Finding Joy Friday (on Saturday)...

Always inspired by my 'Bosom Friend' Angela at Plains Life.

There is SO MUCH bringing me joy, but this week I am only listing one thing, and it comes with a warning label.

Please listen to THIS podcast!  Carin and Rick are charming and their KnitWits Podcast is one of the funniest things I've ever heard.  Seriously - go now and download all the episodes - start from the beginning and listen.

WARNING:  Do NOT listen while driving - you WILL wreck the car from laughing so hard.  Also please be careful with beverages, as snorting cola (or coffee) out your nose is quite painful.

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Can You Hear Them?

There is something inspiring and transforming about pathways.

Pathways are filled with questions and stories that run a play in my head.  "How did it get here?  Where does it go?"  My favorite of these and many questions about pathways is "Who has travelled here?"

Pioneers?  Farmers?  Merchants?

Were they children chasing one another on the walk home from school, or friends carrying preserves and homemade biscuits to 'visit'?  Were they horses and buggies racing to carry doctors to save a sick baby? Were they slaves escaping tyranny under the shroud of darkness - carrying with them only the hope of freedom?  Were they lovers picking flowers in the spring or stealing kisses under the light of moon and stars?

I imagine the sounds of such lives and circumstances and hear their laughter, chatter, panic, and worry as time stands in layers one on top of another.

I hear them in my heart and am comforted knowing I walk in the footsteps of so many different lives.

I hear them calling to me, telling me their stories and secrets and it changes me.

Can you hear them?


I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

What I've Been Up To...

It's been a busy knitting, sewing, sketching, crafting, cleaning, organizing, creating, reading, bicycling, and general fun having kind of summer.

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe

Books! Books! Everywhere Books...

We LOVE books

Can't get enough of them.  Have no more room for them.  Must read faster!

September Reading:

Aloud:
A Family of Poems
A Child's Introduction to Poetry (the kids are memorizing the Witch's Soliloquy from MacBeth for Halloween)
Classic Poems
Babe Ruth Ballet School (in honor of their first Braves Games with Uncle Michael)
The Wizard of Oz
Swiss Family Robinson (Audible.com we listen in the car - when I remember)

Anna:
Katie & The Mona Lisa
Katie Meets the Impressionists
Katie's Sunday Afternoon
American Girl Rebecca Rubin Series (she stalled mid-book on #4 but she'll pick it back up when she's ready)
Magic Tree House #16, 17, & 18 (soon to be 19, 20, 21... she's loving these and devouring them daily)
Rosie O'Donnell's Crafty U (remember that glitter post earlier???)

Toby:
The Kid's Guide to Digital Photography
Bakugan series books
Beast Quest series books (note to self - buy next two books)
Where the Wild Things Are
Anything Star Wars he can get his hands on

Me:
The Unschooling Handbook
Blink
Quivering Daughters
A Thomas Jefferson Education (3 books that I'm still studying)

I'm also listening to lots of podcasts and a new CD (do you still call it that when it's downloaded?).  Mumford & Sons  I LOVE it!  Casey HATES it!  Andrea and Angela you'll love it too (all but maybe two songs) - go NOW to Itunes and listen.

And if you already knew about Mumford and Sons - why didn't you tell ME???  I'm completely clueless when it comes to any music written in the past 20 or so years (yes ok I'm square - this I know).

I'll keep you posted!

AmyDe