Leah Country

I cant seem to give up on Leah Country. I have begun a new blog Far Beyond Rubies and am hoping that it will be a place I can teach and most of all learn. But this blog seems to have so much of my heart. I have been off of the blog for over a year but hope to be able to come back and share the new developments in my life. Thanks to all of you who followed over the years. Leah

I have been Sewing

I have forgotten my lost art of sewing and after today debating wether I like still doing it. Well I can honestly say it is always great therapy. I have made new patterns today for myself and my youngest daughter. Can I tell you I missed it so much. The last time I sewed was almost a year ago. I moved in my new house and saw my sewing machine collecting dust. Lo and behold today I had the fever. I must have cut out 6 outfits and also fudged a pattern for my youngest. I made her an outfit and had such a blast sharing with her. She chose her fabric and also her little
iron-ons :) I will be posting her outfit in a couple of days and let me know what ya think. Shalom Leah.

"Earth Song" Please Watch!!!

I would have to say this is Micheal's Greatest Contribution to the World.



"Earth Song"

What about sunrise
What about rain
What about all the things
That you said we were to gain...
What about killing fields
Is there a time
What about all the things
That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice
All the blood we've shed before
Did you ever stop to notice
The crying Earth the weeping shores?

Aaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaah
Aaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaah

What have we done to the world
Look what we've done
What about all the peace
That you pledge your only son...
What about flowering fields
Is there a time
What about all the dreams
That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice
All the children dead from war
Did you ever stop to notice
The crying Earth the weeping shores

Aaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaah
Aaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaah

I used to dream
I used to glance beyond the stars
Now I don't know where we are
Although I know we've drifted far

Aaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaah
Aaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaah
Aaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaah
Aaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaah

Hey, what about yesterday
(What about us)
What about the seas
(What about us)
The heavens are falling down
(What about us)
I can't even breathe
(What about us)
What about apathy
(What about us)
I need you
(What about us)
What about nature's worth
(ooo, ooo)
It's our planet's womb
(What about us)
What about animals
(What about it)
We've turned kingdoms to dust
(What about us)
What about elephants
(What about us)
Have we lost their trust
(What about us)
What about crying whales
(What about us)
We're ravaging the seas
(What about us)
What about forest trails
(ooo, ooo)
Burnt despite our pleas
(What about us)
What about the holy land
(What about it)
Torn apart by creed
(What about us)
What about the common man
(What about us)
Can't we set him free
(What about us)
What about children dying
(What about us)
Can't you hear them cry
(What about us)
Where did we go wrong
(ooo, ooo)
Someone tell me why
(What about us)
What about babies
(What about it)
What about the days
(What about us)
What about all their joy
(What about us)
What about the man
(What about us)
What about the crying man
(What about us)
What about Abraham
(What was us)
What about death again
(ooo, ooo)
Do we give a damn

Aaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaah

We take it all for granted...

It's not until things are gone that we realize that we take things for granted. Even if they are gone for just a moment. As everyone who knows me personally know the situation my husband and I face.
Tonight has been a repeat of many nights.
The Dr.s told my beloved that he would be paralyzed by the age of 35.
Well they were wrong.
He is 36 and still walking.
But what brings me to this?
Tonight has been a repeat of many nights.
Tonight I had to put the children to bed.
Tonight I had to help my husband to bed.
Tonight I had to get his drink of juice.
Tonight I had to help him undress.
Tonight I had to try and bring curculation to his legs.
Tonight I will be alone in my room because he cannot go up the stairs.
I am not writing for pity or a miracle.
I write for prayers to give me strength to help him.
Strength to endure this even if it is only for a moment.
It is when this happens when you think of the silly things that we take for granted on a daily basis like our evening walks.
Him running with the children or rollerblading.
Our loved ones should not be taken for granted and if they are we need to ask ourselves do we really love them properly?
Why do we have to wait until things are going wrong that we have to reflect?
Why does Hashem have to constantly give us a wake up call?
Why can we not just stand back and see all the glory and real beauty in our lives.
We are abundant with blessings.
I thank Hashem for reminding me.
I thank Hashem that he gave me such a wonderful husband and father for my children.
This is a tribute to him not when it is too late. But just in time.
I am my beloved and my beloved is mine.
What does that really mean?
I don't see it as an ownership of one to the other.
I see it as a connecton between two people that is unbreakable.
We feel what they feel.
We see what they see.
We love what they love.
We are united as one being.
We are what they are.
I think that Hashem knew this can happen between two beings We and our spouses but most importantly Hashem with Us.
He feels what we feel.
He see what we see.
He loves what we Love.
He is united to us as One.
He is what we are.
Hashem feel,see,love, and be my beloved with myself and my beloved.
Most of all Hashem give me stregth to not take you or my beloved for granted.

Step by Step Tai Chi Segment 1

Step by Step Tai Chi - Segment 1

Losing oneself at home

I have realized that the house is a never ending job. today was difficult. I have been so busy just trying to keep up with it all I tend to lose myself and my focus. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in what we are trying to do we lose the goal which is the goal of learning and living for something greater than ourselves. this week has been a really large eye opener for me and I am hoping not to just get back ontrack but to stay on track. wish me luck...Leah

just say yes...

I have been really thinking about life and free spirit. There are many things that i would like to share but for some reason in our minds we always seem to come up with the answer no...i am too busy...not right now...but this shabbat was different. let em go back to last shabbat. Last shabbat I spent i in the hospital. For a year now I have been dealing with this terrible pain in my abdomen and have found every excuse as to not get it checked out. i don't have money for another bill. I don't have insurance. And with this one word of no I suffered for a year in pain unable to enjoy a meal. something so simple as a meal with my family always ended in pain. I would have to leave the able and sit upstairs and not just the physical pain that it has caused me but also the pain of not being able to participate in anything. Mama can you play with me...no honey i don't feel well, mama can you read to me...no i don't feel well, mama..no..mam...no...
Well last week I could bear the pain no more. I decided on Thursday to go to the emergency room and have myself checked out. Well, it turned out to be a hernia and i had surgery Friday morning and spent my shabbat in the hospital. It was a sad shabbat at home and my family spent it very lonely. i was honored as to how much i was missed. But this past week i have been noticing how many times i say no. how many times in my life that I pass life with such a negative attitude and answer. How much I have missed out on because i just didn't give myself the opportunity to have a free spirit to be spontaneous or absurd every now and again. Simple things in life can mean so much if we just give ourselves the opportunity to just say yes my dear i will play with you. Yes my beloved i will go on that walk. Yes tell me about your day. Yes i want that new trinket. But most of all Yes Hashem I want to talk. I want to be a free spirit and live. I just don't want to be another person just existing. I want to live life and know that I have impacted all of those whom I love. when my time has come what will they say when i am gone. will they mourn the loss for me or for themselves. My grandfather was in his 90's when he passed away 6 years ago. But the beauty of his passing was not that we felt bad for him. we mourned for our loss of not having his jokes that he always had to share or the way he smiled. It truly was our loss to see him go. Although he was ready to go and lived a long and full life. His was complete but he left ours empty. What will we live behind. do we really know what our children and family and friends think? Have we really impacted them? or did we just do our job and wait for the end. this past shabbat was so beautiful. my oldest daughter and I stayed up until 2 am laughing and talking and just being ourselves. It was like a slumber party. There really isn't anything that she could tell me that would disappoint me or take away those precious moments. But it is those moments that are real. When people can see the real you and feel blessed that you are in their lives. Just say yes to life ...you won't regret it.

My own homeschooling ideas

I have decided to make some of my own curriculum of resources that I use from online for homeschoolers who sway towards charlotte mason and also I am going to give a few ideas of what I use. I f anyone has any links that might be helpful lease let me know and I will check them out. I have noticed that there are not a lot of jewsih resources already made. I myself have already made several workbooks etc for my children with good ol' microsoft word and a traceable font.

La Parranda

In my former life there was a tradition we carried for many years which you don't see anymore and that is the beauty of a parranda. A Parranda is a group of people who get together and go from house to house and play music waiting for someone to open the door. They were to be fed and given much drink (preferably rum LOL)


Navidad is the best of Puerto Rican culture. Nowhere else are the holiday's celebrated like in Borinquen. Navidad is the time of tradition, aguinaldos, décimas, y de ser jíbaro Puertorriqueño



But where does that have place in my new life of being a jew? I decided to have my parranda at whatever the cost. I loaded my children and headed to the house of the one person I knew could appreciate the parranda. My dear sisters house.

I can tell you that it was wonderful.

Scary Reality

This is scary because people think these things happened 70 or 100 or maybe 400 years ago but the message is today and very much the same. Hashem help us make Teshuva and help us defeat our enemies.


Zahar Claims Victory, Calls to Kill Jewish Children
by Maayana Miskin
(IsraelNN.com) Hamas spokesman Mahmoud Az-Zahar claimed victory for Hamas on Monday, saying Hamas had succeeded in “destroying Israel's sense of security” with its rocket attacks. Zahar made his proclamation in video footage sent from a secret hideout, where he is taking shelter in order to avoid being targeted in an IAF strike. Other Hamas leaders have gone into hiding as well.
Zahar directed his message to Hamas' troops, and promised them victory over the IDF. “We must be patient until we are victorious, Allah will help us,” he said. Hundreds of Hamas terrorists have been killed since the “Cast Lead” operation began last week, including 100 since the start of Israel's ground operation, and several of the group's senior leaders have been assassinated. Dozens have been taken prisoner as well.
The Hamas leader called to murder Israelis and Jews worldwide, including children. “The Israelis have sentenced their children to death... They have legitimized the killing of their people all over the world,” he said. Hamas' platform calls for all Jews to convert to Islam or be killed, based on an Islamic saying (Hadith), and the group has not refrained from targeting children in the past.
Hamas will destroy synagogues and Jewish schools as well, Zahar said, just as Israel destroyed mosques in Gaza. Israel bombed several mosques used to store rockets and ammunition.
Zahar suggested Hamas was prepared to seek a ceasefire, saying Hamas would discuss “whatever is good for our people.” He issued a list of demands, saying any ceasefire must include a complete end to IDF counterterrorism activities, Hamas control of the Gaza coast and the opening of Israeli crossings.
Israel has not offered Hamas a ceasefire, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert recently said operations in Gaza would continue “until we achieve our goals.”