrow. They shall experience extreme heat and I shall shiver here. I'll keep thinking of all my favorite warm things, like hearts and smiles.

Sam is warm in her hip baby clothes. Look at those blue eyes!

I'll wait for spring. I'll plant my sweet peas in February. I might break down and buy a hyacinth. I'll spend some quiet moments reading my Bible aloud to the silence and to my own little heart. I will embrace contentment.

Pink Plans

The batter looked perfect but it slipped my mind that I haven't produced a pretty layer cake in a few decades. Ooooops! Pink cake plans result in crumbs. Still pink.

Cupcake candles three for the price of two - much safer.

My stomach is churning from too many cookies, too much Coca-Cola, and too much pizza. What am I going to do with my cake disaster? Pinkie Promise: No more pink food

The PINK hostess: Beverly at How Sweet the Sound
A Pink Saturday favorite: Collect In Texas Gal

Happy Pink Saturday! Sorry about the cake!

Anne and Lovely

"It's difficult in times like these. Ideals, dreams, and cherished hopes rise within us only to be crushed by grim reality. It's astonishing that I haven't abandoned all my ideals. They seem so absurd and impractical. And yet I cling to them because I still believe that in spite of everything, people are truly good at heart." ~ Anne Frank

We're watching the Anne Frank ABC miniseries at school. The students are captivated. Yesterday we looked at Picasso's Guernica and Remedy's Never Again. I had Anne's picture up on the screen, looking at them from decades ago, a girl their age who wrote in her simple diary. They're quite taken with Anne, these jean clad teenagers. They want to know her. I think THEY ARE good at heart.

And the world is resilient and strong. The rock we live on is sturdy ground for us right now. It brings forth miraculous beauty.

Color delights us!

Stones remind us of forever!

Winter wraps her white arms around us with a promise of summer!

And we can buy tulips at the grocery store! Yahoo!

I am off to my neighborhood market to buy donuts for third period (I had my observation yesterday and THEY WERE ANGEL PIES!) and something good for my reading and writing class, too. I shall buy gummy worms for prizes when we do work with strong verbs (sound fun?) and a pink cake mix because I've been itching to make a pink cake (I think it's Sue's birthday and Flavia's birthday that got me thinking about pink cake!) I shall skip off to school. Last night was parent-teacher conferences until 8:00 pm. I was pooped and tired of talk, talk, talk. Today I am agile and calm again. Ah, sweet restoration! A miracle of life!

Can you come back for Pink Saturday tomorrow? I may have a big piece of pink cake for you, my friends!
I'd like to share something very special with you. My niece's blog today - so good, so sound.

Needy

Are you needy? I know I am. Miss Bug is VERY needy right now. She crawls around the floor, aims her cute little self for a leg and pulls. "Pick me up. NOW!" She wants to be held - all the time. Don't try distracting her, she's on to THAT. Don't try to ignore her - she WILL NOT be ignored. Because she's needy. Picking her up and feeling her sweet substance is VERY satisfying. She nestles on a hip or a lap and she's good. Me, I'm going to crawl over to Jesus, tug on his cloak, put my arms up, and let Him lift me up onto His generous lap. I might even suck my thumb and take a little nap. Even when I don't feel ultra-needy, I'm quite sure I have great need. No fixing, no heading down bunny trails, no lists and plans, no. In the moment, right now, and forever and ever, I'm planning on parking it there - in the lap of love. Ahhhhhhhh.

Two Tunics

This morning in the Love Book I found this: Luke 3:10-11
And the multitudes were questioning him saying "Then what shall we do?"
And he would answer and say to them, "Let the man who has two tunics share with him who has none; and let him who has food do likewise."
I think it's time to thin the tunics. . . and the food.

It's time to give more, to say, "Here, have this."

I was straightening up a bit this morning and this believing bear was stuck in the cushion. I had to readjust his sweater and give him a hug and a kiss. Well, he needed a tea party, too. Yes, and a tiny bit of candlelight.

Out to catch the morning light . . . "Hello, little house and thank you for shelter."

Thank you, BIG God for the sky - such a breathtaking backdrop for my small life.

Thank you for a leader who stood up against injustice and fought hard with dignity instead of violence.

Thank you for the old, for the tough bark resulting from years of being.

For a snowy path and a dear companion on a quiet morning walk, a good talk.

For bridges.

And for a powerful visit with one of YOURS.

Oh, good, good GOD of Love, I hear you knocking.