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February 3rd: Jacob working on a Home Depot project Dad got us.

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February 2nd: One of the grandbaby twins.

P.S. I am temporarily dropping the OneWord thing so I can catch up on all of my pictures. I really have been taking them. :)

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February 1st

POTD: Katie (granddaugter #3) spent the afternoon at our house along with her sisters. We love it when they come to visit and all the kids can play together.

WOTD: empathy: the ability to sense and understand someone else's feelings as if they were one's own

"Learning is a result of listening, which in turn leads to even better listening and attentiveness to the other person. In other words, to learn from the child, we must have empathy, and empathy grows as we learn." ~Alice Miller

P.S. Sorry for being out of commission. Camera problems, school stuff, etc. :)

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January 31st
POTD -->
WOTD: transform: To change the form of; to change in shape or appearance; to metamorphose; as, a caterpillar is ultimately transformed into a butterfly. To change in nature, disposition, heart, character, or the like; to convert.
“Free the child's potential, and you will transform him into the world”~ Maria Montessori

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January 30th

POTD:

This is the barn that is across the street. You'll see a lot of pictures of this. I like to see it through the seasons.

WOTD:honor:A nice sense of what is right, just, and true, with course of life correspondent thereto; strict conformity to the duty imposed by conscience, position, or privilege.

“Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them.”
~ Aristotle

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January 29th

POTD:

Brianna helping Jacob learn his letters.

WOTD: joy: The passion or emotion excited by the acquisition or expectation of good; pleasurable feelings or emotions caused by success, good fortune, and the like, or by a rational prospect of possessing what we love or desire; gladness; exhilaration of spirits; delight.

“We are formed and molded by our thoughts. Those whose minds are shaped by selfless thoughts give joy when they speak or act. Joy follows them like a shadow that never leaves them.”
~Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.

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January 28th

POTD:

WOTD: delight: To give delight to; to affect with great pleasure; to please highly; as, a beautiful landscape delights the eye; harmony delights the ear.

"The moment you have in your heart this extraordinary thing called love and feel the depth, the delight, the ecstasy of it, you will discover that for you the world is transformed".

~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

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January 27th

POTD:

From my backyard.

WOTD: relax:To make lax or loose; to make less close, firm, rigid, tense, or the like; to slacken; to loosen; to open; as, to relax a rope or cord; to relax the muscles or sinews.

"If I had my life to live over, I'd dare to make more mistakes next time. I'd relax, I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.
You see, I'm one of those people who lived sensibly and sanely, hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I've had my moments, and if I had to do it over again, I'd have more of them. In fact, I'd try to have nothing else. Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day. I've been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat and a parachute. If I had to do it again, I would travel lighter than I have.
If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies".

~Nadine Stair

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January 26th
POTD:

Yes, snowing again!

WOTD: document: A written or printed paper that bears the original, official, or legal form of something and can be used to furnish decisive evidence or information; Something, such as a recording or a photograph, that can be used to furnish evidence or information; A writing that contains information.

“Let us first say what photography is not. A photograph is not a painting, a poem, a symphony, a dance. It is not just a pretty picture, not an exercise in contortionist techniques and sheer print quality. It is or should be a significant document, a penetrating statement, which can be described in a very simple term - selectivity.”
~Berenice Abbott

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January 25th

POTD:

Yes, that is snow on my truck again. It's starting to get to be a habit around here :)WOTD:invest:To commit (money or capital) in order to gain a financial return; To spend or devote for future advantage or benefit; To devote morally or psychologically, as to a purpose; commit.

"Men of our generation are invested in what they do, women in what we are".

~ Shana Alexander.

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January 24th

POTD:

The girls went to a sleepover. My camera freaked out on the next Monday, so I will start having to use my old 4MP one. Both girls made a new friend.

WOTD: meaningful: Having meaning, function, or purpose. Fraught with meaning; significant.

"This is our purpose: to make as meaningful as possible this life that has been bestowed upon us; to live in such a way that we may be proud of ourselves; to act in such a way that some part of us lives on".

~Oswald Spengler

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January 23
POTD:
Had to take Rickey to work today and actually caught a SUNRISE! For those who know me really well, this is a major accomplishment. I am much more of a sunset kind of person.
WOTD: patience: The act or power of calmly or contentedly waiting for something due or hoped for; forbearance. Constancy in labor or application; perseverance.
"Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world".
~ Harriet Tubman

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January 22nd

POTD:

Picture taken on the way to a reading activity at the girls' school. This is a small farm on the route we take there. It was so much prettier in person.

WOTD: rethink

Verb: to think about (something) again with a view to changing one's tactics
Noun: the act or an instance of thinking again
"We've been living in an age of self-absorption and self-indulgence. But the amazing thing is that on one day it all stopped. We started to rethink things. We began to think not about what is wrong, but about what is right, about our towns and our states and our country,”
~Laura Bush quotes

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January 21st

POTD:

This is from Sunday. The girls had a dance clinic. Check out my friend's blog (twinangels) for more info and pictures.

WOTD: Pause: A temporary stop or rest; an intermission of action; interruption; suspension; cessation. Temporary inaction or waiting; hesitation; suspence; doubt. To hesitate; to hold back; to delay. To stop in order to consider; hence, to consider; to reflect.

"He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed".

~ Albert Einstein

Interesting author of this quote. I would have thought that at some point with all he had seen, he would have lost the sense of wonder we all are born with.

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January 20th

POTD:

Yes, to all my friends up North, that is snow in my front yard. This is actually from Monday evening. Enough for a small snowball, but not so good for a snowman.

WOTD: extend: To hold out or reach forth; To bestow; to offer; to impart; to apply; To value.

"Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again".

~Og Mandino
One of my favorite authors of all time. Check out his books. Short and concise. This hits home for me. Rickey's uncle passed away and I went to the funeral home tonight. This is the first of 4 in the next 2 weeks. You never know how much time you have left or how long your family and friends will be with you.

BTW: does anyone know how to get rid of this anoying double space?

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January 19th

We all had the day off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I took the kids to the local pottery place. They had a blast. Although there were all kinds of boy things, Jacob insisted on a bowl. Kiara did a piggy bank (she calls it Curly Q) and Brianna did her name. Keep in mind that they had to paint 3 layers for every color. It was cold and snowy outside, so it kept them busy and warm.

POTD:

WOTD: choose:

To make a selection; to decide;

To wish; to desire; to prefer;

To do otherwise.

“This life is yours. Take the power to choose what you want to do and do it well. Take the power to love what you want in life and love it honestly. Take the power to walk in the forest and be a part of nature. Take the power to control your own life. No one else can do it for you. Take the power to make your life happy.”
Susan Polis Schutz quotes

Amen!

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January 18th

POTD:

We had a mother/daughter breakfast at church today. No, that couldn't be me in the picture. I'm always behind the camera (Thanks Tera). The daughters had to write down what word described their mothers. Brianna wrote beautiful and Kiara's was I Love You. Too sweet!

WOTD:

happiness: state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy; emotions experienced when in a state of well-being.

“We find a delight in the beauty and happiness of children, that makes the heart too big for the body”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

What can I say? My children are my continued source of happiness.

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January 17th

POTD:

Yes, I have a cheerleader and a basketball player. They couldn't do the same thing. So, two schedules every week. But, they're having fun, and that's all that matters.

WOTD:

moxie:

1. The ability to face difficulty with spirit and courage.
2. Aggressive energy; initiative.

3. Skill; know-how.

"These kids showed a lot of moxie. These kids can't be stopped.”
~Teri Rosinski

Hope we can win a game this year...

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January 16th

POTD:

Baby - it's cold outside. For here, this is really, really cold. And that's without the wind chill. Schools were closed because they didn't think the furnaces could handle the temperature. I'm sure my family is laughing at this as we used to walk to school when it was colder than this.

WOTD:

heal: To reconcile, as a breach or difference; to make whole; to free from guilt; as, to heal dissensions; To grow sound; to return to a sound state.
“Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish; Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal”
~Thomas More

BTW: 8.6 pounds lost today in the BLC. Whoo hoo!

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January 15th

POTD:

WOTD:

eager : Excited by desire in the pursuit of any object; ardent to pursue, perform, or obtain.
“Probably the happiest period in life most frequently is in middle age, when the eager passions of youth are cooled, and the infirmities of age not yet begun; as we see that the shadows, which are at morning and evening so large, almost entirely disappear at midday.”
~Thomas Arnold (I've found this credited to Eleanor Roosevelt too)

No, I don't consider myself middle-aged yet, but I'm rounding the base. I'll probably find myself waist-deep in the middle of it before I know it hit me. :)