thanksgiving

How much do you love Thanksgiving? Take that and multiply it by 20. That's me. I love love LOVE Thanksgiving. It is my favorite time of year. I love all the cooking, I love all the colors, and I love all the family time. When I was growing up we'd always have Thanksgiving at my Dad's Aunt Gerneva's. Oh wow it was fun. All of my cousins would come (I'm sure there were some adults there somewhere) and we had our own table and everything. Back when the "kids table" was cool. We always had the big spread of food - so big in fact that Aunt Gerneva would have to cover her kitchen sink with a giant board to make more room for the food. Moms potatoe salad was (and still is) a big hit, there were always at least 3 pumpkin pies, Beau always made a cherry cheesecake, the rolls always burnt :). It was Thanksgiving and I loved it. I'm trying to instill that same sense of family togetherness and love in my boys. We make sure to spend Thanksgiving together as a family and with our families. We spend lunch with my mom and dad and then it's off to Scott's brother Allen's house for dinner. Both meals are unique, but I love them both. Our families couldn't be more different, but I think that is what makes them so special. I couldn't imagine our Thanksgiving being any different. I get excited just thinking about it! I can't wait! We may have lots of turkey and dressing but it's all good :), we love lots of turkey and dressing. It may not be like it used to be but our Thanksgiving is still full of family, fun, and LOADS of good food. (we've even managed not to burn the rolls the last several years!)

So what about you? How do you celebrate Thanksgiving? What traditions have you added/changed over the years?

update

Well I've just realized it's been almost a month since I've updated y'all. Here's what's been going on in our lives lately:

*We are loving homeschooling. It's a blast. We have the freedom to do it our way and we're loving learning about all types of different things while keeping to a schedule that still allows me time to study. Love that :)

*Friday School is awesome. I've met some great women and the kids are so much fun! I've signed up to teach 3 classes next term, Scrapbooking, Spanish, and Reading Comprehension. I'm really excited about that!

*Sunday School is going great! Scott and I love those kids to pieces. I still can't believe the LET us have this much fun! :) I think we get the biggest blessing by getting to spend Sunday mornings with those awesome kids!

*Liberty is going well too. My A term classes really stressed me OUT. Everything suffered because of that, but my D term classes look to be less of a load so that's really good. God got me through History with, of all things, a B! I couldn't believe it. Totally knocked my socks off!

*Spent the weekend with Mom and Dad a few weeks ago and got all, yes ALL, of my Christmas cards done. Everyone will be getting handmade Christmas cards this year that are just fabulous, I must say. :)

Other than that, let's see.... David caught the flu this week which means no Friday School, no Fall Festivals, and possibly no Trick or Treating. Scott and I have almost decided to just buy candy and put it in their buckets when they're sleeping. Still waiting to see if the fever hangs around or not. Awana is about the funnest thing in the world right now. Again, can't believe I get to lead those crazy/awesome girls! I can't believe about 4 years ago I said I'd never work with kids, that's not where God wanted me... what a challenge to God's will! Now not only do I work with kids 24/7 I LOVE doing it! They never fail to amaze me. I swear I must know the world's smartest, funniest, most amazing kids. It's such a priveledge to work with them.

Our family life is better than ever. Homeschool has created the opportunity for the boys to get to spend more time with Scott and that has made ALL the difference. Scott's schedule is out of our control but we have the flexibility now to spend more family time. By following God's plan for our family, we're finding tremendous blessings! What more could a woman want? Now there are some amazing changes in our horizon and I just can't wait. Before I was afraid of God's will - not any more! Good gracious He's got us on a crazy ride! Friends, you get to a point in your faith where there's no time for fear or stalling. You just have to grab the rails and holler, "YEE-HAW!!!" cause He's going to get you there no matter what. You can either have faith and enjoy the ride, or fight Him tooth and nail. I'd rather jump in that front cart and go with God all the way! That's our current mood I think... Bring it on God, we can't wait!

here we go again...

Okie-dokie friends. I have held off blogging for a while because I've had news that wasn't mine to share. Blogging makes me feel share-ish and I don't want to spill beans. BUT I can now pass on some of the news and I'm ubber-excited to do so!

So here we go.... *drumroll please.....*

We are on the move. Again. Lol. Some awesome friends of ours are having to move. Hubby is going back to school and so they are leaving at the end of this year to persue God's dream for them. Scary stuff! I wish them all the best and we are going to M.I.S.S. them terribly! I hate losing friends :( . Here's where the move comes in.... we are going to rent their house! How cool is that??? We are both really excited about being able to help each other out. We need a good house with a nice yard for the boys and they will have honest good renters. It is really neat how God worked all of the details out for us! They will move in the last month of our lease! I think that is really neat. They are also open to us painting and all that so we're excited about that. It's bittersweet because for all of this to happen we have to say goodbye to our friends :( . But with God working so much of this out for us, we know it's His will that these moves take place. So there ya go. :) That's all the news I feel like I can share. In a few weeks I believe everyone will know who and where and the other details, but for now my lips are sealed :) We're letting the other couple tell their side of the news when they are ready.

So.... about the house... omg I'm SO excited :) It's a 3 bedroom house with two living room. One will be a sort of "formal" living room, the other a family/homeschool room. It's got a good sized kitchen, plenty of windows, and ... I may faint.... an actual LAUNDRY room!!! I can fit a folding table in there and all! Holy moley Jesus is good to me! :) To top it all off, the front and back yards are amazing! The backyard is big enough for the boys to go crazy in. Scott's planning on putting a little veggie garden in the back and we're going to have a gorgeous flower be in the front. :) So so excited here. :) Oh and, the oven in the kitchen is one of those "in the wall" type ovens, no more bending down and pulling hot heavy stuff out of the oven! Yay! :) It is really a nice house. I am so thankful that God put us on their hearts when they prayed about who would rent their house. We're hoping that within a year or so we'll be able to buy the house from them and make it our very own :) . I would more than love that. :)

So that's what's up with the no updates, lol. I didn't want to spill any beans until we knew this was all for sure and set. Pray for our friends. They are venturing out into the unknown world of God's calling. It is exciting and scary at the same time.

Anyone know of any good decorating ideas for not so much moolah?

no longer moving

For those of you who don't know yet, we are not moving anymore. Something came up that made it impossible for us to go ahead with our plans. We are dissapointed with how this has turned out, but know that God is in control. We already realize that He's saved us from making what could have a been a disasterous mistake. More to come when my heart is a bit lighter from all the guilt I am feeling. False guilt yes, but guilt none-the-less. I am feeling beat up. I am feeling emotionally "heavy". But I am also feeling a peace that can only come from God. We will move forward in our lives, and we will be better for it. God brought us this far, why question how much further He will take us now?

i need...

my brain back. It feels very much like mush these days. I'm trying to get ahead on my school work so that while we're moving I can focus mainly on that and getting our new house together. So between packing I'm reading about US History and Sociology. A combination I highly suggest you disuade yourself from. On Thursday of this week our internet and phone will be going down at the apartment and up at the new house. So for much of Thursday if you need to get in touch with us, please use our cell phone #'s. Will drop a note when we're back up.

Also, if you need our new address please e-mail me at dizzy4daizey@yahoo.com and I will be happy to send it to you. Please pray for us as we move. We have a lot of helpers this time around and I am deeply moved by their generosity. Please pray that the move is smooth and that nothing gets broken in the process. Particularly my kitchen stuff, I'm quite fond of it :)

See you on the other side blog land!

moving

Alrighty friends. While I am not thrilled at the prospect of packing up boxes, hauling them downstairs, and driving them across town - I am excited about the prospect of moving. We are moving into a house. Out of the apartment, and away from the crime. It's simply not safe to keep the boys here. This is not the environment we imagined them growing up in. So we've found a nice rental home and in two weeks we are headed there.

Change. It doesn't sit well with me.

But honestly, these boys need a yard to run in so they can get RID of some of the energy that's pent up and coming out in negative ways.

Here they cannot go outside and run and play whenever they want. There they will be able to.

Here they can't ride their bikes much for fear of being run over by people who refuse to SLOW DOWN for children. There they will be able to ride their bikes.

Here we can't walk the dog because even though we warn them not to, people still try to come up and pet her. Pug does NOT like strangers and tries to bite them. They then look at us like it's our fault, even though we warned them the entire time they keep walking up to her. Sigh. (here's your sign dummy!)

Here we get cussed at and called ugly names. There we won't.

So there is a much better place to be. Will someone just come and pack us up and move us there? Wake me up when you're done :) .

Will post pics of the new house when we get some.

new recipes

Okay, so we're tired of the same-old same-old at home. For years now I've been making the same stuff for dinner every month. It's old. And boring. And I think that's why I got so tired of cooking. But now I'm challenging myself to try one new recipe a week. So far it's going well. The first thing I made was chicken fettucini with squash and zucchini. It tasted fabulous! I also added Kara's red potatoes as a side and dinner was great! So tonight I'm endevouring to try another new recipe. Well, three new recipes actually. The whole meal will be something I've never tried to make. Yay! Tonight's menu is Honey Ginger Roasted Chicken, Honey Glazed Carrots, and homemade White Dinner Rolls. Fun! The prep was SUPER duper easy on these and this bread recipe only takes about an hour to rise. Very easy! So I'm praying it all tastes fantastic :) I'll post pics and the recipes once it's all cooked and sampled.

As an aside... tomorrow I'm making my homemade Strawberry Jam. It's my own recipe and it's amazing! If you'd like some let me know. If you live out of town, just pay shipping and I'll send you a jar. :)