Thankful Thursday, Week 100 :)!

Not that all those weeks are filled, but anyway... it's a fun number ;)...
This week I'm thankful for...

~The sight of these little ones playing together...

~And Abbi loving on Peter (who's almost as long as she is ;)...)

~Peter scooting down the stairs as fast as he can get his legs out from under him when he hears the door opening, hoping it's Daddy arriving home :)...
~Maple twist.. and the fact that I did not ruin it yesterday, that was very pleasant and surprising considering my past track record. Of course, I almost burnt the whole batch before I put it in the oven, but that's a whole other story... I put it on the stove to rise (thankfully in a metal bowl!), then went to make supper, and turned the wrong burner on, haha. Thankfully I was able to get the dough out without the burned bread that formed on the bottom coming with it.
~Andrew's desire to clean the garage as a blessing for Daddy.
~This little face... that is looking so much older lately...

 
~Tents and smiling faces...

 

~Peter's love of his "Cookie" book (it's actually a cupcake decorating book... but he doesn't know that ;)...)

~Peter's little voice "reading" "Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons" with Tori... too cute :)!

~Clean, organized rooms... 

~...and safety while it happened ;)...

~Projects accomplished, or almost. For one thing, I finished a sewing project that I've been working on for a while. I've also got a good bit done on the blanket... I wish I could have finished it this month, but that's not a big deal... Next time I need to do the stripes just two rows shorter... haha!

~Hymns playing in the house, and Mark 4:28.
~The smell of supper cooking, and Tori's love to keep homemade bread goods in stock to go with it :).
~How much quicker (with less burnt bread, if you believe it...) it is to toast bread on a metal rack in the oven then in the toaster oven... we've outgrown our six slice toaster ;)...
~Mommy's grape nick-knacks that she was able to pull back out.
~Pinecones hanging from pine trees.
~Peter's little feet dangling from the swing.
~Cool air and late afternoon sunshine making the trees a golden color.
~Bethi's new knitting skills. Her first real project will be a dishcloth to use in the kitchen, that should make cleaning the counters more interesting for her, right :)?
~Sleep. Haha :). Goodnight... me exhausted... ZZzzzzz....

"My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,

and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever."

                                        ~Psalm 145:21

It Was Quite the Day Yesterday...

Hahaha. Since I ran out of yarn (one inch from the end of the stripe! Do you KNOW how annoying that is?! Haha...), and couldn't work on the baby blanket, I spent my free time catching up on emails... and helping Mommy destroy reorganize the house.

Which resulted in a whole lot of laughter. And cries of fake (and maybe not-so-fake) terror. And hammers and nails and vacuums and mess. That actually made something pleasant when it was completely done. Heehee :).

Mommy decided that the library would work better as the craft room, and vice versa. (It's hard to sew in the former craft room, because it doesn't have an over head light, making it difficult to, umm, see crafts, but you can just sit by a lamp to read if it were to become the library. Enter plan.)

Mommy called me upstairs and I found her on her knees doing what appeared to be ripping the floor up. I told her that I thought her nesting this time might be just a bit obsessive if she was pulling the floor up just to vacuum under it ;). She responded with "This is nasty... I wonder what I'll find in the walls?..." She was really removing the floorboard connectors so that we could scoot the shelves out of the library. We started moving shelves. Slowly. Oh, so slowly. Of course the first one we picked to move, the back needed nailed back on. It just stands to reason, haha. We thought we would nail it back when we got to the craft room/new library. And we did. But we now believe it should have been done a bit sooner, due to the precarious tipping of the shelf there at the end. Then we started the rubik's cube shifting of putting stuff from the craft room in the hall, so that we could get the rest of the library items in the craft room, so that we had room to put the craft room stuff away. Haha :), Confused yet?

So, the things we learned about moving shelves without taking the books off first: when you are moving a shelf full of books, you must push near the bottom, otherwise the ONLY thing that moves is the top. This one thing you must remember. And Mommy firmly believes that when shelves are involved my name is "Oh ye of little faith". (I told her I had complete faith... that a disaster was forming ;)....) Oh, and make sure the back of the shelf stays ON the back of the shelf. And make sure that the bottom stays connected. The shelves staying in is a good idea too, if you think about it.

Because the second shelf we moved, we moved oh-so-carefully. The bottom plank fell out, but it does that all the time, we have often moved it without a problem and then replaced that plank, hahaha ;). It was working fine, until the second shelf up, which we later discovered must have been missing one of it's pegs, decided to tumble down, and hit the side, pushing it apart, making it next to impossible to move, haha. It took a bit of, um, propping to solve that one, but it's stable now. Heeheehee ;). Really, it's fine, but we were worried for a while there ;). The next shelf was also pulling apart at the side before we even started (I don't think  those screws know what they are supposed to do, hahaha!), but Mommy fixed it with a push, and viola! Done... until I realized that a shelf peg was on upside down (that sooooo could have fallen like the last one, scary thought!), and went to fix it. Mommy tells me to be careful sticking my head under the shelf, it could be dangerous for the shelf to land on my glasses... um, ya... and then she lifts her arm up, as I sit up, and somehow my glasses ended up on the back of my head...these glasses have been a blessing, but they have caused several laughs as well, Tori, for one, cracks up when I stick my head in the oven or dishwasher too quickly and they fog over, haha!

Then Mommy wanted to move that second shelf, that had caused us so many problems, over, and of course the Encyclopedias were back on the shelf, making it terribly heavy! She was trying to do it with the least moving of books as possible, since she just finished organizing the books last week, heehee. At one point I looked at her and asked "Is this really any quicker?" She laughed and said "If we have to fix every shelf that we move? Maybe not...  but this is quite entertaining!".

We finally got that third shelf in  place, and Mommy's victory cry was, "We made it! And we didn't break anything this time! Well... it did kind of fall apart, but it was already broken! So that doesn't count."

The other shelves were moved without a trouble... although one shelf made a lovely little snapping noise where the shelf hit a floor board that was slightly higher then the rest. Mommy stopped and asked  "WHAT was that?!" I glanced at the shelf and then down the stairs that we were perilously near, and answered, "I don't know. Just keep moving. If it collapses, we don't want it falling down the stairs...". Nothing bad happened, and Mommy then announced "Woohoo! We finally got one in without breaking it!!!" Tori answered "Umm... isn't that what you said last time?" Mommy replied, "Ya, but since it was falling apart before we started, I don't count it..."... And by the way, a shelf full of magazines is heavy. Just saying. Mommy and I worked so hard to pull that shelf, but once we took the magazines off the bottom shelf, I was able to pull it out from the wall alone, haha!

We were done in here! We thought ;)... We then moved two shelves over again, when Mommy decided that they would look better on the other side of the room. And then she noticed that the two we had just moved didn't match each other. But we left them anyway. Heehee :).

And then we started moving everything from the hall to the new craft room (knocking a clock off the table in the process, but, "That isn't any more broken then it was to begin with, so that doesn't count either!"), and Mommy organized it to her hearts content (and a little beyond...), while I made a pie (chocolate, for medicinal purposes), a maple twist for breakfast today (gotta love Mommy's pregnancy cravings!), and browned hamburger for supper. Which we did eventually eat... and then collapsed, after cleaning the lovely little mess that supper, and some toddlers who were reveling in our being busy all day, created. Haha ;). But it does look so much better today, and I think it was worth it, now that I'm not staring in fear at a shelf full of books wavering over my head ;). Heehee :).

The Blessings of the Lord Abound...

 ...He has given us so much beauty to enjoy!

 "He gives snow

 like wool;

 he scatters frost

 like ashes.

  He hurls down his crystals

 of ice like crumbs;

who can stand before his cold?

 He sends out his word, and melts them;

  he makes his wind blow and the waters flow."

 

                                      ~Psalm 147:16-18

    "Fire and hail, snow and mist, 

stormy wind fulfilling his word!"

                                   ~Psalm 148:8

Thankful Thursday, Weeks 88-90...ish...

 (In no way do I state that this post is in order or complete, haha. I have badly slipped in writing these posts in the past three months, obviously... I hate that some things that would have been such a joy to read through in a few years were lost, but I'm still thankful for all that follows... and so much more :)!)

~The surprise visit from Daddy's family last December, that never was blogged about, but was greatly enjoyed :D!
~Fun projects worked on with my family in preparation for Christmas.
~A house full of baking, one of my favorite things about Christmas!

~Little girls who think that candy canes in their hot cocoa are straws :)...

~Oh, and that the little nut wasn't hurt when she dared gravity last December...

~Abbi's froggies :)....

~Our Christmas spent enjoying together time, celebrating Christ's birth, and geo-caching.
~Oh, and our new GPS ;).
~Peter, the fourth Chipmunk, heeheehee :).
~Homemade graham crackers and marshmallows.

~Warm fires.
~Family traditions.
~ Sticky sweets :).

 ~Daddy and Mommy's God-honoring marriage :). They celebrated their 17th wedding anniversary this month :)...
~This post, by Bria Crawford at "Integrity of the Home", I found it very encouraging :).
~AND, the latest Hidden Treasures auction...  it made the title of "largest auction" by almost 100 items :)!!! So wonderful :)!
~Abbi's new haircut that she is so proud of, haha :). Love her :)...

 ~Peter toddling around with his "boy mainkie" :).

                                     

~That we had an offer made on our house... now, if it would just go through!
~Snowflakes melting into a perfect snowflake shaped droplet on my hand.
~Snow ice cream.
~The sight of snowflakes falling outside the window.
~Peter's delight in making snowmen. That was so sweet :)... I didn't think that an eighteen month old could get so into it :)! He helped roll the biggest ball for the biggest snowman (Oh, he was so cute trying to moving that heavy thing while not getting too much snow on himself ;)!), and then he asked to make another :)... Than Emmi wanted another to make a whole family :).

~The promise that we will be washed whiter than snow by the Lord.
~Baby yarn to work on little Seaweed's blanket :). (Speed is needed... I think I can, I think I can, I think I can... can anyone give me suggestions on non-repetitive children's reading material? Haha ;). Tori says "How to make a children's book in ten seconds: throw random words down. Repeat random words x 10. Publish.". Haha! ;) ). I've knit about fourteen inches ... actually, this may go faster than I thought. Kind of scares me. Haha!
~New knitting needles.
~And tips from other knitters :). Do you know how many kinks circular needles are in after coming out of the package? Soak in hot water before knitting, and /or bend in various ways for a couple minutes - tada! Nice and flexibly again :)! By the way, the combination of a snow day and the aforementioned yarn and needles make for a very pleasant day to knit :).
~"The American Heritage" dvd set. These are sooo interesting :)!
~Being able to study and dig into the book of Mark with my sister and some friends. Our first month was such a blessing, and now we're in the second :)! I wish I had made memorizing more of a priority this month, but even so, it has been wonderful :).
~Matthew Henry's commentary on the bible. 
~Study resources and tips of all kinds :).
~The beautiful journal I received for my birthday, that I am copying Mark into :). It makes it that much more enjoyable :)...
~The debate between Bill Nye and Ken Ham earlier this month. I have heard several stories about how the Lord is using this to make him know!
~That Barton has a family :).
~Some beads I found mixed in with some stuff I was organizing... I wanted some purple ones to make a hairpin, since quite a few of my outfits happen to have purple on them, and I almost picked some up at Hobby Lobby while we were there a several weeks ago, but I decided to wait. I was cleaning about a week later, and found a necklace that I forgot I had, haha. It was one that "clasped" closed with magnets, unfortunately not very strong magnets, because the first time I wore it, it fell undone. I didn't want to wear it until I got a real clasp on it, but I never remembered to pick one up, so it has sat in a corner for a couple years waiting for me to figure out how to fix, not only the clasp, but the fact that it was unsymmetrical after a fourth of the beads broke when it hit the floor (wearing it lop-sided would have driven me insane, haha ;).). After I found it, I realized that it would make a great hairpin, and I was able to get a bracelet to go with it, too.
~Pink roses.
~Dark green leaves.
~The scent of flowers.
~Our parent's guidance as we follow the Lord's will for our lives.
~Mommy's blog. She was going through doing some "clean up" on it this week... and oh! some of the stories we had forgotten, haha! It was hilarious, all of us laughing at our lives like we had never lived the stories, haha :).
~That Penny and Julia are home.
~Menus.
~A full pantry.
~Newly organized bookshelves, and all the others projects Mommy has been doing lately to make this house even more of a home.
~God's grace in giving us the ability to create :).
~Dough hooks. Now I can't wait for our replacement hook to get here... since the metal one we owned shattered while kneading bread dough (?!!!).
~Raindrops falling into the "creek" in our back yard.
~Getting to do the little girl's hair :).
~And their love to let me do so :)...
~That Mommy was able to get her area rug for her room :).
~And paint-free door knobs, heehee!
~A cup full of sharpened pencils with new erasers.
~Finishing a project this week that I have been working on for... too long.... Haha ;).
~Matching my sisters :).
~Sisters who routinely write in my blog posts... if you ever see anything random in them , it may not be mine. It may be the work of Tori or Bethi that I missed while editing. (Yes Tori, I am thankful for Rainbows and Cats. But I have not been around either for several months, so there is no reason that that should make it into this post. Heehee :).)
~Doing completely random, fun things with my siblings.
~Sharing Sarah Maxwell's Moody books with Bethi, Andrew, and especially Abbi and Emmi, who don't remember them. Even if we are all eager to finish the seventh one... because Abbi and Emmi have to hear that one before they can listen to the 8th, haha :). Mommy and Tori are trying to wait patiently for us to finish, haha! I'm a bit ready to be done myself, heehee.
~A box full of cards.
~The hymn "Take My Life and Let it Be".
~A box full of goodies from Gramma for the whole family.
~The fun of wondering whether little Seaweed is a little sister or brother :).
~Looking forward to finding out fairly soon! Six more weeks at the *longest*, surely!
~Blessings uncountable!

"Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,

and give thanks to his holy name!"

                                           ~Psalm 97:12

Love This Little Girl :)...

(First, side note: My apologies for the long periods of silence around here lately. I have been waiting for a time after I was "caught up" blogging to get back into really blogging again... and I give up. Haha :). I don't know if formerly promised posts will show up or not at some future date, but I'm hopefully back to stay anyway :)... Okay, you can proceed with the post ;).)

This afternoon, Mommy said out loud to herself, "Hmmm, should I clean the closets, or the kitchen?..."

I was sitting nearby, with Emmi on my lap, and Em promptly answered "The Kitchen!!!" Mommy giggled, and asked "Why do you say that?".

Emmi, figuring that she had given the wrong answer, answered "The closets, then?!" She then glanced out the window, turned excitedly back to Mommy, and announced, "Every time it snows, we have popcorn and hot chocolate!"

"But it didn't snow today," Mommy replied.

Emmi gave her a very knowing look, such as only Emmi can give ;), and answered, "Ummmm... that's why we're not having popcorn and hot chocolate today!"

Heehee :). She also has a very unique sense of fashion...

:)

It's hard to believe that she's about to have two little ones under her! I thought it was ironic that she, as my "buddy", was calling my butterfly necklace a "buddy-fly" earlier, especially since she *knows* how to say butterfly, haha. She is so funny!