Miscellany :: A Feast of Crumbs

• I finished J.R.R. Tolkein: A Life Inspired. This was a quick read, but oh-so-interesting! I always enjoy learning about people's lives, and as The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a family favorite around here, it was really fascinating discovering how the fantasies and characters came to be. One curious tidbit was the inspiration for Gandalf. On a trip to Switzerland he purchased a postcard of Der Berggeist, by Josef Madlener, a German artist. This was the origin of the great grey wizard:

Der Berggeist ("the Mountain-Spirit")

• Snow in Texas is always an exciting event. But three separate snow days is just thrilling! On March 5, we had the latest snow that I ever remember in my lifetime. And apparently, we set the record for this date with 2.5", beating out whatever it was back in 1947!

• This was what spoke to me today:

"Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased." -Hebrews 13:15-16

Jesus paid it all. 

So after His perfect sacrifice, what more could be pleasing and acceptable? All we have left to offer as a loving and grateful response to what Jesus did: praise, humility, service to others...

• Mom's handicraft: DIY Swiffer wet jet pads

This is the easiest, fastest one I came across. The first one I tried called for cloth diapers, of which I had one, but after following the directions and trying to sew on velcro through THREE layers, I could not, for the life of me, get the thickness under my presser foot. So this one was less frustrating. Not so thick, no velcro needed. I just used a microfiber kitchen towel I had, and presto! I got two pads from one towel.

• A day at the museum - This was great fun for all of us, as we had never visited this gem before. One of the exhibits held a ginormous humpback whale skull. All were in awe of the size of this thing!

There were so many fun rooms to explore and let the imagination run wild. A favorite of all three kids was the pioneer room, where their love for Little House and Farmer Boy played out again...

• I decided to make my own Paddle-to-the-Sea map for Alice. I just couldn't find any free ones online that I cared for much. So I traced over the one in the back of the book using our light table. Then I laminated it to use over and over again :-)

I hung it up on the bulletin board with Royal's Personal Timeline: