~Thanksgiving Prayer~

Thank You Lord, for the Gift of Jesus ~Who gave Himself so I could come to You freely!

Thank You that You made such a wonderful creation that even after so much has declined from the Fall to now, it is still so awe inspiring and beautiful! 

Thank You for life and breath and all of the innumerable blessings I take each day as though they were nothing of note.

Thank You for teaching me with Patient Hand and Loving Heart, and abundant Grace and Strength for all of my weakness!

Thank You for my Honey!  For the perfect completion of my quirkiness! :)

Thank You for Ysabella, Moriah, Nathaniel, Aliyah, Brianna, and Karissa!  Thank You for the Joy and the Struggle, the teaching me of myself through their behaviors, the learning of Your Father's Heart toward Your Children through loving and training my own!
Thank You for the 3 You have with You.  Thank You that they touched my life, and taught me of Your Comfort and a Closeness that nothing can rival.  Thank You for holding me, and carrying me through, and for helping me to stand again when it was time.

Thank You for teaching me to worship and pray in Spirit and in Truth.

Thank You for my family.  My Mom, and Mom-in-Love; My sisters with their husbands, and nieces and nephews.  My Uncles, Aunts, Cousins, and Grandma.

Thank You for my family in the faith, for the iron sharpening iron.

Thank You for  the friends You have brought into my life.  For their love and care, and the opportunity to be to them what they are to me.

Thank You Lord!
Please help me to be worthy of the calling you have given me.  Please continue to teach me Your Way and Guide me in Your Truth... in Your paths of righteousness for Your Name's Sake.
Help me to love You and love others!

In Jesus Name!
~Let it be~

slacking on eucharisto

Sadly, I have been slack in my Thankful lists for several weeks. For the first 5 weeks I had my list with me everywhere and wrote down every little thing. But after a bit I felt I was writing the same thing several times, and then I misplaced the list, and then I just ceased counting, or writing down my list.
SO I want to get back to keeping track!
Here is the pdf link if you want to keep track too. It can be a challenge to find 7 things each day, but it can also help find those "ugly beautiful" things we can give thanks for too.

I don't know what number I am on, but I list away anyway! ;)

• The Edison bill was *not* double (like the first bill showed)
• Our family treated us to a day at the Fair.
• Seeing/connecting with a couple of friends.
• Compliments in unexpected places.
• Doing fun things in the spur of the moment fashion.
• Help from Uncle Tim with kids and strollers!
• A Hubby who enjoys calling me on his breaks
• for this tidbit of truth "May The Word may be in our words to change our worlds."
• For Mercies new every morning
• For healthy children again.
• for almost 12 mimi-me, who is turning into a good friend.

Pay no attention to the date... She tried to reset it and now it has the date all wrong! LOL

And another day goes by...

We managed to get into our Pediatrician Monday, and get 3 kids seen; two in the morning and 1 late in the day... which means 2 trips into town, no naps, nothing done around the home front.
2 of those have ear infections, which brings the family total to 3 kids... 4 ears since Baby Karissa has a double :-/ The one little one who sounded the worst actually isn't sick. Probably allergy yuckies, but nothing they Drs are worried about.

Tuesday, trying to listen to the wise advice from Leslie in my comments the other day, I took a nap and did pretty much nothing else... well, we did do Bible time! I also went to bed at a reasonable time! (shocked? I am!)

Today we have a few errands which went surprisingly well! Thanking God for a working Vacuum! So today I maybe undid the rest from yesterday, but it has been soooo long since we had a vac that I hardly waited til we were inside to plug it in! Seems kinda sad to me that I am so proud of my accomplishments for vacuuming the two largest rooms in our house and washing dishes... but I am happy it is done!

And now as I try to wind down, my mind is spinning every-which-a-way with thoughts...
like choosing to thank God for giving antibiotics as a way to help heal our bodies, instead of mulling over the sad "Baby's first" foods (flavors) ranking "fruit gum flavored amoxicillin" in the top few. (Of course, she has scavenged a few things I wish she hadn't too)
or wondering if I am selfish for snuggling her close as she sleeps and savoring that moment; when earlier, though she cried, I could not simply sit and hold her... too much to do... :(
and have I even learned the lesson that *this* time goes so swiftly!? Sure we need clean dishes, but won't they always be there? She will not always be this small and demanding (she'll be larger and demanding ;) lol) and I Will Miss This!

So I may just blog a couple of un-numbered gratitudes.

• Cilantro Flowers
• Being able to walk more easily (after cyst removal/stitches)
• The feel of soft baby hair against my chest... close to my heart.
• The little bee in the zucchini flower.
• Cool breeze after a long, hot day.
• Wind blowing ripples in the alfalfa.
• Unexpectedly bumping into dear friends. (gotta love Costco! lol)
• Our first "mini-batch" of salsa from our own garden stock!
• Friendly, helpful nurses.
• Antibiotics, wisdom God has given to men for our benefit.
  
• A working Vacuum.. same day, cheaper than expected!
• Sunshine through the clouds.
• The occasions when I do well instructing my children.
• Honesty -- even when it hurts.
• The odd places & ways little people find to sleep.

More than Thousands

I think, as I write out the gifts innumerable, that there are more than thousands! (I haven't numbered them yet :/ but guess I should do so ;) at some point)

So ... More!
I added in the numbers, but did so after typing it all up and numbering previous posts. Since I took from my 7 gifts lists, I added the number they would've been... so they are not in order! :)

40. The little bubbles, microscopic ones, that the dish soap container pushes out to fly around in the air when I use it to refill the sink dispenser.

41. Bagel "Butterflies" that we made for the first time.

42. Watching Honey play with our little ones. :)
43. My children's excited desire to write on their own 7 gifts lists.
(Free download of the list page!)
99. My first 7 gifts list finished!

44. Meeting eyes with a wild animal.

48. Watching the little spiders spin.

45. Excited, giggly morning greetings of siblings.

46. Morning hugs.

50. Little ones helping "all by myself Mommy"
Brianna getting her Daddy water, of her own accord, because she is concerned for him :)

49. Little girls wearing the little pink dresses.
(The first time the big girls wore them... right after I finished them)


(The last time they wore the dresses made for them. Then Mo moved up to the bigger dress. Now Aliyah and Brianna are out growing them!)

47. The "pound- pound- pound" of little feet (raised foundation!)

51. Having a wise correction/ a fitting word.

76. The busy bees humming.

77. The click-clock noise of the ravens.

78. Small hands on my cheeks as a little one kisses me.

89. Surprise chores done for me by a child.

90. Calls from loved ones.

88. Chicken soup.

94. Hubby making me tea without being asked.

95. Free audio books since I've lost my voice!
(Check them out at LibriVox.org though they are having issues from a recent hack)

96. Kids preferring my reading to them over the audiobook.

98. Kids "missing" my voice.

87.Clearing Weeds from the flower beds.

86. Clean, filled liquid hand soap containers.

97. Finding humor in life!

100. Hubby taking care of all of our shopping so I can rest.

ACK! What a Monday!

So today had a serious case of the Mondays...

We accomplished some good things, but for quite a bit I had an attitude which was fueled with the bickering of children. Around evening time, Uncle Tim stopped by to get the vacuum we are sharing since both of ours are half broken (long story, but we own the same model so we are sharing parts) and I decided to turn on the bubblers to the orchard. We did some other work outside for a few minutes then went back in to work on dinner.
I had pressure cooked a ham bone earlier; so I added the veggies, chopped the ham getting rid of the bone, and put in split peas. I set it back to gain pressure and helped some girls with school. After a bit I moved the pressure cooker to a back burner, off, so it could cool. When I came back later I thought it was done and started to open the lid. I have an antique (belonged to my great grandma) cooker that is tough to open when the pressure is all gone! So when it opened easily and shot pressurized pea soup up everywhere I was a bit shocked!
So the floor that was mopped yesterday, was coated in pea soup and paw prints (at least the dogs got all the stuff up before I re-mopped) today! Mo and I were both thanking God we were spared the scalding since we were both close enough to be burned!
We finished the clean up and making the soup... then I had to wash bowls I used for lunch so we could eat dinner...ate... then we started a huge cleaning project in the girls room, and laundry....

So after hours we sit down to pray. Most of the kids have prayed, and I am reflecting on the day. All of a sudden it dawns on me....
I turned the bubblers ON, but never turned them OFF!
Gasping, I jump up, put the baby down to play and run out of the house! I did grab a sweater and flashlight on my way, but the words to explain myself just weren't forth coming...
After I turn off the water and get back in, I apologize to the kids (especially the one praying) for running out so quickly, and explain.
Ysa said: "I wondered what was going on. I thought maybe Karissa had spit up all over you and you were soaking wet!"
Mo said (as only a Mo can) : "I thought you'd peed."
I laughed and LAUGHED!

Add to that a cutest little baby sitting up all by herself and saying "Da-da-da-da" (both firsts) today! What a DAY!

Since a picture is worth a thousand words...
Here is a picture that is one of my Thousand Gifts.
39. One of Brianna's Curls!
{ My favorite one ;) }

More Thousand Gifts

18. The moon rising, when it is yellowy orange.

19. Using leftovers in a way that is entirely different than the original dish (like fried balls of "dressing")

20. Singing the "sunflower song" to our flowers

21. Dancing with my girls to Hallelu Et Adonai

22. Watering the gardens and orchard.

23. The wind across my face.

24. Story-nap time.

25. Snuggles.

26. Looking through old family pictures.

27. Hugs.

28. A hot cup of Earl Grey with cream and sugar.

29. Fresh fruit.

30. Learning about new friends.

31. Visiting with old friends.

32. Lighting candles.

33. The "new baby" smell (sigh) :)

34. When the kids "do Mommy's hair"

35. Hearts (everywhere!)

36. Watching the clouds change shapes as they move across the sky.

37. Seeing the owls swoop by us anytime we drive home in the night.

38. The sound of waves crashing or waterfalls.

A start on One Thousand Things...

I have heard of a book about One Thousand things to be thankful for... little or big, breath taking or common... things you are blessed by. Though I have not read the book, I thought I could start my own list! As things come to mind I can write them down (was thinking I need a special journal for it :) (The more obvious of family and friends I didn't start with...)

1. The feel of a baby's hand close to your heart while they nurse or sleep.

2. The look in a loved ones eyes when they see you. (especially in young children who will have that look even if they saw you 5 minutes ago)

3. The smell of rain.

4. The sunshine on my face.

5. Clean, Hot, running water.

6. The smell of freshly cleaned little girl hair.

7. Cookies baking.

8. Long talks.

9. Walking on the beach.

10. Waterfalls.

11. Watching the stars come out.

12. Picnics.

13. Tea parties.

14. A good book.

15. Sunrise. and Sunset!

16. A bed, roof over my head and the bountiful things I take for granted (like toilet paper and soap!)

Sooo many things to write of... so little time to write! LOL