Growing a Heart that Gives Thanks

I know this isn't the appropriate time to be talking about thankfulness. I mean, Thanksgiving was over three months ago! But we were talking about its importance in my home today and so it led to my pondering it, which led to a blog post. :)

The fact is, if I want to instill the importance of being thankful in my children, I must be thankful myself. All the time. It is more than just teaching them the proper and polite words to say when someone gives them a gift or shares their toy, it is to be a constant attitude of the heart. I don't want my sons to have the thanks squeezed out of them through gritted teeth, I want it to flow naturally from their lips because their hearts are already bubbling with it. But how does it get there? How do I teach the process of being thankful in all things? How do I display that to them?

Table Talk

Growing up in the O'Brien House, Mom cooked everything from scratch.  She is a great cook and many of my memories are centered around a fantastic meal with everyone crowded around our big table, laughing and talking until long past the meal was over.


My favorite meal was always the beef roast, cooked slowly with potatoes, carrots, and onions and served with Mom's fantastic gravy.  We had that meal most Sundays growing up and it never got old.

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

I have been making our own bread for a short while now, and this one is my favorite so far. It is perfect for a novice (like me!) because it has basic ingredients, and few steps. The recipe makes 3 loaves of bread, so there is no need to put on my math cap while I bake, which I love! I have shared another bread recipe which I like, but this one is much easier, and still delicious, which is a winning combination.

Simple Honey Wheat Bread

3 cups warm water                                                        3 tablespoons butter, melted

2 (.25 oz) packages active dry yeast                             1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup honey                                                               1 tablespoon salt

5 cups bread flour                                                         3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

                                                                                      2 tablespoons butter, melted

1. In a large bowl, mix warm water, yeast, and 1/3 cup honey. Add 5 cups white bread flour, and stir to combine. Let set for 30 minutes, or until big and bubbly.

2. Mix in 3 tablespoons melted butter, 1/3 cup honey, and salt. Stir in 2 cups whole wheat flour. Flour a flat surface and knead with whole wheat flour until not real sticky- just pulling away from counter, but still sticky to touch. This may take an additional 2 to 4 cups of whole wheat flour. Place in an oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover with a clean dishtowel. Let rise until doubled.

3. Punch down, and divide into 3 loaves. (I only have 2 loaf pans, so I use a round cake pan for the 3rd one and it is more like a roundish loaf.) Place in greased 9x5 inch loaf pans, and allow to rise until dough has topped the pans by one inch. (I let it rise in the pan for awhile, but don't wait until the dough peeks over, and mine still turn out fine.) :)

4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes.; do not overbake. Lightly brush the tops of loaves with 2 tbls melted butter when done to prevent crust from getting hard. Cool completely.

I found this yummy recipe here

Maude's Wedding Story

Most weddings have a funny story.  Mine was NOT funny at the time!!

To understand mine you must know that my husband's family wasn't exactly thrilled about our marriage...

On the morning of my wedding I was 100% sure that my husband was the only man for me and I knew my husband was just as sure about me.

My Wedding Day

Some people hear about my wedding and think it sounds strange, I think it sounds lovely.  I was barefoot, we were in the woods surrounded by trees, and only 27 people attended. To me, that sounds absolutely perfect.     I think it is interesting how weddings portray the individuals preferences and let you see some unique aspects of the couples relationship.  I think that is definitely true of our wedding.  I always knew I wanted a simple wedding, I wanted a low-stress wedding, I wanted an outside wedding preferably in my Mother's woods (which was exactly where it took place),  I truly got the wedding of my dreams.  

The Day of my Dreams

I was never a little girl that daydreamed about her wedding day, or knew how and what I wanted long before the day actually arrived. And I've never been a perfectionist or an organizer, so I probably should've consulted a professional wedding planner after the engagement, right? Maybe, but I didn't. I was blessed to have the enormous help of family and friends to make our wedding day beautiful. It was truly a group effort, and that effort showered us with love as others served, decorated, and sweated on our behalf. In fact, I'm thankful I wasn't as focused on making the day "perfect" because I think if I had been, I might've missed out on the real purpose and joy of my wedding.

True, if we had worried more about the little things my soon-to-be husband wouldn't have had to teach our sweet volunteer how to use the sound machine right before the prelude music began. (We had forgotten to secure someone to run sound, and so the poor man was willing to be "trained" last minute! Oops!) I guess I did slip a little into the non-planning extreme, but it's also true that no matter how hard I would've slaved toward a perfect day, bloopers will still happen. How else does AFV get such hilarious wedding footage for every episode?

Funny Wedding Stories

This weekend the O'Brien family has been focused on weddings as the youngest O'Brien got married on Saturday (only one more to go!).  Over the years and the nine weddings we've had we've accumulated some wedding stories which we will be sharing this week on our blog posts. 

Nearly every wedding has some bloopers but I think my oldest brother's wedding takes the cake (literally!). 

First, while his lovely bride was walking down the aisle her long train caught on the poles that were holding burning candles and knocked it over.  It would have fallen on her beautiful dress if the man sitting at the end of the pew hadn't caught the candle and saved the day!  A flaming bride - almost!

Sisters Chat about Valentine's Day!

Lizzi: Today I wanted to talk about Valentine's Day. I know by the time we post this it will be over, but I still wanted to use it for a topic!

Valentine's Day was always special in our house growing up. What type of things do you remember doing?

Maude: Esther posted about this, but the Secret Someone thing was a favourite

Esther: I LOVED that

Lizzi: That was fun! I also think it was really special that mom always made a heart-shaped chocolate chip cookie for each of us

Esther: It was so fun. Mom did a good job making it special.
Maude: It was fun because you had to do something every day. Whether a gift or doing one of their chores for them. Very fun, and it taught good lessons.

Lizzi: They were huge! Had to be a big expense and a lot of work for her

Maude: I loved the chocolate chip cookies. When we first got married and mine NEVER looked like hearts!

Lizzi: She also would post Valentine's poems

Esther: I can never get my chocolate chip cookies to taste like hers either. Hers are the best!

Lizzi: And decorate in such a fun way

Esther: And put hearts on the cupboards

Lizzi: Yep! Mom made it better than any preschool teacher could ever imagine... We had it so good.

Family Means Sacrifice

I've not been back to the O'Brien Home since Thanksgiving and it is so nice to be home! I'm the first out-of-stater to arrive for my little brother's wedding this weekend and it has been lovely to spend time with Mom and watch my little one's play with their cousins all morning.

Can anything replace family? I know there are some people out there whose biological family are not really their family but instead they have formed a circle of friends who act in that role and I am including those friends, whoever is your "heart" family, in this question. Can anything replace family? Don't we need a loving support system outside of our immediate family that shares a bond of affection and commitment to each other?

Amazing audio books

I have been on a mystery kick. I do that sometimes. I have been known to just pick up my Sherlock Holmes collection and read story after story, day after day; or maybe it would be Agatha Christie's Miss Marple books.  I would just clunker down on the couch with a cup of tea perhaps and read for hours on end.  Unfortunately, it is not quite as easy for me to just pick up books and read them like I once could. But, there is this amazing invention called audio books, they have changed my life (and lives of all busy readers if you let them).