I hope you all had a fabulous thanksgiving weekend. Ours was very quiet and relaxing. We ate, made puzzles and played way too much Monopoly. So much in fact my husband asked if we could burn the game. Ahh...good times. We put the Christmas tree and all the lights on the house up. Did a little shopping...overall very productive and restful weekend.

Our Thanksgiving was also covered in a gray cloud. My sister in law spent most of the holiday weekend in the hospital fighting off pneumonia that is accompanying her cancer. She is not doing well and the outlook is grim. If you think of us, please say a prayer for her and her family. Especially the assurance of her salvation.

We have a winner!!

Yea! Congratulations Jamie!! No, I did not rig the random selection. Thank you Random.org for selecting #4. Woo Hoo! I suggest you take your sister out to coffee ;o)

300!!!!

WOW! 300 posts! About what? I have no idea. I think I am a Seinfeld type of blogger. A lot of blogging about nothing. A ruffled pirate shirt, soup, whatever. Just a place for me to get out an occasional complete thought. So in honor of this momentous occasion as promised a give-away!

A $15 gift card to Starbucks! Yea Hoo! I will use random.com tomorrow to pick a winner.

So leave a comment and good luck!

I am thankful for YOU!!

Post 299

One more to 300! Come back tomorrow!

Post 298

Had a great time with Jamie and Kelly tonight!! Trying to get to post 300...

Woo Hoo! Look at me!

A while ago I won a Blog Makeover from Jamie. Jackie at Memories by Design did the makeover. I am very happy with how it came out!

Thank you Jamie!! Thank you Jackie!! I feel like a new blogger!! Maybe this will give me the inspiration of more simple thoughts.

This is my 297th post. 297 posts about...I don't know what. But in honor of my new look AND 300 posts AND Thanksgiving I will be having a little giveaway next week...

Tune in Monday for details!

Vacation

Ginny at My Cup to Yours is hosting Talkin' About Thursdays. This week the topic is vacations.

My vacations have been rather limited I must say. No yearly vacations to Maratha's Vineyard, Hawaii, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Switzerland, Austrailia, or Disneyland. Our yearly vacations have been mostly to either the mountains or to the beach. That is what happens when vacation funds are limited ;o) I have been to Hawaii, so don't feel too sorry for me. And it was great!

Our vacations are family time away to reconnect and build memories. And really the place just doesn't matter all that much. It would be great to take the kids to some fabulous exotic place, but connecting with the kids and my husband can be done anywhere. I think my favorite family vacation has been Klammath Falls, Oregon. It is a beautiful place in the mountains. We had a great time! We also enjoy going to the beach on the Oregon Coast.

Not quite sure what happened there...

The morning started out as usual. Alarm went off at the right time, showered, started to get ready. But then something went wrong. Or maybe unexpected is a better word. I was thrown off my game. The universe out of alignment. Nothing disastrous, just unscheduled. And I spent the next several hours recuperating. Add that to 'picture day' at school (I hate picture day) where the photographer was just a little unprepared. I needed to get a sub for a teacher for Thursday. Parents asking for just a little of this or a little of that. Little annoyances that threw me off. I wish I could say I handled it all with grace...not so much. Never an ill word but I am sure my feelings were written all over my face. "You annoy me". Ah...way to let my light shine. Good times! ;o)

Holiday Celebrations

We are coming on that time of year. The HOLIDAYS. Time that is SUPPOSED to be all about thankfulness, family, celebrating God's Gift to us and reflecting on the joy of the season. The reality in the past for me has not exactly been that. Reality has been that I start off with those thoughts and ideas yet somewhere between preparing for the Thanksgiving meal and cleaning up the Christmas decorations all of that has been lost. OK, maybe not all lost but my focus, the main purpose of this time is somehow blurred. The message is minimalized and I am consumed with thought of what needs to be done. Shopping, baking, buying, sending, partying, and doing. I don't think that how we as a family have spent the holidays is really glorifying or pleasing to the Lord. Yes, there have been good moments, good deeds, good ideas followed through. But overall I get consumed and the message is minimalized.

I want this year to be different. Jamie's post got me thinking the other day. I want to be generous with what I have. I want to be thankful for what I have.I want my children to be grateful too. We may not have unlimited resources, but we do have something. So this year we are changing things up. I am not sure exactly what that will mean yet. Yesterday we talked about limiting our gift giving to each other to give to others more. I thought this would be met with cries and boo-hoos but each of the kids said 'you know, I really don't need anything, and there is nothing I have really been wanting'. BINGO! Why buy gifts just for gifts-sake? Just because it is what we are supposed to do? Yes, there will still be some sort of gift giving at our house Christmas morning but it will look different this year. I am thinking maybe we just do the stockings? I am not sure.

I would like my kids to think of ways to bless others this season. Things that they can think up and do. Maybe they will choose to make a Christmas Child box, maybe pick a child off the Angel Tree, maybe make scarfs for the mission, maybe give to the needy, maybe serve at the soup kitchen or deliver a meal for the sick or elderly? I would like Christmas morning to be spent talking about how we were able to be used by God and be a blessing to others instead of "What did you get?" Maybe I will buy coffee for the car behind me in the drive through. Maybe I will buy groceries for that family who is struggling. Maybe I will sit with a sick friend and pray with and for her. Maybe I will go visit my husband's grandma. Maybe I will make that phone call I have been putting off because I haven't had time. Or maybe I will make time to visit with some old friends.

I am not sure what the next couple months will look like exactly. But I am looking for different.

Once upon a time....

In a land far, far away lived a beautiful woman. She had five children and a husband who adored her and hung on her every word. Her children obeyed without question. They were all perfectly dressed and coiffed.

Her home was magnificent, clean, and welcoming. She spent her days reading to her children, teaching them lessons they were eager to learn, and baking cookies. Dinner was always delicious and nutritious. Wonderful aromas always filled the air. The laundry was always done, dishes always cleaned and toilets were always scrubbed.

The evenings were quiet and relaxing. A fire flickering in the living room. Children reading books and playing board games. And she had deep meaningful conversations with her husband. Every evening ended with family devotions that the children actively participated in and enthusiastically learned and applied to their lives. When the children went to bed they all said 'Mom, your the best!'

She ended her day with an encouraging word from the Lord and a kiss from her husband. All is well in the land far, far away.

That is not my life here. Life has been far too busy with little to show for it. I am hoping to get back to blogging on a regular basis. I am looking forward to the holidays. We are looking at how we can make this holiday season different and meaningful. I would love to share them with you.

Happy November!!