Our Thanksgiving Day

 
I wroke up and made 2 chocolate pies while listening to a wonderful Christian group, The Fox Family.  What could be better than singing praises to my Lord on Thanksgiving morning?

When the kids woke up we started stringing popcorn for our Christmas tree while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  This is the 1st year that we've strung popcorn.  It was very relaxing & will save on buy "tinsel" this year. (Somehow we lost ours 2 years ago & wasn't able to get any last year). 

After stringing up popcorn, it was time to start making my Nanny's macaroni & cheese.  It is so funny how food can stir up memories of your loved ones.  It was nice to have a little bit of my Nanny here with me on this Thanksgiving Day.

As I was fixing Faith's hair, she told me that she wanted to have BBD hair.  (BBD is her daddy's nickname for her.) She was talking about her BBD Mii on their Wii game.  She had to turn the game on so I would know how to fix her hair.  Nothing like going to Wii for hair tips. 

The "girl" on the top left is BBD.

We then headed off to our 3rd annual Turkey Bowl.  Since we meet at my in-law's house for Supper, we have all day to play.  We have really enjoyed this.  We are usually the only bowlers in the bowling alley.  This year was not exception.

Lucky Turkey

Tony had hurt his back a few years back. This was the first year that he was able to bowl.   

I bowled too, but no since I'm the photographer in the family,  you won't see any pictures of me.

 

Will is our competitive one. He likes to win all the time.

  

Faith just has fun bowling.  She pushes it with her feet, rolls it Granny style, drops it with a little swing, lays on the floor & pushes it.  Any way that you can roll it, she does it.

 

Collin has really improved & is now able to send it down the lane one handed.

  

We have 3 trophies for the kids.  Notice the "Golden Turkey" trophy.  I found this at His House for $0.50.  Whoever wins the Turkey Bowl gets to keep this coveted trophy until next year.

Drum roll please ************  The winner of the 2010 Turkey Bowl is................

Faith DeLaine.  Woo Hoo! 

She won the first game & tied with Will on the second.  

I guess when you play for "just the fun of it", it pays off.

After the Turkey Bowl, we raced home to put the mac & cheese in the oven & then headed off to Tony's parent's house.  We had a great meal & fun fellowship.  

After supper, we were entertained with A Turkey Feast play put on by the kids.

The settlers came running out with (Nerf) guns hunting their turkey.  After killing their turkey......... (played by Faith She told them that she would be the turkey, but that they couldn't use the Nerf bullets.)

the turkey was dragged off to be prepared........

 

for the feast for the pilgrims.

Growing up, a friend & I used to put on plays for our parents all the time.  This brought back some good memories.  I'm sure that our children, niece & nephew will remember their plays down the road with fondness too. 

We had a great Thanksgiving.  November sure did go by so fast.  I can't believe that next week is December.  I hope it will slow down a little.

The Day of Thanksgiving

I am thankful of facebook.  It has been fun to find friends from my past as well as family that I don't get to see to often. It's fun to catch up & to watch their families grow.  To share the good times as well as the bad.  Somethings may not be worthy of talking about on the phone, but it's fun to see the little things that go on in people's lives.  You find out what they like, don't like, their views on things, what their kids are doing, sad things that they are having to deal with as well as funny things that happened during the day.  It has given me an opportunity to pray for them in so many ways. It have enjoyed taking the journey of life with my "friends".

This is the last of my 30 days of Thanksgiving.  It has been exciting to look around me & remind myself that I have so many things to be thankful.  God has blessed me far more than I deserve.

2 Days of Thanksgiving

I am thankful for this blog & for other blogs.  I know that the grammer is not always perfect & it may not be a page turner, but it is a wonderful way to journal our family events, trials, joys, achievements, thoughts & the growth of our children. 


November the 9th was the 1st anniversary of our Blog Launch.  It flew by so fast, that we didn't even get to celebrate it.

I am blessed to have other wonderful women's blogs to read as well.  Homeschool moms, creative women, godly women that have encouraged me, stirred some creative juices in me, challenged me & have helped me to be a better person.  I am blessed to know some of these ladies personally & the others I may never meet on this side of Heaven, but what a joy it is to find like minded people all across this beautiful nation.

3 Days of Thanksgiving

I am thankful for my in-laws, AKA Mammy & Papa.  They love my husband & his family. Anytime we need them, they are always there to help us.  Will, Collin & Faith adore them. If something is broken, the first thing the kids say is, Papa can fix it.We enjoy going over there to eat, swim, ride bikes & to play.

4 Days of Thanksgiving

I am thankful for wonderful Sunday School Teachers, Junior Church Teachers & AWANA workers.  My children have some really great people who teach them in our church.  They have told me that they pray for the children in their class.  What a blessing it is to know that others are praying for my children too.  They have a heart for my children.

My SS teachers are great as well.  I've learned so much.  They care for us ladies & have tender hearts.  When someone has had surgery or a big need, they help them in any way.

We are so blessed.  Thank you for leading us to our church 19 years ago.

5 Days of Thanksgiving

I am thankful for the little everyday things.

• We went to my nephew's skating party yesterday.  I am thankful that the kids had fun & didn't get hurt.  I am thankful that I was still able to skate after all these years & when I woke up this morning, I was still able to walk.
• The autumn leaves.  We still have a few beautiful colors hanging around. What joy we had yesterday as we walk on the Riverwalk & it was raining leaves.  I mean heavy "rain" of leaves.  
• For my husband's amazing talent.  God has given him a wonderful gift in playing the trumpet.  He is able to bring joy to so many as well as help support the family with this gift.
• For God giving me a creative mind. When money is tight (when isn't?) I am able to come up with some creative things to make for gifts, decorate, make due.  Only from my Creator.
• Kisses, sent from Faith, that fly in the air & land on my cheek.
• Reading time with the Collin.
• Deep discussions, started by Will.
  

6 Days of Thanksgiving

 I am so thankful for my children's sweet spirit & thoughtfulness.

Two examples from this week:

We went to Target Wed. to spend Faith's gift card.  Some very kind neighbor/friends gave her $50. She said that she wanted the boys to have $10 each on the card.

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Collin had to go to the dentist Wed.  The dentist always lets him choose 3 prizes.  Every time, he gets something for his brother & sister. 

7 Days of Thanksgiving

I am thankful for field trips.  I love homeschooling.  We usually get a lot of school accomplished in just a short time~ leaving us time for exploring & fun.  However, there are some days that I welcome the "time off"  camouflaged as a field trip. 

We love learning hands on & viewing things up close.  It's fun and usually done with friends.

 We took Flat Stanley to the Challenger field trip.  My boys & a friend are operating Mission Control.

 

You can barely see Collins head (beside the man).  He was talking to the space station from mission control.

Faith, the pharmacist, making meds in space.

 An astronaut teaching the kids how to fly the space shuttle.

The kids holding up the world.

Ready for take off

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Our co-op waiting for the Veteran's Day Parade to begin.

 

I was so proud of our group.  They yelled & cheered for our armed forces like they were at a concert.

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Visiting our town's museum.

Collin churning butter.

We had a wonderful guide.  She was very energetic, friendly & answered all the kids questions.

We loved learning all about the kitchen & the chores that kids had during the colonial times.

Faith said it felt like the Ingall's home.  (Can you tell we love Little House?)

Looking at the bee hives.

Will grinding up herbs.

Even though we don't drink coffee (okay, we enjoy cappuccinos), the kids said that they would love to grind up coffee every day.  (I wonder how long that would last.)

Faith loved grinding up the mint herb.

Notice the sugar lump on the blue paper.  They said that since

sugar is so inconsistent in color, they dyed the paper with indigo so that

all the sugar looked white.

Normally, we don't have 3 field trips within a 2 week period, but it just so happened to fall that way this time.  Like I said earlier, I'm thankful for field trips, but I'm equally thankful for the days we stay home too.  Especially after two weeks like this.

8 Days of Thanksgiving

I am so thankful for Missionaries.  Our church supports a lot of missionaries. I believe that is why God has blessed our church so much.  I love hearing/reading stories about missionaries. 

Many people have athletes, movie starts, etc. as their heroes. I believe the true heroes are missionaries.  They give up (what we would consider) everything, they leave their family, & their comfort zone to go to a place where they don't know anyone, don't know the culture, & where they will be persecuted.  All because of their love of our Lord so that others will not go to hell & will be saved.


I am thankful that we get such a wonderful opportunity to meet some of these wonderful people.  To have the privilege to pray for them as well as for the people they are trying to reach. 

We have heard over & over again from many missionaries that they are so happy where God put them.   God's will is the best place to be, no matter where He puts you.  Most don't want to come back to the states where they can be "comfortable".  Their home is where God put them.

This is the Murray family ~ missionaries to the Philippians.  They have become so very dear to us.  We pray for them daily & miss them so much.  My children have talked many times of wanting to visit them.  Hopefully, we will be able to.  I feel honored to call them friends.

9 Days of Thanksgiving

I am so thankful for people that have such a sweet giving spirit ~ a heart for others.  When others are going through problems in their life & need help,  there are times that I am in a situation that I can not help them.  I am so thankful that God uses other people to help others when we can't.

One our way home from the library, we passed by a sweet dear saint of God, Mrs. Mary's house.  I saw Mr. Charles & his son Mike cleaning her yard for her.  I was so thankful to see them helping her.  That is something that I can not do, but God does not call me to do everything for everyone. 

It is such a refreshing blessing to see people loving others.  Especially in a world that is not so loving.

10 Days of Thanksgiving

I am so thankful for the children in our children's church choir.  I feel so blessed to be able to help lead these children in singing for our King.  I am married to a very talented man that has his doctorate in trumpet performance, unfortunately, this knowledge/talent does not transfer over to me. 

I took 8 years of piano & still can't play chopsticks.  There are times when we have to sing acapella.  I have to get 2 of our young ladies that aged out of choir last year (that are helping us) to start us off on the right key.  I am not gifted in music, but oh how I love our children.  I want our children to have the best that we can give them.  Until the Lord sends someone that knows music & loves kids, they are stuck with me. 

They do a fabulous job inspite of me!  People tell me that I'm doing a great job with the kids, but in truth, God is carrying them.  I can take no credit. 

Thankfully, we have a very talented lady, Nancy, that plays the piano for us.  I am so blessed to have her in there with me.

11 Days of Thanksgiving

I am so thankful for the choir at my church.  It's good ole Southern Gospel music.  The pianist & organist are 2 of my dearest friends ~ they can let it rip tater chip.  What a blessing to hear such wonderful music.

12 Days of Thanksgiving

I am thankful for the small things. 

• Hugs, kisses, snuggles, smiles, laughter, singing.  
• Finding enough quarters when we are at the mall for the gum ball machine.
• A text from a friend just to say hey. 
• Precious crafts that the kids make out of paper just to make me smile. 
• Listening to my children play together.  
• Daisies
• Birds singing
• The sun on my face
• A cool breeze
• A squirrel climbing a tree (out of shooting range).  
• Listening to southern gospel music
• Seeing someone I know out and about

13 Days of Thanksgiving

I am so thankful for my friends.  God had placed these ladies in my life for many different reasons.  I have so many things in common with these ladies & yet there are so differences as well. They bring out the best in me.

I am so thankful for their encouragement, the laughter we share, the tears we share, advice & inspiration that is given.  One day I plan to do a blog on each one, but for now I'm just praising God for them.

14 Days of Thanksgiving

I am thankful for memories.  I was polishing my Nanny's silver yesterday & started having wonderful memories of her.  When I'm feeling down, I love to be able to go back in time & think on the good times.  It lifts my spirits.

All memories are not good, but for those, it reminds me of how God used them to bring me to the place where He wants me to be.  The good & bad things in life have mold & shaped me into a better person.  Hopefully, I can learn for both & continue to grow into the person God wants me to be.

I choose to think on the many wonderful memories of growing up, in high school with my friends, in college & working at the bank, meeting & marring my handsome husband, starting our family, watching our children grow & even up to the past few days.

15 Days of Thanksgiving

I am so thankful that we have men & women who are willing to fight for our freedom.  It is not a job that I am called to do, but I 100% support our troops present & past.

I think these quotes say it best:

My God!  How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy!  

~Thomas Jefferson

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. 

~Elmer Davis

I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives.  I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him. 

~Abraham Lincoln 

 

 May the sun in his course visit no land more free, more happy, more lovely, than this our own country!  

~Daniel Webster

 

There are not words to express my graditude for our soldiers, I guess Shakespeare says it best: 

I can no other answer make, but, thanks, and thanks.  ~William Shakespeare
 

16 Days of Thanksgiving

I am thankful that we are not rich.  Don't get me wrong, if we all of a sudden got a lot of money, I wouldn't turn it down.  By having to depend on God daily to meet our needs, we have seen so many blessings.  Blessings that we may have missed if we had a lot of money.

I am thankful that my husband's job hasn't suffered any from this economy.  On top of his main job, he has been blessed with a wonderful gift of music.  This gift has provided for our family in a wonderful way.  There have been times that when we needed money, God sent a check in (from a gig that he played) that day.  God's timing is always perfect. 

If anyone out there would like to send us a huge check (or not so huge), we would love to see that blessing as well. Haha. :)

17 Days of Thanksgiving

I am thankful for not having the sense of smell.  Many people would think that this would not be something to be thankful for.  Yes, I can't smell wonderful things cooking in the oven, but because of this it doesn't make me hungry when I wasn't hungry to begin with.

Yes, I can't smell the beautiful flowers or perfumes, but then that allows me to buy the perfumes that my husband likes & not what I like.

When the children were babies, it wasn't half as bad changing their diapers.  When they are hot & sweaty, now, it doesn't totally gross me out.


Since I never had the sense of smell, I don't know what I'm missing.  Yes there are a few safety issues, but God has protected me so far.  I am however thankful that all my children can smell.

Lets just say that after last night, I'm glad that I can't smell & leave it at that.

18 Days of Thanksgiving

I am so thankful for hand-me-down clothes.  The people in our church are so generous.  They pass clothes down to others.  What a blessing it has been to our family.  I haven't had to buy Faith any clothes in quite a few years.  We've passed the boys clothes down to others & then what Faith has out grown, we pass those down as well.

I have thought many times that it would be nice to sell them & make some money.  But the blessing that I've gotten in giving to others far out ways the money. 

19 Days of Thanksgiving

I am so thankful for the freedom to be able to worship my Savior.  Thankful for my wonderful church. Thankful for a pastor & pastor's wife that live what they preach & love their flock.  They love other pastors as well as missionaries.  I believe that is why God has blessed our church so much.

I go to an Independent KJV Bible believing Baptist church.  We have Southern Gospel singing, a little shoutin' here & there.  Some people have asked my why I want to go to a church like that.  My answer: 1. I don't want to go to a dead church.  I want to go to a place that is alive & praising our Lord.  2. People go to a football game & shout & scream for something that really doesn't matter in the long run.  Why not shout for the greatest thing of all?  I'm not a shouter, I'm a crier.  When the Holy Spirit moves me, I cry, but I do enjoy others that do.

Our church family is truly a family.  When you are in need, they are there to help, encourage & pray.  When  things are good, they are right there to rejoice with you.  Are they perfect, no, but neither is are blood relatives. 

Thank you Lord for so many blessings!  My cup runneth over.

20 Days of Thanksgiving

I am so thankful for our good health.  My husband's, my children's & mine.  We hardly ever have to go to the doctor.  We see a wonderful chiropractor every 3 weeks & that usually keeps us in pretty good shape.

Faith stepped on a nail during the summer & I called to see if she needed a Tetanus shot.  The nurse asked if we still went there because we haven't been there in so long.  When we were getting new insurance, they were needing to know the last time I saw my regular doctor.  I realized that it had been well over 10 years.  


All the praise to my heavenly Father.

21 Days of Thanksgiving

I am so thankful for the home school support units we have.  We have a wonderful co-op group that assists in teaching Physics, Spanish & Art.  We meet once a week, 3 times a month.  It is so much fun & we learn things that I would never have thought  to teach my children.

 Our home school support group is amazing. We go on field trips, have academic presentations, etc.  There is always someone in these 2 groups that can offer advice &/or encouragement.

 I am also thankful for our home school accountability group.  They hold me accountable, research info, encourage & keep us updated on the new laws.  Our advisor, Mrs. Debbie, is always so kind, sweet & lifts me up when I feel overwhelmed.  We love home schooling & I'm so thankful that God has allowed us to do so.

22 Days of Thanksgiving

I am so thankful for our 2000 Chevy Venture.  It has quite a few miles on it, but it keeps on trucking.  6 months ago, we were having major problems.  We started looking at new vans.  My stomach was in knots.  I didn't want a huge payment.  I prayed & asked God to get our van back in shape.  A few days later, it was working fine.  We didn't have to take it in to get it worked on.  Yay God!  What a blessing!

We did have to take it in a few weeks ago for minor things.  So thankful we can hold on to her a little longer.

23 Days of Thanksgiving

I posted this in May of this year, but I'm so thankful for our Little Blue Cottage.

Before I had children, I felt God's calling to be a stay at home - homeschool mom.  We were blessed to have lots of homeschool families in our church.  So we were able to find out about homeschool and spent several years praying about it.  I knew that it would be a huge financial sacrifice, but if that is what God's plan was for our family, then He would provide.  Provide - He has.  He is always faithful & supplies all our needs.  We have never gone hungry or been without clothes and we've been able to pay our bills.  Thank you Lord!

I remember telling God that I would be content in our little blue "cottage" for the rest of my life if that was what it would take to follow His will.

To be honest, some days it has been a challenge to keep that promise.  With 3 children, homeschooling and a very busy husband, it feels like the walls are enclosing around me at times.  I do get discourage from time to time.  It's fascinating to see how God sends the encouragement.  My children's sweet words, loving snuggles, and seeing their tender hearts.  Today, I'm feeling the blessings.

The time has flown by & will continue to fly by.  I'm so glad that I'm with them through out the day to see them grow physically, spiritually, emotionally & educationally.

Our cottage is filled with love and laughter.  I will continue serving my Lord with a glad and happy spirit.  Thank you Lord, for all Your many blessings, for loving me despite of my sins, for encouraging me when I am down.  I love you, Lord.

24 Days of Thanksgiving

I am so blessed to be born in a country where it is still legal to worship my Savior.  I am thankful for my freedom.  America is not perfect, but I truly believe that it's the best country in the world.  Next to the Bible, I think our American Flag is one of the most treasured material thing there is.

I am proud of our American soldiers who have in the past & are still fight for our freedom.  When I see a person in uniform, my heart just soars.  I try to always thank them for service for America.

So thank you, Lord for choosing America to be my home.  You could have picked any place, yet you chose the best for me.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence,promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

25 Days of Thanksgiving

I am so thankful for my Bible.  God's Holy Word.  My most treasured possession.  

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. " John 1:1

The Word is my comforter, my strength, my guidance, my healer, my friend, my joy, my helper, my encourager, my love & my life.

"The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times." 

Psalms 12:6