Thankful Thursday: Life

Although I am thankful for all the blessings each day brings, I'm choosing Thursday's to showcase them.

This week I am especially thankful for LIFE.  You see, this past weekend there was a horrible car accident involving two teen girls.   I didn't know the girls, or any of their family.  I read they were Sisters (I've always wanted a sister).  As I read the posts on Facebook and pieced together what happened, my heart just broke for their family.  But in a way, it rejoiced {only ever so slightly} that even in this place of hurt and pain, there was so much encouragement and so many kind words shared.
I've heard the word encouragement defined as "To breathe life into".  That's what this family needs.
As I laid down for bed that night, I couldn't sleep.  I just cried.  All I could think, or even say was
 I.cannot.imagine.the.pain. those parents are feeling.  My husband prayed with me.  He tried to calm my heart, but it was just hurting something terrible.  I know prayer is powerful.  I know this.  Sometimes though, I just wish there were MORE I could do.  Like there is really something more than asking the Father to pour down comfort and peace over all of us?  Maybe I just mean something more concrete, I don't know.

  These folks are strangers to me, but all I want to do is go hug them, talk with them, help them sort it out. 
There is so much sadness & anger in me when I hear of young children dying before their time.   I have to remember though, it's not their time, and it's not my time that this happens in.  This all happens in HIS time.  God chose Saturday morning as the time to call those precious girls to their eternal home.  Here on Earth we will never know the "why" but God has a reason.

I am thankful for all the support the family is receiving.  I'm thankful they had 15 & 19 years of making memories together.  I wish so badly those parents could experience more of life with their girls.  

I hope someday God will make it clear to us why this happens.

Ultimately, we must be thankful for what we  have here and now.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV        

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

What or who are you thankful for this week?

Thankful Thursday: January 23rd, 2014

Although I am thankful for all the blessings each day brings, I'm choosing Thursday's to showcase them. 

This week I'm thankful for social media.  Even though I struggle with finding a healthy relationship with it.  I am very thankful it's here for encouragement when it comes to homeschooling my little people.

I'm also thankful for free online printables, sales on printer paper, refillable ink, and my printer that has worked hard for us. 

This particular worksheet is from Soft Schools. They have tons of great printables and I find there stuff to be very customizable.

What or who are you thankful for this week?

Homeschool Mascot: FISH

You may remember last May/June (somewhere around the end of the school year) I picked up two Betta fish during a quick Wal-Mart run.  It was impulsive and not well thought out.  We didn't have tanks, yes I said tankS, because those type of fish have to be kept separate or they'll harm each other. 
Well, it's been over 6 months and those little guys are still doing great!  We ended up putting them in 1/2 gal. mason jars that I already had on hand.  They reside on the dining room table for the most part.  Occasionally they get moved to the bathroom, or a shelf in the kitchen. 


I think fish are easy to care for, beautiful to look at, and calming.  Feeding them provides a good responsibility for the kids too. 


Yesterday The Baby had a check up at the peds clinic (routine check up, she's growing well & everything is fine developmentally.  We are being referred to an allergist for an off-the-wall pear allergy she seems to have.  Seriously, pears?  Why pears! Little known fact- Pear puree is in SO MANY of those handy baby food type pouches!). 


So since we were all dressed and out of the house anyway, I decided I'd make it a fun day and take all 3 kids to Petco.  We spent an hour admiring the animals and reading the tags on the tanks and cages, so we could learn more. 
My son wanted a froggy (please mommy?, please?????), my oldest daughter wanted a hermit crab or a hamster (either one, I just want to get a pet).  The baby wanted to stare at the fish all day.  She's learning to communicate quite well.  Any time her stroller wasn't directly pointing at a fish tank, she let me know she was unhappy by throwing a fit and tossing her socks on the floor (as the Petco employee had to point out to me, as I was too busy worrying about where my big kids were, and what they were touching.  Who has time to worry about something as silly as socks?).


In the end The Baby won.  We stopped at Wal-Mart, and again, made an impulsive decision to buy two GLOFISH!  I am now the "BEST MOM EVER" and the "COOLEST".  I heard "THANK YOU MOMMY" over a dozen times on the car ride home (from the two oldest, the baby was sound asleep from all the morning activities), and probably another dozen times just last night. 


We're still figuring out how to really care for the fish, what kind of water they like, how often to feed them, etc.  It may have been impulsive, but it's also a whole lot of fun!


Ps.  So I was a little worried what my husband would say about the fish.  He walked in the door, the oldest smiled from ear to ear and said "Dad, do you notice anything different??", as she's eying the fish.  He says, "ohhh yeah" & then looks at me, "I'm just happy it's not a dog".  I'd say he likes them!  haha.  No really, he does approve.  Bonus!  Welcome to the family Fish 1 and Fish 2!

Random Acts of Kindness: A Smile in the Snow

Last night after a MOPS meeting I bundled up & headed outside to my van.  As I approached it, I see this face smiling at me.
I couldn't help but smile & wonder who put it there.  I snapped a picture when I got in the van, thinking how sweet it was that someone did that.  Then I wondered if they even knew it was my vehicle, or did they just see a blank canvas & decide to draw?

I love random acts of kindness!  Even simple, easy, free ones like this.  In fact, those are probably my favorite kind!

I got home, still smiling, & find out MY daughter was the artist!  On the way home from church they had drove by to see if I was still in my meeting and left a little cheer on my window. 

Recipe: Creamy Crock Pot {or not} Potato soup

This version might as well be called Blessing Soup.  I was first blessed with this recipe while at a MOPS Christmas dinner. A friend had brought a crock of it to share.  She shared with me that it only had 4 ingredients!

Yes, 4 ingredients!

1 can of cream of chicken
1 can of chicken broth
1 package of cream cheese
1 bag of hash browns

For a busy mom, a recipe that only calls for 4 simple ingredients (that don't need any prepping), & can be thrown in a crock pot, that alone is a blessing!

I have made her recipe a few times. It's always delicious.  & with it being in the crock pot it is always hot, no matter what time we are going to finally sit down as a family and eat. 

Today I had more time than usual, so I added cubed ham, a gift from our neighbors.  A bag of corn, a gift from my brother that we cut off the cob & froze months ago. & not pictured, since it was an afterthought that I threw in later- a couple of carrots. 

I just taste tested it, for quality control reasons.  It's warm, creamy & wonderful!

This versatile recipe could be cooked on the stove top as well.  I have not timed how long I have cooked it but I sort of just put it in the crock pot in the morning-ish (9-10am) & we eat it in the evening (5-7pm).

My Dilemma

As I'm trying to sort out this whole pictures on the blog problem, I have a bigger problem brewing.  The baby is getting into EVERYTHING!  I snapped a quick picture so I could upload it and experiment with the settings.  When it worked, I decided I'd go ahead and give y'all a glimpse into what my office/homeschool room looks like right.now.  Just keepin' it real. 

For reference, look back at the pictures on this post to see what our school room once looked like.

Friends have said it, even acquaintances have mentioned it (yikes!), I have REALLY become far more laid back since having my third baby (One look around my house proves this to be true).  Hopefully that doesn't mean they think I'm terribly lazy!  ha!  We struggled so much to get this little girl, and once she arrived we soon found out that her little heart has troubles.  Troubles that aren't big enough to do anything about right now, but someday may be.  Between now and then, I just want to enjoy every single minute I can with her.  So that means not spending all day making my home look perfect and no more cleaning obsessively (unless I KNOW company is coming over, and even then, it isn't perfect). 

Life is short, make it sweet. 

PS.  Disclaimer:  We are currently using the dining room table for school, or wherever is comfy depending on the subject.  I'm pretty much always in the kitchen, so I might as well have the kids out there too.  We have a lovely view of our backyard through the sliding door, and the lighting is beautiful there.  It's just the perfect place right now.

Blogger Probs

Just a heads up, I've got some Blogger Probs going on over here.  A friend let me know that my pictures are too small.  I checked on it, and yep she's right!  Not only are they too small, I can't just click to make them bigger and fix it.  The images are too distorted when I do that.  I use both my desktop and my phone to post.  Between the two they upload pictures differently.  Sometimes pictures are teeny tiny, other times they are ginormous and get cut off.  So, please be patient with me while I figure this out. I know it's a setting I once clicked on somewhere... Now, just to find that setting again.  :) 

Picture: Bible App

HmmSimple Pictures: Here are two cropped screen shots of the Bible App message that appear on my home screen. 
Although the verse changes each day, it's somehow just what I need for that particular moment.  These daily snippets allow me to pull through & get my head straightened out so my mind can think clearly.

Everything is easier when my mind  is clear & I'm following sound advise.

Homeschool Help: Flashcard Machine

I recommend Flashcard Machine v 1.5.2. Visit the links from your Android device. Flashcard Machine v 1.5.2 ( http://market.android.com/search?q=pname:com.flashcardmachine.app )

Picture: Messy Corner

I am seeing dozens of posts on Facebook about organization and cleaning.  A trip to Target yesterday proved "organization" must be the trend right now.  The Christmas items have been clearanced out & many organizational tools now fill their spot. 

Well for me, I believe fully in the phrase "the less you own the less that owns you".

Today I'm creating joy in this messy little corner.  This is our "donation station".

Those little printed signs get taped to the wall each time we do a whole house purge.  We've been doing this for 5 years now & find it to be good for all of us.  Especially after Christmas!  The grandparents, aunts and uncles were so good to our kiddos. :-)  Time to pass on the old things to someone else so the kids can enjoy these new things, without driving mom crazy.