I am thankful for (part 2)..................

All of my friends who are so encouraging to me. I have the best group of friends that anyone could ask for. We laugh together, cry together, listen to eachother in the hard times, rejoice with one another in the good times, encourage eachother at all times. To all of my dear friends.......I love you and am thankful for you and I wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for.....................

My husband and children, the good days because God shows me how blessed I truly am, the bad days because he shows me how much I need to rely on his strength and not my own, my grandparents because they are 83 years old and still able to drive an hour and half to come for Thanksgiving, my mom because she is such a support to me on so many days, she sees things that no one else does and tries to help me out, my dad because he always tries to help me whenever I express a need, I'm thankful that today I stopped to get a cup of coffee at Sugarcreek and the clerk told me it was free and to have a good day ( simple but it was exciting to me). Most of all, I am thankful for my salvation and that Christ died for me and that I can rejoice in knowing that someday every moment will be Thanksgiving when I spend eternity with my Lord in heaven.

The morning after.( Read yesterday's post)

The Lord laid these verses on my heart this morning. They are fresh water to a thirsty soul. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Thererfore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliciton, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Biblical truths that are sweet to my soul. Thank you Lord.

Be anxious for nothing.

I am anxious tonight. I am blogging to remind myself of God's truth's. It is 1:30 in the morning and I can't sleep. This week has been a tough week. I have felt overwhelmed with life and tired. I have something wrong with my back and arms. They keep tingling on me and it's driving me nuts along with concerning me. Today, it happend all day long.
One of my children has been very difficult to deal with this week. Difficult enough that I called a Christian school to find out information for next year. Am I planning to send her? Maybe today but I might change my mind tomorrow. Please pray for me. I am reminded to be anxious for nothing but in all things give thanks and let my requests be known to God. It's in the quiet hours of the morning that God shows me the most. Instead of being anxious, I will open up his word and bring my requests to him and leave the worries of the day at his feet with thanksgiving.

Favourite snacks for the family

There are so many packaged snacks that are unhealthy and expensive. I try to keep on the healthy side as often as possible. Here are a few snacks that we like as a family.

string cheese with an apple
celery with peanut butter
almonds, cashews, peanuts
fresh tomato,onion, basil with olive oil and a little salt on top of Eziekial bread with feta cheese( my personal favourite)!
edamame
fruit
air blown popcorn with chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder and salt
pudding that I use old pudding cups from store bought (no one knows the difference, except me because it only costs $.30 a batch).
freeze the pudding and it becomes pudding pops
power peanut butter ( pumpkin seeds, plain yogurt, banana, raisins and honey) dip apples in this combo.
hummus on ricecakes
smoothies which consist of milk, plain yogurt, some type of fruit and honey for sweetener with ice cubes all blended together.

These are a few of my favourite things!

Magazines:
Above Rubies
No Greater Joy
The Old Schoolhouse
Family Fun

Freebie Sights:
Hillbilly Housewife- great recipes and menus

Mom sight:
Elizabeth Foss blog- this lady is a devout Catholic who has 8 children. Although I do not share all of the same beliefs as the Catholic faith, she has a wonderful sight for teaching kids and much more with "real books."

Meme's:
The simple woman's day book
Homeschool Blog Awards

Organizing crafts:
http://www.motivatedmoms.com

Bible focused:
http://www.desiringgod.org/
http://rubies.articledirectoree.com/
http://www.elizabethgeorge.com/
http://www.elizabetheliot.org/

Business sights:
Marykaycosmetics.com

Something New

This year I am using Sonlight's Church History with my 8th grader. We are studying the ancients this year and I have decided to tie in church history also. I really like it. It is intense but I wish I had this knowledge before now. So, I've decided to learn it along with my daughter. The other new curriculum that I am using is Beautiful Feets, American History for primarys. It uses a lot of the D'Auliare books with pictures. We are keeping a notebook and it is a very interesting program along with fun activities for a hands on kid. I am also using Considering God's Creation from Eagle's Wings with my 4th grader. It is another hands on approach with Science. Both the Beautiful Feet and Science Curriculum could easily be used with someone who has multi-level ages of children. Sometimes I have wished my children were a little closer together so I could teach them the same History and Science but there is a gap of 4 grade levels between my first two and 7 between my middle and youngest so it would be rather difficult.
I am enjoying what we are using and I love the idea of notebooking. The kids feel proud of their accomplishment because the fun projects make the notebook look so fun and interesting.