Thankful Thursday

Here are the things I'm thankful for this week, in random order, because my life is full of random order.

1. I'm thankful for a relaxing week without the workload from our homeschool co-op, because it was canceled due to yucky roads this week.

2. I'm thankful for Christian counselors, who can help our family members work through some rough spots in life with Godly wisdom.

3. I'm thankful for my mother-in-law, who took the 3 oldest kids to lunch today.

4. I'm thankful for having a day that my kids and I could spend with Miss Musicality, my sister. Our kids had such a great time together. They hadn't been able to hang out with one another since Christmas. I love that my kids are close to their cousins.

5. I'm thankful that Little Bit came home this evening, after being back with her mom for a week. We sure missed that girl!

6. I'm thankful that I was able to take Miss B to a movie on Sunday afternoon. We don't do this often, so it was a treat.

7. I'm thankful for hot cocoa.

8. I'm thankful that I was re-acquainted with the gym this past week. Oh, elliptical trainer, how I had missed you!

9. I'm thankful that my sweet niece, who is 3 1/2, asked Jesus in her heart this past week!!!! It doesn't get any better than that.

Counting my blessings!
Now that I have said that, I have this song stuck in my head...

Count your blessings
Name them one by one
Count your blessings
See what God has done
Count your blessings
Name them one by one
Count your many blessings
See what God has done

Groundhog Day Fun

Little I woke me up this morning saying, "It's Groundhog Day, so get up."

Not wanting to disappoint my four-year old, I decided to make a dessert for this undercelebrated holiday.
Punxsutawney Phil, brownie style


I'm sure you know by now, but our furry friend said there will be 6 more weeks of winter.


6 more weeks of....
doing the centipede in the snow


6 more weeks of...
having snowball fights


6 more weeks of...
making snow angels while getting some extra use out of a swim parka


6 more weeks of...
watching big brothers and big sister play in the snow


6 more weeks of...
trying to figure out what kind of wildlife is leaving tracks on our front walk and driveway


If the next 6 weeks would actually be like the last week we've had, our family would be thrilled! WE LOVE THE SNOW!!!

Come On Down

Today we're having a relaxed day at home, thanks to the ice/snow storm. We did not lose power and I'm loosening the reins a bit on our TV viewing. After Sesame Street, I changed the station to our local CBS station to see what the weather was doing and The Price is Right was on. C-Man asked me to leave it on since the current contestant shared his first name.

Every time I watch this show a flood of memories/emotions comes over me.

When I was quite young I used to spend a great amount of time with my Aunt Lula. She was my great-aunt who lived in the town where I grew up. She never had children of her own, but treated me and my sisters like granddaughters. We LOVED our time with her.

For some odd reason every time I was with her I developed a bad cough. OK, it was really because she ALWAYS had Luden's Wild Cherry Throat Drops with her & they're delicious. When I was at her house, daytime TV was always on. We watched Bob Barker together. She also watched her soaps. I don't remember which soaps she watched, but I can still hear the dramatic theme music. She colored with me and taught me how to color in circles so that you don't get those awful lines on your masterpiece.

Bob Barker was also a staple at my home when I stayed home from school because I was sick or tired. Yes, my mom was nice enough to let me stay home when I was tired. I have suffered from anemia off and on throughout my life, which can really drain you. So, during those restful days at home I would do my best to win all the prizes that Bob's Beauties were displaying.

So I guess I'm hoping that by allowing my kids to watch The Price is Right, they'll eventually remember that not every day was filled with me barking out orders about getting school work completed and bedrooms cleaned. (By the way, I am asking God daily to help me not bark out orders so much, but I'm a work in progress).

Well, they've called the last contestant for the day ("Come on down, you're the next contestant on The Price is Right") so I guess I should get down off of this bar stool and make some real memories with my kids.

Thankful Thursday

I'm posting a couple hours early because of an impending ice storm. If it's anything like what the meteorologists say it will be, our neighborhood will probably lose power. We always seem to lose power.

So, here are the things I'm thankful for this week, in random order because my life is full of random order.

1. I'm thankful that there are so many little ones in my home that the little ones' bathroom mirror looked like it belonged behind crime scene tape yesterday, before I attacked it with some Windex.

2. I'm thankful that Conan's last week is over so that Cowboy & I don't feel like we have to stay up late every night to see what mayhem is going down. OK, let me clarify. I may have felt like I should've stayed up late, but in all honesty I fell asleep on the couch almost every night.

3. I'm thankful that NoBo's tubes in his ears are doing their job and that his hearing has improved.

4. I'm thankful for friends who came over for dinner over the weekend. We haven't had non-family company in SO long that it was peaceful (although there 14 kids at our house) to just hang out with friends.

5. I'm thankful for the purchase Cowboy made to prepare us for the potential ice storm we'll have tomorrow. We are now the proud owners of a generator. Power outages will no longer leave us in the dark!

6. I'm thankful for the doctor who discovered the problems in my mom's eyes. Both eyes have been repaired (for now) and her sight is saved.

7. I'm thankful for C-Man's new dermatologist, who prescribed the most amazing medicine for his warts. These pesky annoyances are finally shrinking. After painful treatment from another dermatologist over a year ago that didn't work, we're finally making progress.

Continuing to count my blessings!

Thankful Thursday

So I've been reading a few blogs lately, but not posting. However, a couple of girls I used to do Bible Study with years ago both do "Thankful Thursday" posts, and I decided it might get me out of my non-blogging rut.

Here are the things I'm thankful for today, in no particular order.

1. The Bible Study I'm doing right now, Beth Moore's The Patriarchs.

2. Cowboy, who faithfully unloads the dishwasher every evening & picks up our daily tornado-stricken living room.

3. My mother-in-law, who took Little I to his dentist appointment today.

4. Living across the street from my parents. I was able to come home from grocery shopping this evening and walk across the street to check on Mom, who had eye surgery today.

5. My grandparents. They are each one of the two remaining children alive in both of their families. They each came from families with 13 children. I'm so glad they're still with us.

6. Grandpa's devotion to God. He was able to lead his only living brother to Christ within the last several months. That brother is now with Jesus and his life will be celebrated tomorrow as my Dad conducts his funeral.

7. NoBo. It's been just about a year since he came to our home. I'm grateful to be the one cleaning up his vomit today. Mom reminded me this evening that his little body probably wouldn't have survived living with his biological family.

8. Little Bit. She's been back with us for over 4 weeks now. We love her so much--even through her biting, pinching, scratching, hitting, and constant eating!!! We're grateful her mom has allowed us to remain a big part of her life.

Sweet Kisses

I hate to admit this. Especially to those of you who've never been able to have children biologically. But, here it is anyway...

There are times when I still get sad that Cowboy & I were only able to have 2 children biologically.

At those times when I let myself "go there" and be sad, I pull myself up quickly by thinking about how gracious God has been to me and Cowboy to allow us to have this precious boy as our son.

Little I is so passionate. He brings such an abundance of joy to our home daily.

Last week he was kissing us all goodnight. He spent a few minutes kissing each of us all over our faces & necks. We were laughing hysterically and I continue to be amazed that God chose us to be Little I's family.

If you finish your school work early...

We're all about rewards in our house. Cowboy usually is the creative one to think of them, but I'm happy to follow through if they make my life easier and more fun!

So...before Christmas break Cowboy dangled the carrot in front of Miss B and C-Man. They went for it!!!

I had their agendas filled out with everything that needed to be accomplished before we started our official Christmas Break. Cowboy told the kids if they finished by certain dates they would receive rewards. The sooner they finished, the bigger the reward. He did this to save my sanity and I thank him for that! (He's always looking out for my sanity).

Miss B stayed up until after midnight one night to finish her work so that she would have an extra week of Christmas Break.

She and I went to our city's downtown area to ice skate. We had so much fun and laughed SO hard at each other! I worked very hard to NOT FALL!!! She, of course, made fun of me for my caution. However, I tried to remind her my body was old and I could get seriously hurt if I fell.



After successfully ice skating without injury, we had dinner together. Don't panic about the amount of food she consumed. Right after this she swam for an hour and fifteen minutes. (Makes me tired to think about it).



This reward was TOTALLY worth it!!! Not only did I not have to harp on Miss B to finish up her school work on the days preceding Christmas, but I also got to spend time with my girl. PRICELESS!!!