A heart of praise...

As seasons of life change and circumstances change I always find great encouragement and hope in the character and work of the Lord. Having God's truth on my mind is something I have been working on lately by memorizing scripture. As a stay at home mom I know that the attitude of my heart sets the tone and atmosphere of our home. Thus having the truth of Christ in my heart and mind is a big priority for me (or it should be).

Yesterday as I read over the verses I am working on I thought about how great these verses are for this Thanksgiving Holiday. So take a moment and read these verses with me. They are a great remember to me of how I want my heart to be...a heart of thankfulness and praise to God in all things.

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18


Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

A long awaited project

I have been getting the quilting bug lately with the cold weather outside (and I really do mean cold, it was -4 today). So, without any quilts currently in the making I decided to work on a project I have been wanting to do for quite some time.


I made a set of alphabet bean bags for Neal. I had a fun time making them, and the best thing is I had all the fabric in my scrap bin which made for a set of 26 colorful and fun bean bags.



The best part is that Neal loves them! He has played with them for the last few days and loves to carry them around the house, jump on them, throw them, stack them, and stuff them all into his basket ball hoop. They should be great to use when he starts learning his alphabet too.


I love being able to create something so fun out of my stash of fabrics. I've linked up this project with Clover & Violet's Stash Project of the Month. Jump over to her blog and see what other great things people are making with their stash. I'm sure you'll get lots of great ideas...maybe even some things you can make for Christmas gifts.

A boy and his dad

Neal loves it when Tyler is home. They have tons of fun playing together, mostly wrestling, rolling on the floor, running around or playing baseball.



I enjoy just watching them laugh and play together. Each day Neal seems to talk more and do more and more things, showing us each day how quickly he is growing. After a full day of playing we sometimes find Neal taking a break and snuggling the dog.


I feel so blessed to be able to stay home and raise Neal each day. I would sure miss a lot of things if I had to work outside the home. I love my job as mommy and wife. It is my dream come true.

Snow Day

Since moving to AK, six years ago, I can't remember ever having a real snow day (where things are canceled or places are closed). Places around here just don't close when it snows. This makes since though, otherwise things would be closed or canceled for the whole winter. It was something I had to get use to. Waking up to a foot of new snow still knowing that everything keeps going as scheduled was something new to me.

This past week we have had a lot of new snow. On Sunday morning last week we woke up to about 6 inches of snow and so we bundled up Neal before church and let him go out and play in the snow for the fist time.


Tyler and him had a great time outside! It was a little deep for Neal to walk in so there were a few face plants and tumbles but he had fun the whole time. His cousins even cam outside later that night and they got to go sledding together in the driveway.




The rest of last week was filled with lots more snow. We got another 5 the next morning and still another few inches a few days later. Winter is definitely in full swing around here, but the new snow sure makes everything look beautiful. However, getting out of the house now takes us twice as long when you have to bundle up like this:

Baseball

Every ball Neal sees he calls a "B-ball" (baseball) and would choose to play baseball all day with Tyler if he could. We love to watch baseball games together as a family. It really is one of our families favorite past times.


This is what Neal looks like about half the time while he watches baseball (eyes glued to the TV). The rest of the time he is up jumping around, running towards the TV and yelling with delight every time a pitch is thrown.

My Starbucks

With a new blanket of snow on the ground there is nothing better then to be indoors with a cup of coffee. Ideally I would love to go and sit at a coffee shop, in front of a fire with a good book. With a toddle however trips to Starbucks are few and far between (unless it's the drive thru). So this is my new Starbucks...




I have to say I enjoy it even more 'cause I get to take the cutest date with me, read my book and listen to him laugh as he plays. The other bonus is I still get to enjoy a coffee out of a red holiday cup.

Some time to relax

Like I have mentioned before, we have been doing a lot of traveling lately talking to other churches and doing training for TWR. So, these last few weeks we have been enjoying being back home and having a bit more of a relaxed schedule.

We got our first snowfall here the day before Halloween and so it is finally looking like winter outside. What better thing to do in the snow and cold weather then hot tub right? That's what we think, so thankfully we have family here with a hot tub. Here are the boys all ready to brave the cold and jump into hot tub.



The other great thing about being home is getting to cook again. I do love to eat out, but really I enjoy making new meals and getting to eat at home with the family. Lately we have been trying lots of new recipes with our freezer full of moose meet. Last week we had "Moose and Pineapple in Red Curry Sauce" and it was delicious. I am keeping this recipe filed as one of our favorites.