Trunk or Treat ... Great fun!

Our Church, Christ Episcopal, held it's first Trunk or Treat Event for Halloween.  It was so much fun, and a huge success!  Besides have some vehicles in the parking lot decorated and handing out goodies to the kids, we also offered free hotdogs and juice boxes inside.  We gave away over 100 of them before we ran out early... next year we'll have to make sure to get 200, since I think we had well over that in costumed creatures!

Reach into the mouth to get
your treats!

Fr. Bill was a monk, and made
a church entrance for his car.

 Here are some photos from our Halloween outreach....

Wizard of Oz theme

Mustard & Hotdog
Great help from Pat & Savannah!

Them bones, Them bones...

Handing out hotdogs..thanks Carol!

Tenny & friend helped handout treats!



Even Obama and Romney, along with the Grim Reaper
came to the Trunk or Treat! *lol*

The Bone Collector

Cute pumpkin & trunk display!

Kasey, Jesus' Mom... Mother Mary



 Wedding Barbie Deb, and her
Barbie Dream Car!



Kasey as Mary, Mother of
God, helping the Wizard of Oz handing out treats.













Next Year we are going to have to double our candy and hotdog giveaway!





Had my crow pluck some eyeballs for Halloween treats...

So, I put this crow to work in getting Halloween treats together for the grandsons... *heh heh*

Freshly plucked eyeballs for the grandsons... unfortunately some worms got into them ... but I think I'll still give them to the grandsons... *evil Halloween laugh*

These were fun to make... sandwich cookies (2) put together and dipped in white chocolate, a gummy life saver and chocolate chip added to make them look like eyeballs... and gummy worms added to the jar to make them extra creepy!  The grandsons will LOVE them when they come trick or treating!

Autumn colors & decorations

Gourd Decorations

View from Front Window

View from Side Window, Living Rm.

All Hallow's Eve Decorations
Using Some Goodwill Store Finds.

I love this season of the year ... the beautiful colors of the leaves, and gourds.

I also like to decorate some for Halloween too!  Gathered up some of my treasures from Goodwill shopping trips and made this latest installation with them.

Vote Early ... Vote Often ... *lol*..or so the saying goes..

Kasey and I decided to go vote early for the upcoming elections in November.  So we headed to the municipal building, walked right in,  voted, and we were out in less than 7 minutes!

The clerk told us we were lucky we didn't have a line, since just that week they've had over 500 people in voting early!

Looks to be an interesting election coming up ...  whoever you are for, and whatever YOU do... at least VOTE!

Praise God, From Whom All Blessings Flow...



Mom from a picture a couple of
years ago on her birthday.



My Mom was released from the hospital in Milwaukee yesterday, after having major surgery, and is now at a local nursing care/therapy place in our city.  It's great to have her so much closer to home, and doing so well.  Tonite I visited her for a couple of hours ... she is doing pretty good, not eating so well tonite, but up and talking a lot.  We put together some of the Halloween cards she had made for the other residents where she is staying for the next few weeks.   She has always done this thru the Delavan Lioness Club she is a part of, and it's something that is good for her as she does rehabilitation now herself.

I am thanking God for the many major obstacles Mom has gone through so far, and praying for her speedy recovery... the goal now is to get her strong enough and well enough to go home with Dad before Thanksgiving... so far, it's looking good for that!

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

This assemblage is titled "Redeemed -Saved From The Snare of the Fowler" It has a special attachment as well to the newly canonized (by the Roman Catholic Church), Saint Kateri Tekakwitha. So many aspects of Kateri are in this piece, and to me, were surely God inspired, since I had no knowledge at the time, of aspects of Kateri's life, yet they are displayed in this assemblage, which I am honored to dedicate to this amazing Godly woman, Kateri Tekawitha.

I received a magazine at Church that had various pictures of people who were saints, and up and coming canonized saints... Kateri was one of them, and as soon as I saw the picture of her representation, I thought this piece looked like her, and then did some research on who she was.  This was an old cast-off doll that was already pox marked, (Kateri had pox marks from smallpoxs she had as a child), the doll actually has some fingers missing, and toes missing, and was badly damaged, and close to being tossed away. But, to me, she had redeeming qualities, hence the "Redeemed" title. I added the cross, the rosary (great story of Kateri and the rosary she was said to have used that was her blessed mothers).

I also made a "flower" from the vine and heart with little angel on the inside ... Kateri is also known as "Lily of the Mohawks", so that aspect also fit in without me knowing it. She is often pictured with a simple wooden cross, which is in the snare hanging next to her too. She was a French Canadian Indian with the Mohawk tribe, in my family, on my Dad's side, we have French Canadian Indian heritage but with the Cree tribe... so that was interesting as well.

As I read her story and learned of her faith, I believe, more and more, that this piece was a God inspired assemblage, and I was happy to learn of her recent canonization today by Pope Benedict XVI at Saint Peter's Basilica.

Street Construction Continues..... and Continues...

Even the pretty red leaves couldn't
hide the ugly pipe things that have
been in our front yard for 2 months!

The last two months or so, the City has been totally redoing the street in front of our house and down the block too.  Putting in new sewer pipes, a draining pond (in the property behind our house), and running the pipes also down our driveway to the new underground draining pond.



View from upstairs of backyard.
There used to be a line of trees in the
back there between our properties...
Now it looks like...well.. pretty bad!



View from upstairs of front part of
the driveway.

Front of driveway after being filled in.

A big mess! 

Here are some photos of some of the latest work in the past few days.... 

Street looks like it's on fire!
They are connecting the underground
sewer pipes to the existing ones.

Hopefully they'll be finishing up in the next few weeks??

I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made...

Psalm 139: 13-16..."For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you, when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

I always like to connect current events/holidays/happenings to scripture passages.  Today in Sunday School, we did that too.  Since I've been making bones in my spare time for the Trunk or Treat Event (scroll back at some of my blog posts), I thought it would be a fun lesson as well for the kids.

The above passage, as well as the one from Ezekiel 37:1-14, where the prophet visits a valley of dry bones, and hears God say He will put His Spirit in them and they will live and not just be dead bones. God does indeed give us life after death, a free gift, and all we need to do is accept it!

Based on those passages, we talked about costumes we've seen people wearing at Halloween.  The kids had fun sharing the ones they'd be wearing, and we brain-stormed others we sometimes see during this time of year.  One such costume are sketetons.

We talked about x-rays and how doctors use them and can see inside our bodies, to see our bones... almost like God, who seems to have a special x-ray vision... "Your eyes saw my unformed body ..."
So we made x-rays of our hands, arms and feet for fun (traced hands with white crayon on black paper, then added q-tip bones inside) ...  and we talked more about how wonderfully made God made each of us!

 Treats for today were.... what else... bones!  (pretzel sticks, with mini marshmallows on each end, dipped in white chocolate).   A fun lesson, good for Halloween time, hoping to get kids to recall these passages whenever they see skeletons now.

Diocesan Convention / Haiti Project "Got Art?" Reception / More Good Reports on Mom!

Heading out early this A.M. for Madison, to the Diocesan Convention ... had a good call from sister, Susan, updating me on Mom, on the way ... she was going off the ventilator, and blood pressure was higher, so more pain meds could be given.  She didn't have a restful night last night, but should be getting more rest and relief from pain now too! (Thank you Jesus!).

The Convention was pretty uneventful, passed resolutions, budget, with hardly any comments or discussions.  Elections went along speedily as well.  We were scheduled to end around 4 if needed, but it was just before 2 p.m. when we said the closing prayer and headed out.  I missed being part of the Friday workshops, which sounded interesting, with lots of things to bring back home to share with others... and our other deputies had a lot to share on the workshops they attended.

Behaving here... *lol*

Here we posed for a photo for the newsletter... okay, one fun one.... one nice one!  *lol*

The Haiti Project "Got Art?" Show reception was from 2 - 5 p.m. at St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church, just a short distance from the convention site.

I called my sister just before that, and got an update on Mom ... she had been talking up a storm since getting the off the ventilator... they got her up and sitting in a chair for about 45 minutes, she has been happy with all the positive things she's heard so far as to how the surgery went, etc.   The surgeon told us how Mom has passed two MAJOR hurdles in all this, and she is in about 20 percent of people who are able to do so, so it's looking real good for Mom... we are so thankful!


On to the Art Show...where they have a lot of nice art pieces donated by many artists all over the Diocese, and beyond.  Art for a great cause too!  At Convention they indicated that if all art sold at the prices the artist put on them, the Haiti Project would be able to receive over $6,000 in donations, if they went at the minimum bid, however, put on by the artists, it would only generate $2,000.  Hopefully people will be generous in this auction, that continues online until October 30th! 





Check out the link here and register to be able to bid on items.  At Convention we were told the money will be used in Jeanette, Haiti to provide a 10th grade class for youth.  In Haiti, they have a national exam after 9th grade, and then they can go on to other higher education, but many places do not have money to fund additional education like that.  In Jeanette, the youth would have to travel to Port au Prince, and because families can not afford to pay for their children to travel back and forth each day, they would have to live in the slums, where often times, they fall prey to all sorts of bad things.

  Your donations will offer a chance for the youth there to learn more, and stay home with their families as well.   Please prayerfully consider bidding on some art, or if you'd just like to donate, there is a place to do so at the link provided too!  Or check out the Haiti Project website as well.

Prayers Appreciated....

deep thoughts.... special things coming to mind this AM as I can not sleep well ... My Mom, (our Mom, wife, sister, Nana, aunt, friend of many), is undergoing some very major surgery this morning. Spent a few hours with her at the hospital yesterday, with some of my sisters, and this morning many will be there before surgery to give her comfort, love, prayers, hugs and more...and many of us will be there for the 6 - 8 hours + waiting to hear, hopefully, good news that the surgery went well and Mom is doing good so far...etc..etc.

But, I wish I would have kissed her more last night, I wished I would have held her longer in a hug last night, I wish I could have somehow calmed her fears and her nervousness more, and told her more how much I love her - unending hugs and kisses would have been great, wouldn't they, and I'm sure many have wished for just that before, with their loved ones as well. I pray we have the opportunity to do all those things and more for many more years to come, here on earth with Mom.

John 4:27 "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

UPDATE 7:30 P.M. Oct. 12, 2012.....

Mom is out of surgery, almost ready to be seen by us in ICU (close to 5:30 p.m. we should be able to go in and see her, the surgeon said). The surgeon was very happy with the way things went, she came through real well. (Thank you Jesus!) Biopsy and other results won't be back until Mon. or Tues., she'll be in ICU until at least then too...then in a regular room for a week or so...and then we go from there. She's come thru some major milestones, that not everyone is able to do, so we are thankful for that too!

6:30 p.m.  Mom is in a bit of pain, but half way awake in ICU/Recovery, squeezing everyone's hand, and fighting off the pain.  Her blood pressure is a bit low, and they want to get it up some before giving her more pain meds.  We had a couple of prayer circles, thanking God for the good results so far, and for the doctors and nurses who helped, and continue to help Mom.  And for speedy healing, relief from pain, and more good news as the days progress.

Thank you EVERYONE for all the thoughts and prayers, they really have been felt by us all! Keep praying please.... we thank God for you ALL!  xoxoxox

Tuesday Stuff....

Ever watch paint dry? ... or watch grass grow? ... or watch water on the stove until it boils?

All those things seem like they take FOREVER to happen ... waiting, and waiting, and waiting.... same with this... tarnishing silver ....

I have some old silver plated utensils that I put on the windowsill in the dining room, hoping to get them tarnished for some upcoming assemblage art thing (still in the works).  It seems when I don't want my silver to tarnish, it will do so real fast!  But when I actually want it to tarnish, it takes oh so long!

Anyway... it is coming along... I like the patina that is developing so far... 

Looking forward to support group with friends tonite and dinner at Tubby's for their steak and lobster special.. yummmm!.. and no waiting (I hope?) since the summer crowds aren't around anymore!

Blessing of Pets Sunday

Some of the children brought their stuffed
animals in as representation of their real pets.

Fr. Bill greets the pets before the service
begins.

 




Some came in costume even!
This cat had on a pumpkin outfit.



Each year at our Church, we have the Sunday closest to the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals and the environment (to name a few things he's associated with), that Sunday is set aside for special blessings of pets.  People are encouraged to bring their pets, or animals to church, and receive a special prayer for them.  This year we also handed out little pewter tags to attach to their collars, or to hang on a cage, that had a prayer and "God Bless Our Beloved Pet" on it.  It's always a fun Sunday when we have our fur and feathered friends present with their owners.  Here are some photos from today....





   

The line to receive pet blessings.



After the Church Service, the Sunday School kids, parents and teachers went to the Animal Gardens and Dancing Horse show.  Great time there for all the kids and adults too!

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Bone Halloween Treats...

So, I've been slowing making bones here ... and have started getting them organized to go into snack packages to hand out at the Trunk or Treat Halloween event in a couple of weeks.  If I don't keep these bones hidden however, they get eaten up fast by either grandkids or a husband..*L*

Here's info on the cool trick or treat snacks we'll be handing out at Church... check it out!  Feel free to use the idea yourself too!