The Nicest Man

I met the nicest man the other day. I bought a table from this man. It's a beautiful table with 6 chairs and he was only asking $100 for it! Before I bought this table our family had been using a really pathetic table that had a top on it that wasn't connected to the legs. Needless to say we have been in need of upgrading our dining furniture. Some friends even commented the other day about how we used to use large closet doors as a big table top for bigger dinner partys. Funny. Well... I paid Steven and he so nicely helped me load it all carefully into my minivan. As I left he handed me 2 children's books that he had written and published. Also a DVD that goes along with one of them. Oh... and he also gave me 2 towels because I didn't bring anything to keep the wood from rubbing each other. Well... as I got home I realized that I had not gotten the middle leaf that you can add in to make the table larger to seat 10 people. So I called him and said that I would come back and pick it up in an hour or so. Well... when I let him know that I was on my way to come and get it he offered to bring it to me instead. I thanked him but said I was going out anyway. When I arrived at his house he and his wife apologized over and over again for forgetting to give it to me. They were so sorry that they gave me a $20 gift card and some children's CD's. Ok... so they practically gave us this incredible dining room furniture!
I really wish him and his family success and many blessings for all that they did for me. His name is Steven Gregory. So I want to tell everyone to go and buy his children's books now!!! His first one is called: The Lion's Drum : A Retelling of an African Folk Tale - By Steven Gregory. And his newest one is called: Chieko and the Pine - A Japanese Folktale by Steven Gregory

Summer Magic!

Our household is buzzing with excitement as our summer vacation approaches quickly. The girls only have 5 1/2 days of school left. Yes... they remind me of this every chance they get. I'm sure they have grand plans to go swimming everyday at the pool and to play with their friends until the sun goes down. As I think back on my childhood and the fun I had during summer vacation... I relish those happy memories that I have. We would play "Sardines" in the backyard. The best place to hide was in the tall cornstalks in our garden. Oh the memories of working and helping in that garden too! I'm sure we children were not too much of a help to our father. Oh sure, we thought we were helping but really he was patiently allowing us to work in his domain allowing us to see the fruits of our labors. I learned about work and enjoyed the satisfaction of eating all that we grew. All those peas we picked! We ate more than we actually got into our bowls. The raspberry bushes... oh how delicious! The apricot trees still produce tons of delicious fruit even today! It was a happy yet sad day when the strawberries in the frontyard were taken out. Happy because that meant no more weeding!!! Yeah!!! But sad because that also meant no more moments of picking those juicy red ripe berries. Oh... the magic of summer! I only hope that my children can have satisfying memories of hard work mixed with lots of enjoyment too!