Saturday, December 29, 2007

Your Perfect Day

I had to fill out a questionaire and that question was on there. I kinda go, 'oh brother, how am I supposed to answer that?' So I set the paper aside but contiuned to think about it. Well, I didn't come up with any criteria for a perfect day, but I do remember some days in the past year that I remember as being rather perfect.

The day I got to spend with Audrey, Rachel, and Susie is Lincoln. We went Shopping, we went out for Lunch and visited an enormous library. What could be better?

The Sunday after Thanksgiving when we had Thanksgiving all over again- with twenty minutes to prepare for it. Wonderful cooking, rolling biscuit dough with Rachel, snuggling with Audrey, enjoying the conversations with the Buckmasters, Trotters, Woods, and Schnieders, remebering the meetings and the hopeful messages shared in them.

The Three days We spent in Washington D.C. and Gettysburg this summer- Seeing History.

The Day out East that Sisters and I laid around the Hotel room all morning, eat lunch at Applebee's, and wander around the Barnes and Nobles for the rest of the Afternoon...and went to the Bourne ultiminuim (as Joe was calling it) in the Evening.

The First Night of Anne of Avonlea, esp. after my first scene when the Audience started clapping for me (well, at least I could really my sisters and Tyson who were in the front row). That was the perfect moment after all the hard work. People liked my character!! Yippie!! (Oh wait that was last year...oh well)

Getting snowed in with Dave, Kristi, Joshua and Elisa. We sang songs in the toasty warm living room.

The Fridays when it's just Mom and Susie and I at home and we sit and talk, about everything and nothing





oh and hugs, every perfect day has hugs in it...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday, December 28, 2007

You Might Be Interested to Learn...

That I am recovering from a short stay in the hospital- well, I'm not sure as to the exact length of time. It was long enough for my arm to heal- but then my foot broke, was bandaged and healed- and then I somehow managed to break everyone of my fingers so they had to be all bandaged up individually, - but again I assure you I have completely recovered.

I was attended by two competent caregivers, Nurse Caroline and Doctor Anna.

Anna was a tireless attendent on me- always working on my IV, drawing my blood, flushing my line and taking great delight to rubbing cold alcohol all over my hand.

Caroline was very faithful in all the bandaging I required. She also kept me entertained with funny stories of previous patients that she was acquainted with, but most importantly she was so kind as to be my Guinea Pig in my discovery of the fact that even with three Fingers bandaged you can still produce a satisfying Tickle Treatment.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable hospital experience, full of TLC, and TT and the smell of rubbing alcohol and sticky bandages....


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

By Anna, Caroline, and Jonathan Trotter....and later Asher too!

Hi, Everybody! This is the Trotter children
and we wanted to say 'Hi' to everybody,
especially Sarah Beth!
We are staying here at
Grandma and Grandpa Wickboldt's house,
because......
MOMMY'S
HAVING
A
BABY!!!
Miss Debbie and Grandpa came and got us this morning,
and we came here and did school
-and we were VERY good for Miss Debbie about school-
and then we watched Dr. Dino
and now we want to say 'Hi' to all of you.
Luke, Jonathan wants you to know that he had fun with you this weekend.
Sarah B, Anna wants to say 'Hi' to you especially.
We get to stay overnight at Grandpa and Grandma's House!!
Asher- who just got up from his nap-
wants to say 'Hi' to Elisa
and so does Jonathan!
And Caroline wants to say 'Hi' to Joshua...
Please comment and say 'hi' back to us!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Well the big news is.....

no Baby yet.....
We go to bed and say
"See you in the morning,
Or Sooner"
We have a Labor Day plan.
We have beds blown up for the children,
toys are ready to entertain them,
Grandma-to-be has a bag sitting by the door,
I'm leaving clothes where I can grab them.....
Now all we need
is a Baby boy to annouce
his intention of leaving his nest....

Thursday, December 6, 2007

A favorite book....

I love reading classics for history,

it is definatly the best thing that ever happened

to me in School :)

You see I have a rather bad habit
of skipping around in a book,
especially if what is happening
isn't terribly interesting.

Well,
in reading a book for school,
you have to read only so many chapters a day,
no matter if they're boring or VERY interesting.
I followed the rules-
although I sometimes read ahead-
and I really enjoyed all my books,
AND understood them,
much better than similar books
I had read early on my own.

A favorite of mine is:
THE TALISMAN
by Sir Walter Scott.

It's a 'Romanticized' account of
The Third Crusade with Richard the Lion-heart,
Phillip of France and Count Leopold of Austria.
There are many different characters:
a loyal dog who is saved from death and then revels a traitor,
a dwarf who is everywhere he's not supposed to be,
a hermit who is doing penance for a sin and pops in and out of the story,
either clearing things up or muddling them more,
a pretty Queen who likes to be entertained,
a knight with a secret,
a lady with proud honor....
[the last is not a contradiction:)]
Anyway, it's a very intertaining book,
it's not like Ivanhoe,
where the hero is ill or wounded
for 3/4ths of the book,
and has almost NO character development.
So if you're looking for a book to read, try it :)
And let me know what you think....






Oh, addition to a previous post:
Dad got to LEVEL 11 on his first try of
"Do You Know Your World?"


Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Prince Caspian Trailer!

Yippee! They've just released the first Trailer for Prince Caspian.
Go HERE to see it!!

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Do you Know your World?

Follow the Link and tell me what Level you get to...

I can't get past 3. There's twelve....

http://minijuegos.com/juegos/html/index.php?id=5974

Monday, November 19, 2007

November 19, 1863

Today is the 144 anniversary of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
In veiw of that I thought you might be interested
in a speech/essay I wrote for my forensics class three years ago...
*
*
‘Four score and seven years ago’ begins the well known quote. But how many of us know the story behind it?
In June of 1863, the Civil War had dragged on for two years, eradicating the hopes of both Southerners and Northerners that the war would be only a ‘breakfast spell’. Confederate General Robert E. Lee conceived a bold plan to crush the Union hopes and demoralize the support of the war by making the northern people feel that it was to big a price to pay. The Plan? He would march north into Pennsylvania, drawing the Union Army of the Potomac after him to destroy it. After which a peace treaty would be offered to Federal President Abraham Lincoln, who without an army, would be at the mercy of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. The Union and Confederate armies, the former under the command of George Meade and the latter under Robert E. Lee, meet at a little crossroads town. The fighting lasted three days. The climax came on the last day, when the Confederates sent 15,000 men, under the command of George Pickett, across open fields to assault entrenched Union soldiers at the top of Cemetery Ridge. This attack, known to history as Pickett’s Charge, failed to take the Ridge and left 10,000 men dead on the field. The Battle of Gettysburg, ending with the culmination of Pickett’s Charge was the turning point of the Civil War. The Confederacy was weakened and they never regained the supremacy they had lost. But only those of us who see the Civil War in retrospect realize the consequences that this battle had on the Confederacy and the Union. To the grieving families in the North and South, they only knew that, because of this battle, 51,000 of their fathers, their husbands, their sons and brothers were gone. On November 19, a cemetery for these dead was consecrated, on the land for which they had fought. It was at this consecration that Abraham Lincoln delivered his speech. He asked the remaining soldiers and people of the North to be dedicated to the unfinished work of the fallen soldiers,-that, in his own words, ‘these dead shall not have died in vain-that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom,- and that Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish for the earth.’

Thursday, November 15, 2007

From the Office of the.......Scientist

To all members of the Midwest,

It is now
-officially-
too cold to run errands without
a coat on.

This decision has been arrived at after
much observation, experiment and deduction.
We have now entered the phrase
of taking ten minutes to bundled up
before leaving the house for five minutes.

Please heed this warning!!!

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Facing the Gaints...

Best scene in the movie!


All right, Who's next?

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Douglas Bond

A couple of years ago,
I found a series of Books by Douglas Bond.


They are about the M'Kethe family
who are Scottish Covenanters.
They fight for 'the King and Kirk'
translated from the Scotch that means:
Jesus Christ and his church.

At the end of the series,
because of persecution and
the death of a beloved family member
the M'Kethes emigrate to America.

The series ended in '05
and I was sorry that I couldn't
look forward to any more installments.

This spring,
Douglas Bond published the first book
in the Faith and Freedom trilogy.


It's picks up the story of the M'Kethes
in America almost 100 years later.

I must admit the story didn't
intrigue me as much as the first three did,
BUT....
there was a chapter that almost made me cry...
And as that is rather difficult to do,
I thought I'd share it with you
and see what ya'll thought.

Unfortunately,
it's very long all typed up
so I cut and pieced some of it together,
if you want or have the time to read it:)

The background of the chapter
is that Ian and his family have just
heard Jonathon Edwards preach
Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God.
Which if you haven't read
-and have the time-
you can follow the link
and read it.

But without further ado,
here are excerpts of the chapter....
It's will be pasted together
so it might not make total sense...

EDIT:After trying to post, blogger's not allowing it
so it must be too long,
so look in the post below for the quote




The Quote!!

“I have never been more terrified, Grandfather, I could feel the flames.”


“Aye, Lad. Feel the flames,’ said his grandfather, “Most young men’s problem, Ian, is that they donnae feel the flames. Young men think so much of their strength and enjoyments of the world that they’re in sore danger of becoming, as one great divine had it, “Sermon proof and sickness proof.”


‘All this is very good, lad,’ said his grandfather. ‘It is the spirit of God graciously doing a law work

in yer heart, What must ye do? There is but one thing, lad. Jesus, alone, stands ready to save ye.

‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved,’ says the Word of Christ. It doesnae say be baptized as an infant, live a mortal life, have a form of religion. It says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It says “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.’


‘But I thought I believed all this,’ said Ian. “so why then do I feel as I do?”

‘So ye do, lad, but ye cannae have it both ways. Israel believed in God but made the mistake of seeking all in the corn and wine of present happiness. Ye must be like Jacob to Pharaoh when he said, ‘ I am a stranger, and a sojourner’ in Egypt. Ye too must be a pilgrim, a stranger in this country if ye would be a Christian, ye must be like Moses who chose ‘rather to suffer affliction with the people of God then to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.’ Like him ye must forsake Egypt, lad, and seek a heavenly country. Ye must seek first Christ’s Kingdom and righteousness.

Ye see, lad, believing on Jesus Christ means seeking him alone, hoping in him alone, living in him alone, worshipping him alone. Israel wanted to believe in God and worship idols; she wanted to believe in God but seek happiness in the things of Canaan.So we in New England are in danger of trusting in the work of our own hands, of pitching our hopes on our own prosperity.


And I’m thinking ye do the same, lad. But ye cannae have it both ways. Ye must in all things seek heavenly happiness and so ye must walk in the way that leads to heaven, the way of holiness. And Ye must ken that the land ye are traveling through on this pilgrimage is a wilderness, just as the lands west are untamed and wild, with mountains, rocks and rough places, so the way of holiness is an ascending way that requires effort and strength, self-denial, and determination. And such a road ye must begin early and throughout yer life bend all yer strength, pressing on toward heaven. Ye see, lad, the way of holiness must be your first concern; its destination-heaven- must be ever in yer thoughts. Ye muct hunger and thirst after righteousness, reaching forward, pressing onward ‘toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.’


‘And here lies the test. All other concern of life must be entirely, subordinate to the aim of getting to yer journey’s end. All temporal enjoyments: money, gifts, ambitions must be employed as mere helps along the journey. So often these things clog and hinder a man in his journey and he comes to seek first these fading baubles that lie all about us here in self-reliant Connecticut. But donnae do that , lad. Anything that clogs and hinders ye on the way, ye must leave off then and there. Thus, lad, in all yer eating and drinking, talking and laughing, buying and selling, in whatever business ye are setting about, ye must ask yerself if it will forward ye on yer way to heaven. And if not, ye must quit all and press on in the strength of Christ yer Redeemer and his blessed Holy Spirit.”


As Ian listened, he thought how much his grandfather sounded like Mr. Edwards and how much both of their words sounded like the words of the Bible. And with those words he felt for the first time his heart awakened to his sinfulness and peril, like never before his longing for Christ and Salvation inflamed, his fears assuaged, and his desire for heaven so keen that it cut his soul as with a knife.


“God made ye for himself,” continued the old man, “and he made ye for heaven. Here in the wilderness ye must glorify and enjoy God, but ye only do so in a most imperfect manner. Aye, but in heaven ye will do all perfectly, because God made ye for heaven. So ye must daily grow in the way to heaven, to the knowledge of Christ, to the beauty of Christ, and to the Excellency of divine things.

Ye see, lad, God is the highest good of reasonable creatures, of these made in God’s image. And the good things of this world are but scattered beams of heaven, but God is the Sun. these are but Streams, but God is the fountain. These are but drops, but God is the ocean. God orders the sun to shine, the clouds and thunder and rain, the wonder of planting and harvesting, civil government, family joys and sorrows, even war- he orders all that he might lead us to heaven. Therefore Ian seek first God’s Kingdom and ye will find yer proper end: Salvation, holiness, happiness and heaven.”

Thursday, November 1, 2007

K-K-Katie...the only girl that I adore!

My big sister is having a birthday today.
This One:
Isn't she Pretty?
She's a sister in a million, one of the best.
She's very talented,
with her violin and the computer (among other things)
Everybody depends on her because she doesn't let them down.
She's even willing to dress up, because her little sister asks her too:


She helps us with our sewing, our computers, the internet,
especially in confusing places such as ebay :)
She laughs with us, and at us, and we laugh at her-all in all it's a good deal!
Love you!
And Happy Birthday, m'dear!

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Beautiful Songs....

Some songs are simply beautiful.
Either the melody is inspiring or the lyrics are meaningful,
but sometimes songs are both.
Sarah Beth enjoys us singing her songs before she sleeps,
so Mom and I usually sing 'Jesus Loves Me'
It's incredibly cute when she sings along.
But last night we sang abother song as well.
And this song is about someone beautiful
so maybe that's another reason it is so beautiful....
Jesus, Name Above All Names
Beautiful Savior Glorious Lord
Emmanuel God is with Us
Blessed Redeemer Living Word
Jesus, Name Above All Names
Sweet Rose of Sharon Prince of Peace
The Alpha and the Omega
Lion of Judah soon Coming King
Holy One Alpha Omega
Linege of David Bright Morning Star
Messiah Seed of Abraham
Son of the Living God Jubilee
Prince of Peace Wonderful Counselor
Almighty God is He Jesus is Lord
Master Son of God was He
The Good Sheperd Deity

Monday, October 29, 2007

St. Crispin's Day!

Joe is doing this speech for Forensics.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Pictures!!

Erica- via Audrey- sent me a lovely CD simply STUFFED with fun pictures. I couldn't keep them to myself so here are several! They are all from the fun time Susie, Lydia and I had at the Wood's House in June. Actually there are several fun ones so there might have to be part 1. part 2 and so forth:)
The first picture and the one above we took while we were riding on a wagon, drawn by two beautiful big Clydesdale(?) horses.
Aud and I in our Buddy Pictures


Susie on one of the Clyds, at least I think that's what they were, can't remember.
And I also can't remember if the horse she's on is Jessi or Candy or if those even are the appropriate names. I think we need name tags for the horses :)
But aren't they HUGE?? But so gentle and fun to ride
Oh, and Lydia got really annoying one night, so Erica tied her up.
More to come, more to come....

Guess movie quote of the week:
(KID)A book?
(OLDER PERSON) That's right. When I was your age, television was called
books. And this is a special book. It was the book my father used
to read to me when I was sick, and I used to
read it to your father. And today I'm gonna read it to you.
Ok, who's talking and what's the movie?

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Pride and Prejudice

Lydia and I got to go to a play of Pride & Prejudice way out in Indiana last weekend. It was lots of fun! The play wasn't very close to the book, but I enjoyed it. The set and costumes were AMAZING! Apparently they have a costume designing class and they assign each student to a main character and that student does research and makes the costume to fit the actor/actress!

Here's some pictures: The play ones are VERY yellow. Flash photography wasn't allowed

Here's the stage. The center is the Bennet Home. Stage Right is Aunt Gardnier's house and stage left is Rosings Park.

Here are, well actually you can probably Guess!!This guy was hilarious! That's Lizzy hiding behind him. During the proposal scene, he grabs some flowers out of a vase and tries to give them to her. After she lives he starts 'plucking' the flowers, "She Loves Me! She Loves Me!"

Here's Caroline Bingley. An AMAZING actress. She was Anne Sullivan in the Miracle Worker. We got to meet and talk with her the next day. She was friendly and very nice. The play isn't completely faithful to the book and the play writer add a scene where Caroline comes to see Jane in London and is VERY cruel, the scene was acted so well.

Ok, here's the only picture I have of Lizzy and Darcy. This is during the first proposal.
Here's Aunt Gardiner and Jane. Again the costumes were so fun and neat. This Jane did a very good job with character, she was sweet but not boring :)So that's a taste of what it was like! I had a lot of fun!
They did a lot with colors, esp. for Darcy. In the first scenes he is in black but by the end he is in much brighter colors. (I didn't notice it, but Jake told us) At the end he and Lizzy match as do Jane and Bingley.

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Courage


"Courage is not simply
one of the virtues,
But the form of Every Virtue
at the testing point."
-C.S. Lewis


Thursday, October 4, 2007

"Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget." -- G. Randolf



Some people on Myspace and such places have
thousands of friends- I prefer my little circle:


Especially Molly!!


"True happiness
Consists not in the multitude of Friends,
But in the worth and Choice."
-Ben Jonson

Sunday, September 30, 2007

God Bless the World Dairy Expo!!

The One-and-Only Audrey Wood is coming!!


Yippee!!

Sunday, September 23, 2007

The War


Ken Burns -the famous documentary producer-
is premiering his FIFTEEN hour-long movie
about WW 2 tonight.

I can't wait till it come out on DVD.
It will make my birthday wish list for sure
(although I don't know anyone who has $130.00
to spend on a Sister's present!)

Friday, September 21, 2007

The "Udder" Fair

Just some snapshots of the fun -and terror- that we had at Platteville Dairy Days.



Sarah rode on her first Merry-Go-Round, or was it a carousel??

Anyways she had fun, especially with the up and down part.

Doesn't she have a handsome Escort?







Luke took Sarah down the Slide.
She might look a litte apprehensive, but she liked it


It's actually very relaxing to be spun around like a top.


Your legs aren't holding you up, the momentum is, it's VERY fun.



And now for the SCARY part-hide the Children! they might want to try it!


Here Lydia and I, we were so innocent and unsuspecting...



The point of this ride is to take you far up into the sky in a rocking cage...



and then drop you -face first if you flip the cage- down about one hundred feet, with only a bar holding you to your seat. See Susie's Hair?



WARNING! This ride is not for the children, the faint of Heart, or the faint of Stomach.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Liberty



The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"



Saturday, September 15, 2007

Pizza!

"If I had my way I'd be back in New Jersey eating Pizza."


Pizza is the All-American food!

But here's a question that popped into my head tonight.

Do you eat your pizza with a fork or by hand? Please comment!


One more quote:

" 'You look like Yanks.

You sound like Yanks,

but are you really Yanks?'


'What do you want?

The scores from the World Series?

Grab your stuff and let's get out of here'


'Yup, you're Yanks.' "


That one really cracks me up for some reason!!

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

May I borrow your brain for a moment?

'I not only use all the brains I have, but all that I can borrow.'
-Woodrow Wilson.

I've registered to take my first CLEP class. This is new territory for me, uncharted waters as it were, and I'm not the adventurous type. So Mom's encouraging me, and I'm studying history! History, I know I cheated a little by choosing that for the first test, but would you rather I started with algebra?

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

The Magnolia Tree

Knight Judah's favorite place to play this summer:
If he wasn't in the pool,
you could be sure he was in the Tree.
Because of the gallons of rain that have
been dumped on the Hilltop,
outside play time has been
practically non-existant.
But with a sunny day,
the Knight's back in the magnolia tree,

And enjoying every minute!

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Fun With Liberty

Here's one of my favorite trip pictures: Lady Faith and I on the
Ferry around Ellis Island
and the Statue of Liberty.
Here's me with Lady Liberty.

Here' s what the Princess and her Knight
looked like for most of the trip.She loved the water. She wanted to go swimming in it.
'Pwash, pwash?!' she'd ask.
Notice his shirt? He was lonely amid the sea of blue
known as Yankees Fans.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Precious in Pink

The Princess heads off to a wedding reception on Saturday.


Wearing a new dress


See the fluffy cuffs? They were her favorite part of the Dress
Her escort: Knight Judah

Gallant is he not?

And now she says farewell...

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Raindrops on Roses....

Rain is in the forecast for a week
here at Hilltop Palace.
I enjoy a thunderstorm, but
dreary weather day and night
is not my favorite,
I feel cold in my very bones then.
I had an opportunity to stay at home
with just Sarah today and she quickly fell asleep.
So I sat and watched
the rain cloud up the big windows and I remembered a poem I read
a long time ago in my school readers:

I Saw God Wash The World
by: William L. Stidger

I saw God wash the world last night
With his sweet showers on high,
And then, when morning came, I saw
Him hang it out to dry.

He washed each tiny blade of grass
And every trembling tree;
He flung his showers against the hill,
And swept the billowing sea.

The white rose is a cleaner white,
The red rose is more red,
Since God washed every fragrant face
And put them all to bed.

There's not a bird, there's not a bee
That wings along the way
But is a cleaner bird and bee
Than it was yesterday.

I saw God wash the world last night.
Ah, would He had washed me
As clean of all my dust and dirt
As that old white birch tree.


God is giving us a good washing this week,
preparing us for something awesome
and next week he'll hanging us out to dry

Friday, August 17, 2007

The Little Princess, the Big Helper

Princess helped me sort and fold the costumes left in our living room
since filming the Skits and Camp. I needed
a large duffel to carry all the clothes in. The Princess decided it would make a better carriage.


She is also looking into having all her hats fashioned
after this one that she found in the piles.
What do you think?