Two Milestones!!!

1. I now have "older posts"!!!

2. I posted a picture in a post!!!

Go me!!!!!

(I do love the exclamation mark or exclamation point!!!!!!!)

What's in a Name?

The Hooten 2's, as we call Bret and his family, were here for the weekend. Ian, who is 4, is constantly dressing up or pretending to be someone else and frequently allows me to be a part of his imaginary play. I love to join in! This weekend he was a ninja, "fireboy", "lavaboy", and a marine, among some things that I didn't recognize. He is my "little buddy". Just ask him!

Sunday morning he saved me by giving me his gun because he remembered he had lava in his hands to shoot. Who needs a gun with hot lava in hand?

Later on as I soaked in a warm Bath and Body Works Wild Honeysuckle bubblebath he yelled through the door that he was leaving me a gun outside the door in case "bad guys" were there when I got out. I thanked him and was able to really enjoy the bubblebath after that with a true sense of relief knowing that I'd be safe as I exited the bathroom. Huge sigh of relief! After all danger is always lurking in my bedroom. A few minutes later he was back informing me that he'd come back to load the gun with rockets to make sure the "bad guys" wouldn't get me. I cannot begin to convey to you how relaxing the rest of my bubblebath was knowing how well cared for I was and am by my precious super-hero grandson!

My grandchildren call me GiGi, as well as our good friend's Noah and Anna Dollar. So when I realized that I had no where to put the gun as I prepared lunch for fifteen people I put it in the back of my jeans. My second granddaughter, Lily, has just started ballet lessons and loves the book Angelina Ballerina. Since Angelina Jolie frequently wears a gun in her violent shooting movies I decided to be Angelina GiGi. Hence new name number one.

You may now call me Angelina GiGi! Beware I AM dangerous!

On another blog I read (and you just have to trust me on this, because I haven't figured out how to link things yet) there's a thing to generate what your name would be if you were Sarah Palin's child. I'd be Rake Trinket Palin. Frankly, I think it has a nice ring to it. As a child of the 60's and 70's who has enough dead brain cells from the misadventures from said bathroom hijinks that you can read about below. I think it fits. I used to have a paisley poncho and bellbottoms to match that would have gone great with the name, don't you think? Thank God His mercies are new every morning and I'm not that girl anymore. But I can still have fun with names!

You may now call me Rake Trinket Palin! Because I am just that cool.

Which one are you planning to call me and why?

The Woman Who Fears the Lord from Proverbs 31

10 An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. 11 The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. 12 She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.

When Micah was a little girl she and Dick memorized Proverbs 31:10-31 together. She even got a certificate that marked her accomplishment. I remember how they worked on it saying it back and forth and discussing what it means. Micah was very intent on getting it down. We were very proud of her and her resolve. As a child and a young teen she exhibited many of the characteristics of a Proverbs 31 woman in waiting.

This week Libby brought the above verses to my mind again in our family Bible study. We're praying them this week for someone we love. Every Monday a member of the family selects either a verse or a passage and we use it daily as a prayer for the next week. This is Lib's week.

This week I'm taking it further and praying it for me and for all of the Hooten women AND for the woman who will someday be Elliott's wife.

Dick and I have been married for 31 years and I have to say that it's hard right now. This last year has been difficult on many levels. The list is long. I won't bore you with it. I'll tell you this. I'm committed to Jesus and to His word. I'm committed to my husband, my marriage, and to my family.

Please pray for me to be an "excellent wife who is trustworthy to Dick so that he won't lack gain, and that I will do him good and not harm all the days of my life". That's so important to me right now.

The Theme of Three Weeks?

It's been around three weeks since I promised another post in another day. Sad. :-( Well, maybe just pathetic! Maybe I just have too much to say for a blog. I am a talker you know.

Amyway, I fall in love with the books I read. I have a hard time moving on to the next book because I have to sort of "roll" the thoughts around in my head of what happened in the last book before I can move on. I read Three Weeks with My Brother by Nicholas Sparks over the weekend. First of all, The Notebook is one of my favorite books and IS my favorite movie. I don't guess I knew that it was his first novel to sell for publication. WOW!!!!! AND it was based on his wife's grandparents. Real people. Can I just tell you that I love it even more now?

He was selling pharmaceuticals for a living, supporting his wife and two sons, when he got the call that The Notebook had sold for a million dollars!!! I was so excited when I read it (and this happened in 1995) that I wanted to call them and congratulate them. I mean I was so HAPPY for them!!!!! He had just set up a lunch buffet for some doctors to present his "drugs" when he got the call from his agent. How exciting is that?

He talks about where he was in his life when he and his brother, Micah, took a three week trip pretty much around the world. Overwhelmingly busy. In a nutshell, sometimes we can be on a calm stream in a canoe, at other times we may find ourselves in the rapids having to paddle but handling things okay, and then at other times we may be paddling for dear life to keep from going over the waterfall. Leading up to his trip he had been at the waterfall stage for a while. I have felt that I've been there for a while. Emotionally, physically.....sadly enough spiritually. The book reminded me of the things that need to be prioritized in my life. Now I have to work on actually DOING it.

Another of my favorite books that he's written is A Walk to Remember. I love the purity of Jaime Sullivan. Her innocence and love of life. Her sweetness and goodness. Her spunk for what's right and her concern for others. I see it in my daughter Libby. I see it in my daughter-in-law's Delilah and Emily. I see qualities in Jaime that stand out in my daughter's Hallie-Grace and Zoe.

I learned that he based Jaime on his sister Dana who was battling brain cancer when he wrote A Walk to Remember. He talks throughout the book about Dana's sweetness and gentleness. Her deep concern for others. He and his sister even share the same birthday!

So, I guess you've figured out by now that the book I read this past weekend is not only about Nicholas Spark's three week trip with his brother, Micah, but it's also autobiographical. And it's actually written by he and his brother Micah Sparks.

It's an awesome book. I have to get it back to the library before it's overdue and I'm sad. I get really attached to books. Oh, and one more thing. I haven't read Nights in Rodanthe yet, but I've requested it from the library AND the movie comes out this month. Wonder if it's good?

Read any good books lately?