Thankful Thursday ,,, a day late

is it friday already? where has this week gone?

as is my tradition, i'd like to take a few moments to share my list of things i'm thankful for.

i'm thankful for God's sovereign reign and control over our lives. He has protected and provided for our family in ways i could not fathom.

i'm thankful that we are going to go back to WA for Christmas. we'll be able to spend time with family and friends, enjoy the sights and sounds of the big city and maybe even spend some time at the coast (hint, hint sweetie)

i'm thankful that God made dinosaurs and that we have enough of a record of them to make them come alive for my son, and that they are extinct now, so i don't have to deal with them in my life. except for the plastic type on my living room floor.

i'm thankful for music. the talented singers and musicians who share their creative stuff with us. for the technology that allows me to punch a button and out comes the beautiful melodies i enjoy so much.

i'm thankful for my jack russell, daisy mae, who cuddles up next to me and keeps me warm. who loves to run and play and shows it to everyone around. who can jump straight up and comes up to my chest---she's got springs in her feet!

i'm thankful for the new occupational therapist working with my son at school. aleisha worked with my son several years ago in a private setting and is wonderful with him and he works for her with no problems.

i'm thankful for cozy warm sweaters, fuzzy warm slippers, warm flannel blankets and comforters that keep us warm in our winterwonderland.

and i'm thankful for YOU! you who read my blog, and those of you who leave comments. have i mentioned how i love comments? i do! if you have a google account, sign in and leave a comment.

God is SOOOOOOOOOOOO good

isn't God good? i just love how He works in our lives. just the other day in my quiet time i was bemoaning that the few mom's i know that have a child with a disability are in other states. there is no one local that i have connected with .... at least that was my perspective.

this morning i had an annual meeting at one of the agencies my son gets services from. after we got done with the paperwork, cindy started talking about her son who has a disability. we have known each other for a couple years, but we usually talk business. you know, health issues, therapies, changes within the state and how it affects our kiddos. this time our conversation steered off onto a more personal path. soon we were sharing our struggles, our blessings, our needs and wants. we felt each others pain and joy. we decided to pray for each other right there in cindy's office and committed to praying for each other.

as i left the agency, i breathed a prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord for reminding me of my friend i have in cindy. a mother who has walked where i have walked and understands some of the difficulties that challenge me.

it is good to connect with other christians who are walking similiar paths, whether we are in the season of small babies and toddlers, empty nests, having teenagers in the house, going back to work in the marketplace or staying at home and tending our home and hearth ....

God knew my need and had Cindy planted firmly in my path even before i realized it. i feel a little like elijah when he tells God that he alone is left, he is alone. and then the Lord tells elijah "no, there are still 400 prophets alive who worship Me" our perspective is so shortsided. like elijah, i thot i was isolated without others like myself. like elijah, God showed me that there are others. thank you Lord!

Menu Plan Monday

here's my first foray into putting up my menu planning on my blog.

Monday: sour cream cheese enchiladas, salad

Tuesday: steak (on sale shelf!), potatoes or rice, salad or vegies

Wednesday: homemade pizza, canned fruit

Thursday: crockpot roast, potatoes, vegies

Friday: leftover roast sandwiches/maybe french dips, jello, carrot sticks

Saturday: chili and cornbread, salad

laura over at orgjunkie.com started this fun. go over to her blog to see the others who also are participating.

knitting and other craftiness

i've been really enoying getting back into my card making mode. this is one i made a week or so ago and sent off to my mom. do you know it costs an extra 17 cents to mail something that has a bulge, such as this button, on the card? i was shocked. i love to add embellishments but i will be thinking twice if i am going to be mailing it.




this is a hat, really, it is! since this photo was taken, it has been finished. you knit it like this and then hand sew it to make it into a hat. this is the 4th one i've done. the first one for hubby came out fine, a little loose, but fine. the 2nd and 3rd were too small, don't know what i did wrong. i've already taken one apart. and now this one. i think its time to move to another pattern.




i started knitting again a couple years ago. i first did scarves, then graduated to dishcloths, which was fun. slowly i've been learning how to do more and more, but i haven't tackled anything in the round yet. and i'm itching to try knitting a pair of socks. hence the yarn ... in a burst of optimism i bought this skein of sock yarn. who knows when i will actually start tho ... stay tuned.




and my latest project on the needles: a winter doggie coat for daisy mae. she gets so cold in the winter. i figure this will allow her to be more comfy when she goes in the car with me on errands, which she insists on doing or going for walks in the park. so far, so good. i've made a few errors but i dont' think she's going to mind. when i finish it i'll post more photos.

ARRRRGGGHHH!

so there i was, trying to figure out how to update my blog and give it a more personal look. and with one touch of the finger, i lost all my cute little sidebars i had worked on for the last several weeks!!! aaarrrggghhh!!! can you feel my pain?

who knows when i will find all the lovely sidebar items again so don't hold your breath. and on top of that i still haven't figured out how to add the pretty wallpaper and photos and cute fonts that i want to add.

edit: hey, i don't know what i did, but i just got all my old stuff back! yay!!!

Happy Birthday Big Boy!

Happy Birthday!!!
We love you soooooooooooooooooo much!

***smooch***

Tomorrow is the Big Day

today is the last day for josiah to be 9 yr old. tomorrow he will graduate to the double digit years. he will be 10!! how can that be? where did those 10 years go? why did they fly by so fast when i remember falling into bed exhausted after chasing him all day wondering what he would be doing, how he would look when he was 5, 10, or older? now i know what he is doing, what he looks like, who he is at 10 yr old. i'm still fall into bed exhausted, but now i feel exhausted and OLD! how can that be? i was young -(ish) when i had him 10 years ago. now, not so much!

a package came in the mail from grandma and grandpa yesterday. joe's gifts from us are wrapped and ready to go. i made him a stamped, handcrafted card to go along with his gift that has crocodiles on it. which he will love.

i still have a cake to bake, after i pick up groceries including eggs. can't bake a cake without eggs in this house. joe's fav italian food, PIZZA, is on the menu for tomorrow night at the local pizzeria. this has become a yearly tradition for his b-day.

even tho i would love to return to those days when he was just a babe in my arms, even just for a moment, we cannot go back in time (no matter what star trek may do in tv land!). we can only go forward and enjoy each moment we have. i plan on enjoying joe's celebration tomorrow and every day afterwards that the Lord gives us together.

give a kiss and a hug to your loved ones and enjoy them! i know i will.

seed story monday: to sleep or not to sleep

here's your seed story for today. i'm posting this one cuz its one i need to be reminded of myself. while battling the funk that hovered over me these past few weeks, my daily bible reading and prayer fell off sharply. i know that is one of the attacks of the enemy as well as my flesh. so reading this again was good for my soul. enjoy!

our son, who has a genetic disability, has a problem getting to sleep and staying that way without the medications we give him. even with the meds there are nights where he wakes up and won't go back to sleep or takes a couple hours to get to sleep. this means one of his parents (usually me!) is up with him, as he can't be left alone unattended. this past month of december has seen more than its share of sleep disturbed nights.

so it was with great joy and anticipation that michael and i got away for a weekend without our son. michael usually wakes up early, but that next morning we both slept in. it was heaven! that night we stayed up late and again slept in longer than before. what a sweet gift.

i was pondering on the effects sleep and lack of sleep have on me. when i get a good nights sleep i'm renewed, energized, and ready to tackle whatever the day holds. when i am sleep deprived, no amount of coffee or sugar will energize me. i go thru the day in slow motion, yawning constantly. every action an effort that drains the few reserves i have.

i have noticed a similar reaction in my life when i don't have my time with the Lord. i made it a higher priority this past year to read the Word and have some structured prayer time in the mornings. when i did have that time with God, my days were focused, energized, and alert. i had a strength that did not come from within me. but on those days that i forgot, or skipped that time with the Lord were harder to get thru. little things would trip me up during the day. i didn't have as clear a focus as i wanted and i certainly didn't have any extra strength or energy. just as a person can't live an effective life being sleep deprived over the long term, i don't believe a christian can live an effective life without the Word of God and consistant prayer time with the Lord God Almighty.

tho the hard seasons the Lord has brought me thru have drawn me closer to Him and given me a greater desire to spend time with Him, i still struggle. and knowing the flesh and blood body i inhabit, i imagine i will probably always stuggle in this area. but that isn't a reason to give up and quit fighting. no the struggle shows me that this is worth fighting for. no matter how long i struggle to be consistant in this area, i will fight, i will press on, i will endure. just as i go to bed every night hopeful for a solid 8 hours, every day i will anticipate my time with the Lord. one gives me physical strength for the day, and the other .... oh how much more!

some color for a grey, cloudy day

these photos were taken 5 weeks ago or so. the leaves are gone, the skies are gray. but i thot a little color on my blog would brighten things up.

Thankful Thursday

i'm not going to do 13 thankful things but rather one big one today.

as yoda would say: thankful i am for josiah, my firstborn son.

josiah turns 10 next week and i am thankful for having him in my life. he is sweet, fun and fun loving, he laughs alot and makes me laugh with him. he is mischieveous and has a sense of humor. he loves dogs, and other animals, baseball and bowling, music, movies and having books read to him. he loves snuggling under the covers in mom and dads bed and hugging us tight. he loves sleeping in and staying up late.

did i mention he is disabled? probably not, cuz that's not what i see anymore. when we first got his diagnoses, that was all i could see. what he would not be able to do, what a loss we as a family had sustained. but now, years later, i see the boy, the person, who he is, not who he is not. sure, it makes for an interesting relationship with someone who can't verbally talk to you, but joe does communicate in his own way. sometimes i know exactly what's he's saying, and sometimes i have no clue. but either way, we communicate.

i am also thankful for my son for all he has taught me. "little things" like unconditional love! not judging others by the outside cover, being ready to have fun no matter what i'm doing or how i feel. thru him, i have learned to trust my Lord more, have learned to be patient, to cry out to the Lord when i'm hurting, and a host of other things.

my life is richer becuz my son is in my life and i can't imagine life without him. yes,we're not your normal, average family but we are who we are, and it works for us. God has been good to us, and i am thankful to the Lord for bringing josiah into our lives almost 10 years ago.

we got a chest freezer

a friend called this morning, she had some stuff of her mom's that she needed to sell. i asked her if she had a freezer? i have been wanting to replace the freezer we got rid of 3 years ago when we moved. this time i wanted a smaller chest freezer. i had even prayed about it a couple times. she checked in with her mom and sure enough they had one. when they drove up this afternoon to drop it off it was a small chest freezer in good condition! is the Lord good, or what? i am so thankful for His gift to me at this time.

my little freezer above my fridge has been stuffed to the gills over the last several months as i try to store more and more food in it. i have been wanting to get into freezer cooking again, but knew i needed more room. and la-de-da, now i have the room. crafty girl over at diary of a crafty girl posted these OAMC recipes and now i can try them out! i'm so excited.

i'm going to go dig out my old OAMC recipes and see what i can dish up!

the apple tree

another seedstory for this monday morning, enjoy!


when we moved into our house in Sumner we inherited an old apple tree. my husband, being in the tree industry, decided it needed a good trimming. this tree probably hadn't been pruned in over a decade. it was knarly and there were limbs crisscrossing every which way. it was an ugly mess, but my husband saw what it could be like, what it should be like.

he went to work trimming the branches, cutting, cutting and cutting some more. when he was finished there were very few branches left. it looked decimated. but he assured me that this old tree had needed a severe pruning in order to bring back order and purpose to it. all fall and winter i looked at that tree and wondered if we'd have to take it down eventually. but in the spring new growth appeared. new branches started growing and it began leafing out. over the next few years while we were at that house, that tree began bearing fruit and looked better than i ever imagined it could be. it was a stately, old apple tree bearing fruit and spreading its branches to shade us during the summer afternoons.

many times i have felt like that old apple tree. way out of control, left to grow without a good pruning, until the Master Pruner comes along and gives me a severe pruning. sometimes i wonder why He waited so long, but most times i know He was giving me the opportunity to voluntarily come back in line with His will. and when i didn't or wouldn't, He would step in with the pruning shears. not wanting to have to cut down the tree altogether He would cut and cut and cut some more ......

the blessing of a non-verbal child

if you want a laugh out loud moment, go check out conservachick's latest post. after reading it to my hubby, i told him, "there are times i'm glad our son doesn't talk!" i know i will never have an old lady diapers moment like conservachick had with her sons. if God ever does perform a miracle and heal our son, hubby and i are in big trouble! the things he could tell ....

girls afternoon out

my girlfriend, Joy called me this week to invite me along with her and a couple other gals to a trunk party. carrie of the cat's pajamas had all her wares set up at a friends house. what fun! funky purses made out of drapes, vintage earrings, hairclips, bracelets and necklaces. and skirts, jackets, and pants with creative embellishments. we shopped, we indulged in treats, we chatted. just what the doc ordered.

i'm so thankful for friends who reach out even when i'm in the funk, who aren't scared off just cuz i'm in the pit, who are still my friend after not connecting for way too long ....

and dear hubby was so gracious to say "go, i'll stay home with #1 son". what a blessing!

the funk

i've been meaning to write, really i have! but i've been in a funk ... there i said it! i've been depressed, i'm withdrawing into my shell, i'm not the fun and happy gal i like to be. why? i'm not really sure this time. nothing of epic proportions has happened, life is good for the most part. no major calamities. i'm just feeling a bit "peckish". but i'm outing myself, becuz i want to be real, authentic and genuine. life isn't always a bowl of cherries.

i have had a history of depression over the years. for many years i just lived with it and ignored it. living in the land of "de nile" can be a great experience--ha! but the last few years i have been more proactive and have taken steps to keep my depression at a bare minimum, if not cured altogether.

one thing i like to do when i feel the funk coming on is read the psalms. it seems to me that david and the other writers had their share of feeling depressed. and yet i see them turning to God. they were real in their weakness and cries of distress, they didn't try to hide it from Him, He knows anyway, so who am i trying to fool? and they knew that He was the answer to their circumstance, their weakness, their feelings. i want to be like them and turn to God too. i want to put my hope in Him, trust Him, praise Him and rest in Him.

one of my fav psalms says: "my flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." ps 73:26

i'm hoping that this funk will pass on and i will be back to the fun-loving, friendly chica that i imagine i am soon.

the stars

i think monday mornings i'm going to post a story that i've written on my seedstory blog. they are a little more deep and insightful, things that the Lord has shown me. so grab your coffee and enjoy!

i didn't want to leave the tent that night, but nature was calling. we didn't have a flashlight so i was going to have to make my way somehow thru the dark up the campsite road to the restrooms. at first i took very tentative steps until my eyes adjusted to the faint light of the stars. as my eyes adjusted to the dark, i looked up. with trees on either side of the road i could only see a sliver of the sky but that small sliver was loaded with stars. dozens, hundreds, too many for me to count in just a small speck of sky that i could see.

i remembered one of my fav verses from isaiah 40. "Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created the stars; the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power not one of them is missing."

i think i gloss over the majesty of God creating the stars cuz i have heard that since i was a young girl, but then it hits me, He also named them. how many million or billion are out there? and He has named each and every one of them! and He remembers all those names!! the thought boggles my finite mind. i can't even remember all the names of all the people i have met in the past year, let alone a gazillion stars. and then if that is not enough, after creating them, and after naming them, He makes sure that none of them get lost or go missing. He oversees them all.

this is a good reminder for me when life seems to overwhelm me with trials and complications. i concentrate on God and His might, His power and my world suddenly comes into perspective.

clothes (i'm sure i must need these)

i just found a great clothing site. i really like this top, this jacket, and this one. if you check out this site, let me know what you like.

A Couple Cards I Made

this first card is the one i made for hubby's b-day last month. since i had my supplies out i decided to go ahead and make another one and the 2nd card is the result of that endeavor. i really miss making hand crafted cards ....