Friends Archives - The Pennington Point

Getting to Know Each Other

by Lisa on November 9, 2012

I thought I’d slow down for a second and ask a few questions. We’ll call it, “Getting to know each other.” Partly because I often have random things to say and mostly because I wonder about you. I wonder who you are and what gets you through the day.

I don’t know if I’m the only person that thinks about this, but when I drive past houses I wonder about the people that live there. I will wax rhetoric to whoever is in the car with me about the fullness of a life we will never know anything about. The kids smile politely when I go on and on about how important that person is….whoever they are….and they have no idea we exist. But if I’m with other adults they look at me like I’ve lost my ever-lovin-mind.

I can’t help it. I love people. I don’t want to hang around with them, but I love them. Because Christ loves them.

So I wonder about you. Who are you? What makes you tick? What sparks your passion?

I’ll ask a few questions, tell you my answers then, if you want to share, you can answer in the comments. Here we go!

1. Are you right or left handed?

Not a deep question, but we’re just getting started. I am left handed.

2. How many siblings do you have? Where do you fall in line?

Again….just getting to know you. Where you fall tells a lot about you. I grew up with 2 siblings, one brother and one sister. My brother passed away a few years ago so it’s just my sister and I now. But I’ll always think of myself as one of 3. It’s who I am. And, if you hadn’t guessed it already, I was the oldest.

3. What do you do to relax?

Relaxing is rare for me since I never stop. I would say I go to the movies to relax. It makes me be still. If I’m watching a movie at home I work on the computer at the same time. In the theater I am forced to let everything else go for a couple of hours. Of course, it’s not relaxing when the movie is horrible or vulgar. I am careful about what I will watch, but I’m going to confess that I see a lot of movies. Our little theater down the street is only $5 so I see a movie 2-3 times a month.

4. What is something you would like to change about your home?

I have a constant list running in my head. Since I keep it in my head, James is often surprised when I blurt out things like, “We have GOT to replace that chair. It has been irritating me for YEARS!” Years, really? Because I never said anything about it until now and I’m acting like it has to be done tomorrow or someone will die.

I’m not sure what would be first on my important mental list. I’ll have to say two. If we’re talking about something that will actually happen I’d say I want to change the furniture in my bedroom. It needs some tweaking and moving around. If we’re talking huge, probably never going to happen….then I’d have to say my dream of adding on a big living room. I have the plans all ready to go in my mind, but the bank account rolls its eyes every time I mention it.

5. What is one thing you do that you REALLY have a passion for?

We’re getting deep now, right to the heart. That thing that you get excited just thinking about. Even if it’s hard work, you can’t wait to start.

For me it would have to be creating things. I get such a thrill out of the spark of an idea, then the process of creating in my mind and finally turning it into an actual, touch-it-its-real object of beauty. Once it’s done I move on to the next idea. It’s the process that I love so deeply.

Now it’s your turn. I want to know who you are. Answer one or two or ALL of the questions. Whatever you want. Whatever you would like to share. I love getting to know YOU!

Follow me on Facebook for more opportunities to get to know each other!

The Party Van is Up and Running!

by Lisa on November 6, 2012

Now that the webinar is behind me I can tell you about our weekend. Normally I would just skip it, but so much happened that I couldn’t resist sharing.

On Friday I went to the big city with my daughter, Faith. What was supposed to be a few hours turned into 9AM – 9PM of constant shopping and errands. The city is more crowded on Fridays. Plus I had to go to 4 stores to find enough piping for my Christmas stocking orders. I got smart and ordered some on Amazon when I got home. Why do I not think of this more often? It saves SO much time and gas.

When I hear myself saying things like that I realize I sound like my grandmother used to when we tried to get her a computer. “I don’t need one of those things, they won’t last you know.”

On Saturday we spent our first full day in the newly organized shop. It was amazing to have room for all 4-5 of us to work. We cranked out a bunch of orders and even made a couple of new products.

Since the kids are working for me more and more, I made an elaborate chart for paying them. Across the top shows each job that the kids can do and their names down the side. Every time one of them does anything (cut out a stocking, clip threads, sweep the floor) they put a tally mark under the job and at the end of each week they will get paid for their work. It’s going to be much much better than my system last year, which was to beg them for help when I was desperate and throw a little money into the pleading.

On Sunday we rested in the morning and just hung around talking. The subject of the election came up and James talked with the kids about the importance of the electoral college. He was explaining the process and asked, “Where do most people live?” to which one of our kids replied, “In apartments?” :::sigh::: Right, and they also live in Los Angeles and New York City, but that’s a good point dear.

After lunch we started to get my van ready for a drive to the big city. One of my friends was having a birthday so a group of us were down there for dinner. I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to trick out my minivan and turn it into a party car. We had balloons, curling ribbon tied to everything, stickers, gifts….even a mix tape of top songs from the year the birthday girl was born.

There’s nothing like a bunch of old ladies singing “Wooly Bully” and “I Got You Babe” at the top of their lungs to get a party started. Some of them would say they weren’t singing at the top of their lungs….but I know they were doing it in their minds. They just couldn’t compete with the talent in the front seat.

We also had cookies, brownies, a cooler of drinks, gifts, I even made everyone a mason jar with straw lid filled with ice water AND they could take it home with them….FUN!

Home Goods, Target, Cheesecake Factory….we laughed so much my sides hurt. But you’d have been proud of me. I stayed dry all night. Not one accident.

Since it was Sunday everything shut down by 8:00 and we had nothing to do. So we decided to hit Walmart and check out their Christmas section and whatever else we could find.

This is what it looks like when a group of 40-50 something homeschool moms go out for a night on the town.

Beautiful. There are a BUNCH more pictures on Instagram.

We got home around 11:00…not too bad for this rowdy bunch. We’ve been known to bring in the sunrise.

It was a really nice weekend. No drama, tons of laughs, a day in the workshop with the kids, nice weather, friends.

Have a great week….and don’t forget that there’s this new ways of shopping where you can order things and have them sent right to your house.

All Play and No Work Makes Me a Tired Mom

by Lisa on August 27, 2012

Well hello! I have missed y’all the past week. I don’t even really know what happened. It’s all a blur of general nothingness. I just know that it’s Monday morning and I think this is the first time I’ve been in the sitting position for a week.

But it’s all good. Lots of parties and friends and fellowship. I went to some sort of function every day last week and I am now ready to disappear for a few days and regroup. Maybe a little dip in the pool…some Sonic ice and the kids playing all around me. Ahhhh….I can think of nothing better to do.

On Friday we went back to the Witte Museum, but this time we took the whole family.

Having Dad (or as I call him, James) with us made it 100% better than just me taking everyone. He adds that element of childishness that even the 4 little boys don’t bring. The minute we walked into the Science Treehouse he threw himself in front of everyone else to try the experiments. At one point he jumped in front of Levi and I thought to myself, “Sorry ladies, he’s all mine.”

He made the kids pretend to be turning this huge wheel so he could show that he’s figured out a way to generate electricity using his favorite toys….our nine children.

I’ve spent 26 years with this man and I still don’t fully understand why he thinks this is funny.

The rest of the weekend was full of non-family activities. I had a function every evening ending in a back to homeschool tea party that Sara was hosting. Sara and I just see eye to eye on things. We both have large personalities and we can hold our own around each other. Most of the time we are two peas in a pod. But occasionally we bicker like an old married couple. That’s the best kind of friend….one that tells you the truth and loves you no matter what.

And she puts together a great party. The theme of back to school was accented with the cutest apothecary jars…I just love her special touches.

In that jar on the right are erasers wrapped like candy….how cute is that!

A lot of y’all have asked about the girls’ room makeover. It is coming along and looking good. We are stuck now waiting for the fabric to arrive that we’re going to use to make the bedding. Besides that we’re down to the final touches and you can be sure you’ll be the first to see it.

I will be spending the next couple of days in my recliner. We’ll do school and hang out and just be together. No big plans….just us. And a good, long nap for Mom.

Have a great week!

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Have You Ever Thought About the Number 43?

by Lisa on July 13, 2012

Last night I was putting Levi to bed and he asked me, “Mommy, how many seconds does it take to put me to bed?” I didn’t feel like giving it much thought, so I just answered, “Oh, I don’t know, about 43 seconds.” “Oh,” he replied with a serious look on his face, “43 huh? That’s a number you don’t think about everyday.”

It’s so true. I don’t really give the number 43 enough thought.

Yesterday afternoon I had a rare treat of going out to lunch with some of my good friends. When we’re together we always, always laugh until we should be embarrassed by the disturbance we are causing. But we’re not embarrassed. The disturbance just makes us laugh even more. That’s the best kind of friends, the ones you can laugh with, then get serious, pray together then make fun of each other.

One of these precious friends is moving away and she asked me if I would like to come by her house and see if I wanted any of the “junk” she was leaving behind. When we pulled up to her old workshop she gestured toward a pile of wood scraps, “Do you want to rifle through this?” I looked back at her with a puzzled expression, “Why would I want a rifle?”

I may need to get my hearing checked.

But I did take a car full of treasures home with me.

I’ve got big plans for the leaky wheelbarrow and broken chair. And you can expect that big sheet of wood to show up somewhere in my etsy shop. Nothing goes to waste around here.

Today I’m taking Patience to the big city for some much needed Mommy/Patience time. We’ll stop at the craft store then have lunch and drive back home. It’ll be a quick trip, but plenty of time for girl talk. Maybe we’ll discuss the number 43 and decide if we need a rifle.

These are clearly subjects that I have neglected for too long.

Have a great weekend!

To keep up with the happenings around here follow me on Facebook and on Instagram @PenningtonPoint.

A Few Pre-Wedding Pictures

by Lisa on January 3, 2012

Now that last weekend’s wedding pictures are all over Facebook I can safely show you a few of the things we worked on. Jacob, Faith, Sara and I spent most of last week setting up the foyer and sanctuary and, if I do say so myself, it was stunning.

In the foyer there was a little table right when you walked in. I made this sign with my wonderful Cricut.

The groom’s family spent the past few months gathering pine cones and they were used in every part of the ceremony. It was genius to paint them to match the wedding colors.

We borrow trees from friends and I think the final look is just beautiful (picture it with a white runner down the aisle).

It took us a whole day to light all of the trees, arrange them and cover the bases.

The bride’s father built 3′x3′ boxes for us to lift the trees in the back. Perfect!

The view from the balcony….

Back in the foyer we filled an armoire with black and white pictures of their families’ weddings from the past mixed with vintage cameras (the groom is a photographer).

There were tons of other gorgeous details to this wedding. The flowers, the reception, the dresses….but I only have pictures of the things I did.

I hope to have more pictures for you soon. You will be blessed by the loveliness of it all.

But the best part was that these 2 families used this ceremony to glorify God and dedicate this union to Him. A rare and precious treasure.

Congratulations to Daniel and Patty….may you be blessed in your life together.

I Can’t Wake Up

by Lisa on November 28, 2011

This post won’t have the usual magic. I’m too tired. How do I sum up the exhaustion, yet splendor, of the holiday weekend?

The first challenge was figuring out where to seat 24 people for Thanksgiving. I didn’t want to stick little boys at a table in the kitchen. You never know what kind of trouble that can lead to. So we turned our dining room into a four star restaurant.

Four stars because the food was delicious, but the company was even better!

Adults and kids mixed at each table.

We ate and laughed, talked and played games. Doesn’t get much better than that.

After everyone left I went straight to bed because the girls and I were planning to get up at 3AM on Friday, drive to the big city and shop til we dropped.

Here’s what I learned from that experience:

1. I am too old for this stuff.

2. I run out of energy about 3 hours before my girls do. They were dragging me around by 9 and by 11 I was begging them to push me in the stroller.

3. It was worth it. We had such a great time and we found some A-MAZING deals.

Then the very next day, as if the weekend hadn’t already been full enough, was Faith’s birthday. It was a day of celebrating and dining out and playing games.

By Sunday I was behind on filling shop orders, so we worked our fingers to the bone making burlap stockings and various other adorable items. It was all too much for one weekend. Every time I tried to write a blog post I would fall asleep. If I stood still for more than 5 minutes I would feel myself nodding off.

Even still…..I can’t seem to wake up long enough to pull a sentence together. Maybe next Black Friday we’ll get up at 5 instead. Mommy needs her beauty rest.

I hope you all had a mah-velous weekend.

Proverbs 31 Woman

by Lisa on November 3, 2011

I’m guesting today over at my friend Lana’s. She is doing a series called, “Where in the World is THAT Proverbs 31 Lady?” . The series runs every Friday and has a lot of different authors, each with their own perspective on Proverbs 31. I hope you’ll go over and read some of the inspiring posts about this amazing woman.

This morning my friend Sara and I are going to visit my sister who lives a couple of hours away in Austin, the capitol of Texas (that’s just a little piece of bonus information that has nothing to do with this post). She had a baby yesterday….hooray! I can’t wait to meet my new niece. I am taking one of my market totes along with me in case I can’t stand to part with her and need something to sneak her out in.

Two hours though, I am not sure I am ready to get back in the car after my long drive to Georgia. My behind is still giving me grief about sitting so much. I am glad Sara will be behind the wheel this time so I can twist a little in my seat and move my legs. And since it’s a girlfriend driving I know she will stop anytime I need a potty break. Only another woman over 40 really understands the depth of the need to stop immediately. Not in 5 minutes….NOW.

Hopefully between driving, baby holding and potty breaks we can find time to run a few errands. Life in a small town is wonderful, but sometimes you just need a craft store or Chick-fil-A or some place besides Payless to buy shoes. You can be sure we will make a quick stop at IKEA. Not that I need anything….but my sister lives 5 minutes from there and it would be all kinds of wrong if I didn’t at least stop. It’s like the mothership calling me ”Come little one….come see what cheap things I am selling today that you have to assemble yourself and will fit into a 325 square foot apartment…..”

While Sara and I run around Austin getting into trouble, I hope you’ll head over to Lana’s and read my post on the Proverbs 31 woman.

Friendship

by Lisa on October 19, 2011

In going through my reader I ran across a post from Studio Jewel about friendship. She wrote about treasuring a special friend. I love that.

It made me stop and think about my friends. I have some amazing friends and I know they are a gift from the Lord.

Even though they are weird.

A few of them might say that I’m weird, but don’t believe it. I am the only normal person. Anywhere.

Some have decided that I am not someone they want to have a friendship with. That stings.

The Bible has much to say on the subject of friends. Not all friendships are easy or even pleasant. But they are all in our lives to grow us closer to God. His Word gives us guidance in managing difficult relationships. I just LOVE that I have a way to know what to do when I am hurt by someone else.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that when I go to the Scriptures to see how to deal with a difficult person He leads me to my own heart and shows me ways I need to change. WHAT?! I’m the normal one, remember?!

I don’t get to get fix everyone and turn them into what I want. I don’t get to pick the speck out of my brother’s eye. I must deal with the plank in mine.

Some of the people in my life draw me closer to God by their example and their life and their love. Others draw me closer to Him by making things difficult, causing me to hit my knees in prayer.

Either way, I’m grateful. (but I might just give an extra little squeeze when I hug the ones the first kind)

”Greater Love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.“

John 15:13

Patience’s Weekend Pictures

by Lisa on October 3, 2011

by Patience

We visited with friends over the weekend:

My sister, Grace:

Levi:

The field behind our house:

The Anniversary Party, Part II

by Lisa on June 16, 2011

Before we leave the anniversary topic altogether, I want to tell you how amazing the party actually was. You saw the decor and the lights and the food, but the very best part was the fellowship and uplifting of one another.

It was a small group and that made the interaction sweet. Our friends are amazing people. They are godly, loving, serving and caring.

After dinner and much laughter, we scooted our chairs into an informal circle and began to share. Each of the men had something that the Lord put on their heart and one at a time they expressed their thoughts. Some read Scriptures, some shared their experiences, all of them were very encouraging.

All of these couples have been married a long time and we seldom stop to reflect on marriage. It is a good thing to remember to pay attention every once in a while. Together we reflected on God’s wisdom in giving us our spouses and how much we have learned from each one another.

After the men shared, the women talked a little about the relationships we have with each other. I was humbled to hear some ways I have blessed them because I know how much more they each bless ME. Lastly, we all prayed together and thanked God for our marriages and for the opportunity to spend the time together.

After the discussion died down, we turned the music back on. I found some jazz hymns that were perfect for an adult evening under the stars. We naturally drifted into smaller groups and further ministered to each other. Some were laughing, some were talking about their children’s weddings, in one corner a few men were helping someone with a problem and I was sitting and watching my friends enjoy each other.

As the couples left one by one, James and I would glance at each other and smile, knowing how much each couple meant to us and how grateful we are to know them. When everyone was gone, we invited our older children (who were still cleaning up dishes inside) to join us outside. We all sat there talking about the joys of the evening and we thanked them profusely for serving so selflessly so we could enjoy the party.

Everyone was too tired to bring the rest of the decorations inside. That could wait until tomorrow. We unplugged the outdoor lights and crawled into bed, sighing with satisfaction.

It was a glorious evening led by the Holy Spirit. No amount of planning decorations or cooking can create that. It takes years of loving others and building relationships, prayer and a loving family.

Thank you all for sharing this with me and letting me tell you all about it. I pray that each of you be as blessed.

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