Next Betrothal

Sunset proposal on a sailboat on one of our local lakes ~ What a romantic! He chose their special anniversary to propose. They've been friends for five years, though he lived in another state far and away for about a year, and we thought we might not ever see him or his family again.


She was surprised when he got down on one knee...


She said "Yes!"

temp ring. They went ring 'shopping' just after this cruise.

The newest couple in our family at our recent outing to hear Tommy Emmanuel and his phenomenal guitar antics.




Betrothed Happiness



tattoo engagement rings ;-)


I have a busy six or seven months ahead of me once again!

Javamom,
whose family is growing!

Anniversary

My nephews and nieces: Jeremy Andraya, Gregory and Stephany in the back, Matt and Tiff, and Timothy (who did a reading for us during the ceremony ~ he was nine at the time, and he did great!). They were all little attendants, and stayed up front during the whole ceremony. It was fun!


ALL the nieces and nephews at that time (hahaha). Let's just say that our family tribe continued to grow. A lot! The two extra itty bitty ones are April and Steven. Almost all of them have their own kids, now...and I get to see most of them this coming weekend!

Steph, Auntie, April, Tiffany, and Andraya
May 18th, 1985

Too Busy to Blog

Is there a "too busy to blog" medallion? I'm sure that we all go through seasons where we have no time to put thoughts down, or are barely able to post a new and interesting photo to keep the blog updated. Though in part, I think it a sign of a healthy person who does not blog constantly...meaning, the person has a life away from the computer screen. Even when home much of the time, daily needs press us out of the computer chair and on to the daily duties of keeping a home and family running smoothly. I believe that busy moms who also happen to blog understand that balance is important!

That said, I need to tell you all how wonderful our weekend was, helping the Hubster and his brother and sister put together and serve at their parents' Golden Wedding Anniversary. The kids worked so hard for their Dad, Aunt, and Uncle! They served
happily and were so engaging and warm with everyone as they sliced cake, served up punch and coffee. 275 people attended this beautiful reception, which included old friends from across the state, many fellow church members from their local congregation, but also important people from their community and their city's symphony guild.

Homeschooling works and produces beautifully social beings who can and do move well through a crowd of all ages. In this setting, many were of the older generation. The photographer who was chronicling the event told them, "You guys seem like you're actually enjoying this...or you're good liars." to which our oldest two (18 and 16-in-a-few-days) said, "Yes, we really enjoy this!"

The kindness, love, and joy of all four of our kids was obvious. The man was genuinely intrigued. He did not expect that. What an affirmation that was that we made the right choice back when our first son was four. Every little bit of affirmation helps, even though it is not what we live for or what keeps us going, no, our motivation goes far deeper than that.

Our Sunday began with going to our in-laws' congregation across town. The non-instrumental singing that we grew up with was quite wonderful and filled with rich harmonies and diminished cords. Though every song slipped in pitch...no one seemed to be bothered by it, except maybe us altos who ended up "scraping" the low notes by the end of each song :-). There was joy in the air. My Aunt and Uncle and one of my cousins attends the same church as my in-laws, so it was fantastic to get to see them and hug their necks.

The reception was in the fellowship hall of the church building. The Harpist and pianist friends of my in laws (who are symphony guild board members) played during the whole reception. This was simply beautiful and set the tone in the room. They played classical to modern, with songs such as "My Funny Valentine" and "Did You Ever Know that You're My Hero."

The original Maid of Honor drove from Arizona to be there, and the original Best Man (Hubby's Uncle Alvin) was there, as well. It was so sweet to see and be a part of. As my father-in-law said, they are all happy to be alive for this! We are glad that they are, as well!!

It was a family rich day, and a beautiful tribute to their 50 years of marriage. Their relationship has grown in such a beautiful way over the years, but moreso since my Father-in-Law has survived two cancer events in the last 14 years. When I get some photos from the day, I will post a few. In the meantime, I will post some from their celebration 10 years ago, when our kiddos were so young and especially cute.






Javamom

Book Shopping and Greek Food

Happy Anniversary to Hubby and me. We have made it 21 years, now, plus the year of friendship, then outright dating and engagement. We spent our day experiencing the traditional (for us) celebration with Greek food (it was pretty bad, this time!) and used book shopping. I came home with Christianity is Jewish by Edith Schaeffer, and Luther and Erasmus: Free Will and Salvation edited by E Gordon Rupp and Philip S. Watson. There was another I would have liked, about the topic of "Is Capitalism Christian?" by the Schaeffers, but it was over ten dollars. It will have to wait until I sell more used books/curriculum from our home library. Hubby purchased some sheet music and a book on collected works of the writers during the Harlem Renaissance (American Literature).

I also picked up some summer reading for our younger two boys:

The Twits, The Vicar of Nibbleswicke, and Revolting Rhymes all by Ronald Dahl
The Unofficial Autobiography of Lemony Snicket and book one of A Series of Unfortunate Events books.

UPDATE: I pre-read the Dahl books last night. I was disappointed in The Vicar of Nibbleswicke, especially. Their is some poor taste humor in it, so preview it at the library, before considering. It is a bout a dyslexic pastor, who became nervous over his new job, and some of his words come out backwards when he says them. This could have been really cute. Revolting Rhymes is a totally different take on traditional Fariy Tales. In Cinderella, she finds that the prince, disgusted by Cindy's two step-sisters, has cut off their heads after they tried on the glass slipper and made such a fuss. Cindy is horrified with him, and so marries a common man from town who sells marmelade. At least I only spent a dollar on these, each, but I wish I would have had time to check them out more thoroughly before buying them yesterday.


What are you picking up for summer reading?

Anniversary Present

Isn't this simply beautiful? This came in the mail today from dear Hubby. What a lovely surprise, since our 21st Anniversary isn't until next month. The inscription contains the first two stanzas of Shakespeare's Sonnet 116. He found it at Shakespeare's Den, which has other fun presents with an artistic flaire.

He sent it early on purpose.

*Sigh*


Sonnet 116

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Anniversary flowers

Book Finds

I wanted to share the list of books dh and I gathered on our recent anniversary. These are from one of our favorite old bookshops for our personal and homeschool library collections. Many of these are for summer reading for our family, also recommended by many of our favorite hs booklists.

This is what we found last week:

Buckskin and Blanket Days by Thomas Henry Tibbles, my second copy (excellent, excellent book! but I may be biased, since it's a family book). Based on the unique and vivid memoirs of a pioneer, scout, hunter and friend of the Indians, from his youth in Bleeding, KS in 1856, to his newspaper career as a correspondent at the Battle of Wounded Knee.

A Story of The Golden Age by James Baldwin
nice hb copy of The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles by Padraic Colum

The Arts by Hendrik Willem Van Loon (second copy for us, helpful with four children)

Winston Churchill's Volume three: The Age of Revolutions (the only one we still needed)

More for hubby's "Library of America" collection:
Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad,
and Mississippi Writings
H. James Travel writings of Great Britain and America


A nice hardback copy of:
Of Plymouth Plantation by Wm. Bradford with extra notes by Samuel Morison

The Second Treatise of Government by John Locke
The Prince (hb) by Niccolo Macchiavelli
Essays by Francis Bacon

Ludwig Beethoven and the Chiming Tower Bells by Opal Wheeler
Chopin by Antoni Gronowicz - seems very similar in style to an Opal Wheeler, but perhaps for slightly older children

Slavic Peoples by Thomas Caldecot Chubb (1962)
from a series of books about "Major Cultures of the World"

The Good Master by Kate Seredy

The Boy's King Arthur Illustrated by N. C. Wyeth
The Scottish Chiefs Illustrated by N. C. Wyeth

The Light Beyond the Forest by Rosemary Sutcliff
The Sword and the Circle by Rosemary Sutcliff
Tristan & Iseult by Rosemary Sutcliff

Two of the four from "The Tripods" series by John Christopher:
When the Tripods Came
The City of Gold and Lead

The Wonderful O by James Thurber
The White Deer by James Thurber

Masterman Ready by Captain Marryat

Doctor Doolittle's Return - hb (I don't usually buy a lot of books in a series, but I though one more Dr. Doolittle might be fun.)

Two Landmarks:
Albert Schweitzer:
Daniel Boone: The Opening of The Wilderness by John Mason Brown

North Star Books:
Indian Wars and Warriors by Paul L. Wellman

Texas Tales by D. K. Sellars (1955)

A nice hardback copy with dj of The Cricket in Times Square by George Seldon
nice hb of The Princess and The Goblin

For my reading:
Books by Harold Bell Wright (Shepherd of the Hills, Ozarks author)
Their Yesterdays
When a Man's a Man
That Printer of Udell's

The Two Vanrevels by Booth Tarkington

Johnson's Dictionary: A Modern Selection by E. L. McAdam, Jr. and George Milne~
The "essence" of his dictionary, as an introduction to the style and wit of Samuel Johnson...which serves as a mirror of 17th and 18th Century England.

I never made it upstairs to the Adult section of Classics/Literature

They had some Gene Stratton Porter books, but none that I didn't already have. Same with Ralph Moody

There were others there that we didn't purchase, as they were priced too high. The older three children have already finished some of the books we bought them for summer reading! Argh! I must admit, though, that this is a *good* problem to have =).

Graduation & Anniversary

We've been cleaning, organizing, and getting ready for hubby's Master's Graduation party, which is on Sunday. It is quick and easy to update Blogger with pictures while we are busy, just in case some of you wonder why I'm not writing much these days ;-). I thank all my visitors, both posters and quiet visitors alike, for taking time to stop by.

Our Twentieth Wedding Anniversary is also coming up this week. I'm not sure what all we're going to sneak in to our Anniversary Week. This has been a special time of turning points over the last two months for our family and extended family members. 2005 will be remembered as a special year, just as 1985 was a special year.

Last year, we shopped and spent hours at a couple of our favorite used bookstores, and ate lots of Greek and Mediterranean food, in honor of our honey moon trip to Greece in '85 (when dh worked for the airlines, so we got a *great* deal on the trip). Eating Greek food on each and every anniversary is a tradition with us, for this reason...and we just love Spinach pie, Hummous, Pita bread, Feta Cheese, and Baklava! When we lived in Belmont, MA (not far from Walden Pond) before we had children, we lived two blocks from a terrific little Greek diner called "Andros Diner." The food was incredible, and low-priced. I miss that place sometimes!

Do any of my readers have special events coming up this month?