Keeping Cadence - supporting our troops

Hey again folks. I just got an email (see note to follow) from my cousin who spearheads an incredible project that directly benefits our troops heading to & serving in Iraq. Keeping Cadence makes & provides sand & cooling scarves for our soldiers. Visit the Keeping Cadence website for more information and to make a donation. In addition to monetary donations, fabric & other materials are needed.

I rarely ask folks to forward things & you won't be visited by 1000 fleas if you don't, but please share this with others who might be interested. This link is also on my blog. A 1000 thanks and kudos to you, Doris, and all the other great folks helping you help America's finest.

Carmen
I just returned from Camp Shelby Ms. where I was a guest of the Army at the training camp with 3300 troops leaving for Iraq this weekend. It was an awesome experience Carmen and I was able to deliver the 3300 cooling scarves I had made and the 3300 sand scarves that the gals in Nc made were delivered also. We are now looking for donations to make 1800 for Fort Brag NC troops that are leaving in March or early April. Tell all your friends to visit the webpage and donate if they can. The soldiers I talked to were some that are going back for the 2nd and 3rd time. They told me that the cooling scarves saved them from heat exhaustion and some of their friends and fellow soldiers had suffered heat strokes over there so these are REALLY IMPORTANT TO THEM they said. So we are asking everyone to dig deep into the penny bank and give what they can .....

If you cannot donate Please send a link to the site to anyone you think might be able to ok
Love ya
Doris

GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS

http://www.keepingcadence.com/
PROJECT KEEPING CADENCE FOUNDER
DjMerritt
dj@keepingcadence.com

Happy Valentines Day

Gracie celebrated her 1st Valentines Day in preschool with a party. Excited about all her "letters", we read her Valentines Day cards on the way home. The girl gets happy about mail addressed just to her, with or without candy hearts attached. :o)

We made pink ice cream last night with crushed cinnamon hearts in honor of this lovey dovey day. After her 2nd (little) bowl, she let me know she likes just vanilla. :o) We read love, hug & kisses books as we snuggled down for the night. Valentines Day is tomorrow and we are ready with our cutie red, white & black dress. We made our "You make my heart melt" valentines last week. Yes, we made them all by hand. DelightFULL Grace glitter glued each & every one of the 29+ Valentines.

Valentines morning, Grace was treated to heart shaped pancakes with candy heart sprinkles topped with chocolate sauce. Yummy love! Happy love day to you & yours, full of love & kisses! Here's a post from last year that I can't top~ For sure, I'm thankful for God's love & embrace today & every day.
Gracie & I have been reading love notes sent from our friends (WE LOVE Hoops & Yoyo!) as well as her little Valentine books. Our favorite is Mac Lucado's "God Thinks You're Wonderful!" Here's a bit of this love letter from the Savior~

God is fond of you. If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it. If He had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.
1 Kings 10:9 Blessed be the Lord your God who has delighted in you...

It might be difficult for you to believe, but God knows your name. He has it written on His hand. Spoken by His mouth. Whispered by His lips.
Isaiah 49:16 I have written your name on my hand.

Never forget...that you aren't an accident or an incident...you are a gift to the world, a divine work of art signed by God.You were knit together. You were deliberately planned, specifically gifted, and lovingly positioned on this earth by the Master Craftsman.
Psalm 139:13 You knit me together in my mother's womb.

AND the following exerpt is originally from Pinch My Salt but I saw it on Singinole's site. Too good not to share~

And finally, I’d like to end this on a serious note. Today is a day when people who are in a relationship feel pressured to go overboard to prove their love through showerings of silly, and often ridiculously expensive, heart-shaped gifts while those who aren’t in a relationship feel shunned by a culture that still places so much importance on being part of a couple. Some couples will probably get in fights today because one of them didn’t do enough to prove their affection while some single people are sitting at home crying because today is nothing but one giant reminder that they are missing out on everything in life because they haven’t yet found Mr. or Ms. Right. And what I’m writing isn’t going to change any of it. But, for a minute, can we stop
and think about the fact that people all over the world, right now as you’re reading this, are dying. Women are losing their husbands, men are losing their wives, children are losing their parents and perhaps worst of all, parents are losing their children.

What is most important is not that you remember to buy big presents for the ones you love. What is important is that they know how you feel every day. Because in this world, you never know which day will be the last. We all have someone to love, whether it’s a parent, child, friend, or lover. Call them today and let them know.

Please, by all means, celebrate love. But remember to do it every day. Happy Valentine’s Day!

"Celebrate love. But remember to do it every day" ...Good advice~
Happy Valentine's Day~

Our Family

The only way we are ever going to ensure peace on this planet is to adopt the entire world as "our family." We are going to have to hug them and kiss them. And dance and play with them. And we are going to have to sit and talk and walk and cry with them. Because when we do, we'll be able to see that, indeed, everyone is beautiful, and we all complement each other beautifully and we would all be poorer without each other.

Stan Dale

I came across this in a box of cards. Thought is worth sharing.

For the record...the memory record:

• Gracie's people are beginning to look more like people with hair, eyes, nose, mouth, limbs & now a belly button. The mouth is an attempted smile that overuns the outline of the face on both sides. I love that kind of smile, don't you?
• Adverbs...Grace uses adverbs now--correctly in most cases. For example: I have to go to the potty quickly or that guy is walking quickly and I fixed my hair beautifully.
• Grace likes Lightmean Aqueen (Lighting McQueen) and needs the game just like Haddon. She pointed out "I don't have anything Lightmean Aqueen and I need something."
• M's look like m's & o's look like o's and g's are taking shape as well. We're learning to write.
• After the 27th snow event (according to WLS 890), Gracie is finished with snow.
• Gracie likes to sing the high part while mom sings the low part, though she's becoming more of a soloist lately. Per this morning (Veggie Tales "You Are My Sunshine") when the part gets high, you have to sing really loud and open your mouth really big.

The more we get together...the happier we'll be~

I'm a bit behind in posting holiday pics & stuff. Here's a nice start with the 2007 Roomie Cookie Swap!

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

Speaking of getting together, I'm heading to Gracie's preschool today as a guest to demonstrate using our voice as an instrument. So we'll sing a bit and then we'll sing with signs. "The More We Get Together" and "Mary Had a Little Lamb" are on the list to sing/sign. This should be fun!

Despite the snow, we've had a great week thus far including some snow play. We also got together with old friends...my old friend, Deb & her family. Deb has 3 kids & Gracie loves them ALL! Talk about a happy day. Dressing up, Barbie play, dressing up, running around and more dressing up. Annie has a couple cheerleader outfits, which are a diversion from the princess theme. The girl is flexible, adapting quite well to cheering with pom poms in heels. Bummer, Annie has only one pair of heels. We are going shopping before we go back to Annie's. The tears! The tears at sharing that one pair of pumps. We'll take shoes next time. AND a sleepover is in the works. Annie is confident she'll want to stay for days....HA! We'll see.

While mom was at an adult function (congratulations Kim & Joe!), Grace visited Fair Oaks Farm in Indiana with NSE. This is a working dairy farm that has a ton of cool stuff for kids. Grace watched a calf being born! What a story!
Plus, they brought back some tasty ice cream for moi! Can't wait to go there myself in the Spring. These images are from the Fair Oaks Farm website.

Happy snowy day, AGAIN!!