365 Days of Blessings, 344 and 345

365 Days of Blessings, Days 344 and 345
Today, out of all the amazing blessings that God has showered down on us, I'm giving thanks for these:

1. On Mother's Day, our church did something a little different for worship.

2. On Mother's Day, our whole church congregation embraced doing something a little different with enthusiasm.

3. On Mother's Day, we were all given special clothes to wear. And guess what, they were white! If that sounds like something out of the Bible, check out Matthew 22 and the parable of the wedding banquet.

4. On Mother's Day, we read about Jesus feeding the hungry multitudes that followed him with five loaves of bread and two fish - check out Matthew 14 and Matthew 15.

5. On Mother's Day, our congregation swelled from 120 to 150, and we packed 10,120 meals for hungry children with help from Children of the Nations.

6. Every person from age three to age ninety-three could help with the meal packing. There was a job for everyone.

7. It only took us 45 minutes to pack those 10,120 meals.

8. Each meal feeds six people.

9. Packing food for the hungry makes me think about how often I take food for granted.

10. This video from Children of the Nations:

Feed a child. Change a life. from Children of the Nations on Vimeo.

11. Children Of The Nations' website at Children Of The Nations

12. A comfy couch for a sick day. Or as I like to call it as a homeschooling mom - the Command Comfy Couch for a sick homeschool mom.

13. A wonderful pastel crazy quilt that my grandma made 25 years ago. It's old, and worn, and in some places threadbare, but I love it.

14. My kids are helpful when I'm sick.

15. My cat warmed my feet today.

16. My older dog tried to climb up on the couch and comfort me - she didn't fit, and so she just leaned.

17. My kids were very good about getting some of their lessons done, even when I was sleeping.

18. I let my kids play games . . . the beauty of homeschooling is that we can just spread out the lessons as needed.

19. My husband took our girls to dance classes.

20. The Lord gives me rest.

Scripture Blessings:
"The Lord is my Shepherd,
I shall not want."
Psalm 23:1

Mother's Day, and 365 Days of Blessings, Days 340, 341, 342, and 343

Mother's Day and 365 Days of Blessings, Days 340 thru 343 - all in one theme

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Mom's Day Blessings, from my Mom:
1. My mom taught me how to love, even when love is hard.

2. My mom has always talked to me like I matter.

3. My mom has always expected me to be great, and brags about me, even when I don't feel like I've done anything to brag about.

4. My mom always has time for conversation.

5. My mom read to me every night, from fun books and the Bible, when I was growing up.

6. My mom (and Dad) always had a big good night hug for me.

7. My mom has a wonderful laugh.

8. My mom likes to give. She's a generous lady with her time and her talents.

9. My mom loves to walk, to play, and to have adventures. She stops to smell the flowers, wonder at the plants, and look to the horizon. She likes to have family vacations, and explore the world with family.

10. My mom loves the Lord, and her journey of faith has influenced my own.


Mom's Day Blessings, from my Mom-in-law:

1. She gave birth to my husband, and raised him through all the tough times . . . like when he kicked the preacher, bit the principal, set off the fire alarm at church, continued to put objects in the electrical sockets, took apart her sewing machine, and put artwork on her walls.

2. She encouraged my husband's talents by letting him tinker in the garage. He was known as John "Clink-clink" Martinson because of the sounds coming of their garage.

3. She let him have freedom when he needed it, by letting him ride around the neighborhood on his very own dirtbike. She had courage.

4. She kissed his cheeks, gave him hugs, and showed him how to treat others with love and affection.

5. She taught him how to ski, and gave him a love of the snow.

6. She took him and his siblings with her on vacations, even if it meant being embarassed by the fact that he wore his baseball cap everywhere they went in Europe when he was 14.

7. She blessed my marriage with her son.

8. She took time to get to know me when my husband and I were engaged.

9. She treats me with love and kindness.

10. She has shown me how courage, determination, and perseverance can get a person through serious illness, and beyond it. She also knows how to laugh, even in the toughest times.


Mom's Day Blessings - from my husband:
1. My husband came with me to 12 hours of Natural Birth Instruction, twice.

2. My husband sat with me through a 27 hour labor, which started out as home in the hopes for a natural home birth, and ended in the hospital with a c-section. He stood by me, encouraged me, and protected me through all of that time.

3. My husband took two weeks off from work when our first child was born so he could help with her care, with the laundry, with the cooking, and the housework.

4. My husband, due to experience taking care of his oldest niece, knew more about babies than I did when our first was born. He showed me how to diaper, burp, and carry our baby more efficiently, comfortably and sweetly.

5. My husband taught both of our children to be comfortable in the kitchen, the garage, the house, on skis and in the water.

6. My husband encouraged me when I wanted to try home natural birth one more time. We labored together for sixteen hours, and when it came time for me to be rushed to the hospital for an emergency c-section, he was a pillar of strength, making sure our oldest daughter was cared for, and getting to the hospital before the ambulance did (the ambulance drivers took the wrong turn).

7. My husband took a week off work to help me transition to caring for two daughters, and to help with all the household stuff.

8. My husband stayed up nights with our daughters when they needed it as infants and toddlers, giving me breaks when I was exhausted.

9. My husband takes his role as a Dad very seriously, but with humor too. He knows how to make us all laugh.

10. My husband has made my mother's days full of joy.


Mother's Day Blessings - from my daughters:

1. My oldest daughter has plans to help me with all the meals today.

2. My youngest has been hard at work on a hand-made craft for me for a couple of days now, keeping me out of her room. I can't wait to see it.

3. My oldest daughter has a wonderful, quirky imagination.

4. My youngest daughter has a sense of fairness, and kindness. She tries to make sure that everyone is treated with kindness and respect.

5. My oldest daughter has confidence in any social situation. If there is laughter, she laughing. If there is an argument, she makes peace. If there is a rollicking conversation going on, she takes part.

6. My youngest daughter has confidence with most outdoor sports. If it's a rock, she can climb it. If there is water, she can swim it. If there is a mountain, she can ski it.

7. My oldest daughter challenges me to step out of any shyness I may have, and just enjoy people.

8. My youngest daughter challenge me to step out of any fears I have of heights or depths, and just climb, swim, or ski.

9. My oldest daughter is a morning cuddler.

10. My youngest daughter is a night-time cuddler.

Between the two of them, I get hugged all day.

Scripture Blessings:

"Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee." Exodus 20:12

365 Days of Blessings, Days 337, 338, and 339

Please sign up for the Blessings Blogfest on May 31st!
It's not that hard. Just one day, 10 blessings listed in one post. Sign up at:

Blessings Blogfest or follow the link on the right side of my page.

We're sharing blessings, and spreading joy!

As you may have noticed my count for the days is followed by a question mark. Why? Because I am in the midst of housekeeping, and realized that I am off on my blessings count of days. I'm in the midst of September of last year, trying to clean up my miscount there, and I'll be moving through the months, a little at a time, to make sense of my clerical errors. Hopefully I'll have it all straightened out soon.

For now, I'm giving thanks for these blessings, three days worth:

1. Sunny days in the Northwest.

2. Bird song from the Northwest - it's different and more "homey" for me than the bird song in Hawaii.

3. The smell of Northwest green.

4. A beautiful sunset, Northwest style, with the sun sinking beyond the tree branches in a cloud streaked sky.

5. Creating the Blessings Blogfest link made me learn some new skills.

6. Watching my two daughters read their American Girl magazine together on the couch.

7. A Dandelion bouquet in a vase.

8. Bluebells.

9. This awesome Easter Video


10. Blessings from a plane crash:


11. Back to homeschool, and staying strong in the midst of kids complaints - do we really have to do math today? Yes, we do.

12. Journal writing from our trip, for narrative essay writing at home!

13. Great research subjects: Manta Rays, Galapagos sharks, and Green Sea Turtles. Personal experience, and live interviews with people who see these amazing creatures every day are great ways to start a research subject.

14. Science with our Wednesday Homeschool friends!

15. Art with our Wednesday homeschool friends!

16. Plotting a skit with nine very excited and enthusiastic homeschool kids.

17. Time to sit and play in the sunshine.

18. Hanging out with church friends at a pizza place.

19. Hearing that my husband is spoken of highly by a teenage boy that went on a ski and snowboarding trip with us.

20. One of my friends kept telling me yesterday that I am glowing with my tan from Hawaii . . . thanks, friend! I feel more relaxed, and happy, and I'm glad it shows.

21. The comforts of home.

22. My usual tea.

23. Writing, and writing, and writing more.

24. Writing a love poem. It doesn't happen often.

25. Revising and Re-writing The Crystal Sword. I just re-wrote four pages, chopped three, and gave myself a good place to start again tomorrow. I even killed off a few characters, or at least made them "missing in action." And I'm happy about it because I feel like I finally made some progress in tightening the storyline.

26. Giving my character some anger issues and a more complicated past has made me like her more as a main character. She's much more "real" now, and less cardboard cut out hero material.

27. Writing for an hour and a half and totally loving every moment of it, losing track of the time.

28. Being challenged by The Guide to Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction by Philip Athans to write more complex, layered fantasy fiction. The cover art on this book nearly made me ignore it completely, but I'm glad I opened it up and found the treasure inside.

29. Reading two new favorites in the last two weeks: Ranger's Apprentice, Book 10:The Emperor of Nihon-Ja by John Flanagan, and The Young Samurai:Way of the Warrior by Christ Bradford. I'll probably posting a more full review of both in the next few days. I'm still reading the Ranger's Apprentice book. I know it's the last book in the series, and I'm savoring it because I don't want it to end.

30. There is a time for everything, and enough time.

Scripture Blessings:

"There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace."
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Blessings Blogfest

To celebrate the end of my 365 Days of Blessings Challenge, I would like to invite you all to participate in a:

Blessings Blogfest!

Here's out it works:
Sign up for the Blogfest. Put a cool picture link on your blog, and on May 31st, write up 10 blessings for the day! Then visit other bloggers, and see their lists of blessings! Let's share our blessings, and spread the joy!

365 Days of Blessings, Days 335 and 336

In the midst of vacation, and the A to Z Challenge, I realized something . . . I've gotten off count for my Days of Blessings. I should be on Day 337, or so . . . so what happened? Did I skip several days? (fixed it since I wrote this)

Not being sure, I decided to start walking through my older posts and figure this dilemma out. So far, I've found miscounted days like Day 67, followed by Day 67. What? Basically I repeated numbers and lost count of which day I was on in the Challenge. Oops. So, I'll be going through my old posts, day by day, to figure out where I've miscounted, and if I've skipped any days. It's kind of embarassing to admit to such simple clerical errors, but I'm going to find them all and fix them by the end of the challenge.

So, on with the housecleaning! On-line and at home!

Blessings for today (and yesterday too):

1. One last day of Boogie boarding at the beach on Maui! Fun, sun, sand, and warm water! Plus, family!!!

2. One last shave ice, in the perfect combination of flavors: coconut, banana, and passionfruit! Yum!

3. One last shave ice that my youngest daughter loves: lemon lime, and one last smoothie that my oldest daughter loves: Mango, Strawberry, Banana.

4. My husband finally found the Hawaiian shirt he was looking for at an ABC store.

5. A wooden surfboard bookmark - that's my kind of souvenier.

6. Writing lesson plans on a plane flight.

7. My daughters getting out their homework for co-op on the plane with no prompting for me.

8. My daughters sharing their Sign Language and Latin homework with each other, and helping each other review.

9. A 11 year old sitting behind us practicing her Spanish for her co-op.

10. Homecoming hugs from Grandparents, dogs, and even our cat.

11. Waking up to teach Writing and Shakespeare!

12. Lots of caffeinated tea.

13. Getting a second wind partly through the morning.

14. Realizing that I had come to the end of my lesson plans for the day, and having my students suggest a review game for Shakespeare. I am so thankful for that.

15. Homeschool co-op yearbooks are in, and they are sweet.

16. Class lists were posted today for next year.

17. Having students signed up for the classes I'll teach next year.

18. Only two more weeks of co-op, and I'm going to miss some of my students. They have been so wonderful!!!

19. My daughters excited enthusiasm for class this afternoon. They stayed home and slept in, and then went to co-op in the afternoon with my husband, who stayed home from work today.

20. Finishing my blessings post in a super short amount of time . . . so many blessings to count, and not enough time.

21. The Lord has the whole world in His hands.

Scripture Blessings:

"The heavens declare the glory of God,
the skies proclaim the work of His hands."
Psalm 19:1