An Overview

Our Thanksgiving in pictures

Blessings.

Happy Thanksgiving

I am thankful for:

Saving Grace

Jesus, who died for me to have saving grace

My husband

My children

My home

A pantry full of food

A fire to warm my home

My church family

My pastor & his wife

The baby growing inside me

Sunshine

Living in the country

The priviledge of being an American

Homeschool

and so much, much more.

May you have a blessed & joyful Thanksgiving.

Blessings.

Operation Christmas Child

Today we went to town & bought all the things to fill our shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. You can learn more about it here http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/occ/

We have done this every year now for the past 4 years. My kids love it. They each get to pack a shoebox for a child their same age. We have such a good time choosing toys & candy & drawing supplies & then trying to shove it all into the box!

We did our shopping at Walmart this year & I was a little disappointed. They used to have quite a large selection of simple toys: silly putty, yoyos, balls, dolls, & stuffed animals. Now almost everything is electronic, computerized or battery operated. They didn't even HAVE regular yoyos, just battery operated, light up ones . I think next year we will go the Dollar Store. They have a much better selection of just toys.

But we put in flashlights, tooth brushes, soap, socks, candy, markers, drawing paper, pencils, pencil sharpeners, silly putty, toys, dolls & marbles. Those boxes are stuffed. Tomorrow my husband is going to drop them off.

It is just so much fun to think of the child who gets them. And how much fun it must be for them to just get to open them & play with all that stuff. I love the lesson my kids learn from it & I love their enthusiasm in filling them. It just brings them joy.

Blessings.

Nothing Much

It's cold! The temp is actually 44* but it is dark, overcast, windy & damp. I am not a fan of cold rainy days. I would rather have it be 10*, sunny & dry any day. 

I am huddled on the couch, sharing a blanket with the Little Man while he watches "Spirit" for the 900th time. He is addicted to "Spirit" & "Babe".  He can quote from "Babe" .

Over this past week he has potty trained himself. It all started w/ pounding on the door while I was in the tub & he hasn't looked back from there. He has only had 2 or 3 'accidents' & they were all at night. He has even made it thru church & a trip to town w/out accidents. Wow. He's a pretty cute little underwear boy.

The pups are 7 weeks & the ad came out for them today. I hope & pray they sell quickly. (I am soooo sick of them & they smell ) Anybody in the market for a good hunting dog?

I am 32 weeks pregnant today. (or so they say) & am feeling huge. I look like Fred Mertz from "I Love Lucy".  There is no such thing as comfortable at this point. It is so fun to watch the baby move though. The other night there was this HARD round little poky thing right by my belly button. I think it was a heel. And it is so funny to poke & have the baby poke back! I do love this.

My husband is in Reno at some cattlemen's thing. He's been there all week & he won't be home until Saturday. (insert serious pouty face here) I can't sleep when he is gone & I am feeling pretty miserable about now.  And when he is at these things he is busy schmoozing customers  all day & late into the night so I hardly even get to talk to him. Sometimes I just hate his job. Sigh.

Just for fun & so my husband doesn't forget his family: Here are pics of everyone this morning.

Here are the kids making muffins. (please ignore pigsty)

Here's the Little Man (watching Spirit)

And here is something you will probably never see again

Blessings.

Stage 1

Here is our new stove:

This is stage 1 (out of about 3 million) in our proposed kitchen remodel.

This was actually an unplanned stage as our last stove was only 2 years old. Unfortunately it was a lemon from the start. So after continually dealing with all of it's issues my husband decided we should just buy a new one! No argument from me. We weren't after stainless steel initially but it was the only model that had all the features we wanted. And now that it is here, I really like it. We plan on getting a stainless fridge to go with it. But that will be a little later on, probably  when we get the new sink & countertops as we need to move the counter down a few inches to have room for a side-by-side fridge.

The only thing that would make this stove better would be if it were gas. But our house is all electric & the cost would be huge to put in gas connections & a tank & every else we would need. We even thought about going w/ a propane stove but thought that would just get to be a pain to have to continually replace propane bottles. So, for now, I am stuck w/ electric  but at least all the burners work.

I'm getting excited about our new pantry & I think we might get started on it in the next few  weeks. That will be so cool .

Blessings. 

Fun Night

Sunday night was another "Community Sing" for our local churches. My husband gave a short message & my daughter played the piano. I just love when she plays at these things. I don't have a musical bone in my body but I have always wanted to play beautiful music. So when she sits down & produces these wonderful sounds it gives me great pleasure.

She loves to dress up & this time she wanted to borrow one of my hats. I have several beautiful old hats from my grandmother & aunt. We picked the one that best matched her dress & she was all set.

And please notice: she is SITTING on her hair.  Her beautiful hair is down to her knees.

We met another homeschooling family while we were there. They have 10 children & their 8 yr old daughter sat in front of us during the sing. She kept turning around & watching us & smiling. As soon as it was over she was at my daughters side & they quickly became friends. It was fun to watch. My little girl is such a social butterfly! Very different from me .

I just read back thru this & I had misspelled "homeschooling"  Always a stellar example for those of us who teach our own when we can't even spell  Oops.

Blessings.

Mimi

It seems like everywhere I read these days someone is talking about their grandma. My own grandma has been on my mind quite a bit lately.

We always called my grandma "Mimi". She has been gone almost 12 years now. My 2 youngest children (soon to be 3) never got to meet her. That makes me sad. I remember so many things about Mimi. When I was fairly young Mimi's husband (we called him Popo) had a falling out with my parents. He was a man to hold a grudge so he stopped talking to or visiting us. Since my grandma didn't drive that meant she had to take the bus to see us. As a result, for most of my life, I only saw her once a year. She always sat in the seat right behind the driver so he could watch out for her.

 My grandma was an excellent seamstress and my mom didn't sew at all. We would set aside all the mending & sewing projects & Mimi would take care of it all for us while she was visiting. I have some doll clothes she made for me and it wasn't until I was an adult that I realized they were HAND sewn. No machine. And the stitches were so tiny & perfect & even. She was born at the turn of the century & girls were still taught useful skills then.  She sewed all of her own clothes & over the years made many outfits for her 3 granddaughters.

I remember before the falling out, my grandparents used to come stay with us for long visits, bringing their camper & Mimi always had a bag of mini Milky Way candy bars in the freezer. Mmmm.

 In my early 20's my parents & Popo made up & my grandparents moved only a few hours from us, so we saw them much more often. My oldest son was able to have a close relationship with his great-grandma & they were good friends. I have many pictures of the 2 of them together.

I think I miss her most around the holidays but that is normal isn't it? She always gave wonderful gifts, usually books. And she always sent a 2 pound box of See's chocolate. I've only had See's a few times in the years since she died. The first Christmas my husband & I were dating he gave me a copy of Robert Frosts poetry. I showed Mimi & she noticed that he hadn't written anything in it. She called him on that & he tried to shrug it off but she grabbed him by the hand, dug into her ever-present 25 lb purse, pulled out a pen & handed it to him. "Here's a pen", she said, forcing it into his hand. He wrote a very sweet inscription which I will always be thankful to Mimi for.

I loved my grandma & I miss her very much. She was the only extended family I had. I look forward to seeing her again some day.

Blessings.

Hard working Boy

We believe in training them young.

The Little Man brought this all the way in from the road. (which at out house is a long way, over 150 ft)

And he was pretty pleased with himself too.

Blessings.

A Red Letter Day

It's a red letter day here in the high desert.

The Little Man, who is not potty-trained, who has fought potty-training tooth & claw, just banged on the bathroom door (while I was in the tub) & yelled "Mama, I have to go potty!" 

And proceeded to go potty & pooey in the potty-chair!!! Woo Hoo!

To top that off, my husband is down in California for his annual review & dinner with his boss. He just called (while I was in the tub) in between the review & his dinner to let me know that he got a raise! Praise the Lord!

So not the most relaxing bath  but a productive one none-the-less.

Blessings.

Home Sick

I am home from church today with a sick Little Man. Last night he threw up all over himself, his daddy & the bed  Nothing like showers & changing sheets in the middle of the night. I had to laugh at my poor husband. He's never had any one just toss all over him before  He was holding the Little Man up close on his chest, trying to comfort him & the Little Man just let go. Grape juice & soured milk  Aren't you glad you stopped by to read today?

Parenthood is such a trip.

The Little Man is feeling a little better this morning but he is still pretty puny looking. And going thru kleenex at a great rate. We snuck extra Vitamin C & Grapefruit Seed Extract into his juice. What he doesn't know can help him. I'm hoping he'll be ready for nap soon because I definetly am.

Blessings.

Update

I was gently reminded that it's been a few days ... The truth is I have 'written' several posts in my head but they just haven't made it here yet

So let's see...... I accidently dressed in my high school colors for Bible study on Thursday. I just picked my clothes quickly & once I was dressed I realized I was in head to toe orange & gray. Even my shoes matched. I felt like I should head to a football game instead of study  So here's one for posterity:

"Orange & grey! Orange & grey! Atascadero Greyhounds all the way!"

Yesterday was my son's 12 birthday. Wow. He has a friend over to celebrate. They have been playing games & eating all day . He requested chicken pot pie for his birthday dinner, white cake & mint chip ice cream for his dessert & apple fritters for his breakfast.  They tried to have a campfire outside but it was too windy.

And just a note on the election; I am thoroughly disgusted that someone who obviously hates America has been elected to the highest office. It just makes me so sad for all of the men who have fought to make this country great.

I will try to come up with something interesting soon

Blessings.

Vote!

Happy election day everybody!

I hope you will take the opportunity to vote today (if you haven't already).

I hope you will choose to vote for candidates who believe babies are people & not punishment and as such have right to life.

I hope you will vote for candidates who salute & honor our flag as the symbol of our country & all who have fought & died for our right to freedom.

I hope you will vote for candidates who believe this is still a Christian country, founded on Christian beliefs, where people have the right to work hard & make something for them selves & their families without having to "share the wealth"

I hope you will vote for candidates who want our country to remain great.

I hope you will vote for candidates who believe in our continued support of Israel

"I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you;" Gen 12:3

Blessings.

A great idea

My husband had a fabulous idea.

We live in a small house which has some unique challenges. Over the last 4 years we have discussed different things we could do to improve the house & give us more space. Our kitchen is a nice size, with lots of cupboards but it is kind of weird. It is almost 2 seperate rooms. The stove, fridge, and sink are on one side and then there is a wall of cabinets  & there is another "room" with the dishwasher, another sink & more cupboards.

My husbands great idea is to enclose the second "room' & make it into a walk-in pantry. I think that is such a great idea! We would take out the second sink & dishwasher & that would give us room to have the washer& dryer in the pantry as well. Currently my washer & dryer are in the mudroom which is tiny, dirty, crowded & freezes. Not  a good place for them. So the thought of having them inside is exciting. (yes, I find pantries & inside washers exciting )

We would tear out some existing cabinets & put up wall to wall shelves. We would have to block off  1 doorway to the living room & build a small wall with a door on the kitchen side to make the pantry. We would have room for all the canned goods & buckets of rice & wheat inside. We could shift everything else around & I think it would make the kitchen much less crowded.

We also hope to remodel the rest of the kitchen soon. We need a new floor (hoping for wood laminate) & we need to replace the countertops. I also want a new sink--a really big deep farm sink. We want to move the counter down a few inches to make room for a side-by-side fridge.

Our house was built in the 20's or 30's but has no period details. It was remodeled in the late 60's  so our first year here I tore down hideous wall paper & painted & removed carpet. Now we want to do some bigger things & bring some 'charm' back. We plan on using a 1930's theme in our over all remodel.

We probably won't get it done for a few years but we have a plan .  We (still) have to finish our new roof & then I am hoping we can start on the new pantry & actually get that part done this winter. But we shall see....   It's still a fabulous idea .

Blessings.