Come along with Lily Grace as she explores her new world with her new family in Florida. Lily has an Aunt Debbi and an identical twin cousin Tracie living in Charleston, SC, to whom she will be writing letters to tell all about her new friends and family and adventures. Come along and join in the fun!
Good Morning to all our special Friends in "Blogland", as Mommie calls it! And especially to my dear Aunt Debbi and Indentical Cousin Tracie way up in Charleston! I hope you are all having a wonderful Friday. My Mommie said that normally on Fridays she posts a lot of pictures for something called "Friday Foto Friends". She said that since this week she has been showing most of her pictures here on my blog instead of her blog, "Closed Doors, Open Windows", she thought she might as well do her Friday Fotos here too, because she said they mostly have to do with me! So we've been having a little adventure already this morning, and Mommie wanted to share it with you.
Mommie said that many of you will remember this sign from her previous home and now from her "Room with a View" in this house. It is a special sign that my big brother Benton made for her many years ago to put above her kitchen windows in their old house, and now it is perfect for over this window here. Well, she said that today is the day to "Let Heaven and Nature Sing" for us!
Our morning started out early with running out to the back porch to hear the owl hoot again, and also to see the last few minutes of the full moon before it went out of sight until tonight.
I can just barely see it between those trees over there...and the owl never hooted again either, so we hurried back inside because
it was really really cold outside, and I was still in my jammies!
So while I warmed up by the fire:
Mommie was busy making blueberry pancakes, sausage and fried eggs!!! Wow! Daddy said that was a lumberjack's breakfast! I'm not sure what a "lumberjack" is, but Daddy said it is a person who works really really hard chopping lots of wood so people can have fires in their fireplaces and can build things with the lumber! And so they like a big hearty breakfast before they go out in the cold and start cutting down trees and chopping wood all day long!
Mommie was using her special mug today that says "Let Heaven and Nature Sing", and that's what got us thinking about the birdies singing outside and stuff...
So after we ate our pancakes we went outside again and watched the geese in Still Waters Pond
They were so pretty!
Mommie said that you can't hear all the birdies singing in the trees that we can hear, so she took a video. I hope you can open it and listen to the birdies singing.
Mommie said to never mind the traffic noise in the background because there is a highway on the other side of the pond and people were on their way to work and their cars and trucks make lots of noise.
But if you listen to the birdies you will enjoy hearing them. In this one the geese are swimming away from the shore, and Mommie said to forgive her for moving the camera around so much, but they were moving and she was trying to get the best angle to see them, and she kind of wiggled the camera too much and it might make you sick to watch the motion. I hope not! That would be awful!
I hope you enjoyed our little movies! We'll try to do better next time!
After this we got dressed to go take our morning walk in the woods.
I was happy to have my new jeans to wear to keep my legs warm, and Mommie made me a little hoodie sweater out of an old fluffy sock of hers so I would be nice and warm:
Isn't it neat?
Then we looked at the wild plum tree again and it is getting more blossoms every day, just like Mommie said it would:
On our walk something scary happened, but Mommie didn't have time to take any pictures. There was a truck coming down the road and a big dog was chasing the truck all the way down the road. Mommie was concerned that the doggie would see us and want to chase us as we were walking out in the open. Daddy was a bit ahead of us and couldn't get back to us very quickly if the doggie came after us. But Mommie prayed the big doggie would turn away and keep following the truck, and guess what! That is exactly what he did! It's as if he didn't even see us walking there, and we were so relieved because he was a very big doggie and he could have knocked us both down! Mommie said that Jesus was watching over us and sent His angels to protect us and keep us safe. I am very glad that Jesus takes good care of us.
Psalm 91:11-12 says:
11."For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
12. In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone."
After our walk Mommie and Daddy went to the grocery store. I got to ride in the buggy!
Well, after that exciting morning we are back home again and Mommie is going to fix us some lunch. She says we need to go ahead and get this posted so people will be able to read it before it gets too late, so I will say good bye for now, but we might still have some more adventures to share again tomorrow!!
Thank you all for making my first week here very very special. I look forward to many more adventures with you! Now, why don't you go out and listen to the birdies sing? Mommie said the words "Let Heaven and Nature Sing" isn't just for a Christmas song! It's for all the time!!
Happy Sunday Morning to all my wonderful new friends!
Psalm 118:24
"This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it."
We woke up bright and early, and Mommie had her cup of hot tea in a different mug today! It says:
"The whole world is a series of miracles,
but we're so used to them we call them
ordinary things."
She said that today we will enjoy a lot of those "ordinary things" that are really miracles all around us.
Oh, Aunt Debbi and Cousin Tracie...look at what was out in the "Big Pond" first thing this morning! The geese were right there to greet me...and it was even raining, but they didn't even care! And they didn't fly away when we came out on the porch to say good morning! Oh, by the way, Mommie says to tell you that the real name for the "big pond" is "Still Waters Pond". Mommie calls it that because she says that God brought them here to live "beside the still waters", just like in that special Psalm 23 the Bible talks about...
I really loved seeing the geese out there this morning. I think that was one of those "miracles" that some people think is just an ordinary thing. What do YOU think, Aunt Debbi?
After de-vo-shuns (where we read about Jonah and the big fish and God giving Jonah a second chance to obey His commands and go preach to the people of Ninevah after the big fish spit him out on the shore...boy! I bet Jonah smelled and looked funny after being in the belly of that big old fish for three days! No wonder the people listened to him! Hey! That's another miracle, isn't it?)
Anyway, as I was saying, after de-vo-shuns and breakfast, Mommie and Daddy got ready for church. I wanted to go with them but they said that right now they aren't able to have any Sunday School for the children because of something bad called "Covid", and everyone has to wear a mask and stay far away from each other, and they can't even hug...and they thought it might be better for me to stay home and watch the church service online with my friends here. So that is what I did, but Mommie set up the computer for us so we could watch the service and sing along with the choir. Mommie is singing in the choir with the other people. Can you see her, Aunt Debbi and Tracie? My mommie is way over on the far left, and she sings something called "alto". Mommie said that means she sings with a lower voice than the other ladies, who sing something called "soprano". Those are big words, but I love music and I want to learn everything I can. So Mommie taught me this song so I could sing along:
She said if you click on that arrow on the picture below you can hear them singing and sing along too! And then, if you want to stay and listen a while, you can hear the preacher preach a sermon.
Mommie said a sermon is a nice story that the preacher tells from the Bible, and that we should listen very carefully because the Bible is God's Word, and God wants to teach us all about His Son Jesus and how to live here on earth, and how to get "saved" so we can go to heaven someday. I know I want to be saved so I can go to heaven. Mommie said we can talk more about that soon. I am so excited to know all about Jesus!!
These are the words to the song the choir is singing. It's kind of a happy song about going to heaven! I really loved singing along with them!
"Chariot's Comin'"
I’ve got a home waitin’ in the heavenly kingdom
Up where the streets are paved with gold.
And someday I know I’ll be headin’ for the heavenly kingdom
With a chariot to carry me home.
Swing low, sweet chariot, comin’ for to carry me home
Swing low, sweet chariot, comin’ for to carry me home.
Looked over Jordan, and what did I see
Comin’ for to carry me, carry me home.
A shiny golden chariot waitin’ there for me.
It’s gonna carry me home.
Swing low, sweet chariot, comin’ for to carry me home
Swing low, sweet chariot, comin’ for to carry me home.
My day is comin’ as sure as can be
Comin’ for to carry me, carry me home
I hear a band of angels callin’ out to me
They’re gonna carry me home.
Swing low, sweet chariot, comin’ for to carry me home
Swing low, sweet chariot, comin’ for to carry me home.
Swing low, sweet chariot, comin’ for to carry me home
Swing low, sweet chariot, comin’ for to carry me home.
Chariot’s comin’ to carry me home! YEAH!!!
After church Mommie and Daddy came home and Mommie wanted to have a cup of tea and eat a grapefruit, so we went out on the porch so we could listen to the birds while she enjoyed her snack.
When Mommie looked at the tag on her tea bag, she laughed and clapped her hands because of what it said:
"Why not brew up a little ray of sunshine?"
She said that I was her "little ray of sunshine", and it made her really happy to see that sweet little message on her teabag just then! I am so glad that I can help make my Mommie smile. That really makes me happy too!
After she finished her cup of tea she took me for a walk around the back yard. The first thing we noticed was this sweet little fairy flower! That's what Mommie called it, and I thought about your little "Fairy Granddaughter", Aunt Debbi! And she has one of my special identical cousins, "Daisy". I wish they could come see these sweet little fairy flowers! I know they would love them just like I do.
Mommie said we could pick some for a bouquet before we go back inside the house, but first she wanted to show me some special places in the the yard.
I was so excited to see this darling little girl sitting in the garden, holding a flower in her hand. Mommie says we might need to clean her up a bit this spring as she is looking a little weary from sitting outside in the weather so long. I said I would love to help make her look prettier and happier.
And look, Aunt Debbie and Tracie! There are little bunnies everywhere!
And there is another cute little boy and girl standing in the garden. They are just about my size, and I hope we will become good friends!
Oh Aunt Debbi and Tracie, wait until you see where we went next!
Look at this little sign! Do you know what it says?
It says, "Wel-come to my se-cret gar-den"
A Secret Garden!!! Oh! I was so excited!!
My Mommie has her very own secret garden!!!
And look at this other sign that is hanging on the gate into the Secret Garden:
That is something really special, don't you think? The "Secret Garden" is a place where we can rest our minds and soften our hearts! I like that idea, don't you?
Oh, Aunt Debbi and Tracie, this next sign kind of made me very sad. I had to ask Mommie to read it to me and to tell me what it meant. Mommie told me that I have another big brother that I haven't gotten to meet yet, because he is already in heaven. She said his name is Matthew, and that he went to heaven almost seven years ago, because he was very very sick and Jesus took him home to live with Him. Oh, I am so sad to learn about this, but Mommie said the good news is that because Matthew believed in Jesus as his personal Savior, he was saved and went to heaven to live forever. And also she said that he isn't sick anymore and never will be sick again! And then she said that if we believe in Jesus as our personal Savior, we can also go to heaven and live forever some day. Mommie told me another special Bible verse called "John 3:16". And this is what it says:
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
Mommie said that Jesus is God's "only begotten Son", and so if we BELIEVE in Him, we can go to heaven someday and live forever, just like my big brother Matthew.
That made me feel a little better to know that if I believe in Jesus I will get to go to heaven someday and see Jesus and also get to meet my big brother. But it still makes me kind of sad that he can't be here now so I can see him. Mommie said that he also has a wife and a son who live in another state far away from here, and that maybe someday I will get to meet them. I hope so, because I just know I will love them already!
Here's a picture of my Mommie and Daddy, their grandson Noah, and his Daddy Matthew and mother Nicole. This picture was taken a little while before Matthew went to heaven:
Mommie showed me this funny little Froggy sitting in a flower pot. She said that Matthew sometimes called himself Froggy, and so this cute little froggy is there to remind them of him.
That made me smile after feeling so sad.
Then look what I found! This is a very BIG BENCH in the Secret Garden, and it says:
"Mom's Secret Garden".
Mommie told me that my big brother Scott put this beautiful bench together for her one year for Christmas, and then my other big brother Benton painted the words on it to make it extra special.
I thought that was really really nice.
And so we sat down on Mommie's bench and listened to the birdies in the treetops singing.
And we sat really quietly, hoping they would come down and eat from the bird feeder, but Mommie said they probably were a little afraid of us sitting there so close, and so we decided to get up and go do some more exploring in the yard.
Mommie showed me this cute Bluebird house on the tree. She said that one time some Bluebirds were in the yard and she hoped they would come there and live, but they never did. However, she said a different bird called a "Tufted Titmouse" did come and make a next in there and had some baby birds there last spring. Oh! I do hope they will come back and have more babies in that cute birdhouse this spring! Wouldn't that be a lot of fun to see?
Next we walked around to a place beside "Still Waters Pond", and just enjoyed seeing the trees and water and places where Mommie said some wildflowers will be growing and blooming in the spring.
Springtime must be really special here. I can't wait to see it!
We went back and picked my little bouquet of fairy flowers, and then Mommie introduced me to "Bobbie the Squirrel", who lives in the birdbath. She apologized for the uncleanliness of the birdbath and said that we are going to have to come out and do some work in our garden and yard soon.
But anyway, "Bobbie the Squirrel" used to sit in my Daddy's Mommy's birdbath at her house. Her name was "Nanny", and she's gone to heaven now too, but we are taking good care of "Bobby the Squirrel" for her.
We finally went back up on the porch and Mommie told me about this beautiful wind chime that is hanging there. She said that it was made especially in memory of my big brother Matthew after he went to heaven. She said that he loved to fish and also he one time went on a "moose hunt" with his son Noah, and they really liked mooses up where he used to live way up north. There is also a dove of peace on this and a sunshine at the bottom. Mommie says that every time she hears the chimes in the wind she thinks of Matthew. I think that is very special, don't you, Aunt Debbie and Tracie? Now I will be listening for those chimes to ring in the wind and I will think of my big brother up in heaven.
It seems like there must be a lot of special people up in heaven.
I am named for one of them..."Lillian", and Baby Elva is named for one of them, and Mommie tells me there are many more wonderful people waiting for us there someday. She said it will be a wonderful day when we all get to heaven, but in the meantime we have to live our very best life right here and be very kind and good to other people.
Oh look! Another little bunny rabbit! There are so many fun things to see here. Even with the sad stories, there is a lot to be happy about too.
So back inside the house Mommie found this cute little tiny teapot to put our little bouquet of fairy flowers in:
And guess what, Aunt Debbi and Tracie? She told me that the little flowers that are painted on the side of this little teapot are called "Lily of the Valley"!! Oh! Can you believe it? These pretty little white flowers have my name? That made this even MORE special. Oh, and one more thing...Mommie told me that someone very special gave that little teapot to her for her birthday. She said that I have another special Auntie! Her name is "Aunt Doris", and she is my Mommie's big sister!! She said that she knows Aunt Doris is going to be very excited to meet me some day!! Oh! I can't wait to meet her! I hope it will be really really soon!!
Well, Aunt Debbi and Tracie, Mommie says it is soon going to be time for supper and that we should try to finish this letter. But it is so hard to stop, because it's just been such a wonderful day! And Mommie was right...what her tea cup said this morning was true:
"The whole world is a series of miracles,
but we're so used to them we call them
ordinary things."
(Hans Christian Anderson)
I think all these things we've seen today are really lots of miracles! And it is also a miracle that you thought to send me here, Aunt Debbi, because you wanted to do something nice for my Mommie...and you also did something so nice for me too! And you know what? I think sharing this story with everyone is something really nice and special too. I do hope we will make lots of new friends here and that they will write something nice back to us to let us know if they are enjoying this story as much as we are!!
Good Morning!! I am having so much fun in my new home with my wonderful family and friends! Mommie and Daddy get up pretty early and Mommie has her cup of tea and Daddy has his coffee. This is Mommie's special cup...it says "Rejoice in each new day!" Mommie likes to be joyful in the morning when she's getting her tea and then she and Daddy do something called "de-vo-shuns". I asked Mommie what that was and she said it's when they read something special from the Bible and also some good thoughts for the day. Oh, Dear Aunt Debbi and Cousin Tracie! I loved the special verses that Mommie read out loud to us from the Bible. Listen to this:
Psalm 47
1. "Oh, clap your hands, all your peoples!
Shout to God with the voice of triumph!
2. For the LORD Most High is awesome;
He is a great King over all the earth!
3. He will subdue the peoples under us,
and the nations under our feet.
4. He will choose our inheritance for us,
the excellence of Jacob whom He loves.
5. God has gone up with a shout,
The LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
6. Sing praises to God, sing praises!
Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
7. For God is the King of all the earth;
Sing praises with understanding.
8. God reigns over the nations;
God sits on His holy throne.
9. The princes of the people have gathered together,
The people of the God of Abraham
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
He is greatly exalted."
When Mommie finished reading this and the "de-vo-shuns", this reminded me of a special song that I wanted to sing. So Mommie said it would be fine if I played my guitar and we sang a little song together:
I don't know if everyone knows this little praise chorus or not, but I really like singing happy songs like this.
"Clap your hands, all you people
Shout unto God with the voice of triumph!
Clap your hands, all you people,
Shout unto God with the voice of praise!
Hosanna! Hosanna!
Shout unto God with the voice of triumph!
Praise Him! Praise Him!
Shout unto God with a voice of praise!"
I sang my little song to all of the family over in "Pamela's Victorian Cottage" while they were waking up and getting ready for breakfast. I don't know if their mama appreciated it or not, but it was a fun way to wake everyone up!
After breakfast we had a little visitor on the back porch...I cried out, "Look! A squirrel!"
But by the time we could get outside to see him he was gone over the rail and down into the yard and over in that big tree:
Then we checked the pond to see if there were any geese out there, but it was kind of misting rain and the geese were way over on the far side of the pond where we could just barely see them. Mommie said they might come over to our side later so we would be watching for them. But meanwhile, Daddy said it was time to go for our morning walk.
Mommie said she was afraid we'd get wet, but Daddy suggested we make a little raincoat for me so I could go on the walk and not get wet.
And so she did, but before we could go on our walk we had to put a special letter in the mailbox to YOU, Aunt Debbi and Cousin Tracie:
Mommie said it's always nice to write a real thank you note to someone and mail it to them when they've done something extra special for them. Mommie says you did something really special when you sent me to them. I agree. We are all very happy!!
After that we got in the car and drove to a place out in the big woods! Mommie says this is where they like to go for their walks because there isn't any traffic or houses or dogs barking. It sure is different from the walks we took together in Charleston, Aunt Debbi, which I really loved, but this is kind of exciting in a different kind of way.
Here I am in my new little red raincoat that Mommie made for me really quickly so I wouldn't get wet. It really wasn't raining by then anyway, but she said we didn't want to take any chances.
Oh, and guess what, Aunt Debbi! My Daddy have me a piggy-back ride! That was awesome!! I love my new Daddy. He's a lot of fun.
So then we started on our walk, and I saw this pretty little pine tree that I thought would make a wonderful Christmas tree!
And then we saw this really HUGE pine tree that is really really big. Mommie says she can't even reach her arms half way around it because it is so big.
I saw this thing on the ground that I thought was some kind of dragon, but Mommie said it was only a big branch that had fallen out of this huge tree, but it does look kind of like a dragon walking across the ground...I was glad that I was with my Mommie and Daddy and that it wasn't really a dragon. That would be scary!
There was this funny looking green spongy looking stuff all over the ground in lots of places. It kind was soft and crunchy when we walked on it. Mommie said it was called "deer moss", and that the deer like to eat it.
I looked at it a little closer, but I didn't think it was something that I'd want to eat. I was hoping we'd see some deer come and get some. Daddy said he saw three of them yesterday, but we weren't with him. We tried to be really quiet and watch for them, but they didn't come.
Mommie wanted to show me all of her favorite places to walk through the woods. It was cool and quiet there as we walked on a carpet of pine needles...
Now, Aunt Debbi and Tracie, you aren't going to believe this! There was a boat in the woods with a tree growing out of it!! Can you imagine such a thing? Why would a boat be out in the woods where there is no water, and have bushes and trees growing out of it?
Mommie said that apparently this boat was someone's "Final Straw", whatever that meant...and they decided to just dump it in the woods.
That made me kind of sad...first of all that they couldn't keep their nice boat, but then that they would just throw it away out in the woods and mess up the pretty forest. I don't understand why someone would do that, Aunt Debbi. It sure made me know that I don't want to be a "litter bug". We need to keep our woods and roads clean and litter free!!
Mommie and I had wandered around through the woods for a while, and then we realized that Daddy was no where around.
So Mommie said we needed to get back to the main road so he could find us, and there he was, driving down the road in the car looking for us.
I waved at him and he stopped and picked us up.
Mommie said that it was okay to do that because we knew it was Daddy in that car, but we should never do that if we don't know who it is. I promised I would never get in a car with a stranger.
After we got home we found out that my big brother Scott was home from work and he came out to meet me!
He was so cute and sweet and said he really liked my guitar. He said he always wanted a guitar when he was a little boy but he never had one. I told him he could play my guitar any time and he thanked me.
He was wearing a shirt that said:
"I'm Mom's Favorite".
I wonder if he is a little bit envious of me being here?
No, he's very kind and funny and he seemed to be very pleased to meet me.
Whew! We really had a busy day! But guess what, Aunt Debbi and Tracie, after supper we went outside and saw the geese!! There they were, right up on the shore near our back porch!!
I had to be very very quiet to not scare them away.
They were so big and pretty! They didn't seem to mind me watching them for a few minutes!
That made me very happy!
Wow, it is now almost bedtime, so I guess I'd better stop writing and get ready for bed. Tomorrow is church day and Mommie and Daddy have to get up and get ready on time. I hope that I can go to church too. Mommie said that maybe I can sing with the choir! Wouldn't that be fun, Aunt Debbi? I hope I can. I heard Mommie singing a song today while she was cooking dinner and she said it was the song they would be singing tomorrow in church. It sounded pretty and kind of a happy song. Maybe we will sing it for you tomorrow.
Okay, time for bed! It sure has been an exciting day!
Good night Aunt Debbie and Cousin Tracie. I love you.
