Thanksgiving Giveaway!

To thank all the people following our 30 Days of Thanksgiving I thought I'd have a giveaway. I still have a few of these banner kits that I list in my Etsy shop. Leave a comment here and I'll draw a random number Sunday night and send one to the winner. If you blog or Twitter about it, leave me another comment & you can have 2 (or 3) entries.

My little nephew made one last year. Do y'all have it up?

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day Twelve, My Parents & "Adopted" Daughter

Thanks, Momma & Daddy!

Thanks, E, for adopting Lauren's little sister after she left!

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day Eleven, Veterans

Thank you!!!

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day Ten, Creative Abilities & My Nephews & Nieces

My artistic 16-year-old daughter colored these pictures for me last Thanksgiving. I love them. I saved them & they're up on the fridge again this year. Artistic abilities & creativeness just run in our family, I guess. My mom & sister were both art majors and both great at almost every kind of art & craft. My husband & his family have more musical abilities. My girls inherited both!

Now I have to tell you about something else that happened Saturday. On the way home from Pleasanton our driver saw a Christmas boutique & had to stop. We went in & there were some cute things, but the same kind of crafts we've seen at boutiques for 20 years. Things that reminded me of some of the kitschy crafts my grandma did or that some elementary class would make. I guess I was kind of making fun of them when I saw over in the corner this old brush.
I told Angie, "Out of all the things in this room that's the only thing I would buy." She laughed at me. When I saw that the price tag said $1.00 I bought it. I told her it was her Christmas present. Just wait -- I feel challenged. I may just alter this and show it to you again later. And since I have the decoupaged pumpkins in the background I'll tell you about this one:
This is my most recently published craft project. It was in the Somerset Holidays issue this year. The ONLY Thanksgiving project in the whole book! It started off with a paper mache pumpkin from Michael's. I had everyone in my family write what they were thankful for. I copied them and glued them on, too. I added photos & filled in spaces with bits of old text & crackle paint. Then rubbed a little burnt umber paint all over it to age it. And there's a little glitter on it, too.

EVERYONE needs to go read my sister's blog to see what she's thankful for today. I'm soooooo proud of my nephew! Good job, D! I'm also proud of all my other nieces & nephews: Andy, Will, Jesse, David, Elizabeth, Rebekah, Kaitlyn, Travis, Dustin, & Amber.

Also, several of you have asked if you need to add your blog to Mr. Linky every time you post. I don't think so. I think you should add your blog here once and leave a message on my post for the day you post on your blog. I'll try to remember to direct everyone back here for the complete list of blogs. To add your blog or see the other blogs participating in the 30 Days of Thanksgiving, click on the Mr. Linky box at the bottom of my post. If you don't have a blog, just leave me a comment.

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day Nine, Friends & Farmers' Markets

What do all these verses have in common?

Romans 1:8

I Corinthians 1:4

Philippians 1:3

Colossians 1:3

I Thessalonians 1:2

II Thessalonians 1:3

II Timothy 1:3

Philemon 1:4

Paul was thanking God for his fellow believers in each of these greetings. Have you thanked God for your fellow believers today? Have you told those people you’re thankful for them?

Today I’m thankful for our friends in our small group. I didn’t get to go Friday because of the birthday party but the ladies did get together Saturday to go to American Harvest’s Christmas open house in Pleasanton. (OK, another small exception to the “no-Christmas-before-Thanksgiving” rule.) But we did search for Thanksgiving decorations and enjoyed the harvest at a farmer’s market, too.

Your homework for today is to read the Scriptures listed above, see how Paul thanked God for the people in the early churches, and then thank some people in your life.

Look at all these delicious, nutritious, & creative ways God made to sustain us.

We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater.

~ 2 Thess. 1:3 (NASV)

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day Eight, Sister & Family, Skype

The joy of enjoying

And the fullness of living

Are found in the heart

That is filled with thanksgiving.

Tonight I'm thankful for Skype. We just got to talk to Lauren, Mark, and one of their friends. And we just sat and watched each other make gifts, do homework, & eat. Almost like she was at home. I'm also thankful for my sister and her family. You got to see a photo of my brother's family already... here's my sister's family:

Here's one of my favorite photos from the wedding. David came up & said, "Lauren, you're beautiful." :-)

Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,

Who alone works wonders.

And blessed be His glorious name forever;

And may the whole earth be filled with His glory.

Amen, and Amen.

~Psalm 72:18-19

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day Seven, Muddy Footprints

Because if I have muddy footprints that means two things that I love have happened: rain & a house full of friends. :-)

I'm also thankful for a day away from the computer, which is why I'm catching up this morning. I'll tell you more later. I'm running late for Sunday morning choir right now. Don't want to make the director mad!

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day Six, Fridays, Birthday Parties, & a Thank You Card Tutorial

I couldn't find the photo of what I wanted to be thankful for today so I'll have to post it another day. I don't think I'll have time tonight. Jo's birthday party is tonight and some kids are coming home from school with her. We'll have 2 TVs going downstairs... one with Rock Band and the other with Halo. Cupcakes and Chex Mix are already made. There's candy & soda, too. I'll just have to go pick up pizzas... and lots of them. This is the first year she's ever invited boys to her birthday party! And some are coming after a cross country meet so I've been warned that they eat a lot. I think there are 18 kids all together!
I thought I'd share a little project with you today. Remember these flowers that I showed you how to make here last year? Well, I needed to make thank you notes after my birthday a few weeks ago and I thought since these flowers have been around for a while I'd turn them into thank you notes.
The largest punch I used for the flower is a 3" scalloped circle. So I cut the cardstock to 3" x 6" and folded it in half. Then folded a long piece of seam binding in half, put the fold on the fold of the card, glued it to the front, and tied it on the side. Sorry I didn't take a picture of this step to make it clearer.
Then I just glued the old flower to the front.

Enter His gates with Thanksgiving

And His courts with praise.

Give thanks to Him, bless His name.

For the Lord is good.

-from Psalm 100

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day Five, Choir & Fall Leaves

My first thought this morning was... "Do I need to be thankful for my alarm, too?" It seemed to be a little early this morning. Thursdays are always busy days at work & home. Glenn works noon to 9 (or 10 or whenever they're done) so we won't see him 'til tonight. And by this time of the week I'm getting tired & ready for a weekend. Just the right time for choir to come along. We're getting ready to sing the Messiah for Christmas. (Choir music is my one exception to Christmas before Thanksgiving.) I'll be tired when I go to choir tonight and even more exhausted after singing the Messiah for an hour & a half. But it's a little boost to be with such a fun group of people. They're like a church within a church. Our own little family away from family. I don't have any pictures of them... maybe I should take a camera to rehearsal tonight?

Another thing I'm thankful for is the changing leaves. They don't seem to be as colorful this year. But I made my own a few years ago and hang them on the mantle every year. Here they are:

This was a really easy project. I searched Google for leaf outline patterns, printed them, copied them onto felt, cut them out, cut slits on one end, and put a cotton string through them. Angie has recently shown me some other felt leaf garlands, too.

What are you thankful for?

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day Four, My Job & Happy Birthday Jesse!

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;

I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.

Psalm 9:1

I'm thankful for my job. I went back to work a little over 2 years ago after being a SAHM for 14 years. I'm thankful I found a place that hired me when I hadn't had any work experience for that long. I'm thankful they've allowed me some flexibility and added responsibilities as they saw I could handle them. I'm thankful for my desk and chair! For the first year & a half I worked there I didn't even have a place to sit. Now I'm thankful for the new & larger building we moved into a few weeks ago. I'm thankful that I work with people I like. I'm thankful for my 6 mile drive to work, mostly through the open space so I get to see cows and an occasional coyote or turkey. I'm thankful I don't have to get on the freeway or cross the Bay Bridge to work. These first two photos are taken by a friend of mine in the open space. Just a little of what I get to look at on my way to work.
Another thing I'm thankful for is Jesse ('cause today is his 13th birthday) & his family! Actually, it started with my brother & Lynne, but we'll call it Jesse's family today. :-) Here's a picture of them getting ready for the wedding. Lynne wanted Sydni to take a natural photo of her family instead of a more formal one. (We're not a very formal family.) So, this is what they usually look like...
Oh, & I'm thankful for Ash, too!

BTW, I'm enjoying reading the other blogs. If you're doing a Thanksgiving journal I'd love to hear about it. I'll be doing a blog post about my journal soon and maybe including some photos from others'. Are you adding to your list every day?

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day Three, Tuesdays & My Family

I like Tuesdays. Tuesday is my day off & I save as many errands as I can for Tuesday morning. It's a great time to get your oil changed, doctors appointments, grocery shopping, etc. I've done my errands this morning. Now I'm home to do housework, catch up on email, & work on my Thanksgiving journal. Today I'm thankful for Tuesdays &...

My Family!

I just did a quick search through the wedding photos & can't find one of us with Mark. Don't tell me that with all those photos we didn't take one of our "new family"!

If you want to join us in the 30 Days of Thanksgiving you can add your blog url here. I know some of you are having trouble with the button. You can add your url even if you can't get the button to work. We still want to hear what you're thankful for! I don't think it's working on the older version of Blogger. Sorry I can't be of more technical help.

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Blog List Now Available

I've now added a Mister Linky to the post for Day One. If you add my button to your blog or are participating in the 30 Days of Thanksgiving, please add your url so everyone can come visit you, too. Thanks!

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day Two, Girls & New Neighbors

OK, this photo is definitely going to need an explanation. Take a good look first:

We have new neighbors. They're an answer to prayer and we are thankful for them even though we don't know them very well yet. Since we live in a townhouse & share a wall good neighbors are very important! We loved the last neighbor but she had a very unfortunate incident in her life and she had to move. The house was empty for a long time & I kept praying every day that we'd get some nice, quiet neighbors that we could be friends with. They're finally here. They just got married this summer after meeting on E-Harmony! She's from Thailand and doesn't speak English very well yet. But I've "talked" to her several times and she seems to be trying to reach out & make friends. Yesterday after we got home from church they came over to bring us dessert that she'd made. I can't even begin to spell what she called it. Maybe someone more familiar with Asian foods can help me out. It has a chocolate-y flavor to it. The green things are tapioca and, yes, those are kidney beans. There were some other things in it that looked like veggies & noodles. I think I could have handled it better if it didn't have the beans in it. (No one else in the house tried it... chickens!) Here's another thing I'm thankful for today:

My Girls!!!

I've had a couple of people suggest Mr. Linky. I'll work on setting that up tomorrow (my day off). Also, if you're looking for directions to put the button on your blog they can be found here.

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day One, Background & Introduction

It's finally here!!! I've been looking forward to this for weeks! Halloween is over and we can start the next holiday, which is MY favorite. I have always loved Christmas. But recently the Christmas season seems to be coming earlier and earlier... eating up the previous holidays of Thanksgiving and even Halloween. (Glenn calls it Hallowthankmas.)

Celebrating the birth of Christ is an important part of the Christian religion, but the materialism that shows up in our shopping malls two months before December 25 has little to do with the real meaning of Christmas.

All this was the beginning of my "rebellion" against Christmas. Not that I refused to celebrate, although a few people did call me a "Grinch," but I have refused to begin decorating our home until after Thanksgiving. And it's usually on December 4th, Glenn's birthday, when we start.

So, when my girls were little I began collecting stories, poems, and hymns about Thanksgiving. I soon discovered that many other families were feeling the same way I did, that Thanksgiving was getting lost in the rush to Christmas. That led me to start a YahooGroup one year where I emailed stories and poems out daily. That was a little too much for me so the next year I put them together in an ebook, which CurrClick now sells. Now that I have a blog I'm going to try posting something every day that I'm thankful for along with some of the poems, songs, prayers that I've collected. This way I can include photos, too, and get feedback from others. I'd love to read on your blogs what you're thankful for & see your photos, too, so make sure you leave a comment if you're participating.

I pray that you and your family will set aside a few minutes of each day in November to think about what God has done for you and how you should be responding to Him.

OK, so let's get started... I'm not going in any order this month so the first things I mention are not the things I'm most thankful for. I'm just going to post things as they come up. For example, this morning I've already been thankful for Daylight Savings Time, my husband (who's not here this weekend & we miss him), coffee, & my daughter's friends.

I'll start off with an assignment for you -- get a notebook and make it your Thanksgiving journal this month. Write down the things you're thankful for and any Scriptures or poems that really speak to you. Draw, add photos, or whatever you'd like to add to it. The photo above is one of the pages in my journal. It was the page that inspired me to make the first photo with the flower.

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Count Your Blessings

When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,

When yo are discouraged, thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings, name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?

Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?

Count your many blessings, ev'ry doubt will fly,

And you will be singing as the days go by.

When you look at others with their lands and gold,

Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;

Count your many blessings, money cannot buy

Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.

So, amid the conflict, whether great or small,

Do not be discouraged, God is over all;

Count your many blessings, angels will attend,

Help and comfort give you to your journey's end.

Count your blessings, name them one by one;

Count your blessings, see what God hath done;

Count your blessings, name them one by one;

Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

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So, in your notebook or blog or whatever you use for journalling, start counting your blessings. Last year I started off with a list of 30 things. But this year I think I'm going to do 10 a day. We'll see if I can keep up with that.

Oh, I'm also thankful for that big pile of candy on the floor right next to my desk. I know who left it there 'cause it all has nuts in it! Oh, and there's some banana Laffy Taffy there, too. Who likes that? It'll be in your next care package. lol...

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Added November 2: If you've got your own blog & are participating in the 30 Days of Thanksgiving, click on the graphic below and add your blog url so everyone can find you! When you click on the graphic a new window will open with the blog list & a place for you to add your links. Thanks!!! Don't forget to leave a comment, too.