Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian readers! I thought this little cartoon was cute, out of the mouth of babes....

I love everything about fall (except all the excessive rain that we have been having) and this Thanksgiving weekend has been absolutely beautiful! We had a few things happening this weekend, first a wedding...

Mom and Dad heading to the wedding

The happy couple, Deanna and Jon

Scott came home on Saturday for the weekend. Here we are taking our yearly family picture. We all got along wonderfully this year. Some years it has not gone so well...

The 3 kids

We had our dinner yesterday at Nana's and Papa's house. We made stuffing, potatoes and cranberry sauce to take. Friends of ours came out for dinner. Here in order is - Elisa, Scott, Me, Chris, Jared and Shawn in front. Their Mom came too but there Dad was away for the weekend. It was a joy to have them!

At Nana and Papa's later in the evening during a game of "Apples to Apples".

Our dessert made by Nana - Pumpkin and Apple pie with Butter Tarts

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."

Psalm 107:1

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

John 14:27

A Sunday Afternoon Family Nature Walk

We Thank Thee Lord For This Fair Earth Hymn, George E. L. Cotton

We thank Thee, Lord, for this fair earth, the glittering sky, the silver sea;

For all their beauty, all their worth. Their light and glory, come from Thee.

Thine are the flowers that cloath the ground. The trees that wave their arms above;

The hills that gird our dwellings round. As Thou dost gird Thine own with love.

Yet teach us still how far more fair. More glorious, Father in Thy sight;

Is one pure deed, one holy prayer, one heart that owns Thy Spirit’s might.

So while we gaze with thoughtful eyes on all the gifts Thy love has given,




Help us in Thee to live and die,




By Thee to rise from earth to Heaven.

100 Blog Posts!

March 1, 2010 ~ October 3, 2010

Oldest Children.. always win

On my sidebar I did a recent blog poll asking "What birth order are you"? Here they are in order. Thank-you for participating!

Only child ~ 1

Oldest child ~ 6


Middle child ~ 1


Youngest child ~ 2


In between ~ 2

God's Promise

Yesterday we got a lot of rain throughout the course of the day. Just before supper the rain stopped, the clouds opened , the sun started to shine and the most beautiful rainbow came out right through our woods.

I was reminded once again of God's promise to Noah and his sons that "never again shall all living things be destroyed by the waters of a flood, nor shall there ever again be a flood to devastate the earth."

8. God spoke as follows to Noah and his sons,

9. I am now establishing my covenant with you and with your descendants to come,

10. and with every living creature that was with you: birds, cattle and every wild animal with you; everything that came out of the ark, every living thing on earth.

11. And I shall maintain my covenant with you: that never again shall all living things be destroyed by the waters of a flood, nor shall there ever again be a flood to devastate the earth.

12. And this, God said, "is the sign of the covenant which I now make between myself and you and every living creature with you for all ages to come"

13. I now set my bow in the clouds and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

14. When I gather the clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds,

15. I shall recall the covenant between myself and you and every living creature, in a word all living things, and never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all living things.

16. When the bow is in the clouds I shall see it and call to mind the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth, that is, all living things.'

17. That, God told Noah, 'is the sign of the covenant I have established between myself and all living things on earth.'

Genesis 9: 9-17

Our weekend and upcoming events

This weekend my grandfather's brother Willard and his wife June came down for the weekend (Aunt June and Uncle Willard). Here is a picture that was taken of the three brothers (Mom's Uncles) in March '10 with their wives. From L - R. Nana and Papa, Aunt June and Uncle Willard, Aunt Beth and Uncle Ron. We all had a pleasant visit with Aunt J. and Uncle W. They have two cute little Shih tzu dogs named Tia and Claire. Scott came home last night over night and then Dad brought him back to school this morning. Short but sweet... the visit... Scott is quite tall...

We are having dance lessons starting on Tuesday! We are all looking forward to them. There will be six couples. Mom and Dad are one of the couples. I love dancing!

Mom and I have been busy getting me back into the swing of things the last couple of weeks with school. I enjoy all of the different subjects. I think I like English the best!

I got a job a few weeks ago at a nearby health food store! I am starting there the first Thursday in October. I love working with natural and wholesome flours, grains and nuts so this will be so neat having this type of job. I am starting part time and then working into more hours as needed.

We have had a very rainy September.... but the fall colors are beautiful this year and should be out in full brillance within the next couple of weeks. It seems earlier this year.

God Bless and have a wonderful week.

~ Erin

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me."

Erma Bombeck

I have been sick the last few days with a cold/flu so have not been able to do much posting. I am looking forward to feeling better and being able to do some updating! Have a wonderful weekend.


~ Erin

A Mother's Advice

--- by Elizabeth Allen from Twenty Three and Soaring

I've grown up reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books. Honestly, I cannot remember when I first read Little House in the Big Woods... oh, yes, I just did! I remember reading it for the first time when I was seven years old. But I definitely don't remember seeing it on my parents' bookshelf for the first time! It's always been there .. part of my life... for all of my life. I'd read all the books by the time I was ten years old, on which birthday my family gave me a complete set of the books, all inscribed with loving birthday messages in the front covers. Needless to say, I still have the Little House books on my bookshelf!

I was fourteen years old, and I re-read the 'Little House' books for the hundredth time and - for the first time - really noticed Laura's Ma, Caroline Ingalls. As I read the books, I looked at her and her life and thought, "That's what I want to be like when grown-up - especially when I'm a wife and a mother!" If you have not have read the Little House books, believe me when I say that Laura's Ma is amazing... she's quite young and very pretty (according to Laura), but brave and courageous; she's calm and capable; she's gentle and firm. Although she wants to settle down in one place, she follows Laura's Pa - Charles Ingalls - across America, making a home for her family, being a wife, a mother, a lady and being the refuge for her husband and children on the Western Frontier. She is amazing and although I haven't read the Little House books for a while, I still remember Laura's Ma and think, "That's what I want to be like!"

So... when I discovered that someone has written a series of books about Caroline Ingalls, of course I had to read them! It's been so much fun getting to know Laura's Ma before she was Laura's Ma, when she was Caroline Quiner... a serious, thoughtful, steady little girl, like Laura's Ma in so many ways... but younger, softer, freer. My favourite bit of all the Caroline books is at the end of the last book in the series, A Little House of Their Own, when Charles Ingalls has asked Caroline Quiner to marry him and go West with him. She loves him, but she's afraid of going West. While working in the garden, Caroline and her Ma have a heart-to-heart talk:

"Caroline, we cannot live out lives worrying about 'what if'!" Mother said emphatically. "Grandma Tucker would never have had the courage to leave Scotland and make the perilous voyage to this country if she had worried about what might happen. And I would never have journeyed west myself. Then I would never have had the joy of raising eight wonderful children."

"There has been a great deal of sorrow with the joy," Caroline said in a quiet voice.

"Yes," Mother said, sighing. "But perhaps the joy would not seem so sweet without the sorrow." Mother's gaze focused intently on Caroline again. "Sorrow and joy are both a part of life, Caroline. And life is what we choose to make of it."

--- from "A Little House of Their Own" by Celia Wilkins

Reading aloud was a big part of our home schooling. We always had a "good read" going in the afternoon and evenings. Mom and Dad would take turns reading aloud. The Caroline Series is my Mom's and my favorite series of all of The Little House Books. I can remember when the Caroline Series first came out. We could hardly wait for the next book to be released... ~ Erin