Thankful Thursday

Gosh, ya'll, do you ever really think about how blessed we are to be living in this nation? It's really overwhelming -

We're free to worship.

Free to school our children how we choose.

Free to blog. :)

But that's not all I'm thankful for - nosireeee bob!

I'm so thankful for my family. Had either my husband or I chosen the wrong path this year, my family probably wouldn't be intact today. By the grace of our God, we're still here. And, aside from some financial difficulties, we're blissfully happy!

We're closer.

Wiser.

Stronger.

I'm thankful for the opportunity to help bring some moolah into our home. I watch a friend's baby 3x a week and that little bit of cash has really helped carry us through some tough weeks! One downside of this - I've seen that I can handle 4 kiddos, (2 of which are 1 and under), so I'm struggling with wanting to go for #4! :)

Speaking of which, I'm thankful I can have 4 children if I so choose.

I'm thankful for farmer and hunter friends who think of us when they are overflowing in cow and deer meat.

I'm thankful for church families, past and present, who love us unconditionally. Who seek to meet our needs. Who long to minister to us.

And, on a serious note, I'm thankful for Key Lime Pie and Caramel Creme flavored yogurts. They're seriously da bomb, ya'll!

For more thankfulness, go see Iris at Grace Alone - you'll be glad you did!

Happy Birthday, my sweet baby!

I have been dealing horribly with mommy guilt all week. Aubrey turned 1 year old this past Sunday!! How can that be? I wanted to post Saturday. I wanted to post Sunday. I wanted to post Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday - so here we are today. This WILL get done tonight! :)

Oh, Aubrey. I don't know if I will ever be able to convey to you what a joy you are! You always have a smile on your face. You love to squint your eyes and put a silly smirk on your face. You love to make others laugh!

I really can't believe that you have already lived a full year. The time goes by so quickly! You can take 7 or 8 steps at a time now, but you still prefer to crawl. You're really a speed crawler, which is probably why you still do it so!

You pretty much eat whatever we eat now. I've tried feeding you Gerber Graduates, but you're just not interested! You see what we have and that's what you want! You have 3 teeth on the bottom and 4 on the top. You're really working on getting some others in, though. They are making you miserable!

You go to bed between 6 and 6:30 and wake up by 7 or 7:30. You still take 2 naps, at 9:30 and 1:30. You LOVE your bed, so you have a very difficult time going to sleep when we're out of town.

The picture above shows what Sarah wanted to give you for your birthday. It's her "old" Bible, but she wanted you to have it so she and Emma can read it to you. Your sisters just adore you! They have never seen you as a frustration, imposition, or problem. They still fight over who gets to hold you and play with you. I LOVE it!

The nurse said you are ahead of schedule on your speech! You say "Mama", "Daddy", "Good Girl", (to all the animals) "no", "Night Night", "Uh Oh", and "Pretty". We just love hearing you talk!

Some of Mama's darkest days have happened this past year. You, my sweet angel, have been just the cure I needed! I began to notice that when I really found myself in a funk, you would be asleep. I wouldn't notice, though, until you woke up and I found myself joyful again - cherishing you. You are such a gift, in so many ways! You have brought so much to this family of yours - things we didn't even know were missing. I love you, Aubrey Claire. Mommy loves you for always.

Mystery of History!

If you read my post here, you know that I LOVE Mystery of History curriculum! I am finding a new love for history, and of course the girls are beginning their school careers with that love. You know that makes this momma very happy!



Today we talked some more about Egypt. For our map activity of the week, we made this:





An Egypt cake! How fun is that?!



I made flags for some points of interest, and the girls had fun putting them in their proper places. (BTW, I'm totally showing my ignorance here. I have no idea how I graduated with a 3.7 GPA - did you know that "Upper Egypt" in Bible times is actually South Egypt, and Lower Egypt is North Egypt? I didn't know that! Back then, they named it that way because of the topography of the land. The southern half of Egypt had a higher elevation, which is why it's called Upper.) (But I'm sure you already knew that).



It didn't taste too bad, either . . .

When we talked about Adam and Eve earlier in the year, the girls had to make a person out of clay to see how difficult it really is to make a person.

This is Emma's mostly anatomically correct "Eve".

We finally got around to painting them today, along with their cuneiform tablets they made.

Sarah's tablet and Eve with a baby.

Emma's Eve with baby.

When we talked about Joseph, we got to make these:

Which turned into these!

Here's our first day of Egypt - mummification.

And Sarah -

Our Stonehenge.

Can you see why we love it so?

Tag - You're It!

My first bloggy tag! Angie over at Messy Cars and Muddy Shoes tagged me for this fun-ABC-get-to-know-you-thingy. She has a great blog, ya'll. She tells the funniest stories. So here you go - more information than you ever wanted to know about me, delivered nicely on a shiny silver platter.



A - Age: 35. How can that be? I still feel 25. Well, maybe 28. I feel smarter than 25, younger than 35. If I'm really 35, then I only have 1 or 2 baby-making years left. We need to pray and decide on this soon!

B - Bed size: Queen. We've gone back and forth the last 11 years, switching from Queen to King then back again. We love the space of a King, then hate the space of a King 'cause we're on opposite ends. We kinda enjoy sharing a bed - it doesn't really feel like we do when we've got a King. ALL that to say, Queen of hearts for us.

C - Chore you hate: Toilets.

D - Dog's name: Ginger.

E - Essential start your day item: This is so exciting - ya'll won't be able to contain yourselves. A bed that's made. Actually, that probably tickles my mama pink. This is a pretty recent development in my life. I've NEVER been good at making my bed every day. In the past year or so, I've discovered that once I make my bed, I'm more productive all through the day. Bed a mess? So is my day. Flybabies around the world say the same about their shiny sinks. For me, it's my bed.

F - Favorite color: Red. Love. Roses. Strawberries.

G - Gold or Silver: Both, please!

H - Height: 5' 1/2'' - Hey, give me a break! I'll take every half inch I can! Especially since dear hubby is 6'3" . . .

I - I am: immensely blessed. In no way do I have a perfect life, a perfect family, a perfect faith. But I do have a perfect God in whom I place my trust. He has blessed me so much. My outlook is probably hard for some to understand. My father died when I was 24, I've had 3 miscarriages, we're barely making ends meet, we're coming out on the other side of marital crisis and loss of trust, etc. etc. etc. To the world, this doesn't really look like a blessed life. But I tell ya, when you've got a living God speaking to your heart, transforming you day by day, you know you are blessed. He's given me so much that I don't deserve. I am blessed.

J - Job: Domestic Diva. I wish people wouldn't laugh when I put that on doctor's forms and such.

K - Kids: 3 daughters on earth, 3 babies in heaven.

L - Living arrangements: Little one story brick house with hubby, 3 girlies, 2 cats and a newly acquired dog.

M - Mom's name: Nancy

N - Nicknames: Marnie, Marge (I sure hope you're not thinking Large Marge, or even Marge from the Simpson's.) Ugh.

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: I don't think I've got one! Mama, do I have one? Oh, unless you count Aubrey's week in and out of the hospital with her jaundice after I had her. But I still consider that a part of her birth.

P - Pet Peeve: I have to agree with Angie on this one. My kids leaving things laying wherever they last used them. Especially when I've really worked at cleaning up. It's such a battle for me. Either my house is a mess and I'm stressed out from it, or I've just cleaned it and I'm Martyr Mommy on a roll. I'm definitely working on keeping my joy when I feel as if I'm picking up the same toy for the 20th time in a day.

Q - Quote from a movie: "I love smiling. Smiling's my favorite!" Will Ferrell in Elf. That may not even be quoted right, but it's sure how it's repeated in our house every week!

R - Right or left handed: Right.

S - Siblings: Two sisters, I'm the middle girl.

T - Time you wake up: Su, M, Fr, Sa - whenever the baby wakes up, usually around 7:00.
Tu, W, Th - 5:30, so I can have my quiet time before the baby I keep arrives at 6:15. Sadly, I struggle "working" my quiet time in on the days I don't make myself wake up early. I also (obviously) struggle with making myself get up at 5:30 on the days I don't have to!

U- Underwear: Yes, please.

V - Vegetable you dislike: Let's see here - brussel sprouts, spinach, squash, most peppers, carrots, cauliflower, beets. How 'bout if I say what I DO like? Green beans, raw broccoli, cucumbers. Oh, and corn - if that's actually counted as a veggie anymore. Thank goodness my children take after their father and love vegetables! Asparagus and spinach out of a can - disgusting!

W - Ways you run late: Fixing the girls' hair always takes a little longer than I expect. I HATE running late, though - so their hair isn't always - pretty. I know - I should be ashamed. But I don't run late very often. 'Cause I hate being late. In case I didn't say that before.

X - X-rays you've had: As far as I can remember, I've only had my right middle finger x-rayed. I didn't catch a basketball in high school as elegantly as I wanted - it jammed my middle finger and chipped part of the bone.

Y - Yummy food you make: Homemade Cinnamon Rolls, Cheesecake, Peanut Butter Balls, Baked Chicken. I made some pretty decent Chicken and Dumplins today, too.

Z - Zoo favorite: Monkeys.


I tag:

Michele @ Such Joy!

Jill @ Pathway to Purpose

Amy @ Buffaloes & Butterfly Wings

Ann @ Ann's Thoughts

Lea @ Cici's Corner

If you want to play along, copy the ABC categories, delete my answers, insert your own, and tag someone else. Have fun!

We Have a Winner!

Congratulations to Andrea, who won a copy of Cindy Woodsmall's "The Sound of Sleigh Bells"!

I know you'll enjoy it, Andrea!

Thanks to all who entered. I've got one more giveaway coming the beginning of next month!

Sing, Sing, Sing, Part Deux

The girls sang in our new church a couple of weeks ago with the rest of the children's choir. I LOVE how many children we have there! I was so proud - neither one of them seemed nervous - they sang and danced just as they were supposed to! Sarah's on the first row 4th from the right, and Emma is behind her to the right about 5 kids over. This song was in my mind the rest of the day. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

And. . . she's . . . OFF!

My baby girl is growing up too fast! This video is from Columbus Day - she's 11 1/2 months old here. We were so proud, but she hasn't done it much since then! Methinks her big sissies hold her too much - why walk when someone will hold you? (Ignore the open bathroom door and crazy bedhead. Those are just in your imagination. Honest.)

** Update - Ya'll let me know if the video doesn't work for you. It's working on my computer, but that doesn't mean a THING! :) Have a happy day!

**Update #2 - I thought I had fixed the problem - I hadn't. I think I have again, but it's too late to call anyone and have them check for me. :) So, in case it's not, let's try this: click here to try to see in right on YouTube. Maybe it will work? I'm getting quite frustrated! Grr. . .