30 Days of Thanksgiving

I don't normally participate in blog challenges because I just don't have time. But I read about this one on DeEtta's blog and thought it was something I really NEEDED to do. Here it is from Life With Two Little Vikings:

Today is the first day of 30 Days of Thanksgiving! Can you name thirty people in your life that bless your socks off!? LOL

Hopefully, once you get writing, you may find that it'll be hard to *limit* your list to 30...and that is the ultimate goal. More awareness of how truly blessed we are. Like the Advent season leads us to Christmas, think of this as a daily reminder to prepare us for Thanksgiving.

This challenge is not meant to be difficult or complicated. Simply make a list (written or mental) of thirty people in your life that make your daily walk easier: friends, family, those that have made you smile when your day is somewhat blue.

Then, resolve that every day from today until Turkey Day you will send a note (either snail mail, hand-delivered, or electronically) to one of those folks.

So few of us regularly take the time to drop an "atta boy" or "atta girl" on someone but so many around us could really use it. We all have rough days, doubts, and grumbling times. You could be the one to brush away those clouds for someone!

And, while this challenge is not exclusively meant for believers, for those that are - this outpouring of daily thanksgiving and praise should be a lifestyle! And, maybe this is the way to begin that habit!

It brought tears to my eyes as I began to think about 30 people who bless my life, who make my daily walk easier. In addition to writing the notes, I wanted to add the list for all of you to see:

1. Greg, who never complains about helping with housework
2. Kim L., who always volunteers to watch the kids so I can do whatever
3. Kim M., who knows like no one else exactly what we went through a couple of years ago
4. Angie, who always calls just to chat and makes me laugh
5. Laurie, who has known me for SO long that I can totally be myself with her
6. Landon, my oldest son who always tries to take the load off of me
7. Jamie, a new friend who encourages me and lets me encourage her
8. and 9. Joyce and Lynn, a couple from church who never fail to encourage me
10. Mary, who loves my kids like they were her own children or grandchildren
11. Terry, who stayed up all night playing Panzer Leader with Landon
12. Gerren, who is the best cook's helper a mom could want
13. Chase, who is the most faithful prayer warrior I know
14. Carys, who loves Mom better than anyone else in the world
15. Scott, who cuts our hair and is a great friend on top of that
16. My dad, who is always willing to help in whatever way he can
17. My mom, who tries to look at everything positively
18. Greg's mom, who is a willing babysitter
19. Edwin, a student when I was in my first 2 years of teaching who ended up blessing us more than he'll ever know with a new job for Greg and his friendship too
20. Kristen, his wife who is a really smart, competent woman that I'm enjoying getting to know
21. Joanna, who blesses me with her friendship
22. DeEtta, one of the owners of the SHS Loop, who always speaks grace and truth into my life and sets an awesome example of Biblical motherhood
23. Liz, from the SHS Loop, who taught me via this loop to make hooded baby towels. Every time I make one I think of her
24. Yvonne, from the SHS loop, for her words of wisdom over the years
25. Emily, from the SHS loop, who's given freely of her time to help me figure out Bare Escentuals makeup
26. Kate, from the SHS loop and Hands and Heart, who never fails to find things to thank God for even though she's dealing daily with the serious illness of his 1yo son
27. The many other members of the SHS loop who are too numerous to mention individually but have been a constant source of encouragement, wisdom and love toward me for the almost9 years I've been a member
28. Lori, my down-the-street neighbor, who is always there and willing to help even though I don't get to see or talk to her as often as I'd like
29. The many moms in my local support group, CCHEA, who never forget to say "thanks for all you do"
30. Jesus, okay I can't send him a note, but what would I be without him?

Now, to catch up on my note writing!

The Lengths to Which We'll Go

Here are some pictures of the lengths to which we've gone to engage Carys while we do school.

First we thought of art supplies. I love the Color Wonder stuff because the markers write only on the accompanying paper. However, Carys liked taking the lids off and carrying them around on her fingers more than actually coloring with them. We were having a terrible time keeping up with the lids. So, we bought some new Crayola Twistable markers which have no lids. The only problem is that they mark on everything (even though they are washable). We put on this art smock, but it's a little big for Carys!




Next, we tried this lovely bear. He was sitting in a lawn chair by our neighbor's driveway with a sign that said, "Take me!" Just what we need! Carys does like him, though.



Finally, we resorted to "whatever keeps her quiet." (Isn't this a good parenting philosophy?) Walking around in Mom's shoes does the trick until she falls out of them. Then, it's back to the crying and whining. Sigh!



Today actually went pretty well. Tomorrow we're going to a performance called Music Takes You There presented by the Orlando Philharmonic. I hope the change of routine does us good!

Thanks Everyone!

Wow! Thanks to all of you for your encouragement and just for letting me know you have been there and know how I feel. It WAS encouraging to know that we all go through these stages and it is tough having olders and littles together and there aren't always easy answers. It WAS helpful and encouraging. Thank you so much for taking the time to type a message. Our new schedule went somewhat better today. I still think there are things that must go--possibly some school stuff, more than likely some extra other stuff. I need to really start praying specifically for God to show me if something needs to go, and what that might be!

Bad Blogger!

I'm doing an awful job keeping up with my blog, as usual! We're having a tough year of school. We've even changed our schedule and still can't get things done in a reasonable amount of time. Some of this is due to Landon's level of work, some is due to Gerren's level of distracting Landon, some is due to Chase's level of dawdling, and the rest is due to Carys's level of interrupting.


How can someone so cute possibly be an interruption?

I have lost my joy in homeschooling and just being with my kids and I need to get it back! I am overwhelmed with life on a daily basis and feel like I'm getting farther and farther behind (even though I accomplish a lot in a day -- this is just how I FEEL -- like there's always a job that has to be done hanging over my head and I don't have ANY down time to do anything for myself just for pleasure - read, scrapbook, etc.)


We've been getting toys down from the playroom in an effort to provide different things for Carys to do so that she's able to entertain herself better. It hasn't worked!

This weekend we revamped our schedule for the second time since starting 10 weeks ago! I have someone assigned to Carys all the time - usually it's me. Chase has a couple of times and Landon does, too. For some reason, Gerren didn't get any assigned time. We'll see how that all works out.


Carys LOVES her sister and calls her by name (neither of the brothers get this honor, yet). Carys calls Chase "Yasey". I got these cute matching shirts for $3 each at the Children's Place outlet at the outlet mall in Arizona.

I'm really praying that something will click and things will get better this week. I've added in a several field trips. We haven't done many at all since Carys was born, and I think a change of routine might help. I know that the 2-3x a week trip to Ocala for church-related functions isn't helping. This is a 2-hr round trip and takes away time that I could be using for other things. If this rearrangement of our schedule doesn't help, I guess I'm going to have to start cutting stuff like this.


Carys has this thing about playing with Chase's hair when she's sitting on the floor watching TV!


Well, my daughter just came running in to get me saying "Dad really needs you right now." I knew what she was calling about because I heard it happen. I went out the door and sure enough he didn't pull the van far enough into the garage. When he shut the garage door it put a big scrape in the paint and broke the frame of the license plate area. We just bought this big conversion van a few weeks ago from a friend. We've loved it with all the driving we do! It's a tight squeeze in the garage, though, and he didn't pull in far enough. Sigh! I just looked at it and said, "Fix it, Greg." What else is there to say? This is all I need. He has so much work to do around here that he sure doesn't need to add to the list. He never gets anything done during the week. He's gone basically from 6-6 at work. Monday nights are Civil Air Patrol with Landon and Wednesday nights we meet him in Ocala for church. Friday nights are Family Fun Night. That leaves Tuesdays and Thursdays, but nothing manages to get done those evenings. Saturday evenings we go to church. When I'm singing or playing the keyboard, we have to leave here between 1:30 and 2:00. That doesn't leave much time for big projects. On those weekends we also have to be a church on Sundays. Twice a month we have small group on Sunday evenings. So, maybe one Sunday a month we have the whole day off. There are just too many big projects to do to accomplish them in one day a month. Some of these are things that have never been finished on this house (we moved in FIVE years ago on the 22nd of this month!) I'm getting frustrated!

Thanks for Praying

Thanks so much for praying for Rylee. Can you believe she had open-heart surgery on Tuesday and went home on Friday? Everything went as well as it possibly could have. Her heart was enlarged, and as soon as they got the hole repaired it began shrinking! They told Jay and Joanna that the surgery would take 6 hours, but she was out in 3-1/2. They're waiting on biopsy results, but otherwise everything went so well. Now please pray for Joanna as she has to keep Rylee home from church until Thanksgiving. That's tough when you're the youth pastor's wife and the mom of four kids 7 and under. Can you say "stir crazy"?