Sunday, February 28, 2016

25, 26, 27, 28 and 29:)

Yeah, I'm a slacker... I did have a fairly good week though! The weather was quite nice and the kids had more outside play time after school.

-Yummy dessert experiments

-I was able to read 1 and a half books that were not from my children's pile:).

-Goat chops that turned out to be delicious!

-Listening to Sam play "The Animal Guessing Game" with Scott.

-Thoughts of spring...

-A good day at church today!

-A thoughtful husband that has reserved time each Saturday to take the kids one at a time for a "date with Dad". Only 2 more to go...

-Some tulips Scott brought home yesterday. They are pink and very cheerful:).

-Plenty of Hot Water for Evening Baths.

-Finding Winter Gear for next year for an excellent price. It's a huge savings when we're able to get things on sale at the end of each season, rather than waiting until we have to have it and ending up paying full price.

-Finding out one of the keynote speakers at the Homeschool Convention is the author of our History Series. Scott and I are really looking forward to that session!

-My crockpot. I think I've mentioned this friend before:).

-The friend that challenged me to do "Thankfulness Month". We graduated together almost 20 years ago. Gasp!!! Did I just say that? We really should meet at the top of the Empire State Building for our 20th High School Reunion in 2019:))). 3 years should be enough time to save up:). Wonder why they let us graduate when we were 10? Any ideas about that Rachel?

Til my next post-In March...

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

21,22,23 and 24

Sunny days for the kids to play outside this winter.

Being over half-way done with this school year!

Kids that took care of all the laundry this week!!!

Exciting things to look forward to this year.

My 3 brothers that continue to amaze me by all the Lord has helped them to accomplish in this life so far!

The prospect of spring:).

The creators of LEGO. Although I'm not fond of picking them up, they have provided hours of creativity for our kids.

The anticipation of looking through all the new library books Scott is bringing home tonight!

Those who have taken the time to write the history lessons in such a way that our children look forward to learning about it every day!

Caleb's new glasses not being as expensive as we thought they'd be...

The grocery savings program at our local grocery store. It has saved us thousands of dollars over the past (almost) 13 years!

Our oldest being thoughtful enough to make tea for her younger siblings last night.

One of the mildest winters we've had since we moved to Saskatchewan.

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Thankfulness Day 20

Thoughtful spouse and children. A couple times a year Scott starts the 1 on 1 outings with the kids. For 6 weeks he reserves part of his Saturday schedule and takes them out individually. This week it was Caleb's turn. He enjoyed spending time with Daddy, but didn't forget his siblings at home. He came home with a present for each of them:).

The Lord's faithfulness. He's always there for me and His love and care is amazing!

Fresh snow. If it's going to be cold, it might as well snow and cover up the bare trees and muddy ground:).

My mom calling last night.

A family to clean up after. Life would truly be far less enjoyable without each and every one of them.

Samuel's ability to make us all laugh. His latest is walking up to us and saying, "Hi 'nana peel". It makes me chuckle just typing it. He has such a cute little accent when he says it too. Not sure why he started it, but it's not really a derogatory thing when he's talking.

A husband who's not a picky eater.

Getting to go to church, Heritage Manor and Caleb Village tomorrow! It will make for a long day, but we usually come home feeling greatly encouraged after doing services with the elderly in our community.

Friday, February 19, 2016

Thankfulness Day 19

-My father in law's surgery went well.

-A thoughtful mother:).

-My first grapefruit meringue pie. I made it today and it looks great! Hopefully it tastes great too:). Scott requested that I try making one, just to see what it tasted like.

-A house with enough room for the kids to run around on a snowy day. They spent some time outside, but it was pretty blizzardy this morning.

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Thankfulness Day 18

Kiersten and Sam "punching down the dough!"


The finished product!


Enjoying the fruits of her "labour":).

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Thankfulness Days 16/17

-The sunshine is back:).

-God's faithfulness and forgiveness in spite of our daily failures.

-Indoor plumbing and warm water for showers.

-God's protection over the kids, even when they act foolishly.

-Faithful missionaries who are spending their lives telling others how to be saved.

-The conviction of the Holy Spirit

-The joy that thoughts of Heaven bring-Each year I long more and more for the day when the Lord calls us home.

Monday, February 15, 2016

Thankfulness Day 15

A Fun Visit with the in-laws!

Elyssia taking pictures, because I neglected to:)





The wonderful sunshine!

And so much more...

Friday, February 12, 2016

Thankfulness Day 11/12/13/14

#1 In-laws coming to visit this weekend. Thus the multiple day posts. I use the computer even less when they're around:).

#2 A mostly good night's sleep

#3 After the kids get their schoolwork done for today-It's the weekend!

#4 An awesome library system in Saskatchewan!

#5 Elyssia's ability to milk the goats!

#6 Kids that can entertain each other when I have a low energy day...

#7 My crockpot. I usually use it several times a week.

#8 Thinking about spring, minus the muddy yard factor:).

#9 Six quiet munchkins! Wait a second... They must be up to something:)))

Have A Great Weekend!!!

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Thankfulness Day 10

-A short nap, better than none:).

-The smell of fresh baked molasses cookies!

-A friend's good news about being done with chemo!

-Fresh eggs and milk each day

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Thankfulness Day 8/9

GRAPEFRUIT!!!

Yes, I really do like Grapefruit. So do all 6 of our children. That's 4 grapefruits that disappear every day around here, when we let each person have 1/2 of one:). Good way to get our Vitamin C in the winter though!


The creativity of our older boys and the fact that they will share with their younger brother makes me extremely thankful!

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Thankfulness Day 7

-Visitors at church!

-BBQ Chicken in the crockpot:)

-Sunday afternoon naps

-Kids to help pick up the toys their youngest sibling likes to spread around:)

-Beautiful sunsets!

Saturday, February 6, 2016

Thankfulness Day 6

Today I'm thankful for the new G.A. Henty cd that gave me 2 and a half hours of quiet this morning. Scott took Garrison to work with him and the kids and I enjoyed listening to the cd and I may or may not have fallen asleep for part of it:).

An amazing husband that makes it possible for me to be at home with the kids, instead of expecting me to have a full time job too. I'm extremely thankful for this blessing!

Getting to talk to my mom! So thankful for technology that allows us to communicate as often as we like.

The creators of Rainbow Loom. It gives our kids hours of creative fun!

Preston's Jam Cake Recipe! I finally tried it out tonight and it was an instant hit with everyone:).

The blessing of having enough food to eat each day. Something I don't think we should ever take for granted, especially considering that so many are lacking around the world!

The chickens that lay eggs for us through the winter. We've read many pioneer stories and their chickens seemed to stop laying in the winter and then start again in the spring. So far we haven't experienced that.

Friday, February 5, 2016

Thankfulness Days 4/5

Yes, I fell behind pretty quickly. I'm sure I could think up a valid excuse, but I'll just proceed to be thankful for 2 days in one:)



-For remembering to water the flower pictured above. It's much prettier than last year!

-For the weekend! I love the break from schooldays and look forward to going to church on Sundays:).

-For the sun! It shines most winter days, which makes you forget how long winter can be around here.

-For a clean house! I LOVE it when my house is clean and organized. It truly does help our day to go smoothly.

-For my stash of Red Vine Licorice! Thanks to my Bro-in-law's generous Christmas gift. It helps make everyone happy:).

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Thankfulness Day 3

The discovery of our missing applesauce mill! It is now safely stowed in its' designated "marked" bin and ready for some major use this year:)


The warmer weather that melted the snow and the evening weather that froze it to create a free ice skating rink for the kids!


Apple Fritter Bread Recipe From Pinterest! The perfect way to warm up after skating!

My 2 year old's knock knock joke: He went from a couple words in his vocabulary to making up a knock knock joke about a bear:))).

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Thankfulness Challenge

I was looking back over the past year and remembered that this month is the one a friend in New Jersey has declared Thankfulness Month. So, this can be Day 1 and Day 2.


-A Heavenly Home To Look Forward To!

-An amazing family that loves me, even on my grumpy days:).

-Less than 5 weeks to D-Day!

-Mild Winter Weather:).

-Freedom to Homeschool!

-The way that the Lord provided lots of winter carpentry jobs this year.

Monday, February 1, 2016

I think I earned it...

A good night's sleep, that is:). Today was probably the busiest day we'll have this month. It was the big grocery day, which is always epic! Plus there were library books to return, thrift shop donations to drop off, a gas tank that needed filling(for an amazingly low price of $70). Although it's nice to pay less at the pump, it's not really a good thing for our province's economy. We're thankful that Scott has a good amount of carpentry work lined up and pray that things will pick up in the oil fields so that they can get back to work.

After the groceries were put away, we sat down to a well earned lunch, but then that meant more dishes:). A bit of a nap was a blessing! Thankfully half of the laundry was already washed, which meant we could move on to cleaning up the house after a busy weekend...

Before we knew it, it was time to start dinner prep. Homemade corn dogs are fast and there never seem to be any leftovers. Thank you Uncle Preston for loaning us your corndog cooker thing! Oh, wait, they want dessert too. Thankfully it was easy to whip up a batch of oatmeal cookies with pecans and white chocolate. I'm thankful there are some of those leftover because they are fantastic! Thank you Pinterest for the recipe!

Then it was time to give Scott and the boys a long overdue haircut. Sadly, Samuel was very upset about his. So, after the boys had a bath, it was off to bed for this little man. Maybe I should have had Elyssia bring out the camera. He usually has lots of smiles whenever he sees it pointed his way:). Maybe next time...

It's shortly after 9pm now. The goats are milked, the dishes are washed, the clean laundry is folded and this mama is heading to bed. Hope all our friends and family have a wonderful week!