26, 27 and 28

I'm really not sure what happened. I was on a roll and life got busy:). We were busy trying to finish school and prepare for a couple of tests. The kids enjoyed quite a bit of outside time, which may have included a certain someone sticking his tongue to a frozen pole. A few less tastebuds? That certain someone is doing just fine:).

I'm thankful for Samuel's new tooth! He's sleeping a bit better now. Not that he spends a lot of time awake at night. He just ends up right next to me all night in order to sleep better:). I have to admit that I don't mind. Elyssia does though! She likes to snuggle him at night and complains if I don't put him in her bed after I finish nursing him:).

I'm thankful for warm water in the winter time. The kids all smell really nice after their bath.

I'm thankful for homemade raspberry pies. I made 2, but we're patiently waiting to try them tomorrow afternoon...

I'm thankful for Scott taking care of all 6 kids and letting me go to town for a couple hours this morning. I'm trying to make sure that I have everything for Caleb and Kirk's birthdays next month. It was nice to be able to look around at a leisurely pace.

I'm thankful for the wedding of a special friend today. I'm so excited for her and Matt and pray God's best for them in their future together!

I'm thankful for the promise of meeting the Lord and being reunited with family and friends in Heaven one day! What a day that will be!

Thankfulness Day 25

February is almost over and the day is gorgeous and sunny. Okay, it was -17 when I took the kids in for an appt. this morning, but it seems to be warming up quickly!

The amaryllis is getting ready to bloom for the 2nd time since Christmas.

Our Valentine roses have dried nicely and are still bringing us great enjoyment!

Laundry was only 3 loads, instead of 5, this week!

Enjoying the smell of a chocolate zucchini cake fresh out of the oven.

Garrison measuring in the 85th percentile for height today. The nurse said his weight was a little low for his height, but we think he's just fine.

Caleb is in the 50th percentile, but is just right for his weight.

I'm thankful for his infectious giggle that got both boys through their shots. Only one more for each of them in September and then they are done for several years:).

I'm thankful the Lord blessed us with great family on both sides. There are lots of jokes about bad in-laws, but I love mine and I'm thankful they live close enough to visit. Now, if we can convince all my family to move to Montana, we'd have it made. Totally kidding about that one, but at least they'd be within a day's drive of us. Maybe the Lord will put us close together in Heaven:).

I'm thankful for the amazing husband the Lord blessed me with! He came and took 4 of the kids so that they didn't need to be at the appt. for the boys. It made our appt. more relaxed and we probably finished a bit faster without the extra activity.

February 24th

I'm thankful for another day with nice weather.

I'm thankful that Bro. Kiesel taught me to cut hair before I got married. 7 heads would cost quite a bit if they had to go to the salon every month and a half or so. The girls don't need theirs trimmed that often, but it's 3xs as expensive as the boys.

I'm thankful I learned to make lemon meringue pie! I had several of the kids help me to make 2 of them today and they were WELL worth ALL THE WORK! Delicious!!!

I'm thankful that Spring is almost here:).

I'm thankful for "mostly" quiet evenings after the kids go to bed.

I'm thankful for my Bible and the freedom to read it and share it with others.

This guy!

is having a lot of fun building Lego this winter. He looks awfully grown up in this picture.

23rd

I'm thankful for my friend, Carolyn, and so excited for her wedding this weekend! Wish I could be there, but will look forward to seeing pictures:).

I'm thankful for each day that the Lord allows me to spend with my family.

I'm thankful for the freedom to homeschool. I'm learning many things as I work with each of the kids and it's exciting to see them reach different goals each week. Caleb is working up steam with his reading and I think he's going to be a runaway engine soon! He read 6 lessons, because he wanted to, today. This is huge! I've had to tell him to read most of the time, but he wants to work through both of his 1st grade Bible readers quickly and his reading keeps getting faster with each lesson passed. Kiersten seems to be one step ahead of me. She already seems to be able to sight read a bit, which might mean she starts reading this summer, with a bit of extra time. She's picked up so much by listening to the others that she sometimes frustrates the others by answering first.

I'm thankful for the blessings of my evening devotions. I've read through the Bible several times, but the Lord is always teaching me:). I just finished reading a book called, "Why I Am A Baptist" by Doug Hammett. I think it was part of my dad's library that we inherited. I may have even read it before, but it was a good refresher and I'm thankful for the blessing of a godly heritage.

So thankful to have been brought up with parents that read the Word of God to us and encouraged us to read it for ourselves, to hide it in our hearts and to ask the Lord to make it real in our lives. There are so many times that I feel inadequate for this job of being a mother, but with the Lord's help, it is possible to be victorious and joyful in the everyday! To grow in my love for my husband and children. It's all because of the Lord's help.

I'm thankful when the kids don't have to be reminded to say Please and Thank You.

I'm thankful as each of our children start to notice things that need to be done and take care of them, rather than waiting for me to direct them to clean certain areas in the house. I'm thankful for the times that they don't complain about not having been the one to make the mess:). I could use that excuse 95% of the time, but I choose not to:))).

I'm thankful for friends who challenge me to write down these things because my list grows day by day and it takes the focus off the negative and onto the positive things that the Lord has done and is continuing to do in all of our lives.

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised! This is the day that the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it!

22nd

Today I'm thankful that the Lord allows us to minister together as a family. It's neat to see the kids singing out when they know the words to the hymns, which is becoming a lot more frequent as they get older. Singing specials with Elyssia and staying afterwards to enjoy a meal and extra fellowship with visitors or young people.

The blessing of a phone call we received yesterday. A Filipino lady is moving here from Saskatoon for a job! The Lord provided a place for her to rent and she arrives on Saturday:). Looking forward to meeting her and seeing how we can be a blessing to her. She's been attending a Baptist Church in Saskatoon, which is how she knew to contact us.

Looking forward to getting some sleep under warm quilts tonight. Addie had a late nap on the way home, so she's been holding out on falling asleep. Hoping she'll be fast asleep by the time I finish this post!

I'm thankful for the sermon Scott preached today. There were parts that were encouraging, challenging and also eye-opening. It's been amazing to see how the Lord has directed Scott over the years and grown him as a preacher. I can't even imagine having to prepare one sermon a week, let alone, 2-4, depending on how many extra devotions he's doing during the week. Plus our morning and evening devotions as a family! We have the extra blessing of getting to ask him questions at home too:). We finished studying Nehemiah in evening devotions and now we're starting Revelation. It'll be interesting to see what the kids think about things once we've read through the whole book, stopping to explain things along the way. They're like sponges, just soaking it all in.

21st

I'm thankful for the ability to make Pioneer Cinnamon Rolls. They were a delicious supper(with scrambled eggs)!

19 & 20

Yes, it's a 2 in 1 again! Life has been fairly good. Busy, quite a bit of nice weather and then the icy roads and snow the past couple days. A couple more cold days, then the warmer ones will return:). Perhaps spring will be here on time this year???

I'm thankful for phone chats, skype and "in person" visits this week.

I'm thankful for the free oranges and grapefruit that a friend gave us yesterday! She said her family doesn't like them. Hard to imagine!

I'm thankful for nail clippers-these kids grow claws sometimes!

I'm thankful for the extra day with Scott yesterday. He didn't go out because of the road closures. Lots of semis slid into ditches because of the freezing rain.

I'm thankful for disposable diapers!

I'm thankful for our goats weighing about 200 lbs now. Pretty sure they're expecting and looking forward to having lots of goats milk again.

I'm thankful for God's working within me. Thankful that He never gives up on me or forsakes me. Thankful that he provided a way for us to be saved, that doesn't include working our way to Heaven. I would never be good enough that way. So thankful for the assurance of my salvation. That God didn't make it a "maybe" kind of plan. I stand in awe of His creation and of how He can continue to love and forgive me when I mess up. I look forward to the day when we're raptured and I can thank Him! What a day that will be!!!

Thankfulness Days 17,18

Yesterday was another whirlwind kind of day. We had family here in the morning and saying farewell in the afternoon. This made at least one little girl rather sad for the second part of the day. Thankfully we get to look forward to another visit with family in March, so that's not too far away.

I'm thankful for the blessing of a new couch! I know I should be posting pictures, but I haven't taken one yet:). The second blessing was the "new friend" that helped pick it up. Our truck doesn't get used in the winter and we were really thankful Sam helped us out! It'll take awhile before I get used to seeing 2 couches in our living room. We've had our current one for at least 10 years now and some thoughtful people told us that it was time for us to get a new sofabed:).

I'm thankful for milder weather that the kids can play outside in today.

I'm thankful the kids were motivated to finish their school quickly today!

I'm thankful for my roses, Kiersten's roses and two "almost blooming" flowers with all their cheerful colors.

I'm thankful for the abundance of hugs that my children offer me:).

I'm thankful for libraries, that allow us an abundance of books to choose from, for free!

I'm thankful for friends near and far...

I'm thankful for hoodies(they're so comfortable).

I'm thankful for this acreage. It gives the children plenty of room to run around.

Feb 15th and 16th

Family visiting equals delayed posting:).

I'm thankful for family being able to come visit and missing the ones who can't.

I'm thankful for a husband who's creative and knows how to build a weasel trap. We had a weasel getting in and killing our chickens. We think we've stopped him and now we want to catch him.

I'm thankful for the kids having a day off from school.

I'm thankful for another laundry day completed. okay, so I haven't folded it all, but will plan to do so once our company leaves:).

I'm thankful my brother in law made it back home safely today.

I'm thankful for another day of life. May I do my best not to waste each one that the Lord shares with me...

Thankfulness Day 14

I'm on a roll! Just kidding.

Today I'm thankful that the snowstorm is done and we didn't get the snowfall they were predicting!

I'm thankful for the warm sunshine!

I'm thankful my bro in law, Kirk arrived safely!

I'm thankful for two snuggly girls at naptime:).

I'm thankful for Scott being a thoughtful Father. He took Kiersten on an "indoor picnic date". He bought her a bouquet of Orange roses, which was awfully sweet. She talked him into a bag of candy, which she's kindly been sharing with all her siblings.

I'm thankful to be surrounded by so many people that I love!

Thankfulness Day 13

Hey I'm actually posting on the right day:).

Today I'm thankful for roses from my thoughtful husband.

I'm thankful for warm water to bathe the kids in and hot showers in the middle winter!

I'm thankful for the happy laughter of our children.

I'm thankful for the extra time to snuggle and read books in the winter without feeling guilty for neglecting the long to do list. (Winter still has to do lists, but they're much shorter:).

I'm thankful for freedom of speech. Others may not always like what I say and I may not always like what others have to say, but at least we still have that freedom!

I'm thankful for the seed order arriving, which means spring is getting closer!

I'm thankful that some of my in-laws are coming this weekend.

I'm thankful for hoodies. I really like them:).

Controversial...

Vaccinations... There I've said it. It's been in the news lately and is a subject that I honestly don't like talking about. It gives me an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach and we delayed our kids until they turned 2 because of all the conflicting reports about ingredients, bulking of shots at such a young age, possible side effects... People are horrified if you do vaccinate and horrified if you don't. Perhaps this is why the Lord tells us not to seek "man's approval" only HIS. We're also to live peaceably with all men, as much as lieth in you. It just seems like all these voices and opinions are making it very hard to see where the Lord is leading. I'm being completely honest. We've had 2 really bad reactions with 2 of the girls and my mind thinks, "what if" they had been younger? Would they have been in that group of children with permanent disabilities. We also had 2 of our children come down with the chicken pox this summer and it wasn't life threatening, but they sure were miserable.

And then there's the moral objection... There are articles about some of the ingredients being from aborted fetuses, which is something that saddens me. Some say that it is only from one in 1950 and sometime in the 60s and not from recent ones. I wasn't alive then and perhaps the argument that the people making the vaccines didn't do an abortion just to use those things could be valid. They were using what would have been thrown away and usually is, in order to save the lives of millions.

Abortion has sent billions of little ones back to their Creator and left many guilty of murder. It's such a cruel procedure that we would never want to have a part in and yet... We are, whether we like it or not. Our taxdollars go to pay for them. The money that we're required to pay for healthcare, pays for that, whether we like it or not. We are required to pay these things and I have a feeling that vaccination will soon be mandatory, thus removing our freedom to choose, but what do we do with the time we have left with this freedom. Many feel that the freedom to choose is endangering their children! I really don't believe that the anti-vaccers have that as their agenda, but there doesn't seem to be any middle ground.

In fact most of the food that we purchase sends money to support things that we'd never personally support. Many of us would never play the lottery, but in many places there are proceeds from gambling that go for different events, community programs, etc.. Do we have a choice in that? Are we going to stop buying any food from the grocery store and never set food in a restaurant? I'm not poking fun at anyone who feels this way, just pointing out the sad reality of living in a society that doesn't want to believe in God or do what's right anymore.

If we go against our conscience in getting certain vaccines and our children develop an allergy or lifelong disability, do we blame ourselves? Many might blame the system or even the Lord. After all, it's the Lord that created us and many believe that nothing happens that He doesn't allow. Many things we attribute to the effects of living in a sin cursed world. We're supposed to praise the Lord in the good and the bad times. So...

For some that don't vaccinate they may say that they are trusting the Lord to protect their children. Others say that you can vaccinate and just trust the Lord to protect the children from anything in it that might be otherwise harmful. Now we are stuck in the middle again...

So, it kind of comes down to this. Our parents didn't have the internet. Most of our parents took us in for our vaccinations. If we're here facing this dilemma, that means we're still alive:). Some of us have allergies, none of my friends have autism, only a couple of my friends have gluten intolerance, which has been a more recent development.

Conclusion:

Whether others think our decisions are right or wrong, we ultimately need to make our decision based upon what the Lord leads us to do. It's not our business to make others feel bad for how they decide. They're honestly trying to do the best thing for their children and many of them don't have the Lord to guide them. They're left with reading a lot of the information out there(true and false) and making the decision that they feel is best for their family. I don't think it's selfish, I just think it's a matter of personal freedom. May we use these freedoms while we still have them and allow others to do the same.

Most of my friends that will read this are Christians. They may have personal opinions on the matter, but in the end, we do have the Lord who LOVES us VERY MUCH and is watching over us. If He allows our families to go through challenges, trials, cancers, disabilities and deaths, it's not because He doesn't love us. He's promised to be with us through these times and we often come out stronger and more in love with Him because of the challenges and the victories along the way. We're being tried, purified and coming out as gold!

This may not help anyone, but it does help me to have it written down:).

Thankfulness posts 11 and 12...

Yes, I'm behind again! We've been having really good days and some late nights visiting.

I'm thankful the boarder is easy going and the kids really like him. He may be tired of reading kids books by the time he leaves, but seems to really it. He's not a picky eater, which is another thing to be thankful for!

I'm thankful for homeschooling and kids that love learning. Not necessarily all of the subjects we study are instant favourites, but the more difficult ones are getting done faster as the year progresses.

I'm thankful for good libraries that aren't too far to drive to. We enjoyed an hour at the Eston library yesterday and came home with stacks of books to devour:).

I'm thankful for a little snuggle bug that's as warm as an electric blanket at night. I LOVE that all our children have been snugglers and still like to snuggle in close to read books and visit.

I'm thankful for the privilege of teaching our children. It's amazing to see them soak it all in. We especially love history!

Feb 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10!

Okay, so I have quite a few to make up for Jersey Mama! I have a perfectly valid excuse:). I've been getting the house ready for someone that's coming to live with us for at least a month, perhaps several months. It's a little unexpected, but we're hoping to be a blessing. We're also gearing up for family to come for the weekend. This Saturday I'm also a server at a Fundraiser for our community hall, so now that I'm finished making excuses for my lack of posting:))).

I'm thankful for warm little people that wander into our bed and keep us from getting too cold! They may just about push us out of bed, but hey, I can't see it lasting forever:).

Kiersten said today that she didn't want to get married. She just likes to bake. I asked her if she wanted to have any kids. She said, well, I'll have a couple that you can babysit! Hmmm, maybe we should let her stick with the original statement and let her be our live in chef/baker!

Phones that allow me to talk to my family in the States.

Animaniacs "Ballad of Magellan" because it made me laugh:).

A house with extra rooms that we can share.

Chickens that lay eggs in the winter time-The pioneers had to wait til Spring to taste eggs most years, so I'm thankful!

Getting to Skype my Bro in law in Madagascar and see all his cool lemur pictures on facebook!

Watching Elyssia make a variety of Rainbow Loom bracelets. She's getting really good!

A husband that loves me and all his children! He's such an amazing guy and I'm thankful the Lord brought us together.

I'm thankful that spring will be here in a couple months!



That's all for today, folks!!!

For...

I'm thankful for snowsuits for the kids. They can play outside on snowdays and stay nice and warm:).

I'm thankful for the freedom to homeschool and enjoy the children all day long! Yes, there are days that a break is desired, but overall it's a blessing that I wouldn't trade for anything!

I'm thankful for the mixed blessing of technology. It can be a great means of communication and also one of the greatest time wasters.

I'm thankful for being blessed with another day of life! Looking for ways to be a blessing and bring joy to those around me.

Accepting a Friend's Challenge!

I'm thankful for an amazing husband and six little people that keep me on my toes every day:).

I'm thankful for money to buy a Yukon full of groceries each month!

I'm thankful for all of us enjoying our first grapefruit this year. Yes, even Samuel loves grapefruit:).

I'm thankful for all the amazing ways we get to serve the Lord and all the ways that He shows us that He cares about us everyday.

I'm thankful for the natural skating rink that the kids get to enjoy in our field.

I'm thankful for fresh eggs every day!

I'm thankful for a cupboard full of baking supplies, because I love to bake:).

I'm especially thankful for the freedom to be a Christian. There are so many who are persecuted and put to death simply because they love the Lord and want to share Him with others.

I'm thankful for the ability to read and share books with our children, especially the Bible!


I'm thankful for the quiet drive to town where I was able to just talk to the Lord and be reminded of how blessed we are!

How's that Jersey Mama???

Anyone else that wants to join in on the challenge should just try to post at least 1 thing that they're thankful for each day:).