Quilted Caroler

Here is the other version of The Caroler Quilt

Stay tuned!

Buried in quilts! Quiting the last of 3 I have put together. Next I need to finish piecing one & then Natalie & I will be working on rag quilts. Yea!

Here's a picture of one I finished quilting:

Come back to see more in the next day or 2!

Hallelujah Day Pictures (or why I haven't quilted)

I'm going to start this post a little differently than the typical "Look what I did today" post. I want to discuss a topic that is very much a "hot button" for Christians. On October 31st there is a celebration that happens every year. That's what most people think. When most folks hear the date "October 31st" one word comes to mind: Halloween. For me, it is a different story.

First, October 31st is celebrated in our family for a different reason. It is my Mom's birthday. It also happens to be the day after my Sister-in-law's birthday. My mom turned 75 this year! If you didn't see her story on Facebook and want to know how amazing it is that she is here, starting with her birth, ask me & I'll share it with you. I won't share my SIL's age. When she's 75 & we start counting birthdays again I might. LOL!

Next, October 31st was the day many, many, many years ago that Martin Luther (the German, not ML King) nailed his 500 theses to the door of a monastery. Here is how I remember that story going and you are free to correct me. He had joined the monastery. As he studied the Word of God (the Bible), he began to see fallacies  in the teachings of the church in Germany at that time. He wrote these down and on 10/31 in that year a LONG, LONG time ago, he nailed it to the door of the monastery. Today, the Lutheran church is named after him and many protestant churches would say they were "born" out of that event.

Okay, so for the rest of the folks, 10/31 is Halloween. Most of us grew up loving this day. Candy, costumes, candy, more candy, and more candy....what wasn't to love? We dressed in cheap nylon costumes with plastic masks (remember those with the tiny elastic that always broke?). Sometimes we might have a homemade costume. As I got older I'd make my own costume. In college I was a blue Crayon one time! I loved dressing up. Of course, there was always the invasion of witches, ghosts, and goblins and a haunted house or 2. I never liked the super scary, though, so it was the "fun" witch stuff. Stay with me if you're already tuning out with those words!

Many of us grew up and as we grew in our faith in the Lord we started learning what the origins of Halloween were. The Druids, the pagans, etc. Though, originally, if I remember correctly, that was a whole different event that later got tied in with the superstition of Halloween (appeasing evil spirits) the night before All Saints Day in the Catholic church. It made me want nothing to do with Halloween. At all. I would even hear Christians say that it was the devil's day. It was a day of evil. It was a day that we should avoid.

Then I heard some wisdom from a dear sister in the Lord. It was as simple as this, "This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Ps. 118:24. She told me that she realized that by saying it was the devil's day we were giving him the glory. EVERY day is God's day. Did she mean we should go celebrate Halloween? No. But she did remind me that we need to claim EACH day as a gift from God to not give our enemy a foothold.

Next came the issue of what to do with kids on 10/31. When they were little it was easy: Celebrate Mammaw's birthday! We weren't home to deal with the trick or treaters, etc. As they got a bit bigger I thought we might go to some fall festivals, though I wondered if kids still saw those as Halloween and didn't make the distinction that it was to celebrate the good things of the Lord. I THOUGHT that's what we'd do. But things don't always work as we think they will. We discovered our elder child had autism. Mild, but autism none the lest. We tried a church festival. It didn't work. In fact, it failed. Miserably. The poor child had the deer in the headlights look the whole night and did NOTHING. I knew this was not going to work for us.

Somewhere along the line I decided to hand out candy. I wanted to share the BEST treat of all: the love of Jesus. So, I made up some little cards that said "Jesus is the sweetest treat of all" with a Bible verse. I knew kids well enough (I had a degree in kids, after all) to know that that alone would get tossed. So I attached it to candy and handed it out. Sweet little Bethany, all of 3 or 4 at the time, knew people would come for candy, but didn't understand the whole concept. She asked me, "When are the friends coming?"

As much as we tried to avoid the ugliness that comes with Halloween, it was impossible to do. People decorate for that day around here like it's Christmas. And in stores, you just can't avoid it. I'll never forget the day we were in the grocery store parking lot and tiny Bethany (only 3 or so) asked me, "Who's the white guy?" She spoke early, and clearly. And literally. I had no idea this was part of Asperger Syndrome (her form of autism) at the time. Turned out the "white guy" was a huge ghost atop the store entry.

After much debating & praying, we decided to try trick or treating with the girls. First, dressing up was no problem. Most kids love to dress up now & then. My kids loved to dress up daily. They were often "in character." From Cleopatra to the "Nerds" to dj's, and so much more, we never knew who they would be from day to day. Of course they loved candy. As my niece recently wrote, "A day for dressing up and candy. What's NOT to love?" LOL! I decided to use this event, this going from house to house dressed in costume begging for candy, as a social skills lesson. After all, who doesn't want their kids growing up to beg from others? Just kidding. For Bethany, it was an opportunity for her to practice on grand scale looking at people and saying words to them. It was scripted, "Trick or treat." She didn't have to converse. She did have to follow up with "Thank you," though. Now, if anyone asked a question, I'd have to feed her words to say. For Natalie all of these reasons were a non-issue. She's adhd. She loved the fall festival. She was happy to play every game---if she could win. She still leads the charge on 10/31 and determines which houses have people home or not and precisely how long to stay at each door.

From the beginning of the "white guy" I've been telling the girls how we don't celebrate evil. We've talked repeatedly about how death is NOT something to be celebrated, mocked, and glorified. I don't mean to be this way, but I have to admit that I am literally repulsed by cemeteries in people's yards and costumes that are images of death and evil. The people don't repulse me. I know under the costume is a human. But I am just super sensitive to these things. Maybe because I lost a brother when he was 17. I've seen too many people die early. Death is only beautiful when it is the passing of a believing soul into the arms of Jesus. But killing of people, or the depiction of it, is not beautiful. I could barely get through Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl when Natalie & I had to read it.

Some of you will agree with me. Some of you will adamantly disagree with me. That's okay. My convictions are not yours, and yours are not mine. We are to hold one another accountable, but ultimately, we have to stand before the Lord with our accounts.

Above are this year's costumes for 10/31. Nat wanted a Renaissance dress and we hope to find a family friendly fair to visit next year. She just can't grow much. LOL! Bethany created her cat costume. The red hair is just because she wanted to see it redder than it's natural reddish-strawberry color and knew I'd only let her do it that day.

Below are some of the MANY costumes they've had over the years. BTW, Bethany is currently filming and producing a movie for a homeschool literature project and was dressed up today as a man from the 1860's. Dress up is NOT just for Halloween!

"When I grow up I want to be a pig." Natalie, age 3

Red boots go with EVERYTHING!

They even made the grandmothers dress up!

About the title of this post: I used to call 10/31 Hallelujah Day. I then thought of the meaning of the word "Halloween." Hallow: holy, E'en: evening. Holy Evening. I like that. It's not what the originators meant it to be. It's not what 99% of folks today mean it to be. But it's a name I like. A reminder to live holy lives daily. May every evening be a Holy Evening and may every day be one in which we rejoice that THIS is the day the Lord has made!

Sale! 20% Off at my Etsy Shop!

Don't wait for Black Friday! Go shopping at my Etsy shop today and save 20% off every item with this coupon code: 20NOV11   I have several table runners for fall and Thanksgiving. Some are reversible for Christmas. I will be adding more bags as the month goes on. You can use the coupon code as often as you like, so if you shop now then want to buy more in a week, use it again!

Click here: Chef Mama on Etsy

In other news, if you haven't heard, I am a Pampered Chef consultant again! It's been nearly 2 years since I went inactive. It's been 10 1/2 years since I became a consultant the first time. I have my first live show next Friday night (the 11th). It hasn't really sunk in that I am a consultant again but when I looked through the catalog I did get excited. I use Pampered Chef products all day long. Since we have to cook from scratch most of our food due to the gluten issues, I am blessed to have been able to acquire most of my PC products free when I was a consultant before. I am so used to the quality that I forget how great it is until I am somewhere without these tools! If you'd like more info about the products or how you can order them, let me know. I currently have a Mystery Host catalog show going and you could win the Host Benefits---free products and more! 

Finally, an update on our dear Katie. She was able to go home from the hospital, but is not doing well. Her husband said that she is unconscious most of the time with pain medication. Please keep praying for this dear family and if you would like to help, click on the link in my sidebar. Thanks!

Hope you have a blessed day!

Free Shipping at my Etsy shop!

This week only I'm offering FREE SHIPPING at my ETSY SHOP! This is for any US address only. Just enter FSOCT11 in the coupon code box.

Here are a few new items in my shop:

Rag Bag using Moda's Summer House

Reversible Table Runner with Fall on one side, Christmas on the back

Reversible Christmas Table Runner with close up of back

I have a few more items in the process of being completed. There's a Christmas quilt with Moda's Basic Grey Fruitcake fabric, another bag with Moda's Summer House fabric and 2 quilts that are waiting to be quilted. I will add pictures of those soon so check back!

I would love to have you share this special with your friends. Feel free to blog all about it!

Have a blessed day!

Help for Katie's Family

My friend Katie is an amazing woman living with stage 4 gastric cancer. She should "not be alive" now according to the doctors. When she was diagnosed they thought she'd have less than 6 months. In December it will be a year. Less than 2 weeks ago she went into the hospital with her tumor bleeding. Her only "chances" were for the tumor to stop on it's own or for radiation to possibly help IF she could even get radiation. If neither happened, they would be transporting her to the Hospice center and keep her comfortable. We know her situation is still precarious but we also know we have a God who is even more amazing than our dear Katie. Katie is currently AT HOME. The radiation was approved and in working to stop the bleeding.

With this going on for Katie, her husband Kevin, and their 3 sons, life is still managing to happen around them. In the Renz family birthdays seem to happen to the males in the fall. The twin boys will be turning 6 in November and the middle school son will have a birthday in December. I think Kevin's is soon, too. Christmas comes soon after that. We hope and pray that Katie will be here to celebrate all of these. We do know that this year shopping for Birthday and Christmas gifts will be a challenge, so my friend Emily has spearheaded a group to help the family in this area. If you'd like to help, please join the proboards group "Operation Renz Family" at THIS location.  In the near future there will be a way to donate immediately from that site.

Please continue to keep this dear family in your prayers. Thank you!

Swimming for Katie

 Swimming for Katie Blog Hop (click here)

Usually it is exciting to be among the first to know something. There is that joy of excitement and anticipation, as when you know someone is expecting a baby or getting married, before it's made public. Other times, it is an honor, but one with a heavy heart, that you are among the first to learn news. Last December I received an e-mail from a friend who had received Katie Renz' permission to share with me a trial she was facing. There was a possibility that she might have cancer. Katie is one of my dear online stamping friends, and I was all too eager to pray for her. Just weeks before we had said our good-byes and buried my dear friend Linda who lost her battle with cancer, but gained eternal life. The summer of 2010 I sat in the "friend chair" in two infusion centers while two of my best friends received chemotherapy. Learning of Katie's possible cancer was simply surreal, but one I was all too familiar with.

As most of you know, Katie was diagnosed with stage 4 gastric cancer in December. She spent Christmas in the hospital, a time that was supposed to be spent at Disneyland on vacation with her husband and 3 boys. Her cancer was inoperable, but she has been on a steady regimen of chemotherapy. During a break from the chemo her family took that trip to Disney! And to show you a touch of Katie's tenacity, check out this picture:

During another break in her chemo routine, Katie got a motorcycle endorsement! Something Katie & I have in common is husbands with a love for riding fast motorcycles. I guess the "fast" goes without saying when you mention motorcycles. Katie is far braver than I, however, as she also drives a motorcycle!

Katie is fighting this cancer with all she's got, but she also is dealing with this with a big dose of reality. In her last post, she talked about going shopping with her husband. Not for shoes or clothes, but for cemetery plots, coffins and headstones. That's Katie, thinking of things ahead of time so if/when the time comes, Kevin will not have to make those choices. She's not given up hope, though. She still uses the phrase, "short of a miracle," knowing that could happen.

Today a wonderful group of Katie's friends and stamping comrades have posted a blog hop as a way for others to help Katie, Kevin and the boys in a very practical way. Cancer not only takes a toll physically and emotionally, but also financially, even with the best of insurance policies. On this blog hop, you will have the opportunity to donate directly to help the Renz family as well as purchase some "digi stamps" with the cost also going to the family. You will also find Katie's mailing address if you'd like to send a card.

Please pray for this dear lady and her family. We are all still hoping for that miracle.