Giving Thanks - Day four

Today I am choosing to give thanks for my home. Our home is not big, it is not filled with treasures and items of great value ... but it is filled with love and it is a place of comfort. Even though I love to take trips or go on fun vacations, there's always a wonderful feeling of coming home. Back to the place where you can just kick your shoes off and relax. The place of warmth and memories and of feeling at peace.

Our home is filled with many, many memories. Photos and scrapbooks and moments that I think back on - moments of sadness and moments of great joy. All of these are contained in our home. It's the place where we moved when we were pregnant with our first child. It's the place that we are raising our little family. It's the place that we will create many memories and traditions in - we already have and will continue to make even more!

Our home is a place of learning and of growing. Even before we decided to home school our home was a place where we taught the girls about life and the world around them and about God and His great love for us. It's the place where the girls have grown right before our eyes. From pregnancy to babyhood, to toddler hood to preschool days and now on to elementary years. Time flies in this home!

Our home is a place where bonds are created. The bond of sisters, of Mom and daughters and Daddy and daughters. Where family and friends are welcome and accepted and (hopefully) feel at home here in this place. Our home is a place of rest ... the place where you come to lay your weary head. To get better when you feel sick and get rest when you are tired and worn out. It's a place where you'll find warm beds, comfy blankets and people to snuggle and love.
Our home is a place for fun! For long summer days in the pool or playing in the yard. For family gatherings around the holidays, for running and jumping in leaves in the fall. For learning to ride a two wheeler and playing with Barbies and having friends over.

Our home is a place where God is at the center. It's where we grow as individuals and where we teach by our example. Our home may be small, but we love it, we live in it and we wouldn't trade it for anything. Thank you God for blessing us with our home.

Giving Thanks - day three

Today (and everyday) I am thankful for my children. Bob and I are truly blessed to be the parents of H and J.

H just turned 7. She looks like her Daddy, but shares a lot of my personality traits (the good and the bad!). She is very smart and catches on to new concepts well. She has an amazing memory for things that happened in the past. She loves to read and flies through chapter books at an alarming speed. She is an athletic girl who loves to participate in sports and games. I sometimes joke that she has a split personality because when she' s happy she's the most vibrant, upbeat person I know - but when she's mad or upset about something it' s like the whole world is coming to an end and she wants the whole world to know about it. =) She accepted Jesus as her Savior last Christmas and has already shown growth in her relationship with the Lord. She shares her faith with anyone she comes in contact with and has a real passion for being a Christian. She loves music and is just getting started with learning the piano. She also loves to sing - whenever we're in the car it's always her and I that are belting out the praise songs!

J will be 6 in just a few months. People have said that she looks just like me. As far as personality, well she's what we call our free spirit. We're not sure who she takes after because none of us are of that personality! She is shy in most situations until she gets comfortable. She's a Mama's girl and she loves to come curl up and snuggle with me. (Which of course I never mind!) She loves to do anything that her big sis can do. She's very easygoing about most of life - not caring what she wears or where we go or what the plans for the day are - she just goes with the flow most of the time. She doesn't usually get a bad attitude - but she does get emotional. If her water spills and gets her shirt wet she cries. If she's fighting with Haley over a toy she cries. If I ask her to clean up and she doesn't want to she cries. Luckily she is always easily calmed down and as soon as we explain the situation to her she is usually fine again. She loves to dance and sing and perform. And she has the most bubbly, infectious laughter of anyone I know. Although it seems like most of the time she's not listening to you or paying attention to you, she has an amazing ability to retain information. When we play the Memory game and she's looking all around the room, not paying attention - she will suddenly start flipping over the cards and getting matches every time! She's very smart too - she just has a different way of learning things.

I am so thankful that the Lord chose to bless us with these two bright, beautiful, healthy little girls. They truly bring so much sunshine to every area of our lives. Their laughter and smiles and yes even their tears - all add so much life to our home each and every day. I have learned so much about myself since having kids. I'm not nearly as patient or compassionate as I once thought I was! But at the same time I'm more willing to speak up for my kids and protect them in every way I can. I really feel like I'm a different person now than I was before having kids. And it's in a good way. Before I was so selfish and self absorbed. (Still am, sometimes!) But now I have other who rely on me and look up to me.

Proverbs 127:3 says "Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from Him." I am so thankful that the Lord has chosen to 'reward' us with these two precious jewels.

Giving Thanks - day two

Today I am thankful for our church, and our church family. We attend a rather large church of about 600-800 people. Well, that might not be large by some standards but compared to the church I grew up in it's large in my mind!

Anyway, Bob grew up in this church and when we got married there was never a question about where we would attend. We planned to live locally and we just sort of automatically started attending there. When we were first married I was a little overwhelmed with the large church body and felt a little lost. I didn't really know anyone and it seemed like most people already knew Bob's family. For a while I did help with the teen ministry but I still really never felt like I'd found my place.

About 5 years after we married our first child H was born. Once I had H and began to stay home and not work I finally had more time to get involved within the church body. I began attending a ladies Bible study once a week and was able to meet a lot more women, including many that were my age who also had new babies. It was like I was finally finding my place.

Over the years since then I have served in various ministries from helping with Vacation Bible school in the summers to serving as a Sunday school teacher. I have also made so many wonderful friends - friends of all different ages. There are women who are my age who I cherish as some of my closest friends, there are women who are older who I look up to as mentors, and also many couples that Bob and I enjoy either spending time with or learning from.

I look forward to going to church each and every time because I know that every time I enter those doors I will see so many wonderful people and I will never cease to be encouraged. God's Word is preached and His Name is worshipped.

I also love that my children are learning and growing in the Lord at our wonderful church. H accepted the Lord as her Savior last year on Christmas Eve at our Christmas Eve service. The girls attend Sunday school and have many wonderful friends at our church. And when they see us serve in that place they learn a lot about what it means to serve the Lord - something I have already seen them practice.

I know some people may think a church is just a building, but not at where we go to church. We are all a part of the family of God, whether we meet in that building, or somewhere else. I love my church and my church family ... and today I'm choosing to thank the Lord for them.

Christmas Tradition #1

I know it's a little early but I figured that if any of you wanted to try this tradition this year you would need a few days to prepare.

Last year we started this new and fun tradition with the girls. Each day in December, leading up to Christmas Day, they get to open up and read a new book.

What I do is I wrap up 24 books and place them under the tree. Some are books for them to keep and some are library books. Some are holiday related and some are not. You can choose how you want to do it.

So I wrap up all the books and put them under the tree and each evening we open one book and read it together. I love that it's helping reinforce the reading that we're trying to teach, it keeps their love of books strong and it just makes the waiting for Christmas gifts a little easier to bear.

Last year the girls loved it! My mother in law got in on the fun this year and told me that she's already found some fun books to add to the tradition - she got a cook book and a craft book too so it doesn't just have to be about reading, it can be a book where you do something fun together like bake a special treat from the cookbook or you create a fun craft together. (Maybe even a coloring book would be fun?)

If you want to start this tradition this year don't fret if you don't have 24 new books to give to your kids - simply make a trip to the library and pick up a bunch of books and wrap them up! (Just don't forget when their due date is!) December 1st is just a little over a week away, so if you want to try this start looking around for some books!

A Week for Giving Thanks

It sometimes seems to me that we feel like we have to have something special to be thankful for ... like just saying 'family' or 'friends' or 'my home' is just too simple and generic. But honestly, those are the things that we most often take for granted, right? The things that are there for us day after day without fail, the things that so often get overlooked because they are such a constant in our lives.

So this week I'm not trying to come up with any fancy words or special reasons to be thankful ... I'm choosing to remember to thank the Lord for the most important things in my life. I'll be focusing on one thing/person each day.

Today (and everyday) I am so, so thankful for my wonderful husband. His name is Robert, we call him Bob, or Daddy or honey. =) He is someone who loves to live life. He's more concerned with making memories, than making money. Don't get me wrong, he's no slacker! He's a hard worker at his job, where he often wins "Employee of the Month" and his co-workers and bosses are always impressed with his work ethic and the way they know they can always count on him.

He works hard here in our home too. He loves to keep our yard and everything outside looking great so most days you'll find him working in the yard, cleaning up leaves or working on the pool (in the summer). He also runs most of the errands that need to be done around here. I do the groceries and CVS most of the time - but he does the bank, the dump, and anything else that comes up. He also helps a lot around the inside of the house. I think the only job he never does is clean the bathroom ... other than that he helps out with everything else from laundry to dishes to vacuuming ... he always seems to be on the move and working on something.

All of this is extremely helpful for me. Since we homeschool and I'm busy with the girls most of the time our house sometimes gets neglected and it's hard for me to 'do-it-all'. Having his helping hands around is wonderful.

As a husband he never ceases to amaze me. I'll admit, I'm not the easiest person to live with. I get grumpy and moody sometimes when I'm tired - but he never gets upset and he never snaps at me, even when he might be really tired too. I also love to change things around - all the time! I love to move around furniture, paint rooms and rearrange things. A lot of times that means he gets roped into helping me - but he never complains! He always lets me do whatever I want with the house and helps me move things or paint when I get myself involved in a project that's just a bit too much for me.

As a Dad he is absolutely amazing. He has so much patience and so much energy with the girls. He does everything he can to make their lives fun and wonderful. he takes them biking and fishing and even takes one with him on errands if he knows I'm having a rough day. Just because he knows that it will help me out, and that the girls also love being with him, even if it is just running to the bank. When he wakes up in the morning one of the first things he says is 'tell the girls to come see me' -- he loves to snuggle with them first thing in the morning, he can't wait to see them each day! I love the bond that he has already created with his girls. They adore him and will do anything with him, even if it's just watching football for hours on a Sunday - they will sit and watch with him and cheer for the team he likes because they adore him that much.

When I said earlier that he's more concerned with making memories than making money I was serious. He would rather spend money on taking us all on a wonderful vacation in which we create lasting memories, than to buy a new fridge, or something else for the house. He loves to take us all on vacations and loves to create traditions and memories that will last a lifetime. Those are the incredible things that our kids will remember someday - they won't remember what kind of fridge we had when they were 5 years old. But they will remember how much fun we had on that trip to the indoor waterpark!

My sort of 'family motto' has been 'creating family traditions and memories since 1996' ... and I'm SO thankful that Bob is just as focused as I am about making those memories and traditions for our kids. I am so thankful for him. Next week will be our 12th wedding anniversary and each year I love him even more.

Slacker

So yeah, I'm a total slacker lately ... well at least with this blog I am. Actually in 'real' life I've been super busy. I tend to decide to take on these 'little' projects at the most crazy times! So last week I had this thought that I wanted to move the girls back into the same bedroom again, move our schoolroom and office back upstairs into the middle bedroom and basically just re-arrange my whole entire house. Oh and I also figured that if I was going to move the girls around again that I might as well just go ahead and paint their room all over again. Yep. That's me ... Miss What Else Can I Take On This Week?

So their room was painted HOT PINK! It actually looks pretty cute and I will update with photos when I finish the room ... And I re-arranged the house, moved furniture, cleaned, organized and just basically turned the house upside down and then tried to put it all back together again. It's mostly done now and I'm very happy with the results. Boy, when I get a little idea in my head you'd better watch out - there's no stoppin' me!

Anyway, besides that this month (and next) are my months to teach the lessons for our homeschool science co-op class. Are you supposed to write coop or co-op? It always looks like I'm talking about our 'science coop' like a chicken coop ... well sometimes it feels a bit like that, but anyway ...

So, I'm teaching, I'm planning, I'm hosting Thanksgiving, I'm trying to plan for the holidays and trying to get some stuff prepared for Christmas, trying to keep up with school work and of course the house stuff which is never ending ... yeah, I've been a little busy these past couple of weeks.

Actually sometimes I feel like my whole life is busy. I feel like there isn't ever a 'normal' week where we just sit at home and go about our daily stuff. It's crazy how fast our calendar fills up! And you'd think I would have learned by now not to take on huge, house re-arranging, room painting projects on a whim - but no, I haven't learned. =)

OK, so I'm totally rambling now and not really getting anywhere ... so I realized that I hadn't even posted any Halloween photos on my much neglected blog yet - so here are a few - enjoy! And since I've talked enough I won't even offer explanations ... I'm sure you can figure out how much fun we had!

Sunset

WOW. It's over. It's really, truly over. After several years of following the Baxter family in the books by Karen Kingsbury I have finally read the last one. And there won't be any more. She's done with this series, moving on to something else.

It's kinda sad really. I feel as though I know Kari, Brooke, Erin, Ashley, Katy, Dayne and the rest as personal friends! Through reading this series Karen has become one of my favorite authors of all time.

I know that most of the time the story will end on a happy note ... and sometimes it's even predictable, but I like that. I'd like to think that all of our stories will end in a happy way. Knowing Christ gives me the assurance that in some ways my story will end happy. No matter how many days I get to live on this earth I will always have the security of heaven to look forward to. It's a happy ending. Despite the hardships and trials of my life on earth, the promise of heaven is one great, happy ending to look forward to!

So I don't want to say too much more about the book specifically because I know several of my friends who haven't had a chance to read it yet. I don't want to be a spoiler after all! But I will say that I was surprised by some things ... and that of all the books in this series (14 in all!) this was the ONLY one that I did not cry in! Seriously! Well, there was one tiny part where I got a little teary - but nothing like the tears I've shed over the other 13 books!

Guess you know that means there was a happy ending ...

Super Readers

I'm so proud to share that both of my girls have been doing so well with reading lately. J is in kindergarten this year and is just starting to be able to read. The other night she even read her first book all by herself! She read Hop on Pop by Dr. Suess.

A few weeks ago I posted about some of my frustrations with home schooling because I just felt like things were just not clicking with J where reading was concerned. But all of the sudden things have started to click and she's doing very well!

Lately one of our favorite things is our bi-weekly trip to the local library. I think I end up choosing more books than the kids do! (Not books for myself, just kids books to read to them.)

H continues to enjoy her chapter books. Since September 1st she has read 37 chapter books! We've been keeping up with our list over their on the left and it's been fun to see all the great books we're reading. Our list is currently up to 101 books - our summer reading list only got to 48 so we're doing really well this fall! We'll have a total on December 1st and then we'll start a winter list.

Now as far as myself ... well, I'm slacking! Actually what I should say is I'm just so tired! I read every night before bed and some days for small amounts of time throughout the day. But I can't keep my eyes open for more than 15-20 minutes! Some nights when I read at bedtime I only make it through one or two pages before the book drops out of my hands and I realize that I should just give in and go to sleep. Today we laid down for quiet time and I thought it would be a great chance to catch up and maybe even finish my book - well I only got through about 20 min before dozing off! My current faves continue to be Karen Kingsbury books. I'm reading Sunset right now - the completion of the Baxter family series. It's so good. I'm kinda sad that there will be no more Baxter family books!

Well, that's about all for now ... so what are you reading?

FREE!

Here are the deals I got today ...

At Rite Aid:
Herbal Essences shampoo and conditioner (2 for $6)
10 soyjoy bars (10 for $5)

Had a $3 off coupon for the HE stuff and a $2 off when you buy 10 on the soyjoy bars.

Paid -- $5 out of pocket total - but the SoyJoys have a $5 rebate reward that I will get back - so basically I got all of this for FREE!

At CVS:
I know I should break it all down for you, but I'm being really lazy right now ... so basically I'll just tell you that I paid only $2.35 out of pocket for all of this -- and I got a bunch of extra care bucks and CVS coupons in return (about $20 worth!)
If you aren't clipping coupons yet ladies you need to! It's SOOO worth it! It takes some time and some planning - but you get so much for so little! Couldn't we all use ways to save more money in this crazy economy??

PLUS, if you are looking at the products and saying, "I'll never use that!" ... you're right, you might not use everything you buy - but Christmas is coming soon ... start thinking of stocking stuffers!! We always give stuff like toothpastes and toothbrushes and body washes and lotions and stuff like that in our stockings. I have already started putting away some razors, chapsticks and other stuff for stockings. OR, just use your extra care bucks to buy the items you really want!

I've also kind of learned through this that I need to be a little less picky about my brands. Who cares if I use crest or colgate? If they both taste minty I might as well buy the one that's on sale or gives me ECB's ... or shampoo - I always wanted to buy the same one and it was very pricey. But guess what? My hair is fine with other brands - it doesn't fall out any more or less (it falls out plenty but has nothing to do with shampoo!)

So anyway ... start clipping those coupons girls! (and if you don't want them - send them MY way because you know I'll use them!)

For your listening pleasure ...

I added a playlist of some of my favorite inspirational songs. I've been clicking on a couple of my friends sites A LOT lately simply because I've loved listening to their playlists - so I decided to add my own. I put it pretty low on the right side because it will autostart when you scroll down there. So if you'd rather not hear it just press the small pause button in the upper left corner.

Hope you enjoy!