Happy Thanksgiving!

Naomi celebrated her first Thankgiving (outside of the womb) with sweet potatoes and a little bit of cranberry sauce. She is the baby that usually refuses to eat solid food. Apparantly we just needed to add some butter, corn syrup, and brown sugar to the mix! (can you say 'sixth child doesn't follow the baby book'?). She had a grand time squishing up her food and provided nice entertainment.

I hope our family and friends had a great Thanksgiving. Ours was a lot of fun. We had another family visit and really enjoyed the time together.

The day after Thanksgiving we (older girls & myself) snuck out for some shopping. We desperately needed a toaster and the coffee pot broke last week too! Kohls opened at 4am... so by 3:30am we were OUT the door and at 3:48am we were standing in line. Woohoo! It was COLD. They also left the sprinklers ON! How is that for rolling out the red carpet? "Here, come shop, but we're gonna freeze ya at the same time". We zipped in there, grabbed up a toaster oven and coffeepot.. then chatted for about 15 minutes while waiting to check out. After we went to JCPenneys to get a game that Bethany had her eye on.

The girls have been babysitting, in our home, for baby Elias. They're earning money as "mother's helpers" and have been carefully plotting how to spend it. We ended up going back out yesterday to Michaels. We planned to hit the bookstore, but my frugals decided to go to the library later this week instead. :) Charlotte found watercolor pencils, a new watercolor pad, and is trying a new craft -- model ship building! She's working on a ghostly pirate ship (we'll have pics later). Bethany is trying her hand at latch hook again and it's going beautifully. I plan to start my Dear Jane quilt this week. I'm going to do the sampler while I still decide upon the fabrics I want to use for the main one.

God has been so good to us. I recently posted on MOMYS Digest (Moms of Many Young Siblings) about a blessing that didn't seem like one at the time. Surely our "blessing" this year has been in the vehicle issues. Our lives have slowed down and we're definitely practicing a lot more hospitality. We've really been enjoying our time together as a family, and with getting to know others better. Also - we recently found out a good friend is expecting (yay!) We've met quite a few other families with 5+ children - that's been so fun! Currently we're 'behind' another local family with 7... and now we're tied with 3 others at 6.. hehehe

Jim is enjoying his new project at work. They moved to a different building. I don't know anything about what floor he's on, the folks sitting next to him, or even if the parking is decent.. but I do know they have a great cafeteria with a bunch of nice food ;) He was like a kid on their first day of regular school -- he even sent me his weekly menu. Hurray for good lunch food! hehe.

We're getting closer and closer to Puppy Day. We're thankful that was NOT on Thanksgiving Day, but wondering now when it will happen. I guess if it happens on Thursday (sewing day) we can count it as a homeschool science co-op.

Psalm 100

Shout for joy to the LORD , all the earth.

Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the LORD is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations