Let the music lead you

This last couple of weeks we have hit up our local(tiny!) library and August found a set of books that he loves. They are a bit longer than picture books, but not chapter books either. Each book is about a different person from History and talks about their life and some kind of character trait.

Today we read about Beethoven and giving. Many people invested in his life and music and when he felt like giving up, he persevered and gave back, with his beautiful music. 

Afterward I got on youtube and found a couple songs and I said to lay down, close your eyes and dream about what the music is saying. 

Well, there was no lying down, but there was plenty of imagining! Zade rushed over to me and said, "Mom, I thought of a new word! Musimovie!" They started creating a story of a man in the desert with a turban, sneaking up to a princess' window and trying to capture her. They went in and out of character and multiple characters throughout the music(about 30) minutes, and came up with a pretty good story! Princess, ballroom dancing, sword fights, poison, the antidote, good guy, bad guy, etc. 

I wrote it down as they performed and they loved that even more! I read it back to them and then they chose a couple other symphonies and made up new plots and stories. 

The only input I gave them was to try to think of a completely different story and characters from the one before. 

It was such a fun hour! We haven't delved into Shakespeare yet, but I hope when we do, they will want to reenact the plays! 

We finished our read aloud today also. Ralph Moody's, Little Britches. We all really enjoyed it. There was a lot of great lines from Father to son that I hope sunk into their heads and hearts. 

For the summer we kept things really simple. We wrote out 1, 2, 3 John and the kids read 2 chapter books. Zade read Sign of the Beaver and a magic tree house book and Grace read May B. and the same magic tree house book, Dolphins at Daybreak. I wanted to challenge them to read something a little harder or longer than they have been, but in the end we made a compromise of one hard and one easy. Their reward was a date night with mama. Zade and I saw TMNT, and Grace are going bowling tonight. 

Other learning happened through planting our first garden and reaping the benefits of that. Also, having a garage sale and making change, lots of life lessons and many late nights with great conversations and movie watching. 

We are moving in a week so we haven't started the traditional school year yet. We will move and get settled, spend a good week with long nature walks exploring our new area and then get back to the books. I am looking forward to every part of it! 

I will share more as we get into September what books we will be going through, but for now I just wanted to journal a little of what our summer has consisted of. 


Enjoying the last of it, for soon enough we will be snuggled up with hot chocolate and tea and gazing at the leaves changing and the snow falling. 

Cultivating beauty: seasonal bounty edition

When God created, He made all things gorgeous and perfect. When sin entered the timeline, death and ugliness came along.

 We know all that, but sometimes we forget. Sometimes we are so surrounded by the current news headlines that the ugliness and brokenness overwhelms and brings us down. 

But then there are the beautiful moments. 

On a walk last night we noticed a neighbor's overflowing apricot tree. He said to pick to our heart's content and so this morning the girls were up early and we rode over in the early windy cloudiness and got us a basket full. 

Fact: it does not take a whole day or a perfectly planned out event to cultivate beauty in our lives. 

In our case, it was a mere 30 minutes of riding bikes, looking at the scenery of a small neighborhood, laughter from squishy apricots in our toes, challenging tree climbing, tasting the sweetness of orange fleshed fruit,  and catching a few perfectly tree-ripened apricots tossed down from mama to child.  It was a few moments of enjoying God's creation and it does a soul some good! 

When we got home the kids went off to continue on with the story they have been playing out since last night, and I went about taking some pictures of our free fruit; for beauty's sake.

God saw the importance in making things beautiful. I am woman created in His image, so therefore I too am a creator -not THE Creator- but an imitator of what He is, a maker of beauty. 

It doesn't take long, but it speaks volumes to our children and the people in our lives, when we cultivate beauty. 

What are you doing to create a space of beauty? Are you taking the time to notice all the small things in life that we usually take for granted? 

Our daily lives are the sphere for glorifying Christ in all that we do and say. It's a challenge to find the beauty in the mundane daily life sometimes, but a worthy challenge to embark on in my opinion! 

In every season there is something beautiful and pleasant to be found; a gift from the Father of lights. 

Go about finding those gifts and living in thankfulness for them. 

Change the world, one beautiful thing at time. 

Castles in the sand, trusting in the Rock

To start this post off,  I want to share that sometimes things don't work out as you think they will. When I wrote this post, I was on cloud nine, but I had counted my chickens before they hatched. The next day, the guy came to work and said his wife had shown them their finances and they shouldn't be spending more money on a truck. So our truck is still for sale. God knows what we need and more importantly, He knows when we need it. Apparently our truck doesn't need to sell, just yet. 

When we got that call a couple months ago about the job, we just knew it was God opening a door for us. It was exciting, but in all reality there is a lot that has to happen for it all to work out. I was watering our garden one morning and was talking with Jesus about it all and He convicted my heart of unbelief. Ouch! 

I had asked for prayer and we have been praying for things to happen but I did in fact have a heart that kept saying quietly, "I don't think this is working out. I don't think our house will rent. I don't think anyone will buy the truck. I don't, I don't, I don't...." 

So there I was in the back yard and my eyes were opened! Stop with the "I don't" and start believing the, "God can." 

And He has! 

Our house has renters moving in the first of September. Our business is selling. The house in the mountains is working out. The job is waiting for us. We signed Micheal up for school! 

We still need to sell the truck and van but we still need them to get around, so I am praying, really believing, that God will sell them right when they need to be out of our lives. 

We are doing what we can to make this all happen, but that isn't much. God is the One that really does the work. He is the One that opens doors and closes them. Gives and takes away. We are just sand in His open palm. 

This whole transition has been a great time of seeking the Lord and waiting patiently, in hope. 

And that is great practice for the ultimate thing we wait for, the hope of our salvation, coming in the clouds to take us to heaven, where we will forever sing His praises and talk of all the wonderful things He has done and who God is! 

The next few weeks will be super busy, so will you please continue to pray that we would rest in Him, and that God would continue to work all things out. We sure would appreciate it! 

The gift of July

It's been a full month and a surprisingly perfect balance of rest and busyness, being social and keeping to ourselves, procrastinating and actually getting stuff done. 

It's been a luxurious month and when I say that I don't mean that I have flown around the world, eaten the most expensive foods, or spent a bunch of money on clothes or what have you. I mean that I fully recognize this gift of staying home with my children and I fully take pleasure in getting to do what we get to do; staying up late, waking up late, eating toast and eggs together while reading a Bible devotion or the next chapter in our read aloud, jumping on the trampoline, splashing in the water, gardening, cleaning, having a garage sale, hanging out with friends, and the list goes on and on. 

My reading slowed way down this month. I have only read 1.4 books! I started a couple but couldn't get into them. I have found that July has been a month of hands on enjoyment of this beautiful earth. I didn't want to read. I have wanted to experience and explore, to get my hands dirty and get down on the floor with my kids and tickle and play. I needed to put together a garage sale in hopes of making a few bucks and getting rid of some things we no longer need. I enjoyed some much needed time with friends to just talk and live it up! We traveled just a bit to see family and celebrate freedom. Yes,  July has been luxurious! And I am so very thankful for it all.  

And on this last day of this wonderful month, we find out we have some people interested in renting our house. That's some exciting news for our little family but with that news comes a realization that a bunch of stuff has to happen within a very short amount of time. 

So farewell my luxurious and fun July and hello to you, my adventurous August! 

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Last week I wanted to focus on Grace turning 10 so I didn't post any of the boys. This week is nothing especially fancy photo wise, but as a Mama, these photos are precious to me.

Enjoying the summer in all it's fullness:

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What we have done this week is what Summer is all about; 

swimming, parties, cold drinks, relaxing, sun kissed hair and eyelashes, exhaustion from too much fun.

We are thoroughly enjoying each and every day and while we may not be getting much done, we are soaking in the lazy days. Soon enough we will be back to a schedule and busy with books and chores. 

Seeing my kids smile and explore, try news things and getting better at what they already know is like a blind woman getting sight.

It's all exciting! 

Plot twist!

Four years ago Micheal sent a messenger hawk up to his Uncle's house carrying his resume, asking for a job. 

All these years, it has been circling up in the sky above their house and just a few weeks ago, it landed. 

Just about that time I was praying and telling God that things seem to be going quite well and that there really wasn't anything as of late that had tested my faith. You know, just having an honest conversation with my Maker. 

Hehe. I think God says, "Hehe." Yep, pretty sure He does. 

So here we are living in the desert, totally content - but let's continue with the honesty- always open for adventure, so long as God leads the journey and BAM! God opens up a new avenue. 

We started praying. Then the excitement mixed with doubt came. Then things started working out, one by one, and here we are; planning on moving to Garden Valley in September.  

Micheal will be going through a 4 year apprentice program to become an electrician while working with his Uncle. We are selling the bread business, selling our vehicles and the trailer, renting our house and renting/buying a teeny, tiny cabin in the woods. 970 square feet tiny. :) 

That's the short of it and we sure would appreciate your prayers for this upcoming change of pace for Team Thompson. 

Our new view. So long, desert! 

The long of it, if you choose to continue reading, is this:

Over a year ago we went to a couple's retreat and it was a really nice time together. What we came away with from our weekend getaway was that we just needed more time together. You see, Micheal goes to bed early and I stay up late. Our schedules are opposite and we don't have time for just the two of us. As a family it's wonderful but date night, even a stay at home date night, is basically never happening. That is just not okay. 

Add to that the amount of hours Micheal works and it just doesn't add up to a good quality of life for him. Now I know a lot of people work a lot of hours, but that is not our goal in life. We like to keep things simple and we value family over things. 

So obviously Micheal will be very busy with work and school a couple nights a week, but we should still have more time together and in the long run we feel like this is a great opportunity for our family. 

Bonuses are that we will be WAY closer to family, we get to live in a place that is GREEN, and we get the challenge and honor of trusting Christ with all things. Not that we technically haven't been doing that, but we were pretty comfortable if you know what I mean. This will be a lovely (and trying time) of growth, obedience and surrender to our Lord, Jesus Christ. 

Down side is we love our church and the friends we have made and Micheal's Dad and Grandma live here so we will be missing all the wonderful people that make our life so grand here in southern Idaho. 

Specific prayer requests:

* To find a good, long term renter for our house.  
* To be able to buy the cabin in Garden Valley in a few months. 
* That Micheal would do well with school and the new line of work. 
* That the truck, van, trailer and random house things would sell. 
* That the business would sell and not take longer than a couple of months. 

God has us all in His hands and we are placing all our trust in Him. If all this doesn't work out, we take that as a hint that Christ has other plans for us and we are good with that.  
If He does work this all out, then we look forward to the years ahead in a mountainous country with long winters and slow summers. 

Commit your works to the LORD, 
    and your thoughts will be established. Proverbs 16:3

Commit your way to the LORD, 
   Trust also in Him,
     And He shall bring it to pass. Psalm 37:5

And so we commit. 

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Big brothers share this week's photo and little brother gets two. Family unit working together to get the job done! ;) 

The year is half over. Just sayin'. 

Summer is:

Fidgety reading,

a spoonful of honey, 

building a fort and spending the afternoon in it with your brother,

eating blueberries and tickling toes, 

eating salmon for dinner one night and frozen pizza the next, 

watching a movie and deciding you must be a flying dragon or at least try to be one, 

realizing your Dad wants to fly just as bad as you, 

and potting beautiful plants in orange pottery. 

That's what the first weekend of Summer looked like for us. 

What are you up to?