My 26 Thankfulnesses (2)

This is one of those annoying "Part 1 of" posts. In this case, it is part 2 of 5.

I titled it My 26 Thankfulnesses. Why? Well, you'll see. How? You'll see that too, hopefully!

Partly because I missed GreaThings, and partly because it's a neat thing to do, I'm going through the alphabet and thanking God for at least one thing beginning with each letter. (You're probably thinking that at X I'm gong to be thanking God for x-rays, but just wait and see!)

If you want to see part one, it's the post directly before this one. :) In that one I did A, B, C, D and E.


F
Friends

Firemen to fight our fires for us
Fledgeling birds, like baby budgies. So cute!
Flowers, in particular fuchsias
Polar Fleece sweatshirts to wear when it is cold (Fleece is the F, not the P for Polar!)
Flying foxes... rushing through the air... a feeling so awesome.



G
First and most important, God!
Giant icecreams... mmmm.
Goldfish. They are such a beautiful colour.

Gobbledygook. Sometimes it's fun to talk nonsense!
Grandparents... what wonderful people.

H
Hugs. Big ones.
Happiness!

Hair, because otherwise everyone would be bald. :)
Harp music, the tinkling of angels.
Hazel. It's such a pretty colour. There's so much depth in it.


I 
Intelligence, that God has given us.
Icecream, I know I said this before, but there's absolutely nothing like biting into it. A great chunk. Delicious. Mmm.

Imagination! I don't know how people live without an imagination!
Infants to cuddle. A special new life.
Ivy. I know lots of people regard it as a pest but I love it.

J
Jesus.... my King... my Lord... my God... my Saviour.
Jelly! It's just so... wobbly.

A Journal to write in.
Johnny and Jacob
Jandals, or flipflops as some people say.
Joy. There's not point being sad all the time when you can be joyful!

K
A kaleidoscope. Have you every looked through one of these before?

Keys to unlock doors. I love turning keys.
Kittens that are really cute! And even ones that aren't really cute.
Kites to fly. There's something so free about a kite, wheeling it's way up there in the sky. It looks like so much fun!


And I'll be back soon... back from camp, back with another Thankfulnesses post!

Picture credits: Icecream photo: www.fanpop.com / Friends photo: revandy.org / Goldfish photo: www.redorbit.com / Happiness photo: www.fastcompany.com / Jelly photo: clipart / Kaleidoscope photo: www.fimfiction.net 

My 26 Thankfulnesses

This is going to be one of those annoying "Part 1 of" posts. In this case, it is part 1 of 5.

I titled it My 26 Thankfulnesses. Why? Well, you'll see. How? You'll see that too, hopefully!

Partly because I missed GreaThings, and partly because it's a neat thing to do, I'm going through the alphabet and thanking God for at least one thing beginning with each letter. (You're probably thinking that at X I'm gong to be thanking God for x-rays, but just wait and see!)

Being in mind that this is a Part 1 of 5 post, and bearing in mind that I am currently away and this is a scheduled post, why don't you comment heaps, tell me how awesome the idea is, and give me a wonderful surprise for when I get back??? (Just an idea!)


A.
Apples to crunch. Particularly granny smith apples. So yummy!

Alphabet. I wouldn't be writing this without the use of the alphabet.

Abbie, my sister. What a blessing family is.
Art. Drawing, painting and music generally fit under this label! I thank the Lord for all of them.
Animals to cuddle :) Especially cute ones :)


B
Blessings. My blog is Bonnie's Blessings, you know! I'm thankful for each and every one of them.
Ben, my brother. What a blessing family is.
Babies. Babies!! Ours is due in 4 weeks!! Can't wait!
Ballet. Although I do not still take ballet, I enjoy dancing and stretching (yes, I do enjoy stretching) and pretending I am a ballerina. You may think me weird. I love it.
Bicycles to ride. They are certainly faster than walking.

C
Chocolate... where would I be without chocolate....

Caleb, my brother. What a blessing family is.
Clocks to mark time. Clocks were a timely invention.
Cameras!
Concrete to hold things up. Otherwise things would fall down.

D
Danella, my sister. What a blessing family is.
Dad, my Dad. Nobody else's Dad. Father. Daddy.
Dictionaries to tell you words. I find them very helpful, particularly in Scrabble!

Dolphins - they are so smooth! I love dolphins. When we were in Australia I got to touch one. Awesome experience!
Ducks, just because we need two 'D' animals. :) And ducks are cute. :)
Daylight to light up the day. If it was nighttime all the time it could get annoying pretty quick!



E
Earth itself. Life could not exist on any other planet.

Eggs to bake and eat. Yum, yum :)
Elaboration. I love to elaborate.
Echoes. Don't you just find echoes so fascinating?
Eternity to spend with Jesus!


And I'll be back (well, I won't be, but the post will) in two days time with another 5 (or 6 maybe) thankfulnesses. Just think how much I'm enjoying camp at the moment!! :P Have a great camp-less day. :)

I am Currently Away

This is just a random post.

1. I am away at camp at the moment. Don't you wish you were there too????

2. When someone says *Headdesk* I usually roll my eyes because honestly, I don't believe anyone actually does it. Do you actually do it?


(Sit there watching it for a while. It seriously gets on your nerves.)

3. This is brilliant. It's 101 ideas to use for blog posts when you get stuck.

4. Some cute babies...

5. Mum is only 4 weeks away from her due date!! Sooo cannot wait to hold our new precious baby!! Life is such a blessing.... so excited!

5 Things I Have Learnt

Before I begin with the niggy-gritty of this post, I'm going to say randomly that I can smell lemon-meringue pie cooking. My sisters are awesome cooks. It smells reeeaaaly good! I'm going to do a Sayna trick and say "Don't you wish you could have some?" But I won't be mean and post pictures of our empty plates. Maybe.

By the time you read this, I will be on camp (hopefully)! I'm leaving the day you read this and I will be away for a week or so. But don't worry. The first thing I have learnt this past year is how to schedule a post.

So I'm going to schedule posts for when I am away. And do not fear, blog readers. I shall return.

While I'm gone, don't be afraid to....



But enough of that. This post is about 5 things I have learnt this past year that have been really helpful to me. And I'm also going to put down 5 things I want to learn this year.

I've already told you the first thing I learnt. That was scheduling posts, remember?

2. The Remove Formatting button. Seriously, this button has saved my life. It's brilliant! If you don't know how to use it, no kidding, learn.

3. How to post pictures. This may seem like a no-brainer, but when I first started blogging I really did not know my way around at all! It actually took me a while before I figured it out. Awful, I know, but there's the truth.

4. Never take readers for granted. One post I may have 10 comments and a host of views, and the next post there is like, 12 views and not a single comment. A lot of my posts are like that. Up one day, down another! It was surprising to me when I first began blogging, but then I realised that there are certain types of posts people like reading and if I don't post something that people like reading, they will not read it and won't comment. I'm sorry if that seems obvious, but that was one thing that really surprised me!

5. How to make links show up in a new tab, rather than in the same tab. I'm sorry, I don't know how to explain it any better than this! I was trying to find out, then I found a website that told me. I'm so happy I learnt how. I love it like this. If you want to find out for your blog, go here.



Now onto the 5 goals for 2014.

 1. I want to learn how to make a button with a grab box underneath for my sidebar. This is something I have tried lots and struggled with! I hope I can do it this year.

2. I want to have at least 5 guest posters this year. Last year I think I had a grand total of 2. (And if you are reading this and you think you would like to, please contact me right now!!!)

3. I want to learn how to get a Google+ Followers list because currently it says it is private and I can't make it work! Danella  is having this problem too.

4. I want to schedule a whole lot more posts. Why should you be without reading material when I am away, when I have a perfectly good way of still giving it to you?

5. I want to permanently post practically perfectly awesome posts periodically. Easier said than done.


What have you learnt in 2013? What do you hope to learn in 2014?
Adieu for a week or so!

Two beautiful songs

I just know you will love Stuart Townend's song The Lord's My Shepherd. If you have never heard this song then you will enjoy it greatly! If you have heard it before, you will enjoy it even more. :) It's such a beautiful song. :)




You may also greatly enjoy this hymn. It's one of my favourite ones, Before the Throne of God Above.




Blessings!
Bonnie

Delectable Delicacies

On Saturday we got a whole pile of tomatoes that were in urgent need of being made into sauce! So what do you think we did? Yup. We sourced (sauced) a recipe for sauce (we'll actually, we got it off Grandma who makes the most amazing tomato sauce you ever did taste in your whole life). And Danella spent an afternoon slaving over a hot stove making bottles of tomato sauce!

I thought you probably are in one of two camps right now.

1. Those who do not have a tomato sauce recipe and wish to have one
2. Those who have a tomato sauce recipe and wish to get another one

So.

I have below Grandma's delectable tomato sauce recipe, specially tailored to suit those in both of the camps. So everyone is happy!!


Tomato Sauce - Grandma's recipe

8lb ripe tomatoes
4 oz salt (common salt, not iodized)
1 pint vinegar
2 lb white sugar
4 large onions
1 packet (25 g) pickling spice

Cut up tomatoes. Tie spices in a little muslin bag or hanky. Put all ingredients in a pot or pan and boil for 3 hours, stirring frequently. When it is done cooking, take spices out and put sauce through a mouli. After you have done that, bottle the sauce. Put the lids on when the sauces are cold.


This sauce is seriously wonderful. Why would anyone want to buy it when they can have the fun of making something that tastes a million (no exaggerating, I promise) times better?

Use it for eating on fish, sausages, meat (cold meat and tomato sauce is a match made in heaven), fritters, quiche... the list is endless!

It's My Blogoversary!

I'm not sure if Blogoversary is a word... oh well. It is now.

Anyway... It's my blog's birthday today!!!

Bonnie's Blessings is officially....


1 year old today!!


*starts singing Happy Birthday To Me*


Here's something fun and a bit silly to celebrate. It's the Minions from Despicable Me starring in a Happy Birthday special!






This is a celebration!! Join the birthday party by commenting below!

Belated Christmas Post

I'm sorry that this post is so late. After all, Christmas was last year!! 

Here are a selection of photos from our Christmas Day. I think that all of them were taken by Danella. :)

Lydia's Christmas outfit

Who gave Jacob that lollipop that he made such a mess with?? 

Christmas tea with lots of cousins... lots of fun was had by all.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and will have a wonderful New Year as well. :)

The Results - part 3

*DRUMROLL*

The results of the first Quiz - what you have all been waiting for!

First. The answers.

Photo 1

Bonnie and Danella

Photo 2

Ben

Photo 3

Sophie

Photo 4

Johnny

Photo 5

Lydia

Photo 6

Caleb

And now. The entrants and their results, in order of who commented first.

Jason L: 5 correct

Sayna: 2 correct

Heidi: 5 correct

Matthew S: 3 correct

matthewmischewski: All 6 correct - well done!

Philip Sampson: 3 correct

Danella: All 6 correct - well done!

Adding to these results the results from the previous two Quiz Times, we have... *drumroll*.... the overall score tally!

Jason L: 9 correct

Sayna: 3 correct

Heidi: 5 correct

Matthew S: 3 correct

matthewmischewski: 6 correct 

Philip Sampson: 3 correct

Danella: 7 correct

Sophie: 6 correct

Which leaves us with an overall winner....................

*even bigger drumroll*

Jason L

Congratulations!

And also congratulations to everyone else who entered! What did you think about the quiz? Should I do something else like it some other time? I'd be interested to hear what you think!

The Results - part 2

Continuing on backwards, here we have the results for the Quiz Time section two. This was probably the most difficult of all the quizzes, for in this one I gave you different quotes said by various members of our family. Your task was to ascertain who said what.

Below I have the different quotes, followed in brackets by the name of the person who said it.

Oh - and before I forget, I'd better say that most of these quotes were said at a very young age. The two that I said, for example (yes, I said two of them) were said many years ago!!

Here we go.


Item 1: "We eat Easter Eggs to make Jesus happy."

(Johnny)

Item 2: "I told Daddy that I had a sore tummy and he said it was because I had too many cream puffs. He has a heartless heart."

(Me)

Item 3: (After being told that he needed to go outside and get some fresh air) "I'm full of fresh air. I can't have any more. I've got no more room."
(Johnny)

Item 4: "I get on my bed with the raspberry flop." (This person meant the Fosbury flop, high jumping technique!)
(Ben)

Item 5: "Do you know how I know that? Because I knew it, that's why."
(Johnny)

Item 6: "(insert certain friend's name) is nice. She's the same age as me but older."

(Me)

So here we have the results. 

Danella: 1 correct

Sayna: 1 correct

matthewmischewski: A good try

Are you surprised as to who said what?? :) Watch out for the results part 3, which is the overall score tally!

Oh, and -

Happy New Year!!!