Happy Birthday CD!

It's my youngest's birthday! Today he is two years old. I can hardly believe it! Two years ago on Thanksgiving, I had my thanksgiving dinner in the hospital. I guess "what goes around, comes around" would be the appropriate cliche here! Considering that it was thirty five years ago yesterday that my mom had her Thanksgiving dinner in the hospital. : )

I have a lot to be thankful for in my son CD. He is such a delight. He is in that curious stage where he tests and tries out everything. Including my limits! What a joy it is to watch him learn and grow more each day. You just can't turn your back on him for more than two seconds!

Take last night, for example. Everyone was brushing their teeth in the bathroom so I proceded to pick up for a few minutes. The next thing I knew, here comes a very blue CD covered in toothpaste! He looked like Papa Smurf! What happened to all his older brothers and sisters that were helping in the bathroom?

Not a dull moment with a two year old in the house! I love him to pieces though. Some people call it the "terrible twos". I call it the "terrific twos."

Happy Birthday CD...mommy loves ya!

It's a Wonderful Life

35 years ago today on Thanksgiving, my mom was on her way to the hospital. Yes...35 years ago! Get it out of your system...I know you want to tell me I'm old. ; ) I don't feel old though. I feel like I am in the best part of life.

• I have a wonderful husband whom I've been married to for 14 years. I admire him more with each passing day.
• I have 5 wonderful children. Each and every one of them is a blessing to me. We had parent teacher conferences yesterday and I don't mind telling you how great it is to hear my kids' teachers boast about how great they are!
• I come from a wonderful family, and I'm blessed with wonderful in-laws. Even though we live in separate parts of the state, I am close with them and love them dearly.
• I live in a wonderful house. We were blessed to find this house when we moved here. It has plenty of space for our family and a great, fenced in, back yard for the kids and our dog Max to play.
• I am surrounded by wonderful friends. They rejoice with me when I am happy, and pray with me when I am down. I am thankful for the ones that I can call up and meet for coffee, as well as my support network that can meet with me through e-mail, phone calls, and blogging!
• I serve a wonderful God. He has shown me time and again how much He loves me. In turn, I am grateful that He uses me to share His love with others.

Happy Birthday to Me! It's a wonderful life! Thanks for being a part of it! : )

Getting Ahead in the Game

Coffee Break!!!! It's been a busy morning. My day started by nursing a sick kiddo. Funny, didn't he just have the flu last month? If I recall correctly, he's the one who started all this illness, and now, it's come back around to him again. "What goes around, comes around." That's my BC for ya. And since it started last night, he's yesterday's cliche.

Where was I? Oh yah. Today's small thing. After I dropped my kids off at school I took my shopping list and made my way to the grocery store to beat the Thanksgiving rush. It was a great feeling to get just about everything I need for Thanksgiving dinner. I will need a few fresh items from the store as it gets closer, but I'm on the ball for the most part.

Last year I wanted to smoke a turkey but I realized that UH! OH! The turkey needs to marinate in the brine for 24 hours, and then cook for 15! That wasn't going to happen when my turkey was still frozen the day before Thanksgiving. So this year I made sure to plan in advance. My turkey is defrosting in the fridge and I have everything I need for the brine. I'll start the process on Tuesday, and by Thursday, we will have started a new family tradition. Yay! I just hope it turns out ok.

I'm taking a coffee break in between household chores and parent/teacher conferences. I scheduled all three PTC's on the same day because I wanted to get them out of the way and Fridays are my husband's day off. That means that one of us can go to the conference and the other can stay home with kiddos. Somewhere in the midst of all that, we have to pick up my brother in law at the airport. Like I said, busy day. But it sure is nice to stop and have coffee for a few minutes.

Well, it's "back to the grind" for me! Hmmm....maybe I'll go grind some more coffee! That Rachel Anne! Now she's got me doing it! : )

Enjoy your coffee girls! Have a great weekend!

Ten Things Tuesday

This is the time of year that the word "thankful" comes to life. In school, my kids are studying the history behind Thanksgiving. In church they are learning about gratitude; expressing their thanks to others around them. At home, we are talking about being thankful for family, and for a roof over our heads, and food on our table. We are trying to teach them that Thanksgiving is not just a holiday that happens once a year. It is something that needs to happen every day.

This week my list is a little random, but I am thankful for the little things!

1. I'm thankful for my new toaster from my mom. No more burned toast!
2. I'm thankful for gloves, hats, and warm coats in this cold, crispy weather!
3. I'm thankful my husband, who helps me pile five kids into the van in the morning so I can get them to school.
4. I'm thankful for electricity. It's getting dark early here now and it's nice to have lights to turn on instead of using candles like back in pioneer days.
5. I'm thankful for my washer/dryer. I may never be caught up on Mt. Washmore, but at least I am blessed with my own appliances to use while I try!
6. I'm thankful for soap. It seems like we wash our hands a thousand times a day here. What would we do without antibacterial hand soap???
7. I'm thankful for glasses/contacts. I can see so much more clearly with them!
8. I am thankful for trash cans. Where else would all of those used kleenex go?
9. I am thankful for the dishes that we have to eat on, and the dishwasher that cleans them every night. It may be half size, but that means half the amount of dishes to unload every morning!
10. I am thankful for toothbrushes and toothpaste. Two of my kids went to see the dentist yesterday and everything checked out great. The dentist was impressed at how clean their teeth were for a 4 and 5 year old. :)

There you have it. I will leave you with one last thought today. I am thankful for the God-given ability to recognize and acknowledge all that I have to be thankful for! Even the little things.

I Thess. 5:18 Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will]. (Amplified Bible)

Company Girl Coffee

I just have to say, that I have been enjoying visiting all of you for Company Girls Coffee this morning. So much, in fact, that I had to get a second cup! : ) There is a lot of wisdom and insight to glean from all of you! I love the honesty that is put into your posts and really enjoy taking time to look into your lives and get to know you a little better. It makes me feel like I'm not so alone in many areas of my life. Thanks for sharing! This Company Girl is glad you do, and I consider myself blessed to know you!

Yesterday was a very busy day for me, so I didn't get time to post until now. I want to pay special attention to this month's verse. I already posted it once, stating how much I am comforted by it, but I didn't go into why.

Zephaniah 3:17

The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.

My favorite part of that verse is "He will rejoice over you with singing." You see, I am married to a Worship Pastor. He has a lot of other gifts that God has blessed Him with, but I am not exaggerating when I say that he is truly anointed by God to lead worship. There has never been a time when God has not used him to lead me straight into the sanctuary to worship at His throne. Many times over, I have felt God's presence, and known, that even when I felt so consumed that I had no voice, He was singing over me during that sweet time of worship. Comforting me. Healing me. Quieting me with His love. He is so good that way.

I am so blessed to be married to a man who loves worship. I have always loved to sing and make music in my heart to the Lord. Ever since I was a little girl. I know that's why God gave me my DH...So that we could worship HIM together.

Today, in keeping with yesterday's small thing, I'm going to make sure that my DH has a relaxing day of fun! He deserves it!

May you feel God rejoicing over you with singing this week,
Melissa

From Pumpkins to Pie

From This:
To This:

I am no Betty Crocker, but I just had to take a quick minute to share about my recent adventure in cooking with my Sister-in-Law. She and I sometimes like to take on projects together in the kitchen. One summer it was canning peaches. This fall, it happened to be making pumpkin pie from scratch.

Last month I got my kids four small pumpkins from the grocery store to decorate. When I looked on the bottom of them, there was a recipe for pumpkin pie. The recipe said "Easy Pumpkin Pie," but I am not sure it could be qualified as easy. It took us all afternoon to complete the task. The results were well worth it though. When we were done we had three delicious, made-from-scratch-with-love, pumpkin pies!

Thanks for trying something new with me La! Cooking with company is always twice as much fun! : )

10 Things Tuesday

In celebration of my 4yr old's birthday, I will be writing my 10 things about her today! : ) Happy Birthday kiddo! You'll always be my Care Bear! I love you very much.

1. Four years ago today I was blessed with my fourth child. I love her so much. I am so thankful that she was born.
2. I love her smile. There's something mischievous behind it. It's very contagious. I am so thankful that she can make me smile, especially when I'm feeling down.
3. I am thankful that she is content to play by herself or entertain her little brother when I need to get some things done around the house.
4. She's very curious. Always wondering how things work and asking lots of questions. I am thankful for her desire to learn.
5. I am thankful for hugs and kisses! Any time I get ready to go out the door, and every morning when her daddy gets ready to go out the door, she runs with open arms yelling "hugs and kisses!"
6. I am thankful that the first thing she wanted to do this morning after opening her presents was share her puzzle with her brothers and sister. What a sweet thing to do!
7. I am thankful for and amazed at the imagination she has! She doesn't need a lot of toys. She takes what she has and turns it into whatever she wants to play. I love to watch her and sometimes play along.
8. I am thankful for her love of music. She loves all different kinds of music and wants to listen to music all day long.
9. She adores her big sister. I am so thankful that she was born a girl...and I'm sure her sister is too! Even with three years between them, they love to play princess and have tea parties and retreat to their room to play together away from the boys. I'm so thankful they get along the way they do.
10. Most of all, I'm thankful for the God given gift of raising this precious child. She is so dear to my heart, as are all of my other children.

Thank you, Lord, for the gift You've given me in each of my children. I am reminded with every birthday of the incredible privilege of being a parent. You answered my prayers for children, just as You did for Hannah. For this, my heart rejoices in You.

-1 Samuel 2:21 "And the LORD was gracious to Hannah; she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters."