Christmas Pics

I'm finally getting around to posting a couple of pictures from Christmas.

We don't usually dress up very much on Christmas day, but we go to the Lessons and Carols service at church and dress up for that.

And I just had to add a picture of my baby. I'm proud to announce that she has gained 2 oz since coming home 2 weeks ago. I've shortened her name to Mrs. Tiggles, or just plain Tiggles. It's much easier to say than Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, although I do still use her full name sometimes.

I hope you all continue to have a blessed "Holy"day!

Tiffany

The Wit and Wisdom of C.S. Lewis

"There's nothing to beat good freshwater fish

if you eat it when it has been alive half

an hour ago and has come out of the pan

half a minute ago."

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

C.S. Lewis

Happy Christmas!

Enjoy this wonderful time of year!

May the Lord bless you this day.

Tiffany

It's all so Conducive!

I was approached by the director of our school play this year to be the costume coordinator for "Anne of Green Gables". I will be in charge of finding costumes for everyone and keeping track of them.

We cast the play right before we went on break, and I'm so excited about the actress we have playing Anne. She's perfect!

I'm so excited! The director is allowing me to have free reign to pick out the costumes. True, I have no budget, but it'll be fun to do anyway!

I'll try to keep you updated as we go along!

Tiffany

The Official Announcement

Let me introduce you to Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle!

She arrived in our arms on Thursday afternoon and has endeared herself in everyone's hearts.

When she gets upset she becomes a very prickly ball,

but it usually doesn't take her too long before she goes back into the adorable little house Shannon made for her.

Congratulations to all you who guessed a hedgehog! Now you just have to stop by to see her. ;-)



Tiffany

A bit of thinking

Last night with our "new arrival" showed me that I might not be that calm new mother that I was expecting. I decided not to have the "new arrival" sleep in my room because she's nocturnal, but I found myself waking up and wondering if she was warm. I went to check on her at least twice before I officially got up.

Now I'm at school and really trying to resist the temptation to call Shannon and make sure everything is all right.

Hmmm, this is more nerve-wracking than I thought it would be. :-/

Tiffany

Watch for the official announcement tonight. :-D

A hint

It's a little girl. She's about eight weeks old. She has a very

friendly personality. Her adorable nose compensates for her prickles

.

She's just about to wake up.

Any ideas?

Tiffany

I'll let you guess

There will soon be a

new arrival in our house.

Can you guess what (or who) it is?

Better Late Than Never

Well, at least I'm here, even if it is a little late. I still have plenty to be thankful for and didn't want to not write them down.


There are some things that I'm thankful for in different ways.

~My parents. I've talked about them as a group in "family" then I've talked about them individually. But together, I thankful that they had the courage to keep us home and homeschool us. Now if you talked to them about it they would tell you that to them, there had just been no other choice. But I appreciate that they continued through all 12+ years.

~School. I realize I am so blessed to be able to work in a place where I am still working under my father's authority.

~School again. I am thankful for a place that understands that a women's first calling is to be a wife and mother, and they rejoice with those who are. We just found out our P.E. teacher is having a baby in June. That means she'll be about 7 months along by the time we get out of school. Possibly to far along to teach P.E. But the administrators have been nothing but celebratory about the baby. (Now I'm sure they are talking behind closed doors about what to do, but we have heard nothing of it.)

~School again, again. My fellow teachers that I have met and made friends with here. I have met some truly great women of God and am able to be under their tutelege here.

~School again, again, again. The drama department here has been such a blessing. I left college getting ready to teach 3rd grade and thinking I was giving up my desire to be involved in drama. Then the drama director here asked me to help her cast and do the make-up for the play "Alice in Wonderland". What a wonderful (and growing!) experience.

So again, pretend it's last Friday and I have just posted my 5 thankful things in a timely manner. :-D

Tiffany

Let's Pretend.....

.....it's Thanksgiving Day. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, but by the time the guests left, I was exhausted. I went to bed before I posted.

So here are my 5 things for Thursday:

~Going to England: We (Shannon, Mom, and I) are going on a costume tour of London with a few days in Bath for the Jane Austen Festival. I am so excited!

~Tutoring Tobi: I did not agree to this trip without some financial agonizing. I would be able to afford it, but was it a wise thing to do. My parents counseled me to go, that it would be a wonderful thing to do with Mom and Shannon. So I made the decision and decided to go. Then a couple of weeks ago, the headmistress at school talked to me about tutoring one of the students during the regular Latin hour. It is after I usually am done teaching so I will be payed as a tutor and not a teacher. On top of that, this young man was in my 3rd grade class two years ago, so I already know him and his learning type (he's mildly austistic). With this, I will earn enough to cover the main tour! I am so thankful for this provision.

~Enough to eat. We over prepared for Thanksgiving. We have tons of food left over...and that's after sending enough home with our friends for them to get another meal (there are 8 of them) out of. So many people are going hungry today that it makes me grateful to be able to eat.

~The Pilgrims. This is the day we celebrate the feast that the Pilgrims had with the Indians. As grateful as I am for that, I am so much more grateful for their courage to leave their country and their jobs in order to secure a place of religious freedom.

~Our country. I have been reading "The Light and the Glory" and have been struck on almost each page how God has directed our country and given us this wonderful land where we are free to worship Him.

Happy Thanksgiving! (even if it is a little late :-)

Tiffany

The Night before Thanksgiving and All Through the House....

Everyone was stirring, even the mouse!

We are in the full swing of getting ready for our Thanksgiving guests. We are having a family of 8 come over. The perfect thanksgiving size. It is my firm belief that you have to have a big crowd for a proper Thanksgiving Day.

Here is my list for today:

~I know I said my family before, but I want to specify my mom. She is such a sweet, loving, willing to listen Mother. I truly feel like I could go to her with anything and she would be willing to listen and give advice. I treasure my mother.

~Again, singling out my sister. How do you describe someone who understands you perfectly and compliments you so well. I love her with all my heart.

~ My dad. I am so blessed to have a father who is intelligent, witty, a good teacher and who loves the Lord. I am so thankful for his training as I've grown up, particularly as to having a Christian world view.

~ My love for books. Seeing how much I love reading now, it's hard to believe that I didn't start out loving to read. But I didn't fall in love with it until I was eight (don't laugh! In our family that is late. Shannon was reading voraciously by 6.) and read "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe". I actually just finished putting away the books I got at the library book sale.

~ Acting. I am so thankful that I love acting. This is another thing I almost missed out on, except it was obviously in the Lord's plan. In my junior year in high school, we started attending a homeschool writing club, Awesome Author's Association. They did a play every year. That year they did "The Wind in the Willows." Well, I really wanted to be in it, but rehearsals were pretty far away and we thought it was just a run-of-the-mill homeschool drama group. But we did volunteer to provide the intermission music. So we went to the performance and found out that this was anything but a run-of-the-mill group. They were good! They were really good! So the next year Shannon and I auditioned and were cast in "Cheaper by the Dozen". I played Mother and loved it! I've been in love ever since. I have been in many things, but have never been paid for an acting job. But I have received my first paying acting job and will begin rehearsals in the new year. I am so thankful for this new opportunity to earn money!

Alright, now for the actual Thanksgiving Day! See you then!

Tiffany

Overwhelmingly Thankful

So many more things to be thankful for. I think next year I might have to post 10 things each day.

I thank God for:
~ Parents who were willing to homeschool me all 12/13 years. I know they sacrificed time and energy to make sure that I had the best education, and I appreciate all of it!

~ A church where we are truly a family. Our family has not experienced that before and I am so grateful to have a church that truly demonstrates God's love.

~ All the children He has brought into my life. I have been babysitting/nannying for 13 years now and have loved (almost) every child I've babysat. Even the hard ones have been lovable in some area. One of them I watched grow up. I started nannying her when she was 7 months and she's about to turn 7. What a blessing for me to be able to watch a child grow up and learn things that will be so helpful should the Lord bless me with a husband and family one day. The children at school have also taught me so much. I love each and every one of them and am so thankful they are in my life.

~ For my job. I haven't always wanted to teach, in fact, I used to say I never wanted to teach. Boy has the Lord changed my heart. True, I don't have the freedom that I enjoyed last year. I can't just pick up and go when I see a conference that I want to go to (like this one), but I am learning so much. Just one of the benefits has been to get first hand contact with different curriculum. I have been able to cross some curriculum off my list and add some others. I have learned about different learning styles and teaching styles. I have learned how to teach Austistic children. I have learned how to recognize immediately when I child isn't feeling well, or something isn't right. Now, that's not all I've learned, but it's a good bit of it.

~ The ability to sew. Being 5' tall, short-waisted, and overly hourglass-shaped, I am not usually able to go into a store and pull things off a shelf that fit. Besides that, I don't usually want to pull something off the shelf in a store and put it on...to immodest. :-)


Oops, I put down six. Well, I'll just put that one on the post for tomorrow! ;-)

Tiffany

Here I Raise My Ebeneezer

Five things I'm thankful for:

1) God's love and care. This sounds so trite, but I am constantly amazed at what He has done and continues to do for me.

2) My family. Again, I know this is overused, but it is so true. I love my family and am so glad I was placed into this family.

3) The Word of God. How privileged we are to be able to have the teachings of Jesus in our hands; within reach when we need it. On the other hand, as thankful as I am for it, I do not show my thankfulness by spending enough time in it. I am thankful for the opportunity to correct that.

4) Friends. I am so thankful for the friends that God has given to me. So many of them are scattered all over and we are only able to communicate once in a while through e-mail, or when our parents talk, but I am so grateful to know that they are there.

5) Life. This might sound like another one of my "trite" thank-you's, but it's not. I was adopted, but before I was allowed to be adopted, my birth mother wanted an abortion. Actually she had it all set up and planned out. The whole story is too long to put here, but there are so many "thank you"s to be said, just here: my birth mother's boss, who showed her another way; to "Uncle" Steve and "Aunt" Beth, for their part in my wonderful story; to my parents, who were so willing to unexpectedly take in a baby (I was born 2 weeks before they were told I was due!); and most of all to the Lord Who orchestrated things in such a way that I look back and realized that it was only Him who could have put the right people in the right places for everything to work out so happily.



I could go on and on....Oh, wait, I will. Next 5 tomorrow!

What are you thankful for?

Tiffany

A fun Meme!

Shannon just posted this meme. It looked like so much fun that I considered myself tagged. :-)

Guidelines:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages): Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

2. Open to page 123.

3. Find the fifth sentence, which is: "'It must have been that,' said the King, 'unless it was written to nobody, which isn't usualy, you know.'"

4. Post the next three sentences:"'Whom is it directed to?' said one of the jury men."
"'It isn't directed at all,' said the White Rabbit; 'in fact, there's nothing writting on the outside.'"
"He unfolded the paper as he spoke, and added, 'It isn't a letter after all; it's a set of verses.'"

5. Tag five people.

I have way too many people to tag. If you like it, you're tagged!

Tiffany

btw, just in case you didn't figure it out, the scene is the court scene in the book.

Comforting Cards

I have been dealing with a cold for the past couple of days. The headmaster did warn me when I took a job teaching K4 that I would be sick most of the year. :-/ But when I saw these cards that Shannon made, I felt very comforted! At least it does not appear that I shall "give up the ghost" any time soon. :-)

Thank you, Shannon!

Tiffany

Too funny

As you may or may not know, I lived in England for 3 1/2 years and fell in love with the country. So when I found this announcement, I became rather excited!

Tiffany

Sorry for the faulty link. It should be fixed now.

God Bless the President!

Yes, the first thing I asked my dad this morning was, "Who won?" And yes he said, "Obama." But that doesn't mean that I don't want God to bless him.

Now I don't usually like to talk about politics on my blog (although, if we're in person....), however I want to point out that God allowed-wait, let me rephrase that- God ordained Obama to win this election. That's comforting to me.

I know that his election doesn't mean good things for America. I know that we all might be in a tight bind in the near future. I know that this could spell disaster.

However, I'm comforted to know that this is the man God has given America to lead us now. I'm not worried (truly!). We have an awesome (I don't use that word lightly. It means giving glory to God and that is the way I use it) God, who certainly knows what's best for us.

Does it mean that we as the church will be persecuted? Possibly. Does it mean that terrorists will have greater freedoms in our country? Maybe. Does it mean we will become a socialistic society? Probably.

But God will give us the grace to trust in Him and stay fast in Him. God has given us this president and so I say,

"God Bless the President!"

Tiffany

A Challenge

In our economy today (I'm thinking especially US with the upcoming election, but I know a lot of places are having a hard go of it) it is so easy to fall into the pattern of complaining and worrying instead of focusing on all the wonderful things that we do have.

During the week of Thanksgiving, I'm going to post five things a day that I'm grateful for. I think that it is so important for us to remember all that God has blessed us with.

So, I'm issuing a challenge: Will you all join me? If you don't feel like you can commit to five things a day, try at least to do one. I have a feeling that once we start counting our blessings things will come to mind that we hadn't thought of as a blessing before.

You can accept this challenge by commenting on my posts after I post my blessings, or by putting them on your blog.

Let's use this Thanksgiving season to truly remember all that God has done for us- past and present.

Tiffany

Exciting News!

I have loved the Sense and Sensibility patterns for years! I love the quality of the patterns. I adore the fit that they dresses give. And I appreciate the ease of putting the dresses together. I just plain old love these patterns.

However they just got better (if that's possible). Mrs. Chancey has scanned the Regency patterns and the Edwardian apron pattern (which is the best apron, ever!) and is now offering them as e-patterns.

I am so excited. I can't wait to get one! I bought the Simplicity version of the underpinnings, but have decided that I should've saved my money. You just can't beat the fit of the original patterns.

I highly recommend all of Mrs. Chancey's patterns, but why don't you join me and give the e-patterns a try!

Tiffany

Did you know....?

Did you know that right here in my own town we have our own pirate ship? It was discovered this morning at 9:33 on the grounds of Trinitas Christian School. The discovery was made by six young adventurers.

The ship consists of a main mast and the main body. The bright blue, red, and yellow paint was very well preserved.

It was discovered that these pirates were very advanced for their time. Off the mast evidence was found of three slides.

Near the sight was found a sandy patch. This patch is believed to have been used to make treasure maps, as evidences of "x" (although very wobbly ones-we haven't learned that letter yet) were found at the spot.

These young adventurers also learned that these pirates were fond of rescuing captured ladies. These adventurers plan on discovering all they can about these pirates over the next few days by reenacting all they can learn about them.

Be assured that we will bring you the latest breaking news on this discovery.

Tiffany


It's amazing what you can learn on the playground. :-)

WIFD Saturday-Last day :(

Today was an around the house type day. My list for the day was quite long:

~go to the local thrift store

~work on ball gown

~take pictures of and post two scarves to Etsy

~take pictures and post for WIFD

~rewrite a Bible test for Monday

So far, I've done pretty well. The thrift store stop was great today I got:

A turquoise shirt/sweater (my wardrobe is considerably lacking in the sweater department)

A new set of earrings (because I can always use those)

A set of four art deco style demitasse cups and saucers

And a couple of necklaces and a pin

The necklace on the right opens to reveal a perfume holder

So that was one thing crossed off my list for today.

Then Shannon and I worked on my ball gown and got it to a very satisfactory point.

I have posted the scarves and am now posting my picture for WIFD. This is my most comfortable Fall outfit. It's completely from Christopher and Banks. I love the color and the warmness of it. I actually have to watch myself because I could wear it everyday if I'm not careful. :-)

The scarf is now in my shop.

Now, I need to get off the internet so I can rewrite the Bible test, and I will have officially accomplished everything. Whew!

Tiffany

Wifdee Friday

The school where I teach changed the teachers' Friday uniforms this year. They got fabric and a pattern for each teacher. Five of the ladies don't sew, or don't sew well enough to make this dress. So Shannon and I were hired to make the dresses for these ladies. Shannon ended up doing most of the work and last night she finished the last one.

I was able to wear mine today for the first time and thought it was a great thing to put on the wifdee for today.

The other lady who wore hers today also wore pearls, so we decided that pearls should be the official jewelry of Fridays. :-)

Tiffany

How True It Is

"It is a very funny thing that the sleepier you are, the longer you take about getting to bed."

C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair

How true this is! I've been ready to go to bed for a couple of hours now, but I was working on posting wifdee. Now that I'm done, I'm having a hard time making myself get up and go to bed. Hmph!

Tiffany

Week In Feminine Dress

First of all, thank you to Shannon for posting my outfit yesterday. I really appreciate it!

Today our K4 and K5 classes went on a field trip to miniature horse farm. The dress code was jeans and a nice shirt, but I don't own a pair of jeans, so I went with a khaki skirt.

One of the mothers was kind enough to get a picture of me with one of the horses.

This is my youngest student with the mother of the horse I was with.

One of the little girls looked like she had ridden a horse all her life! She was so excited.

This is the little boy on the horse. As soon as he got on, he turned to me and said, "Now I'm a cowboy, Miss Rott!"

All together we had 19 students there with us today. Of course we had to get a group picture. :-)

I have to say that it was fun being "dressed up" while on the farm! The skirt I wore I made from the pattern Shannon mentioned here. I found the undershirt and over shirt right before our trip out west this year at a nearby thrift shop. The undershirt is a basic white knit shirt. But the over shirt is made out of a lightweight cotton embroidered fabric. It was one of my favorite outfits on the trip. I also bought the jewelry I'm wearing out west in the Indian territories.

Tiffany

I don't know why you can't click on the pictures. You'll just have to trust me that the little boy who is petting the horse is cute. :-)

I should have known

I see now that I should have expected something like this.

I mean, what else would a little boy bring to Show-and-Tell for the letter "C"?

I was expecting the cars, cards, and wooden coyote that the others brought.

But the crickets?

Now I know, next year, I need to expect a parent to walk in in the afternoon carrying an insect case filled with about 20 crickets.

Now I know.

Tiffany

Tag, You're It!

I was just tagged by Janna for the Six Random Things tag. Thanks, Janna! Now, down to business.

The Rules of the game are as follows:

• Link to the person who tagged you.
• Post the rules on your blog.
• Write Six Random Things about yourself.
• “Tag” six-or-so other people at the bottom of your post…
• …And leave comments on their blogs, letting them know they’ve been tagged.
• Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve written the post.

Six Random Things About Me (Tiffany)

1. I used to pretend to be Vanna White as my parent watched Wheel of Fortune. I used to dress up in my prettiest dress up clothes and stand to the side of the television and "turn" the letters with Vanna. I'm afraid my drama turn happened early. :-)

2. I have lived in 10 places in 26 years.

3. I adore drama. I truly and absolutely love everything about the drama process. I love the auditions (though I do get very nervous). I love the rehearsals, the costume fittings, the makeup, the hair. I don't know too much about the technical side of things, but I'm sure I would like them too.

4. I have a store on ebay that I just started, but I haven't put anything in it yet.

5. My dad loves the way I parallel park (hey, you said random!:-)

6. I took French in college.

There, all right, I tag:

Shannon

Emma

Lauren

Cheri

Not quite 6, but oh, well.

Tiffany

Benisms

When I taught 3rd grade, I had a little boy in my class named Ben. Ben had the funniest sayings. They were just classic student quotes. I began calling them Benisms because, while the others in the class would say some funny things, Ben was always saying funny things.

One of my favorites is: We were talking about Solomon and his wives. I was telling them that it was wrong to have more than one wife. Ben said, "It is really wrong to have a lot of wives, because you can't be a good steward of your money if you have to feed so many wives!" The family had been talking about being good stewards at home.

I have now discovered that "Benisms" aren't confined to Ben's class. They show up in K4 as well.

The other day I had given my four years olds a game for math. They had little cards that they were putting in numerical order. As I was working with one group, I heard a little voice say "Don't snatch, Paul. It's not Christian!" They had been talking about what a Christian looks like.

They are learning to connect what they're parents are saying at home to every day happenings. But their interpretations are so simple. If only we could be that simple. If we could just see something and know that it's wrong because "it's not Christian." It is true; "Out of the mouths of babes.

Tiffany

Waiting......

Well, I've done it. I finished a screenplay treatment and sent it to the SAICFF. That was two day ago. I didn't know two days could feel so long. And I still haven't (and won't for a while) heard anything.



I wrote the screenplay based on a story my grandmother told me (several times) while she was alive. I had an American Girl doll, Molly. One time when I was at their house, my grandmother saw Molly's Christmas Dress. She said it reminded of a little girl she once made a dress for.



Now my grandmother was a seamstress and made probably hundreds of dresses, so the fact that she remembered one particular one was amazing. Then she finished the story. When she had first seen the little girl she thought she was about 6. Later she found out she was 10, but had leukemia and was dying. They came to grandma after seeing her at the doctor's and asked her to make a Christmas dress for the little girl. Grandma did and it was the last Christmas the little girl ever had.



I was absolutely taken with this story when she first told it. It was such a touching story. Fast forward about ten or more years, and it's now in the hands of the SAICFF committee (btw did you know you can submit electronically now? I was prepared to go through the hassle of mailing a disk when I discovered it. Yeah for technology!). And I'm here waiting.



At least I have my classroom to keep me busy! :-)



Tiffany

Praying for our troops

I'm sure many of you are praying for our troops serving in the war. One of the members of our choir has a son over there. She shared this story to encourage us in our prayers.

Her son and 6 other men were getting ready to enter a car. Just as one of the men reached for the handle, another man saw a wire coming out of the car. After examining it, they discovered it was rigged to blow up.

I thought that was an amazing story, that you won't hear on television or read in the papers about how are troops are also being protected while fighting.

I hope this encourages you in your prayers for our troops. I know it did me.

Tiffany

My Classroom

Well, I thought I'd give anyone who cared to see a glimpse into the classroom that has been keeping me from here for so long. When I arrived in the classroom, it looked very boxy. Everything was flat against a wall and didn't feel very welcoming. Of course I wanted to change that. So with the help of my dad (actually he did all the actual moving) I moved a bookcase and angled my desk.

Here is the view from the door:

This is the white board I spend most of my time in front of:

And this is where we have our morning Math Meeting (we use the Saxon K program if anyone's familiar with it):

I don't know if you can tell from the pictures, but I chose a Classic Pooh/Beatrix Potter theme. I've accentuated that with pictures, stuffed animals and books all over the room. I really like the way they all turned out.

What you can't see is our reading area and nap room. I have a classroom that joins onto mine and so we move in there for reading and we share it with the K5 for nap time.

I hope you enjoyed the little tour! :-)

Tiffany

Announcing....

Simply Scrumptious Scarves!

After about a year of deciding whether or not to open an Etsy shop, I have now officially opened my shop. I've listed one item so far, but I will be listing more soon.

Thanks for letting me share!

Tiffany

An Overview (Literally)

I love flying as I've already said, but one thing I really enjoy about flying is looking out the window and seeing this:

There is just something about looking down on clouds that is thrilling.

Our first view of Nevada:

There was something about the wild desert beauty that made me want to become a photographer. I mean, when you can take pictures like this with just a point-and-shoot, can you imagine the possibilities with Nikon D40 (*wink* at Shannon):

All that beauty of God's creation. And those are just from the first day! Truly awesome.

Tiffany

Apologies

I must say that I'm sorry. I said that I would post pictures from the trip and I haven't yet. True, not all of them are uploaded, but some are. My explanation, not excuse, is that getting a classroom ready for 4 year olds isn't really all that easy or un-time-consuming.

The classroom is now ready (which is good since the children come for orientation tomorrow) and I now need to work on my lesson plans. I will try to post when I can, but I forsee a very busy year ahead.

Tiffany

*goes to find photobucket to see about putting up some pictures. ;-)*

Seattle

I haven't had a chance to upload all the pictures from the trip, but I chose one of my favorites to post here.

My wonderful mother took this picture of us on our way back from Seattle. I loved this city and would love to go back one day.

Well, that's all for now. I'll post some more later.

Tiffany

Home Sweet Home

After a wonderful, 5,205 mile, three week vacation, we're finally home. The finally refers more to the fact that our plane left 1:00 AM and we didn't get a hotel yesterday. We had an 8 hour wait at the airport (but the Starbucks was really good :-) and 5 hours of flying. But we're home! It's so good to be back and see my own room and pillow!

I can't wait to share with you all the highlights of the trip, and my souveniers (I have mentioned that I buy old books as souvenirs, right:-). Right now, I'm going to go to bed.

Tiffany

Quote of the Day

Sam turned to Bywater, and so came back up the Hill, as day was ending once more. And he went on, and there was yellow light, and fire within; and the evening meal was ready, and he was expected. And rose drew him in, and set him in his chair, and put little Elanor upon his lap.

He drew a deep breath. "Well, I'm back," he said.

~ The Return of the King, J. R. R. Tolkien ~

Quote of the Day

Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart; so shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

~ Proverbs 3:3,4 ~

Quote of the Day

"'Master Meriadoc,' said Aragorn, 'if you think that i have passed through the mountains and the realm of Gondor with fire and sword to bring herbs to a careless soldier who throws away his gear, you are mistaken. If your pack has not been away his gear, you are mistaken. If your pack has not been found, then you must send for the herb-master of this House. And he will tell you that he did not know that the huerb you desire had any virtues, but taht it is called westmansweek by the vulgar, and galenas by the noble, and other names in other tongues more learned, and after adding a few half-forgotten rhymes that he does not understand, he will regretfully inform you that there is none in the House, and he will leave you to reflect on the history of tongues. And so now must it."

~The Return of the King, J. R. R. Tolkien

I love the way that Aragorn is sarcastic with Merry, and still manages to show that he cares for him.

Tiffany

Quote of the Day

Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. This story is about something that happened to them when they were sent away from London during the war because of the air raids.

~ The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis ~

Quote of the Day

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

~ Proverbs 4:23 ~

Where in the World is Tiffany?

We are now located in Cody, Wyoming. We spent all day (unintentionally, there's a fire and it closed the road we were going to take out, causing us about 3-4 hours extra to get to the exit;-/) in Yellowstone, (I know, there are worse places to be stranded:-). I got a very nice, red sunburn while we watched Old Faithful. We were also able to see the Yellowstone Grand Canyon, the falls, and many other breathtaking scenes of God's creation. I will definitely be posting pictures.

We are heading to see my best friend and her new baby today! I'm so excited! And the drive isn't too long and we should be there in time to see them perform at a dinner.

It is time for departure. I'll try to check back in again before we get back.

Tiffany

Quote of the Day

If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book. In this book, not only is there no happy ending, there is no happy beginning and very few happy things in the middle.

~ The Bad Beginning, Lemony Snicket ~

Quote of the Day

"'I shall not keep you long. I have called you all together for a Purpose.....Indeed, for Three Purposes! First of all, to tell you that I am immensely fond of you all, and that eleventy-one years is too short a time to live among such excellent and admirable hobbits. I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve....

'Secondly, to celebrate my birthday. I should say: OUR birthday. For it is, of course, also the birthday of my heir and nephew, Frodo. He comes of age and into his inheritance today. Together we score on hundred and forty-four. You numbers were chosen to fit this remarkable total: One Gross, if I may use the expression....

'Thirdly and finally,' he said, "I wish to make an ANNOUNCEMENT....I regret to announce that-though, as I said, eleventy-one years is far too short a time to spend among you-this is the END. I am going. I am leaving NOW. GOOD-BYE!'

He stepped down and vanished. There was a blinding flash of light, and the guests all blinked. When they opened their eyes Bilbo was nowhere to be seen. One hundred and forty-four hobbits sat back speechless....It was generally agreed that the joke was in very bad taste and more food and drink were needed to cure the guests of shock and annoyance."


~The Fellowship of the Ring, J. R. R. Tolkien

Quote of the Day

Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.

~ Proverbs 11:14 ~

Quote of the Day

The Road goes every on and on

Out from the door where it began

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

Let others follow it who can!

Let them a journey new begin,

But I at last with weary feet

Will turn towards the lighted inn,

My evening-rest and sleep to meet.

~ The Return of the King, J. R. R. Tolkien ~

Signed and Sealed

Well, it's not sealed yet, but yesterday I sign a contract to teach K4 at Trinitas Christian School. It's the same school I taught at 2 years ago. I really love this school. I love the time I get to spend with my dad on the way in and back (even if I do sleep a lot of the time. :) I love that the administrator cares enough about daughters being under their father's authority that he brought Dad and I together in his office and explained to us that he understood that my father was my authority rather than him and he wanted to make sure that we knew we could come to him any time we felt that he had violated that hierarchy.

I have been looking forward to this contract since they asked me to come back at the end of the school year, but the school is trying to get more students and they didn't know what was going to happen. So I'm very glad to have it and I will be "sealing" it tomorrow and sending it off.

Now...to go find fun ways to teach the alphabet........

Tiffany

Hey, if you have any ideas, I would love to hear them. I'm planning on having a fun, stimulating year with them and would love any advice/suggestions.

Thoughts

Thank you, Clare, for tagging me! I had so much fun with this meme, but I think I come across as a little psychotic. Don't worry though, I think I'll be okay. You, on the other hand, might want to watch out! ;-)

I am: a child of God, chosen by grace.
I think: therefore I am. Just kidding. I think in quotes. One of my students last year asked me if I had a song and quote for everything. I think I told him, "YES!" :-)
I know: that my Redeemer lives. There I go again. Why waste time trying to say something better than someone else has said before.
I have: more than I deserve!
I wish: that I had more time to prepare for the trip.
I hate: it when people use my Lord's name in vain.
I miss: the Chanceys.
I fear: the Lord. I feel like I have to qualify that statement. I use the term "fear" in the old English sense. Hence, my interpretation of that statement would be "I greatly reverence the Lord."
I feel: excited about the trip!
I hear: the fan going outside the room and Shannon's sewing machine as she tries to make a camera purse.
I smell: homemade bread. Hmmmmm!
I crave: becoming closer to my Lord.
I search: for truth and wisdom.
I wonder: at the miracle of creation.
I regret: nothing. I have made mistakes, yes, but I also know that the Lord is sovereign and He has used all those bad decisions I've made to bring me closer to Him.
I love: my Lord and family!
I ache: when the weather changes. I have a back injury that always lets me know when it's going to rain.
I am not: ready for the trip.
I believe: that through Christ all things are possible.
I dance: whenever I get the chance. By dancing, I mean, Scottish Country or Swing, if I'm dancing with my sister.
I sing: every week at lessons and with the choir on Sundays, and any chance I get in between. :-)
I cry: every time I watch I Am David. What an amazing story!
I don't always: exhibit Christ-like attributes.
I fight: for what is right. I have my opinions (on many things) but I don't usually openly engage in a fight about them, until someone says something against what I know to be true. Then I quietly try to tell them what I believe and why.
I write: screenplays mostly. I have a play written, but I have to produce it before I can send it to editors. It's not as easy to produce a play as it would seem.....
I win: nothing. Ask anyone in my family. I don't often win, but I still like to play games!
I lose: everything, just by logic from the previous question.
I never: willingly touch spiders.
I always: stay away from spiders if I can help it. Truly, I can't think of something that I "always" do. I usually deviate at least once in a while.
I confuse: almost everybody, especially when I try to explain myself (refer back to "I know") or try to give directions. Trust me, with directions, asking anyone else is always safer than asking me.
I listen: to people. I've found that I often hear what's going on in people lives, just because I listen to them.
I can usually be found: at home. This coming year, I'll be teaching K4 at the school I taught at last year, so I'm cherishing every minute I get to spend at home.
I am scared: that I will lose a member of my family. That is the only thing I can think of. I know they would be with the Lord, but I don't know what I would do without any of them.
I need: help!
I am happy about: our trip!
I imagine: little children running around my perfectly clean house in hand sewn outfits as I put the bread into the oven, take off my perfect little "baking" apron, revealing a perfectly coordinating 40s outfit that matches my pearls perfectly and my beautifully applied makeup and then going to sit with them and read until their father comes home, exactly on time, so the dinner is never burnt. Ahhhh! Well, at least let me have my dreams until reality smashes them! :-)
I am wearing: A Ralph Lauren skirt and knit top
I look forward to: the answer to "I imagine" with the reality put back in. ;-)

I tag Emma and Lauren Christine and anyone else who wants to join in! It really is a lot of fun to do!

Tiffany

An Announcement

Our family is going away on vacation this coming Tuesday. We're visiting the West, and I mean all of the West. We're flying to Las Vegas, then driving to California, going to San Fransisco, driving up the coast, going into Washington over to Yellowstone, then on to Mount Rushmore, the down to Colorado (where we'll be going to Denver Fabrics :-), down to The Grand Canyon and back to Las Vegas and then flying home.

We are accomplishing this in three weeks (please pray for my dad, that's 4000 miles of driving for him). So I won't be able to post during that time.

But I thought I might take advantage of the new scheduled blogging and plan some of my favorite quotes from books to pop up while I'm gone. I'll at least try and see if it works.

So, if you don't hear from me again, you'll know it didn't work. Otherwise, My favorite quotes, comin' up!

Tiffany

The Big Read Check

I found this at Sommer's blog and it looked like fun! The people at The Big Read say most people have only read 6 of these 100 books. We'll see how I do.

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.

2) Italicize those you intend to read.

3) Underline the books you LOVE. I resorted to making them blue because I couldn't find the underline button. :-)

4) Reprint this list in your own LJ [I'm not sure what this means.:-(] so we can try and track down these people who've read 6 and force books upon them ;-)
WATCHING MOVIES DOES NOT COUNT!!! [However, listening to books on tape does. ;-)]

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling-I read the first two to right an article about them for our church newsletter
5 To Kill a Mockingbird
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens (but I love the movie:-)
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Graeme
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (since I've read and love 33 I suppose I've read and love this one. :-)
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery (I actually enjoy LM Montgomeries other works better.)
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding (Who wants to read about flies?:-)
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen (The first Jane Austen I read.)
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon (Now I’m curious.)
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas (I think I might want to try this someday, but it’s not even on my list yet.)
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville (I had to read this in a class with a professor who had done his 30 doctoral dissertation on it. That was not fun.)
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (I found an old copy of this at a library book sale and haven’t gotten around to reading it yet.)
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams (I saw a really weird cartoon of this once. It was very disturbing.)
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo (but not until I have a ton of time)

Well, I've read 27. Just slightly more than average. How'd you do?

Tiffany

Things I'm Never Guilty Of :-)

I'm writing a script and treatment for a festival and was browsing a forum and found some very good rules to follow. I thought I would post them here for everyone.

1. Verbs has to agree with their subjects.
2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
3. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.
4. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
5. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat)
6. Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
7. Be more or less specific.
8. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.
9. Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
10. No sentence fragments.
11. Contractions aren't necessary and shouldn't be used.
12. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
13. Do not be redundant; do not use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
14. One should NEVER generalise.
15. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
16. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
17. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
18. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
19. The passive voice is to be ignored.
20. Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary. Parenthetical words however should be enclosed in commas.
21. Never use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice.
22. Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.
23. Understatement is always the absolute best way to put forth earth shaking ideas.
24. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
25. If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times: Resist hyperbole; not one writer in a million can use it correctly.
26. Puns are for children, not groan readers.
27. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
28. Even IF a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
29. Who needs rhetorical questions?
30. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
31. Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.

Now that you have all these rules, you can write perfectly!

Tiffany

A Shock

This post is a shock because I never thought I would be able to do this. I'm posting pictures of myself at the beach.



I love the water and swimming, but not the immodesty. I had pretty much given up beach going. However, Shannon came up with a brilliant solution. I'll let her tell her story, but I copied her and found a short-sleeved leotard, board shorts and a big tankini.



The result is a modest (even when wet) combination that allows me to swim and play around without being immodest. When the tankini rises the leotard covers everything.



These pictures were taken on my actual birthday. Shannon, once again, is the photographer.

It's very comfortable and light. I'm so glad Shannon came up with the idea.The water isn't really that cold. It just startled me.

Tiffany

Seagreen

October last year I made a dress to wear to the Award Ceremony at the SAICFF. However at the last minute I changed my mind and wore a formal dress. But I wore the new outfit the next day. However I never got the opportunity to get pictures.

For my birthday this year, we stayed overnight at a friend's house on the beach. The dress was a seagreen colour so I wanted to get pictures on the beach. My sister was a darling and took them for me (as she usually does).

The shell and skirt are made out of linen look-alike.

The over-shirt is a stiff sheer. I'm not exactly sure what the fabric is, but it scratches if it isn't bound off. :-)

I was not being stuck-up in this picture, Shannon took this picture right before a sneeze.

Tiffany

Answers

I frequently visit Cultivating Home to get ideas and encouragement. I found this meme on her blog and decided it would be fun to do!

What were you doing ten years ago?

Ten years ago, I lived in Pennsylvania. I think the biggest thing that happened was that I fell from a horse and had a compression fracture in on of my vertebrae. Boy that's not really all that interesting, is it?

Five things on my to-do list today:

Finish the skirt I started yesterday (waiting for an invisible zipper)
Knit a scarf
Work on a script
Work on compiling Proverbs
Read

Five Snacks I enjoy:

Homemade whole wheat cookies
Homemade bread toasted with butter
Oatmeal and raising cookies
Fruit smoothie
Homemade bread and cheese

Things I would do if I were a millionaire:

After tithing, I would help crisis pregnancy centers by giving sonogram equipment and people to run them. I would save anything else for my future household one day, so that my husband and I can decide the best way to use it.

Places I have lived

Okay, this could get long:

Cochranville, PA
San Diego, CA
Guam
New Orleans, LA
Virginia Beach, VA
Buckinghamshire, England
Newport, RI
Key West, FL
Cochranville, PA
Gulf Breeze, FL

(My dad was in the military. ;-)

Places I have visited:

All of England, Scotland, and Wales.
Parts of Ireland
France
Germany
Italy
Austria
Holland
The East coast of the USA
PEI
Nova Scotia
Hawaii
Japan
China
Korea

Jobs I have had:

nanny, assistant kennel manager with a group that trains service dogs, babysitter, teacher, tutor, cashier and floor worker at WalMart.

This was so much fun! I'm just going to let anyone who wants to do this meme instead of tagging people. Just post your link in the comments.



Tiffany

In Honor of the U.S. Open

Golf:

An attempt to place a small white sphere....

in a slightly larger hole....

with utensils totally unsuited to the task.

Woodrow Wilson

Meanings

Our pastor has been preaching through Genesis for the last four years. Three weeks ago he start the story of Joseph.

He emphasized a verse that I have heard quoted often, but not with the same meaning that is written in Scripture.

I have often heard people say, "What men do for evil, God uses for good" paraphrasing Genesis 50:20. But what the verse actually says (and what Pastor was emphasizing) is "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, so save many people alive." (emphasis mine)

God doesn't just take the evil that men do and turn it in to something good. In His sovereign plan God means for those things to happen to "save many people alive."

It's comforting to me to know that even when bad things happen, God isn't just going to turn them into something good, but He meant for them to happen to fulfill His purposes.

Tiffany

Tag-You're It!

I just got back from a beach sleep-over with the ladies at our church. Well, I just got back about 5 hours ago. Let's just say that getting up at 6 in the morning, even if I did get to see dolphins and a gorgeous rainbow and go kayaking for the first time, isn't my cup of tea. But I came home took a nap and am now sitting at the computer wiping away sand (how does sand get everywhere?) and getting ready to play tag.



I actually got tagged twice! Once by my sister Shannon and again by Clare. It's a book meme and I'm so excited about that, I love books.



Rules

Link to the person that tagged you, post the rules somewhere in your meme, answer the questions, tag six people in your post, let the tagees know they’ve been chosen by leaving a comment on their blog, let the tagger know your entry is posted.



Who is your all-time favorite author and why?

That's easy, C. S. Lewis. I fell in love the Chronicles of Narnia when I was 7 and have loved him ever since. I love the way he writes. Every time I reread one of his books (and I do read more now than the Chronicles, my favourite "adult" book of his is Till We Have Faces) I find something new. Some of his books I have been reading for years, so it takes a great author who can still make it new for me.



Who was your first favorite author and why? Do you still consider him/her to be among your favorites? Well, I think this is also answered in the first one. It's hard to beat age 7 and obviously he's still a favourite. But to give a different author I would have to say Ruby Ferguson. You probably don't know who she is. She wrote a really delightful series of "Jill" books. They're about a girl named Jill (I know you were surprised by that!;-) who loves, owns, rides, and shows horses. I discovered them when we lived in England and positively devoured the books. Sadly I only own two of them and they are permenantly placed on my shelf because I have loved them almost to death. About the second part of the question.....I don't know. She is still among my favourites in that I have such fond memories of reading the books, but I don't usually list her among the favourites.



Who is the most recent addition to your list of favorite authors, and why?

Ooh, this is hard. I think I would have to say P.G. Wodehouse. I've known about him for a while now, but I don't like to branch out into new authors much. :-) I first saw the series of Jeeves and Wooster and then went on to read some of the books. My senior recital at college was "The Man Upstairs" which is my all time favourite Wodehouse. I still have a few more of his books to read.



If someone asked you who your favorite authors were right now, which authors would first pop out of your mouth? Lewis, Tolkien, Austen, Wodehouse, Wilkie Collins, and Agatha Christie (I've been on a serious Agatha Christie kick lately).



That was fun! I tag:

Laura at Quietude

Lauren at With Humility, Thankfulness, and Rejoicing

Cheri at A Joyful Handmaiden



This is very sad, but I don't read enough blogs to fulfill the quota of six. Even a couple of the ones I have tagged have already been tagged by Shannon. I guess that what you get when you all read the same blogs.



Tiffany

June Roses

At the end of teaching last year, I was given a miniature rose bush by the family of one of my students. It had gorgeous little deep red blooms on it.

My dad planted it for me, and I (knowing nothing about gardening and especially about roses) just weeded it every once in a while and helped my dad keep it watered. Because of my noviceness (I think I just made up a word) I didn't think I would get any blooms on it.

But the other day Dad casually mentioned that I had two roses on my bush. Out came the camera and here are the results.

Isn't it lovely?

I think I missed this one at its perfectness, but I love it as well.

I am ridiculously happy over these roses. Thank you to the family for the plant.

Tiffany

BTW, is anyone has any helpful tips or resources for caring for roses, I'd be glad to know about them.

Regency Fair

Well, after a delay, I welcome you to the Regency Fair!

Starting us at the Fair today we have Aylwen. She has a lovely website that has some gorgeous gowns on it. I'm definitely adding it to my favorites for inspiration. And, oh, if I only lived in Australia, I would definitely attend one of the Jane Austen Festivals she and her husband put together.

Second, we have the wonderful Claire. The dress she wore to her tea-party is scrumptious. I love that color on you Claire!

Jordan also sent me a lovely post with pictures, but for some reason I can access it now. If you re-send me the link, I'll try again.

I got all the way through writing this out and then realized I didn't have anything myself! Uh-oh! So I'm just going to reuse a couple of pictures from before.

The first one is a picture of me on a bridge in the San Antonio boardwalk. I had so much fun dressing up at the SAICFF.

And the second is a nice group picture of all the ladies from the Sense and Sensibility forum that we met while we were at the SAICFF.

I hope you enjoyed the fair!

Prince Caspian Review

All right, I've been putting this off, but after reading other reviews out there, I feel like I need to stand up for this movie a bit.

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. I went in expecting something that was totally not like the book, but came out deciding that they had done a fairly decent job. Yes, things were changed, yes things were added, but on the whole, they kept with the spirit of the book.

I have been reading the Chronicles once a year since I was 7 (18 years ago!) and from the first time I read them, Prince Caspian was my favorite.

In spite of that, I really liked the movie.

Yes, they changed alot. No, I didn't like the Caspian/Susan romance (what there was of it). But I really enjoyed the different take on it.

I even enjoyed most of the character changes.

I'm one of the few people (that I have found) that really actually liked Trumkin's story at the beginning of the book. But I didn't mind the changes to the story plot.

MAJOR SPOILERS

I loved the music. I think the use of so many themes from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe really made the audience feel as though we were in Narnia remembering the last time we had visited. I don't buy many soundtracks, but this one is definitely on my list.

I thought some of the shots were just amazing. The angles of the camera and the panning shots. Absolutely breathtaking.

I liked the nod to those things that are in the books: Pattertwig, Bulgy Bear, Lucy eating an apple at Cair Paravel.

I found that the biggest changes that were made were to the characters. Some I liked, some I didn't.

Trumpkin wasn't at all what I had expected him to be. I envisioned him more jovial and not quite so cynic. But I could live with him. And some of his one-liners were great.

Reepicheep was almost exactly what I expected him to be. I think they could've added more about his "honor and chivalry" and such, but not too bad.

Prince Caspian....hmmmm. Well, you immediately run into troubles as soon as you raise the age of a person that much. (For those who haven't read the book, he's around 13 and in the movie he's somewhere are 20.) I think his character is one of the weakest, which is sad since he carries the title. There doesn't seem to be any change in him. He is practically the same throughout the movie. He's fighting with Peter practically the whole time and not being humble and realizing his situation.

Speaking of Peter.....

One of the biggest changes in character was Peter. He wasn't the young man who comes to Narnia and is there to "put Caspian on the throne, not take it himself". I thought it made sense for him to be having a hard time adjusting to being a king and then a kid in school. His jumping at the chance to prove himself in Narnia seemed to be a natural out flowing of that. Also, because of his choice not to wait on Aslan and the disasterous results, he learns (the hard way) that Aslan knows what he'd doing. That was a powerful reminder to me to trust in the Lord even when I don't know what's going on. There is a definite moment when he changes missing from the story, but I don't think many (if any) of my personal character changes have had one defining moment. Often, all I can do is look back on what I was and look at what I am now.

Susan. Well, I already said that I didn't like the Caspian/Susan romance, but I have to say that it really isn't played up at all. I mean it is so subtle that when they kiss it almost seems ludicrous. The second time I went to see it, the audience laughed at the scene. It really is laughable. But I really understand now, after watching her character, why Susan doesn't come back in The Last Battle. You can tell with the changes made to her character that she was already not as attached to Narnia anymore. I appreciate them taking the initiative to introduce that part of her character now rather than wait until the Last Battle and she doesn't turn up.

Lucy was just Lucy. So faithful to Aslan. Willing to wait for whenever Aslan chose to appear. Willing to go look for him and risk her life doing so. Willing to stand up to the enemy, knowing that Aslan was with her.

I left Edmund for last because I was so pleased with his character. I love Edmund in this book. In fact, it's his complete change from his character in LWW that made me like this book so much. I was very pleased to see that they allowed his character to change. I was very happy when he killed the White Witch. And I was even more happy that he didn't boast about it, but just had a quick quip for Peter.

Overall, I love this movie. I would actually pay to see this movie in the theatre again. I don't do that often. In fact this would be the first.

I'm okay with the changes overall. The storming of Miraz's castle didn't bother me much after I read that Adamson (the director) came up with the idea from the books mentioning that there were fights almost every night and the particular mention of one that didn't go very well.

Well, that's all. (For now.) I'm sure I will think of plenty of other things to say, but I'll go ahead and post this for now.

Tiffany

Narnia

I have made it a habit to read through C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. From the first time I read these books, Prince Caspian has been my favorite. I can almost remember my first time reading it and being excited by what they might find on that mysterious island.

Through reading it, I have been encouraged, strengthened, humbled and excited by the adventures of the Pevensies.

Last Friday, May 16th, marked the opening of the Prince Caspian movie done by Walden Media/Disney. We had a friend come over from Mobile and go to the theatre with us. We all dressed up Narnian style.

Shannon and I were Queen Lucy and Queen Susan.

We had made our costumes for a Narnian party Shannon had a couple of years ago. Shannon's is based on the older Lucy in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe movie. Mine was inspired by the illustration of Susan dancing with Tumnus by Pauline Baynes in A Horse and His Boy.

However, I decided I wanted to make a gold petticoat for this movie. So I did.

Well, I really cheated and just added left over gold fabric to the edge of my petticoat.

After we came home from the movie, we had a Narnian feast. There were pyramids

and cataracts

of fruit. As well as a few honey and oat cakes.

We enjoyed our feast for a couple of hours before we had to leave Narnia to clean up. But we didn't leave forever. In two weeks we will be enjoying Prince Caspian again with the school Dad teaches at. And, looking into the future, in two years Voyage of the Dawn Treader will come to the big screen. Now to make this dress:

for the next movie.

Tiffany

Mother's Day

For a Mother's Day gift, my sister and I put together an afternoon tea. Shannon made scones. I made cucumber sandwiches. Shannon also made a beautiful parfait topped with freshly picked wild black berries. Our garden lent a few beautiful blooms for the centerpiece.
We had such a wonderful time sipping tea and talking with Mom. Happy Mother's Day to all!








In honor of the last day of WIFD, I got some pictures of the Regency gown I wore for the tea party.

Have a blessed day.

Tiffany

WIFD Saturday

Today was a puttering sort of day. I did various and sundry things. I wore the same thing I wore on Tuesday.

A cream knit shirt with my Ralph Lauren skirt. This is actually, probably one of my most worn outfits.

As I looked up into the tree, I got this amazing view.

Have a Blessed Sunday

Tiffany

WIFD Thursday

Today is the day I ride my bike to the family I babysit. Out of necessity then, I wore a black a-line skirt that wouldn't get caught in the gears or brake pads of the bike with a turqoise knit top.

Tiffany

Whole Wheat Fruit Shortcake

Here is the recipe for the shortcake I made on Sunday.


Ingredients:


1 cup All-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat or tritical flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 T baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ginger
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 beaten egg
2/3 cup milk
3/4 cup cooked wheat berries
About 3 cups fruit


Directions:

~In a mixing bowl stir together all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and ginger.

~Cut in butter or margarine til mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

~Combine beaten egg and milk.

~Add all at once to flour misture.

~Add wheat berries, stirring just till moistened.

~Spread dough in two greased 8X1 1/2 inch round baking pans

~Bake in a 450 degree oven for 10-12 minutes or till done.

~Cool shortcake in pans for 10 minutes.

~Remove from pans and cool on wire rack.




My notes: To make it more whole wheat, I made 1/2 the all purpose wheat into whole wheat. It was still a light cake and didn't make it too heavy. Instead of the nutmeg and ginger, I used an apple pie spice that we had in our spice cabinet. Also, I used all-purpose flour instead of the wheat berries.


To Assemble:

I used whipping cream to make, well, whipped cream. And we picked some wild boisen berries in our neighborhood. We spread half the whipped cream on the first layer with half the fruit. Then placed the second cake on top and used the rest of the whipped cream and fruit.

Voila:

WIFD Tuesday

Tuesdays are my busy days. I babysit/homeschool in the mornings. Voice lesson in the afternoon. Then right from there to tutor two children for two hours. Then home, time for dinner, and then right out to gym. Crazy days. It makes me grateful for the less busy days of the week.


Today I wore my basic cream knit shirt with an ankle length Ralph Lauren skirt I got at a thrift store. It's easy to move around in and chase after littles (the youngest girl I babysit is 2 and can run:-).

I will see you all tomorrow.

Tiffany