Thankfulness

Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.  (Psalm 103:1-5)

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful to Him and bless His name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations. (Psalm 100:4-5)

Thanksgiving is such a great holiday. It's one that focuses on the giving of thanks, on praising God and recognizing others. When we give thanks, we find that we have been given so much, that we aren't alone, and that we aren't what life is all about. This Thanksgiving month, I'm going to try my best to have a Giving Thanks post every day. So, here is my first:

Psalm 1-3:8-12 says: "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us."

Praise God for His mercy! I am undeserving, but God is gracious and merciful.

Eliana Grace (The Lord has answered: Grace.)

One fun day at school

Fall is coming, the leaves are changing. It's a perfect time to go check out the trees at the nearby State Park. Since Wednesday was such a nice day, I decided not to waste it. So, we took our schoolwork and lunch to the park. It started out a little rough, as yellow jackets decided to join us for lunch and one of them got Liam on the ear. We picked up and did some hiking, exploring and finding some cool stuff at the stream.

After hiking, we moved to the playground area, did our schoolwork, played around, and laid back on a blanket to read. It was fun! But, I think we tired Eliana out. She barely made it through swimming lessons afterwards.

Can't get much cuter than this.

So hard to pick just one photo. These girls were just too cute today. I definitely need to work on my braiding skills, though. I'm fairly rusty.

Sunday evenings

Kieran, Liam, and Eliana began Awana a couple weeks ago. Last Sunday they received their vests and books. They were pretty excited about it. Eliana is in Cubbies and Kieran and Liam are Sparks. Last night Sarena began her class too. It's called Puggles. They only do an hour, and half of that is playing. Not bad for 2 year olds. She was very happy to have her own class just like her brothers and sister.

Drifting towards the dark side

It all started with swimming lessons and these two cuties:

With such influences, how could I say no? Our oldest daughter, Eliana, is all princesses, and pink, and frilly, and girly. (My family and friends will notice the irony here.) She is also the sweetest, kindest, and most affection little girl. Saying no to her is almost impossible. So, when she discovers the little girl at swimming lessons who is the same age had her nails painted pink.......  I'm sure you know what's coming next.

Sarena didn't want to miss out either, and surprisingly she sat still. 

Admiring their pretty toes.

They are two very excited girlies. For my sake though, we found a good use for painted nails: attracting caterpillars.

Starting soccer

Kieran and Liam have been enjoying playing soccer. We started two Saturdays ago. They've made some new friends and are learning a bit about how to play. Liam loves playing and tries to do everything, including play goalie even though there are no goalies for his age group. He is definitely energetic and is actually pretty good at soccer.

Kieran played goalie for the first quarter of his second game. He had 3 really awesome saves.

And Brett got to be there for both games this weekend! We were all excited about that.

MY Pencil!

You know, as a mom of 4 kids there are a lot of things I end up sharing.

The couch.

The books.

The food off my plate.

The bed.

Hey, I even share my jelly beans.... my birthday jelly beans. If that isn't love I don't know what is.

But, one thing I do not share.... my pencil. It's nothing special, just a mechanical pencil that has a nice fat eraser. And it stays on my desk. Where I can find it. And use it. (And now you know why I don't share it.)

So, Wednesday morning after sharing the bed, and the desk, and the paper on my desk, the little Honey Badger swiped my pencil! I was utterly lost without it. No, I don't want a pen. I know I have a basket full of them, but I want my pencil. No, I don't want the kids pencils. I want MY pencil.

I searched my bedroom, the kids rooms, the living room, every room! Asked each of the kids, even the Honey Badger. She jabbered something and went to my desk. I thought, yes! Nope, she just stared at my desk with a "Where? Where mommy?"

So, this morning I had to print something out, and low and behold, when my printer opened up there was my pencil sitting on the paper tray.

Thanks, little stinker.

I feel restored now. And, yes you can all laugh at how weird I am.

On a slightly more normal note, we now have a fully functioning new computer! I can now post pictures. And, as we all know, a picture is worth a thousand words. (Yes, I see your happy dance, Daniel!)