Be Thankful: Nov. 13

Things I am thankful for today:

* The library. What a great resource of FREE books!
* Fresh haircuts. On my husband.
* Quiet evenings.
* The kids actually ate their meals really well today!
* Deliciously soft cookies.
* Wonderfully-smelling, freshly-bathed children.

What are you thankful for right this moment??

Answer me this: This is the year!

Alrighty, friends, I really want your input on this one... Christmas is coming and with that comes Santa. We don't do Santa at our house, but Eli's old enough this year and already asking questions, I need to explain who Santa is. He's been seeing decorations/pictures of him around the stores and asking "Is that Jesus? Who is that?" I casually answer that it's Santa and then change the subject. I want him to know a) where the idea of Santa Claus came from, b) that he's no longer real, and c) that many people like to believe that he's real. And then we continue on with what Christmas is really about--celebrating the birth of Jesus. I want him to know the truth but not walk around blowing the cover to other kids! Of course this is something Kevin and I will have to sit down and discuss, but I thought I'd see if you had any advice to share! How do you explain Santa to your kids?

Be Thankful: Nov. 12

This week I am thankful for some quality time with the kids. The last two days we've had workers here installing the new windows in our upstairs. Kevin's been sleeping in the basement, and the kids and I just hang out in the living room, play room, and office. Can't do errands, can't do chores, can't go outside, so I've really had some good time to just hang out and play with the kids. Not the WHOLE time but at least I was more focused on them instead of flitting around the house doing this and that and dragging the kids with me all over town. It's been kind of nice just doing puzzles, playing games, reading, making cookies, and working on school time. And while they have TV time or blanket time I've had a lot of time to do some Bible reading, today with a word study on praise. TONS of great verses I came across there and will continue tomorrow! It's just been a good, calm couple of days, so much so that I just might have to set at least one day like this every week!

I am also super thankful to my wonderful husband for some house projects he's been working on the last two days during his nights off. We're still not done, but he did a lot of cleaning in the basement (so he could sleep down there) and in the process had a lot of mice to deal with too. So I am VERY thankful for that work! And he also fixed our kitchen sink pipes. They were leaking underneath and smelling HORRIBLE because of bits of food that would get in there with it. I couldn't even open the cupboard for a new trash bag without getting a big whiff of nastiness. So I'm so thankful he got that tackled last night! Men are such a vital part of running a home, I can't imagine doing any of this on my own! Thanks, hun!

"I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High." Psalm 9:1-2

Be Thankful: Nov. 11

I am thankful for our soldiers, of the past and the present. Those who we were willing to make sacrifices to serve our country, leaving behind family and friends, leaving the comforts of home, and committing to our nation. It's hard to comprehend life without safety and freedom because most of us don't know any life otherwise. And for that I am thankful!

And I am thankful for our Mighty Protector because HE rules over ALL the nations! Thanks be to God!

"Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care." Psalm 95:1-7

Be Thankful: Nov. 10

I am thankful for surprises. Kevin went off to work tonight as usual but a couple hours later came back home! I guess the schedule changed this afternoon and he didn't know it. So he gets a surprise night off tonight, and tomorrow was already his scheduled day off, so we get two nights with daddy! Yay! It was especially helpful tonight because I was really working hard to get upstairs cleaned and ready for the window people to come tomorrow, and having Kevin home to help out helped a ton! Not to mention we got to hang out tonight! I've missed having company in the evenings!

"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. O Lord, save us; O Lord, grant us success. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord we bless you. The Lord is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever." Psalm 118:24-29

Be Thankful: Nov. 9

I am thankful for miracles. It appears that today God delivered a miracle to baby Stellan! He had SVT (high heart rate) in the womb and has continued to have troubles with SVT out of the womb. He's been in and out of the hospital the last 8 months and just today had another surgery on his heart in attempt to fix his pathways. The doctors tried this same surgery 6 months ago (or so) and it was not successful, but this time it was! Praise God! Stellan just had his first birthday last week, and now what a gift this is!

God works miracles all the time, and we don't always know it. Sometimes they're big, and sometimes they're small, like money coming in at just the right time so you can pay a bill, or finding your wedding ring, or running late just to find out you just missed an accident you yourself could have been in, or a timely scripture verse or call from a friend.

God knows every step of what will happen in our lives. He's the great Author. And I'm thankful for all the ways He works in our lives.


"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." Psalm 100


Join us in thankfulness over at Karla's Korner.

Monday Meanderings

Bible Study
joy and thankfulness word studies

Memory Verse
"The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song." Psalm 28:7

Husband Encouragement
Kevin gets home about 6:30am every morning and many days makes us a hot breakfast. But one day this week I will get up and make him a breakfast before he heads off to sleepyville. I'm gonna make cranberry scones! Yumm!

Train Them Up
* Kind words even when I walk away. Does it ever seem that your kids fight more as soon as you walk away to go do something? That's what it's been like here lately, and it drives me NUTS. You literally can't step away for ONE MINUTE before being needed again! So we're going to work on this and I may need to set up some practice scenes for this, but we'll see how it goes.

Absolutely MUST Do
* Call bank.
* Get Moppet craft ready and purchase snack.
* Our new windows are coming Wednesday and Thursday! so I need to move a few things out of the way.
* Wrap our box for Operation Christmas Child.

Zone
Playroom. It's just been extra messy in there lately and I think there are a few things that can come out of there.

Menu

Monday - simplified bierochs (see below),
Tuesday - ham and white sauce, peaches
Wednesday - lasagna casserole (using the remainder of the bieroch sausage), salad
Thursday - margarita pizza
Friday - chicken and rice casserole (never made this last week)
Saturday - frozen enchilada dinner
Sunday - hot dogs, carrots, apple

My simplified version is to just put the meat mixture (ground sausage + sauerkrat + mustard) into pita bread instead of doing up the roll dough. It's sooo much faster and equally good! And we already have pita bread leftover from last week.

FUN THINGS!
* MOPS meeting Tuesday morning!
* We're getting all new upstairs windows Wednesday and Thursday, and while it will complicate life a bit for Kevin's sleep and the kids' nap, it'll be very exciting to get that done!
* Possibly a MOPS moms day out shopping on Saturday.


Join in on the meandering fun! Have a great week, friends!

Be Thankful: Nov. 8

I am thankful for our church family and all that comes from that. Fellowship, friendship, encouragement, spiritual growth, prayer, support, guidance, instruction, worship. In moving to a small town I was worried we wouldn't find a good church for us, but God led us right to where He wanted us, because right now I'm feeling very blessed with our new family!


"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2

Maternity Pics

I've been wanting to get some belly pics for awhile now, but no one's here to take a picture of me. And for some reason using the timer on my camera only focused on the background cuz no one's in the picture and then when I pop in the frame I'm just an out-of-focus blur. But Kevin was so kind to help me find my tiny camera remote the other day (it was in the camera bag! ha!), so today, already being done up for church, finally gave it a try. I looked fat and ugly in any standing pics and it was crazy windy, so I opted to try laying down, but it was awkward trying to find ways to lay--what to do with my arms, how to angle my head, and of course how to get a good angle of the belly--all the while going back and forth to the camera to see how they were turning out. Oh the joys, but this is what I got!

28 weeks pregnant

not trying to look dead in this one! more like ready for a nap!my favorite one from the day, I think

Be Thankful: Nov. 7

Today I am thankful for birthdays. We just got back from a friend's birthday party for two of her kids, and I love the opportunity to celebrate life and simply say I'm thankful for you! Not that we can't do that every day, but it's good to just make some days special. It doesn't have to be a big shindig by any means, but personally I don't like when people just let these things go by unnoticed as if it doesn't matter. Rejoice and celebrate! Every person is a great blessing!

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God." Colossians 3:15-16


Join us in thanksgiving over at Karla's Korner!