Thankful Thursday - Family

I'm thankful today for the Schacht Six--my own little family within these four walls. Well actually there's probably more like 56 walls if we counted them all, but we're not--Whew!

I'm thankful for my husband Michael, who provides for us and doesn't complain that I blog when the laundry's behind, which is most every day.

I'm thankful for a teenager who defies the odds of nature by staying out of trouble. Brendan still shops with his mom, offers to make dinner, and is a living example of true patience.

I'm thankful for my daughter Madison who still wants to cuddle with us. Who leaves little love notes all over the house and who thinks that her mom is the greatest thing since sliced bread--cinnamon raisen bread.

I'm thankful for a son who's curious about the things of the Lord and who wants to be a pastor who works on construction in his spare time. :) Graham's confident, quirky, independant, and has given me plenty of things to blog about. He's the "Whoever loves Jesus, put up your hand!" boy.

I'm thankful for Nathaniel who's still little enough to be my baby. And although he's a stinker at times--which he definitely is. He's a goof that lights up a room. There's never a dull moment when that boy is around.

Head over to "Sting My Heart" and join us this week for Thankful Thursday!

I'm Tagged

Crystal asked me to participate in this book meme, and since I'm turning over a new "leaf" (great pun, huh?) in life, I'm game! ...

The Rules Are:
Post your responses.
Tag anywhere from 1-5 friends.
Leave comments to let them know they've been tagged.
Come back and leave a comment when your post is up.

Here goes, I may not answer them all correctly, but I'm only going for a passing grade in this class...

The Bible is the obvious answer for most, but aside from that one, here's my answers...

Next 5 books on your to-be-read shelf:

Catching Katie by Robin Lee Hatcher
Bad Girls of the Bible by Liz Curtis Higgs
Really Bad Girls of the Bible by Liz Curtis Higgs
Where is Candace? by Wilma Derksen
Grammar for Dummies

Last 4 books you've read:

Inconceivable by Shannon Woodward
Rise and Shine by Liz Curtis Higgs
The Pen Comandments by Stephen ? (can't remember too tired to look)
Book Proposals that Sell by Terry Whalin

Last 3 books you've borrowed (library or friend)

I don't really borrow books from the library, I buy them.

Last 2 non-fiction books you've read:

I only read non-fiction, so I'll say...
Inconceivable by Shannon Woodward
Rise and Shine by Liz Curtis Higgs

The 1 book you wish everyone would read:

The Mom Complex by Darlene Schacht ~ lol or
Rise and Shine by Liz Curtis Higgs (great for the ladies)
The Pen Comandments (for new writers)

I'm not going to tag anyone since so many of you are tagged already.

Thanks for the tag Crystal!!

Spiritual Yard Sale

I camped out at Zellers this winter to get my son a new Wii. One week later, the dog chewed the cord.

We bought Graham new glasses this winter. They're on the ledge downstairs, where the glass is scratched by the dog's teeth, and wouldn't you know it--the handles are chewed.

I opened a container of sour cream last night to find a green fuzzy village inside.

My kids jumped in the bottom drawer of their dresser till it broke through, now the clothes are falling on the floor.

I over fertilized the yard, so in my attempt to make things pretty, I'm left with burnt patches in the grass.

My mother, 75 years old is suffering from COPD and as a result can't walk the few blocks to our house any more.

Five months pregnant I was told that the fetus was dead. They sent me home where I waited several days for it to abort itself.

Our friend died of cancer this year and left behind a young child.

This world and all it holds is just "stuff;" a spiritual yard sale that I'm trying my best to drive by. But the good news is, I've got someplace better to be, are you coming along? :)

“Lower your expectations of earth. This isn’t heaven, so don’t expect it to be.” ~ Max Lucado

Iris at Sting My Heart is hosting this week. Hop on over there to read her post, and join us along with the other participants.

AFTER THOUGHT: Ok, my post is bleak! It's cloudy out here today and I was up at 6 am. Is that excuse enough? I'm not depressed--really! :)

Over at the Cafe

It's been "Nathaniel Week" at my blog, it seems. The little guy is growing up, and in the process managed to get into my post at the internet cafe too. Join me over there to find out how I'm dealing with my baby's latest obsession and the fact that this little dude is growing up...

I'll Strangle the Tooth Fairy!!

If anyone in the blogosphere knows the where-abouts of the tooth fairy, please let me know as I have some strangling to do.

My little one who so innocently lost his first tooth yesterday woke up at 5am to find eight quarters under his pillow. He was so excited that he ran straight upstairs to tell me about it. And he kept coming upstairs every 10 minutes to remind me that the quarters were still in his pocket, and that the tooth fairy was his new best friend. Argh!!

When I get my hands on her, she'll have a few of her own teeth to put under her pillow tonight.

Don't even try pinning this one on me, I have no idea where those quarters came from, and that's the story I'm sticking to! Till I get more sleep :)

It's Coming...

Coming on Tuesday...




This week, "In 'Other' Words" will be hosted by Iris over at Sting My Heart. Iris chose a quote from Max Lucado about earthly contentment.

“Lower your expectations of earth. This isn’t heaven, so don’t expect it to be.”

I know...I've been skipping out on IOW, but I'm planning on getting back in the game! I hope you join us.

Coming tonight...

Nathaniel lost is first tooth today, so guess who's coming to our place? Yep, it's the fairy with her bag of cash. Yahoo!

He lost the tooth at school, and the teacher put it in a plastic ziploc for him, but as Nathaniel put it, "Mr. Kehler gave me a Lip-lock for my tooth!" That deserves a toonie.

Thankful Thursday - Nature

I'm thankful for the beauty I'm seeing every morning as I drive my kids to school. Since I've been such a gardening nut lately, I slow down as I pass a few houses trying to get a better glimpse of a garden or two.

This morning I saw something glide across the road that looked like a green garbage bag from a distance, but I wasn't sure. Since the driver beside me decided to stop, I figured there must be something going. There was.

A mother duck and about eight little ducklings were crossing a very busy street, and in the hustle and bustle of the day, the traffic stopped to silently wait for the little ones to try their darndest at jumping the curb. Jumping, and falling, they finally managed to do it, and life resumed its busy pace.

I'm thankful for the rainstorm we had last night that fascinated me as I studied the clouds.

Thankful to God who created it all, and who's beauty is seen even in the small things of life, as they try their darndest to jump on the curb. Strength in weakness that is able to bring life to a standstill. Amazing.

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. - Psalm 8:1

Head over to "Sting My Heart" and join us this week for Thankful Thursday!

Technorati

I'm posting this blog to join technorati. I have no idea what I'm doing, so just ignore me over here. :)

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Second Reactions

Sometimes our first reaction isn't always the best, and this morning, I realized that...

My teenager was looking disheartened, so I asked him what was wrong. He didn't get an assignment finished, and it was due first class. My first reaction was to take the opportunity for a mini lecture on priorities, where subjects such as television and computer were covered in 30 seconds flat. Although it was said in the kindest of ways, it didn't help much.

He was still upset, but now in addition to being concerned about CAT class he also had a guilt complex from Mom to worry about.

On route to the school, my second reaction finally kicked in, and I immediately knew that it should have been my fist. "Why don't we pray about it?" I asked. "Let's all quietly pray that Brendan's day at school will go well."

One by one, the children bowed their heads in silence bringing their hurting brother to the Lord, and one by one their prayers were carried to the caring ears of our Heavenly Father, who is able to heal even the frightened heart of a disorganized teen.

To all of our surprise, today was early dismissal. We'd all forgotten, but soon realized that God was blessing our day in a marvelous way. Secondly, Brendan found out that his CAT project wasn't due today after all, but rather today was the last class to finish it up.

I'm thankfull for second reactions, that teach me to turn even the smallest of things over to God so that He can work for and through our family in the marvelous ways that He does.

"In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths..." Proverbs 3:6

Tried...but failed

I tried to get a photo of my garden today, but it's all so complicated since Michael has gotten this new fangled digital camera. It's been "his" baby since he received it as a gift, from a client, so I haven't bothered to learn how to use it. Meanwhile my old one has collected dust on the shelf, and I've long forgotten where the necessary cord is to download the photos.

So I decided to give this one a try, and after taking the photos, I came in only to find out that I can't open them on my computer. It was a big rigamarol to open the photos on his computer because he was working on something. Finally he emailed them to me, and they are so over exposed that you can't see a thing. Argh!

He takes great photos, so I'll have to catch him on a better day, when he'll do it for me in 30 seconds flat. Today's not the day :(

I watched a Jeanette Oke move yesterday. Since this is a long weekend, I've been vegging out, and that seemed to be a good way to do it. I love the "Little House in the Prairie" feel that these movies have, as they are directed by Michael Landon Jr.

I also bought a bag of cherries (and the exact moment I just typed that, my son said, "Mom, can I have some cherries?") I love eating cherries and spitting the pits--mmmm... Don't you?

Watermellon, rasperries, blueberries, cherries... the taste of summer...

Gardening in Winterpeg

I laughed when I read my last post along with my husband at, "...under the shade of the habiscus tree."

The habiscus tree is about four feet tall and pencil thin, but we could shade our painted toes. :) --hey, it sounded great!

Since most of you aren't from Manitoba, and many of you enjoy the weather of the Southern states, I'll fill you in on the struggles we gardeners face out here in the city coined as "Winterpeg"...

The winters are quite cold with temperatures dipping to -40 some days. We need to bundle up for November, December, January, and February. March is often referred to as "in like a lion, out like a lamb."

By mid April, which is my birthday, I'm usually in shorts and barefeet, taking advantage of the spring weather, but the weather is iffy--some days are hot, and some days we can still get pretty cold. It's pretty much a mixed bag.

May long weekend, celebrates the Queens birthday. Multitudes of Manitobans head out to campgrounds while gardeners head out to the garden centers. It's a little known fact that you shouldn't plant your garden until the May long weekend, or you take a risk of your annual plants freezing.

Some impatient gardeners such as myself do not heed the warning, and we plant earlier because we can't wait. Thus we face a night like last night...

The garden was all planted, and we were facing temperatures that may bring touch of frost. There is a winter storm up north, and the northerly winds have brought in the cold temperatures again. Argh!

So what do we do? We gather all of the sheets we can find and go out to cover the plants. Including the tropical habiscus tree.

My front yard was covered in bedsheets, including Disneys's "Cars" which friends and neighbours love to snicker at, but the biggest snicker of all comes from the habiscus tree draped in a white sheet with it's tails flowing in the wind.

My kids call it a ghost. My husband calls it "Casper the Friendly Habiscus Tree," and my teenager says "Get that thing off your lawn--it looks like the "Ku Klux Coniferous!"

The Garden

I finally got my three gardens all planted the other night, and my mom called, saying "are you ready to put my flowers in!" Wow, I asked God for a little gardening job in heaven, and He started already. lol

I want to get some photos of my garden on the blog, but I think I'll wait until July, when the flowers are in full bloom. I think it looks great, but so does a five-year-old when they draw their first gangly stick guy with spider hands and club feet, "Wow, that looks great, honey!" I say, as does my friends, except they don't call me honey. In fact they don't call me at all...sniff.

I've been creative with curvy lines that parallel each other forming a walking path, and I've sunk a large boulder in the soil surrounded by smaller ones amongst the flowers. I bought two victorian-like planters that stand tall and put a basket of flowers in each. They stand at each end of the garden that borders the sidewalk. My best find was a habiscus tree that I put into a planter, and recessed in the kidney shaped garden. It looks cool, and gives the second garden height. These are really small gardens, but they're cute.

Come and sit with me by the garden in the shade of the habiscus tree, I'll give you a glass of iced tea and we'll gab about God.

The Good Ol' Days

I'm over here today, talking about the good ol' days:

8 Things About Me

Laurel Wreath tagged me with a meme that involves telling 8 things about myself that you likely don't know. Sounds fun!

Directions:

Here are the rules she listed: Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Let the game begin! :)

1. I have a crooked arm from a breach birth. It's not gangly crooked, but slightly, and even though I've had it all of my life, it still bugs me sometimes because it doesn't function the same. It's like my arm was removed and replaced sideways.

2. I have five sisters older then me and two are online. One is "One of Six" and the other is "Bonnie's Kitchen."

3. I burned a garage down when I was about six.

4. I'm short, standing at 5'1".

5.I am a potato chip addict, along with the other well known addiction of beef stroganoff.

6. I have benign tremors, so my hands shake a lot and I look nervous.

7. Unlike Laurel, I hate to cook and will avoid it at all costs, but being a mom means I can't avoid it unfortunately :(

8. Lastly, I am the farthest thing from confrontational and would do anything to avoid an arguement, unless it's with my husband--lucky guy.

Now, I'll tag eight, and I'm going after some of the guys this time--and a few girls. I would have tagged you too Tim, but I can't find your URL since I deleted my blogroll, argh!...

Big White Hat
John Cowart
Jeff - Think Sink
John
Joe's Jottings
My sister Tink
Paula
Heather Ivester

Feel free to skip out if you're busy...

Uh-oh, My Bad! :(

I had to take Graham for a doctor's appointment the other day, and they wanted a urine sample. That's pretty easy for a kid that can pee on demand--or maybe not. :(

I thought I'd be on the safe side, so I told him to drink, but not to pee before leaving school, so he'd be ready to go.

Poor kid drank three large waters that day and didn't hit the bathroom once. Apparently he was "wiggly" during math class. Uh-oh, my bad!

Finally we get to the doctor's office, I explain that he is an over-acheiver who is ready to burst and they hustle us into the washroom.

Maddy who is sitting in the waiting room informs us later that they all heard this...

"I'm done. NO--wait...Ahhhh...now I'm done!"

Graham was a little less wiggly, while his sister was a little more giggly.

Boys--ew!

Here's Nathaniel (my youngest) in a nutshell:

"Mom, when I squished that ladbug, he peed."

:(

Boys--ew!

Aye Mates!

The eye doctor told us that we need to patch Graham's eye for two hours every night while he does close up work. She suggested that we could use masking tape, as long as one eye was covered.

All I have is lime green painter's tape, but we've found that it does the job just fine. Graham runs around the house with a green eye that looks rather creepy, but we've managed to hide him away from society during green eye moments--until the other day.

Not thinking anything of my green-eyed child, we all piled into the car en route to Tim Horton's for an iced cap. We had a couple of sideways glances, but took no thought until we stepped out of the store and Graham cracked up laughing. "What?" I asked as my little man shook with uncontrolable laughter, holding on to his tummy.

"My eye," he finally managed to say, "we forgot to remove the tape!"

The site of him got us all howling at once.

It was so adorable to see this little guy with a creepy looking green eye standing outside the coffee shop shaking with laughter. And I was so proud.

It's a good thing when one can laugh at their short comings with confidence, and my little man showed me that he could.

Dad, on the other hand, got to work crafting a black leather patch for the boy, who's now "Captain Jack Sparrow, of the Black Pearl." Aye Mates!

'Puter Problems

I'm on my son's computer right now. Argh! My computer finally had its last temper tantrum, and decided not to run any longer. I just got it brand new for Christmas, but it's been giving me problems since day 1.

Wouldn't you know it--I had a friend come over today who needed help on a website, and of all the days, it decided to shut me out. I can see the icons, but I can't click into anything. Oh, well.

Hopefully I'll get my husband to help me back everything up tonight, and we'll try to reload the system.

Normally, it's a great computer, except that it has trouble starting up. Once I'm up and running, it's great. But today, nope.

So, if you are looking for me via email or anything, I might not be around for a few days.

Other than that, I'm enjoying green grass and blue sky! I am amazed at the beauty that God created in nature. It could have looked plain and served the same purpose, but He is the master of creation, working all things together in beauty. Gotta love it!