Thankful Thursday

Here in Southern Texas the weather has been WONDERFUL! I am so thankful this week for the warmer mornings and beautiful afternoons. My Azalea bushes are starting to bloom, I have had two day lilies come up and bloom- not just be grass looking things. (ha ha) Oh it has been amazing, just delightful. I love the start of spring.

I am ever so thankful we moved my sewing area this weekend. It required some planning on my part. We never used our living room, more because I did not feel we needed two tv areas and we only have one couch so...it sat pretty bare with a piano against the far wall and a desk near the windows. Typically I would pull my portable tables out and use them for basting quilts, or folding clean clothes just washed, little things. There are some amazing wood framed windows with the old style slats of glass that crank out in this room. With the weather so wonderful I can open them up some and pull the blinds and enjoy the beautiful day. I can keep my ironing board set up near the circular table my sewing machine is now on, I have another portable table set up along either side of the wall from that corner one for cutting mats, the other for my other two sewing machines ( one I use pretty much for bobbins, the other I have yet to use is a MedArm for quilting). So I have this nicely nestled area, among these windows of GLORY. This room overlooks the entire house, so now I can stay in touch with the family more and it just works so much better! Eventually this next month we are tackling our bedroom where you can barely walk.

I am thankful that we did tackle so much this past weekend. We got the outside shed and carport area done and organized- a work out bench outside instead of in my den so now it is less cluttered and the desks with computers are all in one area tucked away. There is now a TV area separated in its own area in the same room. Looks tidy and clean. We worked on the garden some all week. I cleaned the entire house- minus our bedroom- this weekend on Sunday really because we were to have couple over for a bible study. They had backed out at the last minute but wow the house has been very clean all week! So no complaints here.

I am thankful for my husbands job. Friday of last week they let someone go. It was not him. To be very honest this particular guy did very little to prevent being let go. My husband was his boss and he just never did his job. So the big company in Ohio decided the guys productivity was low and it was more worthwhile to get rid of him and have occasional overtime. I was very concerned that we would have 14 hour days 5 days a week. So far so good. My husband has had to readjust his schedule he now has to be to work by 7, instead of 9. Meaning I need to solely get the kids to school- I don't mind. Used to for years so no biggy. I enjoy my morning ride with them to their school anyway. Then yesterday he came home about 2 in the afternoon because he had accumulated 8 hours of overtime so he was sent home so the hours would go down. In turn he came home and worked more in the garden getting leaky pipe laid for Strawberries we have coming and veggies that we planted from seed that are now sprouting. It has been wonderful to have him here earlier for dinner too! It would be nice to have the money of overtime but God is providing our needs and savings is being depleted but it is still there.

I am thankful to teachers and staff at the schools this week. I had an English Teacher for my oldest Jakob put in recommendation that he take Spanish One next year as well as journalism. You have to be recommended for both. She also will nominate him for a group called PALS- Peer Assistance Leadership Service- this will be great for him. He has such a GOOD HEART. He wants to be a writer when he grows up so Journalism sounds wonderful, will teach him a different writing style. He also will be recommended for Geometry, since he will complete Algebra One this year with an A. He will after completing 8th grade next year, go into 9th grade with 3 courses done for his High School credits. Just wonderful!

In another area I am thankful to teachers and staff as we were informed yesterday afternoon that our middle son Zekaryah has been a little loud and out of line at lunch. You know even though many parents may not really worry about the little stuff. We do. We take disobedience very seriously, especially at school, in public or a church, at someones house. We want our children to always try their best to follow the rules. So we took measures at home to enforce some consequences in hopes to correct the behavior, then I also emailed his teachers to notify them that the paraprofessional from the lunch room spoke with us and how we saw a way to help change the behavior by changing who he was with at lunch. I love that the school sees him as a wonderful, kind, respectable young man and that they are willing to help us take steps to encourage him to be a leader. The benefit of living in a small area and having parents so involved I think but regardless a prayer of Thanksgiving is listed. God says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6; NKJV). We try very hard to do that.

There is so much more to be thankful for this week. I think the biggest one for me personally was my continued striving to learn how to make different quilt blocks. I have had some errors with it, but overall the final products have been pretty good. I really liked the block that I made last night. It turned out really nice. I am going to donate some to my friend Des who makes Healing Quilts from the Friendship Stars. I love good causes and that is a great one.

So what are you thankful for this week?

Please visit Grace Alone and join in Thankful Thursday or maybe just read other thankful lists.
You can also see some more at Rose Colored Glasses