Thanksgiving Thankfulness

I am thankful for ~

a loud house, full of people
lots of food
hands that helped cook this food
help with cleanup
reading sales ads
annual family black Friday on Thursday shopping trip
grandson fun
the bounty we have been blessed with

Thankful Thursday

I haven't been on here in a couple of weeks for Thankful Thursday ~  here goes

I am thankful that~~~~~

our house in Mississippi finally closed!

we had dinner with our little buddies last Thursday ~ it was a surprise for them

we got to visit with and hug 2 special friends in Miss. who recently lost their wives

we spent the day with Austin and his parents on Saturday

we were granted safe travel to and from MS

Amy, Granny and I were able to vote early

that I can "attend" online classes for essential oils & other interests

for Amy's new business venture ~ she became a jamberry consultant yesterday

for crunchy leaves to walk in

for a hint of coolness in the air

for the anticipation of Thanksgiving with our family

for grocery store holiday sales!

Thankful Thursday

Thankful for ~

4 little boys who call me MaMa ~ they are all healthy, happy, and thriving

3 of our 7 children being happily married - #4 gets married next year

living closer to Mom

a nice house & land kinda in the "country"

pantry full of food & a remodeled kitchen to cook it in

the internet ~ I had a nice long chat with a friend in Honduras last night over fb messenger

wedding dreams with my daughter

quiet times

THANKSGIVING!

Our Thanksgiving day celebration this year was really special for quite a number of reasons ~

*we are in our new house
*our new house is in GA ~ quite close to family!
*everyone that could be here came to our house for Thanksgiving
*Amy's young man Austin and his parents joined us for the celebration fun
*4 generations of family hanging out & having fun
*James & Allen both have new jobs~ Allens starts on Tuesday and James on Dec. 7 ~ both jobs came with pay raises and benefits!
*we did shop for a couple of hours on Thanksgiving night ~ got to the first store at 6:30, got exactly what we wanted in a timely manner & paid quickly.  Same with the 2nd store!

Mom is crumbling the cornbread and biscuits to mix up for our dressing

Amy Kate made our cute placecard turkeys!

my expert turkey fryer!

AK and I...her beautifully arranged marshmallows on top of the sweet potatoes became marshmallow flambe when left in the oven too long ~ the whole top of the casserole was on fire! Greg picked off the black and we ate it anyway!

Yay!  The turkey hat for Thanksgiving!

Another Turkey!

Green Beans, Black eyed Peas, dressing & gravy, Sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, 1 fried and 1 oven roasted turkey, honeybaked ham, fruit salad and rolls!

niece Bethany snitching turkey, Austins daddy Billy Kent is in the background

My cute nephew Bobby

my sister and her youngest

Lets Eat!

Austin, nephew Billy & Bethany

Brenda, AmyKate, Ben, Austin & Andy

Yum

James, Billy & Brian

Cutest turkey on the block!  In his shirt made by my friend Angel!

Mom is an expert turkey picker!

Sitting on PaPa's tractor!

Aiden & Oreo

Lots of Lovin'!!!!!!!!!

First time our 3 grand buddies are together!  And we are lovin' it!

Lots to be thankful for this Thanksgiving~

Robert ~ 2 1/2, Aiden ~ 3 months, Thomas 9 months

Recognizing Blessings

Blessings come in all shapes and sizes.

Blessings can be expensive or frugal.

Blessings can be given & received.

Blessings are all around us ~ we just don't recognize them most of the time.

Blessings can be shared or kept.

The Bible records many records of the Lords Blessings on His children ~

Here are just a few~

Psalm 106:7-8

Our Fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.  Yet He saved them for His name's sake, that He might make known His mighty power. (blessing of life)

Psalm 18:20-21

The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He rewarded me.  For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

(blessing of faithfulness & obedience)

Matthew 6:33

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.  

 (blessing of His righteousness)

Ephesians 1:3-10

  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.  In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth.

(blessings on knowing Christ Jesus as our Lord & Savior, His blood covered all our sins, His grace is lavished upon His children, all was done according to His will and purpose, its all Him and not us but was accomplished for us)

For over a year, I counted my blessings and numbered each one on Mondays ~ these can be found under either Multitude Monday or 1000 Gifts.  Now I would like to continue the list.  As stated then & repeated now ~ some of the blessings could be duplicated (recounted) on the list.  But, most will be blessings we are currently receiving/acknowledging.

So the list continues.....with the Lords grace it will never end!

1151. a bathroom makeover

1152. Amy's love for cooking

1153. Will willingness to help/assist

1154. James pulling the stinky carpet out of the bathroom

1155.  clear pool water

1156. children overcoming fear of the waterslide

1157.  watching Amy & Will love on our friends

1158.  fresh tomatoes

1159.  chocolate cupcakes

1160.  homemade bread

1161. discovering the laundry soap bucket wasn't empty afterall (but it is now)

1162.  healthy, growing chickens

1163.  dollar stores

1164.  long, sunny summer days

1165.  picking the first vegetables from the garden

1166.  hugs & kisses

1167.  our little friend running through the church parking lot to greet Mr. Dreg and Miss Donna

(thanks Ragen!)

1168.  rocking chair cuddles with Sara

1169.  funny puppies learning to walk/hop/skip/slide

1170.  unexpected grocery store sales

1171.  cookouts

1172. lots of fabric ~ the possibilities are endless

1173.  air conditioning

1174. easy breathing (I have asthma)

1175.  Gregs new glasses

1176.  anticipating visits from Mom, Katie, Bryant, Rob, Andy & Amy

1177. many visit with Allen & Jennifer in GA

1178.  fresh cut grass & someone to cut it

1179.  completion of homeschool year #16

1180.  Katie's healthy pregnancy

1181. Anticipation of our first grandchild

1182.  friendly faces

1183.  kind words

1184.  yarn & crochet hooks

1185.  having "too" many projects (much better than nothing to do)

1186.  getting new windows

1187.  Roo cups from Kangaroo gas station (after you buy the cup, summer refills for .25)

1188.  sweet tea

1189.  laundry hanging on the line

1190.  blooming flowers

1191.  vegetable plants growing out of their boxes

1192.  extra yard space

1193. being a homemaker

1194. being Gregs helpmeet

1195.  being a Mom to 7 blessings

1196.  being a "mentor" at times

1197. being the menu planner/meal cooker ~ with help from Amy

1198.  being able to read Gods Holy Word

1199.  being a child of God

1200. freedom to worship the Lord, Jesus Christ 

"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty"   Revelation 1:8

 It was very easy to come up with those 50 blessings.  Some cost money and some don't.  Some are gifts I've been given and some I can give.  Blessings are all around us everyday.  Even in tough situations, where you thing nothing good could come of it...there is always a blessing ~ it just may take a while to recognize it.  Seeing the blessings is a conscience effort ~ you do have to look, they may not appear to be blessings at first.  But they are there.

You could start with easy ones...

life

breath

family

friends

a pet

food

cold drink  

Have fun counting!  

And I would love to hear about your blessings!

Oh, the numbers are just a fun counting process ~ it should not be seen in any "level" of importance.  My life as a child of God is much more important, followed by my husband, and family than any of the others listed before or after! 

**Scripture from the ESV Bible version.

Thanksgiving Thursday

Greg continues to improve.

I was once again told how close he came to not surviving on Monday.

I am forever thankful/grateful the Lord spared his life.

I am thankful for hospital rules that allow you to spend the night.

I am thankful for chairs that pull out into beds (maybe they could work on the comfort factor now)

I am thankful for good medical care and especially thankful for health insurance.

I'm thankful for the frosty's Mom, Amy & Will brought up to the hospital.

I am thankful for Katie & Bryants visit this weekend.

I am thankful that hopefully next week at this time we will know if Olive is a boy or girl.

(And NO, this grandma doesn't care which gender the baby is)

I am thankful for an improvement in Allens living situation.

I am thankful for visits with Rob, Sarah, Andy and Amy.

I am thankful for a Kindle to play numerous games of backgammon on, while at the hospital.

I am thankful for sweet texts and emails telling me of prayers for Greg.

I am thankful for Mom coming to Miss. to help me.

I am thankful for the overnight invitations from the Foys & others for Amy and Will.

I am thankful for the 4 yummy, delicious meals that my homeschool friends delivered to our house the last 4 nights.  (Desserts too)

I am thankful for all the prayers from Mississippi, Virginia, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, South Carolina and other states lifted to our Heavenly Father for Greg and our family.

I am thankful that our God answers prayers!

Thankful

I am thankful for...

hot showers of clean water

a home hot water heater

closets of clothes for my family

kitchen & household appliances

availability of fabric & yarn for crafts & clothing

easy internet access

a comfy bed with fresh sheets

fluffy pillows

sweetly scented shampoos & bath gels

too much room

beautiful vegie/flower seed catalogs

finding money "hidden" in my wallet

Bibles for Haiti

Missions

knowing that our home church was praying for our Honduras trip

Greg's obtaining a passport in 4 hours

renewed friendships on our Mission Team

thinking about future trips

goals set with my best friend

fresh fruits and vegetables in Jan. in Honduras (yummy!)

protection from harm while on Missions

Bible distribution even when the circumstances aren't the best

sweet hugs & I Love You's from Sonya & Mirna

laughter & good times on long bus rides

finishing dish cloths to share with friends

drinking lots of Mirinda

watching Will interact

seeing how everything works & comes together

Prayer

God's Love & Salvation

Thanksgiving Fun

Its been a great couple of days......On Wednesday, Andy and AmyKate came to spend the day with us.  Greg took us all shopping and out to McAllisters for lunch ~ awesome Club Sandwich and Sweet Tea.  Andy got a new gray suit for his birthday gift ~ its gorgeous and fits great.  AmyKate got a new sweater and dress.  Amy Lynn got 2 new dresses and 2 skirts ~ Belks had a great couple of clearance racks and then 50% off the clearance price.  Greggie got himself a new hat.  Will got some cozy slippers.  I even got Katie a surprise but I can't tell about it because I am giving it to her tomorrow. 

Amy and I went into Gymboree and The Childrens Place and looked around at baby stuff for GrandOlive, but its difficult to buy when we don't know if its a boy or girl.  And the sales weren't too serious yet.  But its lots of fun to look at all the little goodies.  We did pick up a couple of baby projects to work on at Hobby Lobby.

Dinner last night was barbeque chicken, baked beans, and potato salad.  Then we all watched the movie "Soul Surfer" ~ awesome, inspiring, clean, Christian movie.  I could have done with less 2 piece suits, but at least they weren't too bad.  Then Greg found a Tim Hawkins "concert" and we all watched that funniness for a while.  

Greg bought us a Kindle and it came yesterday from Amazon.  I know the thing is supposed to be for books but he might have made a mistake when he downloaded "Backgammon"on to it.  I've played the computer many times and won 75% of the time.  Lots of fun.  Now Amy is playing on it too.  We will probably wear the battery out.

Today was just us and James.  We took our time getting up this morning and then Greg surprised us with cooking omelets.  Amy and I fixed the dressing, green beans, chocolate pies, Red Velvet Cake, and gravy.  Will & Greg were in charge of frying the turkey.  Greg watched Paula Deen and she gave the frying times of 3 minutes per pound + 5 minutes.  Can you imagine a blackened turkey?  The skin was charred but underneath was wonderful moist meat.  We've got leftovers for some wonderful dishes. Oh, James was in charge of buying the newspaper so we could see the ads.

This afternoon we watched some football, the movie "Captain America" and now they are watching "Sherlock Holmes".  We've cleaned off the dining room table and have another jigsaw puzzle started.  Talked to our parents and our Katie and our Allen.  I did a little pre- Black Friday shopping online with Joann's ~ they've got flannel on sale tomorrow for $1.99 a yard, and I bought some to start baby sewing for Olive.  I've never bought fabric online, its very convenient!

Amy & Will want to go Black Friday shopping, so we are hitting a few stores.  On the list are Bass Pro Shop and Best Buy.  We are going at a decent hour......probably around 9.  If they don't have what we are looking for then, we don't need it.  I have never gone at midnight or the crack of dawn ~ thats just crazy.  Even when I went every year with my sister in law, we didn't go till 7:30 or 8...I don't see what the attraction is for these folks that stay up all night.

I hope everyone had an amazing day with your family and friends~