Thanksgiving

"It is good to give thanks to the LORD,

to sing praises to your name O Most High;

to declare your steadfast love in the morning,

and your faithfulness by night,"

Psalm 92:1,2

With the events of this past year, I feel as though Thanksgiving has just a bit more meaning for me this time around. I have practically experienced God's steadfast love by day, and His faithfulness by night in His carrying me through the health struggles of the past months. It is with great thanksgiving that I offer my praise to God for His faithfulness.

I am also thankful for my dear family and friends who have prayed for me, encouraged me and helped out with children/meals/errands. An especial thanks to my husband Michael who has been the best of husbands, and done anything within his power to help me feel better.

I am thankful for the many material blessings that we enjoy each day as well, and it is with great anticipation that I look forward to being able to sit down to Thanksgiving dinner with our extended family and enjoy the wonderful food. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures!

Turning 7

Rachel is 7 today! Yesterday we had a little party with Grandma at teatime, and today Rachel has had quite a bit of fun: breakfast out with Dad, a shopping spree to Hobby Lobby with Auntie Em, lunch with presents, and leftover cake for tea! Here are some pictures:

During rest time Rachel and Andrew decided to surprise us by making party hats and writing names on paper napkins. Here are Grandma and Auntie Em, sporting their lovely hats!

And here are the insepparable buddies

Rachel helped Grandma make a plain cake which we filled with some cherry pie filling and iced with sweetened cream, tinted pink

The cake looked good!

Grandma Winslow came with a big sewing basket for Rachel. Grandma LeFebvre sent lots of fun things to go inside! Rachel has been busy ever since!

Michael let the two boys choose a gift for Rachel -- James chose to buy her a cell phone and Andrew chose to buy a doll from the "Loving Family" collection

Daddy found a beautiful necklace with a little turtle on it since Rachel is our little turtle, having been born in Turtle Creek, PA

And I can't resist adding this picture of Baby Cakes, who has been very grumpily trying to cut his top molars. Poor Baby!

Thinking Christmas

Don't worry, I'm not beginning to decorate, or trying to hurry the Thanksgiving season away. In fact, I'm slightly annoyed with some my neighbors for ALREADY having a Christmas tree up inside their house or their Christmas garland and lights outside their house. It's far too early for that. But, it's not too early to be thinking about MAKING Christmas presents.


When we were little, we made just about ALL of our Christmas presents. I can remember making my Mom a necklace out of a single crochet chain and being so excited to give it to her that I couldn't wait until Christmas and let her have it early. :)

I also remember the year that I turned 11. That year I made little gifts for every member in our extended family, down to my Dad's five cousins, their spouses, and their children. The gifts were simple -- little wooden puzzles for the fathers, pincushions or painted hearts for the mothers, and sewn toys for the children. I spent months getting ready and emptied out the bottom drawer of my dresser to stash all these presents. I even remember enlisting my best friends to help me wrap! I have no idea how my mother managed to post everything away, but I remember being thanked by several members of the family, so they must have made it.

One year my Dad brought home a huge bag and wouldn't let us look in it. He explained it all to Mom who then locked herself in our schoolroom for many nights. All we could hear was the faint whirr of the sewing machine, and we could only try to guess what was going on. Christmas morning greeted us each with a beautiful, large, rag doll, complete with an adorable outfit. We loved those dolls!

Other years we kids made cards, potholders, tea cozies; once we made a look-alike American Girl Doll complete with a whole wardrobe of clothes, a wooden bed and accessories for my sister who was longing to own Samantha.

Being confined pretty much to home this year, and without the pressure of outside engagements, my thoughts have turned again to making presents. I suggested to Rachel the other day that she might want to make some stacks of cards for presents. She immediately set to work, and before the day was done, she had at least 3 piles, neatly tied with satin ribbon. I can't say what my mind has been brainstorming, lest I spoil some surprises, but I'm having fun dreaming. We'll see what turns into reality.

The picture at the top shows the stockings I sewed the first Christmas we lived in Scotland. I boldly asked for scraps at the local tailor's and pieced together three stockings from the results. They are not stunning, but they were creative for what I had.

And so I am looking forward to extending the Thanksgiving season just a bit longer, and am not planning to decorate for Christmas until sometime in the first week of December, but in the mean time I'll enjoy my little secret thoughts about Christmas and what I might be able to make.

Pictures from the Week

I am now "officially" taking visitors, and these beautiful flowers came in the arms of one such person. They are so pretty, and I'm enjoying them so much.

Decorations on the table

I've been starting to make dinner again! And this week I helped with Sunday lunch. Most of the cooking was done by Emily (my sister who lives with us), but I got the pork roast into the crockpot. It was a lovely meal -- we dumped apples and onions and some peach/ginger jam and a few green chilies and some salsa onto the meat and let it cook away.

Our little secret is putting a frozen roast in the crockpot and letting it cook on low overnight. It's worked everytime and there is no more fussing about getting something thawed at the right time.

These mums came from a friend in memory of Michael's Grandmother. They look perfect in our living room, and make it feel more like Fall.

A gaggle of turkeys appeared on the kitchen table the other day when Grandma was here. She and the kids made about 25 of these cute little birds which will serve as place markers for our Thanksgiving feast. I thought they were extremely clever!

Squanto

I was reading a storybook to the children the other evening about Squanto and was moved nearly to tears by the suffering and struggles this man went through during his life. He is the Indian who came to the aid of the Pilgrims in Massachusetts and taught them what they needed to know in order to survive. I guess what touched me was that all those years of hardship and sadness were not useless -- they were equipping Squanto and situating him so that he would be prepared to save the lives of the English settlers.

For those of you, who, like me, may have forgotten Squanto's story, here is a brief rundown:

• Squanto was born and raised in Massachusetts
• He was captured by explorers and taken to England where he worked for 9 years and learned English. Eventually he made it back to his own people in America
• He was captured a second time by other explorers and taken to the slave market in Malaga, Spain
• He was rescued from the slave market by friars who showed kindness to Squanto and eventually helped him get to England and look for a way home
• When Squanto finally returned home he found every last member of his tribe had been wiped out by disease; he was forced to find refuge in a neighboring tribe
• He then discovered the Pilgrims, living on the very land where he had grown up. He decided to befriend them and taught them all they needed to know in order to survive.

The Pilgrims must have been astounded to find an Indian who spoke English, understood their ways, and was willing to be their friend. I suppose our nation owes much to this man whose suffering brought life to so many.

The kids and I are enjoying reading about Columbus, Jamestown, and the Pilgrims. We're following a history textbook, but making use of all the books we can order from the library. And, it just so happens that Thanksgiving is around the corner. The children will be well-educated just in time to participate in a day where history meets the present. We, too, have much to be thankful for this year.

Photo courtesy of Karen Reyburn

Re-Entry

I went to Walmart today, for the first time in over three months! Michael took me to look into getting my eye glasses changed. I must say, it felt like a very monumental event.

As I walked through the front doors, it was almost as if I was moving in slow motion, walking onto center stage in an epic film. I felt as if everything around me should stop, the background music reach a great crescendo, and I should burst into song: "I'm back!"

In reality, no one noticed anything out of the ordinary. In fact, no one really noticed my existence except for a cheerful man in a wheelchair with whom I exchanged a big smile. But I was noticing everything -- I didn't care if it was only Walmart, I was re-entering the WORLD!

I can remember feeling this unique set of emotions once before -- when we moved back from Scotland to the United States. Flying home on that last flight I was once again "re-entering" and I felt then, too, that everyone should realize: "I'm an American and I'm moving HOME!" But, once again, it was a private moment that no one knew of.

However, my kids are beginning to feel Mommy's presence again. Hopefully, it is mostly to their happiness, but I'm sure it is not exactly fun to be having a more scheduled "clean up" time, or a mother that is more present to sort out disagreements. :)

Here's a picture of Rachel and Andrew playing dentist the other day.

Baby Cakes

I had a long play time with Baby Cakes the other day and decided to take some pictures:

"Mom, do you really have to take pictures?"

"How about we play with the stool?"

"I'm not really into this"

"Let's talk on the phone"

"Here's my chubby tummy"

"I'm just going to try to hide my smile"

"Hmmmm.... what should I do next?"

"Oh!"

"I'm going to stay right here"

"Okay, I can't not smile any longer"