Thanks-Giving Blog Challenge, Day #24

Today I am thankful for the chance to spend Thanksgiving with family. I don't think I've gotten to do that since college. I'm thankful that my mom and I split the cooking duties, and I didn't have to cook the whole meal by myself!

I am thankful for the traditions our family has now - our "Thanksgiving tree," our little homeschool Thanksgiving unit, and this year we created "Blessing Mix" for the first time. We made so much that we were able to share it with our friends!

I am thankful that we were able to have Thanksgiving in our own home for the first time this year. (Last year our house was covered in boxes.) I am thankful that we are all in good health, and for the great weather we had! The girls were able to get out and run around and ride their bikes, which was awesome.

I am thankful that the Methodist Church has a Thanksgiving service in the morning with music from the African Universal Church choir. They were awesome. Seriously, that is THE way to start your Thanksgiving off right. I went from being in a good mood to being in an AWESOME mood. I loved it. (Loved the free jar of homemade jelly we got there too!)

I am thankful that we all had a good time, and that our table was covered with God's bounty - and plenty of leftovers to last all weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

This is my first attempt at a blog challenge, something you might see friends doing on Facebook - "__ days of Giving Thanks." I thought this was a very fitting challenge to get myself back into a regular habit of blogging again. Feel free to join me, and post your own blog link in the comments below, so we can keep up with each other! Follow others that are participating HERE.

Thanks-Giving Blog Challenge, Day #23

Today I am thankful for hair dye!

I've been "gray" since I was 23. Yes, really. I found my first gray hair at the age of 23. And it wasn't even really gray. It was SILVER. Like glow-in-the-dark SILVER.

I've been a huge fan of Clairol ever since.

Lately, though, the box stuff from the store hasn't been working. Yeah, at the age of 35, I now officially have "resistant gray" hair. Wonderful, right?

So this week I got my hair professionally colored. I love it - I actually look my age again, instead of like a frumpy mom. In fact, I think I look pretty good, if I say so myself!

This is my first attempt at a blog challenge, something you might see friends doing on Facebook - "__ days of Giving Thanks." I thought this was a very fitting challenge to get myself back into a regular habit of blogging again. Feel free to join me, and post your own blog link in the comments below, so we can keep up with each other! Follow others that are participating HERE.

Thanks-Giving Blog Challenge, Day #22

Today I am thankful for "first world" conveniences.

Like dishwashers, washing machines and dryers! I dislike using them, but that doesn't compare to how bad life would stink without them. As much as I love the Little House on the Prairie series, I have no need to go back and relive them! (I could still do without ironing, though.)

Hmmm, does anyone have a hint what my day is going to look like tomorrow?

This is my first attempt at a blog challenge, something you might see friends doing on Facebook - "__ days of Giving Thanks." I thought this was a very fitting challenge to get myself back into a regular habit of blogging again. Feel free to join me, and post your own blog link in the comments below, so we can keep up with each other! Follow others that are participating HERE.

Thanks-Giving Blog Challenge, Day #21

Today I am thankful for apple butter.

Warm, fresh, homemade apple butter.

My house smells fabulous!

Chunky Sweet Spiced Apple Butter
4 cups (about 1 1/4 pounds) peeled, chopped Granny Smith apples
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup butter, divided
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Combine apples, sugar, vinegar, 2 tablespoons butter, cinnamon, salt, and cloves in crock pot. Cover, cook on LOW for 8 hours. Stir in remaining 2 tablespoons butter and vanilla. Cool completely. Makes 2 cups.


This is my first attempt at a blog challenge, something you might see friends doing on Facebook - "__ days of Giving Thanks." I thought this was a very fitting challenge to get myself back into a regular habit of blogging again. Feel free to join me, and post your own blog link in the comments below, so we can keep up with each other! Follow others that are participating HERE.

Thanks-Giving Blog Challenge, Day #20

Today I am thankful for new mercies every morning.

Saturday was a particularly horrendous day in our house. As my mom says, kids just can only be good so many days in a row. Well, Saturday was the end of our angel streak, I guess.  And yeah, when I say horrendous, I mean HORRENDOUS. I think I had PTSD/hangover/jet lag from the whining and temper tantrums, as I could barely get out of bed until close to noon on Sunday.

Anyway, this song has been running through my head nonstop, and after a few hours I realized what song I was singing.

"Mercies New" by Nichole Nordeman
Is it fair to say I was lured away?
By endless distractions and lovelier attractions then
Or fairer still, my own free will
Is the better one to blame for this familiar mess
I've made again


So I would understand if You were out of patience
And I would understand if I was out of chances
Your mercies are new every morning
So let me wake with the dawn
When the music is through or so it seems to be
Let me sing a new song, old things gone
Every day it's true, You make all Your mercies new


The distance left between East and West
Is how far You would go to forget the debt I'd owe
And thrown into the sea, the wicked ways in me
Will never have a chance to wash back on the sand

So I would understand if You would make me pay
I would understand lying in the bed I made again
Your mercies are new every morning
So let me wake with the dawn
When the music is through or so it seems to be
Let me sing a new song, old things gone
Every day it's true, You make all Your mercies new


Up comes the sun on every one of us
Gone, gone, gone the guilt and shame that knew Your name

Your mercies are new every morning
So let me wake with the dawn
When the music is through or so it seems to be
Let me sing a new song, old things gone
Every day it's true, You make all Your mercies new

I am so thankful that every morning is a fresh start, a new day. I am so thankful that God wipes our slate clean and gives us new chance upon new chance.

This is my first attempt at a blog challenge, something you might see friends doing on Facebook - "__ days of Giving Thanks." I thought this was a very fitting challenge to get myself back into a regular habit of blogging again. Feel free to join me, and post your own blog link in the comments below, so we can keep up with each other! Follow others that are participating HERE.

Thanks-Giving Blog Challenge, Day #19

Today I am thankful for clean laundry. Yup.

We've been going on desperate for laundry for the past several days, but we've were running around so much that I wasn't home to do much more than flip loads. And so the clean laundry was piling up in front of the dryer, creating a mini Mt. St. Laundry.

Finally, I got all of the loads completed and hauled up the stairs. While Abby was finishing some school work, I raced through folding the clothes and then she helped me put it all away. Is there anything better than laundry that is done, folded, AND put away?

Wonder if Rosie would fit in Santa's sleigh?

This is my first attempt at a blog challenge, something you might see friends doing on Facebook - "__ days of Giving Thanks." I thought this was a very fitting challenge to get myself back into a regular habit of blogging again. Feel free to join me, and post your own blog link in the comments below, so we can keep up with each other! Follow others that are participating HERE.

MFW Homeschool Highlights

I had been procrastinating on a few "science projects" and so last week we had a catch up science day.

Our first project was a taste test of goat milk and goat cheese. We compared it to regular cow milk and to almond milk and to the various (cow) cheeses we had on hand.

The verdict? We like goat cheese! Abby likes the plain verses the one with the seasonings added, which Mommy prefers. And Abby liked the goat milk as much as she liked the cow milk, but was not a fan of almond milk. I personally prefer almond milk over cow milk, and think goat milk taste awful!

And then we put together our ant farm since our ants finally arrived in the mail. This ant farm came with our curriculum kit.

This was not Mommy's favorite project and I was totally creeped out. First of all, it was too cold to leave the ant farm outside, which was my original plan. Second of all, these ants are HUGE and I can not stand anything creepy crawly. I'm not ashamed to admit I'm a huge sissy. And then having to keep them in my house??? Yeah, not my favorite homeschooling moment. But trying to be the good mommy, I hid it and kept telling how cool this was. Yes, I lied right through my teeth. Oh, I forgot number three. The paperwork mentioned these ants bite. Yeah. You read that right. (Can't you hear me saying, "Isn't that  . . . interesting, Abby?" LOL)

The verdict on this is we had stupid ants. They did NOT cooperate and build their little ant tunnels where they were supposed to. (There is this flat chamber on the back, which is supposed to let you observe them better.) Oh no, these dumb ants actually would pull the sand from that flat chamber, and drop it over the rounded front, and started building their ant hill at the bottom of the front section you see in this picture. Where we couldn't see anything but what looked like a huge mess. And when I dropped food in to feed them (and yes, that freaked me out even more - having to open the top to put food in), they pulled the piece of fruit out of the chamber as well, and pushed it down over the rounded front so it would be at the bottom as well! Sigh. Apparently the ants did not read the directions as well as I did.

They have recently "vacated the premises." I'm sure they are having lovely little lives at the town dump by now!

This week we finally got in our field trip to Brantley's Petting Farm. The girls had a blast. (It you're local, I totally recommend it!) This fit in with our units on goat (letter G), cow (letter C), and horse (letter H). Here are a few more pictures.

Be sure to check out what others are doing in MFW by heading on over to Kattie’s blog ~ 2 Ladybugs and a Lizard.

Thanks-Giving Blog Challenge, Day #18

Today I am thankful for bedtime!

And yes, just because it's bedtime and the house gets quiet and I get some peace.

But also, because I love the bedtime rituals we have. Once the insanity of bath time and getting clothes on two wild little girls is completed, we snuggle up on the big bed. If time, we will read a story (either connected to our homeschool unit, a holiday theme, or a Bible story).

After the girls say their prayers, we each go around the room saying one thing we want to thank God for, and we pray a prayer over those items. Sometimes they are sweet, and sometimes it's silly, like marshmallows! Then the lights go off and I get to the very best thing in the world.

Cuddle with my girls. My girls are the best snugglers and give the best hugs and kisses. And as I kiss them goodnight, I always remind them how much I love them but how much more Jesus loves them than I do. Then with a good tuck-in, and a sweet dreams I'm done. For at least five minutes until I'm called in to give one extra hug and kiss and a pat on the back.

The great thing is that no matter how much they've been a terror all day, I can still count on those sweet hugs around my neck to make it all worthwhile.

idea from: http://www.itakejoy.com/close-every-day-with-a-blessing/


This is my first attempt at a blog challenge, something you might see friends doing on Facebook - "__ days of Giving Thanks." I thought this was a very fitting challenge to get myself back into a regular habit of blogging again. Feel free to join me, and post your own blog link in the comments below, so we can keep up with each other! Follow others that are participating HERE.

Thanks-Giving Blog Challenge, Day #17

Today I am thankful for my brave little girl.

Lily is my little scaredy cat. She's phobically terrified of just about everything, and always has been. Seriously, anything not human (and frankly, most of them too) is on her possible freakout list.

But today we went to a petting farm. I've been wanting to surprise them with this for weeks.

And about halfway through the trip, the owner brought out a rabbit. Lily told me she needed to hold that rabbit. And she did.

And then it was time for the pony ride. Goodness, you could see the battle Lily was going through right on her face. She was so scared but wanted to get on that pony so bad. She told me she wanted to ride, but asked me if I would hold her hand. This is how the ride started:

And after one lap around, this is how it ended!

I have never been so proud of my little brave girl, who finally chose to push past her fears, and take her very first pony ride!

This is my first attempt at a blog challenge, something you might see friends doing on Facebook - "__ days of Giving Thanks." I thought this was a very fitting challenge to get myself back into a regular habit of blogging again. Feel free to join me, and post your own blog link in the comments below, so we can keep up with each other! Follow others that are participating HERE.

Thanks-Giving Blog Challenge, Day #16

Today I am thankful for goats. And forgiveness.

Let me explain.

Earlier this week we were studying the letter G with Abby, and "Goat" is our theme for the unit.

The Bible verses for this unit were this:

“When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place and the Tabernacle and the altar, he must present the live goat. He will lay both of his hands on the goat’s head and confess over it all the wickedness, rebellion, and sins of the people of Israel. In this way, he will transfer the people’s sins to the head of the goat. Then a man specially chosen for the task will drive the goat into the wilderness. As the goat goes into the wilderness, it will carry all the people’s sins upon itself into a desolate land.
--Leviticus 16:20-22 (nlt)
(This is part of the description of the rules of sacrifice for the annual
Day of Atonement for the Jewish people in the Old Testament.)

Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow
could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. Just think
how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds
so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit,
Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.
-- Hebrews 9:13-14 (nlt)

But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten
so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep,
have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet
the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.
--Isaiah 53:5-6 (nlt)

While reviewing these verses with Abby, we had a long talk about the word sin. What it was, why God didn't like it, and that if people wanted to be with God the sin had to be taken away.


This morning, we were playing a word game, making silly sentences with her flashcard words. (Our favorite was "Ann sat in the mud.") One of the flashcards had the word "sin" on it, and Abby asked what that word meant. I reminded her of our conversation about the goat that used to be sent in the wilderness carrying the sins of the people far away. I told her that today if we wanted Jesus to take away our sins we needed to say we were sorry and ask for forgiveness, and he would take our sins so far away they can never be found again. She nodded, and we moved on.


This afternoon, when we were getting out of the car back at home from picking up Lily, Abby said to me (in a very, "Oh, by the way" voice): "Mommy, when you went inside and picked up Lily and I was waiting in the car? I asked Jesus to take my sins far, far away."

And she skipped away.

My jaw just dropped. I literally said, "Oh. Okay."

So today, I am so thankful for goats. And the forgiveness Jesus Christ gives each of us, taking our sins far, far away.


This is my first attempt at a blog challenge, something you might see friends doing on Facebook - "__ days of Giving Thanks." I thought this was a very fitting challenge to get myself back into a regular habit of blogging again. Feel free to join me, and post your own blog link in the comments below, so we can keep up with each other! Follow others that are participating HERE.