Happy Thanksgiving!!!

It's a chilly 30 degrees here at Tanglewood Hills and snow is on the ground. That has been the norm here for this past few days and we are loving it! What a wonderful way to spend our Thanksgiving morning, looking out over the snow covered ground in our warm home. We have SO much to be thankful for. God has really blessed us!

Today, we'll be driving north to my parents house to spend the afternoon with them. There will be tons of good food and lazy conversation, I'm sure. I'm looking forward to just being able to relax a bit. I did my baking yesterday, a gingerbread cheesecake and two pumpkin pies. My mom is doing the rest, but we are keeping our meal simple. :)

Our morning will be spent enjoying having our kids all home, drinking coffee, enjoying the fire and having a nice slow morning. I LOVE that!

Praying you all enjoy a blessed Thanksgiving with your family and take time to "count your blessings" as the old song says. We are ALL so very blessed, have so much to be thankful for. Sure, we may be facing hard times, have struggles in our lives, but really...we ARE blessed!! Beyond measure!

Blessings to your family today and throughout the Thanksgiving and Christmas season!

I'm back...did you miss me?

This has been a non stop busy month for me full of stress, work and changes. Every time I thought I'd update my blog, something else got in the way. Today, however, my work is as caught up as it's going to get for the moment and we are having a snow day! Yes, SNOW!! :) I am loving the weather we are having, cold and snowy.

Let's see, what can I tell you about life here over the past month. We've been super busy with school, trying to stay on top of everything has proven to be more of a job than I had anticipated, but I think we have it under control. :) My job with Gling has been very busy trying to get ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas recipes. I LOVE my job, getting paid to cook and create is amazing.

Our homestead is as ready for winter as it's going to get. The snow came early this year. This week we've been blessed with over 6 inches of snow and frigid temperatures...this mornings temp was 17 degrees. The high today is 31. So far, the animals are fairing nicely. I was super worried about the meat birds, but they did fine last night. They'll be in the freezer in a matter of weeks (possibly days if the weather continues to be winter-like), that will be wonderful!

Hunting season has come and gone here, for deer anyway. No luck for my guys this year. Such a bummer! They spent a week at elk camp, 9 days actually. Saw a few animals but nothing that could be shot at. They had a wonderful time though and that is just as important as the meat in the freezer as far as I'm concerned! I LOVE that my hubby and son have that time, even if I do miss them terribly when they are gone.

Last week we bought a new-to-us SUV!! WAY overdue, we've lived out here for 8 years and have needed 4 wheel drive every winter. Until now, if there was ANY snow on the ground, I stayed home or ended up in the ditch. Yesterday, I was able to take the kids to their classes and do my grocery shopping without any trouble! We got a 2003 GMC Yukon. I LOVE it! Feel absolutely spoiled!

So far, my hubby is still working. We are praying that continues. It's all in the Lord's hands and we are trusting that HE will see us through whatever is in our future. It's a good place to be, that's for sure!

Thanksgiving is in just a couple of days and I have baking to do. Cheesecake, pumpkin pie and cinnamon rolls....I LOVE Thanksgiving. I think I just LOVE food!

Thankful for Friday!

Another week and I didn't get any other posts done. :( I had EVERY intention of getting a post up about my cinnamon roll experiment and how it turned out, pictures of my kids and other things, but the days got away from me...seems to be a trend the past month or so.

Today I am thrilled that it's Friday! I am getting to do something that I NEVER do. Something that I NEVER allow myself to do. I am going away for the night and all day tomorrow. My mother-in-law has a quilting retreat every so often, this time I'm going! We are making a Christmas tree skirt. It's sure to be a fun time and ALL ADULT...no kids. :) As much as I hate to be away from my hubby, I am still very much looking forward to some time to just relax, sew and enjoy some girl time. :) LONG OVERDUE!!!

So, aside from the list of the usual things to be thankful for...my family, my husband's job and the Lord's continued provision for our family, my quilting retreat is top of my list. :) Getting time away, time to not worry about dishes, laundry, cooking, cleaning, day care, animals and the ever present financial worries is HUGE for me! As much as I try to keep on going, keep on serving and keep on focusing on the blessings we have (which are many), allowing myself the time to relax is a rare.

I am SO extremely blessed that my family is supportive of this get away, mainly my wonderful husband. He has encouraged me from the first moment I mentioned "maybe" wanting to go. The hardest part about leaving is that I feel like I am missing rare time with him at home tonight. Hunting season it is hard to find time together, but I know he'll be going to bed early tonight, getting ready for an early hunt tomorrow. SO...I'm getting more and more OK with the idea of leaving in a little bit...to be completely honest, today has been EXTREMELY LONG!! :) Waiting like a kid for an exciting event. How crazy is that?!

This is sure to be a fun weekend and I'll have much to share...hopefully pictures of my finished project...in a few days. :) The best part about it for me is that it's supposed to be stormy and rainy this weekend. Perfect for a quilting weekend!! Don't you think?

Thankful for Friday!

This past week has been a long, busy one around Tanglewood Hills. Days seem to just run together lately and all of the activity kind of blurs together. Ever feel that way? Trying to list all that has been done the past week is not easy when the activities are a blur. :) We've been busy with school activities, my work for Gling (working on recipes that highlight fall flavors), deep cleaning areas of our home and preparing for another hunting season for my boys!

So, what am I thankful for this week? So many things...we are continually blessed beyond measure, even during busy or difficult seasons. God is SO good to us!

* My dear husband is still working, and things are looking like they are picking up again. YAY!
* Hunting season starts this weekend here for modern firearm. My boys will be heading out to hopefully add to our freezer. Praying for much success for them, safety and a lot of fun too!
* Finding a bit more room in my busy schedule to devote more time to my work for Gling. It's been tough between canning and homeschooling. I've found that this past week I've had a bit more time to be in my kitchen working on tasty recipes...something I LOVE doing.
* Starting on my sewing for Christmas....this weekend while the guys are busy hunting. :) I've been wanting to get started on some sewing projects for the coming Christmas season, this weekend I'll get my chance.
* Our kids, they continually amaze me!
* The relationship that my husband and I have. Being married to my best friend is such an amazingly wonderful gift!
* A good night sleep!! Lately I've struggled with not being able to stay asleep, or some nights, even fall asleep. I tried something that I read in an article that a friend of mine sent me, though I'll admit to being VERY skeptical at it actually helping, a cup of warm milk. Yes, the old wives tale that grandma used to speak of. :) A warm cup of milk, a spoon full of honey and a bit of vanilla. Not only did it taste AMAZING, I fell asleep last night and didn't wake up until my dear hubby got up to go to work. UNHEARD OF these days! :) I'll be testing it again to see if it was the milk or shear exhaustion, but I'm expecting good things. :)
* Good friends that just "get" me, and love me anyway. :)

Have an amazing weekend with your families!

Thankful for Friday!!

Good morning! Here we go again, another Friday and I haven't posted since last Friday. How boring is that? So sorry. Life has been non stop and to be honest, not entirely fun this past week. Once again, I'm VERY thankful to see Friday. There have been ups and downs all week, bad moments and really good ones...and always busy!

The bulk of my "busy" this week has been kid focused. School, dentist appointments, baby sitting, lesson planning, math paper grading, class planning and laundry. Oh, we did do a couple of hair cuts in there too. :) A never ending list of "need to do's" can make for a long week. Did I get it all done? NO! Am I OK with that, sure...I am, after all only one person. :)

This week, it was NOT hard to focus on the positive, the many blessings that the Lord continues to bless us with. Even in the midst of the stressful moments, the blessings were always easy to see.

So, what are they? Let's see:

* I was given a laptop by a dear person. She has NO idea how much of a blessing this is to me, how very needed it was! This person just wanted to bless me....and BOY DID SHE! I have wanted a laptop for YEARS, but as with many things, it was never in the budget and I could easily justify NOT buying one. We do, after all have a computer in our home and we just need to budget our time on it...right? That has worked for a long time, and would have continued to work, to be totally honest. Having this laptop has been so nice though...being able to work, plan school and life here when I don't have access to my computer in my office has been such an amazing gift! Something COMPLETELY unexpected...I had NO idea she was going to give this gift to me until the FedEx truck delivered it. Even after I opened the box and read the letter, it still took me a day or so to process it all. :) So amazing!

* My hard working husband is still working and things are looking good on that front. For now, there is work...we know, however, that anything is possible. The coolest part is that I am no longer "worried" about it. Sure, I want him to stay working through the winter, but I also have a complete peace that God will provide regardless of his employment. What a great place to be!

* Hunting season starts here in a week...we are praying for great success for our hunters this year! I'm excited to see how the Lord will bless us this year. Even if my guys don't bring home anything, I'm excited to see them go and have some fun! They've been pouring over maps, making plans and are as excited as little kids on Christmas. THAT is a blessing....they will have fun regardless of the harvest, I am sure! They need this time, time to go out into the woods and just have fun. A bit of recharging time, as crazy as that sounds. I'm excited to see them get that time.

* We had our first fire of the season in our wood stove this week. I LOVE how cozy it makes our home feel, brings us all into the living room and we all just enjoy the warm glow. SO inviting! It's been days since we needed a fire, but I've wanted one. :)

* My boys harvested the red potatoes from the garden last weekend and brought up 2 1/2 buckets full of huge, beautiful potatoes! So tasty! The buckets are 5 gallon buckets, so I think we did pretty well this year. We waited a bit longer than I think we should have to harvest them, several rotted in the ground. We've had quite a bit of rain this past month. I'm happy with the harvest, regardless of the lost portion. :)

* We were given a load of fire wood earlier this week by a dear friend. We have PLENTY of wood for the next two years now. YAY! Love those kinds of blessings. :)

* My hubby and I get a little date night tonight! The kids all have other plans and we will have time to kill in town after dropping them off...so we get to have a date! :) It will be simple, at a local hamburger place we love. I'm looking forward to a freshly made pumpkin milkshake! YUM!

* I FINALLY got the broken part on my blender fixed! YAY!! It's been broken for MONTHS and I finally decided to just order the silly part. I was able to make smoothies IN THE BLENDER for my kids yesterday afternoon. :) Simple pleasures. :)

Have an amazing weekend...look for the many blessings the Lord gives to you and your family, after a while, you won't have to look very hard to see them. :) Staying thankful is one of the best ways to get through tough days. :)

Thankful for Friday!!!

Another Friday...WOW! I have had the intention of posting here all week long and have not found the time. We've been busy here with school, orthodontist appointments, baby sitting, work and trying to keep up with laundry and cooking/baking. Seems to be keeping me rather busy.

To be honest, it's been a tough week for me. I seem to be on an up and down hormonal trip that is getting rather old..."power surges", "hot flashes", and really wacky sleep makes for a rather emotional mama! SO fun! It's not all bad though. All of this did help to show me that I need to take some time for me. I've been running on empty for far too long, and was in need of some "me" time.

SO....I took some! YAY! :) I took an evening this week and went ALONE to the book store. That NEVER happens. :) It was fun to walk around and look at the books I wanted to look at without interruption and I also got to take my time. A rare thing indeed!

The other thing I did this week....went back to the gym! It's been a good 6 months since I was there last and I knew I either needed to go or cancel it altogether. I am sore, but determined to get back on track, feeling better, in better shape and ready to face the tasks I have here with more energy and fewer back issues. Finding the time each week will be a challenge, but I need to do this for ME.

One of my favorite things about going to the gym is that I am able to just pray while I'm on the treadmill. I put on my headphones, turn on my i-pod and an upbeat Christian song and start walking. I pray about all that is going on, and sometimes just listen to the words and let the the Lord speak to me. That is something I've really missed. In my daily life, I get few opportunities to tune out the world and just "listen" for the Lord's voice. When I get the chance, it's never enough time, but enjoyable and refilling!

So, what am I thankful for this week? Hmmm....

* Hitting a "brick wall" so that I would take the time to refill and refresh.
* My amazingly supportive husband that sees what I need often before I do.
* Friends that listen and understand my crazy self....even when I make no sense at all.
* My amazing kids that understand my need for "me" time and even encourage me to take more.
* An understanding boss that knows that my family must come first and that my productivity during busy seasons is going to be low...I love working for him on Gling.
* My church family...such an amazingly supportive family that loves me regardless of what I am going through. Always an encouragement!
* Watching our oldest son grow up and figure out what it means to be a man...and fall in love with his girl. Makes me wonder how long it will be before we get to add another girl to our family! :) We are SO thankful that he has chosen a sweet and loving girl...time will tell, the Lord knows what He has for them. Can't wait to see it unfold. :)
* A bit of sunny weather to start our fall season, though it's been a bit warmer than I want at this point. It's been nice to have the sunshine, the rains will start soon enough.

Needless to say, we ALWAYS have so much to be thankful for. We are truly blessed! Even in tough times, days when all I want to do is cry out in frustration, I KNOW that we are blessed beyond measure! God is so good to us and continues to be faithful to provide, sometimes in ways that we least expect. :)

Thankful for Friday!

OK, I won't say it....you know, the opening line I use for EVERY Friday post. Yes, this week went by quickly and I can't believe it's Friday again already....but I won't say it. :) How was your week? Life around here, as usual, has been non stop. Good, but non stop. We've seen some struggles this week...sick kids, sick mama, mountains of laundry, a kitten dying and a cranky baby...but it's life! We are blessed despite the struggles and THAT is what I try to stay focused on. Am I always successful? NO! I'm only human....but I DO try!

So, what am I thankful for this Friday?

* My hard working hubby and his job....we are blessed to still have him working. Also blessed that things are "starting" to look up in that area of life, S...L...O...W....L...Y we are seeing signs of a busy season ahead.

* Our kids and how much they are learning this year in school.

* Our adviser at the school....so helpful and is making this year's homeschooling so much easier with her tips and advice! Having two high school age kids has been a bit overwhelming for me, but we are doing great so far...thank the Lord! :)

* Answers to prayer in a tough situation....won't share more, but had to share how amazingly faithful our Heavenly Father IS!!!

* Canning season coming to an end for this year....there is more I COULD do, but I am feeling like I can be done with the bulk of my canning. :) YAY!

* A steer growing and soon to be in our freezer....chickens too!

* A weekend getaway for me...a much needed break.....quilting with a bunch of ladies! I just confirmed my quilting weekend with my mother-in-law. A group of women, getting together at a local lodge to quilt away the weekend....no kids, no laundry....just relaxing, laughing, good food and quilting! What could be better? I have not done this EVER and need the break SO badly! My amazingly wonderful hubby encouraged me to just go.....so NOT my normal behavior, but I am going. :)

* My grain mill...and the amazingly tasty bread that I am able to make with the flour I grind. Only down side is that I can't keep enough bread in the house most of the time. :)

* A dear friend that is going to give my kids riding lessons....gives her horses some exercise and fulfills part of my kids PE credit for school! Plus, my friend and I get time to visit. :) My kids are thrilled. :)

Enjoy your weekend! Praying you had an amazingly wonderful week...even if you didn't there is still SO much to be thankful for....WE ARE BLESSED!!!