I love going out into the 'highways and byways'. I had big plans of showing you some pics of some of unique East Texas friends- that is- until my camera informed me that my battery was exhausted. Although I was dismayed, I think our friends were a bit relieved. I did get this one picture. This man is a glass blower and does some amazing pieces. He creates from his heart with patience and skill. Glassblowing is something I never understood. I do now.
Lately, I have taken a lot more time to" listen". I have not only learned a new appreciation but have grown to respect and look for beauty in odd and unusual places and people I haven't taken time to get to know before. I love this 'out of the box' approach and the Piney Woods area in East Texas is good for that. Suspenders, Rumplistiltskinish beards, scruffy overalls, lengthy picturesque stories and tall tales, hot coffee by the buckets, kindness and backslapping, kids with puppy dogs and kittens, pickup trucks, fruit stands with free samples of pickeled watermelon, sudden terrific storms that last a few minutes, kind older folks that treat anybody younger like grandkids, spontaneous singing and dancing, little old towns with funny names like Cut n' Shoot, plenty of horses (seems like mostly pinto) and unbridled ingenuity.Well, to sum it all up- the older I get, the more I find out I don't know and God put so much for us to not only do, but to enjoy doing. "Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands". It's almost Nov. 10th and I'll be 57 years young (don't feel obligated to spread that around tho') and I feel like I'm just getting started.

A late night activity

I was diligently slaving away on Teresa's school planning tonight. As always, I was fishing for new ideas to stay organized. It's a favorite past time with me late at night. Ho hum. Well, I love paperwork and found a few neat sites for anyone interested in Homeschooling ideas, and charts of all kinds. Actually, I was just on a search for kitchen related charts and here I am- up 3 hours later and sharing my find! Teresa will probably play sick (or dead) tomorrow. She senses when I am on one of my organizational binges.
Donnayoung.org
cindy@oklahomahomeschool.com

What more can we say...

Taking a moment to pose. Joe is visiting from Taiwan. He's the one in white. Can it be he is recruiting?

One of our 'Famous Family Daze'

We sometimes get the urge to hop a city bus and explore and this time we ended up at the Zoo- again. We just can't stay away. We both love to click away and here are just a few shots. I admire these old oaks. Their twists and turns amaze me. I can't help but wonder just how many children have spent hours of fun on these branches throughout the years. I climbed trees a lot in my younger years. When I tried to climb these, Teresa made me come down!

She has good eyes but failed to see the giant lizard ready to pounce on her as she crossed the bridge. Her thots were on the flamingos she was trying to catch in delightful poses. Check her blog. Thankfully, the lizard let her pass. This is her new Fuji Finepix in action. She passed by the lions. They didn't seem too photogenic that day. She went for the hard to see creatures in the Reptile house that were doing their best to blend in and sleep. I can't imagine they appreciated her flash as I'm sure they felt exposed. The Albino croccodile was ignored as he slept blissfully on his heated plastic pad.

A curious one. I just called him Gilbert. We did have a bit to discuss. I could tell he didn't like his current situation much. He did really seem like he was trying to communicate. "Get me Outta here!" Thank God for thick glass. I spent my time photographing fish, while Teresa hunted the camouflaged crew in the reptile house. That took a lot of focus and concentration-and a good flash.

New Laborers of an unusual sort

We've been good at helping folks of all ages and talents get to the Mission field. It's something we have done a lot of over the years. Well, that's great and all but a few gaps have developed on the home front and we are learning how to cope with a shortage of help. An odd assortment of laborers are coming forward and putting their best feet forward . We believe in 'teaching others to teach others'. Daisy had enough interest but eventually wandered away when the car just didn't go anywhere.

Biscuits anyone????

A evening out in Houston- well we never know really what the agenda might be for tomorrow and the Lord always has plenty of surprises. Some can be quite unique. I just try to stay ready. Jeannie and Chris are in town from Joplin and while phoning one of her friends, she ended up with 20 free tickets to the stage play Arsenic and Old Lace the next evening. Some of us were scratching our heads at the title of the play but since it was such a short notice, we didn't have time to balk. We loaded up in the Van and only got lost once on the way! It was a 3 hr. long play but I have to say that we all enjoyed it and the acting was very good. Dr. Einstein was almost everyone's favorite-especially the hairstyle. Michelle pointed out that he also played the part of a wacky pirate in Treasure Island so he is quite versatile. Before the play, the MC told the story of the play as it was written during WWII and played the complete time in London during the London Blitz-never shutting down once. That had to be dedication under literal fire.

Happy birthday Georgia. She sure is a beautiful one. I know she is a real talker. She calls me but I have yet to really understand much over the phone. She has the enthusiasm part down.
I know every mom is proud but Maya and Tim's girls are all quite beautiful, talented and sweet. They just live too far away. I can get into moaning and groaning a bit about all that. I am usually pretty cheerful but that is my one downfall. I have to go on a lot of walks and swim a lot and keep generally keep busy doing new things and "stretching the borders of my tents". I miss the pitter patter of little Stone feet- and the larger sizes too.

To honor a faithful one.

It's a bit of work to get the curve of the tail just right. Takes time.....
A picture of patience.


He has been with us for 13 years and ever faithful in his dedication to what he did best.
When we first arrived here in Houston we set up a home in a old Art Gallery in the nightclub district. We all agreed it would be nice to get a watch dog. Our property was big and woodsy. When we went see the litter of German Shepherd pups, the owner asked what we were looking for in a dog. Our request was a watch dog that was great with kids. We had 21 kids there at the time. This one little black pup followed us so closely that he wouldn't get off our shoes!. We took him home he has been close by us ever since.
The Lord anointed him for the job as we only had one incident in 8 years while a lot of exciting things happened in the area. He had a commanding demeanor and no one really thought to risk bothering our home.
He loved children and I think a lot of young people may remember playing tennis with Ziggy when they were kids. We lived next to a tennis court and had a non -ending supply as no one dared to come get their balls back. Ziggy and Lady (his mate)hid them all in their secret hole under a tree until they felt like using them. When we found their stash, there were 33.
His 15 minutes of fame came when 2 teens from an apartment complex behind us, jumped the fence into our back yard and were fighting with knives. The police were already chasing them, complete with helicopter and Ziggy quickly treed the bad guy. The 15 policemen had to politely ask us to call off our dog so they could climb the fence and apprehend the fellow. So, he then had the nickname of Ziggy, the police dog.
Mark has retold this story numerous times with all the rest of us chiming in with details.

He was strong. Jason was thinking kind thots when he let Ziggy spend the night in one of our cars. He actually forgot he left him in there. Ziggy hates being in small places and demolished the complete insides of the car overnight. We found him the next morning. There were wires and stuffing everywhere. We sold the car for $100 after that. The tires were still ok.
He hates thunder and fireworks. He's tried to break into the house through breaking glass windows and has chewed wood off of our outside doors as well as removing a garage door when he accidentally got left inside. Recently he has developed milder techniques and chewed up the round metal door knob so well that he can just turn the knob, enter the house and he actually turns around and closes the door behind him.
He has a gentle heart towards anyone young. He seemed to live to play with the multitude of kids that passed his way over the years. Besides watching over umpteen kids on Get Outs, he had plenty of pups with Lady and he has taken care of my Boston's and the others pups I take care of from time to time. They all love to play with him- especially his long fluffy tail. Recently I had a little 1 lb. Schnauzer pup that I was taking care of and the first night she was alone in her kennel, I was expecting a big fuss. I wondered why she was so quiet. I went into our laundry room, Ziggy had opened (and closed) the door behind him and was lying beside the little one. She wasn't even as big as his nose.

Well, recently, our faithful guardian is having trouble chasing anything and new pups have to learn their limits. Greeting and touching noses are okay but no tail tugging and energetic licking of his face. He has a lot of trouble walking - especially on cold days and barking at the Meter man takes all he has. He just does it sitting down now. I don't think he will be with us long now. Someone pointed out he was 96 in dog years now.
I just wanted to share this little bit as he has been a part of a lot of people's lives. In his own way, he has taught me a lot. We have always had an open house and had so many brethren pass through. I just wanted to honor Ziggy a bit as one of our faithful missionaries. He welcomed so many with unconditional love. He has done his job well over the years- his mission of watching over God's children on Fairdale and here.