The Things That Go On In The Holter House.. and other interesting stuff

Last time I was able to get a connection, I posted three blog posts. I had gone for over a week without getting on the internet so I had been given time and inspiration for that much material. Lol! This time, I have at least two, maybe more. We shall see. I trust it's not overwhelming when I post more than one at a time. :-)

Our music went well the night of the 5th. The first song was the best. No mishaps with timing or anything like that. :-) Plus, with kids of all ages singing, it was pretty cute. Ruth (4) and Uriah (6) were big hits and people told me they could really hear their voices. I was quite pleased.

The second song, however, is a different story. We learned several very important lessons: Firstly, it's best if the musicians can hear each other. If you are playing back up for the fiddler and you can't hear the fiddler, it's called 'bad news'. Secondly, don't set loose sheet music on a playing piano. The vibrations of the instrument will make the music first fall onto your hands, then onto the floor, leaving the poor pianist moaning to herself, “Why didn't I memorize it?!” Indeed! Lol! But since I had played it a million times before and I was only accompanying, I was able to pull it off with only a few mistakes. ::sigh:: :-)

[Uriah (6) was making a huge fuss about his math. He kept insisting that he couldn't do it, no matter how much Mom and I tried to explain to him. Finally, Mom said if he didn't get it done in 15 minutes, there would be consequences. He was done in five. And (get this!) the answers were correct. :-P Kids. :-D]

Zeke celebrated his 11th birthday on the 9th and we had our nice ice-cream and pizza. My portion was eaten with you all in mind, so ::kisses::. :-D Happy birthday, Zeke.

I've been reading lots lately and watching some movies. Here are some titles:

Hunt for Red October (Tom Clancy) [definitely going to watch this movie someday. This book was excellent. I love it. Minus the language. :-) Great story, style, etc. I love Ryan and Jonesy best. President was fun, too. Not written from a Christian perspective.]

The Stone Maiden (Velda Johnson)

The Underground Stream (Velda Johnson) [both books were written in a timeless style that I love. I must say that I appreciated the former more than the other but I liked the mystery and storylines of both. Not written from a Christian perspective.]

And some of the movies I've been watching have been:

Amazing Grace (Ioan Gruffudd, Romola Garai, Ciaran Hinds, Rufus Sewell)

[I love this movie. It's like a documentary about William Wilberforce that's a movie. Very interesting, intense, moving, sweet. Great acting.]

Night At The Museum (Ben Stiller, Carla Gugino, Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney, Robin Williams)

[One of the funniest movies I've ever seen. Made me get tears of laughter in my eyes. :-) It's a satire but it's sweet and has a moral at the same time. Really funny. Some minor language and references to evolution... but I must say, I thought they were making fun of belief in evolution.]

Riders of the Purple Sage (Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Henry Thomas)

[I've seen Henry Thomas act in three westerns and in each, he was my favorite character. Lol! This movie is based on Zane Grey's book. Very nicely acted with a great story and mystery. Love the horse stuff. :-)]

The Nativity Story (Keisha Castle-Hughes, Oscar Isaac, Hiam Abbass, Shaun Toub)

[I thought this movie well done. Well acted certainly and they stuck fairly close to the Bible. There were a couple things that made me go “Yeah, right.” (sarcasm helps some things go down easier ;-)) But I thought for a biblical movie, they did fairly well. :-) I do advise you to go see it.]

Does anyone have any good biblical films they could recommend? Usually they seem to take liberties with the story, therefore missing important things. :-P That being said I haven't watched many biblical films.

Hannah and I are on a committee from church that's organizing an evening called, “Ladies Time Out”. Each year's theme is different and this year, it's The 50's. It's basically going to be an evening for all the ladies in the community to come and hear about God while having a fun and enlightening evening. I'm quite excited about it. :-) We're trying to stay away from buying anything more than we have to so we're trying to keep our eyes open for costumes, magazines, cookbooks, decorations, etc that we borrow (or be given) from that era. Anybody have old Reminisce magazines they would be willing to send to me? We need ideas for costumes, etc.

Do you remember that post I wrote about the Jehovah's Witnesses that came to our door? The old gentleman who came from Hungary, who was telling me about the horrors of WW1? He had a stroke not long ago and isn't looking too good. There might be just a chance that he can think and reason and be convicted... please pray for him as you are led.

[At the children's group we help with at church, the teacher was asking the kids what things we could do to obey our parents. Then she asked them to tell, without names, some things people have done that were disobedient. Right away, a little boy named Dylan (5) piped up, “My Dad--” and was promptly cut off with, “No names!” He sat silently for several minutes as other children said their pieces, then he began, obviously thinking really hard, “My mother's husband...”]

I hope you all have had a great week so far and that the next will be full of joy! God bless and stay warm. :-) :-)

P.S. I recently learned that green was Napoleon Bonaparte's favorite color. I knew there was a reason I liked that color. :-P :-D