Thankful Thursday, week 60

This week I am thankful for....
~Fun with Tori creating things Wednesday.
~Music notes.
~Coming to the end of a book we have been trying to read for a year. We enjoyed the book, but it is also nice to know how it ends ;).
~Feather dusters.
~Tatted split rings, and the fun new pattern I made using them. I'll wait to show what it looks like until it is up on the Hidden Treasures site, though ;).
~Peter's snuggles.
~A chat with a very dear friend Wednesday :).
~Trips to the park.
~Our back yard.
~Fun with the camera :).
~That somebody looked at our house yesterday...
~Crazy yarn,
~being used on the birthday present Emmi asked for... I thought it was so sweet that she had a specific request!
~Lime chicken soft tacos :).
~Tori's sense of humor, heeheehee :)...
~Beading wire waiting to be used.
~Singing hymns together in the car.
~Abbi's excitement at "playing chess" with Tori.
~Peter's love of all things music.
~This last day to finish up all the items for the next auction, get ready for Emmi's birthday tomorrow, and get everything ready for Daddy to come home tonight :). We're going to be busy!
~And my last Thankful Thursday post here...

"Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord from the heavens;

praise him in the heights!"

                          ~Psalms 148:1

Thankful "Thursday", week 59

I have had so much to be thankful for over the past week (and a half... I'm late again, very! ;P...). It is kind of hard to know where to start!..
~That Daddy may (may...) have found a house to rent in VA. As long as we're approved, he found one ;). We'll see...
~And the time we had with him last week.
~The fun outing that Mommy and I took.
~The time at the park we had as a family while Daddy was home (due to someone looking at the house...).
~That the Lord has given us the ability to cook.
~That we finished the yard the other day before we got the call...
~... that somebody was coming to look at our house. I am always thankful when someone looks at it. Now I am even more thankful that they usually give us more than forty-five minutes to leave ;). But now we know how fast we can leave the house when we need to! Haha ;)!
~The flowers on our squash plants!
~And the pea pods on the pea plants :).
~The yummy rolls Tori made us the other day!
~The book "So Much More", by Anna Sophia and Elizabeth Botkin.
~Cinnamon Swirl bread.
~Music.
~All the special blessings that the Lord sends when you least expect it.
~Notes of encouragement.
~Being able to read through Exodus with Bethi :). (I'm caught up again, yay! Thankful for that, too :).)
~The funny little dance Peter does when he sees ice cream, heeheehee :).
~Being able to sit down and draw. Even if it is just something small, I really enjoy it. And while designing a card earlier, I got really eager to do something more "time consuming" ;), with art again :). Maybe after Emmi's birthday (coming up June 1st) :)!
~Sunflowers.
~The lettuce that we were able to eat straight from the garden today :). If we have to still be here to take care of the garden, at least we're getting the benefits!
~Fun tatting this afternoon!... tatting a bookmark for the next Hidden Treasures auction :). There are still four whole days until that starts, if you want to send something in :)!

"Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!"

                                                    ~1 Chronicles 16:10

Thankful Thursday, week 58

This week I am especially thankful for...
~Mixes.
~The adventures of Abbi... more importantly, that she has survived those adventures.
~Our fifteen passenger van :)...
~...That we were able to clean last night ;)...
~The Peake railroad trails.
~A picnic and hike with dear friends.
~That my siblings and our friends were able to get such a kick out of finding some sun-bleached bones on the trails today ::shudder::...
~Tiny hands in mine.
~Lavender spray (it smells good, and is an insect repellant!)
~Wild strawberries.
~That our peas have flowers on them... so fun :)!
~Also, I think our bell pepper plants are coming up :).
 ~Lighters...
 ~Sewing needles.
 ~That somebody else looked at our house tonight :).
~That I was able to finish copying out the last chapter of the second half of Romans today :).
~That we can trust God to save us by faith, and do not have to work for our salvation.
~All the forms of writing that are open for those who love to write :)... of which group I happen to be a member (oh, side note to prove my point: Mommy was printing two recipes for a friend. She got the first one, off of Tammy's Recipes, and save the file as "Homemade bread"... then saved mine, which is our altered version (which I wrote for a friend and posted on my blog), "Bri's monologue"...)
~The books I have been enjoying lately :).
~Quotes like this...

"What I need is a more thankful heart to the 

"Giver of every good and perfect gift"

         ~"Stonewall" Jackson, to his bride

           "Beloved Bride", by William Potter

~That Daddy is on his way home!

 "Bless the LORD, all his works, 

in all places of his dominion. 

Bless the LORD, O my soul!"

                         ~Psalms 103:22

Late Thankful Thursday, week 57

This week I am thankful for...
~Butterflies...

~Recipe websites.
~Mommy :)!
~That Tori and I actually did quite well sneaking items into the cart for Mother's day last week. That shocked ME more than it did Mommy, haha! It was fun to actually surprise her :).
~Getting in the kitchen with the little ones to bake.
~Their enjoyment in doing activities like that with me :).
~Fresh biscuits.
~Emmi's dainty little self. She was trying to help me make some french toast Sunday, and I was letting her dip the bread and place it the pan. I wish you could have seen how she gingerly took two little fingers and tried to do it without getting too much of that "goo" on her ;)!
~Emmi's new milestone- no more diapers for her, haha :)!
~That there is a reason to rejoice no matter what :)!
~That muffins adapt fairly well to egg substitutes :). I am pleasantly surprised by that fact :).
~Getting to read through the bible with Bethi :). I'll try to have more on that later :).
~The next Hidden Treasures auction, that starts on June first, to help two little ones make their way home to their forever family :)!
~"Beloved Bride", a book with the letters of "Stonewall" Thomas Jackson to his wife. I have meant to read this book for a couple years, since watching "Gods and Generals", and just finally got into it Sunday night. I am enjoying learning more about him, and the letters are beautiful :).
~The ten Boom family's testimony. Tori has been reading the book lately, so she asked Mommy if we could watch that Sunday night. It is such an amazing story, even when you have heard it before!...
~The yummy meal Bethi made us the other night :)!

~The smell of tomato plants.
~The peas in our garden.... they are so pretty :)...
~That you learn something new every time you read a passage of scripture.
~Lessons from the Lord.
~So many littles things... a certain smile... a comment... laughter... a promise... so much...

"And whatever you do, in word or deed, 

do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,

giving thanks to God the Father through him."

                                              ~ Colossians 3:17

Oh, and... check it out :)! My Mom is taking blogging back up again at "For Where Your Treasure Is" :)!!!

Thankful Thursday, week 56

So, I didn't post on Thursday last week. I thought about writing a thankful Thursday early, on Wednesday, but then got busy, and didn't think of it again until Friday! I figured it was about time to get this up, since tomorrow is Thursday again ;)... so here are just a few of the things I have to be grateful for :)...
~Bethi, a gift for eight years now :).
~Time with Tori, creating cupcake designs, making a mess of the kitchen, and using far too many icing tips, which then needed washed, haha!
~Romans 9-16... Katie and are a back into studying Romans, and loving every minute of it :)!
~The blessing the Lord has placed in my life in my parents and their guidance!
~Special friendships the Lord has given me.
~A great time with our friends last Friday :).
~A day spent making strawberry jam and fresh bread, laughing and talking, and, ahem, cleaning up a very big mess ;).
~Growing plants in the garden.
~Hands to pull weeds... haha!
~Honeysuckle :).
~Trees.
~The movement of the clouds, I always love watching them when you can tell they are moving :).
~Learning more about God's wonderful creations.
~Homemade chocolate sauce ;)...
~Rain for the garden.
~Bright sunshine to dry the yard.
~Bunnies all over the yard :)... (still haven't caught one yet, though ;)...)
~The sight of Peter toddling all around :)!
~Picking up sign language again (yes, still working on that..)
~Emmi's excitement for her upcoming birthday.
~And verses of praise, such as this one...

"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    for his steadfast love endures forever!"

                                   ~Psalms 118:1

I'll try my very best to come back tomorrow with this week's thankful thoughts, on time ;)...

Thankful Thursday, on Saturday, again... week 55 :)

We've had an interesting week, to say the least! Peter's first birthday was on the 23d, and Daddy made it home to celebrate it with us, so that was a great blessing :). I'll have a post up, hopefully within the next few day, for his birthday pictures :).
Daddy had to leave the morning after Peter's big day, while we started getting ready for a family to come and look at our house that evening. We did lots of yard work (and I broke the fence, although it was repairable... that terrified me for a minute ;).), before we found out that they will be coming next week, instead. So, I finished up outside, then came inside to get cleaned up and make some granola bars, complete with chocolate chips ;). We visited some friends we hadn't seen for a few months the next morning, and we had a great time with them :). We then took a very interesting shopping trip, going without a list for the first time in so long that I can't even say when the last time was, along with many other interesting incidents along the way :P. After we got home, we worked some more on the fence, planted a bush, put away the groceries, and put the little ones down for quite time, which they greatly needed by this time :P. Tori and I played a few games during quiet time, but as soon as we were done, I promptly crashed just in time for the little ones quiet time to be over, haha. I started supper when I woke up, and got the bright idea (yep, another one) to make, not only a double recipe of the spaghetti sauce I was making, but also to cook up all the hamburger we bought that morning, and make a meal of creamy italian chicken, all at the same time, heeheehee. We then had a "furry creature" in our garage, which led me to doing a quick clean up of our inside fridge, so that I could put the meals I just made in here rather than our outside fridge, which we're not very thrilled at the idea of taking a trip to ;). We cleaned up the huge mess I made in the kitchen, got the little ones in bed, and sat down to watch a movie, during which Bethi woke up sick, which happened a total of five times that night, along with Abbi having a dream that terrified her. We ended up breaking into the granola bars I had made for emergency "we're ten minutes from your house, can we come look at it" calls, and worked in the garden again, which is growing weeds even faster than peas, and those were up in two days! It has been very interesting, slightly hectic, and very, very busy, haha!!!
But, despite one "calamity" after the other, there are still these, and many other, things to be thankful for (such as getting many laughs at the ridiculousness of the past few days ;).)...
~Big boy Peter, 1 year old :)!
~Abbi's great job learning the crochet chain stitch last week.
~That Daddy was able to make it home for several days over the weekend, not just Peter's birthday :).
~Daddy's help with my tatting. It is amazing how much he can help without knowing exactly how it works (and it is equally amazing how long it takes me to understand his suggestions, heeheehee :)...)
~Historical sights :).
~Picnics.
~Peter's delight in the lamb I knit him... too sweet!!!!
~Peter's little hands working on "working" with his new Melissa and Doug toolbox fill-and-spill :).
~Visits with friends.
~A beautiful yard.
~Lots of flowers around the house.
~That we own a steam cleaner.
~Fresh fruit cake.
~A shrinking to-do list, haha ;)...
~"Little laughables" (I've got a few to share sometime soon ;)...).
~Fun with little ones, watering plants, pulling weeds, reading books :).
~Meals sitting in the fridge to be pulled out when we're in a hurry.
~A clean house.
~And, (Daddy should find this especially impressive), I did not burn our grilled cheese sandwiches yesterday ;).
~Tori's help in counting a couple hundred books that we hope to sell soon, haha!
~That each day takes us closer to the day that we'll be in VA!

Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, 

and give thanks at the 

remembrance of his holiness. 

                                       ~Psalm 30:4

Thankful Thursday, week 54

Thursday is here again! It seems like it can't have been a whole week yet, but I have been eager to write this since last Friday- it's one of my favorite blog "chores" :)! This week I am thankful for...
~Daddy's longer-than-usual visit home this weekend :)!
~That God is in control of this situation, today  and everyday.
~Coffee. Caffeine is good for your memory! I am sticking with my joke that this is the reason that I am finding Romans easier to memorize than some other passages have been for me in the past- while Katie and I were reading through Romans together, I would often sip some coffee while I read ;).  (Gives me a good excuse for drinking it ;).)
~Speaking of which... I am thankful that Katie and I decided to go ahead and memorize Romans 1-7 while it was still fresh in our minds- I am enjoying it immensely!
~This "last week" with a little baby in the house... Peter's birthday is next Wednesday...
~And he is now graduating into being our walking toddler, with many instances of five+ steps in a row under his belt... bittersweet milestones, sniff, sniff :)...
~Visits with friends, who we hadn't seen for two years (they moved back here last October). We had such a blessed time with them, and some of you may like to know...
~... that this is the family that many of you joined us in prayer for two years ago, right after they moved... and that the Lord is continuing to heal Miss Rhonda further than the doctors ever thought possible!!!
~Millefori (that word isn't even in my spell check, haha!) beads- Tori is awesome ;). They are beautiful clay beads... I'll have to post a picture when she is finished :).
~Another work day in the yard that now looks much better :).
~Little plants coming up in the garden we planted last Saturday (Bethi's peas were up by Monday!) :).
~Lots of yarn to use over the next... several years ;).
~Cleaners.
~Rags.
~That it looks like I might have officially mastered tatted split rings, INCLUDING ones with picots, which were proving more difficult than plain rings!
~Gentle rain...
~...coupled with bright sun. I love that combination almost as much as heavy rain and a thunderstorm :).
~Azalea plants.
~Encouragement to keep recording my blessings.
~Animal crackers... Emmi LOVES the song "Animal Crackers in My Soup", so it was fun to give her some for the first time the other day :).
~To-do lists (is that odd? I love marking stuff off, haha! Bethi is even more list minded than I am, though, and I used to think that I was pretty hard to beat ;).)
~The smell of supper drifting through the house, the sound of little ones playing, and a houseful of loved ones :)... I'm going to go help clean up the kitchen a bit before supper now, with some of the blessings God has graciously  given me to be thankful for!...

Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice,

O righteous, and shout for joy,

all you upright in heart!

                                ~Psalms 32:11

Thankful Thursday, week fifty-two ~Celebrating a year of Thursdays :).

Tomorrow will be exactly a year since I posted my first Thankful Thursday :)! In honor of that I am posting this on a Thursday ;). Big accomplishment, huh?!
No, seriously now. I was wondering if, maybe, some of you would like to help me celebrate! I know that several of my friends have told me they have started/want to start posting Thankful Thursday posts over this past year, and I wondered if anybody wanted to do that this week :). You could link to your post in the comments, and we could all have fun counting our blessings together! What do you say :)?... (And yes, this should have come earlier in the day... I'm sorry!)
This week I'm thankful for....
~Being able to read through blessings that I may have otherwise forgotten a year ago :).
~Rain.
~Yard work.
~Peter's enjoyment of dirt- that was sooo cute :).
~Clouds.
~That the weed eater started yesterday, haha. I had to call Daddy, but it finally obeyed, haha.
~Jasmine flowers... Tori found some in the woods :). Since all the stuff in the retention pond was cut down, I was worried that we wouldn't have any this year, and it was looking like that would be true. Tori got the idea to check in the woods, and found some :). Now we just have to get back there and cut enough to dry some :).
~Our iLumina software :).
~This challenge. I am really looking forward to getting the magazine (The King's Blooming Rose) that Sarah Bryant puts out!
~Getting to make hair clips with Bethi this week for the auction :). It was kind of stressfull knowing people are paying money for them, since I'd never made them before, but it was fun :).
~Resurrection Sunday- and, more importantly, what it stands for :) Praise Jesus for his death and resurrection for us!
~Cinnamon rolls. Oh, nobody has heard about my baking experience last Sunday, have they?... I am almost done writing a three part series, to be posted one at a time, with that story....
~That we were able to fix our washer (again!!!)
~Egg-less Peanut Butter cookies. We are trying not to give Abbi eggs, and I really wanted some PB cookies. I was so glad that I had a recipe from one of my friends (a former pen pal :).) and her sister :).
~And egg-less muffins. We can still do Muffin Morning Mondays!
~Blogging classes- Mommy signed us up for one earlier this week. We'll see what happens after we're done with it. I'm not sure yet how much will change around here :).
~A little one's delight at hearing their name in a book.
~The first butterfly of the year :).
~Getting to take a little one out to check the mail.
~Peter's little voice.
~A year of thankful thoughts :)!...

 “‘I saw the Lord always before me,
for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;
  therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
my flesh also will dwell in hope."

                                                    ~Acts 2:25-26

Thankful Monday... thankful thoughts for week 47, 48, 49, 50, and 51 and sneaking in some extra for weeks 43 and 44...

I knew that I had missed a couple of Thursdays (and not caught up when I next posted one), but you would not believe how long it took to figure out which ones!!! From now on it must be a rule that the title includes the week number in the title if I decide that I still want to keep numbering them, because it is too difficult to find a post with a "week...." in the title, which usually ends up being three months old, and then finding out where I am at, especially since I rarely post on Thursday... But I really would like to keep numbering them, because I do want to write down thankful thoughts for each week, and I'd never know where I was at if I didn't number them... sigh. :) Go ahead, just tell me that I wouldn't have this problem if I posted "Thankful *Thursday*" posts on (every) Thursday. Heeheehee :)...
Without farther rambling ;), eight weeks worth of thankful thoughts...

~That our house is on the market!
~That we had someone come look at the house the first weekend! I don't think it is going anywhere on their part, but it was encouraging, haha...
~And that we had someone else after that.
~And that we're scheduled to have more tomorrow.
~Garlic presses.
~Knitting needles coupled with garlic presses.
~And homeschool opera coupled with that. (I still have to giggle every time I think off the Sunday we came home starved and decided to combine these last three things... but that is something that you just can't describe. Heehee ;)...)
~God's beautiful designs.
~Heirlooms.
~Grains of sand.
~Tori's microscope.
~That we are done with Tori's claymation... relief! Haha :)...
~Bible covers... maybe more later :).
~Being able to custom make items.
~The Hour Glass cable...
~That I think I have mastered said Hour Glass cable.
~God's grace in always extending sanctification to us. Even if it isn't given in the way we would choose as best, can you imagine if we always stayed in our current state?
~Peter's haircut.
~That nobody was seriously injured in the multiple car accidents that happened to members of our church over the last few weeks.
~For Miss Brenda's generosity and visit a couple weeks ago :).
~That my blog background came back... I'm not sure why, and I'm not sure how. I'm also not complaining ;). I just pulled it up and was scrolling through, and then thought "Wait a minute! wasn't that still missing last time I looked?" Haha :)... It does appear to have changed, though. I'm still trying to decide if I'll just try to get used to that, or go through the work of changing it again...)
~The teaching of my parents.
~The way the Lord has been working in our lives.
~The Hidden Treasures auctions, and the families that they help bring precious children into :)."A Trio of Heroes" opens up for bidding on the first of April!
~And that Chad, mentioned on theblessingofverity.com, has a family!
~Peter-bug's new trick... (will this count as that cruising video you have been at me to post for months now, K? I'm sorry it took me so long to fulfill my promise, haha :)...)

 ~Homemade ice cream.
~New pizza recipes.
~Cauliflower.
~Leaf bugs.
~Laughing...
~While learning with the four year old,
~While working,
~Or just because :)...
~The Englishman, St. Patrick, and his ministry through Christ to Ireland, which is the true reason that March 17th is celebrated :)...
~Cinnamon rolls... with green icing, heehee. We don't do to much on St. Patrick's day, but we eat cinnamon rolls while we watch a cartoon about his ministry.

~My little bed-buddy, Emmi,
~and her love to have me "read just one chapter of the bible. Please? Just one?"
~The many games that Tori and I have had time for together lately :).
~Games like "Life",
~"Deal",
~And chess... which it had been far to long since we had played... heeheehee! I never thought to dust the came boards...

~Being able to try new things.
~Which happened to be muffins, a couple weeks ago :). Cocoa banana muffins (with oatmeal in them :) ) are pretty good :).
~Ideas from my Grandma (Mommy's Mom) for a make-ahead breakfast that is tasty and filling- breakfast burritos. Believe me or not, we hadn't tasted these until earlier this year!
~And ideas from Gramma (Daddy's Mom) for yummy muffins :).
~Peter's love for stuffed animals- it is sooo sweet! I have never seen another eleven month old that loved (all!) stuffed animals like he does!
~Llamas.
~Family mottos ;)...
~Letters to write (I have one I should finish up and send tomorrow :)... Fun!).
~Having made a good start on organizing letters that I have meant to get to for forever. I'm about half done :P...
~Plain pre-cut cards.
~Fun decorating them.
~Creative craft ideas.
~Having lots of little odds and ends of yarn... I have decided that I really want to make a project that I have know of for a while, but haven't known just how to do... I'm pretty sure I know how now, so I want to try to figure that out with spare bits of yarn this week if I have time, test it out before I decide if I really want to do what I really have been thinking of.
~Inexpensive "just for fun"gift ideas.
~Downloadable conference sessions :).
~Online sermons.
~That it is not our working, but Christ's, that saves us.
~Our weekly hymns.
~Thunderstorms.
~Electricity.
~Little things...
~Spoons,
~Pencils,
~Scrap paper,
~Frog pictures from Gramma,
~Abbi's love for them,
~Special colored washcloths that are used for certain things... blue, green, and purple... perfect. Now where is the ice cream?... (Figure that one out ;).)
~Extra straws for our special cups... the straws aren't exactly free from being breakable, haha, and Peter has a strong grip...
~Larger things....
~Christ's love for us.
~My family.
~God's plan for our family, even if it is hard to go without knowing what that exactly is at times. ~Heaters. Especiallythe last day of winter (yup, it took SC that long to figure out it was winter... heeheehee ;).). It was sixty-two degrees. In South Carolina. Inside. And I was the only one complaining. I must be whiny, and the rest of our family must be crazy. Heeheehee ;).
~That our computer is working this week- hey, I had an excuse for my tardiness week before last for Thankful Thursday. Our computer wasn't working all day Thursday, haha... (sound familiar, Joy? Heehee... sadly, this is the first time I've had a real excuse other than being out of town, though, so the rest of the time I've just been lazy...)
~That we were able to finish organizing all our CD's with pictures on them.
~Spring!
~Pansies.
~Daffodils.
~Bunnies.
~Gardening.
~Hoes.
~Watering cans.

~Daddy's being home a couple weeks ago... can you tell that that always thrills us :)?
~And that he was back this weekend, also!!!!!!
~Emmi's little voice pronouncing words we didn't know she knew.
~Coupled with her awesome face expressions... she's adorable!
~Sweet sisterhood.

~Cheese. Which we usually have more of than this... needless to say, we took a shopping trip the next day ;).

~Laundry helpers.

~That, although the washer and dryer have given us many problems over the past few months, the repairs have all been fairly easy and haven't taken too long to fix. We are beginning to joke that they know when Daddy is coming home, though, because they have broken down mostly the day Daddy gets back to SC, regardless of when that is :P...
~Oh, but they didn't break down this weekend!
That it does look like I might be making a good start to memorizing Romans 1-8 through reading it so many times :). I am so thankful that Katie took me on and decided to do this with me, and that she suggested memorizing it :).
~That I am also done writing out the first eight chapters, that was so fun!
~And that I didn't have to totally re-memorize Philippians 1:27-3:3. I was afraid I hadn't worked on solidifying that passage long enough, especially since I never meant to take a break from memorizing it :P. I'm happy that it did seem to stick, and I am looking forward to getting back into the habit :).
~Sneaking this in just for fun, because I heard that Daddy laughed at me because of how many times I mentioned a variation of chocolate in my thankful thoughts for Christmas... Chocolate.
~Caramel with chocolate.
~Chocolate sauce.
~Anything chocolate. (Shall I go on? ;)...)
~Ohhh, I know! Healthy, good for you coconut chocolate!
~Or a chocolate smoothie?
~Cucumbers. Eating something healthy before the chocolate makes it okay, right ;)? (Shhh... I know it doesn't, don't burst my bubble ;). Does it count that I love dark chocolate ;)?)
~Little brooms...
~...and dust pans.
~That are just the right size for this little helper :)...

~Memory games... played wrong, but, hey, Abbi got a kick out of it, haha! So did I ;)...
~Christ's resurrection.
~Biblical documentaries on aspects of Christ's resurrection.
~Fun examples of Christ's resurrection...

~Marshmallows. (You put the marshmallows inside the sweet roll, and it melts, signifying the empty tomb :).)
~"The Ben Carson Story". This was a wonderful movie on Dr. Ben Carson...
~Who happened to speak at the National Prayer Breakfast.
~With a Bible. There is a video online. It was wonderful :)!
~Also, if you want to hear a little background before you listen to those, and don't have the movie, you can listen to this...
~Peter's first independent steps this Monday afternoon... Stinker. He missed walking while Daddy was home by about twelve hours... And, of course, he hasn't even taken any since then... double stinker :P...
~Star-gazer lilies.

~Cameras (which I wished I had had last Wednesday...).
~Pleasant days.
~Parks.
~Slides.
~Strollers.
~Sticks :)...
~Rocks :) :)...
~Which bring such delight to little ones :).
~Creeks.
~"Poohsticks". It works better in water that actually runs though ;).
~Binoculars.
~Special vases.
~Lessons from flowers (you can see a review I wrote on a book with a lot of lessons from flowers here.)
~Opening blossoms.
~Miss Roberta's generosity in leaving us a meal the other day :).
~Nap times :)...
~Wood...
~Marbles...
~...and Andrew's "inventions" :)...

~Mechanical pencils, haha...
~Sewing coming up.
~A study on economics.
~Ducks. (There are some in the retention pond "next door", although they will probably move to the big  pond about a mile away once warmer weather hits and the retention pond dries up. But they are fun to have here for now :).)
~Poems.
~Tori's wonderful drawing :).

~Fresh bread (Thanks Tori :)!).
~History.
~Theology books.
~Being able to read the revised "Summer with the Moodys".
~Bethani's diligence at knitting a hat for Peter's birthday this afternoon. Five inches down, three more to go :)!

Taken this afternoon (Friday...), after she

 finished it in only two days :)!

~Little reminders from God to "take time"... To say a prayer, talk to a sibling,  help with a project, count my blessings, or any number of other things, I need to learn to slow down and enjoy my blessings.
~Thursdays.
~Life.
~Thankful thoughts.
~Abbi's grin.
~Peter's giggle, and
~Emmi's delight in his hugs.
~Tori's companionship.
~Andrew's detail in coloring, and
~Bethi's jokes.
~Hugs from Daddy, and
~Talks with Mommy.
~Joy.
~The color purple.
~Emmi's exclamation the other day that "Look Mommy! Two of my hairs went up when I bounced!" ( I told you her hair was short ;)...)
~Clementines.
 ~Lemons.

~Commentaries.
~Creative carrying systems, heeheehee...(he has the cup handle hooked to his shirt.)

~"Little Mother", reading to her babies...

~All that I have to be thankful for...
~And that I am caught up and finishing writing this post on Thursday!... Oh, wait. I am done writing it on Thursday... but it is 11:52 p.m. And I still have to edit it, add links, and pictures. Since there is still no way that you will read this on Thursday, as Friday comes in eight minutes... I'm going to go to bed and embellish it on Friday, when you may hopefully read it ;). I promise I was finished writing it on Thursday, though!

"Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, 

and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!"

                                                    ~Psalms 32:11

(And now here you really have it!)

Thankful Thursday ;)...

This week I'm thankful for...
~(Daddy is home!)
~Daffodils.
~Swings. Peter had so much fun swinging in a swing the other day when we went...
~...Geo-caching with Grandpa.

 Love that face... he is so sweet!!!

~Romans 1-8.
~Being able to memorize passages of Scripture.
~Peter's love for food that has become very apparent this last week (not too long ago, he would gag on almost everything, but right before we went to Grandma's, he decided he liked food, and you should have seen him go after Grandma's blondies! It was so funny!)
~Homemade donuts... these donuts Aunt Tessa made with Bethani and Andrew were delicious!
~Maple glaze... Mommy has talked for years about the donuts Grandpa used to get for her family when she was little that had maple glaze on them, and she can't find them now. It sounds like these taste very similar, which she was very excited about :). I have to say they were really good with the glaze (and,by the way, these are gluten free, and still delicious!

~Bible recordings.
~And Mommy's suggestion to listen to them while uploading pictures onto my blog. Such a wonderful idea! We usually read the ESV bible, although we read a couple other versions occasionally, and this site has audio... http://about.esvbible.org/
~Emmi's dress that "makes her look like Mommy" that she loves so much :)...
~Little ones sharing information they are just bursting to tell.
~New recipes.
~Scrabble.
~Getting to snuggle little ones and read them stories...
~Godly storybooks.
~Proverbs.
~The hymn "When We All Get to Heaven"
~Light bulbs.
~Lasagna... which I need to go make!

 "Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; 

praise him in his mighty heavens!"

                        ~Psalm 150:1

Thankful Thoughts, to make up for the lack of week 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, and 40 (is that it?)...haha :)... (And this is by far the longest title to date.)

(Sorry that this is so late... but I'm getting Thankful Thoughts posted to make up for all the Thankful Thursdays that should have been posted over the holidays :). I am warning you now: Although I started this post two months ago, I only really settled down to write it during the past three days. I enjoyed every bit of it once I decided to just finish it. Which means, it's long ;). I tried to do this as neatly as I can. Most pictures will be in order. The rest of it... probably not so much...)

Just some of the many things that I was grateful for over the holidays (and I'm sneaking in a whole lot of holiday pictures in this one ;).)...

~My parent's choice to home school us.
~Knitting tutorials.
~A working sink ;)!
~Abbi's hair :)...
I can not tell you how badly I wanted to do Abbi's hair for her first two and a half years, when she had just about... none ;). Look at the cute little fish tail Mommy gave her last December :)...

 
~Christmas hymns. 
~Precious girlies.

~Mommy's "new" (at that time, anyway) Pinterest account. We've found some fun ideas, like these bear pancakes :).

~Kitchen helpers :)!

~That Daddy was able to make it home often during the holidays.
~Cranberry sauce... I don't eat it, but it has become tradition for our family. "Listen for the popping sound, everybody! Okay, it's done. *Now*. Time for the sniff. NOW it is Christmas..."
 

~Baby wraps.
~Sweet "monkeys".
~Lights Before Christmas.
~Riverbanks zoo.
~The staff at Riverbanks zoo who work from as early as July to set up Lights Before Christmas for our enjoyment...

~Family fun.
~Neighbors...
~One who gave her time to teach me knitting :). I had fun making the little ones these hats in 2011 :), and I use that knowledge often for gifts!

~Mushrooms.

 ~Kangaroos.

~Pies.
~Cookies.
~Tea towel dresses.
~This sight...

~Corn on the cob.
~Little helpers.
~Corn husk dolls.

 ~Baby's first "Thanksgiving" (you may remember we celebrated the first night of Advent, Thanksgiving, and St. Nicholas day while Daddy was home for a three day visit. )
~Our special holiday plates...

It looks like he likes sweet potatoes...

But Peter's do not like sweet potatoes!

~Family traditions... (How many more people do you think we can fit around this tree to keep this tradition up?!)

~(Emmi) Lou-Who...

~My precious siblings.
~That we are still able to match...

~Chunky cheeks...

~Haha! I forgot about this until I was going through pictures. I am very thankful that we did not have to take the door apart while trying to get the house ready to sell when it got jammed after Bethi and Andrew shut a blanket in it. Haha, Emmi looks FAR too pleased that they can't get out, teeheehee... she also look extremely old in this pictures?!!!

~St. Nicholas Day.
~Tommy's candles. Mommy and Daddy got me one for St. Nichols day :). The Christmas Cabin one smells just like our house does during Christmas baking :)!
~Popcorn.

~Air poppers.

 
~Chili.
~Advent.
~Anticipation.
~Preparation.
~The angel's news.
~The shepherd's example.
~The gift of Christ.
~That Christmas pictures were done three hours from starting- I found that highly amazing, haha! I'll share the one of all us siblings together here...

~The yummy muffins Tori made us for breakfast all by herself (the day of the writing of this thankful thought...) (I am usually the resident muffin maker :).) ... They were delicious, thank you, Tori!!!
~"Feliz Navidad".
~Pianos.
~Free sheet music.
~Christmas candies.
~Christmas baking.
~Butter. Although not thankful enough to sit and do this...

~"Knitting parties". I think. At least, that's what they said. I think it looks more like they are playing Cat's Cradle, or tying each other up... but, whatever it was, it looks like fun ;).

~Yarn.
~Creativity...

~Poinsettias.
~Peter's "early attempts" at talking. Believe me or not, he did say "poinsettia". And "button". And "bye-bye". And all the first week of the new year :). Smart Boy...
 (What we find really funny, is that he looks like Abbi, and acts like her with a bit of Andrew thrown in, not to mention the natural mix of his own little self. Anyway, Abbi didn't talk very well until she almost three. (Emmi started about the same time, actually. I think they motivated each other quite nicely. So nicely, in fact, that for a while there, their communication was so similar, you couldn't trust the voice to know who was who...).)

~Christ's generosity in giving up all, including, for time, God's approval, that we might gain God's approval.
~Generous little ones... she is standing by the tree that she just finished putting *all* her toys under to give to everybody for Christmas ;)... Love her :)!

~Cinnamon rolls.
~Candles.
~Documentaries.
Every Christmas morning, we watch a documentary on the birth of Christ, after we sing happy birthday to Jesus, and blow out the candles on the cinnamon rolls :).

~Our new star, as the old one gave out on us...
~Bows.
~Wrapping paper.
~Mommy and Daddy's decision to make all of our decorations center on Christ... 

Our tree doesn't usually look this good ;). 
We have had somebody around six to eighteen 
months at Christmas time for the past seven years. 
Every time an ornament is snitched off the tree, it gets put 
higher up... which causes the bottom 

half to be kind of bare by Christmas ;).

~Peter's first Christmas.

~Abbi's lion hair :)...

~Little one's excitement.

~Puzzles :)! And really neat ones, too...

~Textured stencils!

~Jewelry kits.

~Rory's Story Cubes... now dubbed "Tori's Story Cubes :). 

~Kisses :).

~Siblings :).

~Giraffes. Abbi got a small giraffe from Grandma and Grandpa, and then a big giraffe from Gramma and Papa Nate. She was so thrilled- now she has a baby and a mama!

~Brushes.

~This P.R.E.C.I.O.U.S face!

~Emmi's squeal of utter delight and ecstasy when she saw these bracelets Bethi picked out for her. She is all girl, you all. You made a good choice, Bethi :). 

 Can you tell who is taking the picture in this picture?...

~Peter's cheeks.

~History books!
~Chocolate.
~Cards.
~Drawing kits.

~Candy :)!

Oh dear... does this look to you like it could be called "Unsuspecting Victims"? Heehee :).

Don't worry, she's just brushing our hair! She is a great multi-tasker...

~Godly science DVDs!
~The Elsie Dinsmore books.

~Tori's new colorful socks, which just delight Emmi and Peter... they are so Tori socks :)...

~This little gift...

~And all the other many gifts I have to be thankful for...
~A family to celebrate with.
~The humility of Christ.

~The Twelve Days of Christmas. (Do you know what each of these things are coded as in the song?)

~The Apostle's Creed.
~The Eleven True Disciples.
~The Ten Commandments.
~The Fruit of the Spirit.
~The Beatitudes
~The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
~The Six Days of Creation.
~The Pentateuch.
~The Gospels.
~Gold, Frankincense, and Myrah.
~The Old and New testament.
~Christ on the Cross.

~Sweetness...

~Peter's first New Years :).

 ~Wood.

~Homemade marshmallows.

~Charcoal. (Did I mention that Bethi got Daddy coal for Christmas? Haha :). Charcoal! It was her own idea, may I add! She asked Mommy if she could "so that he can grill us hamburgers if he wants"- heeheehee ;).) 

 ~The beauty of this flame (from a safe distance ;).)

~Graham crackers.

~Napkins.

~Shoes.

~Little girls who hate sticky fingers... :)...

~Little ones loving to sit with Daddy and toast a marshmallow :)...

~Goofballs ;)...

~Buttons.

~Snowflake cups.
~The New Year.
~Visits with family.
~The wonderful time we had as a family celebrating generosity, thankfulness, life, and the birth of our King!!!!