Priceless gifts under the tree!

Paulson- Wentzell gifts to be displayed on Nanny's Little blessings. (see my link. To view that site, just ask me and get me your e-mail. If we know you, we'll sign you up!)

Christmas Trees

Reason # 6
I love the trees. My tree is not just a fancy decoration, it's a display of heartwarming memories.

Many of the angels came from my mom, the pictures of the girls, the crochet Mr. and Mrs. Santa that our dear Aunt Connie made us. The "joy" pillow, a gift from a very special director, who saw how much I loved it at the church boutique when I was too broke to be able to buy such things. The unique and beautiful ornaments Rosie brought me back from her travels, The special treasures from Sarah, and the list goes on.

The Gift of Giving

I sort of messed up on my list of "Reasons I love Christmas", because I keep going back to the the Carols.

We'll call this reason # 5

Finding just the right gift for just the right person!

For those you love, AND for those who are so needy that the love of Christ compels you.

I have a little girl in my class who is currently suffering with a brain tumor. A poor family, Spanish speaking, hard working, full of faith and struggling with the constant visits to Children's Hospital. (without a car)

Sweet, respectful, and eager to smile, Jasmine has touched many hearts.

Please send up a prayer for her. I told the mother I'd be praying and she cried and thanked me.

I told another teacher about her, and her son, (I think about 12 years old,) went out and bought some Christmas gifts for her!

That's another reason I love Christmas!

Joy to the World

While feeling sort of stressed out with all I had to do, I suddenly heard this Carol:

"Joy to the world, the Lord Has Come,

Let Earth receive her King;

Let every heart, prepare Him room,

And Heaven and nature sing,

And Heaven and nature sing,

And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing."

And it just gets better- the song's stanza's, that is.

Go there, not to all the stress factors- Look up and see if you can imagine that first Christmas when the whole of a midnight sky was torn apart by a MULTITUDE of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST,

AND ON EARTH PEACE, GOODWILL TOWARD MEN.

Think of it: multitude. hosts.

That's all I have to say about that. Except for this. That's why I love angels on my tree.

Joy

Reason # 3 of why I love Christmas:

The joy you can bring to others by bringing cookies, giving food and a prayer to the needy at the Church food bank, giving a call, singing, even just saying, "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Hanukkah!"

I did the best thing I could, and it got me out of a bad holiday funk. I went with my group to the convalescent home and sang carols. Sweet old women were crying and laughing over hearing those tunes. Many joined in. We gave them each a pair of rolled up socks tied in a bow with a little card attached.

When I went I was stressed, when I was done, I was humbled. And blessed. And I got back in touch with the true meaning of Christmas.

JOY TO THE WORLD, THE LORD HAS COME- LET EARTH RECEIVE HER KING!

Christmas

Reason 2: ( really more of reason 1)

'The Little Drummer Boy" and the poverty of Spirit it represents- which leads to a richness of Love.

And the sweetness of children entering in and giving their best gifts- the gifts of their talents, love and efforts!

Maybe that's why I love homemade gifts.

The Thrill of Hope...

Why I love Christmas:

Reason # 1 - the power of the Carols to re-connect me with the Wonderful Gift of God in Jesus's coming.

"The thrill of hope, a weary world rejoices,

for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn;

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel's voices-

O night divine, O night, when Christ was born."

"How silently, how silently- the wondrous gift was given,

So, God imparts to human hearts, the wonders of His heaven.

We hear the Christmas angels, their great glad tidings tell,

O come to us, abide in us, Our Lord, Emmanuel."

Happy Thanksgiving to All

Happy Thanksgiving everybody out there!
I thank God for all of the good that comes out of this cyberspace-world. I thank God for being able to see pictures of my grand babies and hear from family and friends. And for all my many readers- both real and imaginary. ( only kidding, no really)
And for my daughter setting me up on this. And for food and health and a new dryer. And vehicles and a JOB!
I thank God that my grandchildren have such caring and competent parents, so that I don't have to worry as so many do.
And I thank God for my and for their health- such a precious gift. I thank God for my family, for the beautiful climate I enjoy, and so much more.
And I thank God for God. A God who is there with His comfort and love even when some of these other blessings are taken away. For a God who so related with our pain and failures that He became flesh and dwelt among us. I thank Him that as I worship Him, I too behold His Glory, and receive grace upon grace. And it makes me fall in love with Him more!

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
V. 16-17 And of His fulness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the Law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

We went to the zoo!

I loved it! This video was a favorite of Selah's. We all agreed that it was, "A very unpleasant sound." ( for the best effect, imagine Selah's little pixie voice saying that slowly and distinctly.)
I went a little crazy with the photos, but am taking more time than I can afford to download this one pathetic little scene. I hope that their noise comes out- it was so strange. At one point they were carrying on with constant shrieks. Turns out it was only their lunchtime cries of anticipation. Talk about overreacting!!!
It was great to be with Rosie and the 2 little ones!. I LOVE THEM!

November's Journey.

Well, in an attempt to not become totally obsolete, I am forcing myself to inform anyone who might care and has not been swallowed up by that newfangled invention- FACE BOOK- about my current journey.

I went from my best class in 18 years in 4th grade to the "Kindergarten from Hell," (spoken by one with 9 previous years of Kinder experience in a very hard area) in a month.

And yet, I felt like God had ordained it for something really good for me. Well, it was good for my seeing some personal progress. Even though I didn't do it perfectly, as I did put in some time for groaning and complaining, I was able to be gentle and kind in lowering the boom on the little, wild, um, how-do-you-say, monkeys. I swear, God makes them so darn cute for a reason. It's so that they survive.

After many parent communications, new, creative forms of time outs and multiple compliments and rewards when they were caught LISTENING, walking, and staying where they were supposed to be- my little class began to emerge as teachable.

I have to say that I was blessed with an amazing assistant for almost 1/2 of the day, and the teacher whose class I was given was there as a "floater," and was also constantly involved in the clay forming process as she was able.

So, after 2 and 1/2 weeks, the higher powers said,"Okay, we can re-open first grade.

And they did. And I took it. I took it, leaving the former teacher with a smaller and better class.

( The extra kids from the Kinder they closed were sent back to their jungle- oops, I mean other class with a teacher with different standards....)

And I ended up with that which God had promised, A REALLY GOOD first grade class.

I am in awe. I don't know how I could get 2 such classes in 1 year.

The transition was exhausting and wore me out, but the light is shining already.

And I carry a deeper sense of His working in all things, forming something of His character in us- forging something in the dark to be used for the Light.

Double Bumped

Well, I was teaching 4th grade, but then we didn't get enough kids to justify the 5 4th grade classrooms. So I was chosen, the excuse was that I have the least seniority of them all, to go to Kindergarten. At which point my work and home computers both died. And I began moving all my stuff and entering a tiny and very undisciplined world where normal 1 minute activities take 15 and simple directions often need to be mimed. And I got the classroom which has the bathroom for the other Kinders to come through all day long. Did I mention that many of them don't speak English?
So project training began. I had great help- for which I am very grateful. But I have been exhausted and bummed.
So, after all of that, we found out that we can bring back the Kinder's original teacher- who has been a "Floater" and in and out of my room testing. She is sweet, patient, and bi-lingual. The title is actually wrong- I didn't get double bumped, I volunteered to take the re-opened 1st grade and give Mrs. "Mary-Poppins" Falcon her class back. While I have to move again, I will be getting a much better class, without a public bathroom, and children who are already, in part, trained.
I also have been told that they are a really good group and I will be working with an awesome 1st grade teacher-team.
It feels like Joseph, finally getting out of prison-and entering into a place of leadership and blessing. I hope my feelings are right.
This morning I read, "Don't grow weary in doing what is good." I needed that- it's getting tiring. But, one day I hope to get this message right: I CANT COMPLAIN!
I have a job, a great school, beautiful grand babies with great parents, and so much more!

Rose's shower

Rosie's shower with her Quaker friends and a few of us from her housing was very fun!~
Did I mention that the lady who owns this beautiful place was once a pilot and loves rabbits. Her house is extremely clean though- they're house trained. The big grayish pillow in the one ladies' lap is one of them!
That scene is out of her living room window. Her backyard is just gorgeous, with a large meadow behind.

Rosie's Shower!

It was really a delightful affair! It was so comfortable and fun! There was delicious finger foods, chicken wings, vegetables, humus, dips and fruit., and more.
But what stands out was the warmth and friendliness of these virtual strangers to me and to those of us who didn't know these lovely ladies before. I ended up just loving Barbara, and the rest of them. No wonder they're called the "Friends."

I almost forgot I had a camera- and at one point I got to hold the star- little Isai, which was so precious, so between eating and holding, I think I just had too much fun.
They were also very generous! And they love Rosie! Of course!! A very gracious bunch of ladies.

100 Year Reunion

Really it was just a Mudugno/Fusano family reunion, which we've not had with all of my Dad's extended Italian family in a long time. But at the planning committee, my Dad pointed out that it is, indeed the 100 year anniversary of my grandpa's (Papanan) arrival to the USA.
This is not my usual kind of post- just that I'm excited to see everyone and it's been fun working with a group of cousins on it.
I wonder what we've done to make America a better place.
I think the thicker skin, the ability to laugh at our own ethnicity and the humor has been a boon. We are not a needy special interest group. Maybe not so interesting to many- period. But "thatsa alrighta" Cause we like ourselves.
On a more serious note, I grew up listening to my Nana pray, and when she was old, she told me once, " I worry about the kids, that they don'ta know God. I pray that they know God every daya."
Okay, so my accent isn't so great, but it really impacted me. So I feel like those of us who DO know God have a legacy, and a responsibility to pray for our cousins, nieces, nephews, etc., so that Nana's prayers will be fulfilled.

In Revelation, it talks about "golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints." Rev. 4:8
Then again, "... Another angel.. came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar , which was before the throne.
An the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God.
Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth." Rev. 8:3-5
May we fill up the bowls in heaven with our prayers for our loved ones, knowing that they go before God! And may we see His kingdom come and His will be done as the filled bowls get ignited with the fire from heaven and comes down to earth.

In My Backyard

I have a garden in my backyard. I sit on the porch and listen to the chorus of birds, the occasional rooster crowing and far off dog. And I meet with God. I love to sit there.
But my meditations were interrupted by any interesing scene the other day.
And I decided I have a new pet. I've named him Napoleon.
Napoleon is one of many sparrows that come and eat at my bird feeder. I'm happy to say, after many weeks of being absent, they still come, shortly after I refill the feeder.
And then the adorable little leader, Napoleon, lands and proceeds to spin and peck and chirp in the loudest possible chirp for it's tiny size at any other sparrow that tries to land on that feeder.
Eventually, I think he gets hungry enough to ignore a few that sidle their way discreetly down the chain and allows them to eat while he's eating. You really can't eat and guard at the same time, and I'm sure he must tire of his selfish game at times.
But even then, he'll make a surprse attack on any other tiny creature brazen enough to try to make a frontal attack on "his" food. How adorable! (Yes, my tongue is in my cheek)

In the one picture I am holding a feather. While sitting, reading and feeling God's Peace, I saw a feather float from the tree straight to me, sitting in my chair. I just reached out, opened my hand, and it settled. I don't have a great analogy for what it means, but it was really cool.
I really love my backyard!

Hiking above Flagstaff!

I took Selah and went with a friend of Rosie's, and now mine, Uli on a hike at the area called the Snowbowl. There are many beautiful trails up there. And this one was pretty much level, allowing us to get pretty far with a very curious 2 year old. Maybe over 1/2 mile!
But we saw every bee, bug, spider web, and interesting rock there was along that path!

Looked up, and down.

We explored the insides of anything that was hollow-ish!

Got up close views of every kind of flower that we loved.

And walked on every accessible fallen log as well!

My LATEST grandchild:Isai!

Esai Leal! Born Aug. 14, exactly one month after his cousin Miles. ( I already accidentally called him that once!)
But he is beautiful, as you can see, and very quiet. He looks around a lot, doesn't cry much. Loves to eat. Good baby!
His sister adores him, wants to hold him, and "pet it" a lot. She noticed today that his eyes "came out" Momma explained that they opened. We love him!

Go to"Grandkids are the best"

I have just taken over an hour to get a 1 and 1/2 minute video posted on my other blog. Ideally, it was to be all about my grandkids, leaving this one to my other, adult life.
I know, the two have meshed.
But I really love the last video, and recommend it and that site to all of the Tate/ Paulson baby fans. Just look to the right of this and find "Grandkids are the Best" under the list of links. Click on it for a little fun.
I'm currently getting ready to go welcome grandbaby number 6 in Arizona. Part of the prep. is to clear out my camera to make room for the new arrival.
How's that for a boring post?

My newest Grandson!

Here he is-not even a week old- Miles Bradley. He was a big baby at over 8lb., but is so tiny, so light and delicate. Already has a good back arch, though. And a nice healthy cry!
I think it's because we're used to baby Jack- who, at 2, is now a big brother!

Camp Maranatha & 4th of July Parade- last deposit

The other title for this post could be, "Why most of the posts don't have videos in them-THEY TAKE TOO LONG TO UPLOAD!"




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The Glaciers

Glacier bay was a bit disappointing at first because of my memory of it from 35 years ago, when I only caught the tail end as we were pulling out. (Just ask Marlene why...)
But as we traversed it, some other glaciers in their enormity, and the sun breaking through, gave off the brilliant blue water reflecting blue sky reflecting white ice with occasional crashes and streaks of a surreal bright blue as streaks of underwater and over water streams showed through.
The picture of the waterfall gushing out of the middle of this glacier was incredible. It was at least 2 stories high and gushed out with force.

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There were seal sightings at the glacier, but I didn't see them, so you get the ones on the bouy from the whale watching trip. I think bouys have a chain across the world for seal resting, sort of like Starbucks for people.

Happy Fourth

The bagpipe band in the Idyllwild parade was at the top of the audio treats. They were awesome!

Alaskan Animals

Having just gotten back from Alaska, and wanting to share some of my 300-something pictures, I was overwhelmed as to where to start. So I decided on the animals.
Every land excursion offered included a lure of seeing one or more of these animals.
I was able to see many of them, some on the ship.
I will start with the American Bald eagle. Part of this set is dedicated to my grandson Jack, who likes his animals in familial sets.
So, I have Mommy eagle, and baby eagle. It is in it's eagle nest,peering over.
The flying one is harder to distinguish, but I'm pretty sure that it's Daddy eagle.



Guess which bear is real?
Really, real bears wandering along the coastline while searching for fish are hard to see. Especially from 3-9 stories up in an Ocean Liner. It's like the sighting of the Pope in St. Peter's square. He is actually about 1/4" from the distance we're at. But believe me, that brown spot moved!!! I think I have a better picture, when I blew it up, you could actually see the whole outline of A BEAR!!!



The whale sightings can't be done a service here, because of the fact that they are so far away and it just seems like puffs of steam. But the sound and the size, when on the water, are inspiring, to say the least. We saw a few "breaching." This is when they leap out of the water, displaying their vast selves and then land with a loud crash. It is truly awe inspiring, but happens pretty fast, and so is hard to catch on film.


And last,but not least- the Towel Creatures!

Fisherman' Wharf

Honestly, I don't know exactly which day we went to the beach, but these are from Rosie's Birthday beach week. It was so good to have Justin. Selah loved looking at the crabs and the birds, of course.