#NaBloPoMo December 2014 Day 1

*********This post is a duplicate of one I posted on my new Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy Blog found on Wordpress***********************

This is the first day of the December NaBloPoMo challenge and I am still on a roll.  I blogged for every day of October and November and now I am trying to see if I can do the same thing for December.  The theme for December’s NaBloPoMo challenge is “Joy” and everyone needs joy in their life.

Our prompt for the day is to discuss when we are down what we do to bring ourselves up.  My favorite things to do when I am down is to spend time with my children – all 4 of them to be precise, three boys and one girl – they have a way of making me laugh and find joy in the world.

Another thing I like to do is spend time with my Bible.  I love to pick a word such as joy and find various Bible references for that word.  So for example, when I used my Bible Gateway app to search for the word Joy, I found quite a few references.

Here are a few of the ones I really like:

Psalm 32:11 – “Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.”

Psalm 35:9 – “And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord: it shall rejoice in his salvation.”

Psalm 66:1 – “Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands.”

Psalm 95:2 – “O come, let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.”

Luke 1:14 – “And thous shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.

John 15;11 – “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”

Romans 5:11 – “And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.”

Galatians 5:22-23:  – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law.”

Philippians 1:4 – “Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy.                                             “

James 1:2-8:  “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.”

and finally:

Psalm 30:5 – “For his anger endureth but for a moment’ in his favour is life, weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”

So what brings you joy?

This is a cross post because I am thinking about moving my blog from blogger to Wordpress.  So while I am trying to decide which one I like better, I will be posting in both places.

So here is the post:

Well I officially did it.  I successfully completed the NaNoWriMo challenge, meaning I have officially written at least 50,000 words in an original novel by me.  I had just heard about these two challenges in November, but decided to attempt to complete them both.  After all I had everything to gain by trying and nothing to lose.  So I stepped out on faith and was amazed this evening to be able to write this post saying I completed both challenges.  I am amazed that I did them both.

I know that some people knew what I was trying to do, but I did not really broadcast it to everyone.  Now I want all my friends to know what I have done with God's help.  I know it had to be Him on provided the inspiration and that helped the words flow freely.  I truly am amazed at His goodness and mercy.  I still need to finish the novel, because for some crazy reason, fifty thousand words was not enough to complete what I wanted to say.  But there is not much left.  Plus I can already see this book is going to need at least one sequel to complete the story.  I am not willing to commit beyond that.  

Today is also the first day of Advent.  Unfortunately my advent wreath is up in the attic still, so I am praying I can convince my children to bring down our Christmas tree tomorrow.  At least my Christmas tree is up even if we don't have any lights or decorations on it yet.

So what is up in your world today?

Sacred Sunday - November 30, 2014

So today it is time to say good bye to the November challenge for NaBloPoMo and the writing challenge for NaNoWriMo.  I can't believe I have done all this writing for the past two months.  Moreover, I can't believe I am actually looking forward to the NaBloPoMo Challenge for December.

Today our family will be attending church and then we will probably spend a quiet afternoon and evening together.  Maybe we will play some board games or have a family movie night.  It is hard to say right now.  But what is certain, is that I plan on enjoying the day to the fullest.  It will be 3 weeks before we have another quiet Sunday together.

Next weekend, Dennis will be flying home from Fort McCoy (he leaves on Thursday).  Then  the following weekend we will be having our Army Family Christmas party on Sunday - so that will be a day of fun, family and soldiers with their families.

That means it will be the weekend before Christmas before we can do our main Christmas shopping as well as buy groceries for the rest of the month.  So how is your month of December shaping up?  I look forward to hearing from you.

Supposed to be Saturday Shopping Day

Today is day 29 of the NaBloPoMo challenge for November.  It is hard to believe the month is almost over.  Unfortunately, I don't have a "Saturday Saying" for today.  I know earlier in the week, I heard my children say several things that I wanted to record for this, but I have forgotten what they are.  I guess I need to start using the notes feature on my Ipad or the Dragon program on my Iphone to record these thoughts when I have them.  That way I won't forget.

Today was supposed to be  a shopping Saturday.  This meant we should be loading up the entire family to go out for a day of shopping in our "School bus" - meaning our 12 passenger Chevrolet Express van - big enough to hold the food to feed 7 people plus anything else we might decide to buy (or should I say that Dad and I allow anyone to buy) - meaning it has to pass the "Will it fit with everything else we already have planned to buy or have already bought?"  If it does not pass this test, then no purchasing it until another trip.  Oh yes, "and if it is not on my list, don't ask if you can have it - unless it is something you know that 'I' will declare to be a necessity of life.

However, life has a funny way of changing our plans thanks to God.  Yesterday we spent the morning in the ER with our oldest son.  So by the time we got home, we knew he would not probably feel like going anywhere with us today.  Plus my mom was not feeling her best.  Add in to that our youngest son not feeling his best and it results in plans changing.  Because we did not get a lot of sleep yesterday, when we came home from the hospital, Dennis slept away most of the afternoon.  When he got up, he announced that there was a "frago" - meaning a change in plans.  He felt like we should go shopping then instead of waiting until today.  So he, me and our middle son loaded into our Chevrolet venture instead to go shopping.  We went to a grocery store called "Giant".  Then we went in "Sam's Club" and we finished off our shopping "Walmart".

I have to remind those of you here in the USA, that yesterday was BLACK FRIDAY.  If we were still back in North Carolina, the stores would have been packed with no room to move probably.  Instead we found the stores remarkably empty.   I have never been out on Black Friday where Walmart was not insane.  But this Walmart was almost empty.  I have never gone to check out on Black Friday where there were multiple cashiers standing at the end of their checkout lanes waiting for people to come check out.  Yet that is exactly what we found.  I asked about the lack of customers and she responded that all their sales had been that morning, so evidently no one was really shopping.  I think it also may have had something to do with the fact that this store is located miles away from Penn State University and all the college kids were probably still at their own hometowns.  But I have to say it was a wonderful time to shop.

So how are you spending your Saturday.  I would love to hear from you.

If I could be any TV character who would I be #NaBloPoMo Day 28

Today is day 28 of the NaBloPoMo challenge for November.  Our prompt for today is what TV character would we like to be?  If I could be any character on TV, I would want to be Annie Camden from "Seventh Heaven".  This lady is an amazing mother with an amazing husband and family.   She has the ability to fix anything in the home - including plumbing.  How awesome is that?  She was truly a multifaceted and multitalented lady.  She wasn't afraid to show her emotions.  She was able to be tough when necessary.  She faced her husband having heart problems and being shot with grace and composure.

Nothing her children did caused her to lose her temper or her cool (well at least not in front of them).  Plus she has the most important trait that would be important to me.  She had an unshakeable faith in Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.  And she got to ride off into the sunset in a fabulous motor home to see the country with her husband and family.

If you could be any character on TV, who would you choose?  I welcome your comments.

NaBloPoMo Day 27 - Where do I See My Blog in a Year or more

Today is day 27 of the NaBloPoMo November challenge and it is also Thanksgiving Day here in the United States.  Much of my day will be spent in the kitchen preparing our Thanksgiving Feast.

Today I am thankful for:

1) My husband who is willing to help in the kitchen
2) All of the good food we are going to eat.
3)  All of the wonderful new friends and ideas I have found on the web and on Facebook.

I also want to pause a moment to talk about where I would like to see my blog in a year.  In one year, I would like to see my blog have a greater following as well as having printables and other useful tools being offered to my readers.  I would also like to see it generating some income for our family.

In five years, I would like to see my blog being a way of promoting my writing and being a way of offering special items to my readers.

What would you like to see happen in your life or with your blog/website in the next year or five years.  I welcome your comments.

Wednesday Weather

DrToday is day 26 of the NaBloPoMo challenge.  It is all the day before Thanksgiving here in the United States.  But for the specific area I live in, the weather is going to be the major topic of concern.  After all, a winter storm watch has a way of bringing our attention, especially when it is the first projected major snow storm of the year.

To many, I know the word "snow" remains a bad word in their opinion.  It is something they long to avoid and be rid of for the entire winter.  I was originally born in southern New Jersey and lived there for 9 years.  Snow was just something that came with the territory.

Then our family moved to South Carolina, where snow was not such a normal thing.  I will never forget one snow storm, the people who lived across the street from us attempted to "wash" the snow of their driveway with their hose.  Needless to say, the driveway became a solid sheet of ice.  We lived there for four years before moving to Salisbury, North Carolina.  I can't say I remember too much about any snow there.

Then I went to college in Asheville, NC while my parents moved to southeastern North Carolina.  I flew home from college for Christmas break and could not get out when I was supposed to because it snowed where we lived.  Any amount of snow in that part of the country paralyzes the area because there just isn't a high demand for snow removal equipment.

Flash forward many years to around 1999, my husband was away at annual training with the army reserves in January - which was a strange time for him to be gone since he typically goes to annual training in June.  I was staying with my mother along with our oldest two sons.  In the morning, it was snowing.  Originally they called for a delay for the schools, then they changed it to a teacher workday.  Since I was a teacher, that meant I had to go to work.  So I cautiously got in the van and started to the high school I taught at with one ear on the radio.  When I had drove for a while, the news I had been hoping for was announced.  I no longer had to go to work, so the hard part became finding a safe place to turn around.  But I made it.

Flash forward to our first year in Pennsylvania in 2012, the weekend before Thanksgiving as we were driving to our new home, the skies opened up and the snow began falling.  It was not good news for the area.  That February I believe we wound up with over 4 feet of snow on the ground before it finally stopped.  But my children loved it.  They made tunnels in the snow and just thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  Only time will tell how much snow we actually will get this year or will wind up with for the year.  But I plan on enjoying it.  Because being in the military means I have no idea of where we will be moving to next.

How's the weather where you are?

This picture is what our backyard looked like this morning before it began really snowing.

Then the picture above is what it looked like this afternoon.

Tasty Tuesday - November 25, 2014

Today I want to share with you our dinner from last night. I'm made homemade chicken soup.  I began by boiling about 12 chicken tenders in water with 3 chicken bouillon cubes.  While that was cooking, my oldest son began boiling water to cook the Amish Noodles in that we had bought at Sam's Club.  My family loves almost any type of noodles.

When the chicken was done, I removed it from the pot, so that it would cool enough for me to shred it.  I then added to cartons of Vegetable broth since I did not have any chicken broth on hand along with carrots and onions.  About 7 minutes before the noodles were done cooking, I added about 3-4 celery stalks chopped finely and a bag of frozen roasted red bell peppers.  When everything was ready, I served the meal by placing noodles in the bottom of the bowl to my family's satisfaction along with the chicken soup mixture.  Along with the meal we served crescent rolls that my oldest son prepared by melting butter and adding garlic salt.  He then brushed the mixture on the inside of the crescent roll before rolling it up.  Then he coated the tops with the mixture.  They were totally delicious.  I hope you enjoyed.

Here are some photos of the meal preparations and the finished product.

So what are you having for dinner today?  We will be eating the leftover soup.

Monday Musings for November 24, 2014

So today is day 24 of the NaBloPoMo challenge, and I have now been blogging for 55 days straight (including today).  I have really enjoyed participating the Ultimate Blog Challenge in October and the NaBloPoMo challenge this month.

It amazes me to think I have been able to come up with that many blog posts in a row.  I have almost written more posts in the past two months than I had since I started our blog.

Sometimes thinking of a blog post title can be difficult.  The words tend to come easier for the actual post than the title.  I want and need the title to catch attention and draw interest to read the post.

In three days, we will be celebrating Thanksgiving.  We have everything for our meal except our turkey.  Dennis will pick that up on his way home from work on Wednesday since we are getting a fresh turkey from a local grocery store.

Also, we have the possibility of having 2-4 inches of snow on Wednesday.  this could make life interesting.

Last night at almost 9 pm we received a visit from the pastor, his wife and his daughter of the church in our new town that we have been attending.  Every year their church gives out Thanksgiving meals.  This year they decided to bless our family with one of those meals.  It meant a lot to us to receive this gift.

In one month, it will be Christmas Eve.  There is so much we need to do to get ready for the holiday.  Yet nothing we need to do is as important as focusing on the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.   Our Christmas may be a simple this one this year, but we certainly can turn our hearts and minds to what the miraculous birth of this baby did for our salvation.

So what is on your mind this Monday?  I would love to hear from you.

Satisfying Sunday

Some days are just more satisfying than others.  It doesn't matter what gets done, as much as it matters who you are with at the time.  Today was one of those satisfying Sundays.  I stayed home from church with our daughter this morning while the rest of the family went to church.  Last night at bedtime she had a bloody nose and just had a rough night in general.  So Dennis and I decided it was best for me to stay with her.

While they were gone, I did a few things around the house.  Around 11:30, I began preparations for our Sunday dinner.  We always eat our big meal on Sundays right after church.  So I pulled out vegetables to have as our sides.  Our main course was going to be two ham slices.  All of the children helped with the dinner preparations once they returned from church.  Dad also helped out in the kitchen.  We had the ham slices, kale stir-fried with red onions and garlic, baby lima beans, baby potatoes and cauliflower covered in melted cheese.  Dad also fixed us garlic toast to have with the meal.  Everyone thoroughly enjoy the meal.

The rest of the day will basically be spent doing things of our choosing - either alone or with other family members.  All in all it is very satisfying to not have a ton of demands on our time.  It is good to have a day to rest and rejoice in our Lord.

So how have you spent your Sunday?  Was it satisfying?  I pray it was.  I welcome your comments.

Working Saturday

Well today is day 22 of the NaBloPoMo challenge.  Today was one of those rare Saturdays where we did not have to go anywhere or do anything.  We actually spent the day working on the house.  Everyone had assigned jobs to complete.  Dennis worked on the dining room closet.  I worked on laundry, Boo's bedroom and my part of our closet.  The younger two were assigned the job of straightening up the toy room.  The older two had to move some things out to our garage and rearranged one of our bookshelves.

Then Dennis and I had to go to his unit for something.  Imagine our surprise when we went out and found freezing rain falling.  It was not exactly a good day to be out driving.  We were blessed to make it to the unit and back with no problems.

Due to the road conditions, our company for the evening determined it was better to cancel for this evening.  I had to agree with them.  So instead we are having a quiet evening at home with just our family.

What is going on where you are?  I would love to hear from you.

A Year is almost over

A year is almost over.  Next week is Thanksgiving.  Then we are into December and all that goes with preparing for Christmas.  Then it is time to prepare for a new year.  This is a time to reflect on the year that has been.  What went well?  What do I wish I had done differently?  What changes do I want to make in the upcoming year?
As I look back on 2014, a lot has happened.  We made some choices regarding our future.  We feel comfortable with those decisions.  We moved from one house to another one that feels more like home for us.  And now one of the biggest changes is going to be happening.  My husband is about to reenlist for another 6 years.  His plan is to complete his Masters Degree in Divinity in that time.  It is going to be an interesting couple of years.  Time with the family will be a precious commodity amidst the demands of work and school for him.  Within the next year, we probably will receive orders to our next duty station.  Our oldest should begin taking college courses.  And life continues to move forward.

How has your year been and what are you looking forward to in the new year?   welcome your thoughts.

NOV 20 2014 THANKFUL THURSDAYS

Today is day 20 of the NaBloPoMo challenge.

Today I am thankful for the 20 posts I have written this month - including this one.

I am thankful to be able to participate in the "Before Amen" Online Bible Study through Proverbs 31 Ministries.

I am thankful for the new homeschooling law that just passed in Pennsylvania.

I am thankful to have spent the last 4 days with my husband.

I am thankful for children that love each other and take care of each other.

What are you thankful for today?  I would love to hear from you.

HOME AGAIN HOME AGAIN

Well Sunday afternoon Dennis and I left home to go to Virginia.  He was attending a meeting regarding his annual training for next year.  This morning we began the trip home.  I have to say I am glad our trip home was less eventful than our trip to Virginia.  We had no rain.  It was daylight.  And my husband did not hit his head with the back door of the van.

Our children were reasonably glad to see us.  Dennis and I enjoyed playing a game of Yahtzee with our middle two plus my mom.  Then we spent time later with our daughter and our oldest son.  All in all it has been a fairly good day.

How was your day?

Tuesday Thoughts

So here are some random thoughts for this Tuesday.

Computer Internet connections can wreak havoc with plans.  I planned on watching a webcast tonight for "Before Amen" - the latest Proverbs 31 Ministries Online Bible Studies, but the Internet connection at the hotel I am staying at is preventing that from happening.

This same Internet connection problem is causing problems with uploading my NaNoWriMo project so I can check my official word count.  Plus my computer is acting kind of strange so I am having to restart it some.

I could be swimming right now, but I looked up the wrong hotel on line so I did not bring a bathing suit with me.

Eating out is not all it is cracked up to be.  Two mediocre meals in two days is not a grand beginning.

Hearing that your child does not feel good and  you are two states away is not comforting.

So what are some thoughts you have for today?  I would love to hear from you.

MONDAY MORNING MAYHEM

So it is Monday and it is going to be one of those days.  It actually began last night.  Dennis and I arrived at a hotel for a conference he had to attend.  When he was getting out the luggage for someone who had rode with us, he went to close the rear hatch door of our van and brought it right down on his head.  Then we came inside to check in and they gave us our keys.  We took our luggage and went up to the room to discover it was not a king sized bed like Dennis had reserved.  So he went back to the front desk and arranged for us to change rooms.  It took quite a while for both of us to be able to settle down to sleep.

Then we woke up this morning to rain.  Dennis has to be outside for part of the conference because they are planning for next year's annual training.  He did not remember to bring rain gear, so he is going to be soaked through before the day is over.  Our second son called to tell me that the screen on his laptop had broken.  I had an extra laptop at the house, but they couldn't get the password to work.  Fortunately, they found my cord would work for another extra computer we had, so that problem was solved.

So how are things where you are today?

Trying to Leave the House

Have you ever triedtoget ready to go someplace?  Today my husband and I were going someplace without the children.  We spent around 30 minutes going over instructions and directions for them while we were gone.  It was quite something.  Even if we just want torun out for few minutes, it seems to take forever to get out the door.  The worst is when we are going on a family vacation.  There are always those last minute items we have to go back for that someone forgot.

How do you all do with getting out the door? I would love to hear from you.

Saturday Cooking

Today is all about cooking.  I spent the majority of my evening in the kitchen cooking.  I was preparing dinner for today plus dinner for one night this week.  For tonight I fixed steak tacos with the help of my family.  We took steak and thinly sliced it and seasoned it with Mexican spices that we browned.  Then we served it with pinto beans that had mexicn seasonings along with rice, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream and guacamole. Here are some pictures of our meals.

Today is all about cooking.  I spent the majority of my evening in the kitchen cooking.  I was preparing dinner for today plus dinner for one night this week.  For tonight I fixed steak tacos with the help of my family.  We took steak and thinly sliced it and seasoned it with Mexican spices that we browned.  Then we served it with pinto beans that had mexicn seasonings along with rice, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream and guacamole. Above are some pictures of our meals.  

For the coming week, I made Chilli and White Bean Chicken Chilli.  Once it was fixed, we put it in jars.  so here are some pictures.

Come back later this week if you want the recipes.  What is on your menu?  I would love to hear from you.

Writers Block or Maybe Not

So it Friday, November 14, 2014.  I have now been blogging consecutively for 45 days.  It is hard to believe that I came up with that many different things to say.  And for the past 13 days, I have also been working on my NaNoWriMo project as well.  I am finding lots of things to say. But as I began to think about what to blog about today, I hit a wall.  I had Writer's Block.  I started and deleted several drafts before I began this one.

Yet the third time proved to work.  That is this version.  It is so hard sometimes to put thoughts on paper.  I want to be sure I am using the right words to convey exactly the meaning I want.  After all you can't hear my voice or see my facial expressions or hand motions to know what I really mean.  All I have is my words.  The right words convey exactly the meaning I want, while the wrong words can leave nothing.  I just know I have a lot I want and need to share.  At the same time, I am finding a desire to write that I never knew I had.

I always thought my sister was the one with the writing talent in the family.  I was gifted in math.  But as the years have gone by, I find myself spending more time writing or editing writing.  As Dennis attended college, I edited his papers for him.  I edit my children's homeschool work.  I edit my blog and various posts on various forums I am on.  I am surrounded by words. I can't escape them.  They follow me where ever I go.

What are you surrounded by?  Or what do you find yourself doing that you did not expect to be doing?  I hope you will share with me!

Thankful Thursdays - November 13, 2014

Today is day 13 of the NaBloPoMo challenge.  And I am still here.  Today I want to do a post regarding some more things I am thankful for today.

Today I am thankful for a home that suits the needs of our family perfectly.  My children are really enjoying it and it suits our family well.

I am thankful for those in my husband's family who took the time when I first met Dennis to teach me how to crochet.   I have completed many blankets over the years.  Most have been given away to family and friends.  It is something I really enjoy doing.

I am thankful that my parents (my mom specifically) instilled a love of reading in me.  I am never bored or without something to do because I can always read.

I am thankful for our 12 passenger van that allows us to travel in comfort and grocery shop in one trip instead of many trips.

Oh and in honor of Throwback Thursdays, here is a picture from several years back.  This picture was from back in 2010.  Boy have my children grown.

So what are you thankful for today?

DAY 12 NaBloPoMo - 12 Things I am Thankful For

Today is day 12 of the NaBloPoMo challenge.  I thought I would share 12 things I am thankful for since it is November and quickly approaching Thanksgiving here in the USA.

12 Things I am Thankful for:
1) My amazing and wonderful husband.  I was truly blessed when he entered my life.

2)  My four children - They light up my world and keep life interesting.

3)  My extended family - they too make life interesting.

4)  My Online Bible Study friends that have become like family

5)  My Savior Jesus Christ who was willing to die on the cross for my sins

6)  The ability to homeschool my children

7)  Our various church families:  Because we have moved twice in the past 6 years, we have had to find new churches.  Our church families in Greensburg (there were two different ones) and the three different ones we have interacted with where we are living now have blessed our family

8) The ability to serve God as he calls me to do

9)  The Cozi app that allows me to keep track of our calendar and to share it with my family, including sending reminders.

10)  YouVersion App - that ensures I spend time in God's Word every day.

11)  My Teddy Bear that my wonderful husband bought me for our anniversary many years ago.

12)  The ability to spend time blogging and writing.

So those are the things I am thankful for today.  What are you thankful for?  I would love to hear from you.

Tasty Tuesdays - Mexican for the Lactose-Intolerant

Today is day 11 of NaBloPoMo and I wanted to do another "Tasty Tuesday" post about Mexican food.  I have a child (well not exactly a young child - he is 18) who is extremely lactose intolerant.  He is "can't eat anything that is even produced on a line where other products containing lactose are produced.  We only discovered this less than 2 years ago and had been dealing with for over 7 years.  So this really limits where we can eat at and what we can eat.

So I have had to get real creative in the kitchen.  When we first received the diagnosis, we asked to speak to a nutritionist but had the request denied.  Our gastro-intestinal doctor felt that handing us about 4 sheets of paper counted as nutritional counseling.  Now for someone who had never even had friend in person that had the diagnosis, it made things very challenging.  Many items either contain lactose (like certain brands of ramen noodles) or are produced on a line where other products are produced that contain lactose.  But labels frequently don't identify that fact.

Our family loves Mexican food, but with someone who is lactose-intolerant it is out.  So you can't imagine our excitement when we discovered a brand of cheese that is lactose-free because of the way it is made.  So this allowed us to increase some of the items we could fix.

     So for the last two months or so, I have tried preparing mexican food for our family.  Tortillas are safe.  I make homemade guacamole from avocadoes, green and/or red bell peppers, fresh tomatoes, red onions and I may or may not use cilantro (part of my family likes it and part of my family does not).  I cut open and scoop out the inside of the avocados (discarding the seed) and place it in my food processor with some lime juice.  I coarsely chop it.  Then I dice the rest of the ingredients and mix them together gently.  I typically add mesquite seasoning, chipolte seasoning and a small amount of chili powder to taste.  I have some in my family who can't take a tremendous amount of spice, so I go on the light side.  Add whatever is right for your taste.

I start a pot of rice (well I actually have either my son or my husband do this for me). We also put a pot of either black beans or white northern beans on to cook, adding some of the mexican seasonings to them.  Then I brown either ground beef or chicken in a fry pan.  Once it is browned, I add the same spices that I added to the guacamole - again to taste.  In the meantime, my children and husband dice tomatoes and onions, shred lettuce and cheese and prepare the table with the other items including the tortillas, taco sauce, salsa and sour cream.  When everything is ready I set up a station with the ingredients.  I then have each family member tell me what they want on their burito/taco.  I add those ingredients to their shell and wrap it for them.

Here is a picture of my husband's after he had made it picture perfect.

So there is our version of Mexican food.  I hope you enjoy!  What is your favorite food?

Day 10 of NaBloPoMo Challenge - 41 DAYS IN A ROW OF BLOGGING

So today is day 10 of the NaBloPoMo challenge.  So I have now been blogging for 41 days straight.  I am rather proud of my accomplishment.  In addition to the NaBloPoMo challenge, I am also participating in the NaNoWriMo challenge.  My goal for that challenge is to write 50,000 words by the end of November.  So far I am keeping up well.  I am not going to go into details about what topic I have chosen to write about yet.  But I have to say I am pleased with my progress.

I never planned on trying to write a novel.  I never really planned on writing anything.  But I have to say  I am enjoying the writing process.  It is somewhat magical to come to my computer with nothing really on my mind and see what eventually becomes a blog post or part of the book.  Of course our life is never boring, so I can find plenty to say.

So what things have you done or are doing that you never expected to see yourself doing?

Week in Review - NaNoBloMo Day 9

So we have had quite a week around here.  We had to take our youngest son to get his military id renewed.  Since we were already going to Hershey Medical Center on Wednesday for our second son, we decided to combine the trips into one.  The two boys, Dennis and I left the house around 8 am and followed the GPS' instructions to get to Carlisle (the nearest location to renew a military id).  We  were directed to get off of the main road way before we expected to do so.  But we wound up liking the back road we went on for the most part.

We completely missed Harrisburg and some other high traffic areas.  When we arrived at Carlisle, the GPS brought us in the back gate, which was perfect for where we were going.  We found a parking spot and walked into the ID center.  There were several people ahead of us.  So we sat and waited.  Finally it was our turn.  We quickly completed what was necessary to get the id and were back on the road.  By this time, everyone was getting hungry.  So we started to decide where we wanted to eat at.  We finally decided on Mexican.  Several years ago, we found a really good Mexican restaurant in the area.  So we used the GPS to find it.  Although, the area had changed so much that we were not sure we were at the right place.  Once we walked inside we knew we had though.

Dennis and Joseph ordered a chicken dish with jalapeno peppers.  Nathan ordered the fajitas, while I ordered chimichangas.  The meals were fantastic.  We really enjoyed our meals.  We then continued on our way to the Medical Center.  We arrived at the medical center and followed the directions provided to us.  We finally found a parking spot (it was quite the adventure) and went inside.  While our second son located a bathroom, Dennis and I located where we were going (this was our first time ever in this medical center).  Once everyone had used the facilities, we went into the clinic.

We knew we were about an hour early, but decided to check in anyhow.  Surprisingly, when we got back to the waiting room, our son was almost immediately called back.  By the end of his appointment, I knew my son was exceptionally flexible (which I already knew) and that he did not have Marfan's Syndrome.  I also knew my son thought it was really fun to have a geneticist, a genetics counselor and a medical school student all in his room at the same time.  I also found out our son is well over 6 feet tall now.

To finish off our week, our microwave oven died.  This is a tremendous tragedy for our family.  It is used to make tea, prepare lunches and even fix dinner at times.  So with a broken microwave, it is not a good thing.

So how has your week been?

SATURDAY SAYINGS

So it is Saturday once again, and it is time for Saturday sayings.  Today I will not just be relating something one of my children said, instead I will be telling you something that was said to one of my children as well.

This week we had to take our second son in to see a geneticist.  When we arrived at the Medical center, we quickly found where we were supposed to go.  We were an hour early, but they let us register.  We were then sent to the "Carnival" waiting room.  Very quickly we were checked in and my son and I were placed in a room (Dad and #3 son stayed in the waiting room).

A medical student entered our room and began taking the history.  Then he left and said the geneticist would be in shortly.  Well imagine my son's surprise when the doctor, the med student and a genetics counselor all entered our room.  My son commented, "Boy I must be really important to have 3 people taking care of me."  or at least that was the general idea of what he said.

The geneticist told my son, "Boy you really fill out your 'genes'!  The funny thing was that Joseph had commented earlier about his "genes" and pointed to his "jeans" that he was wearing.

The appointment went well and we have nothing to worry about, which makes this mother very happy.

The geneticist told me that before we left the center, we would be provided a website to go to for information about the condition that my son could have had.  The genetics counselor (a woman), told him that they were NOT going to give me the website.  She said there was no need to scare me, which I appreciated.  All in all the visit went very well and I was very impressed with the staff and facility (or at least what I saw of it anyhow).

So what has gone on in your week?

MY FAVORITE PLACE TO VACATION

Today is day 7 of the NaBloPoMo challenge and I want to write about my favorite place to vacation.  When my husband and I married 22 years ago, we chose to spend our honeymoon at Williamsburg, Virginia.   We enjoyed visiting Busch Gardens, Jamestown and Yorktown.  My favorite part was visiting the glassblowers.  As a gift, my husband bought me a beautiful green pitcher that the rim was in the shape of a heart.  It was a perfect gift for our wonderful honeymoon.

As the years have come and gone, children have been born (4 to be precise), I still love to return to Williamsburg.  Only we don't stay in hotels now.  Instead we stay in the cabins at Fort Eustis, and we still typically go as close to our anniversary as we can.  The whole family goes with us - the four children plus my mother.  We try to stay a week, but sometimes the unforseen happens - like the year we left early because a hurricane had decided it felt like visiting Williamsburg.

Coming to Williamsburg towards the end of August is a wonderful time to visit.  The crowds don't seem to be quite as bad at Busch Gardens.  My children love to ride the rollercoasters and other rides.  Plus the shows are amazing.  I also enjoy the shops and food as well.  We always make it a point to visit OKtoberfest for at least one meal.  
I realize there are many people who might think we are strange for taking our family with us on our anniversary, but I love my children.  I realize all too soon they will be moving on to making their own memories and my husband and I will be left on our own.  But after all, that is how God intended things to be.  He intended for parents to raise their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord; and then those children would have families of their own and raise their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.  

So where is your favorite spot to vacation?

THANKFUL THURSDAY NOVEMBER 6, 2014 #NaBloPoMo

So today is day 6 of the NaBloPoMo challenge.  Today's post is a thankful Thursday post. 

Today I am thankful for:

1)  My husband and his job that allows him to take off like yesterday to drive us to renew a military ID card for one child and take another child to an appointment about 2 hours away at Hershey Medical Center.

2)  I am thankful for the doctors and staff in the Genetics department at the Hershey Medical Center for their willingness to take the time to answer any questions I might have had during the appointment, plus to explain why what our son might have been diagnosed with was not present in our son.

3)  I am thankful for my childrens' sense of humor.  All four children have the ability to make me laugh.  They come up with some of the craziest and best things to say.  They keep things lively and interesting around our home.

4)  I am thankful for good friends.  For the past two Sundays, we were able to have different families over to our home to share food and fellowship with each other.

5)  I am thankful for Proverbs 31 Ministries Online Bible Studies.  With four children that I homeschool, a husband in the military and everything we have going on in our lives, it is nice to be able to fellowship and spend time in God's Word with other ladies - but when it is convenient or anytime I just need to be with ladies who can lift me up with prayer.

So what are you thankful for today?

DREAMS

Have you ever had a dream, something you just really knew you wanted/had to do, have or so forth?  Over the years I have had a lot of dreams.  Some dreams became reality and others disappeared into a pool of impossibilities.  Others I realized needed to wait for a different time.

The one dream that did come true is that I wanted to become a wife and mother. I love being a wife and mother.  My husband is my best friend and the love of my life.  He makes me whole.

My children are wonderful. They make me think.  They challenge me.  I love them.  It is quite interesting to live in a home with 3 sons and a daughter.

So what makes you complete?  What dreams do you have?

NaBloPoMo Day 4 - My Favorite Holiday Memory

It is day 4 of the NaBloPoMo Blog challenge and today I am writing about my favorite holiday memory.  This memory is one we try to make every year and have since we were married.  It did not necessarily occur on the same day every year. But it was something I loved doing.  We would load up in our van (or it is possible we would do this on the way home from somewhere) and just drive.  The sole purpose was to see the Christmas lights on all the homes.

For me, what color the lights were wasn't what was important.  What was important was to see the lights.  My husband always found the most beautiful displays of lights for us to see.  Back in North Carolina, there was an older neighborhood that you could drive to the very back of and find magnificent new homes that were huge.  These huge houses wound up having beautiful light displays.

As the years went by, we  tried to add some things to our routine.  One was to visit our local Christmas tree farm.  This farm had grown from just selling trees to having a Christmas store, a restaurant, a hayride, farm animals and other things.  But our favorite part was the hayride they introduced that took you all around the farm and had various displays set up to look at.  The lights were spectacular.  They had Christmas music playing throughout the display.  So all in all, it was a wonderful experience.

So this is my favorite holiday memory!  What is yours?

Day 3 of NaBloPoMo

Today is day 3 of NaBloPoMo.  The weekend is now over and it is Monday morning.  There is so much promise and potential for the coming week.  After all, it is not written yet.  It can become whatever I make it out to be.  If I decide it is going to be a wonderful week complete with fulfilled promises, that is what it will be.  On the other hand if I decide it is going to be a week full of disappointment - then that is probably what it will become.

This morning I woke up and began my day with my husband and daughter.  This is a great start to my day/week.  Then I spent time in God's Word - another great start to my day/week.  It is amazing how spending time in God's Word and in prayer in the morning affects my day.  When I take the time to be with God first, He spends the day with me.  I feel His blessings flowing down on me.  That is not to say everything is perfect.  But the challenges I wind up facing don't seem to be completely unsurmountable.

So praying blessings for you today.  How is your Monday/week beginning.  I would love to hear from you.

Sacred Sunday - A Discussion about Music

So today is Sunday again.  Normally we make it a point that everyone goes to church together.  However, there are times that does not work out.  Some days we have ones who are sick.  Other days Dad has drills with the Army Reserves and can't make it to church.  Other times other things happen.  Today was one of those times.  My oldest son, daughter and I attended services at the church we found right down the road from where we moved to this past summer.  It was convenient for us to do so because we are having friends over for dinner this afternoon.  It allowed me to make it home quickly to get started on preparations.

My husband, and our younger two sons went to the Salvation Army Corps today.  They went there because they were playing in the band during the service.  This is not my choice for us to be separated.  Twenty-three, well actually almost twenty-four years ago now, I made a decision.  I made the decision to attend church where my husband was attending.  I feel this is important to keep the family connected and of one mind.  It also makes for less confusion.

So how do you spend your Sundays and what things do you try to do together typically?  I look forward to hearing from you!  This is day 2 of NaBloPoMo challenge for November.

SATURDAY SAYINGS PLUS A WEEK IN REVIEW

So this past week, I completed several things that had been going on during the month of October.  The first thing I completed was the Ultimate Blog Challenge.  Yes, I actually managed to post something every one of the 31 days of October.  I feel a sense of accomplishment.

Another thing that finished was Proverbs 31 Ministries Online Bible Study for The Best Yes by Lysa Terkeurst.  I led a small group on Facebook for this study.  The book was amazing.  One of my favorite things was the discussion about saying a small no in order to be able to say a "Best Yes".  I really enjoyed this book and learned so much.

At the same time these things were ending, new items were entering the stage.  For one thing is the NaBloPoMo November challenge, which I decided to participate in for the first time.  I am looking to really stretch and challenge myself.

Now onto Saturday Sayings:  We are a homeschooling family and are in our ninth year.  We often have interesting conversations.  So one of my sons earlier in the week asked a question.  And it was a very good question, if I do say so myself.  In music, why are there both sharps AND flats.  If you know anything about music, you know a sharp raises a note a half-step (and if music is not your thing, now you know this too).  A flat lowers a note a half step.  So really you could use one or the other and not need both.  But this child has really been coming up with some really good statements.

I hope you will come back next Saturday to hear more "Saturday Sayings".  Feel free to leave me a comment.  I would love to hear from you.

Ultimate Blog Challenge Wrap Up

Today I have done something that I was not sure I was going to be able to do.  I have had a new entry on my blog every day for the past 31 days.  It was because I took part in the Ultimate Blog Challenge.  It is amazing to think I found things to write about every single day.  I have enjoyed sharing, remembering, feeling and writing about so many things our family has experienced over the years.  

I want to be able to continue this journey.  I know I have many more words, stories and posts to share.  I have more pictures, recipes and homeschooling posts to share.  I love getting the opportunity to record my thoughts to where years down the road, my children will be able to read them and gain insight into their mother.  So even though the Ultimate Blog Challenge ends today.  Tomorrow, I am starting a new challenge.  I am beginning the NaBloMoPo November Challenge.  Plus I am beginning the NaNoWriMo challenge.  

The NaBloMoPo challenge will involve blogging every day during the month of November.  So stayed tuned to see what topics come up.  The NaNoWriMo challenge involves me trying to write a novel.  I have tons of material to share thanks to my husband and family.  So my goal will be to write 50,000 words by the end of the month.  I have some ideas of what I want to write about, but we will have to wait and see what develops.

As my children grow up, I really enjoy sharing memories and stories with them. But more importantly I enjoy making memories with them.  Every day is a blessing given to us by God.  Each day deserves us giving our best

Today is not just the ending of the Ultimate Blog Challenge, it is also the final day of the Proverbs 31 Ministries Online Bible Study for "The Best Yes" by Lysa Terkeurst.  I have learned so much from this book.  I don't want to focus on "people pleasing" instead I want to focus on pleasing and honoring God.  I want to spend time in His Word and in prayer.  I want to draw closer to God.  After all, He is God the Father.  He is a father who willingly sent His Only Begotten Son to die on a cross for our sins.  He was the perfect sacrifice.  I need to give Him my best yes.  This means I need to give my best yes in everything I do, say or think.  I know I will never be perfect.  As Romans 3:23 - 24 says, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus".  

I want to strive to honor God, even if it means I give "small no's", so I save time to give my "Best Yes".  It means I need to take time to listen to the sometimes small, still voice of God - even when it is not the answer I want to hear.  I pray you strive to give your "Best Yes" as well.  I pray you have enjoyed the journey this month.  I would love to hear from you. 

So today I say good bye to this past month and this past study.  But I say hello to new challenges and around the middle of the month I will be saying hello to a new Bible study as we begin Max Lucado's book Before Amen and I invite you to come along with us for the journey.  This study is all about prayer.  And what better time to begin a study on prayer than in the month before we celebrate Jesus' birth.  The best part about this study is that the conference calls are FREE!  That is right for this study the conference calls cost NOTHING!  So I hope you will join us.

Thankful Thursdays

Today I want to do a post about "Thankful Thursdays".  This week I want to discuss 5 things I am thankful for. 

1)  My husband and children:  I have been truly blessed since my husband came into my life.  He is my best friend and the love of my life.  He is a wonderful head of our house.  He is a spiritual leader for us.  He is strong and consistent in his faith.  Our children are also such a blessing.  They bring such joy and excitement to our lives.  My sons have taken us on quite the adventure.  And our daughter just adds to that adventure in only the way a baby sister can.  There is never a dull moment in our home


2)  My Faith:  I am thankful to know that I have a personal Lord and Savior.  I am glad to know that He died on the cross for our sins.  

3) Homeschooling:  I am thankful I am able to homeschool our children.  The relationships between my children and us as well as between them is fantastic to watch.  It is nice having them around the house and getting to actively participate in their learning instead of simply battling to get homework completed.

4) I am thankful for our friends:  Even though we have moved twice in the past 6 years, we have made some really good friends (some of whom I consider to be family.  

5)  I am thankful that our family has spent almost the past six years living places that have 4 seasons.  It can be so peaceful to watch the snow fall on a quiet evening surrounded by our family.  Then in the spring, everything comes to life and becomes green.  That is followed by summer - even though there may be hot days, there are also cooler days mixed in as well.  Finally in fall the see the trees change to all different magnificent colors is such a wonderful experience.

So what are you thankful for today?

Recipes from Yesterday's Tasty Tuesday's Post

So I realized after I did the post yesterday, I was not being very fair.  I did not share my recipes with you.

My Spaghetti Sauce:

(Although I will tell you now, each and every time, I make my sauce, it may be different.  Also, I do not typically measure anything)

For the version in the picture:

I began by browning 8 sweet Italian sausage links.  Then I added about 1 pound of ground beef and drained that.  I then added one whole medium size onion (diced) along with Italian seasoning, garlic salt, and pepper.  Once that had a cooked a while, I added one quart size mason jar of tomatoes our family canned (if you don't have this option, I would add a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes along with 2 of the regular sized cans of Italian tomatoes.  I let that cook a while.  Then I added a jar of spaghetti sauce (I got this idea from watching "The Pioneer Woman".  Plus I add a can of tomato paste to add depth to the sauce.  I let it simmer about 15 minutes.  I then serve it over freshly cooked pasta.  For our dinner Saturday night, my husband also made us garlic toast.   The dinner was yummy.

For the chicken dinner from Monday night, I began by seasoning 8 boneless skinless chicken thighs with Mesquite seasoning, brick oven seasoning, Chipolte seasoning plus garlic salt and some pepper.  I heated some olive oil in a skillet.  I then browned the chicken breasts on each side and cooked for about 25 minutes total.  We served the chicken over Amish Egg Noodles.  We also had sauteed greens - a trio of greens bought in a bag from one of our local grocery stores along with red onion plus garlic salt and pepper, a vegetable medley of squash, peppers, broccoli, carrots and cauliflower that were steamed in our microwave.  We also had frozen kernel corn.  It was a meal that got rave reviews from my family.  So I hope you enjoy these recipes.

What is your favorite recipe/meal to prepare?

Worship Wednesdays

Our family does not celebrate Halloween.  We are happy to celebrate the harvest and all the good things that God blesses us with as far as food goes.  We also are thankful for all our many blessings.  So last night we spent the evening at our church for a Harvest celebration.  We had a lot of fun.  There were grilled hot dogs, chips, homemade apple crisp, potato chips, Buffalo dip, a variety of desserts and pumpkin butter.  The food was fantastic and the fellowship was great.

They had a few games as well.  The first was tug-of-war.  While our children along with the other children played tug of war.   Then after we finished eating.  They began the games.  The first was to guess how many candy corns were in a jar.  Our baby girl won that game.  Then they did a competition to see how many words the children and teens could make out of the phrase "Happy Harvest Time".  My oldest son along with several other teens won that one by coming up with over 100 words a piece.  Then everyone including the adults competed in a Word Search Game.  I was the first one to find all the words.  So I won a prize.

The last game was a contest for the children and teens.  The younger ones went first.  We did not have anyone competing in that group.  Then the teens competed.  A donut was put on a string and they had to eat the doughnut without using their hands.  Joseph and Nathan competed in this group.  Jacob could not because they were eating doughnuts.  There were 7 people competing in this activity and Joseph won.

Tasty Tuesdays

Today I am going to start a series called "Tasty Tuesdays", where I will be sharing various meals we have had at our home.  Today I want to share the sauce I made for our spaghetti Dinner we had on Saturday night and the chicken dinner we had last night with noodles, greens, and vegetables.  The plate with the chicken on it was prepared by my wonderfully artistic husband.  He is an amazing cook and creates beautiful plates of food.

So here are some pictures I hope you enjoy.

Creative Attempts

I know I promised you yesterday that I would share pictures from our birthday dinner feast.  Unfortunately, I got so busy cooking that I forgot to snap some pictures.  So I will try again at our next meal.  Tomorrow I will be sharing some pictures from our Spaghetti Dinner we fixed on Saturday night though.  In the meantime, I hope you will appreciate my post on my creative attempts.

So I have never claimed to be an artist.  Math I can do.  History I love.  Reading I love.  English or Language Arts (whichever you prefer) I can even handle.  Science is okay.  Music (such as High School Band, chorus, and such) I loved.  But Art was a subject I dreaded going to class for every time.  Even when I became a substitute teacher and subbed at the Elementary School level, I was not thrilled by having to substitute for an Art teacher.  

So over the past few weeks, I have become involved in quite a few different groups on Facebook that are forcing me to embrace my creative side.  I decided I wanted to embark on a journey to journal about my Bible study - both personal and for my Online Bible Studies that I participate in.  Part of this came from a lot of talk about Verse Mapping for our Online Bible Studies.  As a result I did a search on Google and Pinterest to see what I could discover.  From these searches, I ended up coming across a group that did "Bible Journaling".  I thought it was going to be dealing with using words to convey thoughts about the Bible.  However, it ended up being something somewhat different.

Instead of just using words, many individuals draw these amazing, incredible, and detailed drawings.  I am in awe of what I am seeing.  Throughout the years of homeschooling,  I have had to come up with Artistic courses/activities for my children to do.  Fortunately, I have been blessed to find tons of dvds and books to help.  But now I am going to take the plunge and study some of them myself.  This way I can create some of these artistic masterpieces.  So stay tuned, I will be sharing about my journey.

Sunday Celebrations

If you have been reading my blog recently, you know I have been talking about how our family spends our Sundays.  Today is a special Sunday though.  We will be attending church and Sunday School this morning as usual.  Then we will come home to prepare for our company that is coming to dinner.  Our youngest three have all had birthdays in the past two weeks.  It began on October 14, continued on the 20th and finished on the 23rd.  If you want to read about their births and other things I shared about each on their own birthday you can go to the posts for those dates.

So we tend not to do regular birthday parties.  Since we moved to Pennsylvania, I have tended to have special family dinners.  So today we are having friends of our family over to eat.  We are preparing Bar-b-cue Pork (thanks to my father-in-law for the awesome sauce we will be using), boneless pork ribs, greens trio sauteed in olive oil, potatoes, green beans, and corn.  I may make some homemade bread to have as well.  For dessert we will be having cake.  I love opening our home to friends and family.  Tune back in on Monday when I will be sharing pictures of the food that we created and ate.

I hope you have a restful and wonderful Sunday afternoon.  Please feel free to comment.  I look forward to reading what you have to share.

Saturday Sayings

So we are in day 25 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge.  Today I just want to share some of the favorite things my children have said through the years:

Upon us telling our oldest son that we were expecting our third child, oldest son says, "I don't want a new one, I want to keep Joseph!"

Upon us telling our oldest three that we were expecting our youngest child, "But I don't want a new one, I want to keep Nathan!"

Both boys would have been about 4 years old at the time these statements were made.  They both honestly believed that adding another child to the family meant that one had to leave.  Now how they were positive they were the one that would be kept and the younger one would be the one to go, I am not sure.  However, they eventually did okay.  I don't know if it is because I had three sons and then our only daughter or if it is something else; but we never had the out and out sibling rivalry (or whatever you want to call it) where the older one resents the younger one. In fact, we had the opposite problem - they loved their new sibling too much.  I had to be on constant guard that they did not carry off the youngest sibling (especially when said youngest was an infant).  

If you ever have heard the expression, "Kids say the darndest things", well it definitely applies in my case with my children.  My children are not afraid to speak their mind and say what they think, wonder or just feel like saying at any given time. I hope you will tune in next Saturday to hear more "Saturday Sayings".  Not that these things were said on a Saturday, but it just means I am sharing them on Saturdays.

MY FAVORITE THINGS

I have quite a few favorite things in my life.  One of my most favorite things is my family.  My husband, three sons and one daughter bring a lot of blessings, love, joy and fun into my life.  I can not say growing up I expected to have four children.  Nor can I say I pictured my life looking as it does.  But I can not imagine any other life that would suit.  

My husband is truly the love of my life.  He is such a blessing to me and the answers to my prayers.   We have been married for 22 years and while they haven't always been perfect, we are still together and more in love than ever.  I can't imagine spending my life with any other.  When your parents separate when you are in your last year of college and then wind up divorcing the following year, it can't help but color your perspective.  However, having a personal Savior, Jesus Christ, sustained me.

We have four children - three sons ages 18, 16, and 14 plus a 12 year old daughter.  They are a blessing.  They are enthusiastic, active, funny and amazing.  God truly blessed my husband and I when He allowed us to be their parents.  These children mean my house is never quiet, dull or unimaginative.  Homeschooling them means I get to see these amazing children grow in their faith and in their interests.  I am truly thankful for them.

My second favorite thing is my collections of Bibles and Christian resources.  I love being able to spend time in God's Word and in prayer.  The resources help me to develop as a Christian.

Another favorite thing in my life is my teddy bear that I recently blogged about.  This bear was a wonderful gift from my husband for our anniversary.

Another favorite thing is reading.  There is nothing like a good book on a rainy or cold or snowy day.  Books can take me wherever I could imagine.  They also mean I am never bored.  I love discussing books with family and friends.  In the last several years, I became part of an Online Bible Study ministry through Proverbs 31 Ministries and I love the way the books challenge and touch my soul.

I love snow.  I love watching it fall softly and quietly.  I enjoy watching my children play in it.  I love seeing their snow creations including snowmen and snow forts.

Another favorite thing is attending homeschool conventions.  These conventions allow my family to connect and have fun while learning so many things.  Plus we get to see neat places and acquire more books.

These are just a few of my favorite things.  What are some of your favorite things?