1, 2, 3, the devil's after me ....

I remember singing that chorus over and over and over again in church as a child, and even throughout my adulthood as is was brought back to memory. 

After singing it probably more than half a million times, I was singing it the other day in the car, and here's how it went:

1, 2, 3, the devil's after me;
4, 5, 6, he's always throwing sticks.
7, 8, 9, he misses every time ...

and the finish is this:  hallelujah, hallelujah, amen!

But I didn't finish.  I stopped abruptly at "he misses every time".  I quickly realized that since he DOESN'T miss every time, I and a hundred million other adults have been teaching our children that the devil doesn't hit you when he throws his sticks.  I know this chorus isn't supposed to make a theological statement, but it's what our kids are singing.

The devil throws sticks and hits us deeply.  His sticks cause pain, affliction, dispair, discouragement, unrest, and downright ugliness.  And not only for us, but for the people who are affected by what we do or what we say!!  Our children, our friends, our neighbors, even our enemies. 

The trick is to be ready.  The way to be ready is to not have to look over my shoulder every minute of every day, but to know that the devil is willing to do anything to get me.  I have to make sure I'm standing steady and not wavering.  I have to make sure that my stance is one that if I'm hit from behind, I won't fall.  I have to ensure that my children and their children know that when they stand ready, they are less likely to get stuck with a stick that hurts and causes pain every way they turn.  Sure, the devil gets us sometimes even when we're ready, but when we can prepare ourselves, we are so much better off. 

Hallelujah, hallelujah, amen!

Genevieve's notes

Wouldn't you know it that one evening, roaming around on Facebook, I would come across a post that someone is needing a new home for their piano.  I responded as quickly as I could, within seconds of the initial posting, maybe, and I was officially the proud owner.  I just had to find a way to get it the 30 miles to my house. 

The mission was possible (hear the music?) and it worked out.  The stars all aligned or something, I don't know.  We were blessed and were able to get a company to move it for us.  YAY! 

Saturday morning we waited. and waited. and waited.  Well, I waited, no one else really knew what was going on, and I'm not sure it would have been a big deal for them anyway.  You see, my husband and I have four fabulous children whom ALL have been INCREDIBLY blessed with the gift of music.  They can all play just about any instrument they pick up, but our oldest specifically can play the drums like nobody's business.  The next one in line can pick up a guitar and wear out the strings.  Awesome!  The next one in line listened to me play "Turkish March" (Truman show theme song) one too many times and picked out the melody on the piano.  CRAZY!  Our little one is taking lessons, can pick out on the keyboard pretty much any tune she hears.  and they're just so casual about it all.  SO... that said, I don't think they realize how blessed they really are.

So here is the truck.  Pretty plain, I know.  Just a truck.  But the excitement was eating away at my insides. 

The guys ... just two of them.  But they were strooonnnggg!!

Here's the bench ... it was the easy part.  :)

Over the threshold ... I heard the angels singing ....  

Before ...

and after. 

She couldn't resist.

And here she goes again.

Another "you see", we were given this piano by someone who loves music.  She played on this piano as a young girl and wanted it to go to someone who would love it as much as she does.  WE DO!  I believe she is grateful that the piano's new home is a place where love for music abides and this very large piece of furniture will be cared for by musicians and children and guests who enter and want to tickle the ivories.  This is a happy story, a happy momma is the result, and when no one was around this beautiful Sunday afternoon, I was able to sit down and lose myself in it.  I played from my heart and it was just fabulous. 

One of the silly things I do sometimes is name things.  Weird, I know.  A few months back when we were loaned a truck, we named her Bessie.  Hubby's car's name was George.  This piano, needed a name.  From the very beginning of this scenario, I knew what we would name her.  She is named after my grandmother whose middle name is Genevieve. 

My grandmother holds a very special place in our hearts and lives, and the music that comes from our home will be a simple tribute to her. 

Thank you Kathi for your beautiful gift.

Fall ... it is a comin.

I decided to change my front door look from Springy to Fall.  Since it is no longer Spring and hasn't been for quite some time now.

I pulled out my trusty glue gun ...

and my fabulous LONG scissors ...

I had to buy 20 sheets of felt for this project, but it's cheap.  However, I'll look for this on sale next time I'm around a craft store.

I used a glass, marked my circles, and cut them out.  It's simple really, just fold the circle in half, then in half again, and glue it to a wreath form.  I used a green form, covered in white felt.  I didn't glue the circles on the back of the form, I stopped midway to the sides.  Didn't want to go back and get more felt. 

I did this in spurts, because I'm not a person able to sit for long periods of time and fold circles to glue on a wreath form ... and this is what I ended up with.

Nice!!

No more noisy meals

We enjoy the way in which our builder decided to tile the dining room, kitchen, and both bathrooms.  It was one of the many 'wow's when we were looking to buy. 

However ... when we sit down to eat any meal, the chairs scrape on the floor and make horrible noises.  We'd try to lift up the chair a bit so the noise wouldn't be so loud, no luck.  It was always loud and noisy. 

So I decided to whip out my yarn and make some chair socks.

During a Saturday afternoon movie and a bowl of popcorn later, here are the chair socks.

and they work!!!!  I used a glue stick and globbed some glue at the bottom inside of each sock so it would stick.  We let them sit so the glue would set, and they are fabulous.

No more scraping noises!!

Linking up to: http://cherishedtreasures-terry.blogspot.com/

My weekend fun

I found this brass leaf at the thrift store last week and knew that I would break out the paint ...

I tried a few different techniques, but ended up just painting it green.  It will sit on our kitchen table ... haven't decided what it will hold.

Moved an old window found at my grandmother's place from the foyer to the bathroom.  Nice.

Finished my teeny lap cover ... I like the flowers.

I had some square boards and played with my paint and lettering.  Came up with my favorite part of Scripture:

Jayme and I had rolled some strips and while I was watching tv one night, I glue them to a balloon.  I made a small bowl/candle holder.

That's what I've been doing.  

I'm starting on mom's Christmas present ... my next project needs to be stockings for the kids ... I must start right away if they're going to be done in time.  (:

Enjoy your weekend!

Turquoise love

Here is my "after" from a piece I bought at the thrift store about a year ago.  It was an ugly brown and boring.  She holds our DVD's and the few VCR tapes we have left.

Since I'm looking for a bit of color in our den, I (my husband and son) took her to the garage for a makover ... maybe I was just bored.  (:

And here she is!  Full of our movies again.  I like her and I think she adds the brightness that we needed. 

Creativity + Independence

There is a new house being built next door and the builder let me have some left over wood pieces.  I have about 12 different sizes, some little tiny nails, and red, white, and blue yarn. 

So I decided to be creative and honor our colors on this warm Sunday evening.

Ella joined in for a bit, Tom helped for about a second, and the colors came together very nicely.

We live at the start of about 16 houses, mostly military.  I hope they see the colors.  and smile.

Happy early Independence Day!