Sweet Persephone

Little Miss MoneyPenny Has A Message

Little Miss MoneyPenny

Little Miss MoneyPenny still looks good to be 9 1/2 yrs old. Here she is modeling her newest coat that Melinda made her.

A Family Joke

I did this scrapbook layout about a funny story that happened to Kyle and Brett yesterday. So cute!

Getting Ready For Spring

I'm so ready for Spring! We live in SC so it's about this time that we begin to call it early Spring. We start to see crocuses and hyacinths.




Then we see the forsythias bloom!


Followed by the tulips and daffodils.




And the azaleas and dogwoods end our "early" Spring. After that we are into late Spring and then Summer.




With the brighter colors, the bright greens of budding trees and bushes, the new grass, pastels of flowers and baby birds and animals we get our palette of Spring.

I've often wondered if God knew we needed brightening up and encouraging after the Winter so he gave us the baby birds and animals and the colors of newness. Or do we just respond to these stimuli because it's the way it's always been. What if Spring brought the colors that we relate to Fall. We wouldn't know the difference so oranges, gold, red and rust would quicken our hearts and make us look forward to warm weather. Either way, we respond to the Spring colors, the babies and the newness of life. It's the reason that we dye Easter eggs (symbol of new life), we buy our children baby ducklings and baby peeps to teach them about baby birds. It's why we start thinking of warm days and picnics. It's why we decorate for Spring.

Let's make a list of things that we relate to early Spring:
The above mentioned flowers
Easter eggs, baskets, rabbits, ducklings, lambs, peeps, Easter grass
Baby birds
Nests with eggs (which crack to birth the baby birds)
Gardening (we begin to plant flowers, early vegetables, cleaning up after Winter, enjoying being outside again)
Going on picnics
Going to public gardens and trails for day trips to see the new flowers and bushes
Cooler clothes
Pastels
New grass, budding trees
Our risen Lord

I'm sure there are others. But you get my drift. How do we translate these ideas into decorating our homes. You don't have to do a front to back changeover every season. (You can if you want!) But just adding a few touches can brighten us up and give our children memories. Here are some ideas I saw on the Internet:

Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Little 13 year old Susie Salmon is raped and killed by a neighbor. He dismembers her body. Only her elbow ever surfaces. She is the oldest daughter of Jack and Abigail Salmon. Lindsey is a year younger and little Buckley is only 4 yrs old when his oldest sister is murdered.

They lived in a suburb like hundreds of thousands throughout America in 1976. Much like my sisters and I did. We went through junior high and high school during the 1970's and lived a middle income American split level suburban home. The family is a loving family and the girls have friends in school. But the murder of Susie is like an explosion ripping through the neighborhood and school. Susie watches from "her heaven" as everyone begins to build their life back. This rebuilding of a framework of relationships are the lovely bones.

Alice Sebold also grew up in the suburbs and was attacked and raped in college in 1981. She wrote about this in her book, Lucky. Then she started on Lovely Bones. It was published in 2002. From the beginning it was a hit, even making it as a selection for the Book Of The Month Club. It made the New York Times Bestseller's List. I remember when it came out and it's taken me this long to finally get it and read it. I made a mistake waiting so long. Knowing the movie was coming out, I wanted to read the book first so I put it at the top of my TBR (To Be Read) pile. Once I started I couldn't put it down. It's different, very lyrical, poetic. Haunting is a good word for it. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Of course, I don't believe in Sebold's version of heaven. I believe in the Bible's version of heaven (although I believe that those who have gone on before are part of that great cloud of witnesses that watch us). But, using it as a literary tool, made the book that much more effective.

I loved the book, but I can't imagine how it will be as a movie. I don't know if I want to see the movie so as not to ruin my "book glow"! I could recommend this book for anyone over 16 yrs old. The rape and murder might be scary and graphic. A sexual scene later in the book may also be too graphic for younger teens.

Valentine's Day

Stan and I had a good Valentine's Day. We went out with some friends on Saturday night and had a delicious dinner. Yesterday we stayed in and had a quiet day. He got to watch the Daytona 500. I had made him his card (I started making his cards myself and adding a love poem, about 10 yrs ago). I gave him a box of chocolates. Stan made BBQ chicken for supper. I finished off my Krispy Kremes. I hope your Valentine's Day was good!