November~ A Month for Giving Thanks

We've been a bit busy in the regrouping and giving thanks phase of life for the past few weeks that I have not even had a minute to write a new blog post.  I want to kick off one of my *favorite* times of year with giving THANKS.  I am so very thankful these days and want to share it with the world.

This is a repost from 2012 and one of my favorites.  I hope you enjoy it too!
I promise to come back and write a new post on being thankful soon :-)

Enjoy!

Seeking Thanks and Joy Every Day

We have been making many changes around here the past few months.  Some good (most good) and some a little hesitant to make, but, all are necessary changes.  As I write this I am typing from a new spot in my house that I like in theory, but, it is right in the middle of it all and is not very conducive to being all that thoughtful, but, maybe it is supposed to be this way to make sure I am not online for very long, lol!

The changes we are making are mostly home renovations involving moving rooms around, finishing a room (or two) and just really trying to make our home more organized in the long run so it will free up more time to spend with each other.
 2 parents + 3 boys + 1 border collie makes for quite a ruckus most days ;)

While in the midst of all of these changes....I find myself at a standstill to many things I want to do.  I am only able to get to a certain point and then something stops me from completing it.  Nothing major, but, things out of my control.  I have a few things rolling around in my mind that are half done that I would love to complete.  I am trying to look at it from the point of view that maybe it is not supposed to be done that way right now and that God will show me a better way to do these few things.

Either way this has led me to feeling stagnant over the past few weeks and just not as motivated as I would like to be.


So....I have decided to give thanks in the simple every day things that provide so much love and joy in life.  I am thankful for it all, but, sometimes forget to actually offer up thanks for all of the precious gifts that I receive daily.


Sometimes when we get too caught up in doing things our way we can forget the sweet simpleness of life that God intended.


Today I am giving thanks for...

Sweet little boys that hop into bed at 5:30 am to snuggle with his parents

 

 And for boys on the brink of manhood that still like to watch Thomas the Tank Engine with his little brothers.  I know these days are lingering and will most likely not last too much longer :(

Most of all, today I am thankful for finding a dear friend!

 Lovey Dovey could not find his Yoshi last night at bedtime.  Why is it that beloved friends disappear at bedtime?  We searched all over this morning for Yoshi.  I am a little sappy when they lose their lovies.  I feel badly for them and the lost one.  I have been known to make my husband climb into a dumpster to retrieve  Handsome's very first Thomas the Tank Engine train that his grandfather gave him.  Fortunately my dear husband is as sentimental as his wife!

So after many prayers to St. Anthony and an hour of searching, Yoshi is back where he belongs and for that we are THANKFUL.

Happiness Is...

An afternoon outside on a crisp fall day enjoying God's loveliness.

More photos to share soon, but, loved this picture so much I had to post it!

Happy Fall Ya'll

We are enjoying a crisp, but, damp fall so far.  Fall is one of my favorite times of year.  Once I get through the shock of the rapid drop in temperature it is truly enjoyable.  I even decided to spruce things up around here a bit and it makes me want to rush into the kitchen and BAKE!

I have been busy baking lots and lots of yummy fall goodies.
Yummy things like pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin spice cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting, apple pie and fresh bread and sausage bread.

Unfortunately where we live there has been a bit of a drought this summer and as a result we were unable to go on our usual apple picking adventure.  We did head down to the orchard and buy some delicious Cortland apples (my favorite), but, it really wasn't the same as getting all three boys out there to pick...but life goes on :-) 



I think one of the reasons why I enjoy fall so much is the anticipation of Thanksgiving, Advent and Christmas.  I love spring too and summer is wonderful, but, there is something extra special about this time of year as we all gather together and things settle down (as much as one settles with three active boys).  My boys enjoy this time of year too.  We have been counting down to Christmas for the past month and although they are excited about Halloween being so close, really, in their sweet little minds their thoughts have already turned to Christmas. 

My middle son loves to talk about what he loves about Christmas and it is not all about the gifts that he is hoping to get.  He loves the things we do together as a family just as much.  All three love the sounds of the season and I have to admit that we did listen to the CD that I made last year of the Children's Choir over dinner last week and it made everyone very happy.  They all sing in the choir and love to practice the songs and I love that my oldest son loves to play the piano even more when there is Christmas carols involved.


I really did not even intend to come here and talk about Christmas.  Sorry about that!

Like I said, thoughts of fall lead me to thoughts of Advent and Christmas and that is one of my favorite times of the year! 

I am *trying* to plan things in advance this year and not at the last minute too.  I figure I have 82 days to plan and enjoy :-)

Okay....okay enough about Christmas, lol!

Things here are going very well and school has kicked off to a great start.
We are finishing up our first quarter and all of the changes we made have been SO great!  We have changed over to a mostly literature based style of learning and I think they love it as much as I do!  We spend most of our days reading GREAT books and wandering off the path here and there to discover so many things.  It has been lots of fun this year and the change is going well.  We are still trying to work a few kinks out and implement a few more changes, but, all in all it's been very good!

We are also joined a Co-op this year and meet weekly and are all learning Spanish, Science, Art and Music Theory.  We look forward to it each week and we've all made some great new friends! 

I will make a separate post about exactly what we've been doing school wise, but, trust me if you are ever thinking of making a switch to a literature based style of learning it is definitely a great way to go!  The funny thing about what we've been doing is that what we are studying is leading to so many new discoveries and fun places not too far away to check out.  I love that about homeschooling.  You can just pick up and go check places out!  So cool!  The boys love it too.  My husband is getting a kick out of hearing me tell him about something new I discovered that ties into what we are learning, especially when it's a hands on thing we can go see.

I hope everyone is enjoying fall as much as we are!