30 Days of Thanksgiving

The November 30 Days of Thankfulness Challenge:  I posted these on Facebook each day in November.  (OK, so I missed a day here and there and doubled up now and then, but overall, I made it all 30 days!)  I wanted to record them all in one place.

Day 1:  I am thankful for my God who never forsakes me.

Day 2:  I am thankful for God's powerful, sustaining Word.

Day 3: I am thankful for the most amazing, thoughtful, wonderful husband I could ever have dreamed of. I love you, Ted Jacobson!

Day 4: Not only am I thankful for Ted (day 3), but I am especially thankful for his godly leadership in our home and his faithful commitment to Jesus. "Many a man claims to have unfailing love, but a faithful man who can find?" Proverbs 20:6

Day 5: I am thankful for my sweet firstborn girl, Charis, whose tender heart and unselfish spirit continually amaze and inspire me. I am thankful that we can share so many things together through a mutual love of cooking, reading, writing, stamping, and fussing over babies. :-)

Day 6: I am thankful for my firstborn son, Tobin, whose wit keeps me laughing even when I'm in a bad mood; whose intellectual curiosity keeps me on my toes; and whose ability to spin a tale keeps me on my knees!

Day 7: I am thankful for my sweet, gentle Arden, whose tender spirit touches my heart even as his boundless energy drives me crazy! I love his heart for other people and the way he prays for the nations to know Jesus. I love how he still adores his 22 stuffed animals yet wants to be a football player when he grows up. :-)

Day 8: I am thankful for my joyful, bouncing Kenna, whose squeals of delight over every little thing make life so much brighter. I am thankful for her willing obedience (most of the time!) and her tender care for her baby brothers as well as for her feisty spirit and stubborn streak that indicate a determined, purposeful drive to achieve her goals!

Day 9: I am thankful for my loveable little Lucan, who is (so far) the easiest 2-year-old I've ever had! His smiles and cuddles, funny noises and silly antics, tuneless little songs and Muppet-armed runs make our whole family smile with delight.

Day 10: I'm thankful for my bright-eyed baby Zaden! I'm thankful that he is a happy, healthy baby and that I am exclusively nursing him--not something I take for granted after his first month! I'm thankful that he is such an "easy" baby and that he sleeps pretty well most nights. And I'm thankful that he'll get to meet his daddy in just over 2 more months.

Day 11: I am thankful for Skype and the internet, which allows me to keep in touch with my veteran reasonably well--just not this week. :-) But even more, I'm thankful for the freedoms and comforts we enjoy in this country. It's not a perfect place, but people, we need to realize what we've got!

Day 12: I am so thankful for the Church, the Body of Jesus Christ. I have always loved my local church wherever it has been, but I am especially thankful for Faircreek Church and the many brothers and sisters in Christ who are helping to carry our family through this deployment. As a military family who has never been able to live close to our blood relatives, we are extra grateful for the church family.

Day 13: I am so very thankful for the godly heritage I have. I can never thank Mom and Dad enough for how they have poured out their lives like a drink offering to the Lord--and as a result, I have a strong, unwavering faith in our God and an unquenchable thirst for His Word. Their example, even more than their words, taught me what it means to live for Him. Thank you, John and Irene Keist! I love you both more than words can say!

Day 14: I am thankful that Zaden is now sleeping through the night! Five nights in a row he has slept until I've awakened him!

Day 15: I am thankful for many, many godly friends that have touched my life over the years. From growing up in Texas (Reinhardt Bible Church, Garland Christian Academy) to graduating in Wisconsin (Faith Christian School), from attending Cedarville University in Ohio to marrying an Air Force man and living in San Angelo, Mountain Home, Dayton, D.C., Las Vegas, and back to Dayton--God has provided amazing friends along the way who not only make life fun but also spur me on to a closer walk with Jesus. I love you all!

Day 16: I am thankful, on this C-O-L-D night, for our warm house. And hoodies. And flannel pants. And fuzzy blankets.

Day 17: I am thankful for MUSIC! I am thankful my parents gave me the gift of piano lessons starting at age 7 and that I can sit down and play songs with various praise teams at the churches God leads us to. I am thankful for the love my kids have for piano lessons and for their sweet teacher, who comes to our house Thursday mornings for their lessons. I am thankful that I met my husband in a mosh pit at the Cornerstone Music Festival. And I am thankful that Ted has received blessing and encouragement from being part of the praise team at Kandahar!

Day 18: I am so thankful for my wonderful mother-in-law! I love her so much and am thankful that we have a good relationship. I honor her for the wonderful job she did in raising her sons Ted and Joel Jacobson. I'm thankful that she will get to spend the whole week of Thanksgiving with us in Ohio! The one regret is that Dad Jacobson can only be with us in our hearts, as he is home in heaven now. I am thankful for the time I did get to spend with him on earth...even if it was too short.

Day 19: I am thankful for good food. We never lack for good things to eat, though many folks don't know where their next meal is coming from. Our food journey this year has taught our family how to eat real and healthy food, and I'm thankful for what we've learned. I'm thankful for the many creative foods God put on the earth and for the creativity people show in putting recipes together. And finally, I'm especially thankful for chocolate. :-D

Day 20: I am thankful for rest. Sunday afternoon naps = a happier mommy. God definitely had a great idea with that rest-one-day-a-week command.

Day 21: I'm thankful that my family is healthy. Yes, Charis is coughing this week, and Kenna has a little sniffle. The boys deal with allergies, and I've had a few blocked milk duct issues. But overall, we are all blessed with good health...not something to take for granted. Thank you, Lord!

Day 22: Today, my 37th birthday, I am thankful for many things: my relaxing massage this morning; a yummy lunch during which I did not have to get up ONCE to help a small person with something; uninterrupted time to think and enjoy the Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Dayton Art Institute; and the honor of reading so many well wishes from dear friends on my wall. Wow! I am so blessed!

Day 23: I am so thankful that this deployment is HALFWAY OVER!!! 6 months down, 6 to go!

Day 24: I am thankful for all that God is teaching me about Himself this year.

Day 25: I am thankful for sunny days! I know my mood shouldn't match the weather, but it often does...so I'm thankful for cheery sunshine. When one lives in Ohio, bright days can't be taken for granted!

Day 26: I am thankful for our house. God always provides the perfect home for us wherever He puts us, and this one is perfect for our family at this season of life. I'm excited to see where He will take us next!

Day 27 : I am thankful for...never thought I'd say this...our TV. Kids playing Wii = a decent nap for Mom. Boys watching football = Mom making dinner in peace. Cuddling on the couch and watching The Amazing Race with the older kids = special time with them. We try to limit screen time, but I have to confess I'm thankful for the electronic babysitter on many occasions!!

Day 28: I am thankful for my chiropractor. Our family enjoys much better health (especially during the winter), and my back issues are pretty much non-existent these days thanks to Dr. Peltier!

Day 29: I am thankful for the ability to read and for the passion many of my loved ones have for reading. I don't get to enjoy my own selection of books nearly as often as I would like, but reading with little ones is a joy of its own. I'm grateful that our children all enjoy books and learning.

Day 30:  It seems appropriate to begin and end this list with spiritual blessings, so on this final day of November, I am thankful beyond words for Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, who alone is worthy of all my praise, worship, energy, time, and resources.

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful, relaxing Thanksgiving Day.  As I blogged earlier, we didn't have our big meal until the evening, so we had plenty of time to relax and leisurely work on the menu for the evening.  We had done a few things the day before, too, so that helped.  One of my favorite parts of the day was working on our Thanksgiving posters together in the afternoon while the little boys napped.  Even Grandma and I made posters!

Here are a few pics from the day.  To view the whole album, go here.

Christine holds a wide-eyed Zaden.

Lucan and Ian play a duet!

The whole family--almost!  Flat Daddy just isn't the same!

The Blessing Tree

Kenna's thankfulness poster--she did it all by herself!  The letters she wrote aren't completely random; they spell out the names of her friends, and she had to creatively space things to fit everything in.

Charis was playing a game when I was taking pictures of the posters, and since she had put hers by Flat Daddy, I just took a picture of him holding it. :-)

Colin munches a turkey leg and watches the Bananagrams frenzy.

Memorial Day Pics

This will mostly be a picture post...it's getting late, and I need to get some sleep before Kids' Street Live tomorrow!  (I should probably work on my lines, too, ha!)

Memorial Day ended up being a great day for us.  I was tempted to have a pity party since I had nearly forgotten it was a three-day weekend and hadn't made any plans.  But instead I asked my friend/neighbor Eilene if they had anything going on for the day.  Turns out they didn't have plans, either, so it worked out well!  We started our celebration around 10 a.m., trying to beat the heat.  Got to Skype a bit with Ted from the N's driveway, and the kids ran around trying to keep cool with water balloons/guns and a kiddie pool for Kenna and Lucan.  Charis became enthralled with the 3D chalk, and Tobin borrowed a new series of books from Blake, so he was happy as a clam with a new book to read.

We had a yummy lunch of grilled hot dogs, chili, veggies, and fruit, then headed to the basement to cool off and play some games.  I brought some watermelon-lime-blueberry pops that we had just made the day before, and they were quite the hit.  I couldn't believe it was 3 p.m. when I headed home with Lucan and Kenna!  The time flew.  Lucan had a late nap while Kenna and Charis watched a girly movie and I worked on our 2009 digital album.  (I ended up finishing it that night--woohoo!)  After a dinner of leftovers, we headed to the park to wear Lucan out again, since he had awakened so late from his nap!  I got to chat with my mom-in-law on the phone while the kids played.  All in all, it was a nice, relaxing day...and I'm sure the kids were happy that I remembered it was a holiday so they didn't have to do schoolwork, LOL.

This picture was taken with the 3D glasses over the lens...can you tell the difference?!  It really was pretty cool!

He Is Risen Indeed!

I woke at 4:53 a.m. today.  Mom Radar, Ted calls it.  One of my children who shall remain nameless had an accident and had taken all the bedding down to the laundry room.  The child was able to get back to sleep, thankfully, allowing me to continue my sneaky Easter work.

I set up an Easter egg scavenger hunt all over the house.  (Yes, it rained more last night and again today, though we did see the sun briefly...no outdoor egg hunts for us!)  Before leaving for training, Ted helped me pick out Easter baskets for the kids.  We didn't necessarily have a plan in mind, but when we saw the baskets with balls--soccer, basketball, and kickball--and a VERY small amount of candy, we decided we had found just the thing!  We bought one for the boys and one for the girls.  (The girls' balls are all pink and purple!)  I hid the baskets in two different closets in the basement, then set out the eggs around the house that had clues leading them to the next location.  In each egg I also included two of the Werther's sugar-free candies (one for each kid), which are really quite good.  I figured the kids should have SOME kind of candy on Easter!  After all, we celebrate a really SWEET story, don't we?!

Once the eggs were hidden, I continued with my typical morning routine--typical, anyway, now that Ted is gone.  Fix hot tea for me, lemon water for the kids.  (Part of our diet plan.)  Set out everyone's allergy medicines.  (Sigh.  That's what we're hoping to get AWAY from with this diet.)  Fetch the paper and briefly scan while hot tea finishes.  Enjoy quiet time with the Lord while sipping tea.  Today I thumbed to nearly the back of the chronological Bible that we've been reading along with a "Resolve to Read" class this year, and I read the Easter story that way, which was neat...all the accounts put together, in order.

By the time I finished my shower, the house was still quiet.  I even made our banana-squash-peanut butter pancakes, set everything out for breakfast, and it was STILL quiet!  So I had a quiet breakfast and read the comics before my children had a chance to get them all out of order, and by then it was time to wake the crew.  While I was getting their plates ready, they searched for 4 of the Resurrection Eggs that I had hidden in the kitchen.

As a side note, I highly recommend this family kit!  We've been using the eggs in various ways for years.  Sometimes I've hidden one egg per day leading up to Easter, but often--like this year--Easter comes and we're just not ready.  (Yes, I know, Easter was late this year!)  So we did 4 eggs Friday right before the Good Friday service, and I intended to do 4 eggs on Saturday as well.  But, ahem, things do not always go as planned, so we ended up doing 4 this morning and the last 4 this evening.

I put slips of paper in each egg with the Scripture references on them, so the kids read the passages as they opened each egg.  Charis helped Kenna "read" her passage by asking her to repeat the phrases, a job that Kenna took VERY seriously!

The kids then enjoyed their breakfast, and I was positively bursting, trying not to hurry them along TOO much.  But the countdown was on...after all, we did have a church service to attend!  So at 9:00 I gave the girls, who were finished eating, their first egg with the first clue in the hunt.  Charis was SO good with Kenna, letting her help find the eggs and be very much a part of the whole experience.

The boys quickly finished their breakfasts as well once they realized what was going on, LOL.  Then the "race" was on--according to the boys, it was a RACE to see who could find their basket first!  It was so much fun to watch the commotion!  Lucan happily wandered around in the midst of the fray.  The kids' excitement over the baskets was so great they didn't even mind when I made them fork over the candy!  They were all very excited about the balls.  Prior to this we had one girls' soccer ball, and Tobin just got a kickball for his birthday.  That's it!  So it's time they added more to their collection, and, Lord willing, maybe it will stop raining enough for them to actually go outside and use them...they're driving me crazy in the house, ha!

I had to hustle the crew out the door shortly after they found the baskets, but we made it to church in good time and even had time for a family photo before taking the kids to their classes.  (By the way, the girls received these matching Easter dresses from a homeschool family in our co-op whose daughters had outgrown them.  Aren't they precious?!)

The service was very, very good.  Even though it was a bit gloomy (weather-wise) outside, the worship was phenomenal, and the message (from 1 Peter 1:3-5) was right on.  Meanwhile, in the kids' building, Charis was enjoying being a part of the Easter drama for the kids' service.  It sounds like they had a great time of worship and learning as well.

We came home and I quickly made a batch of almond flour biscuits to take with us (along with our homemade strawberry jam, yum!) to Sidra's house for our Easter meal.  I had given her our squash bake the day before so she could pop it in the oven.  I also heated up some of the navy bean casserole I had made earlier in the week--there was enough left to share, and I thought it would go well with the pulled pork she was making.  We enjoyed visiting and watching the kids play for a bit before the meal.  I was proud of the kids--they were well-behaved and mannerly and ate almost everything on their plates!  We had a great meal, and it was nice to have some fellowship.  (And, I confess, it was REALLY nice not to have to clean up dishes, LOL!)

We came home a little after 2:00 for naps.  Lucan was NOT happy about napping--Sidra had given us an old toy guitar that her kids didn't play with anymore, and Lucan is rather attached to it!  But I managed to carry him (kicking and screaming...I guess he's really 2 now, isn't he?!) to bed, and after sobbing awhile, he got quiet, so I guess he resigned himself to his fate.  The older kids watched the Jesus film and...who knows what else they did?!  I was napping very soundly in my room!  I have no idea how long I would have slept if it hadn't been for Arden knocking on the door and saying, "Mom?  It's 5:15, and I think maybe you should get dinner for us!"  Um, yeah, OK, I'll get right on that!  Heh...good thing I had planned for us to just heat up the leftover pizza I had made last night!

So a 3-hour nap wasn't entirely my intention, but it was very nice to sleep soundly and wake to find that the kids were entertaining themselves well and hadn't done any major damage to themselves, each other, or the house!  While the kids ate their dinner, I read Benjamin's Box, which goes along with the Resurrection Eggs.  (It also happens to be the book I read out loud to Arden the day he accepted Jesus as his Savior 3 years ago!)  Then they played while I ate my own dinner (I like doing the crossword and eating in peace!), and then I brought out the chocolate-frosted cupcakes.  Lucan seemed happy enough with his unfrosted cupcakes, so I didn't bother adding to the mess!  I let Charis hide the final 4 Resurrection eggs, and then we had our weekly family worship time by reading the last Scriptures, talking about the aspects of the story that were represented by each egg's contents, and singing and praying together.

Kenna and Lucan went off to bed, and the other kids and I enjoyed our weekly episode of The Amazing Race.  (Not the outcome, unfortunately, but it was otherwise a fun show.)  And I guess that wraps up our Easter!  To view more pictures, see our album here.

Happy Easter to you, too!  We're so thankful we have something to celebrate.  As my dear husband posted this morning, "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:19-20).

Christ is risen, indeed!

Snippets

Oh. My. GOODNESS!  Where is time going?!  I knew this would be one of our busiest holiday seasons to date, but good grief!  My online time has been limited to work for my business with only brief moments to hop on and see something on Facebook.  I haven't read anyone else's blog, and I obviously haven't updated ours, either.  This post may simply serve as a reminder to myself of why I didn't journal anything in the last two weeks, as I'm sure any readers I may have have given up on me, LOL!

The week after Thanksgiving my parents came out to help watch the kids while I flew to Salt Lake City for a quick business-related trip.  The kids AND the grandparents had a ball, and it was such a blessing for them to be together.  Ted was crazy busy at work, and I would not have been able to go if Mom and Dad hadn't taken the time to drive out.  Another bonus of them coming when they did was that they got to attend the opening night of Charis's play (A Christmas Carol) that Friday.  I stayed home with Kenna and Lucan and spent some quality girl time with Kenna after we put Lucan to bed.  The boys and the grands enjoyed the performance, and Charis had a blast.  I was able to see the show on Sunday afternoon when I volunteered to usher.

The day after I returned home I had a Stampin' Up! home workshop, the first in a month.  Though we had a major snowstorm which prevented a number of people from showing up (they were going to be driving in from a considerable distance), there were STILL eight people there!!  And 4 of them booked their own workshops!  Such a blessing.  All the ladies are Christians, too, so it was just a wonderful time of fellowship and a big encouragement to me with my business.

This past week we continued to do school but took Thursday afternoon and Friday off.  Thursday evening was the annual homeschool craft sale for the kids, and though Charis couldn't be there because of her play schedule, the boys and I went to sell some cookies and gift sacks they had made, plus the items Charis had made for our dismal craft event back in November.  Charis did much better at the homeschool sale without even being there!  She earned nearly $30, and the boys got a total of $15, which they promptly spent at other tables, LOL. 

Yesterday Ted took a day of leave to go with us on our field trips to Columbus.  We toured a chocolate factory--very interesting!  We got a free "Buckeye" at the end (better known as a peanut-butter ball in my family!), so the kids thought that tour was definitely worthwhile!  After that we went a little ways away to the only American whistle factory and had a very enjoyable tour given by the president/owner of the company.  It was a much smaller (and noisier!) place, but fun to hear about an American business.  I never really thought about how whistles are made!  And now we all have our own whistle with lanyard and safety guard.  We each picked different colors and mostly kept our self-control during the looong drive home afterward.  (But who taught Lucan to blow a whistle, anyway?!)  Reading our Sonlight read-aloud (The Witch of Blackbird Pond) and the fifth book in the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series helped the drive go much faster.  We had to hustle once we got home to get Charis to the theater on time, and then I helped at the table selling flowers and raffle tickets.

This morning we left early to go to a "free" chiropractic appointment--we donated canned goods for the food pantry in exchange for a free adjustment.  Woohoo!  Two bags worth of groceries was a lot less than our usual bill, LOL.  Then we met Ted at church to swap vehicles, and Charis and I stayed at church to set up for our Kitchen Kindness ministry team brunch, which was a wonderful success.  There were about 20-22 people there, just about half of our team, and it was such a blessing to visit with everyone and share stories.  We played some games (that I totally stole from the KK brunches from Las Vegas!) and laughed a lot and of course ate yummy food. 

Now we have a few hours with NOTHING SCHEDULED!!!  What's that like?!  Charis has another performance tonight and one last one tomorrow afternoon, after which we strike the stage and have the cast party.  And THEN things will slow down...until next weekend, when I host a downline Christmas party Friday morning, take the kids to the homeschool skate/gingerbread house decorating party Friday afternoon, and host our family community Christmas party Friday evening...followed by Kids' Street Live rehearsal Saturday morning, grocery shopping Saturday afternoon, KSL performance Sunday, and hostess appreciation party Sunday evening!!!  (WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!)

So...now we all know why I haven't blogged, LOL!  Two weeks 'til Christmas, and I'm so far behind it just doesn't even matter!  We read our Advent book and do the Advent calendar whenever we have a few moments...we swap the numbers on our Christmas countdown calendar when we remember...and we know our families love us even if their packages arrive after Christmas day, heh!  (Although I am patting myself on the back for getting Mom and Dad's gifts to them when they were here last week!  Woohoo!)  Despite the busyness of our schedule, we're trying to keep things in perspective...if the house is messy before we rush out the door to an activity, so be it.  If dinner is leftovers, oh well!  The kids are excited and are enjoying the decorations, the music, and the snow that comes and goes, and I'm praying that they'll remember the joy of the season and not how stressed their parents were over silly details that don't matter in the scheme of eternity.  With being so busy this year, I am all too aware that my tendency would be to get upset and let the stress overtake me--but God has been so gracious to give us good family time together, and we've worked well as a team to balance our various responsibilities.

Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving dawned cold and rainy here in Ohio, and we were thankful to have a warm, cozy house to be together in!  We enjoyed a leisurely morning, sleeping in a bit (Lucan woke us around 7 a.m.).  Ted and I got the turkey and stuffing ready to go in the oven around 9:00 and spent most of the rest of the morning just relaxing, reading, and playing with the kids.  Oh, yes, and of course watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade!  The kids really got into it this year--Kenna yelled for us to come see every float as soon as she saw it on the TV, LOL.  Guess she doesn't quite understand that Mom and Dad couldn't care less about seeing a ginormous Spongebob floating above the streets of New York!  But we did score a great new recipe shown during the parade, Turkey Cranberry Pinwheels from Pillsbury, that we made with our leftovers yesterday--YUM!  The kids were so excited when I told them we could make them!

We had a late breakfast and planned for our big meal right after Lucan's nap, which gave us time to set the table nicely without little fingers grabbing all the items as soon as we put them in place!

Our menu included turkey and gravy, dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, garlic carrots, and cranberries.  Before we ate, we went around the table and read some Bible verses relating to thankfulness, an activity that Lucan was not terribly impressed with, LOL.  But he managed to be patient, and soon enough we were enjoying our culinary efforts.  It was quite gratifying to fix a big meal and see our kids eat most of it heartily!  I remember when the older three were closer to Kenna's age--they simply would NOT eat turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, etc.  I think we mostly stuffed them with rolls and cranberry sauce, LOL.  In fact, this was the first year Ted and I have done a turkey on our own; usually we've had one of our moms around to help us, and the years my mom or Rhonda weren't around, we've made ham!  I must say, though, we did a rather good job--the turkey roasted beautifully!  About the only thing I was a bit disappointed with is that the gravy just was not like Mom used to make, although it was good enough, and some of the kids even ate it.  I'll have to get her instructions for that for next time.

Clean-up was remarkably easy, and Charis had plans for us after that was finished.  She had selected some Thanksgiving songs that she wanted to play on the piano while we sang, so we sat around the dining room table and gave it a go (some of the songs were quite obscure, LOL).  Then we played some games she had prepared.  I think she got some of the ideas from one of her favorite web sites, familyfun.com.  The first was "Pin the Feather on the Indian."  She drew an Indian on poster board and gave each of us a feather with tape, and of course we were blindfolded and dutifully spun around.  The kids giggled when I motioned for Charis to set Daddy off in the wrong direction, and when he headed to the opposite side of the room and began wondering where the poster was, we were all laughing!

Next there was a kind of "duck, duck, goose" game that was called "The Hunter and the Deer," followed by "The Fox and the Rabbit."  Then we played "Where Did the Turkey Lay Its Egg," which involved sending one person out of the room, hiding an "egg," and then bringing the person back to try to locate it.  We were to say "Gobble, gobble, gobble" when the seeker got closer to the egg and "Giblet, giblet, giblet" when the seeker got further away (which, by the way, is incredibly hard to say fast!).  When it was Tobin's turn to be the seeker, Ted set the egg on top of one of the blades of the ceiling fan.  It was hysterical to watch Tobin's face as he crossed the center of the room to a chorus of frantic "Gobble, gobble, gobbles" when there was NOTHING (that he could see) in plain sight that could possibly hide an egg!

We spent well over an hour and a half with the singing and games, and it was truly one of the best parts of the day.  I loved hanging out with the kids and being silly together!  We definitely made some fun memories.  The kids also took some time to explain their thankfulness collages that we had made the day before, which is good because this year the Blessing Tree simply did not make an appearance!  So the collages gave the kids an opportunity to share things they were thankful for, which is the whole point anyway.

We enjoyed dessert and story time in the evening, finishing the fourth book in the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series and working our way toward the end of Sign of the Beaver, one of our Sonlight books.  We also watched a family Thanksgiving favorite, the Veggie Tale Madame Blueberry.  All in all, one of the best Thanksgivings ever!

One of the biggest things I am thankful for this year is being able to be together as a family for the holidays.  With the very real possibility of Ted's being deployed next year, I realize that togetherness is not something we can take for granted.  Only the Lord knows where and what we'll be doing for Thanksgiving 2011, but prayerfully it will include giving thanks to Him no matter what our circumstances!

Being Thankful

It's a cold, rainy day here in Ohio right before Thanksgiving, a perfect day to cuddle up with hot tea and read some chapters in the book I started, oh, a month and a half ago!  The kids and I spent part of our morning reading The Thanksgiving Story and making thankfulness collages.  The family room floor was a mass of old magazines, scissors, and discarded pages.  We listened to a Crossing CD and shared ideas and pages with each other.  As I suspected, Charis REALLY got into the activity, the boys tolerated it, and Kenna went off on her own little tangent.  A look at her collage shows that she is very, very, VERY thankful for dolls!  And Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar--but we'll call that "parents," LOL!  I suppose I should take pictures of the finished products and post them...I'll have to do that when I'm not feeling so lazy!

I guess I haven't blogged about my birthday yet, but I did post the news on Facebook.  Last Saturday, after a very disappointing craft fair, Charis and I came home "in the hole," having paid $20 for a table and selling only about $11 worth of product.  I'll give Charis the cash, since all the crafts were hers, and the $20 table fee can be a write-off for me, I guess!  I did tentatively book a workshop with a new customer/hostess, so hopefully that will go well and make the whole investment worthwhile after all.  Anyway, when we arrived home, Ted covered my eyes before I could walk into the kitchen, and the kids all shouted "Happy Birthday!" when I saw my present on the table--a new Kitchen Aid mixer!  Ted's mom and his brother and wife contributed as well.  I was VERY surprised and super excited!  Ted had also made dinner (homemade chili) and my birthday cake (zucchini bars), and we enjoyed a nice evening as a family watching Toy Story 3 on DVD.  It was a wonderful way to unwind after an extremely busy week.

Before the kids all woke up this morning, I put my new Kitchen Aid mixer to work making a pumpkin bee sting pie and a chocolate pecan pie.  YUM!  Yesterday we used it to make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  So we know it works!  Charis used it this afternoon to make our sweet potato casserole, and Ted used it shortly after that to make the make-ahead mashed potatoes.  (Yes, he even got in on the action!  He SAID he would take care of the potatoes so I could put my feet up and read a bit, but I suspect he really just wanted to play with our new toy, LOL!)

So we have our pies, potatoes, and sweet potatoes ready to go for tomorrow.  We've peeled and chopped carrots for our veggie, garlic carrots, which is a vegetable everyone will eat (unlike the green bean casserole which only Ted and I will eat).  So all that remains for tomorrow is actually preparing the stuffing, roasting the turkey, and throwing the carrots and garlic in the skillet 15 minutes before we sit down to eat.  Of course the potatoes and sweet potatoes will bake during that time.  Oh, yes, and I guess we'll have to make the gravy, too!  Can't have Thanksgiving dinner without the gravy!

This year we're just going to enjoy our own little family for Thanksgiving.  My parents are coming out for a few days next week, and Rhonda gets to visit us for Christmas.  Ted is in charge at work, as his boss is on leave this week and next, so we had to stick around this year.  Last year we went to Wisconsin, and frankly, while it was a good time of visiting the fam there, I am SO thankful that we do NOT have to pack up and go anywhere!  November has been way too crazy for us to be traveling anywhere else!

I was trying to volunteer our family to help at the senior center for their Thanksgiving dinner, but by the time I actually talked to a real person (who called me back just today), the center had been inundated with volunteers, which is good for them but left me feeling disappointed that we didn't find a way to serve others in our community.  It's a perfect year to do it, since we aren't hosting anyone else.  Oh, well...we'll pray for others as a means of blessing them, I guess!

We have NOTHING planned for this weekend, and that's on purpose!  Well, we are having a Settlers of Catan game gathering with our neighbor friends on Saturday sometime, but that's low-key and long overdue!  Other than that, I hope to finish the book I'm reading, maybe do a little scrapbooking, and prepare for my December workshops.  (I have the projects planned, just need to prep materials for the guests.)  I expect our family will play lots of games and continue reading our current books out loud (book #4 in the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series and Sign of the Beaver).

So that's what's going on around here...maybe I can catch up on reading my friends' blogs this weekend, too!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! I hope everyone had a joyous, blessed celebration today. We had a leisurely morning at home, having decided to attend the second service. One of the first things we did was take the Easter Story Cookies out of the oven and sample them...a very sweet way to start the day and a great reminder of the empty tomb! Ted made our normal Sunday pancakes and strawberries while I tried to stay out of his way as I worked on dishes for dinner. Ted and the older kids had gone to a squadron egg hunt on Saturday, and I knew they were going to load up on candy and goodies at the party. So we went very simple for our Easter goodies and just got chocolate crosses for each of them. Of course I did a little stamped goodie, too--either a punch art sheep, bunny, or chick with a chocolate. (We had made them at our stamp camp a couple of weeks ago!)

The worship service this morning at Faircreek was fantastic. I loved all the songs we sang. There was a stage full of people--lots of singers and instruments, and the worship center was full as well. A little taste of heaven, right there!

We had been thinking of going out to eat for our holiday meal, but my thrifty nature got the better of me, and last night I ended up deciding to make these yummy pork chops instead. I followed the tips on the third review shown on the web page and marinated the meat first, then baked at 325 instead of 350. I also made garlic mashed potatoes with red potatoes and green onions from our Happy Box. Yum! Buttered peas completed our simple meal, which was well received by everyone except Kenna, who had managed to sneak away and eat most of her chocolate cross right before we sat down for dinner. Sigh.

Somehow we decided that watching the Veggie Tale Jonah movie was appropriate for Easter Sunday, so we did that in the afternoon while Lucan had a 3-hour nap. Actually, it made sense--Tobin asked a good question during breakfast: How do we know that Jesus rose on the THIRD day? (As opposed to the second day or right after they laid His body in the tomb.) We talked about how Jesus foretold this would happen and how He compared it to the three days Jonah had spent in the belly of the whale. At this point Ted burst into the Newsboys song "In the Belly of the Whale," and we couldn't get it out of our heads for awhile, so the only natural thing to do was watch the whole movie together. :-)

After the movie the kids headed outside to play with neighbors--the weather is absolutely gorgeous. Ted relaxed with a Mythbusters DVD his mom got him for his birthday, and I watched along and folded our Easter letters. Ted helped me get some of them stuffed, and then it was time to get ready for dinner. I made these egg salad sandwiches--thanks, Tina, for the link! It was a good way to use up some of our boiled eggs, although with 4 kids who LOVE boiled eggs with salt on them, that really isn't a problem here, LOL. Charis and Kenna were our egg dyers this year. It was SO nice to turn that job over to Charis and let 'em at it!

It's finally getting dark outside, and we just gave the kids the 10-minute warning. The public school kids don't have school tomorrow, so we're letting our kids have a bit of a free-for-all this evening, too. They would normally be in bed by 8 p.m.! I'm just so happy to hear birds singing and see flowers and sunshine again, and I know the kids are thrilled to be able to get out of the house as well.

This week will be a fun adventure as we prepare for 2 grandmas to come spend some time with the kids while Ted and I head out to the homeschool convention in Cincinnati. There's a lot to do to prepare--I essentially will be making "sub" plans, LOL, so that the kids can have some structured time and get some schoolwork done. I'm not as concerned about the schoolwork being finished as I am keeping structure and routine to the days; that will make it much easier for our moms, I think.

So, I guess that's it for our Easter. To see more of our Easter pictures, you can go here. I have a couple more I need to add to the Easter album, but most of the ones from the day are already there.

Rejoice! One day we'll celebrate our own resurrection with our Lord and Savior!

An Easter Tradition

We've made these cookies every Easter since I first read about them 6 or 7 years ago, with the exception of last year, since Lucan was brand new and I wasn't really up to any extra effort! I know I've posted this recipe before in various places, but this year I took some pictures to go along with the steps. It was a little sad in that the boys weren't too interested in helping this time around--they're getting older and it's not as exciting, I guess. But it was so fun listening to Charis tell the story to Kenna!

One note we've learned from experience: there comes a point at which you need to beat the eggs and sugar for 15 minutes. This is NOT a great time for children to practice patience. In the past, we have hidden Resurrection Eggs from Family Life for the kids to find and read stories with Dad while I did the beating. This year it worked well for Kenna to get her bath done while Charis and I took turns beating. Then we were ready to finish up after Kenna had her jammies on.

EASTER STORY COOKIES

YOU NEED:
1 c. whole pecans
1 tsp. vinegar
3 egg whites
pinch of salt
1 c. sugar
ziplock baggies
wooden spoon
tape
Bible

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Place pecans in ziplock baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested, He was beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read John 19:1-3.


Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28-30.


Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. Read John 10:10-11.


Sprinkle a little salt into each child’s hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus’ followers and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27.

So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 c. sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16.

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12-15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God’s eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.


Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus’ body was laid. Read Matthew 27:57-60.


Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door, and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus’ tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 27:65-66.


GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus’ followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20 and 22.

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter Jesus’ followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matthew 28:1-9.

Valentine's Day

To see some pictures of our day, go here!

Valentine's Day was a nice but low-key event around here. As much as I had wanted to create some handmade decorations like we did for Christmas, I just ran out of time. We enjoyed a wonderful service at church (first Sunday for the "Love Affair" theme, celebrating God's gift of marriage) together, and then I brought the kids home while Ted stayed to play guitar for the second service. I managed to get Lucan fed and down for a nap and make our V-Day dinner: Chicken Cacciatore with egg noodles, homemade sourdough bread, and vegetables. Ted brought home roses for Kenna and Charis (and new massage oils for me, yay!). The kids put out the Valentines they had made for each other (I supervised that activity on Friday during school time) and for Ted and me. They were very cute! Red-stamped hearts and sweet hand-written messages--what better Valentine can you get?! We got the older kids Extreme Dot-to-Dot books, drawn by our talented friend Adam T. from Las Vegas, who works with Mindware to create very cool coloring and activity books. Kenna got a new Play Dough toy since she has been a Play Dough fiend since Christmas, and Lucan got lots of hugs and kisses.

I enjoyed a loooong nap in the afternoon. We fixed dinner for the kids and finished our Sonlight read-aloud from last week (The School Story--very good book), and then the older kids watched a couple of Peanuts Valentine's cartoons while I ran out to get Chinese take-out for Ted and me. Our preferred restaurant is closed on Sundays (kind of like Chik-Fil-A, sigh), so we tried a different one that was decent, but not quite as good. Ah, well. It was a nice dinner for us! We watched the premier of the new Amazing Race season while the kids settled down (which took awhile) and finally enjoyed a quiet evening together despite Lucan's best efforts. :-)