trying to count our many blessings

Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

Psalm 40:5

I am thankful again that I know the God Who alone is GOOD and FAITHFUL and ABLE. He abundantly blesses us each day.

I am thankful for that same God working in my life to bring me to saving faith in Christ... and His promise to continue that 'good work'!

I am thankful that we will spend tomorrow with Christian friends and family. It is a sweet fellowship we have in Christ Jesus. They will also bring some of the food, which will make my day much less hectic =) And they already know that I am an imperfect housekeeper. These are my priorities in preparing for the day ~ (1) food; (2) seating for all; (3) cleaning. Actually each day this week, we have been able to work on all three priorities =) And the kids have even had time to accomplish some schoolwork and to play!

Here's the Popper at the piano this morning with some recently found Christmas music - before I encouraged her to finish today's math ;-)

I am thankful the rain seems to be ended ~ my son (the Professor) will have a chilly bike ride today with his extra-heavy papers (Black Friday ads - Younkers alone is 75 pages), but he should be able to stay dry.

I am thankful for an egg-loving short-order cook known by code name as Miss Music Box =) This morning (as usual) she asked her other egg-loving siblings for their preferred style of eggs for breakfast... and then cooks them up for them! (...while I sat here trying to get this post started...)

I am thankful for a bright and diligent daughter (the Cowgirl) who has her schoolwork done early, so has been available to be my able assistant this week -- right now she is stirring up a batch of cracker dip for tomorrow evening's inevitable snacking.



I am thankful for each of our children ~ they are so unique and special ~ and they are huge fans of their daddy =) Here's a still-life arrangement by The Artist, who hopes to capture it on paper too... after she takes her science test?



And WooHoo! Look what came in today's mail just a bit ago! Our f.r.e.e. photocards from SeeHere.com ~ coupon codes are still good through Nov. 30 I think ~ see this post for links!

this is your wisdom... teach them thy sons

Today I am thankful to our Great God...

• for Miss Music Box who is ..still.. playing the piano tonight. I think she's taking advantage of the minimal school assignments I gave this week to spend time with one of her favorite things... and we get to listen =) [Right now it's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring... ahhhh]

• for safety for My Hero as he hauled cattle to market... in the pouring down rain! It wasn't a home again jigity-jig sort of trip, but he made it. Also thankful he had half of the market-ready boys already out of the pasture so they could go. The rest will have to wait for next week. Sounds like it's going to get c.o.l.d. this weekend, so the ground might be more frozen if not dry. It's all good.

• for strength and help to make progress in the Dinner and House Prep for Thursday =) We did a lot of actual cleaning in the basement today (you could say it gets this level of cleaning only once a year... so it's good when we host Thanksgiving dinner ;-))
  

Here's the big pot of sweet potatoes ready to cook...

...then a sweet daughter prepared them for a casserole that looks something like this...
only better because she puts more topping on!

Yum. I wanted to eat them n.o.w. before she put the sugar, etc. on top!

We - and I do mean WE - made the rolls too!


Another sweet daughter chose to scrub the kitchen sink!
I smile when I see it now =)
And I will positively g.r.i.n. when I do laundry next...
for I requested yet another servant to scrub the shelves in the laundry room -- she changed her bucket of soapy water for each shelf -- yuck, should I be publishing that?!

• for the FIRST arrival of Christmas greetings from good friends in the form of their annual Thanksgiving Letter. Sweet!

• for good discussion between my DH and kiddos at bedtime devotions. It is good to have him home again in the evenings!

Behold, I [Moses] have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons...

(Deuteronomy 4:5-9)

symphony tier bars

Symphony Tier Bars

1 c. butter
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
3 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. pecans, chopped
2 oz. (1/3 c.) chocolate chips, melted
(we use semi-sweet)

Cream butter and sugar; add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Add flour, salt, and pecans; mix.
Layer vanilla and chocolate batter into greased 9x13" dish -- after dividing batter in half and blending melted chocolate into one half.

Bake at 350* for 30 min. Cool and frost.

Frosting:

5 T. flour
1 c. milk

1 c. butter
1 c. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla

Blend flour and milk in 2 quart saucepan; cook and stir over low heat until you have a thick paste. Chill.
Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla. Add cooled flour mixture and beat at high speed for five minutes.


Cut your pieces .s.m.a.l.l. ~ Enjoy!

Fear thou not; for I am with thee:
be not dismayed; for I am thy God:
I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee;
yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Isaiah 41:10

Today I am thankful...

• for my younger kids who helped me plow through a LOT of the clutter in the basement, so that we can clean and prepare for 19 of us to eat dinner down there on Thursday (Yes, dinner is at our house now. But it's really okay as long as we make make enough room for tables to seat everyone. And I'm feeling better about that after today's work. Yay!)
• for the familiar favorite verse we read in Isaiah this morning (see above ;-))
• that Mrs. S. had a full six dozen eggs for us today. I guess I should put her chickens on my prayer list, eh?
• that these full-of-butter treats should be gone in another hour (recipe will be forthcoming!)

• that it's not raining ... yet. Please let it wait until My Hero has the cattle loaded from the pasture so that they can to go to market tomorrow night! or even until our Thursday celebration is over? We have a tradition of hikes in the woods and a 'turkey-shoot' (Sgt. York is a favorite movie... we just use a target since there aren't usually any wild turkeys in our yard). Or really, my request would be for fair weather thru December 15 for our house builder to get a roof on... and then I'd like clear highways to travel to Grandma's... but a nice blanket of snow in the yard, of course. One day at a time, you say?
• that my husband cares when I stay up too late... so I'll not repeat last night's indulgence of reading a 40+ post series on a 'famous' blog :o
• that Thanksgiving is such a blessed holiday... and that Christmas is just around the corner!

Good night, All!

With one last photo just for Conny! ;-)

Great is Thy Faithfulness

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided--
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

~ Thomas O. Chisholm

Some of these will sound like mixed blessings, but I am thankful today

• for our Pastor who is also our current Sunday school teacher - He is able to make our study of Hebrews very interesting and beneficial with the depth of his study
• for today's song leader who pointed out the third verse of "Great is Thy Faithfulness" - which is why I copied it above - and ultimately for the Truth (our God) of this hymn!
• that I used the basement oven for breakfast this morning... and discovered the puddle of turkey grease in it before we left for church with the oven on time bake with some of our lunch. Follow that one?!
• that I didn't have to wash my hair this morning... so I had time to clean that oven! (we won't talk about whether my hair needed a wash after soaking in the greasy fumes the oven was pouring forth when I turned it on the first time...) ahem, I made sure to put some perfume on ;-)
• for my brother-in-law and my dad who were both able to join us for lunch (dinner!) today
• for extra guests to help eat the-- um (can't think of the right adjective) -- very rich dessert that DD3 insisted on making on Friday. Another day I will post the recipe if any of you dare to request it. It's called Symphony Tier Bars, and they require ONE POUND of butter for a 9x13 dish of Oh-My-Yumminess. Three meals and we still have a meal's worth leftover.

Have a blessed week preparing for your Thanksgiving celebrations!

Bless the LORD, O my soul:
and all that is within me bless his holy name.
Psalm 103:1

check out the FREEbies!

Blessing, and glory, and wisdom,
and thanksgiving, and honour,
and power, and might,
be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
(Revelation 7:12)

Y'all are going to think I'm putzing out of this 30 days of thanks, but yesterday's computer time I spent with getting 100 FREE photo cards to go with our Christmas letter (er, um, which is to be written at some point hopefully still in 2009...) I'll give you links in a minute.

And today! We were out the door before 8 am in some seriously dense fog (!) to deliver the big kids to a youth group activity, then on to a big town for some marathon-style shopping with a couple of my littler girls. Home again to strip the turkey that had been in the oven all morning and then some (on time-bake so he was just right... even an hour and a half after the oven shut off). Then back to pick up big kids, take a really quick tour of house progress (without camera! :p), then a quick (ha) stop at the local outlet... and home again to try to get supper on the table before the Cinderella hour of 7pm... ((are you out of breath yet?!))




SO, I am **very** thankful for safety for all of us this morning in the fog. The big kids traveled away from church for their activity. And the girls and I just kept shopping until the sun started shining ;-) And since I really don't like NASCAR-ing up and down the interstate, I'm just plain thankful to be home again.

I'm thankful my husband's brother could join us for supper - a sneak preview of next week's Thanksgiving dinner. Oh, and that dinner WILL be at our house next week =) Flexibility is good. I'm thankful for good friends we can make plans with -- and be free to change those plans up a bit -- and still get together for some great food and fellowship.



I'm also thankful for emails that say my orders of FREE photo cards have already been shipped! Okay, I promised you links... Let's first give credit to my real-life friend Sarah who blogged about this awesome deal(s). And really it's SeeHere who's giving these photo cards away! Keeping the Kingdom First and Freebies 4 Mom both obtained coupon codes from See Here for 50 free photocards, so if you place two orders for 50 using each coupon code, you end up with 100 free photocards!!! The kicker is you need to get it done by November 30! And See Here will also give you 100 free 4x6 prints just for registering with them. Cool.

come, ye thankful people, come--

...Raise the song of harvest home:
All is safely gathered in
Ere the winter storms begin.
God, our Maker, doth provide
For our wants to be supplied:
Come to God's own temple, come--
Raise the song of harvest home.

~ Henry Alford

Thou crownest the year with Thy goodness.

Psalm 65:11

I am extremely thankful to say that my husband is D.O.N.E. with harvest! He was home for lunch with us at noon. He took me with him on some errands this afternoon. And soon he will be home for supper and an evening at home with us!

From the first bright light of morning,
To the last warm glow of dusk;
Ev'ry breath we take is sacred,
For it is God's gift to us.

~Claire Cloninger