On Being Together

I love the fact that I can be at home with my children.

Today was a wonderfully full day at home in which the boys and I tidied up together, read together, home schooled together and did yard work together. The weather was gorgeous and I am so thankful for being able to spend this time with my boys while they are still young and willing workers.

Just a cute thing that the boys did today:

We have a large patch of tall weeds that are dried up but still standing where our vegetable garden should have been (needless to say, our vegetable's didn't do very well this year *wink*) and the boys found out that they could make trails within them and little "huts" to live. They played for a longtime this afternoon amongst these weeds and I so enjoyed watching them with their spears/sticks hunting for "animals" in the "forest" and crouching together inside their abodes. *smile*

And who said weeds were "good for nothin'"?

Not my boys, obviously!

Day 14 Blessing

I got to spend the whole day at my sister's place organizing and redecorating. I absolutely love doing this sort of thing and am so thankful for the opportunity to bless her in this way. As a result, though, I am exhausted and am going to bed! :0

Busy day tomorrow... plan to do a bunch of yard work as "they" say the weather will be nice.

Have a good evening!

Family Treasures

I will praise you, O Lord, with my whole heart;

I will show forth (recount and tell a loud)

all your marvelous works and worderful deeds!

I will rejoice in You and be in high spirits;

I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High!

Psalm 9: 1&2 (Amplified Bible) For He is Good...

On Canadian Thanksgiving Day:

Thanking the Lord for our Heritage from Him (3 sons).

Thankgsgiving Sunday '08

After sunday morning worship we went home to enjoy turkey dinner with our dear friends, John-murdo and Debbie and their son, Samuel. We had a wonderful time of sweet fellowship together and when they went home at 5:30 we decided to go for a walk as we were not near hungry for supper.

So we bundled up the children and strolled down to the bird sanctuary to see what the geese where up to....

Allan checks out some rosy red rosehips.

I was so thrilled to get this shot. I've been wanting to try for this a long time. :)
Marcus finally knows how to ride a bike with training wheels! Yeah! (He's so proud.)
Beautiful blue-eyed boy. Marcus (4 3/4)
The moon and its reflection on the pond.

Allan takes a ride home in the crisp, cold dark on Daddy's shoulders.

I am so thankful for my health and that of my family that allows us to go out on walks like this in the chill of the evening. It is so special just to be together.

"Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving,

and make a joyful noise unto him..."

Psalm 95:2

I've come to realize...

...the challenge I gave myself for this month is just too challenging. Not that don't have a hundred things to be thankful for each and every day but that it is just to much to have to list them. I find myself already getting behind and I am only on day 11 and instead of fighting it I am just gonna let it go.

Maybe some of you have already looked at my challenge and thought "she's crazy, doesn't she realize how many items she will have to list?"

Truth is I didn't do the math until this morning and I must say it was the deciding factor on whether I would give this up or not. Here is the math: 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10+11+12+13+14+15+16+17+18+19+20+21+22+23
+24+25+26 +27+28 +29+30+31 =496!

That's a lot of blessings to write out!

And so I give myself a new challenge... to think of one particular gift each day for which I have stopped and consciously thanked the Lord. This will give me a bit more of a chance to blog about other things... or not. Although this is not necessarily challenging because we are so blessed, I still want to focus each day of this month on giving thanks to the One who so lavishly bestows upon us.

I love this prayer that Ann quotes at Holy Experience today. This pretty much says it all... may it be the prayer of my heart as well.

Day 10 (because I didn't blog yesterday)

As I was driving my niece home yesterday evening I had the chance to watch the sun setting in all it's glory, a huge yellow ball hovering over the horizon, then slowly sinking until only the last streaks of pale pink remained... a cool, crisp autumn dusk. I marveled at the beauty of His creation and how every day is different and thanked Him for reminding me again that He is in control of all things and that He loves to show us a glimpse of His beauty and power through the wonders of His creation. I wish I had had my camera... a truly special moment in my day.

Day 11

Icy sparkling snow greeted me as I opened the curtains this morning and I gazed at the quiet stillness of it. I thanked the Lord that, even though I don't feel like I am ready for winter to set in, I still could appreciate the beauty of a blanket of white outside my window. As I am typing this the sun shines and the snow is gone... the day is slowly warming up.

May warm, sunny Autumn stick around just a little bit longer... please! :)

How's the weather where you are?

Day 9

1. Thankful that Allan calls me "Mama". He's the first of my children to say Mama instead of Mommy. It's especially precious when he comes up and gives me a hug and kiss and says, "Mama, I love you... I love you, Mama".

2. For quiet time with hubby in the early hours of the morning while it is still dark, the children aren't up yet, and the day is still fresh.

3. For hot mug of coffee to wrap chilly hands 'round.

4. Thankful that mom loved to read to us as children, passing down that love to me.

5. That Allan still naps 2 hours every afternoon so that I can get the home schooling done in relative peace.

6. For Internet access so that I can blog! ;)

7. For the sound of my childrens voices as they talk together in their play.

8. For Lego blocks that help them to use their imagination so delightfully! *smile*

9. For a quiet day at home. The van is in getting it's bumper fixed so I had to stay home, which was fine with me! :)

How are you all doing? I haven't been getting any comments lately. :( I do love a good comment! *hint, hint*

An Excuse and Day 8 & 9 Blessings

Well, so much for doing a second post yesterday. I just had such a wonderfully full and active day, with 3 of my girlfriends over in the evening, I didn't get a chance until after 11:00 and by then I was too tired and went straight to bed.

So anyways, here are my Day 8 Blessings:

Thankful for;
1. An afternoon with my friend digging up perennials in my garden in order to transplant them into hers.

2. The chance to harvest my potatoes in the sunshine. I dug them up and told the boys they could sift through the soil looking for "gold". They had so much fun and this is what they came up with.
2. Bright and beautiful flower bouquet from hard-working hubby... aren't they gorgeous? 4. The time that my dear husband took to go with the boys and I to pick out pumpkins at a local pumpkin patch. These are the three we chose, promptly set outside into my fall display at the front door. :)
5. This fall mom that I found at the grocery store along with these adorable mini pumpkins and gourds.
6. A beautiful evening with friends in my home, yummy food and candles lit.

7. Getting my latest scrapbook completed and having them enjoy looking through it.

8. A clean house when I went to bed last night. I could turn out the lights with a sense of satisfaction for a day well spent.

Hopefully I'll get day 9 done this evening!