Happy Giving THANKS Day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I've really been trying to be grateful this year.  I know it sounds silly, but (despite my very recent promise to God that I would never ask for anything again), I spent the beginning of this year not feeling very grateful at all.  I threw myself one heck of a pity party.  It seemed like everyone around me was snapping their fingers and *poof* getting what they wanted immediately.  Not so in this girl's life. 

Yes, I was grateful for our family's health and all of the important things, but I wanted some FUN stuff and to have FUN sometimes, too, like EVERYONE else!

Well, I eventually made it out of that funk.  It wasn't a specific light bulb moment, but a couple of things helped get me back on track. 

One day, "You're not missing out" was posted on a daily thought Dayspring.com.  With that, I realized this--someone's NOW may be my LATER or it may be my NEVER.  That is up to God to decide.  Similarly, my NOW may be someone else's LATER or their NEVER.  God makes each of us equipped to handle what He has in store for us--the good and the bad.  I'm not missing out.  I'm not.  I put in on my fridge and it has been a good reminder when I start to slip slightly back into that attitude. 

It also didn't hurt that our Well-Read Mom book club has read The Good Earth and A Lantern in Her Hand, both of which portrayed farming families nearly dying of starvation and facing hard lives we can only imagine.  As we sipped our chai tea, we all realized we don't have one tiny thing to complain about.

So, I am thankful for both the big and small things that I so often take for granted.  (And I did receive plenty of FUN this year, too.  I just needed to put on my patience pants and wait a little bit.) 

"He has made everything beautiful in its time."  Yes, I KNOW that.

But, sometimes it's easy to forget. 

If you are reading this, I am thankful for YOU and how you have touched my life. :)

Big news

There's big news in our house.
Rachel has moved into her big girl bed!  In fact, Landen helped me dismantle and carry the crib out of the house this morning, so there is no turning back. 
(I have plenty of crib crafting options pinned from Pinterest, but crib renovation will have to wait until this house project is done.  I just can't bear to part with it, so it will wait in storage until I am ready!) 
There was a little trouble adjusting last night, for Rachel anyway.  She usually takes everything in stride, so the fact that she fussed about it for a whole half hour or so was pretty surprising.  But, after we got her to realize it was bed time and not play time, and big sister calmed down because little sister was TOO NOISY, all was well until morning.
She is napping peacefully in there right now.
David will be so excited to come home and see that the office is all his again.  (Didn't I post about David reclaiming his office once before?  Yes, I did.) :) 

Next up . . . seriously potty training.
But, let's just take it one big step at a time!

The circle of life

I love the cyclical nature of our lives.  For many years, my life followed the cycle of the school year.  Now, as our children are in school, it does once again, with the more dominant cycle of the seasons in farming.  I find comfort in that. 

I especially love it this time of year, as the traditions and recipes that create our lives around Thanksgiving and Christmas are predictable, comforting and fun!  I have our favorite pumpkin pies in the freezer waiting for Thanksgiving Day.  The Semi-Homemade Gingerbread Cookies will be making an appearance very soon. 

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of traveling back to my home church to experience the delectable angel food cake with butter sauce that has become a staple in the Christmas Bazaar menu since it was introduced many, many years ago.  I don't have that recipe to share . . . that may be top secret . . . and since it includes lots of butter and whole milk, it's best to only be eaten once a year anyway! 

What are your special once a year treats?  Please share!

Gingerbread houses

What else have we been doing?

We spent one of our evenings making gingerbread houses!  This time went much better than the first time we did it two years ago. 

This is mostly because the elves (obviously very intelligent women) at the Wilton company now make these PRE-ASSEMBLED!  All the fun and none of the frustration of walls falling in and having to wait for the mortar to dry. 

We did have one casualty as Rachel sat on her box and crushed her house, but we gave her a few broken pieces, frosting and candy and she didn't care one little bit!

These came with a great plenty of frosting and candy to decorate each house, and we filled in with some extra decorations, too. 

 

This mom just may be ready to bring this project into the tradition rotation. :)

 

 

Angels watching over us

Teresa is always creating a masterpiece.  She is hardly ever without a marker, crayon, scissors or glue in her hand.  She has been that way since she first started drawing her "people"--scribbles with sticks pointing down.  Her drawings have come a long way since then!

 

When she found out we were sending presents to babies like Rachel who are having surgery, she got to work right away making pictures for them.  She sent two angels and a present. 

 

Stuffing her nose

I have to document that today--11/19/13--Rachel decided to stuff her peas from her lunch up her nose.  I have no idea what possessed her to do this.  Even worse, I was sitting right beside her for most of it and didn't even see her!
As I took her out of her highchair, I noticed she was acting funny and I saw a couple of pieces in her nose.  I took them out and then saw another in there.  I cleared that nostril and found another in her other nostril.  I thought I had them all, so I looked up her nose with a flashlight and found another one!  I had at least five in the end . . . maybe six. 
We are always telling her to get her finger out of her nose. 

Fingers are better than peas!

Frozen Apple Coffee Cake

Here's the recipe I promised you.  We all love this recipe shared by a friend.

Frozen Apple Coffee Cake

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups flour

1 cup sour cream

2 cups chopped raw apples

Cream together shortening and sugar.  Add eggs, soda, baking powder, vanilla, salt, flour and sour cream.  Fold in apples.  Divide into 2 8x8 greased and floured pans.  (I used round.) 

Topping:  2 T butter, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts (optional)

MUST FREEZE BEFORE BAKING.

Bake 1 hour at 350. 

Just like her brother.

Just by looks alone, Rachel gets compared to Landen a lot.  It turns out they have even more in common.  Landen spent much of his pre-talking time pointing to letters on our shirts, signs . . . everywhere.  When he started talking, he knew all of his letters and numbers, including the big "t" in the front of church. :)

Rachel now does the same thing.  She loves the PBS Kids show Super Why, which teaches several letters and sounds per episode.  She also loves the magnetic letter sounds toy that all of the kids have had.  We may be missing a few letters now, but she can pick up those later. :) 
This morning, she pointed to an "S" on my shirt and said, "Ssssss."  That was pretty neat.  Then, tonight, I put on her pajamas that say "JOY" on the front.  She looked down, pointed to the middle letter, and said, "O." 

Yep, just like her brother. 

Let's hope she potty trains a bit more easily. :)

Happy Cranioversary!

Today marks one year since Rachel's surgery. 

I recently found these top pictures on David's phone.  I'm sure he sent them out when we were in the hospital, but I hadn't seen them before.  The first is in the PICU right after they took her off the ventilator the morning after surgery.  The second is a few days later when her eyes were swollen shut, but she was still smiling. 

She's one tough cookie. 

There were so many blessings while we were there, especially the time spent with our family who live in the Rochester area.  Their support, and the support we received through Facebook, email, phone calls, texts, care packages, cards and prayers was very much appreciated.

 

There are days I wish I could just walk into the St. Mary's Hospital Chapel again. The chapel was such an amazing and beautiful place of peace for me. I am thankful for the photo I was able to get as the sunlight was pouring in the afternoon after surgery. 

We have received lots of great things in the past few weeks to pass along to Cranio Care Bears for their care packages.  Thank you!!

 

I've been here many times before

And love's always carried me through

To the other side, where it's easier to see the way

His hand provides just in time to save the day

And I realize the mountains I was scared to climb

Aren't as big as I thought they were

When I'm on the other side . . . .

 

Every chapter that we've been through

Has taught me to rely on you

Jesus teach me that again.

 

-The Other Side by Jason Gray

 

35

 

Today I turn 35.

 

Last night, we had a birthday supper at my parents-in-law.  My kids surprised me with 35 balloons and jumping out of laundry baskets and boxes.  It was great!

 

I spent the day with David shopping for house stuff, so that was really great, too.

 

Today is a beautiful ordinary day at home with Rachel.

 

We are not driving to Rochester like last year, so we are very happy about that.

 

Ahh. . . 35??  I certainly don't feel 35, still around 28, I think.  What changes when you turn 35?  Doctors refer to you in "advanced maternal age" in childbearing years.  Ouch.  Not that I plan to bear any more children, but to have my age qualified as "advanced" stings a bit. :) 

 

Thank you all for the birthday greetings on Facebook, email, and cards in the mail.

 

My life is BLESSED by you!

Share a smile.

As you know, good or bad, I really like Amazon.com.  My Landen is beginning to be an Amazon nut, too, when it comes to buying new items for his train set. 

I just learned something exciting and new about Amazon, too.  If you go to www.smile.amazon.com, you can choose your favorite registered organization to receive .5% of your purchases!  All you do is click on your favorite charity, and it will remember it each time you return to smile.amazon.com.  You can choose a different charity each time you shop if you want to, too.  It may not sound like a lot, but it could really add up after Christmas shopping is complete! 

I just love these little ways of helping each other that don't cost us a thing!

Nathan's 8th Birthday

Our Nathan turned 8 years old yesterday!  He is really growing up . . . and got glasses on Friday!  Not suprisingly, he decided that they are now "too big" and conveniently left them at home this morning. 

 We gave him what he has been asking for every day since last June--Skylanders. He was so excited, he said we never have to get him another present ever again!! It's fun to see him so excited, although he won't be playing unlimited hours every day like he got to do for his birthday!

Grandpa and Grandma Melius joined us for our Sunday popcorn and peanut butter and jelly.  The past few Sundays, we have been enjoying delicious suppers instead.  No matter how good it was, Nathan is always disappointed when anything takes the place of his favorite no-cook Sunday supper!

Happy Birthday, Nathan! 

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Landen decided that he was too old for such things this year, so I at least talked him into being a half-hearted cowboy.  Teresa was a cat, Nathan a ninja (except for part of the costume that was *surprise* too itchy), and Rachel was a 50's waitress.

Our travels after school brought us to Grandma and Grandpa Melius' house for cake and pizza.

After that, it was on to trick or treating!  Since Landen didn't go and Rachel fell asleep before we got there, I just had two little ambassadors to send around town gathering candy for the family.  As usual, they had to be reminded of the rules--porch lights on, wait at the door, say thank you, just take a couple if they hand you the bowl. . . they did very well.  Nathan looked out for his sister and we have very generous people in our little town. 
My favorite line was from Nathan.  They were at a house with a big bowl of candy on the porch.  I was waiting at the end of their walkway and they had both been on the porch for quite a long time.  I called them back and Nathan said that since the bowl was still pretty full, he took a lot because he "didn't want them to feel bad."  :) 
At our last stop near our house, they were both so excited.  They told me, "They told us to take as much as we wanted, and they MEANT it!" 
I have wonderful memories of trick or treating with my cousins and our dads growing up.  Now this tradition has fallen on me, but I don't mind.  It's fun every year as we get to say "Hi" to many people we don't see often.  Our community gets to see the local children, which they don't get to often since the school closed.  (I think we have more young children around here now than we did then!) 
It's always a busy day full of birthdays, costumes, treats, and cake.  But, it's always a great day.