Praise the Lord!

Five minutes ago I posted about my Grandma and how they had found a spot on her back that they thought might be cancer. She just called and said that the doctor had called her and told her that it was not cancer! Praise the Lord!

Prayer Request...

I wrote about my Grandma the other day and how the doctor had seen a spot on her lungs that they wanted to look at further. She has had many tests and x-rays and they still do not really know what it is. But they found two more spots, one on her spine, and another under her breast bone. They also did a x-ray on my Grandpa and the results from yesterday say that there is a spot on his lung too. They don't know what it is yet but please pray that it is nothing serious at all. Please lift up both of my grandparents, my aunts, and my mom who are all concerned. Thank-you so much!
Layne~

A List Thing I Found on a Blog...

1.Favorite Food?- Eggplant Parmigiana, warm crusty toast, and of course, chocolate!!! Oh, and Ice Cream!

2. Favorite Animal?- Kittens

3. Favorite Song?- I have so many! Let's see, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus", "Amazing Grace" (Chris Tomlin Version), "Cinderella", "The Nutcracker", "Redeemer", Christmas music and lots, lots more!

4. Favorite Singer?- Steven Curtis Chapman, Nicole C. Mullen, Selah, Chris Tomlin, Casting Crowns, Celtic Women.

6. Favorite TV Show?-17 Kid's and Counting, John and Kate Plus 8, Food Network, HGTV, TV Land, and TMC, and Hallmark.

7. Favorite Number?-I really like 12, 14, and 16. (I really like the teens)

8. Favorite Holiday?-Christmas!!!! Oh How I LOVE Christmas!

9. Favorite Color?-Pale Pink, Lilac, Icy Blue, Mint Green.

11. Do you like Long hair or short hair?-Depends. On myself I like long. But I really like short hair too.

12. Do you like this tag?- Yes, I guess so. It's not the most interesting one I've ever done though.

13. Do you like the Person who Tagged you?-It didn't really get tagged. I like the blog that it was from though!:)

14. Do you like rings?- Very Much. Especially Silver!

15. Do you like makeup?-Very Much! Especially deep rosy lipstick and mascara!:)

16. Do you like animals?-Yes, especially baby animals! I love baby kittens and gorillas!:)

17. Do you think this is long?-Not really

18. Who are you going to tag? Everyone who looks at this blog!
Layne

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Despite its title this book is not about a witch. It's about a young lady named Kathrine Tyler, who, after her grandfather dies, moves to America to live with her mother's sister's family. The new Puritan society is very hard for Kit and even though her cousin Mercy is very kind and rebellious Judith tries to be friendly she has a hard time settling into her new primitive home. One day after being dismissed from her postions teaching the young children in the dame school with Mercy she runs to the meadow near her Uncle Matthew's house. There she meets Hannah an old lonely Quaker women who was driven from her home to the little shack and who is known to everyone as the Witch of Blackbird Pond. I really like this book. It's got a very good story and is written in a very engaging way. I'm reading it for the second time through and am really enjoying it. I highly recommend it!
Layne

Winter

Is it a bit early? Maybe. But I couldn't resist changing my background! I want to change the music as soon as I can! So do you like this? I really like my picture. No I didn't take it! It's something that our computer already had. I think that its beautiful though. I feel like it goes well with the rest of my blog. What do you think?
Layne

Dear Fall Afternoons...

Ten Things I love about Autumn

1. The cold winds that blow.
2. Leaves in the colors of gold, brown, and crimson.
3. Crisp apples.
5. Jackets and jeans.
6. Soup for supper
7. Coming in from the cold outdoors and feeling how cold my face is when I touch it.
8. Pumpkin Bread.
9. The first time I wear gloves.
10. Putting my thick quilt on my bed.

Christmas Ballet Dances...

Since Christmas is just one month away I have begun to plan for this years Christmas dance. At our play Faith, Caroline, and I are going to do a dance to a Christmas song. Last year we did "Mary Did You Know?" and this year we are doing, well I haven't really decided. But we are going to be dancing to Steven Curtis Chapman's "Cinderella". I really like that song and Faith wants to do that one. But I also want to do a Christmas dance. What song do you think I should do it to?
Here are My Ideas So Far:
"I Believe"
"Joy"
"O Holy Night"
"Amazing Grace"
"The Sugar Plum Fairy"
Another beautiful song that I can't think of right now!:)
Layne

Point Shoes!!!!!!!!

Yesterday, I got my first pair of Point shoes!! I am so excited! I can't wait to be able to dance in them!!! We went with the rest of my ballet class and my teacher to a dance store to get them. I was the last one to try on, and we were in there for THREE HOURS!!! It was quite hard to find a pair that fit my feet!!!!!
I will have pictures on here soon!!!!
~Caroline

Ballet Magnificat!

I found Ballet Mag's website and they have a promo video on it for their new Christmas Ballet. It looks beautiful! I would love to be able to see it!:) Ballet Mag is the only Christian professional ballet school in the country. It's based in Jackson, Mississippi. I thought that I would post the website because it's so beautiful! http://www.balletmagnificant.com/
Layne

All the Websites that I look at...

I have a regular routine that I do every time I get on the computer. First I check my e-mail, then I go to my cousins' blog, Pecan Pastures, then I go to all the blogs on her list Mia's, Julia's, Rose's, the Visionary Daughters, then Maiden's of Worth, then American Girl, and then Thoughts by Liza, and Resolved 2 Worship, The Millers, The Holcombe's (my dad's aunt and uncle), and A Life of Faith. I check them every day (or just about!). I really like to read people's blogs! They're very entertaining! I've tried posting a lot lately!
Layne

Walkers Birthday!

Today's Walkers Birthday! He's a big 2 year old today! I made his birthday cake last night (I love to bake cakes!) He's having spaghetti and meat balls for lunch today. He dearly loves spaghetti sauce! Then we'll have cake and ice cream. He's having pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting. We have so many birthday cakes this time of year! Let's see Caroline had chocolate, I had chocolate with chocolate mocha frosting, My dad had Hello Dollys, (that's his favorite dessert. It has coconut, chocolate, and a gram cracker crust. There really good!), I think Titus had chocolate, and now Walkers having Pumpkin. That's a lot of cakes to remember! I'll post pictures later today. Anyway I better go get ready to go to church now!
Layne~

Here are some pictures of my pointe shoes that I took a few months ago. I hadn't danced in them very much and they looked really clean and pretty!:) I remember the first time I put them on. I stood up and I felt just like a penguin! There really stiff and hard when you first get them. I read about the very first pointe shoes in a book I highly recommend "The Pointe Book: Shoes, training, and technique. How the very first pointe shoes were actually pointed! It sounds very hard to balance on!

Layne

10 of My Favorite Chistmas Carols...

I didn't realize I had so many songs on my playlist! When I take them off and put Christmas music what do you think I should add?
These are my favorite Christmas Songs.
1. Sleigh Ride
2. Joy (David Phelps)
3. Joy to the World
4. Mary Did You Know?
5. Deck the Halls
6. The First Noel
7. Jingle Bells
8. Winter Wonderland
9. Joy to the world
10. I Believe

Pointe Shoes

Today is Saturday! Its rather dreary and overcast. Caroline is going for her Pointe Shoes fitting with her ballet class today! I can't wait to see what brand she gets. There are so many different styles and brands. And they do differ in color. Some are really pink, while others have a hint of peach in them, and some are more creamy colored. I wear Bloch Suprima I really like the color of them. I wear a 91/2 but my foots very narrow. My moms going to buy some Jelly Toes for me while she's at the store. There these little gel things that you pull over your big toe to help it not hurt so much. It seems that my pointe shoes hurt me more this year than they did last year. Although my classes are on Mondays and Tuesdays instead of Mondays and Thursdays like they were last year. Anyway, the jelly toes give your big toe extra cushioning. Which I really need since my right toe nail is black from the bruises! My pointe work this year has been really fun. We've learned several variations which are particular dances from ballets. We did the same thing last year too. We learned the Lilac Fairy from "Sleeping Beauty", Swanilda from "Coppelia" (which was my favorite!), and another fairy from "Sleeping Beauty". This year we've learned Winter from "Cinderella", Dawn from "Coppelia", and now we're learning The Sugar Plum Fairy from "The Nutcracker". The Sugar Plum Fairy is defiantly the hardest for me to learn!
My favorite this year is probably Dawn. It has some parts that I really like! Caroline will probably do a post about her pointe shoes soon!
Layne~

Random Things About My Personality...

1. I am not really outgoing but I'm not shy either!
2. In my mind I have personalities for all the numbers (I know it sound weird but I do!)
The Even Numbers are very humble and the even numbers are rather stuck up!
3. I love poetry.
4. I really like to sing.
5. My favorite time of day is probably right after I finish school.
6. I like to talk!
7. I really want to be a Ballerina
8. I have several different hobbies ballet, sewing, reading, writing.
9. I love a rainy day.

“The Lord is my Light and My salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the Strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me to eat at my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me my heart shall not fear. Though war may rise against me in this I will be confidant. One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek, that I may see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait I say on the Lord.”

Psalms 27

“God is my refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear even thought the earth be removed and thought the mountains be carried into the sea. Though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling.

There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her she shall not be moved. God shall help her just at the break of dawn. The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; he uttered his voice, the earth melted. The Lord of Hosts is with us the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Come behold the works of the Lord who has made desolations in the earth, he makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and cuts the strings in two; he burns the chariot in the fire. BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD. I will the exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth. The lord of hosts is with us the God of Jacob is our refuge.”
Psalms 46

I would really like all of you who read my blog to pray for grandma right now. The doctors have seen something on her lungs and they don't know what it is. She has gone to see a specialist today but I don't know what they saw yet. Please, please lift up my Grandma up in prayer. Thank-you so much.
Layne

Since I'm Costume Mistress...

I'm in charge of making, finding, and designating costumes for all of us cousins. Soooo I started on a costume for myself about a month ago and finished it (Its cream and burgundy velvet) and started on one for Caroline but put it away when the skirt looked like a sack of potatoes!:) So I started on bonnets for all the girls. Now I know that these are not really period based (they are more for the 1700's) but I really don't have enough cardboard to make each girl one! So these will have to do!:) They are so fun to make and super easy! I didn't buy a cent's worth of material or fabric or lace or anything because I just used things that I already had. So I have a lot of pictures because it was a little hard to get it at all angles! Here They are!


Here's the First on and its for the character Lydia, who is quite bubbly, talkative, and as Elizabeth puts it 'absolutely uncontrolled'! This was one of the funnest to make because I got to put a lot of lace and ruffles on it!

The second is Kitty's (Madeline's) and is Pink and cream colored. Kitty is a lot like Lydia too but not quite as wild!:)

Here is Mary's (Faith's) who is a book worm and loves music. I think that we need to make her a little less book wormish and a little more musical for Faith's sake!

This is by far my favorite because I love the colors and the pleats!

~I really like the bow!~

I got the pictures out of order! But this is another picture of Kitty's.

I like the colors together

This is my favorite picture of this bonnet

So, I'm not definitely sure that all these bonnets are going to be worn by these girls but I think they really suit each character well. What do you think?

Layne

Fifteen Things I'm Not Afraid to Admit...

So I found this list on a blog that I look at very often and decided to do it on my own blog.
I also lag Mckenzie, Liza, and Laura to do it on theirs too!

1. I tend to be forgetful! :) Sometimes I hear things and it simply goes out the other ear!
2. I like Literature and Writing MUCH better that Math or Science.
3. I'm more of a saver than a spender.
4. I really don't like yard work.
5. I have a really bad sweet tooth! I get it from my mom and grandpa!
6. I love to surprise people with things.
7. I am sarcastic.
8. I would rather read fiction than nonfiction.
9. I sometimes wonder if I talk to much.
10. I partly love hate heights.
11. I'm very afraid of roller coasters!
12. I really wish I was a more flexible dancer.
13. I don't really like to be in crowds.
14. I like to imagine things.
15. I don't like to eat eggs, fish and my least favorite thing to put in my mouth is Milk! I just can't stand it!:)

I really like to hear other peoples lists of things so I would really love for you to post it on your blog or post a comment with it on there. I think these are so interesting!
~Layne

Ten Random Things About Hudson...

1. Hudson loves to talk. He gets highly irritated if anyone ever interrupts him. Even though he is always doing it to others!
2. He would only wear one or two outfits if you would let him. He hates to wear anything he does not really like.
3. His favorite color is orange which really describes his character.
4. His favorite TV show is that old cartoon "Tom and Jerry" and he's always looking at the clock to see if its 7:30 yet.
5. He loves to wear Baldwin's old baseball uniforms to Baldwin's games.
6. He is a Veggie Tales fanatic!
7. He is very truthful. He will say his opinion about something even if it might hurt your feelings.
8. But he is also very, very kind and loving.
9. He is very fond of playing outside.
10. He can't wait till he grows up.

Ten Random Things About Walker

So I thought about the next list of random things and decided that it would be funny to do one on each of my family members. So the first one I decided would be of Walker.

1. He has incredibly straight blonde hair that flops about when he runs.
2. He loves bananas, grapefruit, and anything with Spaghetti sauce.
3. He loves shoes and is almost always wearing one of the boys flip flops (and that doesn't mean a pair. he would be perfectly happy with only one!) or he is calling for it!:)
4. He is particularly fond of dumpy anything in the toilet (hairbrushes, baseballs, toothbrushes, and toy army men.) He considers is one of his hobbies.
5. His music albums include Amazing Grace, (which he sings at the top of his lungs and when he gets to the climax or highest note his voice dips.) He Gives Me Living Water, and Happy Birthday (which he usually presents with a charming little dance! Ha ha!
6. He really loves to be read to. His favorite's include "I Love You Son, I Love You Moon", "Barnyard Dance", "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", and "Goodnight Moon".
7. He loves to play outside and says "wing, wing" which means he wants to go swing.
8. He likes to take his bath and plays I the tub
9. He loves to go to the store but does not like to go on long car rides.
10. He Loves to listen to Veggie Tales music in the car.

Ten Random Things About My Room...

I really enjoyed hearing other people's random things and I think that I would do another one. I decided on ten random things about my room.

1. It's painted purple larspur.
2. I have an antique iron bed that's white and has belonged to my family for many years.
3. I have lots of books in my room.
4. I have a fan with three differnt speeds.
5. I have a lot of stuff under my bed.
6. I have an old quilt that my grandfather bought in a estate sale that now resides on my bed.
7. I have a hope chest with books on it.
8. I love the way I can hear the air conditioning in my room.
9. I love the view from my window. It looks out onto a perfectly beautiful tree.
10. I have my sewing machine with lots of sewing stuff under it including material, a small ironing board, thread, needles, and of little pills of red velvet stuck to everything from a dress I recently made. And I mean Everything!
Layne

Ten Random Things About Myself

1. I don't like fried eggs.
2. I was at the birth of two of my brothers
3. I simply love toile print on things.
4. My favorite word is "fastidious" it means refined, mannerly I heard it in "Little Women". The Kathrine Hepburn version. I like the way it sounds!:)
5. I tend to procrastinate in some instances!
6. My least favorite thing to do in the outdoors is to pull weeds!
7. One of the greatest moments of my life; when I was casted as Mrs. Beaver in Narnia a Ballet.
8. I am an extreme homebody!
9. I have dreamed about flying and being late several times. The feeling of flying is quite nice-but rather strange!
10. I would love to have lived in an earlier century. I think that it would be so interesting! I especially like the clothing!

There, then random things about me. I would love to see your ten!
~Layne

As you can see the mountains were beautiful last weekend. I went up there with my aunt and uncle and two cousins and we had a wonderful time! It was cool but by no means cold! We had a great time and I got some really beautiful pictures of these waterfalls. The camera just didn't do justice to how beautiful and magnificent is was. I tried but I couldn't. The Lord has made creation incredible! It can't be described with words. It reminds me of the verse in Psalms "God reigns in the heavens God sits on his holy throne princes of the people have gathered together, the peoples of the God of Israel. For the shields of the earth belong to God he is greatly exalted!"

Psalms 65:9-10 "You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it; The river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, For so You have prepared it. You water its ridges abundantly, You settle its furrows; You make it soft with showers, You bless its growth."

Hip, Hip, Hooooooooooooorah!

Yes as you can see and hear I have music! How wonderful! How Fantastic! How exceptional! Can you tell I'm excited? I'm going to add some more right now! I hope you enjoy! I you can see I like a mixture of songs. Old Show theme songs (I really like that Brady Bunch Theme song!), hymns, praise songs, and musicals. I am REALLY excited.

~Layne

Obama Wins Presidency

Barrack Obama Wins Presidency. This is not good. He's not the leader that America needs. We need to seriously pray for this country. God says that he will not forsake his children. One of the most comforting verses in the Bible for me is Psalms 46. Here are some more.

Psalms 47
Psalms 27
Psalms 54
Psalms 91

Two Great Articles on the Family

ARTICLE ONE~
ARTICLE TWO~

We found these articles on one of our favorite blogs, www.resolved2worship/xanga.com they speak on the family and I think that they are very well put. Sometimes certain teachings and methods of raising children get in the way of us seeing the Lord's way. We get side tracked into believing that you have to live by certain rules and regulations. Jesus has wonderful and amazing plans for His children and He doesn't want us to fear man and what they may think of us but to fear Him.
~Layne

~For everyone who looks at this blog

Hey Everyone-
I am so sorry we have not been doing a very good job at updating! I really need to get some pictures up here, but the only problem is, is that I don't know how to get them downloaded! That's Layne's job : ) Layne went to the mountains with our grandparents and my Aunt and Uncle ( she will probably do a post on that soon!) Then on Saturday when she came back our grandparents came here on their way back to their house. Sunday Baldwin got baptized and lots of family was there. (pictures coming soon!) No new pictures on here now, maybe there will be some next time!

~Caroline