2011 Gratitude Challenge Day 19

It's been a while since I have done one of these, but I truly am thankful today.

I am thankful for our dog, Treble, who passed this afternoon between 2:30 and 3:30pm.




He was a wonderful dog.  The pictures above were taken last night.  We noticed he was not acting or being himself just this week on Wednesday.  On Thursday he seemed a little sluggish, but not really too much difference other then that.  On Friday there was a tremendous amount of difference, including heavy, distressed, labored breathing; no eating; little drinking; and little of expelling.

We let the girls know (Seanan is younger so he will 'forget'  the dog faster) that he was not feeling well and that he was VERY old.  Then we told him the story of how we got him and how old he was.  And then we let them know that we felt that he might be going to Heaven ... soon.  They were sad, but seemed to understand.

Little did I know it would just be one more day.  BUt late Friday evening/early Saturday when the dogs had to go to the bathroom, Treble didn't make it out of our bedroom.  He collapsed ... from lack of energy, I think, right by the bed and so my husband had to pick him up and return him to the bathroom where they sleep.

Then in the morning he had to be carried outside.  The children were all out most of the day today with their Savtah (grandmother) today so when Treble was at his worst they weren't here to see that.  The girls are having a sleepover and won't probably find out that he has gone to Heaven until Monday.  Treble passed while sleeping.

He was a Collie rescue (although we are pretty sure he was a mix due to his "pointer" abilities.)  We were his foster parents after he had been thrown from a moving vehicle and left on the side of the road.  At the time we received him our other Collie dog, Harmoni, was just 7-9 months old.  We were told this new collie was at least a year, but he was much smaller. (I'll come back and put the picture from their first week together soon.)

He was a very gentle and affectionate dog who loved to bark at small motored objects and vehicles, birds of prey, and 'point.'  Here is a picture from about 2 years ago.

You were loved dear Treble.  You will be missed.  Thank you for your love to my family.  What are you thankful for today?

2011 Gratitude Challenge Day 10

It seems as if I can't keep this up daily, but I am trying.  Some days just get away from me.  Anyways,  today I am thankful for my parents.  Both of them sacrificed to make sure that I was educated.  I was the first one who had ever gone to a 4 year college.  My mother is a registered nurse, but when she went through school, they didn't need the same amount of schooling.  My father never made it past the 6th grade.  So to send me to college was a BIG deal. I am thankful that I not only was able to go to college, but also attended law school which was another BIG  step in my educational journey.

My parents also sacrificed in many other ways over my life and I am so thankful to know that they have always supported me and my family.  There are always times in life that you go through trials and hardships.  And in these times I have known that my parents were there to pray for me, help me, and support me in whatever way they can.

I've read it somewhere that it says you didn't choose the family you were born into, but the Lord did.  So thank you Lord for my parents.  There is no such thing as the "perfect parent" or a "perfect family" for that matter, but I was given to the parents who would do the best for me ... whether I agree or not.

I hope you take a minute and link up with us over at the Garden of Learning for the Gratitude Challenge.  I'd love to hear ... what are you thankful for today??

2011 Gratitude Challenge Day 7

I have been trying to participate in the Gratitude Challenge that's happening over at the Garden of Learning, but I have not been successful of making it every day.

Today I am thankful for my husband, Stephen. He is a wonderful husband and father.  He's a great cook.  He is always trying to provide for me and the children in ways that are more meaningful then just monetary, like leading us down the path of righteousness in Christ.

There are many more things I can say about why I am thankful for my husband.  But mostly, I'm thankful he asked me to be his wife and spend the rest of my life with him almost 15 years ago.  I love you, Stephen.

2011 Gratitude Challenge Day 5

Today I am thankful for warmth. ;)

First we spent today in the early morning getting our family pictures done.  It was loads of fun, but quite nippy.  I wanted to wait and cash in my FREE photo shoot (that many of you helped me earn a few months ago) in the fall.  I love autumn and you can use fall pictures for your Christmas cards  - I tell you I'm always thinking, aren't I? ;)

Then we made some meals for two new moms in our church family.

The last part of our day was spent at the fair that is our annual family tradition.  It became super cold, so I'm glad we prepared and found our gloves, scarves, long coats and multiple layers.

But after being out most of the day with a nip in the air and wind chill, I'm glad to come home to the warmth of our house.

What are you thankful for?  Make sure you link up over at Garden of Learning for the Gratitude Challenge.

2011 Gratitude Challenge - Day 3

Today I am thankful for safe travel.

I'm in FL with a few friends so we can attend a day conference for the curriculum that our church uses. It's called The Orange Tour.

I'll add links when I'm at a computer, but make sure you link up at Garden of Learning and let us all know what you are thankful for.

2011 Gratitude Challenge Day 2

Today is Day 2 of the Gratitude Challenge over at Garden of Learning.

I am thankful for my small group.  Tonight after our lesson we had planned on having BREAKFAST!  It was so much fun prepping, cooking, and eating together (even though one of our members was home studying.)  I took a few pictures (that was my job since I really didn't do any of the cooking or prepping or come to think of it, any cleaning up afterwards.)

They are a GREAT bunch of people and I have really enjoyed getting to know them.
What are you thankful for today?  Make sure you check on what's happening with others for today's challenge.

2011 Gratitude Challenge Day 1

Well, today marks the first day of November, which is the first day of the Gratitude Challenge over at Garden of Learning. So I've been thinking that today I will be thankful for the best thing in my life ... my Lord.

The Lord has done great things for me both personally and for my family.  I thank Him every day for all His blessings and for all the things in life He allows me to have or to take part. I am thankful for His saving grace which renews each and every day.  I am thankful for His great love which allowed Him to send His only son to this earth to take ALL of our transgressions and pay for them with His blood being shed.  I am thankful that He has paid the price for all eternity ... and it's a FREE gift, which I am thankful to have been given.

I hope you join in this Gratitude Challenge.  I'd be thankful for all your comments. ;)

"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, 

and into His courts with praise;

 be thankful unto Him

 and bless his NAME." 

Psalm 100:4

I'm Participating in the Gratitude Challenge, Are You??

Last year I participated in the Gratitude Challenge over at Garden of Learning.  It was great.  So I'm going to be participating again this year.  Hopefully I will post something each day ... that's the goal.

If you want to find out more about the Challenge, I'd encourage you to check out this post and read the 'loose rules.'

I hope you will also take time to participate and post (if you have a blog) or you can just leave a comment each day if you'd like.  I'd love to hear from you or leave a link from your own blog post.  So I will see you back here tomorrow with my first post of thankfulness.

The Gift

The other day I wrote and told you that I would post about the most awesome Christmas gift I received.  I didn't even have any guesses as to what it might have been.  Well, the wait is over and I will reveal to you what that gift was. ...

SNOW!

Yes!  You read that right ... SNOW!  And you know who gave it to me?  My Father who loves me, just as He loves you. 

Now I know that many of you would not agree with snow being a prized gift to receive for Christmas, but you must know a few things about me.  First of all I live in the South.  South Carolina to be exact and South Carolina is not known for snow, especially during December and around Christmas.
  
Secondly, I am not a 'born and raised' southerner.  In fact, I am quite the opposite.  I was born and reared in upstate New York (and quite proud of it) so snow and cold were a very HUGE part of Christmas.  I even had my own homemade ice skating rink growing up.  So snow is a must for me at Christmas.

I do not remember many snowy winters since coing to live in SC.  However, early in 2010 we had what I called the "Great February Snow" on February 10th.  It was amazing!  See ...


 I had hoped and prayed that for Christmas we would be dusted with snow and we were.  On the day after Christmas we had a snow shower (which didn't really stick much) for several hours and then as the day progressed and the temperatures dropped it began to stick.  Just a little is all I wanted ( so that others wouldn't be so mad at me for praying for the snow.)       :)    This little bit of snow has made me feel like a kid again. 

I will be praying for more snow this winter season (which I'm pretty sure we will get), but for now I gotten my snow fix and am thankful to have such a loving Father who was so thoughtful and loving to share the gift of snow with me.

Thank you Jesus for my snow gift.

[Due to a very horrible headache pictures will be uploaded tomorrow.]

Christmas Pictures Revealed

I know it's late, but I finally was able to pick which card we will be using. So I'm sharing with you the cards we will get in just a few days to send out to our family and friends. I decided to post on here so that all of my readers would get their very own "Christmas Card" from our family.

It was easy at Shutterfly. I went through there tremendous selection with my husband and chose the one that we thought fit best. I love the way this one had the pictures set up. And since our son was not being very cooperative we weren't able to get a picture of him but himself, we decided to go with a group picture of the children. I coaxed Seanan to stand still for the family pictures with marshmallows. That's why he's all smiles. You should see the gazillion of other pictures that just didn't make the cut.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Walkers to you!

Most Wonderful Time Christmas Card

Create beautiful photo Christmas cards at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

2010 Holiday Bliss - Dec 24

Tonight was the annual Christmas Eve dinner with my husband's family. We get together each year and celebrate with eating, music, the Bible reading and opening of some presents. This year was much like the rest except for 2 things. One my two girls decided they were going to have their own performance where Arianna was Joseph and Audrie was Mary and they had Baby Jesus born in the manger. It was very cute and they thought of it all by themselves. Then Arianna decided to add to the show by playing on the piano Silent Night (even though she has no piano training). It was adorable. I am so proud of their initiative and love for the Lord.

The second was the original song that my cousin (he's a senior in high school, but highly talented in music) and his friend wrote and sang. It was awesome and I got it on video. Before I share it here, I want to ask him, but let me tell you it was great.

One other item that made tonight's celebration different then most is that we had Italian food for dinner instead of the normal "Christmas" offering of food. We had baked ziti, Olive Garden like salad, and garlic bread. It was yummy!

Need to run and get the rest of the baking for tomorrow's pies done. Tomorrow we have Christmas Lunch/Dinner/Lupper at my parents house. So what is your Holiday Bliss?

2010 Holiday Bliss - Dec 23

Today's Holiday Bliss is all about the preparation. I am in the middle of cleaning off and straightening the table and my buffet. Well, actually I am taking a quick break to post this.

My husband (who is awesome and a great helper) has been preparing all our baked goods that we will be sending out to friends and family. Needless to say the kitchen is in a little disarray so I will not be sharing any pictures of that.

Then I will be trying to wrap most of the gifts for my children. Most of the other gifts can be wrapped in front of them (like for my family and Stephen's family) but not theirs. We also bought some 3M hooks to help hang our stocking in a little bit better way.

Well, I think that is all for now. If I don't get back in the kitchen area my husband might think I've given up and left him to finish it all. I love him and that he is willing to help with all the cleaning, cooking and wrapping.

2010 Holiday Bliss - Dec 22

For today's Holiday Bliss I will be sharing with you a cute little chuckle.  Hope you enjoy, I did!



So what's your Holiday Bliss?

2010 Holiday Bliss - Dec 19

For today's Holiday Bliss I am going to share about some Christmas Cheer.

On Friday my girls were out with their Savtah (grandma in Hebrew) and Seanan was sleeping and my husband and I were spending some time together talking. The door got a knock. It was the post lady so Stephen went to check and at our door was a mysterious brown box. The box was addressed to the Walker kids (with their names on it.) The mysterious part was the return address. It said:

Christmas Cheer

123 I Care

Charleston, SC

Now, I'm pretty sure that this is a fictitious address. Don't you? Anyways, I was not about to just give the box over to my children. I inspected the handwriting on the outside. Then I closely opened up the tape and looked for clues to see if I could figure out where it was really sent from. No luck.

Once the box was open I found a note that said these gifts were for my children to have a little Christmas Cheer and was signed with love and Kisses. Inside there were 2 gifts for Seanan, a package for each of the girls wrapped, and a craft for each of the girls.

We forgot to have the children open them or even tell them about the mysterious box until tonight. So after dinner and before bed we had them open the gifts and had Arianna read the box and the letter. The girls received princess memo pads and crayons and Seanan received two squishy balls (a basket ball and a football.)

So that's my Holiday Bliss ... a little Christmas Cheer. Thank you to whomever these gifts came from. My girls and Seanan love them. Aria said she was very anxious to try and figure out who they came from.

2010 Holiday Bliss - Dec 16

Today we were finally able to start decorating our tree. In our house we started a tradition, that most people might not generally do. We decided that each year one member of the family would be able to pick how the tree would be decorated.

So the first year was my husband and he did white and blue so all the ornaments, and decorations on the tree (not the whole house mind you) were blue and white. The next year was Arianna's turn and none of us seem to remember what her tree pick was. Well, more like we have discrepancies, but I plan to look at last year's pictures of the tree and Christmas to reconcile these discrepancies.

This year was Audrie's turn. Usually in the month of December we start asking the next person what their color scheme is. Once it is picked that's it -- you are locked in. The reason is so that we would be able to go out after the holidays and purchase ornaments and items that we might need at a MUCH lower price.

So last year we asked Audrie what color she was wanting to do her tree and she picked purple. I could have told you she would pick purple, but I was hoping she wouldn't. For some reason in my minds eye purple just doesn't seem to "fit" Christmas. Let me tell you. I think I was wrong. Yep, I was wrong. Purple looks awesome. Want to see? Okay, here you go.

Didn't I tell you? It looks beautiful (if I do say so myself.) Audrie is very proud of her pick. I even managed to convince her that she was the one who picked the tree and now she calls it 'her tree.'

Well, that's my Holiday Bliss for today. Do you have a way to keep everyone happy when it comes to decorating and trimming the tree? I'd love to hear.

2010 Holiday Bliss - Dec 14

Today's Holiday Bliss is all about the tree. We get a live tree because ... well, mainly because I just love them. I like the way they smell. I like the way they look. And they are fun to go and get.

This year we decided to look at a few of the places that have live trees for sale (instead of going to the tree farm and finding one and cutting one down.) We went to a place that we've had good luck with finding a nice tree for a good price.

The funny thing is how cold it actually is here. If you don't know I live in SC where winter is generally a week or two at the end of January into February. Not this year. Which is very funny seeing as last year we got snow. YEP you read that right, snow ... in South Carolina. It was AMAZING! Well the weather is even colder this year then I ever remember. And getting your Christmas tree when it's warm outside is just not the same as when it's cold, especially when you are originally from the north (like I am - New York will always be home.)

So back to the tree. The girls were set on this tree.

However, daddy had to tell them no because it just would not fit. It would be like the tree in that Curious George episode where the chair gets stuck on the top of the tree and it leans in their house. So after that disappointment we settled on this tree.

After getting it tied on and then brought back home and unloaded we had to remind the girls that we would not be decorating it tonight. They thought we were doing it all now. We had to teach them about the 'fall' of the branches that has to happen first so that putting the lights and decorations on will be easier.

So here is a picture with all my little cuties ready for bed in front of the tree tonight. We had to rearrange the furniture today too just to get thing situated and try to keep Seanan 'penned' out in preparation of the ornaments on the tree wanting to be ripped off.

Head on over to the Garden of Learning to see what others are blissful about during this holiday season.

2010 Holiday Bliss - Dec 12

Today's Holiday Bliss is all about my wonderful husband. I was able to get my hands on some tickets to a Carolina Panther's game that happened to be today. I worked out babysitting (for all three of the little ones) and managed to have no responsibilities for either him or me at church (like working back with the children or helping run sound). So I jumped at the opportunity.

I have been trying to get tickets to a game as a birthday or Christmas gift for over 10 years. It has never worked. These basically fell into my lap. And even though I wasn't able to "surprise" him (by taking him there without him knowing a thing) it was still an awesome present.

We left very early this morning ~ way before I ever like to see the day begin ~ and get there with plenty of time to check out the store and buy some little trinkets for the children. Arianna had asked if we would bring them something back and I told them I'd see. Then we got some VERY EXPENSIVE food, but we were hungry so we shared a drink and fries to save on some cost.

Then we meandered our way to our seats ... our very high, at the very top of the stadium seats. However, the players were not ants. I could still see their numbers. I will add some pictures tomorrow, but I am too beat to do that now.

I only could have wished two things. One would be if they could have won. But we both knew going into it that the possibility of Carolina winning was slim to none. they only have 1 win this season and they were going against a team that's going to the playoffs. We were going for the 'experience' more then anything. The second thing would be to have remembered about those little hand heater things that my mother-inn-law gave to us. It was FRIGID!! Between the wind blowing and our location we were cold. By the end I could not feel my feet and then could not feel warmth until we were almost home (which is a 3.5 hour ride.) I had two layers of pants plus a blanket, gloves, scarf and ear warmer/headband, and 3 shirts and a big hoodie. I was still COLD!

All for my honey! And he loved it. So I am happy to have been able to "give" him this Christmas gift and that we were able to experience it together. Love you, honey. Merry Christmas!

*** edited to add pictures.***

Front of stadium

There's hubby - doesn't he look excited?

Very foggy and taken about half way up to our seats.

Still practicing before game.

Game time - in our seats. We were in the very last row up.

Not a very full stadium, but a time to remember.

2010 Holiday Bliss - Dec 11

Tonight's bliss is in preparation for our annual Christmas pictures. It has been an annual event since we have had children to take a Christmas picture and then to put them in a card and mail them out.

This year I did a blog post for Shutterfly a while back. Go and check it out ... I'll wait.

Okay so Ive finally been able to get the outfits and get everyone together and get someone who can take the pictures for us. I also made sure I had found the perfect setting for this year's picture.

The hardest part of this year's pictures has got to be Seanan. He would not sit still. However, I was able to coax him after I remembered that I had my "treats" hadny that I use for potty training incentives. Want to know what they are? Marshmallows! Yep, I got him to sit still and say cheese and smile and then I would give him a marshmallow for his cooperation. I think he was able to score about 10 (way too many), but I got the pictures I needed.

I won't be sharing our picture just yet. As soon as we have picked which card we will be using I will post our choice as well as a few of my favorite shots. But the activity of getting the whole family dressed and ready to go to take the infamous picture has got to be a sure sign that Christmas is just around the corner.

I shared my Holiday Bliss ; so what's yours? Go ahead and share with us over at Garden of Learning.

2010 Holiday Bliss - Dec 9

Two of my all time favorite Christmas songs are "O, Holy Night" and "Mary, Did You Know?".

So I found ones that closely resemble the best I've ever heard sung.  When I was little our pastor used to sing O Holy Night for Christmas almost every year.  I wish I could get his version recorded.  It gave me chills every year.

So hear they are.  Take a few minutes and listen.





These songs bring me my Holiday Bliss today. What about you, what's your favorite song?

2010 Holiday Bliss - Dec 8

Today I was able to get all my window clings up. I love decorating and until very recently I hadn't been able to do it regularly. Last Christmas I got a few clings on sale, so this year almost all of my windows are decorated. I think I even have a few extra to decorate some of the car windows.

Tomorrow I'll take pictures when there's enough light to see the clings.

Here are the pictures I promised!

Sorry about the backgrounds having other things in them, but it's a  bit hard to take picture of things on windows.

What's your holiday bliss for today?