Being Thankful FIRST……

   Every year we host a Fall Bonfire Party for our Sunday school class.  Our class is growing, and with that blessing, comes the trouble of finding a place to host 50 of us.  We are officially outnumbered, 2o adults and close to 30 kids when we are together!!!! 🙂  This year we invited the Young Married Class down the hall to join us, what a fun bunch!

  I was sad to realize, that I didn’t get very many photos, too dark and too busy playing hostess I guess, but here are a few… (Drea, I used a few of yours too)

013020022019023

Notice that there very aren’t many of Ty above?  That is because he was out in the side yard PACING, waiting for his preschool teacher to show up.  (She is a great family friend and part of our class.)  The rest of his evening was spent GLUED to her side! He asked permission to go play a bit at one point, but came right back.  He seemed to feel very responsible for her well-being, even asking her how her husband was doing at home these days. LOL 🙂  My little stud muffin!

030034035

The shed

050049042047052054053055058

To the friend who left a bag FULL of goodies left on our kitchen counter!  What a blessing to have those needs met!  THANK YOU!!!!!

060062

    Soooo, on to the next subject at hand:

Does it drive anyone else crazy that there are Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas signs going up everywhere already? 

Can’t we just be THANKFUL first???????

  Waiting for christmas

  Can’t we just enjoy our pumpkin recipes, fall décor and Thanksgiving feasts?  I mean don’t get me wrong, day after Thanksgiving, I’m putting the Christmas tree up with the best of them, but it just seems that since Thanksgiving isn’t the major money-maker that Christmas is, it gets skipped in the stores between the hype of Halloween with it’s expensive candy, and next…..Christmas sales, long lines and mad dashes to get “the best deal”. 

  Kinda disappointing, but a true sign of the times to be sure: 

More Greedy Gimmies & sales quotas, less quiet thanksgiving as we count the blessing we already have, rather than making the list of things we want.

  If this year of financial discipline has taught me anything, it’s to be content with the things I have, and be oh-so grateful for the things we are blessed to receive. 

  Ok, stepping off my soap box now to share a delicious cookie recipe from a 4 little Ferguson’s reader.  This is quite the hodge podge post today, isn’t it?!

  Diane says, “These are a new Fall favorite cookie at my house!  Let me warn you, they are addictive……you can’t stop at just one!Bursting with flavor and your house smells AMAZING from start to finish, these cookies are a must try, and a keeper in my kitchen.”

  Thanks for the recipe, Diane!  I agree with her above statements, I made these for a school function, and they are seriously delicious!!   I LOVED how soft and chewy they were!!!!

  Pumpkin Gingersnap Cookies

140

Ingredients

  • ½ cups Butter, Room Temperature
  • 1 cup Sugar, Plus More For Rolling Cookies
  • ½ cups Pumpkin
  • ¼ cups Molasses
  • 1 whole Egg
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 2-⅓ cups Flour
  • 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
  • 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
  • 1-½ teaspoon Ground Ginger
  • 1 teaspoon Cloves
  • ½ teaspoons Salt

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy and smooth. Add the pumpkin, molasses, egg, and vanilla extract, mix until well combined.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until combined. Refrigerate the cookie dough for at least 1 hour. The dough can be chilled for 2-3 days.

3. When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 350° F. Place sugar in a small bowl. Roll tablespoon-sized balls of dough in sugar until well coated and place on prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10–12 minutes, or until cookies look cracked and set at the edges. The cookies will still be soft. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a 2-3 minutes after removing them from the oven, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  YUM!

Enjoy these cookies, and please, take time to enjoy this time of year and BE THANKFUL!!!!!!!!!!  Not looking forward, not looking back, just here today.

  I am thankful for this time of year, a warm home, for yummy fall goodies, thankful for my family and faith in a God who loves me and calls me by name, and thankful for you coming to see me each day!  🙂

“If you only had today, the things you said “Thank you” for yesterday, what would you have left?”

~T

P.S.  I have a VERY special treat for you tomorrow!  A guest is coming to see us for the next 3 days, and she is showing us the Art of Freezer Cooking!  Remember my Cousin, Cassie from Laugher and Lattes?  She was my very first guest post, so this will be the 2nd “Cousin Feature Post” here at 4 little Ferguson’s with another Cousin of mine, Christy! 

What can I say, I have COOL cousins!!!  🙂 

Julie, are you up next?!?!?!

9 thoughts on “Being Thankful FIRST……

  1. Oh…I just feel giddy and happy inside after reading this lovely post and seeing all your pictures! :-} Thanks so much for sharing. How AWESOME that you are willing to host soooo many folks. That’s just grand! I will definitely be making these cookies…maybe even today! They look fabulous…looking forward to upcoming freezer posts too. Have a great and blessed week! XO

  2. When my kids were little, I would let them talk about Christmas wants and gifts until after Thanksgiving…..it’s my very favorite holiday and I love to celebrate it every day of the year. But now, I don’t think it would be possible to ignore Christmas for that month even if you tried…..going to try those cookies. We are leaving to go to FL tomorrow….think I’ll make them for my grandkids down there. Maybe for their first day when they get home from school and we are there waiting for them.

  3. Oooh, fun guest post topic! I’m already looking forward to it. =)
    And the shed, with all the little lights strung on the ceiling, looks so beautiful! Like I’d want to have a wedding reception there or something.
    Happy Monday!

  4. I love how you are capable of making a shed beautiful! That looks awesome.
    Can’t wait to learn about some freezer cooking! I think you should continue the cousin trend… I am sure Julie would also have great things to say 🙂

  5. Tonya, you are the hostess with the “mostest!!” I loved getting to see your decor and tasting the wonderful soup. The highlight of the evening, was of course , getting to help with my 4 darling little Fergusons! Yes, Julie would have some great things to say on a guest post…..maybe even share how she makes a Mean loaf of bread!! I ate 3 pieces while it was still warm! mmmm

  6. Your barn/shed/wherever you hung all those twinkle lights looks AMAZING!!! What a blessing, that you have not only the space but the heart to host like this. I love people like you. 🙂 It’s easy to say “someday, when we have space…” and forget that we can use the teeny tiny home we have now to be hospitable.

    • Thanks, Nikki! I always love when you come to see me. 🙂 Yes, its a shed, an UGLY shed, but its amazing what a few twinkle lights can do! 🙂 We sure don’t have room inside our house for a big shindig, but we have lots of land to offer. I agree, its not about what size home you have, its what you do with the space you are blessed with. Just like the widows 2 penny’s were more valuable than the wealthy man giving from his excess, we can offer our home to be used for God’s glory, no matter how big or small that space is!

  7. Oh wow what a a great post..
    Funny I read your blog every day and some how missed this one and wondered if you ever tried these cookies 🙂
    I’m so glad you all enjoyed them :))

I adore hearing from you, comment away! :)