A Place I Call Home

"Home, the spot of earth supremely blest, A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest."

I took some random pictures around the house of things that make my house more than just a place of lodging...things that make it my home...truly a place so sweet.

1. My favorite picture in our house. One that my mom admired for a couple of years, one that my sisters and I were able to purchase as a surprise for her.
2. Our porch swing. Many a cool night have been spent pushing back and forth, back and forth...
3. The dining room table. Probably where the most activity of our household takes place, whether it be homework, scrapbooking, eating, playing board games, or having family pow-wows.
4. The piano. My 7th birthday present. Countless hours have been practiced by my sisters and I here.
5. My favorite wall decal and a favorite verse of mine.
6. A favorite Christmas present from our parents.
7. A thoughtful card from my mom that I framed.
8. LaBate Family Est. 1985.

Linking up to Mosaic Mondays.

Limitless

Limits...something we all have, right?

When I was little I believed my Dad to be super smart and with limitless resources of knowledge. Now, he has explained to me that NO, he does not know EVERYTHING, just... a little ABOUT everything...

Then, there are the limits that the government enforces on cars. For instance, if my mom had her way she would go 80 mph in a 55 limit...

And then there is food consumption. Something that I find really hard to limit myself on!

Limits are something, however, that God does NOT have, and for that I am truly grateful. I serve a limitless God. Think about that for a minute... Limitless, boundless, measureless, uncountable. That pretty much sums up my God. (this next portion is an excerpt from Springs in the Desert by Mrs. Coleman)

We are profoundly impressed with the unlimited resources of the God of the Bible. He never does anything small. When He makes an ocean He makes it so deep that no man can fathom it. When He makes a mountain He makes it so large that no one can measure or weigh it. When He makes flowers, He scatters multiplied millions of them where there is no one to admire them but Himself. When He makes grace, He makes it without sides or bottom and leaved the top off. Instead of giving salvation with a medicine dropper, He pours it forth like a river.

There is no grudging in God's benevolence; He does not measure out His goodness as the apothecary counts his drops and measures his drams, slowly and exactly, drop by drop. When God sets out to do a thing for us, He does it with a prodigality of love-prompted abundance that fairly staggers one who reckons things by the coldly calculating standards of earth.

God's way is characterized by multitudinous and overflowing bounty, like that in nature which is so profuse in beauty and life that every drop of the ocean, every square inch or the forest glade, every molecule of water, teems with marvels and defies the research and investigation of man. Well may we cry with the Apostle, "I have all and abound."

Do I dare to limit God by doubting His abilities and questioning His ways? How can I, a limited mortal, not trust in a limitless God?

Senior Photo Shoot #1

I had lots of fun taking this young lady's senior pictures.

Chellberg Farm is my favorite picture spot in town, so of course I took some shots there!

The rest of these shots were taken on my church's property...

How Much Do I Love Thee...

How much do I love thee?

Let me count the ways...

SPRING

1. New life - a reminder that Jesus rose from the tomb and gives us life everlasting!
2. More daylight
3. Planting flowers with my mom
4. Attending my church's annual Preaching Conference
5. The Grill-master (a.k.a. my Dad) comes out of hibernation
6. Fresh cut flowers
7. Picnics
8. Late nite walks
9. Sun tea
10. Practicing the Graduation Program with the kids at work
11. Celebrating my lil' sister's birthday
12. French Vanilla Iced Coffee
13. Blossoming trees
14. Jacket weather
15. Driving with my sun-roof open and windows down
16. Pulling out the flip-flops
17. Thunderstorms
18. Did I mention I now have adorable rain boots to combat those thunderstorms?? :)
19. Shooting hoops with my sisters
20. The smell of freshly mowed grass

Linking up to my first Mosaic Monday...

Photography Practice

I borrowed my sister for an hour and we went to Chellberg Farm where I practiced for some upcoming senior pictures I am taking. I may be bias but I think she is gorgeous!!

More Fun with Science

What I've been doing with my kiddies at work...

Experimenting with color

Yellow, green, red, and blue food coloring put in ice cube trays and frozen

Excellent teaching aid for learning about primary colors and mixing colors...

Place two ice cubes in a plastic baggy and let children

rub the cubes together until they melt to make new colors.

Blue + Yellow = Green

Red + Yellow = Orange

Blue + Red = Purple

Rocket Launch!

Getting ready for take off!

Ingredients:

Film Canister

Water

Antacid Tablet

Paper and tape to cover canister

For directions see here.

10.9.8.7.6.5.4.3.2.1....

Blastoff!!!

Oooh...Aahh...

Sheer amazement...

Conditioning Circumstances

To get up each morning with a resolve to be happy...is to set our own conditions to the events of each day. To do this is to condition circumstances instead of being conditioned by them.

(Ralph Waldo Trine)

A challenge for you...

The alarm goes off interrupting your peaceful sleep and reminding you that another day of work lies ahead. What do you do? How do you feel?

I am not one to jump out of bed, anxious for another day. Instead sometimes I lie there wishing I could just pull the covers over my head and sleep the day away. Recently though I have been challenged to start my mornings different.

So, here it is shared with you:

1. Say to yourself, "Today is going to be a GREAT day!" (I don't usually advocate the power of positive thinking...but if I can do it so can you!)

2. Jot down two things you are thankful for. ( Some place you will see through out your day)

3. Remind yourself when circumstances start to get you down that "Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it."

What I am Thankful for today...

#1 "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

#2 My sisters...people with whom I can be myself! :)

Oh, how I love them both. So different, but loved alike!

"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you." Philippians 1:3

Linking up with Emily to Unwrap my Tuesday...

Crafts from Blogland!

I have never been one to venture out into craft;, the word craft actually used to scare me... That is, until I was introduced to many fun and easy ones through blogland. Here are a few I have tried.

(PS-they are not perfect, so don't look too closely...)

:)

#1 Tile Coasters

these were fun and pretty easy to make-

they make great gifts and are also inexpensive

Easy to follow steps given here.

#2 Decorating wood letters for

easy and cute wall decor

Easy to follow step found here.

#3 My personal favorite...Magnetic Board

Video Tutorial here!

Made my own magnets from scrapbook embellishments

and an idea borrowed from here.

Craft...

No longer a word that I associate with knitting and cross stitching...

Something I actually can both do and enjoy!