Thankful [Day 15]

Hubby's mom always has good, and often homemade, wheat bread in her kitchen.  Her homemade bread is a denser bread than the wheat bread you find at the grocery store...it's great toasted [+buttered], and it makes a great sandwich.  But, homemade bread has intimidated me for the longest time...with its yeast, and rising, and kneading...

Instead of driving to a bakery outlet store yesterday, I finally made the call to Hubby's mom and asked her to loan me two loaf pans and her recipe.  Of course, she very kindly offered to come over and walk me through it.  I don't know that there's any substitute for a hands-on lesson from someone who's done it, and perhaps even failed at it once or twice.

Today I'm thankful to be able to make good bread for my family [and for that heavenly aroma of freshly-baked bread].

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For those who have accepted or are following

our challenge...

"Until November 30th, each day I feel thankful I will spread my thankfulness by sharing, in part, that which I am thankful for with another, according to my ability." 

...below are a few ideas for this Thankful post: 

FREE TO LOW-COST

+  Post a bread recipe [with photos, if possible] for others to try.

+  Invite a neighbor over and walk them through making two loaves of their own.

+  Host a Bread/Bread Recipe Exchange! 

• Invite a few neighbors/friends/relatives over and ask them to bring either 1 loaf of their favorite bread or the recipe.  
• Offer a baking demonstration and make your own favorite bread at the exchange or have a few spreads available [flavored butters, jams, ...] and socialize over bread.

+ Repeat the recipe and gift the loaves to neighbors.

MODERATE-COST/DONATION

+  On your next trip to the grocery store, buy an extra loaf of bread and gift it to a neighbor.

+  On your next trip to the grocery store, make a donation to your local food bank.

+  Make a one-time gift payment on a friend's/relative's/neighbor's Rocky Mountain Power account by calling 1-888-221-7070.  Have their name, phone number, street address, or Rocky Mountain Power account number ready.

+  Enroll in the Rocky Mountain Power fixed donation program, and add an amount of your choosing to your monthly power bills to help your neighbors in need pay their electric bills.  Call 1-888-221-7070 for more information.

There are 15 days left in November...

accept the challenge HERE!

Thankful [Day 13]: A Challenge

Our blog has been a bit quiet these last few days, and it isn't that I haven't felt thankful.  In fact, yesterday I felt very thankful to have celebrated another birthday with Hubby and my two bright-eyed boys!  I am thankful for every sweet birthday wish.  It was quite nice to hear a friend I admire very much say that it took her about this many years to feel on top of things, and as a full-time mom for the first time, I hope that this year is that year for me!  

Our last few Thankful posts have been blocked by a nagging heaviness...the realization that anything I'm thankful for is something that someone goes without.  And even though I'm expressing genuine thanks, I'm also acknowledging that another needs and doesn't have something that I have.  

Feeling and expressing thanks has in itself been a blessing as it's anchored me, lifted me out of a thick and gloomy fog, and helped me to imagine myself and my family in another's position.

My feeling is that our mercies and blessings shouldn't divide us, but should move us to make those very things common among us. As I imagine my own children living without the basic comforts of warm food, a bed and a blanket, or a coat...as low temperatures, snow and ice settle in...how can I not do something? 

Could...would life on your street, or in your neighborhood or city change for the better if thankfulness were a contagion?  A contagion with a long list of positive symptoms and effects...

It seems a challenge this way comes ;)  Are you up for it??

1} review the challenge:

"Until November 30th, each day I feel thankful I will spread my thankfulness by sharing, in part, that which I am thankful for with another, according to my ability." 

and

2} accept the challenge

Leave either your first name or initials only, with your state/country in a Comment below this post.

Comments will remain open until Friday, November 30th.   

Once you've accepted the challenge, right alongside me, my only hope is that you'll record your experience.  For ideas and helpful links, pop in again over the next 17 days.  I'm looking forward to the experience.  I wish each of you a memorable, and wonderful 17 days!

Have you spotted the hidden message in our post?  

[...in yellow...]

Thankful [Day 9]

A lovely printable to personalize with your own 
30 days of Thanks, from
SILVERBOX CREATIVE STUDIO.

My Hubby came home yesterday from work and school sick, and woke up this morning sick.  But on his own, he still left the house with both boys for a couple of hours and left me to take a [fantastic] nap!  

He probably knew that he was letting me sleep, but he probably didn't know that he was doing much more for me.  Our house is rarely quiet, and the noise typically means our boys are happy, healthy, and making memories.  I am still thankful to have a quiet moment alone, at home from time to time.  

Can I be thankful for good neighbors too?  Our neighbors invited us over for yummy chili and cornbread [Trader Joe's] tonight.  On a cold night it was so nice to talk over warm food!

Thankful [Day 8]

LIBBY'S LIFE
I stumbled upon this wonderful blog today.
Between her short, but so sweet, "Thankful" posts,
this blogger had a [beautiful] baby!

Have you smiled yet today?  All 9 "Thankful" posts are listed on the right side of her blog [under November].  Here is the first.

Today I am thankful for choices.  And, for bad chocolate, because bad chocolate reminds me of how thankful I am for good chocolate.

There are times it seems we don't have a choice, or that our choice doesn't matter.  There are times when I wish I didn't have a choice, because it isn't easy to choose.  Ultimately, I'll always be thankful for the choice at all.  And, for moments of clarity when a choice appears where you didn't believe you had one. 

Each day is full of choices...

+  hot or cold water

+  warmer or cooler clothes

+  any choice we have between multiples of one thing, like shirts or shoes.  Or vehicles...

+  the freedom to voice our opinion

+  what to eat

+  what to watch, or listen to

+  where to go for the best price on groceries

  

I wonder how many we could list...have one I haven't listed?

I've made a few key choices in the last two weeks:

+  I voted [and I love that my 1-year-old thinks it's hilarious to stick things to his forehead, because now I have this photo]!

+  I have accepted a new church assignment, and I expect I'll be teaching my last Sunday School lesson this Sunday...

+  I've decided to quit my part-time, home-based job to be a full-time wife and mom.

I realize that this final topic tends to ignite fiery debates. Having a job has certainly afforded me many of the choices I've listed.  And certainly, too many are feeling the negative effects the lack of a job and a dependable paycheck can have.  

Working is just one of those things you do.  It wasn't until I realized how dangerously close I was personally to utter burnout that I had to re-examine just what choices I had...  

Quitting would mean no more drive-thru or impulse purchases...far fewer trips to Target [because apparently I have no self-control there]...fewer outings to places like the children's museum [at least without a coupon]...and even rethinking the holidays...

Even so, the mental and emotional relief that I feel [so soon] is surprising.  Hubby has noticed, and continues to be extremely supportive.  I must be smiling more because I haven't heard one of Big Brother's regular questions recently:  "Are you happy?"

I am thankful to have met a very kind, generous man who offered me a job immediately after we moved into our new home, and who has allowed me to work from home these 4 years.  The added income was certainly a blessing.  

Now, on to learning for the first time how to be a full-time mom!

Thankful [Day 7]

I'm callin' it,
11-7-12
my darling 3-year-old 
is
POTTY-TRAINED.

Today I am thankful have just one bottom to diaper.

Either something clicked, or he was finally ready.  It's possible he had exactly the right amount of encouragement from people away from home to realize that going in the toilet was a real thing, and not just one of Mom's strange ideas.  

But then, we may owe all of the credit to this DIY game board!

The Objective:  [for our Halloween-themed board]
Get to "the safe place" from the spooky graveyard. 
[each pee and poop earns 1 space]

Big Brother's awesome aunt J spray-painted a magnet board for the game board, and decorated magnets for the player pieces---we kept the board upright and they never slid.

These little scenes are too cute, I must share:

Big Brother could see and count the number of spaces to the next labeled space, and they were an incentive to wait on the toilet a few extra minutes.  Every time he went he knew how many spaces he'd earned and he never let me delay or forget his turn.

The number of things we've used to track the pees/poops is impressive...and the rewards...from pebbles [to drop into a plastic cup, worth a toy of his choice once filled] to Disneyland [if he pooped 8 times in a row, without an accident].  I've plucked my baby from his crib to take him and Big Brother to Toys "R" Us [in their pajamas] 30 minutes before the doors closed to make good on a [desperate] promise.  

I am THANKFUL for sisters who support my efforts as a mom and who will bring my son an Elmo coloring book/potty chart, or make him a fantastic game board, to encourage him.  And I am thankful to Hubby for initiating this great effort. 

Big Brother has reached the end of his game board!

...an accurate portrayal of how I'm feeling :)

Thankful [Day 5]

This lovely post applies today,
A CHARMED YOGI

I am thankful for this day.

A beautiful young woman, and a mother to 5 children, passed away yesterday after suffering a stroke.  

My husband and I are stunned by the news.  The three of us went to the same high school, and she and I were in the same graduating class.  My husband took her out on a date, twice.  

She was kind to me...a beautiful, genuine girl with a great smile. While others changed their style, behavior, or friends from year to year she never appeared to, and maintained this quiet and unique confidence.  In all the years I knew her, I never knew her to have said anything insensitive to or about another person.  We didn't cross paths after high school, but to this day I have a positive memory of her.  

Certain tasks that felt urgent this morning, don't feel urgent at all now.  I'm holding my boys a little longer and a little closer, and throwing in extra kisses.

I expect there have been, and will be, many as stunned and saddened by the news.  We know that her family is heartbroken, and we are praying for comfort and peace to flood their lives.  I'm confident that all who were loved and cared for by this young woman, will in turn love and care for hers.

All comments will be shared with K's family.  

We hope you will feel welcome to leave one.

I am also thankful that when we lose someone we love, we may comfort in this truth:  we will live again because of our Savior, Jesus Christ:

more...

Thankful [Day 3, Day 4]

Read a great post about a thankful tree, and
THE COOKE FAMILY shares their Thankful Tree label, here.

Yesterday, I was thankful to have arrived safely home from a play my brother earned a lead roll in.  He gave a great performance.

Today, I am thankful for warmth:  heated water...a warm stew...a heated home...warm beds for my boys...and the peace and warmth my membership in my church brings into my life.