Thanksgiving Blessings...

1172.  a hug from a friend
1179.  a full gas tank when running late
1184.  mis-matched pajamas
1196.  a morning at home
1210.  evidence of Jack Frost
1217.  red velvet cheesecake for two
1221.  the reminder to savor the moment with my children
1223.  the raking of leaves
1224.  umbrellas, jump ropes, & imaginative minds
1231.  frozen pizza
1234.  cranberry candles
1236.  one open window
1238.  cotton fields with a background of trees ablaze
1251.  my little one's pom-pom curls
1257.  a day set aside to remember & give thanks

If life could only be like a green smoothie...

The other day as I was making the girls their green smoothies with clutter all around me, the calendar bursting at its seams, I thought to myself, "Why can't life be more like green smoothies?"  If you've never tried a green smoothie, you are missing out.  There are many different recipes out there, but our favorite is my mama's recipe of three ingredients:  spinach, pineapple, and green grapes.  That's it.  So simple.  So healthy.  So energizing.  

With Thanksgiving and Christmas approaching so rapidly, I already feel myself gasping for breath at the busyness, clutter, and craziness that often seems doomed to come along with my two favorite times of year.  But it doesn't have to be this way... why can't life be more like green smoothies?  Simple.  Three ingredients.  I don't have three magical ingredients for life that will solve everyone's problem for this, but I do know that if my eyes stay focused on Him, the simple reason for celebrating in the first place, I have nothing to fear or dread.  

"Thanksgiving only becomes thanksliving when the thanks for His vertical, coming-down grace — is expressed as a horizontal, reaching-out grace." - Ann Voskamp

When life gives you lemons, you make buckwheat pumpkin cinnamon rolls?

I was so excited last night at the thought of making healthy pumpkin cinnamon rolls, vegan too, I might add.  But after I mixed the dry ingredients together, I noticed the flour had an interesting smell.  Then I read the tag on my flour bag... buckwheat flour... oh... So I gave it a shot.  

Well, needless to say, the response from my children was not so good this morning.  Chloe enjoyed the powdered sugar icing and the cinnamon filling.  Naomi took one look and not a bite.  Sophie ate half of hers, but she is like her mother and will eat almost anything, even if it tastes like cardboard.  So, I'll try it again one day, but next time without the buckwheat flour.  (I'll most likely try my cream cheese icing instead of the plain powdered sugar icing too, in which it will no longer be vegan.  Oh well!)

Faces of Fall

Happy Pumpkin!

This week, instead of continuing on to the letter "H", N and I took a break and jumped to the letter "P" for pumpkin!  Throughout the week, we read lots of pumpkin books, went to the pumpkin patch, and made pumpkin muffins.  But one of my favorite activities with her when on Friday when she made pumpkin faces in drawing and literal form.  She is too funny!




                                                                                                  

Silly Pumpkin

Angry Pumpkin?

To Give thanks...

Well, it's been a month since I've "blogged", but that's ok.  Over the past month, I've been relearning things that I thought I had learned last year.  This past January, I read one of the most life changing books I've ever read called One Thousand Gifts of Thanks by Ann Voskamp.  I had already been following her blog, www.aholyexperience.com, and had been challenged to keep a journal simply listing things that I am thankful for... nothing profound, somethings even a little on the messy side.  But since May of 2010, I've slowly been making my list.

1. my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ
2.  my wonderful husband
3.  my three precious girls
60.  sourdough bread
61.  teething tablets
62.  pacifiers
116.  fruit puffs on the floor
117.  little hands rubbing my face
118.  ice storm to keep us home
612.  cloth diapers drying in the wind
613.  delivering goods to those in need
614.  paying for lost library books
615.  fresh picked strawberries & icecream
827.  my kitchen sink
828.  cool mornings to jog
829.  listening to my oldest read
999.  a day at home
1000.  no tears at ballet class

I have tried to journal since middle school with little success since my middle school days.  But this has been a journal of sorts that I pray will never stop.  It doesn't have to be daily, but with each number listed, it causes me to want to write more, to give more thanks...  I am so very blessed!!  Not because of anything I have done or will do, but because He has given me life, more abundant!

Starting School Again...

I realize my title makes it sound like we're old pro's at this homeschooling thing, but that is hardly the case.  I have been more nervous this year than the previous two years.  I think with each year there is more pressure and more responsibility, and this year, my little So "S" is so very mobile!!  I'm going to be researching other moms ideas for how to keep a toddler entertained while trying to teach/read with my two older ones, who are now in second grade and preschool.

So, today was our first day back... I really wanted to wait till tomorrow or even Thursday to begin, but my girls were so excited and ready to start that I couldn't say no.  Overall, I found it to be a glorious day!  The day began with Krispy Kreme doughnuts from Daddy and hearing him spend quality time with the girls in their devotions.  Couldn't ask for a better start!  Then, we covered geography and communications by skyping with Dad and Mom across the world wide web from here to Okinawa.  So much fun!

Our official school day entailed taking pictures on the front steps to commemorate this new school year.  The girls did surprisingly well, even "S"!  The pledge of allegiance came next with our workboxes following close behind.  Handwriting, spelling, and reading were our primary focus today.  "C" already finished her reader that was supposed to take her three days to read (according to the Sonlight's curriculum).  We began our new read-aloud called Red Sails to Capri, which has captivated me already.  Lastly, we enjoyed our yummy ABC cookies from Trader Joes.  I kept our studies simple today (mainly because I wasn't ready to teach everything yet!) and my expectations positive.  I couldn't ask for a better first day!

All the messes

Today was a day full of messes!  Everywhere I turned my creative little girls were getting out more things or "helping" me put away other things.  But this morning as I was attempting to fold some laundry (something that I'm still doing at 10 tonight), my littlest one came ever so close and squeezed herself between the basket and me and just sat down right there in my lap as though she wanted to really help mommy with the laundry.  What a sweet moment!  As I went through the motions of doing such a mundane thing as fold clean clothes, my sweet little girl gave me such pleasure in that little moment!  Savor the moments!

The meaning behind it all...

After the birth of my third little girl, I remember listening to short video that inspired me so much.  The one phrase that stood out the most was to choose "to invite the glorious into the mundane" in every area of life.  Sometimes as a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom of three, it's easy to let the mundane take over my feelings, my attitude, and often my response to others, especially my family.  So my desire is to instead find the glorious, meaning the God-glorifying perspective of every part of my life.  Instead of complaining while washing 23 sippy cups, I desire to be thankful for the precious little girls that are healthy enough to drink from them.  I am certainly not perfect, and this blog isn't trying to be either.  It's just about a messed up girl whose been cleaned up by an awesome God.