Cookie Treasures

Treasures await inside this tin box.  Cookie treasures.  When we were home last week my mother gave me all her old cookie cutters.  I am not sure how old some of these are, but I am so excited to have them.
                                                              Take a look.

There is a cookie cutter for just about any holiday or occasion.  I can not wait to use them for sugar cookies this year for Christmas.  I just love the angel!!!

I am happy she came across these and offered them to us.  The boys will get to enjoy some of what I did as a child.  Since the boys were old enough to stand in a chair or on a step stool we have baked cookies.  I get frustrated and want to scream when I let them help, but baking with Momma is such a delight to them.
I usually calm myself down when I see how much they enjoy it.  And realize this too will pass.  It is all about making a memory for them.

Oh look at that gingerbread man cutter!  I can see those being used very soon.  December 1st is just days away and that means.....Let the baking begin!!!!!
We'll be baking up some cookie treasures.

Grandmother

While we were on our Thanksgiving vacation Brant's grandmother passed away.  We had planned to go see her on Saturday after Thanksgiving.  She passed away on Wednesday, November 25th.  She went quickly and we are all thankful she is not suffering anymore.
Since her funeral everyone has been sharing their memories of her.  Sweet memories.  It had me thinking of my memories of her.  Although I did not have many I fondly recall her telling me about her travels on a train.  This was when she and Brant's parents had to evacuate because of a hurricane and they were staying in our home.  Grandmother told me all about her travels abroad(I think??....Kitty, I am sure you can tell me for sure).  As she told me all about her travels I pictured her as looking like the picture above.  I am not sure of her age at the time of her travels, but that is how I pictured her.  A young girl enjoying the life of traveling.
Also while staying with us I talked about how dirty our house was and can vividly remember her telling me to not sweat it.  She said to enjoy my time with the boys and worry about the house later.  Wise words from a wise woman.
Brant also shared some memories......................
Memories of Grandmother:

-Her ability to float on her back so effortlessly - her feet would be completely out of the water. I still sink like a rock when I try to float on my back.
-Fishing for perch at Grandmother Ava's pond.
-Always fed us Ritz Crackers w/ peanut butter at her house.
-Visiting her and Granddaddy on Halloween night every year.
-Walking with her from her house down to the interstate so Brent and I could try and make the truckers honk.
-Riding to the beach with her and Granddaddy in the El Camino.
-Spending summers at the beach with her.
These are just a few.  And as time passes I am sure many more will come.  The smell of something, the taste of something, the way someone says something, a look, a smile, etc.  In some way we will all remember her from time to time.  And that is what memories are for.  They may make us sad sometimes, but they are there to help us keep that person alive in us. 
They may be gone, but we always have those memories to take us back. 
So tonight as I look around my cluttered home and am weak from working all day I am thinking about Grandmother. 
Thank you God for her life and the memories we can all share.

Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home!!  We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving week!  We are home now and ready to get back into our "normal" everyday life. And of course add some Christmas into the mix.
Once we got home we did not waste any time!
Home at 3:30, unpacked by 5:00, tree down from attic and up by 5:30. Christmas books out ready to read, craft ideas are brewing and yes a FUN festive treat this week.  We have no decorations on the tree yet, but I love seeing it with just the lights.  At least until tomorrow.
We are happy to be home and plan to have a full week.
A week starting back to school, decorating the house(inside and out),the tree and making FUN Christmas memories. 
The Christmas Jar awaits us!

Let the FUN begin!

Are you ready?  Let the Christmas FUN begin!!!!! 
As you have noticed I have moved on to the Christmas.  I can not wait to get home to decorate!!!
And my blog will enjoy getting a new background often.  
I am anxious to get some cute pictures of the boys and make a Christmas header too.  Stay tuned often for my craziness of "changing outfits" on my blog. 

The boys had a taste of Christmas fun on Friday.  My older sister had a Christmas party for the boys.  She is so good when planning a party and leaves nothing out.  Including a game of pin the nose of Frosty.   It was such a cute idea!

They loved playing it!  And of course once they found out she had prizes, they took many turns.  And these were just $1 store prizes.  This would be perfect for a Christmas party for a bunch of kids.

It was a FUN party! 

We are anxious to get home and make some FUN Christmas memories. 

Thanksgiving Day-5 kernels of corn

The Pilgrim fathers who landed at Plymouth Rock over 300 years ago knew nothing of the affluent times which you and I enjoy in the this great country of ours.

The next time you and I are tempted to complain about inflation and the state our our economy, remember the following:

During that first long winter at Plymouth Colony, seven times as many graves were made for the dead as homes for the living.

The ship which was to bring food and relief brought 35 more mouths to feed, but not an ounce of provisions.

Touching indeed is the picture of William Brewster, rising from a scanty Plymouth dinner, consisting of a plate of clams and a glass of cold water, to thank God "for the abundance of the sea and the treasures hid in the sand."

The Pilgrims didn't have much, but they possessed a great gratitude and it was upon this very thing that America was built.  These stalwart people, strong, devout and sincere were the timbers upon which our nation was founded.

They had a custom of putting 5 kernels of corn upon each empty plate before a dinner of "thanksgiving" was served.  Each member of the family would pick up a kernel and tell what they were thankful for.  It was to remind them that the first Pilgrims were in such dire straights that their allowance was only 5 kernels of corn per person each day.

We have many reasons to be thankful. 

At Thanksgiving our family places 5 kernels of corn on each plate. Brant reads Psalm 103:1-5 as a basis, and then we think of 5 things to praise God for.

 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!  Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.  He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious,slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.  For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;  as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
                                                                      Psalm 103:1-13

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving week-Day 3/crafts for the table

This is what inspired Matthew about decorating the table for Thanksgiving.  Curious George made turkeys for each chair and paper leaf chains.  Matthew has been talking about wanting to do this for Gram's table for several weeks.  Of course my mom said yes so this morning we worked on decorations for the table.  Meanwhile Ryan played outdoors with animals.  Imagine that.

                                                 Here is Matthew coloring the turkeys. 

The turkeys will go on the chairs for tomorrow's feast.  Here are the finished crafts....turkeys and chains.
 

It's not too late to get your children involved in a craft for tomorrow.  This was super easy and I'll bet you have all supplies at home.  Decorating the table for special meals is a must in our household. The boys have picked up on it and enjoy making things look pretty.  Especially Matthew!  It makes it fun for them and then they get some credit too for the preparations as well as the cook.
Anyone can serve a meal, but it is what you put into it that makes it special.  I am thankful the boys have that knowledge early on. 
We will bake pies this evening, finish setting the table and prepare for a house full tomorrow.
Hope your feast preparations are coming along nicely.

Thanksgiving Week-Day 2

Today we spent the day at Brant's twin brother's home.  It was another fun day for the boys out in the country.  Animals(dogs, cats and chickens)to chase, room to roam, tractors to ride and lots more!  The boys continued to break in their new boots and get them plenty dirty today.  But it was all worth it to me to see them have so much fun. 
It was a good time for us all.  My niece started showing me how to knit and hopefully by the end of the week I will have it down.  I will first make some cotton rags.  After I am confident with making those I'll move on.
Brant enjoyed being around his brother and doing guy stuff like cutting down trees and burning brush.
We ended the day with a wiener roast and smores'.  The boys talked the whole way back to my parent's home about how much fun they had today.  And how great the hot dogs tasted.
The hospitality was amazing.  Thank you Brent, Renee, Lindsey and Lauren for making us feel so welcomed!!!  It was a very enjoyable day. 


Watching Daddy and Uncle Brent cut down a tree.

Seeing double?  Brent(l) Brant(r)

Thanksgiving week-Day 1

Today me and the boys made a special trip to see my mom at work.  My mother is the Executive Director of a non-profit organization that helps those in need.  They help with rent, utilities, food and clothing.  Today the boys did a little volunteer work at Orange Christian Services.
Here they are watching Mr. Jack show them how to help him make boxes.

      And here they are getting the boxes ready for Mr. Jack to tape up. 

I took these two pictures and then left them alone to work.  They helped the adult volunteers in the pantry for about 30 minutes.  They helped with taping the boxes, sorted can goods and  moved empty boxes back to the "BIG" truck for the next food supply. They were more than willing to help.   I was pleased.  It was a good experience for them.  I am so happy we were there today.  The boys enjoyed there volunteer work and realized it was a service to help others in need. 

There seems to be a trend starting around Thanksgiving.  The purchase of BOOTS!  Last year at Thanksgiving my parents bought the boys their first real cowboy boots.  And today Grams and Pop did it again.  The boys taste is becoming so different.  Matthew would have gone with whatever and Ryan had a strong opinion of what he wanted.  We finally had boots and all we needed now was to break them in.
Luckily my mom has a good friend with land and animals.  Right up the boys alley!  They were loving it!
And it had me dreaming even more of wanting land of our own.  The open space, animals to care for, seeing the boys roam and play.  Oh it was so inviting!!  Our dream.
Anyway, the boys fed Holly the horse, fed the goats, chased the chickens, gathered eggs, chased a cat, played with a dog and rode a 4wheeler.  They had a BALL!!! 

 I am thankful for the many blessings of this day. 

Looking forward to Thanksgiving week

It will be a full week of many places to go, people to see and lots of love to share.  Oh and HUGS!!!!  Don't you just love a big hearty hug?!  There is nothing better than two loving arms wrapped around your body.
As I prepared and packed yesterday for our Thanksgiving Tour and the week to come I started thinking of some things I am looking forward to.   
-spending time with family
-the boys being able to see their great-grandmothers(one on each side)and grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins(not all, but some)
-my Mother's cornbread dressing
-my niece teaching me to KNIT!  YES, I am going to learn to knit!
-spending time in a car for 5-6 hours with my family of five(Arthur will be traveling on drugs)
-a change in our everyday
-drinking coffee with my parents at 5AM
-the smell on Thanksgiving morning in the kitchen where I grew up
-the welcomed smiles and hugs from family
-the laughter we will all share
-the blessing of being together

Oh and so much more.  I will be MIA for a while unless I just have free time to blog, but I wanted to make sure to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving.  We all have so many things to be thankful for.
I encourage you to take some time this weekend or coming week to sit and really think about your life.  What are you thankful for?
I took some time this morning to think about what God has given me.
My life is full and I am truly bless beyond measure with the abundance of blessings in my life. 

From our little family to yours I hope and pray you have a wonderful week and your Thanksgiving day is full of many blessings.

I leave you with a few(JUST a few!)of my favorites from our Fall season.  I leave you with this because when Thanksgiving is over I am all about Christmas!  Enjoy!

Free digital slideshow customized with Smilebox

LOVE

My Friday has been my Monday all over again. My head has yet to clear up so not much has been accomplished today.  The steroids will kick in soon and I pray I will start to feel better.

No matter how I feel when I look into these eyes I instantly feel love. 
Two totally different little personalities to love.

They are my life!  They are the sweetest most ornery little boys I could ever dream of.  No, you can not have them!  They are all mine!

Each day we share together is a true gift from God.  And I do not take that for granted. I feel so blessed to be able to stay home with them.  And absolutely love teaching them.
They are always up to no good and a day never goes by that I do not get a big hug from them both. 
Oh talk about the love they give.  My heart melts. 
I refuse to believe they will grow up and leave me one day.  It just will not happen!

There is no baby in them anymore.  Every day I witness more mature thoughts and actions.  Of course they still do silly, kid-like stuff, but that is the BOY in them.  They may be boys, but they still need their Momma immensely.

Matthew loves the camera and Ryan is just the opposite.  Shy and wants to run.  That's OK...look at those dimples!
I love these boys!

D is for DINOSAUR

BIG and small, God made them all.  Including those dirty little hands and fingernails!
This has been a fun week for the boys.  They already had so many dinosaurs and books about dinosaurs we did not have to do much to prepare.
We read all kinds of dino books.  Some we do not agree with and others that were just plain FUN dino books. What I thought was funny is that the boys could pronounce some of the dinosaurs that I had trouble with.  I was asking five year olds how to help me with the dino names.  You gotta love Dinosaur Train!

Yesterday we went outside and measured 110 feet.  This is how long one of the largest dinosaurs, the Ultrasaurus, "probably" was.

Brant and the boys are way off in the instance.  They were 110 feet from me.  WOW!  That would have been one BIG terrible lizard.  "Terrible lizard" is what dinosaur means if you did not know.  I did not.

Today we made these cute little dinosaur finger puppets.  OK let me rephrase that......Today I made these cute little dinosaur finger puppets.  You know some times it is just easier to do certain things.  They did the coloring, I did the rest.

These were a hit!  Matthew even made backgrounds for their dino puppets.  He thinks of everything and is so creative!

                                                               See the volcano!

Tomorrow will be a short day and we will finish out our DINO week.
Then we will take next week off for Thanksgiving.  Learning will still happen as I always try to teach some sort of lesson with everyday life.  Next week is sure to bring plenty of crafts......Matthew has been planning decorations for Thanksgiving day since last week! 
I love his spirit for creating.  And I love Ryan's spirit of supervising......or playing with cars.
It will be nice to have a break from school for a week.  It is week 10 and I am ready!
D is also for dismiss.  Only for a week and we will be ready to get back in the swing of things.
D is for DINOSAUR!  And BIG and small, GOD made them all.

The Christmas Jar-Making memories

I love traditions.  And I especially love traditions that go along with the holidays. If you are one that does not overlap holidays(Thanksgiving and Christmas) just so you know,  I don't either.  I am just getting ahead of the game since next week will be busy(The Thanksgiving Tour as I like to call it). 
Before we know it......BAM!.....it will be December.
This year we are starting something new!  And it will all be geared for family time.  The Christmas Jar holds ideas we all came up with for FUN stuff to do during the month of December. 
We all four(some more than others)contributed to coming up with some fun things we can do as a family.
All you need is some sort of container, paper, pen, crayons and maybe a ribbon.  This can be really simple or you could go all out.  You can do it all or let your children help.  I took the ideas and then I did the rest.
I found a jar at Goodwill for $1.50.  And since Hobby Lobby was having a sale I let the boys pick out some Christmas ribbon.  I had the paper and decided to type out our ideas on the computer and then print them.

Because life can get crazy in December, wait who am I kidding, life can get crazy in June!  Anyway, since things seem to get crazy around the holidays we will try to do a couple of fun things during the week.  And maybe something on the weekend.
Here are a few of our ideas:
-make smores by the fire
-watch Christmas Vacation
-hang Christmas lights on the boys' fort
-pop popcorn and play board games by the tree
(while listening to Christmas music...Brant will love this one! {wink-wink})

The one thing I want to do is make it FUN!  And not spend lots of money.  Memories are of the heart and you do not have to spend a lot of money to make them.  My goal as a mom is to leave the boys a legacy of FUN memories at Christmas.........not a legacy of "stuff" under the tree.

What's in your Christmas jar?

My unplanned Monday

I do not like surprises and like to plan everything I do.  I usually have a schedule set in place with a list to check off throughout the day.
For a week now I have been feeling bad.  Cold, allergies, drainage(just sounds gross), headache, headache, headache.  And did I say headache?  Headaches are the story of my life.  After a while you learn to live with them.
Anyway this morning I couldn't take it anymore.  I had to go to the doctor.  And especially after my loving husband said I looked bad.  So I called and they were able to take me right then and there.  We are blessed to live within five minutes of our doctor so I was out the door.  Turns out it is a sinus infection.  I got my antibiotics and will hopefully be feeling better by the end of the week. 
This Monday was not what I had planned!
I got up this morning ready to start a new week of school and head to Bible study.  For school this week we are working on the letter "D" and dinosaurs!
I had the table all ready for school last night so when the boys got up they were very excited to start our school day.  I gathered all our dino books and grabbed all the dinosaurs that I could find.



Theme for the week: Big and small, God made them all.

 Once I talked to the doctor's office I had to break the news to them that I was off to the doctor and we would do school when I returned.
Well it didn't exactly work out that way.  After sitting in the doctor's office all alone, not being bothered by anyone for about 45 minutes, my body started telling me how bad it truly felt.  As a mom, if you are a mom reading this, you know we just don't stop.  But my body had stopped and I was really feeling bad now. 
By the time I left the doctor's office I had only one thing on my mind.  SLEEP! 
I did sleep, but not until I went to the grocery store(my usual Monday chore), picked up my meds and did some laundry.  Now it was really setting in.  And now the boys were ready for school. 
I couldn't do it.  I felt bad. I thought about trying to push through it, but WHY?  We are homeschooling and that is the beauty of it.  Things can change.  And we can make it up tomorrow.  So that is what I decided.
Brant was off today so I was able to totally block everything out and try to sleep.
I finally took my favorite spot on the couch and took a good hour and half nap.  It was so nice.
So now I will try to get a good night's rest and be up bright and early tomorrow to start our Tuesday with dinosaurs. 
I have a plan set in place and hope we can stick to it.  

FALL COLORS!

There is a chill in the air, it is windy and FALL COLORS are popping up everywhere.  I love this time of year when the leaves start changing.  And falling!  My favorite tree in our yard in the Red Oak.  In the fall the leaves turn spectacular colors of orange, red, yellow and deep burgundy.
Yesterday I noticed more and more leaves are starting to change.  You can't imagine the excitement I get from God's creation!  To see beauty right in front of my eyes and be able to see it with those eyes daily!! 
This morning as everyone was still sleeping peacefully I was wide awake.  6AM was as late as I could sleep.  I sat in the living room watching the wind blow the trees and leaves falling.  Then I heard a bird.  It had been so quiet and now all I could hear was this loud bird. Was he trying to get my attention?
Of course I had to go see! I wondered what kind it could be. The call sounded somewhat familiar, but I wasn't sure.
It was close by so I was in hopes I could catch a peek.  Sure enough it was right behind us in our neighbor's tree.  I could barely make it out through all the branches, but could see a head and it pecking at something.  The head looked like a Blue Jay and it could have very well stolen an acorn from our tree and was trying to have breakfast. Or maybe it was a Woodpecker.  I thought about running back in to get the binoculars, but knew it would probably be gone.  So I stood there in the cool air and watched this amazing creature. 
I stood in awe knowing my Heavenly Father created it all.
He created the sun so I could see the bird, the tree the bird was in, the cool air I was standing out in, THE bird, the beautiful colors all around me and EVERYTHING about this day.  He created this DAY!
He is truly an amazing God!

                                                The Red Oak

                                                                  

In a few weeks this little tree will be covered in COLOR! It makes me smile.

 Below is our Burr Oak(with the BIG acorns I love so much!).  The boys will have a blast raking up it's leaves, making a huge pile and then jumping in!   What a FUN memory for a child!!

                                            More pretty Fall colors around us.

Take some time this Fall to sit and watch the leaves fall(or watch a bird).

Good days AND BAD!

Well  maybe not bad days.....more like bad moments.  For those of you that have been following my blog you are totally aware that Ryan has Infantile Scoliosis.  For those that have not been around for long.....well now you know.

A condition that usually is associated with teens and adults, scoliosis is a condition where the spine doesn't grow straight, but curves and twists.  Early Treatment is vital for babies and young children!
Left untreated the spine begins to curve so severely that it can crushed the heart and lungs. And at that point surgery is a must.  Thankfully Ryan did benefit from a form of casting and now bracing(which causes our bad moments/days).
Ryan's infantile scoliosis is a rare condition.  In fact, only 1 out of 10,000 children are diagnosed with it.  Although I think there are more out there than that.
So hopefully you have an idea now about Infantile Scoliosis.
***If this is new to you PLEASE read more about it!  AWARENESS is key!!!!  I have links on my blog about Ryan's story, another little boy's story, a PSA done about Infantile Scoliosis as well as a picture of Ryan's spine prior to treatment.  And please feel free to contact me if you should have any questions.***

OK so on to the good days and BAD day/moments...............................

Good days are when he, agrees without saying a single word, to put his brace on.  And goes back to life as usual.

Bad days are when he whines and cries because it is time to put it on and he doesn't understand why God made him this way.

Good days are when he has his brace on and runs and plays without remembering he has it on.(This does not happen very often!)

Bad days are when I put the brace on and ALL playing STOPS! He sits and seems sad.

Good days are when I can get the stupid brace on and I don't have to readjust it to his body and make sure it is on well enough to not make him feel uncomfortable.

Bad days are when he says, "This is so uncomfortable!" 

Bad days are when I put it on and then have to take it right back off because he has an itch and can not scratch it because it is inside the brace!!!  That dang brace!

Bad days are when I read about another child diagnosed with Infantile Scoliosis because an incompetent orthopedic surgeon wanted to "wait and see" instead of treating that young child EARLY for a curved spine.

Good days are when I realize how blessed we are they Ryan has never had a surgery and will "likely" never have one.

At this point we have NO idea for how long Ryan will wear a brace.  He could  have to wear one until he stops growing.  That is a very LONG time folks.  And those bad days will only get worse.  All I know is as he gets older it gets harder.  And all I can do is pray as he gets older that he tries to understand God has a plan for him.  Why God decided that Ryan would have scoliosis and not me....I have no clue.  But I have faith that He has a good plan.
So I try to count my good days and forget the bad. 

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,  for those who are called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28

One more thing........will you do me a favor and share this blog post with someone.  AWARENESS is key for EARLY treatment!   Save an innocent baby from a childhood of surgeries! 

Quiet time for little ones

So we are going to try something new today.  Quiet time for the boys.
I benefit from my quiet time each day with God.  And I think children can too!  I found this idea from Janna over at Mustard Seeds.  I immediately knew it was something I wanted to try with the boys.  I try to have my quiet time before they ever get up, but some mornings it just does not happen.  So I thought wouldn't it be awesome if we could all three enjoy some quiet time with God.....together.  I have no idea if this will work, but I am willing to try it.
First I gathered all our Bible story books to put in one location.  And I added  Bible coloring books and crayons.  I placed everything in a reusable box that I already had and moved it into the living room.  I was only out $2 for the coloring books which I surprisingly found at a dollar store.   

It holds all their favorites and then some!  They can not read just yet, but they will sit for a while and look at pictures to learn the stories.

I sat it out last night before our family Bible study.  When we were done Brant and I sat and talked.  The boys quietly discovered the box and soon were both sitting looking through the books. Matthew eventually moved on to coloring. 

My goal is to do my study while they sit and look at a book or color.  After I am done we will pray, read a few Bible stories in their books, color or do some Bible activity in the coloring book.

Since I am trying to encourage them about having quiet time I will keep it short each day. But I do feel they have to be taught "quiet time".  And things must be quiet.  I know my boys talk or make some kind of noise non-stop!  Those little minds need a break.  And spending time with God is just the break they need.  Me too!  My hope is they will eventually want to go into their rooms and have their quiet time alone with God.
So we will begin our new quiet time today.  I'll keep you posted on how it all works out.

If you have quiet time with your little ones I would love to know your "tricks".