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When I think of my blessings a couple of songs come to mind and I just start singing them.  The first one is Count Your Many Blessings and the second one is Showers of Blessings.  These songs brings back such wonderful memories for me.  My dad used to lead the singing in the church I grew up in.  I can picture him now up front with his eyes closed singing to the Lord.  His bass voice always was calming to my heart.  I knew he loved Jesus.  Yes, he wasn’t perfect, but he did try his best to live his life for God daily.   It is my goal to be an example like him.  I want my kids to know that while I do make mistakes, that we have a merciful God so full of grace.  That we are saved by grace.  That all we have to do is admit that we are sinners, admit those sins and give our life to Him.  Live our life for Him.

1 John 3:21-23

So today, I am continuing on with counting my blessings.  I hope you will join in with me.

817. my children.

818. for my two children who have admitted they are sinners and have asked forgiveness and been saved by grace.

819. for my two children who are growing, learning and asking those tough questions.  Who are asking about sinning and about forgiveness.

820. for our church family who is teaching that we are sinners and we need to ask for forgiveness and that we are saved by grace.

821. for a pastor who reads and teaches from the Bible.

822. for a church that does its best to make sure everything they do is scriptural.

821. for having that Christian influence growing up.

823. for marrying a Godly man, who does his best to lead his family from the Bible.

824. for answered prayers.

825. for confirmation from God on what we should be doing.

826. the opportunity to have a chance to tell others of God’s love and His amazing grace.

827. for my health.

828. for my husband and childrens’ health.

829. the chance to help others.

830. for the showers and showers of blessings that God sees fit to bestow upon my family and I.

831. for the chance to tell others about all that God has seen fit to give us.

I encourage you all to take a look at what God has done for you.  Then stop by A Holy Experience and join Ann and all the others who are doing the same.

<a href=”http://www.aholyexperience.com” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff162/annvoskamp/multitudesonmondaysbutton2-1.jpg” ></a>

Jenilee, over at Our Goodwin Journey, tagged me in a blog post titled 11 Things. This looked like fun, so I thought I would play along!

The Rules:
1. Post these rules.
2. Post a photo of yourself and 11 random facts about you.
3. Answer the questions given to you in the tagger’s post.
4. Create 11 new questions and tag new people to answer them.
5. Go to their blog/twitter and let them know they have been tagged.

Here is a picture of me. I really need to get an updated picture!

Other than having a different haircut, I still look the same!

11 Random facts about me:

1. I am scared to death of heights.

2. Reading is a passion of mine.  I can really get into a good book by laughing or crying out loud!

3. I love riding in the mountains, looking at the gorgeous views.

4. I love taking pictures of anything I can.  We have 15k+ on our computer!

5. I love most all musicals and the older Disney movies.

6. When I was in High School, I played the cornet, mellophone and French horn.

7. My 2 best friends and I watched Sweet Home Alabama almost once a week for a year or so.  We LOVED that movie.  I still do. 😉

8. I am the leader of a homeschool group.

9. My favorite food is chocolate and I am addicted to coca cola!

10. I failed at reading the bible in 90 Days, but I am still reading and NOT giving up!

11. I was asking my kids to help me with 11 random facts because I said I was boring.  My oldest daughter said I was NOT boring and my youngest son said I was smart!  I do believe I have the best kids on the earth!

Now on to Jenilee’s questions!

1. What is your dream vacation? I am in my dream vacation.  I am living in the mountains!

2. Where did you go on your honeymoon? We honeymooned in St. Augustine, Florida.  It was beautiful to walk along the beach with my husband.

3. If you could meet one famous person, who would it be? Wow.  If I could meet one famous person, who would it be?  I think I would have to choose Tim Tebow.  I am a huge fan because of how he lives his life.  He is a walking professing Christian in an environment that isn’t know to be pretty.  He is such a great roll model for everyone to look up to.

4. What is your favorite Bible verse?

5. Iced or Hot coffee? Neither.  I am a coca cola or a hot tea person.

6. If you could renovate one room in your house, which one would it be? Definitely my bedroom/bathroom.  I would love to make it a tranquil place for my husband and I.

7. How old were you when you got married? I was 17.

8. Do you journal on paper or just on a blog? I have a prayer journal and this blog.

9. Have you ever met a blog friend in real life?  Yes, I have!  Lena from Lovin’ My crazy Life.

10. Do you say pop or soda? I say coke!

11. Are you a morning person or a night owl? When I can get up early in the morning, definitely a morning person.  I am usually one of the first ones in bed!

Since Lynnea @ The Mueller Family also tagged me in her 11 Things post, here are the answers to her questions:

1. When you were little how did you answer the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”?  I wanted to work in the medical field. Still do and am considering going back to school for radiology or something like that.

2. Do you set aside one day for cleaning and/or laundry or do you do a little bit each day? I do a little each day.  I have four kids!

3. How far away does your closest family member live? Florida, about 8 hours.

4. If funds were unlimited, how often would you go out to eat?  Once a week, after church on Sunday’s.

5. What was your least favorite (or hardest) subject in school? Math.

6. Did you go to college? If so, what did you study? I took music classes while in high school that counted for college.

7. Do you have any siblings? How many? Older? Younger? I have three siblings. All Brothers.  I am the 3rd child in the family.

8. What kind of car do you drive? I drive a Doge grand Caravan.

9. Do you use a laptop, desktop, and/or tablet? I use a laptop.

10. What kinds of pets have you had or do you have? We have one dog, her name is Trixie.

11. In what ways are you surprised by where life has taken you so far? The only surprise so far is that we chose to homeschool.  However, after homeschooling for 9 years, I couldn’t imagine life any different.

Now, I need to choose some people to share 11 Things with…

Lynnea @ The Mueller Family 

Jennifer @ Jennifer A. Janes

Lena @ Lovin’ My Crazy Life

Kayla @ The Arrowood Zoo

Dana @ The Adams Family Apple Tree

Now for my 11 questions for those that I chose:

1. What is your favorite thing about where you live?

2. If you could choose a country to go to, what would it be?

3. What is your favorite color and why?

4. What character in a book do you feel you are most like and why?

5. What is your favorite type of music that you listen to?

6. If you could you live in any time period, which would it be?

7. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

8. Of the 4 seasons, which is your favorite?

9. What is your favorite book of the bible and why?

10. Since I tagged all homeschool moms, what is your least favorite subject to teach and most favorite subject to teach?

11. What are you scared of the most?

I hope you all play along!  I can’t wait to see all of your answers and who you choose to play along next!

I am so excited about the 2nd Annual Garden Challenge link-up that The Homeschool Village is doing.  I participated last year and had a lot of fun.  In the past we have never had any kind of unit study or book to go along with our garden.  We just helped dad get the soil/ground ready, helped get some seeds started in small containers, planted the seedlings, watered the plants and check for weeds.

This year, the kids and I are a little better prepared.  We have been using Apologia’s Botany book.  It has helped us a lot in knowing how the seeds actually sprout and what it takes to help plants grow.  It will be good to see the kids put to use what they have learned.  We are looking forward to getting our hands dirty!

We have cleaned out the one bed that we have.  My husband has plans to build at least one more this year.  We have bought more potting soil and peat moss for the plant bed and containers that we will be using.  We picked up brussels sprouts, crooked neck squash and cucumbers.  We haven’t gotten them in the ground yet, but plan too this next week.

 

We have already planted the onions, thyme, chives and oregano in the bed next to the steps.

Here is a picture of the broccoli that we planted.  I didn’t get a picture of the rosemary bush that we planted last year that is still growing strong.

 

We also have many containers that do not have anything in them yet.  We have seeds for tomatoes, bell peppers, okra, green beans and eggplant.  I also did not show pictures of the strawberries and asparagus that we have planted.  We are looking forward to eating fresh veggies and fruits soon.  I am hoping to do some canning this year.  I would love to put up some tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, soup, pickles and possible green beans.

Does your family have a garden?  What is your favorite vegetable/fruit?  I would love for you to share with me your garden secrets!

Be sure to stop by The Homeschool Village and join in the garden challenge this year.  They will be giving out a prize each month to someone who links up!