November 30

1}  I'm thankful for my Bible.  How amazing is it that I can hold God's words in my hands and any time I want I can open it up and hear His voice.  It blows me away that there are still people groups in this world that have no written word....seriously, their language is not yet been written down...and because of that they also have no Bible...God's word is not something they have ever read.
Without counting and searching I know that right now there are at least 10 Bibles in my home...but probably closer to 15.  Everyday...every minute...I can pick up God's letter to me and read it.  I'm thankful for that.

2}  Thankful for a good nights sleep despite the storm and no husband being home.  I struggle with fear.  And those are my two worst...windy, stormy nights always equal no sleep...husband out of town...no sleep.  Last night I slept like a baby and feel amazing today.  It was totally a gift from God.  I prayed all day yesterday when I would think of the night ahead of me.  I kept seeking God's peace and comfort.  And guess what, He gave them to me.  I woke up this morning so very thankful, and surprised, that I had slept all thru the night with no fear!

3}  Thankful for Christmas & Christmas decorations.  Love that we celebrate it for a whole month...Going to pull out the decorations today and get some twinkling lights strung...and set up all my nativities...

Bonus...
4}  Thankful for 2 friends that tried to help me fix my fence last night in the storm...one being 9 months pregnant {only a week from her due date}...it was very comical with the 3 of us trying to figure out something to hold the gate from blowing open and making noise all night long...and we were unsuccessful in our attempts, and I'm pretty sure I going to have some clean up this morning...

also thankful that I took this month to reflect on being thankful...something we do no do enough of as a culture...

November 29

1}  Thankful for central heat on this wintry,  blustery, stormy day!  I grew up with a wood stove as our main heat source and more recently we moved out of our money pit that had no central heat {a monitor heater in one corner on the first floor a a 2 1/2 story house...not great heat}...love being able to program the heat for 70 and know that my house will be cozy warm.

2} Thankful also for cozy blankets and robes so I can program our 'heat' for 60 at night and we're not freezing...

3}  Thankful that my kids love Carnation Instant Breakfast!

November 28

1}  I'm thankful for minimum days...both of my kids have minimum days on Wednesdays...Wednesdays are a busy, late days...having the kids get out an hour earlier each Wednesday makes our Wednesdays less chaotic and hectic...

2}  I'm thankful for completion...specifically completed puzzles.  

Thanksgiving Family Puzzle 2012...with a missing piece

an unnamed child of the male persuasion
found the missing piece in his coat pocket....hmmmm

completion...1000 piece TAKE that!

3}  I'm thankful that my husband doesn't have to travel for work.  A few times a year he may have to go to a conference or something but I'm thankful that he's not traveling weekly or even monthly.  I like having him around.

November 24, 25, 26 & 27

1}  I'm thankful that I'm not tied to my blog.  That I can take a few days off for the weekend and that's okay!

2}  I'm thankful for flowers...more specifically flowers growing in my flower beds and various pots around my porch.

these hydrangeas are from a tiny plant in my front flower bed.
they bloomed a pale pink and then this fall turned this dark red.

3}  I'm thankful for the bartering system that is alive and well with my talented friends and I.  I can crochet up a few things and trade with my friend that is a photographer for our Christmas picture...love that!

4}  I'm thankful that my Christmas pictures are done and my cards are printed and just waiting to be addressed.

5}  I'm thankful for books.  I love reading.

6}  I'm thankful for seasons.  I enjoy every season and I am usually ready for the next one when it's time...I pretty much think God knew what he was doing when he created the whole season thing!  He's good like that!

7}  I'm thankful for ziploc divided containers to pack my kids lunches in.  It's like their own personal lunchable without the crap junk food!

8}  I'm thankful for music.  My husband is a musical genius and my kids are blessed enough to have some of his genes and the gift of piano lessons.

9}  I'm thankful that all the Thanksgiving desserts are GONE so I can stop eating them.

10}  I'm thankful for a friend to run with on cold fall mornings.

11}  I'm thankful for the 'extra' week of November to get ready for girl child's birthday!

12}  I'm thankful for meal planning and menu's that help keep me organized!

November 23

1}  I'm thankful for humor.  I am glad that I can laugh at myself, I can laugh with my husband and kids.  My kids are hilarious and crack me up all the time.  And I think laughter is one of the most important parts of a healthy marriage, or at least our marriage.

2}  I'm thankful for desserts...such a simple thing that brings such joy.

the pie tree! such a beautiful sight

3}  I'm thankful for where we live.  I love living in FAR Northern California.  It is truly one of the most beautiful places to live.  Yesterday my in-laws, daughter and I were able to participate in the annual Turkey Trot on the gorgeous Sacramento River Trail.  We have a wonderful trail system in Redding, with 100's of miles of paved trails just a few miles in all directions.  We live minutes from 2 beautiful lakes, about an hour from 2 beautiful mountains, just a few hours from the ocean. Today we will go out and explore more of our 'home' with the family.
I love this place, it is a gift from God.

November 22

Happy  Thanksgiving!

1} I'm thankful to be hosting Thanksgiving!  I love hosting it!  I love making the turkey.  I love all the bustling, busy, my kitchen full of people making a great meal.

2}  Thankful that the girl child and I are participating in the annual Turkey Trot...

I've wanted to do this for so long now, but no one could or wanted to do it with me, and it's just more fun with other people...Madison and I are 'trotting' with some friends, and grandma and grandpa are braving the 6 mile!  We're only doing the 2 mile this year, but we've already started talking about training for the 6 mile next year!

3}  Overwhelmingly thankful for my family and health.  Tuesday taught me that I could have lost all of that in a moment.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving...may it be filled with family, friends, and thankfulness!

November 21

1}  I'm so very thankful for God's protection over my family.

2}  I'm thankful for the guardrail on a road that I drive on everyday with my kids.  A guardrail that God used to save my kids and I from going down a 50 foot ravine.

3}  Thankful for those lessons that God teaches us.

Tuesday morning I was running errands with the kids, driving along.  My phone rings, I glance down, "Private Number," I ignore it...and then I have this stupid, "what if it's really important," thought so I grab for my blue tooth...can't find it, I look down to find it and in that moment...that 2 seconds with my eyes off the road...I drifted into a guardrail...drifted going 50 miles an hour...into a guardrail that was protecting a 50 foot ravine.  I swerved, over-corrected and went into the oncoming lane...NO ONE was there...I pulled it together and pulled over.  I got out and looked at the car.  Pretty banged up...but drive-able...I looked around...NO CARS...NO Traffic on this busy 2 days before Thanksgiving errand running day...

God protected us in so many ways.
  *a guardrail that I've never noticed, never thought about, being in the spot we needed it.
  *when I hit the guardrail, I hit it pretty much on the whole entire side of the van...equaling lots of damaged down the entire side of the van...but also just basic physics, had I hit with the front end we could have been tossed over the rail, had I hit the back it could have sent us into a spin, but hitting the whole side kept us pretty balanced.  I don't think I could have tried to hit it at a more 'perfect' angle if I wanted to...
  *Tuesday was a raining, blustery, monsoon like day.  There was about 10 minutes without crazy weather...that is the 10 minutes that my accident took place.  Can't image what the outcome would have been in that monsoon like weather.
  *ZERO traffic.  No one behind me to rear-end me when I slammed into the guardrail.  No one in the on-coming lane of traffic for me to plow into when I over corrected.  After I pulled over and assessed the damage the road had returned to it's normal traffic flow again...

I'm sure there are other God moments that I haven't realized that took place in that moment that protected my kids and I.  These are just the ones that stand out.

Lesson learned...
 Lesson #1...NO PHONE...NO MATER WHAT.  If I haven't put my blue tooth in my ear before I have started driving, than I just have to wait.  Seriously, it was a call from my doctors office telling me about a recent test. NO BIG DEAL!  And even if it was a hugely important message, the school calling to tell me my kid got kidnapped {just trying to think of the worst/most important call}...how is me causing an accident going to help that situation.  Because now my husband gets this call..."Um, your kid got kidnapped at school, and your wife drove off a cliff with your other child in the car!"  There is NO phone call that can't wait until I get to wherever it is I'm going...and I also have God on my side.  I fully know that if there is that really important phone call that I need to know about right then, I would have a nudge from the Holy Spirit telling me to pull over and check my phone.

Lesson #2...pride...UGH.  Lets go back about 18 months ago...I had this thing I liked to call, "A perfect driving record"...It's something I would remind Beau about lots and lots.  I LOVED my perfect driving record, I was proud of that thing!  Yeah...lets go back 18 months...

• I ran a red light...big time ran it, with video proof... almost got my whole family t-boned by another car {who stopped at their green light,while I blasted through my red light}
• Then 10 months go by..all is well...then I amazingly back right into my friends car...a car that I KNEW was right behind me...but I rammed right into it!  Lovely...also loved the insurance letter sent to my husband, "Dear Beau, after investigating the accident we find your wife 100% at fault."  THANKS...like I needed it rubbed into my prideful face.
• Tuesday...I being stupid...could have killed my children and myself!

Yep, my perfect driving record is gone.  And my pride about it is now filled with humility...I'm not saying I'm humble {because that's an oxymoron}...  I'm saying I get it now.  I had pride {probably still have it in other places that God has yet to point out}...and now I see that my pride got me nowhere, accomplished nothing.  It probably made me more dangerous to myself and my kids.  Pride blinds us, tells us that we're above certain things...when we clearly are imperfect humans that can make a stupid mistake {choose any from my above list, or make up your own} and that stupid mistake, that slip in judgement, could cost you or your family greatly.

November 20

1}  I'm thankful  for lists...I just finished making my Thanksgiving grocery list...and when the kids wake up off we will go to get all or our Thanksgiving food.

2}  Thankful for leftover cookies that my kids will eat for breakfast!

YEP...I'm gonna let me kids eat a cookie for breakfast and then take them grocery shopping 2 days before Thanksgiving when the store is likely to be horribly crowded!
And ... there is a large possibility that they will end the shopping experience with a large donut...
{because I believe cavities and obesity will give my children character}
AND....I feel strongly in the fact that we all have jobs in life,
     and we do those jobs better if we get a paycheck when our job is completed...
my children have a job today...
    They will be expected to act like normal civilized humans
     {even though their only breakfast was a large cookie}
while I drag them through a crowed, unfriendly grocery store...
      when & if they complete this job, their paycheck will be a donut at the end!

3}  Thankful for the men and women working at the grocery store...such an unappreciated job!
People treat grocers horrible.
Yes, I know you hate shopping...
     Yes, I know it's crowded...
Yes, I can see that your child is throwing a fit and just broke a jar of pickles...
remind me why that is the grocers fault and you need to be rude to them?
Yes, I know the lines are longer then you were expecting...
Yes, I can tell you fed your children cookies for breakfast...
Yes, I know that you wish you were ANYWHERE other than grocery shopping....
Yes, I know that this normal 1 hour trip has taken you 2 and you're still not done...
remind me how being rude to the grocer is going to help this situation!
I have a small task for you and your family!
If you have yet to finish your Thanksgiving grocery shopping, or end up back at the store because someone forgot butter or pepper...
First...be thankful that you have the option of shopping at a grocery store,
Second...be thankful that there are people that work in this thankless industry and THANK THEM...
Give them a smile...maybe a kiss {Hershey that is}...
and bonus...if you head into the grocery store with a good attitude and your goal is NOT to get out of there as fast as possible...
     but rather to make the day of those that are serving inside the store...
your trip will be that much more pleasant! {you can even make it a game with your kids}...
extra points in the game...help a young mom or elderly couple that look like they might need help with their list or bagging their groceries...
double bonus...your kids will learn amazing kindness, grace, and character from this simple trip to the store.

November 19

1}  Thankful for school holidays!  I love letting the kids stay up late and then sleep in...just soaking up the freedom of a few days off from school!

2}  Thankful for fun socks!

They just make me smile...it's like wearing pretty panties only better because you get to share the fun with everyone!

3}  Thankful for the dollar theater...that has family Mondays where a group of 3 or more can buy tickets for $0.75 a piece!  Taking the kids to see Brave today!

November 18

1}  Thankful for the volunteers at church.  I have a team of over 40 people that volunteer for me over the course of a month.  It's amazing to have that many people willing to step up and help in one way or another...to serve the children and families of our church...and that's just the volunteers for the birth-kindergarten ministry...  So Very Thankful!

2}  Thankful for friends having babies and baby showers.  I went to a baby shower today for a good friend who is having her 4th baby in a few weeks.  I love going to baby showers and seeing the showering of love for the mother and her new baby!

3}  Thankful for Sunday 'dinner'...I don't make dinner on Sundays.  NOPE!  It's my night off...usually we have popcorn, cheese, fruit, etc...tonight we passed on the popcorn, had cheese & crackers and then leftover buffet {whatever you want to eat that's leftover in the fridge!} and we eat in the living room...the only night we eat with the tv on!  Everyone should have a night of the week that's just simple.  And guess what, my family loves Sunday Dinner!  It's a tradition and kids love tradition, they love something they can count on especially if it has a bit of whimsy or quirky to it, and they love telling their friends that we have 'popcorn for dinner' on Sunday nights!

November 17

1}  Thankful for friends... I could write a whole post just on friends...but I'll just say, I'm thankful for my friends...{old & new}...I'm thankful for the friends that Beau has...and I'm thankful for the friends our kids have.

in that same theme
2}  I'm thankful for sleepovers...and yes, I'm crazy...our kids had some friends over last night and I love that they are spread all over the house and that the kids had a blast with each other.

3}  Thankful for grocery stores...getting ready to go do some shopping and I'm thankful that we have the luxury of grocery stores!

November 16

1}  Thankful for school lunches.  I let the kids get one school lunch a week...and I'm always thankful for the mornings that they choose school lunch, the morning goes by just that much smoother...and this is ususally the day that the boy child chooses school lunch...Fridays=pizza

2}  Thankful for Thanksgiving break from school...when I pick the kids up today we will have 9 days off!  I love that!  As a kid we only had a minimum day on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and then Thanksgiving and Friday off...I love that they have turning it into the holiday break it deserves to be.  

3}  I'm thankful for dishwashers...I'm listening to ours clean our dishes right now...it's a magical machine!...grew up without one...and in our 14+ years of marriage have had one for all but maybe 2 years of that time...they make me blissfully happy!  And that reminds me of something my mother use to say, and it makes me smile every time....

my sister & I would ask our mom...

     "When are you going to get a dishwasher?"

my mom...

     "I have two of them {referring to the two of us washing the dishes} why do I need another one?"

November 15

1}  Thankful for a fridge and cupboards full of food even if we think it's almost empty.  I grocery shop every 2 weeks (that's when we get paid)...right now we are a week and a half from the last time I shopped...this is when everything starts to feel empty and I start hearing, "we don't have anything to eat!"...
when in fact we have a bowl of fruit on the table
a cupboard with 3 boxes of crackers, a bag of pretzels, various bags dried fruit.
a fridge with veggies {and dips}, cheese, meat, etc....
It's the same food they've been eating for over a week, so they want something new...so, it feels like we don't have anything, but I know I could feed them for another 2 weeks without going to the store.

2}  I'm so very thankful that my kids don't know the meaning of truly being hungry!  How many times have you had this conversation...
kid-I'm hungry...
parent-eat an apple ....
kid-I'm not hungry for an apple....
parent-then you can wait for dinner...
kid-but I'm starving...
parent-if you were hungry then you'd eat the apple....
as frustrating as that can be, I am also thankful that they have never experienced true hunger.

3}  Thankful for crocheting...

this pattern is NOT in English, but this video helped me get it
it's a fun pattern and different from most crochet patterns.

I took a few years off from crocheting but picked it back up about 2 years ago...and I am loving it!  I have some friends that come over once a week for our 'hookin' nights and I'm really enjoying our time and our creations.

November 14

1} Thankful for my bed.

2}  Thankful for internet...silly I know, but it was not working at home this morning and I was feeling sort of lost...How am I supposed to know today's weather?  What if I have an email I need to respond to?  What if there is something on Pintrest I NEED to see right now!!!!???

3}  Thankful for a quiet morning without internet.

Yes, I'm a walking oxymoron!

I'm thankful that I have it now, thankful for all the information and entertainment that it supplies.  It also adds a lot of 'noise' to my day.  After my quiet time this morning I just sat and read my book, no internet 'noise' and it was calming....

November 13

1}  Thankful for nurses, occupational therapists, social workers, and all the specialized people that work in hospitals!  And those that work with kids are even more amazing.

2}  Thankful for children's hospitals.

3}  Thankful for kids spending the weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Please continue to pray for our friends daughter.  She was in so much pain today, one of the hardest things I've had to see.  {Kids should not have to ever be in that level of pain...seriously she will laugh her way through labor after the pain she is experiencing today and for the next few days!}.   Her surgery was to straighten out her scoliosis, her pre-op prep took almost 2 hours, and then her actual surgery was about 7 hours, and then another 1 1/2 hours before her parents could go see her, I think they saw her around 9:30 last night.

Brad & Kim putting on their brave faces...
this was yesterday morning before Kenna had gone "into" surgery put was in pre-op

Pray for our friends.  Watching your child in pain SUCKS!  And getting to sleep on fold out chairs...they WILL have short fuses...pray that they can be a comfort to each other and be each others soft place to land.

in a waiting room about hour 5 (of surgery, not counting pre-op!)

Pray for all the other families at that hospital.  We were at a huge children's hospital and walking the halls, seeing all the sick kids, all the parents in pain watching their babies hurting.  Not having answers to help their kids....I'm so thankful for hospitals geared just for these kids, people who devote their lives to helping these children.  I felt like I was praying the entire time I was there {not a bad thing}, every child I saw that was sick, every family waiting for news or talking with a doctor, nurse, social worker, etc...I just saw pain everywhere and I couldn't stop pleading with God to help these kids and families.

Hold your babies tight tonight when you tuck them in.

Thank you God for my healthy kids!  Be with every parent tonight who has a hurting child!

November 12

Beau and I are on a little trip...not a romantic get away, not a for fun get away, not a business get away...
a family friends needs us to walk beside them while their almost 10 year old daughter is having major surgery....
pray for our friends today...
pray for their brave daughter as she goes in this morning for a life changing surgery.
pray for her parents, that wish with all their hearts that it was them and not their baby.
pray for the doctors.
pray for us as we comfort and pray with them today.

1}  Thankful for healthy kids.
2}  Thankful for doctors.
3}  Thankful that my God is the great physician!

November 11

yeah, posting a day late...

1}  Thankful for our church, our pastors, the body of believers.

2}  Thankful for our veterans.  All the men and women that have served our country, in war and in peace.  Those that have died, those that are lost & not yet found, those that were wounded, those that have been changed forever by what they have done to keep our country free.  Thanks!  

3}  Thankful for road trips with my husband.

I have so much more to say on all of these...they all deserve their own day, their own post...but it's what I was thankful for yesterday...

November 10

1}  I'm thankful for my mother...it's her birthday today....  I'm thankful that she never worried about being my friend when I was a child, she was my mother!  And because of that we are friends today.  I'm thankful that we talk multiple times a week.  I'm thankful for her faith in God and her prayers for my life.  I'm thankful for her love of my children and my husband.

my parents with my kids...
it's an old picture...maybe 2 1/2 years ago?

2}  I'm thankful for my father...it's also a birthday for him...happy birthday to the Marine Corps.  I'm thankful for a father that fought and returned from Vietnam.  Thank you Dad for your service.  I'm thankful for the patriotism that you raised me with.  Thankful that because of people like my father that willingly enlist others have the choice not too.  {can NOT imagine living n a country where my son and daughter would HAVE to serve!}

and totally unrelated...
3}  I'm thankful for laundry...that's my way of trying to be grateful...I have loads to do today and I'm thankful that my family and I have plenty of clothes to wear & that I have a washer and dryer to wash them with!

November 9

1}  I'm thankful for our home.  We're renters...we've been owners, and now we rent.  It was some hard choices that led us to that decision. {I blogged about it here}  But 18+ months later, I am so thankful.  I really love our house...its home.  It's cozy and clean, and not falling down around us. I'm so very thankful for this home.

girl child mowing our lawn!

2}  I'm thankful for a garage.  This is the first house I've lived in {E.V.E.R!} with a functioning garage. And I LOVE it.  I love that on cold, frosty mornings...like this morning...I can walk into the garage, get in my van and drive away, no scrapping of windows this morning....  that filled me with Thanks.

3}  I'm thankful for Friday's.  It's our day off.  Beau works Sunday-Thursday's...and depending on my work load and how the rest of my week went {if I took a day off with a sick kid, or to go on a field trip, etc} I usually have Friday's off as well.  It's nice that we get this day off together with the kids still at school.  Seriously, I'm married to him, I work with him {we share an office}, we usually eat lunch together, and we have these special Friday's off together...  We have tried in the past to make special days of the month for a date night...but now we realize...we have lunches and every Friday together...we are almost on one continuous date!

November 8

1}  I'm thankful for our parents and their marriages.

my parents @ our wedding

my in-laws @ our wedding

I think it may be a rarity that both sets of our parents are still married.  Both got married young and in an age when divorce was pretty normal our parents stayed the course and are still married.  I'm sure their marriages haven't been smooth sailing, but they love each other, have grown together, and love God.  Both my parents and my in-laws marriage have taught Beau and I things about marriage, commitment, and love.  Their legacy of marriage is something I am deeply thankful for.  My children see marriage as the norm, they see commitment as the option, not quitting.  I know many marriages end today because one or both parties just don't 'feel' it...they made a promise, they need to sit down and communicate and work it out, especially if they have children.  If you fall out of love...DEAL...and then try your hardest to fall back in love!  I'm sorry, that's my opinion.  I'm sure there were times in both our parents marriages that it got tough, that they may have considered not sticking it out...but I'm thankful they did our marriage is stronger because of their commitment and our children have a better chance at having strong marriages because of our parents choices!  

disclaimer:  I think divorce is the answer to SOME marriages {the 3 A's Abuse, Adultery, Addiction}

2}  I'm thankful for my family...mom, dad and sister.

family Christmas pic, cira 1984,
I'm in front holding the cat.

My parents were amazing parents to my passionate personality.  They didn't control me, they taught me to control myself.  They reinforced over and over that I was responsible for the choices that I made, that I had free will, and I would have consequences if I broke the rules!  And BOY did I have consequences...but I'm thankful for those lessons learned at a young age because life consequences for bad choices {sin} at the age of 10 is way  better than life consequences for sin at the age of 16...18...21...  Their parenting taught me responsibility for myself and helped guide my life to where it is today.

3}  I'm thankful for my in-laws.  I am 100% totally blessed with great in-laws.  Those 'mother-in-law' jokes don't make sense in my world.  I have a mother-in-law that I love, who raised a great son, who loves my children and who only gives her advice with love and tenderness.  The rest of them are great too.  I also really appreciate my sister-in-law, she's an amazing aunt to our kids.  Both my mother-&-sister-in-law have taught me how to be a better wife and mother and I am so very grateful for them.  I personally think the Chambers Men marry amazing women!

a shot with the in-laws 2010...
we all look younger now, except the kids are all older

And this is posting a day late...I wrote it yesterday, but forgot to post...