Thankful Thanksgiving!

I truly believe this.

Being Thankful every day takes practice.

It takes time to reflect on all the blessings in our lives.

Blessings can be hard things as well as fun things.

Thankful to God for ALL His blessings!

Thankful for yardwork!

Lots and lots of yardwork this November!

I am Thankful we had a pretty mild November and were able to get it all done!

Thankful for the cutest little raker. Ever. 

Thankful for wheelbarrow rides for little kids and older kids to give them!

 



Thankful for awesome November skies

Thankful for little helpers

and pooped out helpers! She was such a hard worker!! 

Thankful for fall campfires

(and sorry to smoke out our neighborhood, with kids that kept throwing in leaves!)



Thankful for new piano students!



And old sweatshirts!

My oldest son wore that when he was little! 

Thankful we still have littles, they are such a blessing to have.

Thankful we found this amazing new veggie mix, it stir fries up so good and tastes amazing!

Even my non veggie lover ate this!

(well one of them)

Thankful for fruit snack snacks!

Want to make a little kid happy?

Give them fruit snacks. 

Thankful for lots and lots of rain this November.

Thankful for a little snow...and deer! 

Thankful we got just enough snow to take out boots, mittens and face masks!

Thankful kids get excited about the smallest of things.

Thankful for beautiful pink sunsets....

Thankful for "Mom dates"!

In a busy family, it's so easy to forget to take time out to be with each child.

They need it so much.

They need to know they are special in their own special way and that I care. 

Thankful for piano competitions

Especially where you get to meet the composer, Dennis Alexander!
(and go out with your talented daughter for much needed time together afterward)

 



Thankful for surprise visits from good friends!
(Minnesota Mom) 

OK, she called me last Sunday morning, met us for Mass and had brunch with us afterward.

Don't worry, I put her to work! 

That's a lot of girls!

Thankful for the time we got to spend together.

 

Thankful for burrito assembly lines and kids learning how to cook!

 





Thankful for fancy "Elsa" dresses and old holey jeans!

(and a girl that will only wear a braid if she is "Elsa" for the day)

Thankful for cute little bull dog hats that instantly turn

little boys into bull dogs!

Thankful for kids that dress themselves....

You wanted a close up of our turkey, didn't you?

Thankful we've been putting this old turkey up for a really really long time! 

Thankful for a great fruit salad! (perfect for Thanksgiving)

Cranberry Fruit Salad

1 pkg fresh cranberries, chopped

(with a chopper)

1 20-ounce can crushed pineapple in juice, undrained.

3 Braeburn apples chopped in medium chunks (I left the peeling on)

2 ribs of celery, chopped (with a chopper)

1/2 cup walnuts

1/2 cup golden raisins

1 pkg dry sugar-free cherry-flavored jello packet

(dry, just sprinkle it in and stir)

 

Mix all the ingredients, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Keeps well for several days

 

 



Thankful for a new favorite Banana Bread recipe!

My friend Susan gave it to me! (it's her mama's recipe)

 The back says:

Make a mixture of cinnamon & sugar to put on top before baking

Bake 350 degrees for about an hour

 

BEST EVER!! 

 Thankful that Advent started today!

It's a time to listen, prepare our hearts for Jesus and to be Thankful always. 

Thankful there's no snow left!

(Don't worry, we're expecting snow tomorrow!)

 Thankful

for my faith,

My wonderful husband

for my beautiful children

for home, food, clothes and all we need.

 

 

 

 Thankful I've always got plenty to do, see this pile of books?

That's my correcting pile.

Usually I correct as I go, but somehow last week, I got behind and

have several days in each subject to correct.

(for each child)

 

Thankful blogging is just the distraction I needed!

Ha!

Happy first week of Advent!

Summer Kitchen

 First, I want to pass on this tip I found when I needed to have softened butter.

(I only had cold butter)

If you need softened butter quicker than the "leave on the counter for hours" way,

 

Place a stick of butter between

2 pieces of wax paper

and roll it out.

 

That's it!

Then, just spatula it off into whatever you are using it for!

I love Google.

 

We baked cookies today to take to the lake tomorrow!

Here's the recipe!

 

 

 

View of my kitchen

(as bare as it looks here)

(this is house-selling bare)

(even though our house is not selling)

 

It all happens in the kitchen.

I love my kitchen.



 A good friend has so generously given us a ton of cucumbers and zucchini!!

This makes me very happy!

 

A few favorite things I've been making with zucchini

is:

-Cut up raw with veggie dip

-Sliced and sautéed with a little olive oil, salt and pepper,

topped with fresh parmesan cheese

-Zucchini bread

 

Not my picture, got it HERE

 

And this delicious Chocolate Lover's Zucchini Cake

HERE

I made this tonite and will frost it for dessert tomorrow night.

 

 Now onto cucumbers!

When I was a kid,

 We would get cucumbers from my Grandpa

and I'd slice them and put them in vinegar and water. 

 

Refrigerator Cucumbers in Vinegar and Water

(original from me!)

 

Slice many cucumbers and put into an ice cream pail

fill with about two-thirds water

and one-third vinegar.

slice an onion...any way you like, smaller might be better.

Salt and pepper.

Lots of salt and pepper.

 

Here's the hard part:

Refrigerate for at least an hour.

(or hide it in the garage fridge until the next day like I did)

This will stay good for days.

If they last that long!

 

Optional: Add more salt and pepper to your bowl of these amazing cucumbers!

Here's a recipe from a fellow homeschooler.

I used a Strawberry Vinaigrette and it was too sweet, next time

I'd probably use a more mild vinaigrette.

 

Chopped Romaine Lettuce

(sometimes I add regular lettuce to make it go farther)

1 cup quinoa, cooked

(after it's cooked, there will be a lot more than 1 cup--use it all!)

Sliced strawberries

slivered almonds (I made this part up)

(I think maybe sliced almonds would be better...but whatever you have is fine)

Vinaigrette dressing (fruity or whatever!)

 

 

 And we can't forget summer mud-pies

 They're always happening around here

Enjoy!

Thankful Summer

Gosh, I have to say Thankful Summer, because, like, I haven't even done a post

for weeks!  I thought this would be the best way to catch up.

I haven't done anything that special, just life.
Sometimes life just takes over.
And it should.
Because it's fleeting.
This time with my children will be gone in a flash.
I try to be more present and I admit,
I shouldn't have to try, right?
With all the world's distractions sometimes it's
hard to focus and just tune it all out.
Sometimes I wish there was no Facebook, or Pinterest,
or blogs or just busy-time stealing-wastes of time out there.
All in balance.
Balance, because there are a lot of good things
that come out of those things I listed.
That's where the word try comes in.

Anyway, remembering to always be Thankful to God for His many blessings.
Here's a catch-up from June:

Thankful for time with my beautiful cousin Kristin.
She's so thoughtful and fun to be around. 
Thankful she's so close now, because I'll miss her so much when we move.

 Her kiddos are so sweet and beautiful!
Thankful for Nolan and Samantha and that my kiddos get to play with them!

Thankful June had parades....we have unicyclists in!

I really enjoy going and watching  

 We are parade pros man!

Thankful for girl summer camps

(I drove 10 wonderful girls down to this camp-it was such a fun drive!) 

Thankful the sisters in charge are so COOL!

 Thankful for our diocese's Vocations Camp for boys!
(hosted by the lovely Mrs 12 Lives at the Lake +1 and her family)

Thankful the priest in charge and seminarians are also very COOL!!
(Fr Scott here)

Thankful my children have the best father in the world!
Celebrating Father's day here

And here with my father.

Thankful for summer.   

Thankful for loving, caring big older brothers....

Thankful pre-school speech classes started for Simeon here
He was not too crazy about mama leaving here, but he did fine.

With a crash nap afterward, of course!
Thankful even Superman takes a nap sometimes!

Thankful for bedtime stories in bed with my littles!

 Thankful he has this deep hearty laugh, "Mwaaaahahahahahah"
Thankful these water shooters are the best thing you can buy for only 99cents!

Thankful for summer time feet-washing at the sink!

She's out of water here,
but,
Thankful I have big kiddos that help me water the flowers!

Oh, my!
Thankful

Thankful we spend lots of days here

Thankful for my beautiful porch to hang our beach towels to dry. 
Summer....I love summer.

And to end
(Finally)
Thankful I tried this new salad!
Found it HERE
(updated, I forgot I did not add mango or avocado,
 but added craisons for added sweetness!)

I'll leave you with this yummy salad for now
and be back with my July Thankful's soon.