Thankful Thursday 6/28/07

Today, on this Thankful Thursday, I am thankful for:

My children--I love them more than I can possibly ever say. They mean EVERYTHING to me and I feel so privileged to be their mother.

That the Lord has protected my children on the bike rides and walks they've taken.

My husband and that he believes a wife/mother should be at home with their children and he makes it possible for me to be able to do so.

American Soldiers/Military and the extreme sacrifices they have made and continue to make each and everyday so that I can live here in a free country with my family.

For all the people and organizations that believe in the American Military and do so much to make sure they are supported and NEVER forgotten.

For computers and the web that allows me the opportunity to help supplement my husband's income and communicate with other ladies.

For my husband's patience and diligence as he is still trying to fix his van so we can have 2 cars.

For plastic pails so when children are sick and they need to throw up, they can use the pails to do so instead of all over the floor.

For all the volunteers who are working so hard to make our church's Vacation Bible School a big success!

For our window air conditioner and that it works so sufficiently!

That cooler weather is on its way.

For this "Thankful Thursday" activity and the fact that it forces me to see the blessings God gives.

If you'd like to participate in "Thankful Thursday" or just read other lists, visit Sting My Heart.

Wordless Wednesday! 6/27/07

This is one of my favorite pictures that I found on the internet...it is not of anyone I know, but I've always loved it. To me, it speaks volumes!

To see other Wordless Wednesday participants, click on Wordless Wednesday

ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL!!!

I strongly encourage EVERY one to watch this...you won't be sorry.

"The below is the hottest thing on the internet and on Fox News today. Lizzie Palmer who put this YouTube program together is 15 years old. There have been over 3,000,000 hits as of this morning. In case you missed it, here it is. ENJOY!"

I think THIS IS ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just want to say "THANK YOU LIZZIE!" for making such a beautiful tribute to those who have sacrificed and who are currently sacrificing their lives for ALL of us. I have watched this about 7 times already today, showed it to my children and husband, and emailed it to several people and a few of my email groups. I still have tear-filled eyes as I think of this video and the profound impact it has left on me.

My family and I thank ALL of the American military who continue to give so much for us and our freedom. In our eyes, you will NOT be forgotten and we will forever be in debt to you. You continue to be in our prayers.

Below is a collection of images I've collected over the past few years and I think this is the perfect time to display them. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. :)

Ribbet…Ribbet…Ribbet

Well, we had so much fun this afternoon! Out in our backyard, we have a small pond...not a pretty landscaped pond, but a very, very natural pond that is not pretty. Well, the baby and I went outside to swing on the swing and then met up with my husband and 2nd youngest son (they were already out in the back). We took a short walk around the pond when all of a sudden my husband showed my son a tiny little frog hidden in some mowed, long grass. Well there it was...a frog here, a frog there, MANY frogs EVERYWHERE!

Well I handed the baby to my husband and my son & I started jumping after the frogs trying to catch them, and I'll tell you, they are FAST!!! When we finally caught one, we'd catch another and attempt to add it to the other hand with the other frog in it and so on. We ended up with 5 or 6 frogs in one hand and it tickled! They jump in your closed fist and when you have several in there, it feels funny LOL.

My son got a plastic bucket for us to put them all in, but without a lid, it was useless as they can climb the sides of the bucket and jump out! Well, my 3rd son also came out to catch some and below you can see all the pictures we have to show you. You'll be surprised to know that all together, we caught 29 of these frogs. After I was done taking pictures of them, we released them back outside where we found them. :)

We researched and researched on the internet and FINALLY discovered what type of treefrogs these are. It was so hard to tell because they closely resemble the Spring Peeper frog, but they do not have the "X" on their backs that is exclusive to the Spring Peeper. They are the Boreal Chorus Frogs. If you want to hear what they sound like, click the below link. I hope you will enjoy our pictures! :) (the last 2 images show all 29 frogs together!!!)

weaselhead.org/sounds/asprwf/cd_boreal_chorus_frog_02.wav

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Thankful Thursday 6/21/07

Today, on this Thankful Thursday, I am thankful for:

My husband and that he allows me to stay at home with our children and has faith in me as I raise them and homeschool them.

ALL of my children--Each one is incredibly unique and so very special. I really am so grateful to the Lord for blessing me and creating these children for us.

My salvation and the fact that "the price has already been PAID"! It is through the Lord's grace that I will have an eternity in heaven with Him.

That the Lord has continually protected my children while they go on bike rides.

Our church's website and the audio sermons they record and make available on the internet so I can listen to them anytime I want and as often as I want!

For technology, computers, internet, routers, laptops--so many things that allow me to interact with other Godly women on the web.

For my husband's willingness and diligence to "try" to fix/repair his van so we can have 2 vehicles. He really isn't well versed in mechanics, so at least he IS trying!

For still being able to nurse/breastfeed my toddler. He is 16 months old and this is the longest I've ever nursed any of my children. The moments we share are totally priceless. It gives us both a closeness I cannot put into words.

For thrift stores because they allows us to find quality clothing for a fraction of the price it costs in retail stores.

That the heavy rains we had yesterday have almost all been absorbed into the ground, rather than stay flooded in our yard.

For each and EVERY American soldier (all military included) and their unselfishness as they defend our country.

For our window air conditioner and that it works so sufficiently! I am so grateful that we haven't had to use it often so far, but when we have, it has been a HUGE blessing!

For this "Thankful Thursday" activity and the fact that it forces us to take time out of our daily lives to notice and realize all the blessings God has given us.

I do thank you, Father God, for everything listed above and all of the many other things I haven't included here. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

If you'd like to participate in "Thankful Thursday" or just read other lists, visit Sting My Heart.

Wordless Wednesday! 6/20/07

This is a tree frog my son found outside in our backyard...we have TONS of them! :)

To see other Wordless Wednesday participants, click on Wordless Wednesday

Has Anyone Ever Used…

Any sort of a "cleanse" for their body? I've heard so many controversial things about cleanses and I'm not sure what to think.

Over at Homemaking Cottage's blog, I read the following 2 entries: Losing Weight the Healthy Weight and Could Hidden Parasites be Keeping You Fat? and I was shocked! I am wondering if I should be giving the 2 products she wrote about a try?

The 1st one she recommended is Solaray YeastCleanse, the 2nd is Super Colon Cleanse.

I tried researching this more on Google and I just can't believe all the conflicting information and TONS of different cleanse products there are!

If anyone has any comments or experience (good or bad), I'd love to hear from you!

Wow, It Worked!

Just about a week or so ago, I posted about a New Opportunity I Am Trying and I wanted to update you on it.

Well, so far so good! :) Just 3 days ago I received payment for my first writing assignment! I was so excited LOL. I think that is a great start, don't you?

Well, anyway, that is all I have to say about it for now. I'll be certain to post any additional updates here as they come up.

Thankful Thursday 6/14/07

Today, on this Thankful Thursday, I am grateful for:

My family--my husband and ALL of my children--they mean EVERYTHING to me and I am honestly so very, very, very grateful for them!

My church and that it is less than one mile down the street from our house so we can walk there when husband is late coming home from work (instead of missing out on going).

That there is a "sitting/nursing" room in our church with a tv monitor so I can still see and hear the pastor as I sit in there with the baby rather than miss out on the entire message.

That we saw a Bluebird in our yard not just once, but twice this week!

Our home, though it is so badly in need of repairs in so many areas, we still have a home to live in and to raise our children in.

Our yard...that we have a larger yard for our children to run around in and play in and experience the wonders of nature and being outside.

That my knee and leg held up well enough that I've been able to go for walks several times this week.

That an opportunity came along for my husband to buy a used lawnmower and that it worked and had enough gas to mow most of our overgrown lawn.

For a special online friend the Lord has blessed me with and the fact that both of us hunger more for the Lord's word and want to grow stronger in Christ and that we've been brought together on the internet to help and support each other as we strive to be better Christians.

For each and EVERY American soldier (all military included) and the sacrifices they have made and continue to make to defend our country.

For our window air conditioner and that it is still working! I am so incredibly grateful for the fact that it works and cools our first floor reasonably well!

For this "Thankful Thursday" activity and the fact that it forces me to stop to think of all the blessings God has given me.

I do thank you, Lord God, for all of these things and all of the many, many more that I haven't included here. In Jesus' mighty name I pray, Amen.

If you'd like to participate in "Thankful Thursday" or just read other lists, visit Sting My Heart.

Wordless Wednesday! 6/13/07

I couldn't decide so I did both. These are pictures from last year when my 6th blessing was born. I just love how the baby is looking up at his one & only sister with such adoration! I also love the look on my 2nd youngest as he is just fascinated with his new baby brother! :)

For other Wordless Wednesday participants, click on Wordless Wednesday

A Bluebird!!!

Yes, a bluebird! We had a bluebird in our yard!!! Since bluebirds don't normally come to feeders (they don't eat birdseed) this was a fantastic treat for us!

Since we live in the northeast, naturally it was the Eastern Bluebird that we saw. It was the most beautiful shade of blue I've ever seen!

I was doing dishes and noticed this gorgeous blue bird on the ground so I took another look and thought to myself, "hmmm, that doesn't look like a bluejay, what is that?" I watched this bird as he went from the ground up to the tree, then back down to the ground and up to the tree again. He did this 3 or 4 times. I can only assume he hit the jackpot and found some yummy insects to eat. After watching this behavior, I immediately thought "could that be a bluebird???"

One of my sons ran and got his binoculars and soon confirmed that yes indeed, it was a bluebird--a MALE bluebird. Wooohooo! I was both so excited and grateful to have gotten a glimpse of this gorgeous bird.

New Opportunity I’m Trying

While visiting other blogs last night, I came across Bloggerwave and decided to see what it was about. It said that as a blogger, I'd have the opportunity to get paid as I blogged. I decided to give this a try and registered, then submitted my blog for approval and this morning I received an email saying my blog was approved. I was surprised as to how quickly that happened! Now that I'm approved, it says I can participate in opportunities by giving feedback to advertisers with respect to their websites, products, services and companies. I hope this will be beneficial! :)

Thankful Thursday

I found this "Thankful Thursday" on a blog I was visiting and thought it was a wonderful idea, so today is the first day I'm participating in it. :)

Today, on this Thankful Thursday, I am grateful for:

The fact that we awoke to another brand new day, since we are never guaranteed more days.

My husband and his dedication to his family to get up and go to work everyday, especially since he is not overly thrilled with his work environment.

Each one of my 6 children because each one is so incredibly special in their own way and I'm extremely grateful for the privilege of having them all in my life.

My extended family and the repaired relationships that have taken place over the last few years.

Our church and our Pastor--mainly for the wisdom the Lord gives him and his incredible preaching.

My church family and friends because it is so comforting to have them in our lives.

My pets--they provide me with a never-ending amount of unconditional love and comfort.

My computer, the internet, emails, and blogs--it provides me with the ability to communicate with other women and receive support and encouragement, especially since I don't have a car to go out with (we only have one and hubby uses it to go to & from work).

The fact that so far, we've had very tolerable, pleasant weather (I do not function/cope well in humid/hot weather) AND we've also had many, many sunny days and that is not the "norm" in our area.

For this "Thankful Thursday" activity, that we all may praise the Lord's name and have the opportunity to count and share our blessings with each other.

I do thank you, Lord, for all of these things and so many more that I haven't even listed here. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

If you'd like to participate in "Thankful Thursday" or just read other lists, visit Sting My Heart.

Free Netflix Account Giveaway!

Over at 5 Minutes for Mom, they are giving away 5 FREE 6-month subscriptions to Netflix! We've never tried any of these movie services, but I thought I'd share it with you in case you'd like to enter the contest.

Our FABULOUS Day!!!

Yesterday we took a long, overdue field trip to the Strong National Museum of Play and had a WONDERFUL time!!! Oh my goodness it was so much fun! We have never been there before and really weren't sure what to expect but it was absolutely awesome!

My mom (who will be moving to North Carolina at the end of this year) had told us quite awhile ago that she wanted to take us there but things/life kept coming up and we never made it out there. Sooo, my niece from North Carolina (who is the same age as my 2nd youngest) was up here visiting for a week and my mom said we HAD to do this field trip when she was here and I'm so glad we did.

My niece is such a character and almost everything she says makes us all laugh LOL. So needless to say, yesterday was even more fun since she went with us. I was also grateful to spend some time with her since she does live so far away and we haven't seen her in almost 6 months. :(

Well it was about a 2 hour ride each way for us and it really wasn't too bad. My youngest (15 1/2 months old) got fussy/stir crazy the last 30 minutes on the way there but still, he didn't act up that much.

I was pleasantly surprised with this museum since it was all INTERACTIVE! They had tons of hands-on activities for kids of all ages to participate in. I could not even begin to describe all of them in this post because there are just too many. Even for my young toddler, they had little "pitstop" like areas within the "big kid" sections that you can play with your little one and they can get out of the stroller to stretch their legs, climb on soft mats, and play with toy balls, cars, and other toys. Let me tell you, that was wonderful since we all know how toddlers can get bored just sitting in the stroller watching everyone else run around and have fun. They also had little "guest rest" rooms scattered around that was like a small living room where you could go to nurse your baby, change a diaper, or just "regroup" for a few minutes with your children. There were several "craft stations" in each exhibit for visitors to stop and make different projects. I thought everything was really well thought out.

We were even permitted to bring in our own bagged lunches and water jugs/bottles and eat within their food court. That definitely helped to save on $$$! It was also nice that they had plenty of rest rooms throughout AND they were clean too!!! ;)

One of my favorite exhibits there was the One History Place where the kids could go back in time to colonial-like days and use real items to pretend to churn butter and then pour the butter into wooden molds, use the old wood stove oven to bake loaves of bread and cookies (they even had a LARGE selection of plastic food items in each exhibit area to make the playing/pretending even more realistic!), then pump water from the well (NOT real water though for obvious reasons) into the barrel to wash the dishes and scrub the clothes, then hang them to dry. It was fantastic!

Then they had a "radio station" so the kids could be d.j.'s and broadcast a news announcement, record their own talk shows, or take requests to play favorite songs. They loved listening to themselves on the speaker system as they used the microphones and pushed different buttons which made sounds like a drumroll or applause from a live audience. I was laughing so hard as I listened to all the funny things the kids came up with!

There was a "news room" where the kids could sit at the desk to report the news, point to the large world map as they forecasted the weather, or be "behind the scenes" as the cameraman turning and moving the tv cameras. It was so much fun to watch them act out as well. There was a "theater stage" area complete with a curtain that opened and closed, plenty of dress-up clothes and props to use for their production, and a "sound area" where they operate the spotlights and sounds/music for the performance! In most of these special areas, there were VCR's where you could insert your own video tape to "record" your child(ren) as they were pretending/playing. I didn't know that though or else I would have made sure I brought one.

There was a giant "reading adventureland" where the kids literally ran around as they visited different climb on/walk through scenes such as Cinderella (complete with dress-up ballgown and pumpkin coach), gingerbread house, Jack and the Beanstalk, and so much more...SO MUCH MORE!

There was a very realistic "post office" where the kids could make their own postcards and/or letters and then mail them as they sort other mail and packages, put them on the conveyor belt to be carried to the truck, or place them in appropriate "p.o. boxes"! There were even keys to use to unlock the p.o. boxes to retrieve your delivered mail...such wonderful detail here! There was a FABULOUS "Wegmans Grocery Store" just for kids!!! WOW! Kids were given a pouch of play paper money to use as they walked in and then they chose a shopping cart to begin shopping. All of the items/products were incredibly realistic looking. They could weigh their fruits and vegetables in the produce section, choose meats from the butcher's block area, pick out breads and pastries from the bakery, and shop up and down different aisles for their groceries. When they were ready to "checkout", they would switch roles as they became the cashier, unloaded the cart and put items on the rolling conveyor belt, and then "scanned" the UPC bar-codes!!! They had real cash registers to "cash out" customers and themselves on. Each order was made complete with a real, printed cash register receipt, which listed their items and shopping total on. It was so neat to watch these kids shop around and push these kid-sized shopping carts!

Ok, in summary, I'll tell you what my favorite exhibit was...it was called the Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden and it was phenomenal!!! I've never experienced anything like this before! It was a separate exhibit/admission but priced very reasonably. After watching a brief video on butterfly etiquette (safety lesson), we were lead into this enormous area which was like walking into a tropical world/rain-forest, and immediately, we were surrounded by butterflies!!! We saw butterflies flying through the air all around us as they'd visit plant after plant, clinging to beautiful flowers as they sipped nectar, sitting in plates of fresh fruit as they ate, or perching in a tree to rest. It was INCREDIBLE!!! Guests were permitted to walk around this indoor garden for 20 minutes while accompanied by the "garden host". The host was very knowledgeable and answered the questions we had. It was a gorgeous garden full of plants and small water ponds...I didn't want to leave! The butterflies landed on us and we were in "awe" of their beauty. They have over 800 butterflies and moths from around the world there! There was even what they called a "chrysalis case where they display and identify the different chrysalises found throughout the garden. In that same case were the newly emerged butterflies resting as their wings dried and strengthened. It was such a memorable experience!!! I just cannot even express how exciting this butterfly exhibit was!

The ONLY thing that went wrong was the fact that we forgot to bring our camera to capture our special moments with. :(

So, even after the 2 hour ride home, I felt so blessed to have been able to enjoy this special day with my family. It was truly a day I hope I'll never forget! Thanks Mom--from all of us! :)

Wordless Wednesday! 6/6/07

"May the Force by with you!"

For other Wordless Wednesday participants, click on Wordless Wednesday