A Life of Gratitude

We've had such a fun evening with friends from our neighborhood! Last year all the kids in the Deep River farm (well, their parents actually) decided to start a yearly tradition of trick-or-treating together. We eat dinner together, play a few games and then bombard all the houses in the neighborhood. It is a great time! I love seeing all the costumes! The kids truly enjoy themselves!!! Alvin and the Chipmunks! My fellas wanted me to be a lady bug! Dave and the Chipmunks Friends from our Neighborhood....we trick or treat together every Halloween! The kids loved Trick or Treating! Today I am thankful for a fun time with friends!!! I absolutely love excuses to do fun things with the folks in our neighborhood! God truly blessed us with wonderful neighbors and friends! We all had an terrific time dressing up, eating, playing games, and trick-or-treating!!!! Happy Halloween!

I love going to MOMS (Mothers of Many Seasons) every Thursday morning. It's a time of fellowship and refreshment with other moms and there is always wonderful lesson taught by amazing godly women. This weekly time of encouragement has been a blessing to me for several years now! Today was no different. We learned the importance of choosing the One Necessary Thing, as Mary did Luke Chapter 10. Jesus and his friends come to Martha's house and she welcomes them with open arms but then immediately starts to prepare the food. She gets angry because her sister, Mary, isn't helping her. Instead, Mary is enthralled by Jesus. She is sitting at His feet, taking in every word He says. So Martha essentially tattle tales on her sister. She wants Jesus to tell Mary to help prepare the meal and serve the men but instead, " The Lord answered her,  “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things,   but one thing is necessary .  Mary has made the right choice,   and...

This may sound simple to everyone else but its a pretty big deal to me! Today I am thankful for our fireplace. It was cold today. Really cold compared the past few weeks. We haven't turned on our heat much this fall because it's been pretty warm, even at night. This morning, however, I was freezing when I woke up. When we came downstairs we immediately turned on our gas fireplace and the room started filling up with warmth. We kept it on all day and we were warm all day! In our old house, we always wanted a fireplace. So when we started looking for new homes, a fireplace was on the top of our list of things we wanted to have. Every time I turn it on I am grateful that this home has one! It not only adds warmth but its beautiful as well! 

We have sick little fella on our hands. We have all been sick over the past few weeks but after antibiotics, breathing treatments and rest, we have all gotten better, except for Tyson. He had antibiotics too but he is still sick. I took him to the doctor this morning and we were there for almost 3 hours. He had to have a chest xray, more breathing treatments, steriods and they had to monitor him because his breathing was so poor. Ends up that he has a whole lot inflammation in his lungs, is having lung spasms, his an ear infection, is at risk for pneumonia. My poor baby. He has been pitiful.  The doctor gave a us a new nebulizer (Henry the Hippo!) for his breathing treatments and several more medications. She said he should already be feeling better within 24 hours! Praise Jesus! While we were at the doctor today, I had to help give my boy more breathing treatments (which he absolutely hates), help squeeze him into the chest xray tube,  and give him the most disgu...

Today is my sweet Evan's 4th birthday! I cannot wrap my around the fact that he has been a part of our lives for 4 years! It seems like just yesterday I met him for the first time. He's been a spunky, energetic, sweetheart from the first day! He is full of life, has a wonderful sense of humor, loves to share, and enjoys taking care of his Mommy! He always rubs my back, opens doors for me, and picks me flowers. He is a true gentlemen! . I love that little boy like crazy! One thing you may not know about my Evan is that he is absolutely crazy about stuffed animals. He sleeps with "Bear" every night and has an array of other animals at the foot of his bed. He also loves to share his stuffed friends. He often gives Bryan and I stuffed animals to sleep with and Tyson almost always ends up with a bear or sheep in his crib. Since Evan loves stuffed animals so much, I've always wanted to take him to Build a Bear to make his own stuffed animal. It's pretty expensive...

Tonight we celebrated Evan's 4th birthday at the Greensboro Children's Museum! We went to the museum about a month ago and Evan decided that he really wanted to have his party there. Bryan and I wanted to do something special for this little fella because he has brought so much joy to our hearts! He does have his moments (he is a boy!) but goodness, he is such a sweetie pie too!  Evan's Party Room!! Evan's Cake...he requested a Peter Pan cake,  so that's what I made him! Evan and his best friend, Jonny. They had so much playing at the museum! Me and my Evan! Happy Birthday Sweet Boy! Friends make parties so much fun! Dylan and his buddies, John and Brycen Tyson LOVED the pizza! Tyson had a whole lot of fun too! He kept saying, "WHOOOOO" Dylan enjoyed being the postman most of the night! He and his friends had a great time too! Evan made pizzas for the entire first hour we were there! He really enjoyed himself! ...

Today we decided to go on a field trip to the zoo with the Robert's family. We decided to take our Monkeys to see the Monkeys! We had nine little ones and only 2 adults in the group! It was somewhat crazy but overall, a really fun day. The kids definitely enjoyed spending the day together, it wasn't crowded at all and the weather was gorgeous.  Today I am grateful for the families that God has placed in our lives that are also homeschooling their children. It is so much fun to go on field trips and do fun activities with other families. It was sweet to watch the kids walking together, reading little books about the mammals and discussing facts about each animal we passed. They were really learning! They also had a great time climbing on the rocks and statues. All the kids were full of energy from the moment we arrived until the moment we left! They had a wonderful time!  I am also thankful for the beautiful day that we were able to enjo...

I'm not always the best at playing pirates or transformers but coloring, well that is something I can do! Since I like coloring with my boys, they got me a beautiful adult coloring book for my birthday. I love it! It is really pretty and has a different Bible verse on each page. I love coloring it with our new twistable colored pencils. The boys enjoy it too! This afternoon Bryan and Evan were fishing at the pond so Dylan asked if I wanted to color. Of course I said, "YES!" He got my colored pencils and my book along with his favorite coloring book and we got to work! He is a maticulous colorer! He takes his time and does a wonderful job. I enjoy waching him! As we colored today, I was reminded how much I like coloring. I always have. I colored a lot as a child and even in high school, I was was always doodling! I still really enjoy it because it is so relaxing. There's nothing like just sitting with my little fellas, talking, and creating something colorful....

The other night my 12 month old little boy began crying and screaming in the night. I got up and made my way to his room. I found my poor little fella covered in throw up. Bless his heart. He was a mess and he smelled pretty bad too. I picked up him, took his clothes off him, washed him off from head to toe, put on a new diaper and new pajamas. I changed the sheets on his bed and removed all signs of the throw up. I sat down in the rocking chair and began to to rock my sweet boy back to sleep. I could tell he still didn't feel good. I didn't want to put him in the crib yet because he just needed his Momma, I could tell. I rocked him for a while longer and watched his eyes get heavy. As I rocked, God brought so many thoughts to my mind. I pondered and explored those thoughts in my head. My precious baby boy was covered in yuck and had no way of cleaning himself up. I washed him and took away the stuff that made him dirty. Even though he didn't feel any better, he w...

Today we went on a family field trip to Grandfather Mountain and Linville Falls. One of the things I love about homeschooling is that we get to learn while we're traveling and enjoying time together as a family! We had a wonderful day in the NC Mountains. It was a gorgeous day and the fall leaves were beautiful! And we're off for a day of fun and learning! God's artwork....so pretty! Tyson loves being outside. He was very happy to be hiking and enjoying nature! The family going on the Mile High Swinging Bridge...believe it or not, I didn't have a panic attack! My biggest boy led the way! The middle of the bridge! Don't look down! Evan was in heaven today! He loves the outdoors! He's a little too brave at times....he wanted to climb to the edge of the mountain... Another perk of homeschooling, we had our own personal tour guide through the animal habitats at Grandfather Mountain. We learned so much about these animals, what t...