Balance...

So much to write about going around in my head...and so little time! I will be posting pictures from Ronnie's 8th birthday, 2 parties, basketball pictures...and our little Anna falling in love with playing with American Girl dolls and LIfe of Faith dolls....and playing them with her big sisters, while her only brother is enthralled with electrical circuits and Legos...and everyone is enthralled with the 'Sugar Creek Gang'.....lots of posts to come! LOL

Our family has been struggling with 'balance'...and I am liking this word lately as a new friend with a fairly large family (7 children) and I were talking the other night while waiting for daughters to finish dance class....she used the word balance a couple of times...and it has reverberated in my mind ever since....and then last night 2 more friends and I were all talking (each one of them have 7 children also)...and we were talking about balance. I think for us right now, we are going thru a season of finding out what the Lord's will is for our family...for our time, resources, energy, activities and our opportunities to show Christ's love by hospitality. I think, for me (I am SO strong willed!)...the Lord allows me to experience things so that I KNOW that they are not for us...but I learn from these seasons. (sometimes I need reminded!)LOL

One of my dear daughters reminded me recently that the name of our blog is "My Simple Blessed Life"...and she emphasized "Simple"...and said "Not!".... but when we started it, our lives were much simpler...looking back thru this blog/journal, I can see clearly where we have gotten 'out of balance'....for GOOD things....but not what is BEST for our family....

We only have a few more months of outside commitments to fulfill (which coincides with Ron's job contract resolution) and we are now re-evaluating and prioritizing our time. So....as journaling our family days and journey to an ever simpler life is a priority for me (and writing a creative outlet), more posts will be coming as our families, as a lot of families these days strive for balance...and for us, God's best for us! ~Be blessed! Sue~

A Fun History Lesson

Today we went to the Heinz History Center and had a great time! We had lunch before exploring the huge museum!
There is what is called Kidsburgh and it has a fake ice cream parlor called Isalys... Ronnie is the waiter :-)


There is a life size cow up in Kidsburgh that you can pretend to milk. Anna enjoyed this!

Me buying ice cream at 'Isalys' with the cutest little clerks ever!

Howdie Doo-Dee sign that used to be at Kennywood... Anna was mad that she was too short!

An original car from an old rollercoaster... people aren't allowed in, but they said nothing about dolls :-)
A large cutout of a Penguins goalie... Ronnie looks too cute!

Look at little tough girl Anna :-)

There is a miniature log cabin in the kids center that is stocked with play food, wooden bowls, and even flour sacks!

An old diner counter...

L to R:

Violet, Ronnie, Nellie, Anna

Ronnie racing to stack cans with Anna

Anna trying to use a spoon to transfer fake pickles to a jug.

Anna and a mysterious friend pointing towards the exit.

What a fun day we had! My favorite part was the trolley :-)

The weather outside is frightful.....

But...inside.....another story! Here are some scenes from our day....the weather this winter has reminded me so much of the winters we used to have when I was young...the snow never really melted much...we would just get more! The view outside my kitchen window...I am blessed to have a hemlock that is always green...
Well over 7 inches of snow and counting....they are calling for 1-3 more inches overnight tonight....our 9th straight day of snow!

View off of the deck...

Our shed in the back....the arborvitae also stay green all year...so out the kitchen door and thru the diningroom window I am able to see green....right now, everything looks dusted with powdered sugar!
Our huge ball of ice and snow in the front yard...waiting for the middle and top to make our snowman! Maybe when we are out of this arctic freeze on Monday or Tuesday, the kids can get outside and have some fun...and get our snowman done!
But inside on this snowy day....fun playing Wii...by the little ones (who are much better than I am!) And the big ones....Meghan was the queen of homeruns tonight and Sara cleaned up at tennis! We're really enjoying this!

My beautiful daughters....talking (at the same time on speaker phone!) to one of their best friends in Idaho!

TONS of chicken broth made! Had chicken soup for dinner and will be freezing most of the rest.
A fire in the fireplace....
Watching Casablanca with Meghan and Sara...now that my little ones are asleep!

A fresh bowl of popcorn....
And warm, soft yarn on my hook! What a wonderful way to spend a snowy day! ~Sue~

Cooking slow.....

My new best friend! I've been going on http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/ this website for over a year now....all healthy recipes, all gluten free....so cool! Now, because I like to have a book to carry from room to room with me (or out on the deck in the summertime), I received this wonderful cookbook for my birthday....and it was worth the wait!

In the last 3 days, we've had the buffalo chicken lasagna, chicken & rice, and black bean soup...delicious! As of yesterday, we are back to lots of activities (who schedules these for dinner time?!) and this cookbook has been a lifesaver! Right now, breakfast is in the crockpot for tomorrow as we speak...no rushing, and a healthy, hot breakfast! I encourage those of you who find yourself very busy (or not home) towards dinnertime to check out this website and try some recipes, I think you will be hooked too! ~Sue~

Song I Love!

Wow, I have been absent from this "supposedly" shared blog (The shared part is under investigation!) Christmas was great and New Years was fun... I have been doing alot of cleaning that allows me to listen to my new cd that Meghan got me: Britt Nicole! I love her music! It sometimes gets a wee bit hip-hoppy for Meghan's taste, but she knew I would love it. There is a song on there called Have Your Way. It is beautiful and I encourage you all to pull up Youtube and enter the song in. Here are the lyrics:



Have Your Way

Britt Nicole



Feels Like I've been here forever,

Why can't you just intervene?

Do you see the tears keep falling

and I'm falling apart at the seams.

But you never said this road would be easy

but you said that you would never leave.

And you never promised that this life wasn't hard

but you promised you'd take care of me.



(Chorus)

So I'll stop searching for the answers

I'll stop praying for an escape.

And I'll trust you God for where I am

and believe that you will have your way

Just Have Your Way

Just Have Your Way



When my friends and my family have left me

and I feel so afraid and so cold.

Remind me you take broken things

and turn them into beautiful!



(Chorus)

So I'll stop searching for the answers

I'll stop praying for an escape.

and I'll trust you God for where I am

and believe that you will have your way.

Just Have your way

Just have your way



Even if my dreams have died

and even if I don't survive

I'll still worship you with all my life

My life, yeah



Whoa, whoa, whoa...



(Chorus)

So I'll stop searching for the answers

and I'll stop praying for an escape

and I'll trust you God for where I am

and believe that you will have your way

Just have your way

Just have your way



I know you will

I won't forget

You love me

Have your way.





That song spoke to me that God will have his way... not ours but his.

God bless!

Simply grateful....

I have been feeling so very blessed these past few days! There have been some 'challenges', some tears, and a lot of talking going on....talking with the Lord (A LOT!), with my wonderful husband, my sweet (growing up so fast!) daughters, and my precious little ones....especially, a very, very special and important conversation with my son today. It has amazed us all, I think, what staying home, and having no other commitments except 'home life', these past 3 days has done for us....we've been talking about it a lot and realizing how precious this time is to all of us...talking about what OUR family values...and what outside commitments are important to all of us and why. We're also seeing that all of us are 'homebodies', function (and physically feel so much better!) and just how much we can get done around here ...not just work, but productive pursuits as well, when we limit our activities and company! Having SOMETHING every day is just not what the Lord has for us! Again, the Lord is revealing His will for our family in different areas...and reminding us to (again) simplify, and follow His will....not caring what anyone else or the world says we should be doing. (sigh....seems as if I need reminding of this often...how easy it is for my focus to be distracted from the simplicity of the Lords priorities for me! Seems I've fallen into the trap of the worlds lures and satan's lies, too often lately...I am so grateful that He forgives me, sets me back on the path He has set for me...and then strengthens me to follow it!)

Sara took Ronnie and Anna outside to sled in the snow today...and it was so cold that they were back in after only 20 minutes...I wish Sara had a ski mask, too! Right now, it is -3 with the windchill...and staying about the same tomorrow...my poor husband will be out all night driving a truck in this arctic freeze! Lots of planning and "nesting" going on inside, though! What a great big sister!
A part of the nesting was a huge pot of turkey broth simmering all day! I am so blessed to have such wonderful people who care about me....everyone who knows me knows that I collect "bones" for soup...so if they don't use them, they give them to us! Last Sunday, I came home from church to 3 ziplock bags in my front door...2 turkey carcasses and one ham bone from my next door neighbor...into the freezer they went to be pulled out for just such a day as this! My sister had given me a huge ham bone the week before, as did my step-mom....so we had ham & navy bean soup made...and still have 2 bones in the freezer! I froze lots of containers of the broth for future use, and made the rest into turkey soup with....gluten free dumplings! I was so happy they turned out! Oh, my goodness, was this good!!!

In addition to getting a jump on my laundry mountain (thanks to Meghan & Sara) and having the whole house be relatively clean all at the same time, I was able to get together what we will be studying for the rest of the year....books we will be using, unit studies for the little ones on temperature and weather, Colonial and Revolutionary time period books and unit studies..and tonight, figured out how many more weeks of school we have and how many chapters of a very cool, Christian history program we will need to do a week to cover what I want to cover. I love when God plans it all out and then reveals it to me! I was also able to get back in touch with a dear friend from a long time ago who lives in Florida. We talked on the phone for almost an hour this afternoon...and it was just like we picked up where we left off...and it had been 7 years since we had last talked! It was such a blessing! Now, I'm off to plan a Sunday school lesson for tomorrow while Ronnie and Anna play Wii...(never thought I would like Wii as much as I am!)...Sara catches up with a girlfriend, and Meghan gets warm in a nice, hot shower.....so no matter what the weather brings, we are basking in the warmth of God's love and the many blessings He is sending our way! May you all have a very blessed Sabbath tomorrow! ~Sue~

A new beginning...welcome 2010!!!

I have re-read Meghan's post from yesterday many times...and I couldn't have said it better myself...the past 2 days have been so quiet and we've really all been reflecting on the past couple of years...and prayerfully talking about what we feel the Lord is leading our family to do/change for this new year....what a blessing having 4 whole days with NO PLANS!!! We have been taking full advantage! First, though, yesterday we all got the house back to normal...it felt so good to all work together, and then relax and ring in the new year in a clean, orderly home! Ron took the tree apart...struggling with the strands of lights that I had INSISTED be pushed into the tree when we put them on...and he did it CHEERFULLY this year! LOL What a blessing!

Sara.....my little "tree hugger"...holding it up while Ron took it out of the stand...I love this picture!

Meghan patiently wrapping all the fragile items in newspaper....while we made orderly piles of what was "mouse proof" and could go into a box and what needed to be put in a rubbermaid container....darn field mice!

The "before" picture of our livingroom...
And the "after"....with a fire in the fireplace, and all of us playing Wii...in between watching an episode here and there of 'Sue Thomas, FB "eye"'...one of our favorite shows that Sara has on dvd, and snacking on some GF hot wings and homemade bleu cheese dressing...then moving on to a few peel and eat shrimp....it was such a nice, quiet, RELAXING New Years Eve!

Today, after everyone slept in...I spent the day going thru all the girls old homeschooling files....what we did when they were Ronnie & Anna's ages, what resources we used....it was so much fun to laugh with my precious daughters...looking thru old writing assignments...field trips we took, books we read....what priceless memories! (and inspiration for the rest of the year for me!)

Have to post a couple pictures of our traditional New Years Day dinner....I bought this boneless pork loin from Aldi's...very inexpensively....I think it was the best one we've ever had! It was so juicy and so tender you barely needed a butter knife to cut it! We were amazed!
And...of course....mashed potatoes, gravy and sauerkraut to go with it! Ron & Ronnie called it a real "guy" meal....but we all enjoyed it!

~So....a new year begins...with inspiration from the Lord....with answered prayer reminding us of His love, faithfulness and provision...in all areas of our lives...no matter what 2010 holds, we know we can rest and not worry....trusting in our loving Father! May you all have a very blessed year! ~Sue~

Have a blessed 2010!

In the final hours of the year 2009, we all were just reflecting on God's provision, sovereignty, grace and growth from this past year. As bleak as some seasons may be, in hindsight, it is truly awesome to see God's hand through the high's and lows.

This is a certain hymn that I've recently discovered in a music book that most poignantly expresses all we have to be thankful for this past year...and what we can expect to look back upon a year from now.

For Thy mercy and Thy grace,

Constant through another year,

Hear our song of thankfulness;

Jesus, our Redeemer, hear.
Lo! our sins on Thee we cast, Thee, our perfect Sacrifice;

And, forgetting all the past,

Press towards our glorious prize.
Dark the future: let Thy light

Guide us, bright and morning Star:

Fierce our foes, and hard the fight;

Arm us, Savior, for the war.
In our weakness and distress, Rock of strength, be Thou our Stay;

In the pathless wilderness

Be our true and living Way.
Who of us death’s awful road

In the coming year shall tread?

With Thy rod and staff, O God,Comfort Thou his dying bed.
Keep us faithful, keep us pure, Keep us evermore Thine own;

Help, O help us to endure;

Fit us for the promised crown.
So within Thy palace gate

We shall praise, on golden strings,

Thee the only Potentate,Lord of lords, and King of kings.

I just wanted to post some lyrics to a favorite hymn of mine called "For the Beauty of the Earth" by Folliott S. Pierpont: (Some of you might recognize the lyrics from the 1994 version of Little Women where they sing this song at Meg's wedding)

For the beauty of the earth
For the Glory of the skies
For the love which from our births
Over and around us lies

(Refrain:) Lord of all to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise

For the beauty of each hour
Of the day and of the night
Hill and vale and tree and flow'r
Sun and moon and stars of light

For the joy of human love
Brother, sister, parent, child
Friends on earth and friends above
For all gentle thoughts and mild

Have a blessed new year, may the Lord bless you abundantly and may we all keep our eyes 'ever upwards' no matter what lies ahead in the Lord's path for us.