I said to Levi last week that I needed to play “CATCH-UP” with all the pictures he and I have made lately.  “KETCHUP,” he said?  Lulu, I don’t think my Mama would let me play with ketchup!!!”

No, I’m sure she wouldn’t, but today, I’m going to play ‘catch-up’ all by myself.   We have had such a busy, busy fall…with lots going on.  And, it’s not over yet!  But I’d better get caught up, cause the next post will be a doozy!

A few weeks back, we visited the fire station….actually his kindergarten class did.  Suzanne was unable to go, so I did the chaperone thing that day….his class below

His good friend, Lydia

Of course, you know there is more than one way to walk in a line…

Full of fun…

His teacher, Mrs. Parrish, with Laney Brooke…

Two friends who he dearly loves…Lydia and Laney Brooke…

Taking it all in…What fun he had at the fire station…seeing our community helpers at work.  Then he came over to my house for the afternoon.  We had lunch and rested a while then he took a spin on his Razr…

Maybe, he’s still just a little tired…

Another day, he was with me…he came to me with his arms full of every single little pumpkin I had decorated with and said, “Lulu, let’s make me a pumpkin patch.”  And so we did.  Right on the table where he always eats!

Here he is at another pumpkin patch.  He visited here with his Mom.

And, here are the pumpkins Levi painted with his Mom and Dad at his house.  I’d tell you who they are, but I’d get it wrong.  Just know one of them is named Mike…

We did manage to get one more swim in before fall completely moved in on us…he did, I watched!

Levi and John Thomas had an art day planned for the fall season and Joy and I sat in the garage and let them go at it!  The weather was perfect.  They painted with different kinds of brushes and their fingers and made some lovely sunflowers on canvas.  Then we showed them how to make a pumpkin using fabric and stuffing and sticks from the yard.  They may not be exactly akin to pumpkins you have seen, but they were made with a whole lot of love to distribute to everyone they loved!  A few more projects, and we called it a day!  The boys are not able to be together as much as they would like, but they make up for it when they are!

Levi also picked out his costume for Halloween…and has modeled it endlessly!  I’ll wait to reveal the full effect with mask!

I have been painting a bench for a sweet friend of mine.  I have to work a while and rest a while.  But, the boy thought he should have a bench to paint while I was working.  This is the closest thing to a bench that was a good size for him.  He has been quite diligent working on it, if not particularly neat.  Each section is a separate color and it is all his work!

Last week, it was time for his kindergarten trip to the farm…what fun!  All 4 kindergarten classes at his school went to a farm just outside of town.   It was just lovely!  The weather was more than perfect and every child had a ball!  They learned about the chickens, saw goats and donkeys and horses and cows.  They had a little pumpkin patch with a pumpkin for every child.  There was a fabulous hayride, delicious snacks, and 4 classes of the cutest 5 year olds anywhere!

Chicken coop…

He stuck a chicken feather in his pumpkin…

With sweet Laney Brooke…

Feeding apple slices to Blue, the horse…

His class…

With sweet Suzanne…

Posing on the porch…

My favorite…

On the hay ride…

What a beautiful day!  I was so blessed to be able to attend with Suzanne and Levi.  I sat on the big front porch in a rocker while I waited for him to return from the hay ride.  If I had had a paper and pen with me, I could have written a book about the goodness of God.  Such glorious scenery!  He gave us the most beautiful world to enjoy.  Delightful animals that bring laughter and joy.  Families sharing times together.  A school dedicated to teaching each little child that God is our Maker and Designer of all.  He is the One we are to please and serve…and, such amazing children…full of fun and questions and energy and boldness…behaving just like a 5 year old should!  Oh, but God is good.  I thank Him for putting all this in my life to enjoy and teach me.

Levi had a good friend stop by to say ‘hello’ at school one morning…sweet Ty.  They wanted a picture,too.

And, because the bananas were just too ripe…he and I made banana bread…

As it cooked…I took the opportunity to show him what real fun is!  Painting with shaving cream.  I planned to limit it to the orange tray, but that didn’t happen.  At first, he thought I was crazy…but then he got his fingers in and began sculpting mountains and roads and towns.  It is great to create with unusual things for a change.  He made me promise we would do that again.

And, the month of October has come to an end.  How fabulous it was…so ‘octoberry’ in every way!  In the early days of November, Levi’s parents took him to The National Peanut Festival.  They ate good things, and rode fun things, and saw sweet friends!  He had a ball!  But, alas, I can’t get the pics off my phone to show them to you.  Just take my word for it!

We had one…just one …visitor to our house on Halloween…can you guess his identity?

And a Halloween visit to sweet Laney Brooke for some special trick or treating fun!

And, we are nearing Nov. 8…this is the kick off to our big family adventure!   We are going to Disney World! So probably, I will have lots of pictures and stories to tell when we return.

Enjoy this wonderful Season of Thanks!

(Sorry this is such a long post, but I wanted to document several of these events and I have a touch of the ‘procrastination’ in me!)

Levi told me he was ready to do an art project.  Hmmm!  I didn’t have anything in mind that day.  So I suggested we go on a walk outside and see if we came up with a good idea.  He loves to walk down to the  wooden bridge that covers a small creek on the road to our house.  It’s a perfect place for a little boy.  And he has loved it since he was able to walk.

We found the beginnings of fall laying on that bridge.  Leaves beginning to turn, acorns, sticks, a great rock that rolls.  He put it all into his bag.  We came back to the house and poured it out on the paper.  Then we began to touch and explore them.  UH! OH!  We discovered that some of the ones he picked up were crackly and dry.  They fell to pieces in his hand.  He said that’s because all the juice had gone out of them.  Which is a pretty good way to explain it I think.  Some were a little crinkly around the edges and some were nice and supple.

I unrolled a nice piece of clear contact paper, and took the backing off.  ( You can find the clear contact paper at Michaels or HL and even Wal Mart).  We took the leaves and laid them face down on the sticky paper.  He worked carefully arranging the leaves to his liking.  Even though he was so certain he could add the rock into the design, it jut wouldn’t hold it.  He ended up making 3 collages.  One for his tree here, one for his tree at home, and one for his Mia and Papa.

We added another sheet of the sticky paper to the top and then he commenced to rolling them as flat as he could. We used a hard rubber brayer, but a rolling pin would work, as well.Also, be sure you leave a large enough margin around the leaves that you can get a good sealed edge when you add the top layer.  It’s necessary to seal those edges well…just rub top and bottom margins  together with some force. There will be some space that won’t stick around the leaves.  That’s OK.  As the leaves dry, the paper will flatten out.   Then we punched a hole at the top…he had to tell me which was the top…and then he chose cord to make a hanger.

How nice they look!  They would also look pretty just hanging in the window!  Depending on how you cut the contact paper…you can make lots of shapes.  They make great book or Bible markers.  You can always add in some words or a Bible verse.  Or write on it with a Sharpie.

Levi and I did this same project a few weeks ago…before the leaves started turning.  We hung them in the window in the studio and watched them as the color in the leaves faded day by day.  These all started out green…with one white flower.  This is about 2 weeks later.

What is so neat is that now he can really see how the veins in the leaves give it its shape.  We call these leaf skeletons.

A little later on we’ll talk about that big word ‘chlorophyl’.  [Another Lulu/Levi project]

There was just the teeniest touch of fall in the air…still hot, but with a smell of the cooler temps to come.  Don and I picked Levi up from school and went out to eat.  Then, per Levi’s direction, we headed to Landmark Park.  He loves this place.  Don and I have not been in quite a while…but Suzanne and Adam take Levi there quite often.

We visited all the little buildings and then headed to the fabulous playground.  Just an ordinary day…nothing to cause it to stand out any more than any other day.  But, it was a beautiful day…a God-given respite in the middle of the stress of everyday life.  Actually, it is well worth remembering…so enjoy some pics I managed to snap!

Are you as happy as I am when I have an ordinary day.  So many of our days have a moment when something startles us…we have an accident… we get bad news…we have to do something we really are not comfortable with…someone is unkind to us…someone doesn’t behave in a way that we agree with.  And, from that point on, the day goes down hill.  Nothing can rescue it and turn it back into an ordinary day.  It is marred by circumstances.

But, all along there are also plain, ordinary days.  The sun still shines, or the rain pours…but it doesn’t matter.  Nothing is ruffling our feathers.  No bad news…no accidents, we can do whatever makes us happy, everyone one we meet either ignores us or is kind…but no one gets in our way or causes us one bit of stress.  These are the days that generally come and go and we think them unremarkable.

But, oh! what joy there is hidden inside those days.  There is time…there is fun…there is play…there are smiles and there is laughter.  There is room to explore and time to stop and give thanks for the days when ‘nothing happens’.  And, when you lay your head down on your pillow at night, you think to yourself, “What a great day!”

And, those are the days you treasure and keep in a safe place.  It was one of those days.

We have been slowly adding some touches of fall to our house.  Levi loves to help.  Especially if painting or gluing is involved!  Here is a package of burlap leaves I picked up at HL.  They have a wire attached for hanging.  $4.99 a pkg…16 in each. 40% off.  I set Levi up with his watercolors and showed him pictures of how fall colors seem to blend right into one another.

These are the colorful leaves he did with his watercolors…

And here are some I did with acrylic paints…

He painted with abandon!  Be sure to put something under the leaves if you do this…paint seeps right through.  You can also use regular acrylic craft paint for heavier coverage.  WARNING…acrylic craft paint is NOT washable,  Will NOT wash out of clothes!  We used kids washable watercolor palette.

Once dry, he hung them his fall tree.  Then …on his own, he decided to paint pumpkins and acorns and cut them out.  I imagine we will add quite a few more things before the season ends!

I set my big table with dishes and glasses from Pier One.  These are all melamine…but have a rustic weathered look to them.  The runner is an antique piece given to me by Shirl and Tina.  It is all hand wrought and such a treasure of mine.  Th napkins came in a pkg. of 12 from TJMaxx.  They had only 1 package!!!.  My table seats 10 and many times I’m out of luck when it come to having enough of one pattern for my table.

I want a candle burning all the time!.  But, it sure frustrates me to get one that may put off a tiny bit of scent…or smell until the top layer of wax melts.  This is one of the best candles I’ve found anywhere.   The scent lasts through the whole candle.  It’s from Wal Mart and is their MainStays Label.  I use different scents all year.  A favorite is Cranberry Melon.  They have a myriad of fragrances to choose from, but this is a yummy smelling pumpkin and it’s scents travels from one room all through the house.  Another plus…the label pulls off neat and clean so you do not have to advertise where you got it.  And some prefer just a glass candle holder.  A sure winner all around!

I went on to deck my mantel for the season.  I found this nice sign that appealed to me with its clean lines.  The writing is done on natural burlap atop a stained wooden frame.  This cute fall couple is made of heavy tin and was waiting patiently for me to pick them up at Tuesday Morning.  I used a greenery garland with fall foliage picks to lay a base.  Then added fall decorative books and 3 wooden stained pumpkins.  It’s a little different than I’ve done before, but I really like the color with the rocks in fireplace.

This is the buffet behind my table.  The leaf garland is intertwined with teeny tiny lights…

I did go over and help Suzanne, my daughter-in-love, with her mantel, as well.  I think it looks so festive!

And that is the extent of my decorating for fall this year.  Unless something else grabs my attention.  And, of course, whatever masterpieces Levi creates must be proudly displayed.  The nice thing about his little tree is we can hang everything right in one spot!

Hope you are getting ready to enjoy the changing of seasons where you live.  Here, we don’t really have much fall weather…just a little cooler than summer.  All this decorating just makes us feel like it’s fall!  Blessings to you and yours!

I don’t like spiders, or snakes, or bugs.  I do not feel I have authority over even the tiniest of creatures.  I just want to flee.  I hate to kill them…but I will stomp on a spider.  Roaches…I don’t even think I can stand to talk about them…so let’s not.  I do, however, have a fondness for two of the tiniest of God’s handiwork…ladybugs and fireflies.  I can get along with these…and let them live and be at peace.

But, I recently heard a sad tale abut the firefly.  Actually, we used to call them lightning bugs.  I remember Joy and I catching them in an old glass jar….and Mama making us let them go before we came inside for the night.  (That was when you could play outside and with neighborhood kids with out your parents worrying to death!)  I’m glad she had us let them go.  If you think you don’t see them much anymore, you’re right.  Their population is on the decline.  This is because of  (according to Mother Nature Network.com)  light pollution, pesticide use, and habitat destruction.  And, this is the sad part…if a field where fireflies have lived is paved over or built on..the firefly family doesn’t just move over to another field…..they just disappear forever.

Does that make you a little wistful?  It does me.  I think of the absolute delight my sister and I, barefooted and dirty, had running after that elusive light to try to catch one in our hands.  I don’t think I ever did.  To get them into the jar, you had to be real sneaky and creep up behind them and bring that bottle down over them quickly!  It’s not a skill I use anymore, sad to say.  I don’t know when I’ve seen a firefly.

We lived in town on a busy road, but had lots of friends out in the country. And, once you got away from the light around town…right at dusk…you would begin seeing them. We also went to a church out in the country.  I can remember when Memphis Baptist was just 2 small buildings.  And when we would get out of church on Sunday night, it would just be getting dark.  At that time, there were fields all around and a cemetery across the street.  They would all be filled with the tiny lights!  Of course, we couldn’t go chase them…cause it was still the Lord’s Day, and that was not befitting behavior for 2 young ladies, Daddy said.  And besides, we still had on our Sunday dresses and sox and shoes.  Mama was not happy if those white patent leather shoes got marks on them!   But on Wednesday night, those bugs better beware!  We had on school clothes and there weren’t as many rules about them!  Even that far back, I remember what a sight it was to see a field all of a sudden light up.  Wow. God makes so many wonderful things for a kid to marvel at!

Let me tell you a little about these little creatures.  First of all, they are beetles…not flies.  They have a chemical called luciferin  inside their tails.  When this combines with oxygen, calcium, and adenosine triphosphate….a chemical reaction occurs to create their spectacular light!  Now, they carry the luciferin in their tail…and I know where the oxygen is…but where do they get the calcium and adenosine stuff from.  Does it float in on the air, or is it in the ground.  Do they get it from the food they eat?  I could not find out.  But, isn’t it wonderful to know that every little firefly that’s burned their beautiful light had to have help from the Master Creator to get the job done!  And, it’s even more wonderful to think that Almighty, Heavenly Creator that He is, cares about his little firefly family on the earth enough to make sure they have the things they need to shine their light…attract a mate…and make more fireflies!

And, get this…they are light geniuses.!  Their light is 100 % usable light where as the incandescent light bulbs that we humans manufacture lose 90% of their energy as heat…only 10% is usable light!  Anything God makes is right from the start!

A very wise friend of mine told me once that God is just as magnificent in the tiniest of details we may ever not see, as He is in the large things we notice every day!  It’s true!

There are over 2000 species of fire fly, but they don’t all light up.  Each species that does light up, however,, has their own specific pattern of flashing.  Some can even synchronize their flashes.  Now, the whole’ light up thing’ is just a ploy to find a mate!  The male flashes one pattern…the female flashes back another. I don’t really know the deciding factor on who they choose…but their lights can come in yellow, light red, green and orange.  Perhaps the female has a favorite color!

And should some other creature be attracted to this light and decide it looks appetizing….a firefly also has something in his blood called LUCIBUFAGINS (love that word!)  which makes them taste really gross!

Now friends…if you’ve even kept reading this far,  I know this is not on the list of information that you would find useful or even interesting.  But, when I got to thinking of the fact that I would so hope my little grandson has the chance to see  and  experience the wonder of ‘fairy lights’…I wanted to know more about them.  I want to know where they are.  Cause I’m gonna take him.  I’m gonna watch it once more through his eyes!  And, then I’ll hold that memory as close as I do the ones of my sister and I.  Have you seen any in this area?

There are so many wonders in the animal world…but none that I know of as enchanting as watching the yard ‘fill up with little fairy lights’.  It’s an experience similar to seeing stars race across the sky.  It’s something you never forget…even if you’re 63.  It’s just a little ‘magical respite’ from long days and hot work in the sun.  It’s in those few minutes between being out working and going into the house for the evening.  It’s where you think, “Man, I’m tired, But got a lot  of good stuff done today.”  But, you just don’t quite want to go in and call it a day.  You just stand and survey the world.  Maybe hear God say, “Sit back.  Put your feet up and watch!  I’m have some friends who want to do a show…just for you!”  And, He calls His fireflies to perform…just to delight you!  Isn’t He a good God!  I am remembering my days on the farms in NC with my aunts and Uncles.  I can see my Uncle Arthur Lee drive up in his truck and come up under the carport….stomping the mud off his feet as he comes.  Then he’d sit down on a chair and take his shoes off and then his cap, and run his fingers through his hair.   And, just sit there for a few minutes.  I’ve seen my uncle Charles and Uncle Jefferson do the same thing.

You know, I have a song playing in my head…sorta in the background…while I’ve been writing this post.  Seems I remember that once upon a time I did a musical with a bunch of kids at school.  It goes..“Angels and Lambs, Lady Bugs and Fire Flies told every person in sight that Jesus was born in Bethlehem  on that Christmas night”  I can even see the book I used.  Hmm!  Now that was not even in my head when I started this post.  Funny, isn’t it, how thinking about fire flies leads to thinking about old summer time memories as a child and then to children and music I taught at school!   Yeah, memory is a funny thing.  And songs seem to really stay with me.

I hope you see some fire flies soon!  Reckon what memories they will lead you to?  I’d love to hear about it, if you’ll share.  Just leave  a comment at the end of the blog.  I’ll see it!

PS.  The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has firefly tours!