Thanksgiving Radio Shows

I was looking up some graphics and happened upon a darling Old fashioned Radio site.  There are 4 very good old radio shows and recordings there, that I thought you might like to know about.  You can get to the site at http://homeschoolradioshows.com/  The site has more than just Thanksgiving shows, so you can look through it to see and listen to others.  You know me, I love vintage, so when I found this site, I loved it instantly.  The cute Snooks thanksgiving recording would be a cute one of play as it is very short and one that little children would like if you want to play it for them at your Thanksgiving.  Enjoy yet another great tip from Katie G.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Christmas Note Cards

I am getting the jump on the holiday season

So I have created some cute Christmas note cards

to use during the holiday.  Enjoy!  Katie G.

New Printables can be found on my Visiting Teaching Surprise blog

I have just added a couple new project as of this week at http://visitingteachingsurprise.blogspot.com  so if that interests you, be sure to go and check them out.  The projects are printable designer index cards (6 different patterns) , and 3 different cute thankyou note cards.  Just print them off, cut them out and you are ready to use them for your needs.   I just pictured a few examples of what is at that blog, so if you like them and want to use them, just click on the link and it will take you there in a jiffy.   Enjoy!  Katie G.

Thanksgiving Dinner Invitation ( Wanted Poster)

Do you need an invitation to send out for Thanksgiving Dinner this year? I just made one and it is a really fun one. Definitely not a formal one, but very cute and funny. I have had many request for it, so have reposted it. Enjoy! Katie G

Everybody's catching a cold!

Wow... the weather changes and everyone gets sick.  My neighbors, my grandkids, my children, their friends and neighbors.  It seems once the weather changes, the cold season is here.  So what do you do???  Well, unless you are a hospital mask wearing type of person, you can just lock your doors and don't let anyone inside, and you stay home until the flu has passed.  I don't know about you but whenever I get the flu shot, I immediately get sick with a feaver and flu... probably the very flu that I was just vaccinated for.  This year I didn't get my flu shot, so I guess this will help me to test which way for me is best... to get the flu from the shot or to get it from the air I breathe.  WHO KNOWS?

Anyway, I was looking at my http://visitingteachingsurprise.blogspot.com
blog this morning, I realized that unless we think out of the box on some of the things I post, then you probably won't use the seasonal things I create past a particular season.  So.... here is the idea.  Take the idea from the Halloween tissue box tutorial as well as the darling poem that I wrote to go along with it (excuse me, I just sneezed twice) and make it up for Fall, Thanksgiving and Christmas, so there are pleanty of cute tissue boxs around to meet your juicy nosed needs.  Make sure to make up a few to take in anticipation of colds for your Visiting Teaching ladies, or save them for when they do get a cold and need some cheering up.  Adding a tub of chicken soup helps too. 

Gotta close this post now as I am taking my Mom to one of her many Doctor visits prior to starting her Cancer treatments.  Wish us well! Have a very happy day today!!  Katie G.

My catch up day for tears and tender mercies.

I have not taken the time for the past several weeks to post or create any thing, as I have been pretty busy with some great concerns and trials.  Recently I found out that my sweet little Mother has cancer.  It has been quite a blow as she is one that when I look into her face and see warmth, and radiance, kindness and love, but never think that she could possibly get cancer.  Well she did, and our entire family has been focused on taking care of her needs.  She had surgery a little over a week ago, and has been convalescing at my home up until yesterday, when she wanted to go back to her own home.  Being with mom for a full week, and tending to all her needs, has been such a great joy.  It has kept me focused on serving her and forgetting how badly I feel that she has had to go through this ordeal.

Today was my catch up day for tears and tender mercies.  I needed to finally cry, and I did.  I also needed to know and feel the love of My Heavenly Father, and it came.  It is so interesting to me that when I need it most, out of the blue comes something to warm my heart, and bolster my spirits.  And this is how my day has gone so far....

I woke up and almost forgot that my Mother was not in the next room, like she has been this past week.  I walked into the room, and there was an empty bed and chair, which  reminded me that I would not be taking care of her needs today.  The realization that my Mom had recovered enough to be able to go home and take care of herself, was my first tender mercy.  The Lord had answered my prayers and the prayers of my family, because her healing has gone so well, and in fact better than I had expected.  I thank the Lord for looking after my dear mother.

I then sat down at my desk in front of my computer and began to sob.  I guess that tears are meant to cleanse the soul, and they certainly poured out of me today.  I still feel a bit weepy, but the tears that fill my eyes now, are in gratitude for the Lord letting me know in His own ways that he is mindful of me and my mother. 

I opened up my GMail and began to scroll down all the messages that had been sent to me over the past couple of days.  My eyes fixed on LDS Gems, which is a wonderful site that sends a gospel centered message to me every single day, and sometimes more than once a day.  I look forward to them, and find that more times than not, the messages are just exactly what I need to hear that particular day.  Today was no different as the message hit my heart like a ton of lead.  This message was about my mother, and through the lines I read that the Lord is mindful of her and her condition and that He loves her and loves me. This gem is my mother and describes beautifully her situation with cancer, and how she is dealing with it, and of her sweet disposition and enduring faith.   Here is the LDS Gem for today:

"As we pass through the trials of life, let us keep an eternal perspective, let us not complain, let us become even more prayerful, let us serve others, and let us forgive one another. As we do this, 'all things [will] work together for good to [us] that love God' (Romans 8:28)." James B. Martino, "All Things Work Together for Good," Ensign, May 2010, 103


My goodness....this is my mom.... she has kept such a wonderful eternal perspective even though she has had to experience surgery, pain, and so much more.  She doesn't and has not complained about getting cancer, but just says.... "Well I guess it's my turn".  In our conversations of the past week or so, I have noticed that she always forgives people for their bad behaviors.  She always gives others the benefit of the doubt, and never judges.  The prayers she says on her meals are always so sweet and insightful.  She mentions things that I have forgotten and they are sincere and from her heart.  She is grateful for everything she has, and keeps her faith strong in the Lord.

Mom has been reading the new book about President Thomas S. Monson, and from time to time, she stops and tell me about something to do with his life that she never knew. She has such zeal for reading and learning and I so admire that in my cute little shrinking 78 year old mother. 

My mother still teaches violin lessons and many of those she teaches are for free.  I get so agitated when I realize that she is so humble and just barely getting by with the necessities of life, and here she is giving out free violin lessons.  That has been a burr in my shoe for so many years, but for her it is about providing service and teaching a talent to one who might never have the opportunity.  She says... "But Katie, they are so poor, and they couldn't ever afford to learn if I didnt' teach them." I usually reply, 'But Mom, you are the one who needs the money so badly and you don't charge for your lessons.  I have learned so much from her example, and understand that to Mom, there is much more than earning money when you give this kind of selfless service.  Mom has such needs, yet she is out serving others.... What an angelic lady!  What a great example to all who know her. 

Through the past many weeks since we have found out that mother has cancer, all of her children, and Mother as well, have felt such peace, knowing that the Lord is aware of us and through our prayers he has blessed each of us with an overwhelming feeling of peace and comfort.  Just now I picked up the telephone and it was my sweet little Mother calling, and I told her I was writing a post about her.  She said, "Katie.... I need to let you know that I have been praying a lot today, that is in between all the phone calls and visits people have been making."   She said, "I feel the Lord's presence in my life and he has provided me comfort and peace, and I don't feel the least bit worried about what is to come with the cancer treatments, because the Lord is so mindful of me."

Well, I could go on and on, but I think my Mom's words have said it all.   I too know that the Lord is mindful of me, and of her, and of all of you, and wants to provide each of us with comfort and peace during all the difficult times we experience in this life.  I think the trick to being able to feel his love for us is to understand the concept that if we will but open our door, He will come in.  He never pushes himself on us, but stands by, waiting for us to ask in prayer, and He will then bless us with his peace and love.

Oh, by the way, I almost forgot... part of my tender mercy today was that the quote from the Ensign prompted me to get my mind off of any sadness I was feeling and moving my thoughts and actions toward something that I love to do and that is to create.  So I created a book mark with a few recent pictures of my mother, with the quote that came to me today from LDS Gems.  Feel free to share it with others as you feel, as it certainly lifted my spirits, and who knows who needs their spirits lifted too?

Visiting teacing message for November 2010

Go to:  http://lds.org/conference/sessions/display/0,5239,23-1-1298,00.html .to get your message from General Conference Talks for November's lesson.