October Gratitude

We had a whirlwind of a weekend!  Actually, it seems like we've had a whirlwind of a month.  Cameron's brother and niece came for a short visit.  We took a little road trip to Chicago.  Then Saturday, I worked at the antique mall.  I just love working there!  I think when the girls are grown and gone, I could do that full time.  I always learn something new and meet interesting people.  I love all the stuff and remembering seeing some of it at my grandparents and great, great aunt's houses.

After being gone for two weeks it was nice to back at our church again.  Sometimes it's nice to visit other places, but good to be back worshiping with our friends.

Speaking of friends....that will be first on my list of thanksgivings today.

378.  Friends, for us and our children, who are kind, loving and a joy to be with.

379.  Visits with family

380.  Day trips to Chicago, even if they are very quick

381.  Healthy bodies!

382.  God's provision.  It may not always be how or when I want it, but he ALWAYS provides.

383.  Sunny skies

384.  Beautiful fall trees and falling leaves

385.  A good nights sleep.  We all slept until almost 9:00 am today!  I guess we were a bit tired.

386.  Answered prayers.  Big and small.

387.  A sweet daughter who thought of me and got me an OLD Amy Grant CD at Goodwill.
388.  The way Kate says "Be careful.  Be careful on your way there and on your way back!" every time Cameron or I leave the house.

389.  The flexibility of homeschooling.  We didn't start until after lunch.  We needed the morning to just be here and regroup.  It was good.

390.  A cancellation that gives us a night with nowhere to go.

I feel a bit repetitive when I make these lists.  Some of them occur often and I am thankful for them each time so I don't want to leave them out.  Some things seem too obvious to mention, or are not tangible, but are even more important, like the grace and forgiveness that we have in Jesus, a home to live in and food to eat.  So even if it is repetitive, it is certainly sincere! 

Psalm 107:1  Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Good Times

Between sick kids, company coming, putting away camping paraphernalia and LIFE, there's no time to write, but I did want to share these pictures of our recent camping trip.  We had a great time!  Kate said, "I hate going home!" :)

Well, I give up.  It has taken me all week to get these pictures up.  I'm going to have to figure out a different way to upload them.  Suffice it to say, we had a great time and saw more wildlife than we have ever seen on a camping trip.

Go Dawgs!

What a weekend!  We had been planning this for quite a while.

Early, early Saturday morning, Cameron and I and my sister Valerie and her husband, drove to Nashville, TN for the Georgia vs. Vanderbilt game.  Cameron lived in Georgia for a while as a child and has always been a Georgia football fan.  I'm not sure why, but in the last few years he has become a really big fan and has been able to go see them play the last two years when they have come a little farther North. 

We arrived in Nashville in plenty of time to do some shopping before the game.  We went to our old stomping grounds in Green Hills.  The mall has changed a lot since we went to school in Nashville and it was fun to walk around and do just a little bit of shopping.  They even have a Cheesecake Factory there now!  I was pretty excited, but then the guys said they had made a pact to not eat at any chain restaurants that day.  They wanted to find some local places that were unique.  Of course, they had done their homework and found a place called Brown's Diner.  It was featured on "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives". Even though it is my favorite restaurant ever and we only go about once a year, I agreed that it would be fun to try something new.  Besides, we have a Cheesecake Factory here in Indy.

Brown's Diner.  Let's just say....the ONLY reason that place could be recommended is for a good hamburger, like you'd make at home as opposed to a fast food burger, and a nice waitress.  Why it was thought worthy enough to be on "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" as a place to go is beyond me.  My sister was downright disgusted and the only reason I didn't walk away starving was because my sweet husband gave me the rest of his burger after only a couple of bites and he ate my "catfish fillets".  They were really more like nuggets.  They first bite I took was awful.  I tried another piece and it was better, but too late.  I couldn't eat them.

Valerie and I informed the men that WE would be making the supper arrangements! LOL

The game.  I can't even remember the last time I had attended a football game.  It was either an IU game probably 10+ years ago or a Colts game back when they were really bad.  They were getting beat by the Dolphins, it was boring, so we left and went to the mall! LOL

I used to be a HUGE 49er's fan, but after buying our first house and having children, I had just gotten to where I didn't really care too much.  Plus, Joe Montana was gone.  So Cameron had to refresh my memory about some of the details and I did worry about getting bored, but not for long.  This game was a real nail biter!!  Georgia has struggled this year, but Vandy is not suppose to be that great and Georgia should have won rather easily, but apparently, it wasn't so easy!  Even with one second to go, Vandy could have easily made a touchdown to win the game.  I was glad that Georgia won!  I would have hated for Cameron to have to drive all that way for a loss.  It would have been a lot harder to drive back that night too!

Yes.  We drove back to my parents house that night.  We got to their house at 4:00AM!  We were all exhausted, but we had a great time.  We had never done anything like that with Valerie and Steve since having kids.

Thank you to my parents for watching them all!!

It was fun hanging out in Nashville again.  It's a really neat town and I hope we can take the girls some day for a long weekend and show them around.  We did that with Callie several years ago, but I'm sure she doesn't remember.

{This Moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo -no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple,special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

She could play in the water in some form or another all day long and be perfectly content.  Sometimes it's at the sink, pretending it's a swimming pool for the Barbies.  Sometimes she's a "cooker" and we have the best alphabet soup ever!  Then we "mop" the floor with the towel.  It's a win-win situation!



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A Bumper Crop

Normally a title like that would lead you to think it was a good thing.  But I'm not so sure.  :)

Way back in May, I asked Cameron to pick up some tomato plants.  A few of whatever he wanted but definitely three or four Roma plants.  My dear husband bought a flat of some kind that I have now forgotten the name of and four Roma's.  A FLAT!  Forty-eight!!  Fifty-two tomato plants for a family of four. 

We shared a few with our friends and I think Cameron ended up planting 28.  Did I mention that these plants, except the Roma's, were half dead?  Yeah, they looked pretty bad.  Which is why they were dirt cheap, which is why Cameron bought the whole flat.

If I remember correctly, it was a cold spring and then a very hot, humid summer.  You would think that most of those tomatoes would have ripened a long time ago.  We have gotten a few before now, but not that many.  Just enough for Cameron to have had a couple of tomato sandwiches plus a few.

Fast forward to Saturday night.  According to the Weather Channel the low will be 37 degrees.  I think to myself, "Good.  We've got some time before we need to deal with all of those not quite ripe tomatoes that are still on the vine."  There were quite a few.  A whole bunch actually.

Sunday morning I look out the window and what do I see?  Frost!  Of course it's only on the garden side of the yard.

I pretty much refused to think about it on Sunday, Kate was sick on Tuesday, so Wednesday I was ready to go check out the condition of all those tomatoes.  The tomatoes looked fine, but the vines were dead.  So....Callie and Kate got a fun little job.  Pick all of the tomatoes.  I was thinking they would be able to fill a couple of grocery bags.

How about six grocery bags?!  Six bags of mostly green tomatoes.

There were enough ripe Roma's to roast a pan full with garlic and olive oil and freeze that.  Hopefully the others will ripen on the table and not rot.

(Now it's Tuesday after the birthday party, well episode and very busy weekend)

I think I'm going to try canning green tomato salsa or relish.   I'll let you know how it turns out.

What Do You Do?

So, what do you do when your having guests to celebrate a birthday in less than 4 hours and when you go to wash your hands you discover there is no water?

364.  You thank God that the pies are made and that dinner is hot dogs roasted on the fire.

365.  You thank God that all the days dishes have already been done, except those used to make the pies.

366.  You thank God that you had already, for other reasons, kept the guest list extremely short.

367.  You thank God that most of the laundry is already washed.

368.  You thank God that the guests are family and close friends who will bring you jugs and coolers of water.

369.  You thank God that you are "first on the list for Monday" for the well people to come out.

370.  You thank God for friends who let you come and shower and then feed you a wonderful meal and for other friends who let you come and shower at 10:00pm.

371.  You realize how quickly you go through those jugs and coolers of water and thank God that you live in a country where water can be cheaply purchased and coolers can be refilled rather easily.

372.  You thank God for a twelve year old who is still having a great day and really doesn't care about what might be wrong with the well pump.

373.  You thank God for great weather to have a birthday camp out.

374.  You thank God for a five year old who may be more excited about her sister's birthday than the birthday girl.

375.  You thank God that, since you have had well work done in the past and you remember what that cost, you don't pass out and hit your head on the hardwood  floor when the well company tells you how much it will cost to repair!

376.  We were all having such a great time that there are very few pictures of the party.  We have some of Callie opening her presents from us at breakfast, but since her hair wasn't brushed and she was in her pajamas, we'll save those. :)

377.  Now we are thanking God that we have running water again!!

Inspired by Ann

*12*

Callie.  Where do we begin?  You were prayed for and longed for many years before you arrived.  When you were ready to come into the world, boy, were you ready!  You have been nonstop ever since!!

 Your Mother and I would use our most persuasive arguments on each other to try and be the one who held you during church.  You were the most lovable, snugly bundle of joy we had ever experienced. 

You were always so funny.  That has continued to this day!  You make us laugh so much.

 I remember how you danced in your high chair at one of our visits to a restaurant.  I smile when you do one of your funny dances in the car while the radio is playing something that makes you move.  It is a joy to see you dance ballet.

You do not know it, or you may not have, until now, but watching you grow up is both a delight and a sorrow.  A delight because I catch glimpses of the young lady you are becoming.  A sorrow because it seems to be happening so very fast!  God is so good to your Mother and me for entrusting you to us for a time.  With all the challenges that this brings, we are receiving so much joy! 

May you have a Very Special Day on this, your 12th birthday.  We Love You!  Keep Dancing!

Happy Birthday, Callie.

Oh How the Mighty Have Fallen!

Early on in our marriage, Cameron found a really cool TV show on PBS that he knew I would like.  So he came and woke me up at 6:30 on a Sunday morning.  This is how my "love" (obsession?) with Martha Stewart began.

I could blame Cameron and Martha on a little pride problem that may have followed for the next several years.  Thankfully, someone pointed out to me, that if you can read, you can cook.  It's just a matter of following directions.  So I wasn't so much proud of my abilities as I was proud of my ingredients and effort.

No frozen dinners or boxed mixes for my family!  Nothing but real butter and fresh eggs in my dishes!

Callie has requested apple and sweet potato pies for her birthday.  Guess what I bought today.  Pre-made, refrigerated pie crust!  And then, I bought frozen lasagna for dinner!!  Gasp!  I did not look at any of the ingredients list or I may have caved and put them back.

So yes, my family is going to have a frozen dinner tonight.  And my daughter is not going to have homemade pie crust.  You know what they will have though?  They will have a wife/mother who is not stressed out and running around here like a mad woman barking orders and getting frustrated because no one cares about how things are supposed to be done!  At least that's the plan. :)

This might be the best present Callie gets.

Autumn Thanksgivings

 It has been a while since I have done a one of these, but I do think a lot about what I would list if I was doing one.  It seems the greatest weapon against discontent and complaining is thanksgiving.  I never realized how prone I am to grumble until I heard it in my children. Now, I find myself correcting them and then 10 seconds later, I'm grumbling about something!   I think we do it so often, we don't even realize we are doing it.  How it must break God's heart when he is so loving and generous and all we do it "wah, wah, wah".  Just like it upsets me when I go to all kinds of trouble to do something special for someone and then they don't like it.  And God has to listen to millions of us!

356.  I'm thankful that when sitting down to type this, I don't know where to start.  The summer was full and wonderful, without sickness or injury. 

357.  For one new window!  Only 20 more to go. :)  As far as we know, these windows are original to the house.  This house is over 100 years old.  The worst window in the house was replaced this week.  Our first winter here and our first month home with Kate, there was a blizzard.  One day, I walked by this window and there was something white in the floor.  I honestly had no idea what it was until I bent down and saw that it was snow!  I went to the bathroom and cried for a while.  No wonder we were freezing!  As soon as the weather settled, my husband went to the store for plastic.  :)  I didn't tell him until a couple of years later how I went to the bathroom and cried like a baby.

358.  I am also very thankful that we didn't go with Cameron's original idea of trying to restore this wood siding and that he came to that conclusion on his own!  This particular wall of siding was also replaced and there were more holes like the one pictured above.

359.  I'm thankful that Cameron's job allows him some flexibility with his schedule so that he can join the girls and I for things like picking apples.



360.  I'm thankful that he wants to.

361.  For an almost 12 year old.  Oh my.  How does that happen?  On Friday, my first baby will be 12 years old.  OK, moving on.

362.  I'm so very thankful for a good school year so far.  Especially in light of the fact that I was dreading the start of school this time.  That has never happened to me before.  I usually am very excited to get back into a routine and give Callie her stack of books, etc.  This summer though, I just could not seem to get excited about it all and was really pretty worried about the whole thing.  I prayed a lot about it and asked Cameron to pray too and God was faithful to answer those prayers.  The week before we started, I finally got a little excited, got a large portion of planning done and knew it would be okay.

Eating sushi for our study of Japan

363.  For thrift stores.  Callie had grown out of almost every single piece of clothing she owned.  I got her three outfits, Kate a pair of shoes, and a wool sweater for a project I have been wanting to do for a long time, plus another shirt, all for under $40!  Callie liked everything I brought home too.  She's very easy to please in that regard.  I'll be going back in a couple of weeks to see if I can find some more goodies.

Sunday night at church we saw videos of the Japanese tsunami and footage of one of the towns that was destroyed.  A man from our church went there for two weeks to help with the clean up and he was telling us about his trip and the people he met.  Even watching the video, it seemed so surreal, like a movie.  It was very moving.  We have so much to be thankful for.

Insipired by Ann.