Thursday's Thankful Things

Today I am:

Thankful for dental insurance. I had some dental work done this week which insurance covered 2/3rds of.

Surprised and grateful that my husband got an unexpected raise! A bit more money each month. Thank you, Lord!

Thankful for the opportunity to teach my children how to resolve conflicts now, while they are young.

Excited about a Christmas gift I bought yesterday for one of the children.

Grateful for a wonderful night at REAL moms last night. Good topic, great speaker, encouraging evening. Also grateful that this year's picture directory is nearly done! :-)

Happy that tomorrow's Friday!

What Happens when Your Children get the Camera

Here is the picture I took of son C and Little Man having their daily time together one day last week.


I left the room for a few minutes, and later found these on my camera:









Do you think you got that from all angles? Would you like to see more? (yes, there were more!)

Last month I couldn't understand why my camera card got full so fast because I had just moved all the pictures off, only to check and find about 50 pictures of a bionicle in various poses AND several movies of said bionicle! haha

Annual Fall Pumpkin Painting

This is such a fun little tradition we have. Each fall we buy five small pumpkins and the children each get to paint one however they wish. It is always fun to see what they come up! Not sure where the skeletons came from this year.... not my favorite, but.....

Little Man, getting a helping hand.


Son C.


Son L.


Son G.


Daughter G.


And the finished pumpkins!

Sick

I have been so sick this weekend! The stomach kind. :-( I have not been this sick in a long time. I'm starting to feel a little better, and can stay out of the bathroom for longer and longer periods of time, so I think I'm on the mend. I slept off and on all day yesterday, watched college football, fell asleep during the fourth quarter of the USC/Stanford game and woke up during their THIRD overtime. Then fell asleep again so I still don't know who won. I was apparently not too sick to enjoy a really good football game. ;-)

The Ongoing Endeavor to Get Organized.....

Does anyone else struggle with this? Actually, you don't have to answer because I know that you do! Getting and staying organized seems never ending, because just when I finish organizing all my children's bedrooms, the season changes and it's time to go through clothes again, or Little Man has outgrown the preschool activities and it's time to sort and give away, or my paper pile managed to grow back and it's time to file and toss. I know this is something you can all relate to.

This problem seems worse for homeschoolers because there is so much more to organize. **Sigh**

I am slowly making progress in several areas of our home and life. Even though the schoolroom is not completely finished, I am *loving* using it. We start each day together in this room with Bible, and the younger three do the bulk of their work here. My vision, now three years old, of how I wanted it to work for us, is finally beginning to take shape. With some changes of course, because so much time has passed since the vision first formed in my brain! haha! Soooo very thankful for this room!


With an entire wall of bookcases now, I organized all our Tapestry of Grace books according to Year (there are 4 complete years here!) and further organized by unit (4 units per year). I am able to bless some friends by being their history lending library, so to aid them I put these color coded signs on the bookcase to show where a particular Year plan starts (you're welcome, Sally and Lisa!).


Right above my teacher desk I put this strip of velcro directly on the bookcase. To this I can stick all the little squares that go on my boys' assignment charts each day, so it is easy to change them out depending on what day I am preparing for.





It is a work in progress, but it's progressing!

In other news, I cleaned out my bedroom closet this week and filled two large bags to take to the thrift store. And that was just from stuff on the floor! (yes, seriously) Have to go through all the hanging clothes next.

How do you stay on top of the shifting organizational needs of your family?

Thursday's Thankful Things

Again, a long and stressful week. But again, so many things to be thankful for!

I'm thankful for (mostly) obedient children who are becoming truly helpful.

I'm so thankful for the routines and rhythms that make up our family life. They are a comfort to me right now.

I'm thankful for kind and loving friends, who speak God's truth into my life.

I'm thankful for my husband, who is generous and kind and never complains.

I'm thankful that heaven is a real place, and a sure hope for those who put their trust in Jesus. I'm thankful that sadness from the death of a Jesus follower is mixed with hope and peace and trust.

I'm thankful for sweet, new life that God creates! What a continuum and a mystery is this thing called life.

I'm thankful that God knows my deepest thoughts and loves me anyway. That He guides and directs and empowers and enables.

I'm thankful that God loves me, no matter what.

Apple Orchard!

Our co-op went on a field trip to an apple orchard and cider mill today. Our first field trip of the year, and such a gorgeous day to be out! It was a nice change of pace, and we all enjoyed being together.

The moms:


This picture blesses me, because it shows how this little guy has OUTGROWN his dairy allergy!! First time he has been able to eat a donut during our annual apple orchard field trip.


All of us:


Wagon ride!











Thank you, Lord, for the glorious sunshine You gave us today. Thank you for friends and colleagues that walk this homeschool journey with us. Thank you for creating such a beautiful world for us to live in, rule over, and enjoy.