Multitude Monday

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post which is part of a series started years ago on Ann's wonderful, amazing blog that is a favorite of mine. If you've never checked it out, do yourself a favor and click on over. She's an amazing, gifted writer, a wonderful friend and an inspiration (not to mention a mother of 6)!

"One Thousand Gifts"::

3709. making another batch of chai (great on cold days)
3710. laughter
3711. the beauty of fresh snow
3712. the quiet of early morning
3713. time with friends
3714. Sam's first day back at school
3715. the little girls all bundled up, playing in the snow
3716. freshly fallen snow
3717. Bible study with my girls
3718. a good book
3719. Trader Joe's cinnamon graham crackers (YUM!)
3720. carpooling
3721. a long weekend
3722. a 2-day break from the bitter cold
3723. a 5-mile outdoor run on a sunny Saturday
3724. Lydia spending the day with her GG
3725. purging :: "spring" cleaning in January
3726. sound of a train whistle cutting through the still, quiet morning
3727. Joe  pre-heating my spot in bed
3728. watching "Parenthood" with Kirb after a long day (tears. every time. tears!)
3729. Kirb bringing me a surprise latte on another (in a long line) "polar vortex" morning
3730. a warm  home
3731. warm clothes
3732. a good book
3733. organized Legos
3734. almost 200 pounds of stuff gone from our house during my 10-day "spring" cleaning purge
3735. morning snuggles and iPhone devotions with Anna
3736. Saturday mornings spent with my grandma

3737. 2 vehicles that start, even when temps are well below zero
3738. the tropical feel of the pool deck in the middle of winter
3739. running while the snow is falling. BEAUTIFUL!
3740. the blessing of not having to scramble for childcare -- 3 polar vortex no-school days so far in January (with potential for a couple more next week)
3741. Rebekah's babysitting jobs keeping her busy (and making money)
3742. a cleaned out medicine cabinet . . . and kids who notice
3743. the library
3744. an extended weekend -- even Kirb home due to ultra cold temps and windchills
3745. Jacob no worse off after an allergic reaction sent him to the ER for a visit and a bit of a stay
3746. modern medicine and drugs to combat his reaction and bring his handsome self back home. whole and healthy. thank you, God!

3747. our (hard working) furnace
3748. quiet morning devotions
3749. fresh starts
3750. new Odyssey's for the kids to enjoy
3751. youth group on Sunday night
3752. Anna, the proud owner of her very own library card
3753. a great section swim meet for our 3 swimmers (there's a first place backstrok-er in the house!)

May you realize all the blessings the Lord brings your way and take the time to make note of them. (you'll be glad that you did!)

Multitude Monday (a day late)

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post which is part of a series started years ago on Ann's wonderful, amazing blog that is a favorite of mine. If you've never checked it out, do yourself a favor and click on over. She's an amazing, gifted writer, a wonderful friend and an inspiration (not to mention a mother of 6)!

"One Thousand Gifts"::

3112. the majestic beauty of an eagle in flight
3113. pregnant bellies
3114. story time at the library
3115. a hot bath and a good book in the middle of the day (many thanks to Bob & Larry for babysitting, so I could partake in this indulgence!)
3116. morning coffee
3117. sunshine
3118. the sounds and sites of melting
3119. 14 years of Jacob
3120. 12 years of Rebekah
3121. Kingdom Undone :: powerful show
3122. kids waving palm branches and singing
3123. Joe playing basketball in the driveway :: short sleeves and mittens
3124. my cold finally being gone
3125. visit from Rachel & Amy
3126. watching a good movie with the kids
3127. sugar cookies
3128. the arrival of spring (on the calendar, anyway)
3129. art show at church
3130. the weight of a newborn in my arms
3131. hot tea before bed
3132. book club

May you realize all the blessings the Lord brings your way and take the time to make note of them. (you'll be glad that you did!)

multitude monday

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started years ago on Ann's wonderful, amazing blog that is a favorite of mine. If you've never checked it out, do yourself a favor and click on over. She's an amazing, gifted writer and an inspiration (not to mention a mother of 6)!

"One Thousand Gifts"::

2685. 2 years of life for Sara
2686. a good nights sleep for all 6 kiddos
2687. easier nights for Rebekah
2688. the amazing blue of the late-afternoon sky
2689. good swim practice for Joe
2690. pink cups at Dunn Bros.
2691. football players in pink socks ::

2692. double coupon day at the gas station :: $6.25 saved
2693. Joe's new glasses ::

2694. clean laundry
2695. the library
2696. Sara's mispronunciations that I love
2697. a little bit of rain for the thirsty ground
2698. protection on the football field
2699. looking forward to some company from out of town
2700. a new baby born to a friend on 10.11.12 :: how fun is that?
2701. lots and lots of creating
2702. a good end to Jacob's 8th grade football season ::

2703. an attentive sister and divine protection for Sara when she choked on a pistachio shell while we were in the van :: thank you, God, that Rebekah noticed her choking and for Kirb's lightning quick response and throat sweep that took care of what could have been a completely different situation with a terrible, terrible outcome. Praise God! We are so very thankful!
2704. some much-needed rain
2705. the sound of rain on the roof :: it had been so long, I'd nearly forgotten
2706. enjoying a good movie with my love after the kids were in bed
2707. Jacob's fabulous football coach :: encouraging, positive and kind. Jacob loved him!


Alrighty, that's it's for this week. Tune in next Monday for the next installment.

multitude monday

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here on Ann's wonderful, amazing blog that is a favorite of mine. If you've never checked it out, do yourself a favor and click on over. She's an amazing, gifted writer and an inspiration!

"One Thousand Gifts"::

2251. kids rolling down grassy hills
2252. a great dinnertime discussion following by the kids praying for each other
2253. field day :: potato sack races and tug-o-fun
2254. the escape found in reading a good book
2255. the closing of a really great chapter of life :: 3 years of watching Vince :: what a blessing!
2256. Joe washing dishes
2257. Sara's ever-expanding vocabulary :: I can barely keep up with her new words
2258. waking up to birds singing a beautiful song {loudly!} outside my window
2259. a full decade of Lydia :: Happy Birthday LJ!
2260. Anna asking me :: "Mom, how do you spell 'I love Lydia and I love everyone in our whole family except the mean people.'?" :: silly girl
2261. Sara telling me "dress off!" when I was changing her clothes
2262. an amazing beautiful double rainbow :: possibly the most beautiful, clearest, sharpest rainbow I have ever seen
2263. post-rain sunset
2264. a great first game of the season for Rebekah's soccer team
2265. last day of school
2266. a tangible, almost immediate answer to the sincere prayer of an 11-year-old :: thank you Lord!
2267. great, wonderful, fabulous, caring, excellent, passionate teachers
2268. having Luis {our basement contractor/carpenter} join us for our last-day-of-school BBQ
2269. four kids with check-ups at the dentist and zero cavities!
2270. Rebekah's first shift at the library
2271. a Saturday morning family walk {before it got unbearably hot}
2272. a freshly mowed lawn
2273. much-needed rain
2274. stopping in time to not hit any of the 3 deer that tried to cross the road right in front of our van. in the dark. in the pouring rain!
2275. a good run, despite the heat
2276. kids literally COVERED -- head to toe -- in dirt!
2277. godly, encouraging parenting commiseration

Alrighty, that's it's for now. Tune in next Monday for the next installment.

thrifty thursday :: entertainment

We use the library LOTS :: storytime during the week, books, movies, wii games, audio books, music. It's the best! And with the exception of the rare overdue fine, it's free! {I do realize that it isn't really free, our taxes pay for it. But we pay for it whether we use it or not, so you might as well use it, don't you think?} We don't have cable or Netflix or anything and we very rarely rent movies {redbox is a genius idea though, amen?}. We get 99% of our movies from the library. Sometimes you have to get in line, so to speak, for new or popular movies, but we don't mind the wait . . . the delayed gratification makes it all the more exciting when it finally comes in. So, visit your local library today! {or, I guess you could visit my local library. Everyone else does! It's the busiest library in the state, you know. Yup, it's true.}

A little something new

I have a new favorite children's author (and all-around pretty cool lady from what I can tell). Amy Krause Rosenthal. You can see quite a few of her books if you just shift your eyes a little to the right and peek at my book shelf. Her books are so true, so fun, so refreshing. She has a blog and did this thing she called The Beckoning of Lovely. You really should watch it!!

Also you should read a few of her books, if not all of them . . . I haven't found one yet that I don't like! Don't try to find them at my library though. I currently have everything they have that she has written checked out, and I don't plan on returning them anytime soon . . . you can renew twice, you know. That makes a total of 9 weeks that you can have a book out before you HAVE to return it. If I don't buy them all before the 9 weeks is up, I guess I'll have to take a little break and then check them out all over again. So, probably head to another library . . . actually there is probably more than one copy of each one, so you might still be in luck, or you could just request them! I would tell you my favorite one, but every time I think I've decided on my favorite, I change my mind and think of another that must be my favorite. You should start with Cookies, The OK book, It's not fair, Little Hoot & One of Those Days! Man, they're good!

Hope you enjoy them too . . . if you take my advice and check them out, that is!

monday musings

we had a great weekend! kirb and i watched "august rush" on friday night. if you haven't seen it, you really should. it's great! saturday night we got to have a little date . . . well, anna came along and we went to home depot, does that still count? we thought it did . . . plus we ate at noodles & co. which i love!! the 4 big kids went to night trains at the model railroad museum (also something you should do if you have't . . . well, if you live around here anyway!), and then to perkins, with my parents and had a grand time! plus, it was joe's night for a sleepover . . . what fun! but then saturday night i decided to read a chapter or two in the book i was currently reading after we went up to bed. well, turns out i couldn't put it down (i'm book-lover and read TONS, but this doesn't usually happen to me . . . i love my sleep too much, i think!). so, unintentionally, i stayed up until nearly 2am when finally i finished the book. that wasn't a super good plan and i'm sure i'll be reapin' the consequences for a few days! but the book was great and now the next person waiting in line at the library for it can enjoy it a little sooner! (in case you are wondering the book is "the shape of mercy" by susan meissner . . . and another super fun thing about it was that one of my college roommates husbands -- don't be confused, she only has one husband, but i had more than one roommate in college, got it? -- is an editor and he helped edit the book . . . which i found out when reading the "acknowledgements" section in the back. i felt nearly famous when i read his name there! good job, mick!)

well, the week is off and runnin' already! the snow is falling like crazy here. it is BEAUTIFUL! just like somebody shook up a snow globe. i went to the Y this morning and am SO glad to have gotten my workout in for the day early. now i can just snuggle up with a blanket and not leave the house the rest of the day . . . except maybe to shovel for kirbs before he comes home . . . well, that and the fact that we're out of milk and i should probably run out and get some after the reinforcements arrive so that i don't have to bring any kiddos out in this!

so, joe has taken to sleeping most of the night in our bed the past couple weeks. i'm not sure where it came from but he says, first of all, that he's afraid (i guess jacob is not as protective as mom & dad!) and also he always tell us, "i don't know how to go to sleep!" when we ask him to go to sleep in his own bed. it's pretty pitiful. he says it in this really sad voice, almost crying. if you heard it, you would let him invade your bed too, i bet! anyway, this morning i was up and showered and joe was still asleep in my bed. not wanting him to wake up i decided to get dressed in the dark . . . theoretically that shouldn't be too hard. so, i opened the drawer and started puttin' on the clothes. things were going fine until i put on my bra (sports bra ya know, since i was headed to the Y and all!) . . . backwards. in the dark it's really hard, i now realize, to tell the back from the front . . . well, until you get it on that is. then it is quite obvious that something is not right! i got it turned around and the day has been going well ever since.

happy monday!

thankful thursday

my friend, anne, does this on her blog and i've loved the idea for quite a while now so i thought i'd just copy her and do it too! so here goes:
thankful thursday #1:
i am thankful for so many things that it's hard to narrow it down. thankfully (pun intended!) there is a thursday each and every week, so i'll have more chances!
today i am thankful for the library! (i was just there this morning, in fact!) i LOVE to read and don't have tons of extra money to buy books, nor space to store them. plus, once i've read them i don't so much see the point of letting them get dusty on a shelf somewhere. our library is close to our house -- we can even walk (you know, when the weather cooperates!) and it's very rare that they don't have a book that i am looking for. you can request stuff online and they stick it right there on a shelf near the door in alphabetical order by last name so you don't even have to cart your 5 kiddos into the depths of the library to search for it on a shelf, while losing 2 or 3 of your kids while the other 2 or 3 make more noise than is polite at a library, only to find that the book is already checked out by another book-lover and you'll have to try again in a couple days: what a deal!! it's SO nice of them. you can return stuff without leaving your mini-van (yeah, drive thru!!) and you can even borrow newly released movies for FREE. amazing, i know! i am such a library girl that joe often asked if we "borrowed" this or that from the library (like, for example, toothpaste or apples! nope bud, unfortunately those we have to pay for!)