Lily Grace Discovers the Pilgrims

Good Morning all my wonderful friends in "Bloggyland"!  Mommie looked at my posts and said it's been almost a whole month since I wrote anything, and she was afraid people would forget all about me if I don't write something soon! Of course, I've been very busy behind the scenes this past month, helping with Mommie having surgery and having to recuperate, and then there was Halloween and I helped her with the "trick or treaters", , and then we had that Blustery day last week, and even though you didn't see me, I was helping Mommie bake cookies and hobo stew and stuff...so I've been pretty busy, but you just didn't know it!

So when I woke up this morning I saw some things I had never seen before and I wanted to tell you all about them.

Something new had been added to our fall decorations!  I was looking for my friend the Scarecrow and the Jack o' Lantern to say good morning to them like I usually do when I wake up, but they weren't there! Instead I found these two people standing there holding turkeys and pumpkins and vegetables, and they are wearing funny hats and clothes, and I asked Mommie, "Who are these people, and where is my friend Scarecrow and Mr. Jack O' Lantern?"

So Mommie explained, "Mr. Scarecrow and Mr. Jack o' Lantern have gone away until next year because Halloween is over, and that is their special time to come out and visit with us.  But on their way to their home for the winter, they passed these folks on the road and told them the way to our house, where they would be well taken care of and be very happy for this season of Thanksgiving."

But I was still so confused, because I don't know anything about these people. Who are they? And where did they come from?

So Mommie told me all about the "Pilgrims" and how they came here to America over 400 years ago! Wow! That's a LONG time ago!  Mommie said that way back in the year 1620 a large group of people called "Puritans", or the Pilgrims, got on a big ship in England called "The Mayflower", and sailed way across the sea to America so that they could practice their faith in God the way they wanted to without the King of England telling them they had to do it his way.  They were very devout Christians who wanted to have a better place to live and worship God and live in freedom.

So they arrived in America at the beginning of winter, and many had been sick on their long journey across the sea. Some had even died.  And when they finally got to the land of America,  

they had to start completely over with nothing.

They had to build their own houses and find food and try to stay warm, and it was a very difficult time.

But they had a lot of faith in God, and they prayed to God and He helped them.

There were some kind Native American people there who actually helped them find food and showed them how to grow their own food.

And the Pilgrims were so thankful to God for how He had helped them that they wanted to have a great feast to celebrate. And so, one year after the Pilgrims had landed in America, those who had survived the first year gathered together with their families and the kind native American people who had helped them so much, and they had a great feast.

And that was called the first "Thanksgiving".

"We Gather Together"

(This is a song we sing at church on Thanksgiving)

I was SO excited to hear this story and to see all these thankful people, the Pilgrims and their friends.

I am happy that now we celebrate Thanksgiving every year in memory of that first special day,

and to also thank God for all our blessings that He has given to us so abundantly.

Mommie says Thanksgiving day is a wonderful time of eating lots of good food, like turkey and stuffing and sweet potatoes and cranberries and pumpkin pies, and Oh My! So many wonderful things I can't wait!!  But most of all to stop and tell God how thankful we are for all His blessings.

This will be my very first Thanksgiving, and I am very very thankful that God sent me here to live with Mommie and Daddy and all my family. And that He showed me how to write these special stories to share with you, my friends in Bloggyland!

I hope that you and your family will have a very Happy Thanksgiving too!

Oh, here's another special song that Mommie says we will sing on Thanksgiving Day:

Come Ye Thankful People Come

 

I hope you enjoyed this little story, and that it has helped prepare your heart for Thanksgiving too!

I'm so happy I got to learn about the Pilgrims today, aren't you?

Bye bye for now!

Love,

Lily Grace

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Some Fun Adventures!

Good Morning all my friends in Bloggy Land!  Mommie said it was about time we shared a few adventures with you.

I was SO excited because one day when we were going to town we passed by this farm where they have some horsies!  I've been asking and asking Daddy to please stop so I could see the horsies some time, and so on this particular day he pulled the car over to the side of the road and said, "Okay, go see the horsies!"  Thankfully Mommie had her camera that gets close ups a little better because the horsies didn't want to come any closer to the fence.  

He was too busy eating his breakfast, and those white birdies were helping out!

I was so excited watching the horsie that I didn't even notice that I almost stuck my nose right into this barbed wire fence, and there was a spider right there on it!! Do you see it?  And look, there's even a spider web all around it, and I didn't even notice! That was a close one!

But see? There are more horsies over there, and that is what I was looking at!

Finally we decided to go because the horsies weren't paying any attention to me. Mommie said next time maybe we should bring some apples for them, and maybe they will come to the fence. That would be fun!! I hope we can do that some time. Have you ever fed a horse some apples? Or maybe a carrot? Any suggestions?

Meanwhile, I wanted to get back home to my own pretty horse, Bella.  She was happy to hear all about her big cousins in the field. But she said she is content right here with her new friends, Mr. Scarecrow, Mr. Jack o' Lantern, and Mr. Owl.  They enjoy visiting with each other now and then, and Bella feels safe here at home.

Maybe Bella would like some of these different "treats"....celery and carrot sticks are good snacks...

Or maybe this dish of apple/raisin/walnut/celery salad:

That's a yummy fall food! 

Or how about some Sloppy Joes?  We had those Sunday night for supper.  Mommie said that she remembers when she was a young girl that she used to go to church on Sunday night for her youth group meeting, "MYF" they called it.  

And there was a dear lady who used to make a "snack supper" for the youth group every week, and often times it would be sloppy joes on buns, with maybe some potato chips or those potato sticks that came in a can like this:

Have you ever had Potato sticks from a can? I think I'd like to try some!   Anyway,  Mommie said those were happy memories of those days when they had their youth group meetings, and they would eat and sing songs, and then have a meeting where they planned special outings like retreats or going to camp or they would have a program that they planned themselves, with adults supervising.  It was kind of like Sunday School, but the youth did all the work.  Did you go to a youth group when you were young? I think I'd like to go too. Especially if they had sloppy joes and potato sticks to eat!

Speaking of other fall snacks....look at these little tiny pumpkins:

They sure are yummy! They don't taste at all like pumpkins! They taste like oranges!! They are kind of squishy and jelly like candy, and they sure are good. It's hard to eat just one!

Mommie said she already asked you if you like this Candy Corn stuff.  She said some do and some don't. Mommie said she likes it best with peanuts mixed in. Have you tried that? I did, and it sure is good too.  Wow, so many treats around this time of year...I might get fat!

Speaking of fat, there was a fat black cat sitting on our front porch one morning. Mommie tried to get a picture of it through the window, but all we got were these two green eyes looking at us!

That was kind of "spooky"!

Speaking of spooky, Mommie went to a Ladies' Meeting at church yesterday and didn't take me with her! I wish she had because look at all the fun stuff they had to eat! She said they had a "spooktacular" time:

Yikes, there were rats and spiders on the tables...and even gummy worms in the punch bowl!

And oh my goodness! What is THAT?  That is a HAND coming out of the punch bowl!! Now I think I would have screamed if I saw that,  so maybe it's better that I stayed home!

Mommie said this little person had to wait too long to eat! Ha Ha!

Whew! Safe back at home, Mommie had a cup of tea and her tea bag said, "Never quench your thirst for adventure!"

I think we've had enough adventure for one day, don't you?  Here I am this morning singing with my friends.  We are singing a song that Mommie taught me from church. Maybe you can sing along with us. I have my guitar ready to accompany us.

"Rise, and Shine, and Give God the Glory, Glory!

Rise, and Shine, and Give God the Glory, Glory!

Rise and shine and (clap!) give God the glory, glory!

Children of the Lord!"

"Let your light so shine before men, 

that they may see your good works 

and glorify your Father in heaven."

Matthew 5:16

Okay, friends! That's all for today! I hope you let your light shine for Jesus today!!

 

Happy October!

Hello my friends in Blogland!  I am so excited that it is the month of October already!!  

I love looking at these pretty pictures on the calendars...this one in particular is from Mommie's Country Seasons calendar by the artist John Sloane:

And then there is this other pretty picture for October on calendar by the artist Abraham Hunter:

Which one do YOU like best?  I think I like the first one best. I love that old dog sleeping on the lawn, and the apples and the pretty red truck.  But I also like the deer and the geese and the old house and barn and tractor in this one.  It's hard to decide...I think I just love October and all the color and beauty if brings!

Mommie said I remind her a lot of "Anne of Green Gables"...and she has read some of her stories to me from this old old book... 

Can you see just HOW OLD this book is?  I guess the picture isn't very clear, but it says 

"Copyright 1908"!   That's a LONG time ago!!  113 years ago, to be exact!

Mommie said that's even older than her mother, but this book once belonged to her mother, 

my Grandma "Dorothea".

Do you see above where Grandma Dorothea wrote a note?  It says "2-24-85, Purchased from  Old Book Seller at Florida Twin Markets, Rt 441-Mt. Dora,  FL."  Mommie said Grandma liked to identify her old books and put her name in them...especially books that meant a lot to her.  And she LOVED Anne of Green Gables, so this book definitely meant a lot to her.

Anyway, Mommie said I remind her of Anne because she loved October too!

You can read what Anne said below:

Did you see where Anne said, 

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.

It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn't it?"

Well, I have a surprise for you!! Looky here who I found!

Right there on "Scarecrow Crossing", I found Anne of Green Gables, along with my friend the Scarecrow, Mr. Jack o' Lantern, and Mr. Owl!  I knew I would fine Anne there, because there were pretty autumn leaves and colors there at "Scarecrow Crossing", and Anne just loves the beautiful colors of the maples leaves and flowers...

Mommie said that she knew Anne and I would be the best of friends.  I love making new friends, don't you?

Speaking of special friends, do you remember when I met my beautiful cousin Shannon a few months ago?  Here she is with me:

I know she just loved me so much and I loved her too. We kind of were "kindred spirits" like Anne of Green Gables was with her friend Diana.  Well, anyway, I must get to the point.  Mommie said it would be okay if I tell you this today.  Yesterday my beautiful cousin Shannon was in a very bad car accident, and she ended up in the hospital.  She had to have some surgery today to fix some badly broken bones, and she is going to have a long time to recover from her injuries. But, Praise God! She wasn't hurt in her head or inside her body or anything that could be "life threatening", but her injuries to her bones are still very serious and it will take a long time to heal.  Mommie said that we should ask our friends here in Blogland to pray for Shannon.  She is a senior in high school and this is going to be really difficult for her. She may have to be in a wheel chair for quite a few weeks until she gets well.

So, will you please pray for my beautiful cousin Shannon?  I know she will appreciate it, and so will I. I hope maybe I can go visit her when she gets back home from the hospital so I can cheer her up. I think she'd like that, don't you? Maybe we could take her some pretty fall flowers to decorate her room. She loves pretty flowers and things. 

Mommie said Shannon may have some questions about why this has happened. It is very hard to understand these things.  But Mommie showed me a Bible verse that I like, and I hope Shannon might like it too.  This is what is says:

Jeremiah 29:11-13 NIV

11 "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 

12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 

13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

Mommie said that God must have wonderful plans for Shannon.  The accident was so bad, she could have been hurt so much worse, or even have lost her life.  But God has a plan for her life, and it is a good plan. He has a purpose for her, and He wants her to have hope and to trust Him. Will you pray for her that she will learn more about what God's plans are for her life, and that she will truly seek God with all of her heart?  I know that will help her to feel better when she knows that Jesus loves her and has some wonderful things in store for her life in the future. Right now she just needs to get well. And Jesus will take care of the rest.

Thank you for praying.  I am praying for her too.

I hope you enjoy a happy October like our friend Anne of Green Gables!

Good Night my friends.  God bless you.

Love, 

Lily Grace

xoxoxoxo

Friday Foto Friends: Story Time with Lily Grace

Good Morning to all our friends in Bloggy Land!  Mommie said today is "Friday Foto Friends" day, and since she didn't have anything particular to share, she said I could share some special pictures and a story today!

The other day when I was telling you about our Autumn decorations, there was one special "person" I really really loved:

Mr. Scarecrow!!

Mommie said that she had a book that tells a story about a scarecrow and some other special people. I asked her if we could read it together, and she said we could. Here is the book below. Perhaps you have heard of this story:

Yes! The Wizard of Oz!  Mommie said there was a movie made about this story many years ago when she was a little girl, and they used to show it on TV at least once a year.  Mommie said she was very young, and some parts of the story were very scary to her, and so she really wasn't too sure she liked it, but she watched it anyway because it had a happy ending.  Do you have some stories like that that you like?

Anyway, Mommie has this book because a friend gave it to her when Mommie and Daddy were moving away to Kansas for a little while.  This story takes place in Kansas, and Mommie's friend thought this book would be a good one to read if they were going to live in Kansas!

This is a picture from inside the book. Mommie said that the little girl Dorothy looks a lot like me!

And do you see, she has some interesting friends with her...a Tin Man, a Lion, and a SCARECROW!  Oh, and we mustn't leave out her little doggie, "Toto".

I think most of you already know the story of how a big tornado came and picked up Dorothy's house where she lived with her Auntie Em and Uncle Henry and her doggy Toto.  Dorothy and Toto were swirling around inside the house on top of the tornado, and it landed in the Land of Oz.

Along the way she met three wonderful new friends, The Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Lion.

Of course we all know that she also met some evil people like witches and other creatures who tried to stop them from getting to the Emerald City to meet the Wizard of Oz. 

I won't retell the whole story here, but you know how the Scarecrow wanted some brains so he could be smart and think, and the Tin Woodman wanted a heart, and the Lion wanted courage.  And of course Dorothy just wanted to go back home to Kansas.

In the book (which was written in 1900, by the way!), the famous Ruby Slippers from the movie were actually silver shoes, and the Good Witch Glinda from the south sat on a throne of rubies.  And the Good Witch Glinda tells Dorothy that if she had known the power of her Silver Shoes she could have gone back to her Auntie Em the very first day she came to this country.

But the Scarecrow said if Dorothy had not come and they had not gone on that journey together he would never have had his wonderful brains.

And the Tin Woodman said that he would not have his lovely heart.

And the Lion said he would have lived a coward forever.

And then the Good Witch Glinda told Dorothy to just knock the heels together three times and command the shoes to carry her wherever she wanted to go....

And so she bid farewell to her dear beloved friends, and then clapped the heels of her shoes together three times and the next thing she knew she was back home in Kansas with her Auntie Em and Uncle Henry.

We all remember Dorothy saying in the movie:

"There's no place like home, There's no place like home, There's no place like home..."

Wow! What an amazing  story!

Well, Mommie had a little surprise for me after we finished reading the story.  Look at these beautiful little Ruby Slippers and the story that came along with them!  Mommie said that same special friend gave this to her when she moved to Kansas, with a prayer also that someday she would come back home, which she did, but that's another long story for another time:

"The Red Shoes are leading me home...to heaven, for these shoes symbolize my walk with Jesus. They are red because I've been cleansed by His blood. Jesus wants to walk with you too!"

"Red for the blood of Jesus my sins are washed away,

so every step I now take God will lead the way."

I love these little Ruby Slippers, and the beautiful story about Jesus taking me home to heaven someday. I asked Mommie if I could wear them for a while, and she said I could as long as I told this story to you and also as long as I took good care of them.  

I hope you enjoyed this little story time today. I don't have a real Tin Woodman, or a Lion, or even a little doggy like Toto, but these are some of my friends, and we all enjoyed this story very much.

I hope you have a happy and blessed day, wherever you are!!

And I hope you have these special red shoes to take you home to heaven too.

 

Lily Grace Celebrates Autumn and a Special Party!

Hello my special Blogland Friends!  I was SO happy to wake up this morning and see so many pretty new decorations in our house!! I asked Mommie what it could all mean?  She said we are celebrating the season of Autumn, or "Fall", when the air starts getting cooler and the leaves turn pretty colors begin to "fall" from the trees outside!  She said we will be watching for those changes when we take our walks in the coming days and weeks, because here in Florida, where we live, it takes a bit longer to really feel and look like Autumn.  We don't have as many pretty trees that get colored leaves like they do up north, and the weather tends to stay pretty warm until later next month.

But Mommie said we don't have to wait for the leaves to change and the air to get cooler outside to get ready for autumn inside!  And so, when I must have been sleeping, Mommie asked my big brother Scotty to bring in the boxes of fall decorations from the shed so she could start decorating. I was so excited to see all these pretty things! You see, I wasn't living here last year when autumn came here, so I never saw any of this before! It really is quite exciting!  

I asked Mommie what all those things meant on that sign:

"Hay Rides, Apple Picking, Bonfires, Raking Leaves, Corn Maze, and Pumpkin Patch".

She said those are kinds of fun things that people love to do during the fall season. Sadly, we don't have any apple orchards here in Florida, so we can't do that. But if we look hard enough, we might be able to find some of the other places to do those things.  We can make a bonfire right here in our own back yard too. And we will have some leaves to rake eventually!

Mommie said that autumn is also the season when we have Thanksgiving, and we will have a big gathering of family and friends to celebrate and eat turkey and give thanks to God for all our many blessings.  Of course, we give thanks to God everyday for all our blessings. We don't have to wait for Thanksgiving to do that! But Thanksgiving is very very special. I can't wait to eat my first Thanksgiving dinner with all our family!

Mommie said most all we want to be "grateful" for all that God has done for us.

I noticed something else.  This pretty teacup as pretty purple flowers on it, and inside the cup it says "September".  

Mommie really likes that cup because September is her birth month! She said later this month we will celebrate her birthday! Oh goodie! I can't wait!!! I love birthday parties...as you will see in a few minutes...

But first, we had to visit the "Scarecrow Crossing".  I asked Mommie, "what's a scarecrow?"  And she said it was a funny man made of straw and old clothes on a post in the garden to scare away the crows from the garden!  She said the crows would think it was a real person standing there, so they wouldn't want to come near that garden.  

I think he's cute, don't you?  He wouldn't scare me!  I would just like to make friends with him!

I found a funny owl! Mommie said this owl is really like a little candle, to add some light to our darker nights in the fall. The sun goes down earlier in the autumn, so Mommie likes to burn candles and lanterns and stuff to make pretty lights. Maybe we will have to take some more pictures later when the candles are lit.

And I jumped when I saw  this thing!  What is this, Mommie?  She said this is called a "Jack-o-Lantern", and even though this pumpkin is made out of ceramic, usually in the fall Mommie likes to get a real pumpkin and take all the seeds and stuff out of the inside, and cut a funny face in it like this, and put a candle inside and put it outside on a special day called "Halloween".  Mommie said we will talk more about that later, but that Halloween comes in October, and it is also lots of fun. She said some people try to make it really scary, but we just like to have fun on Halloween. But she said we'll talk about that more next month!

But NOW to the SPECIAL PARTY!  Last night we celebrated my big brother Benton's 50th birthday!! Can you imagine  that????  

He must be OLD!

Oops, when I said that, he did this to me!  Mommie said that wasn't nice. Even my sweet big sister "Auntie Rose" didn't think that was nice, can you tell?  

Anyway, we had a really special meal of lasagne and salad and garlic toast and the birthday cake for dessert!  Wow! I was sure stuffed after that meal!

Here's the rest of the family enjoying that dinner!!!

And then we celebrated Benton's birthday with cake and ice cream!

Here we are all singing Happy Birthday to him!  It was such a happy time.

Especially happy because my big brother Benton and my sweet Sister Auntie Rose were both SO sick on his real birthday a few weeks ago, and so we had to postpone his party.  We are SO happy that they are all better now. Mommie said Jesus really worked a miracle to help them get well, and we are very very thankful.

So when we get to that special Thanksgiving day later in the fall, we will definitely add THAT blessing to the list of things to be thankful for!

So, that's all my latest news! How about YOU?

Do you decorate your house for autumn too?  Do you celebrate birthdays and do special things with your family when you can?  Mommie said that life is short and we need to celebrate whenever we can!

Okay, friends, I have to go now.

So bye bye and remember, Jesus Loves You, and I do too!

Love,

Lily Grace

xoxoxoxxo