Thursday, October 8, 2015

Thankful


Thankful to God for so many things.
For waking up and feeling Thankful all day.
 
I'm sorry it's been so long since posting last.
I struggle every day with so many distractions
and with what God really wants me to do.
 
I'm hoping my Thankful's will give you an update
and at the same time, my goal is to help you
to remember the small things in life to be Thankful for.
My life is in no way perfect, this is only a glimpse into
my messy, imperfect life.
(as, I believe, all our lives are)
 
 We decided to take our home off the market until the end of January.
We will hopefully get a jump on the Spring market.
Our end goal is still Gilbert, Arizona.
(We'll get there someday!)
We gave away everything last spring.
I mean everything.
I have been gradually buying things every pay-day,
 we need for another winter here.
Things like snowpants, boots, winter coats, scarves, mittens, hats,
flannel sheets, you name it. 
I'm getting chilled just naming those things.
Thankful, hopefully by first snowfall, we will have
most of those things!
 Thankful school is going pretty good this year!
(especially considering I packed up our whole school room last spring)
 
Our school room tables are packed high with boxes in the garage....so a card table will do!
 I just took down our September Art and will start now
with orange pumpkins and fall colored trees....
 Thankful we've had a beautiful fall so far.
It's been warm enough to play and enjoy the lasts remnants of summer
Aren't they just adorable?
 This is me trying to get everyone to pose for a picture....
"Where are you going?  Get back here Simeon!!"
(don't anyone go get him or anything)
 Now, this is much easier!
Yes, we were feeding the ducks.
A couple people walked by and said pretty loudly,
I suppose, to make me feel bad or something,
"There are signs all over the place saying not to feed the ducks."
I didn't even look.
I pretended not to hear them.
Then, when we walked around the lake, I only saw one sign that said that.
Plus, I'm Thankful it's so fun to feed the ducks! 
The kids have so much fun.
(and I have fun watching them)
(and the ducks liked it)
(and so they poop all over)
 
 
 
 Thankful for girls in curls on skates (she's really good on her skates!)
Thankful for photo bombing brothers about to hit someone with a noodle!
Thankful I bought a few noodles really cheap (like a buck)
and cut them in half for light saber wars!!
 Thankful for super heroes.  With guns.
 Thankful for my cousin Kristin.
She's so thoughtful and such a blessing in my life.
Our sweetie pies have so much fun together!
 
 Thankful for selfies with my sweet little baby boy.
Who a couple weeks ago, when I came down ready for Church,
said, "You look pitty Mama!  I want to date woo!" 

Melt my heart.
Cherish that time when your little boys are in love with you.
 
 Thankful for selfies with my mom!
Too bad selfies were not even thought of when I was a kid...
that would have been fun, wouldn't it have?
 
 Thankful for my parents.
They celebrated their birthdays last week.
 


 Thankful some of our kiddos save their money!
She spent all the money she saved all summer and her birthday money
on this Lego set.
 
 She worked on it for 3 days!
Way to save up for something you like!
 Thankful road builders came to our neighborhood!
This was so fun for the kids to watch!
(OK, me too!)
 It only took them 2 days to rip up the old tar, and replace it with new, smooth tar!
 This is the road construction crew ripping out the tar.
 This is us watching!
 A little boy's dream...
 What's not to be Thankful for here?
New tar down...there's my mailbox!
(you remember how much I love mailboxes, right?)
 
 Thankful I scored this old Fisher Price barn and animals for $25 bucks at a garage sale!
That's kind of a lot for a garage sale, but have you tried to find these old toys?
They are classic!
(the house we had)
Thankful for banana chips!
Where have you been all my life?
These were so good!
I think we need to go on a banana chip run....
 Thankful it was still warm enough this week for some front porch reading...
(not today, it's cold out there today!)
 Fall is coming and going quickly.
It's not going to stop.
I've been trying to catch as many sunsets as I can...
 Thankful the kids never get tired of leaf collecting!
(OK, maybe the older kids do)
 Thankful for drying flower seeds...and the hope they give for spring.
 Thankful for the view from my school room.
 and the view from the dining room.
Thankful every morning when we pray the rosary,
we get to see God's light filtering through the trees and leaves....it's so beautiful.
 It rained last night and this morning the sun was shining and the slightest breeze
would blow the water off the glistening leaves....
 Thankful I bought this with my birthday money!
(and a coupon)


 Thankful I finally got prints made from our trip to Texas this past winter.
And you know I couldn't resist this.
 

14 comments:

  1. Oh what great photos! The one with the hands... precious. Those always make me smile. I wish you had sold your house for a warmer winter, but all in God's time, right?

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    1. Yes, all in God's time! For some reason He wants us here a little while longer!

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    2. We finally sold our home of 30yrs in the Cities this fall. It has been two years since we moved to WI, and many price reductions, a change of realtor, professional staging, a couple of 30-day St. Joseph Novenas... I know well the feeling of wondering what God has in mind for us! If it had gone on past Thanksgiving, we were thinking of renting it out. There was a sudden uptick in showings in September, and we finally got a decent offer! It coincided with the end of a 54-day Rosary Novena, which our family refers to as the "big guns". I also actually prayed for a family that would love living there, as we did, and what do you know, the buyers' realtor said the words, "They love it!" We are supposed to close on Friday, so hopefully nothing will go wrong after all this ; ) ! Praying for God's will and peace for you and your dear family and all of us... I know it is hard, not knowing how things will play out.

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  2. I am thankful I stopped in to read your thankful post! The picture of the sunset through the leaves is stunning.

    I got a "happy light" to help me through this winter. I think the winters in Germany are similar to Minnesota, though you definitely got a lot more snow than us last year!

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    Replies
    1. Tom has one of those lights, it didn't work for him...but he has a really really hard time with winters...I hope and pray it helps you Jenny!

      I'm thinking Germany has milder winters....does it get 50 below zero wind chills? (like we do)
      I'll be thinking and praying for you this winter Jenny!

      We were down in Texas last year, but they did not get much snow here at all...like maybe an inch...weird for MN, we usually get feet, several feet!

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  3. So much beautiful in your photos. Your whole post made me happy.

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  4. You have some amazing photos now! I alter all my photos. I like how they look when they are brighter and have more contrast. It is not the "real" look but oh well. I see it as art and the more color the better! So glad school is going good and cousin get together. I love Kristens hair. Nice style!

    I was wondering how the field trip went for the older kids! Did they like it??!!

    Thankful for these awesome posts. I am having a hard time with blogging. Like you said, it really is a time thing. Reading others. Commenting. find time to write my own. TIME!!! I need 5 weeks of just my time. oh well.

    love and God Bless. I prayed for Sweetie Pie on the Feast of St. Francis...her baptism day!

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    Replies
    1. I only altered the header photo and the first picture in this post...the one with "Thankful For Every Day Life" I didn't alter any more...who has time for that? (hee hee, I guess you do! ) (Just teasing you) It is fun, I wish I could do every single photo!

      The one of the house, that was actually the way it turned out and the fall leaves with the sunset peeking through, not altered...the green leaves with the sun, not altered either...I love those though!

      The field trip was awesome!! They came home with a ton of stories and did so many cool things!! They all said they'd wished it were longer!

      It is hard finding time to blog...yet, when I do it, I love it....I miss it. I like it so much better than Facebook, yet find myself on there so much more. It's stupid really.

      Thank you for your beautiful prayers....St Francis...I didn't even remember that myself. Could you tell me Ava's Baptism date, my stuff is packed away....is it May 9? I know it's around there....

      Love to you Christine!

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    2. Really?? I was looking at your pictures again and I really thought you altered those leaves pictures.

      ava was baptized May 2nd. No nice feast days on that day;(

      Baking cookies right now because Jonah asked.

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    3. I thought she was baptized on Mother's day for some reason...which is always the 2nd Sunday...I've totally lost it. So happy you have it all together!

      Cookies? Be right over!! What kind?

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  5. Thankful to know you...
    and to share your life.
    Please don't hate me...but your children are looking older!
    The older ones I mean...
    Your babies are still babies. Promise.
    Loved your photos and prayers for all your intentions.
    Hugs, my friend!

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    Replies
    1. Awwwwww,, thank you Billie Jo! Yes, my littles are staying exactly the same.

      Heading on over to your blog now to catch up!

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  6. Hi Jamie Jo! Always love reading your thankfuls. :)

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