Thankfulness Thursday

 .  . . with a heart of gratitude . . .

 

This week I am especially thankful for:

 

 

1)  A baby in my life right now. 

 

She is not one of those AMAZING babies (that puts herself to sleep, changes her own diapers, and solves world hunger) but she is not OVERLY fussy either.  She is just a baby.  Sometimes she naps on her own and sometimes she just wants to be held all day, but she is just an amazing little person that I LOVE SO MUCH!!  As much trouble as pregnancy and childbirth is. . . it is NOTHING compared to the amazing creation of a baby I get to enjoy for an entire YEAR (until it becomes a "toddler" :)  Now, if only I could sit around and just enjoy the baby all day - that would be "the life."  As it is, I need to remember how much I like her so I don't spend all my time thinking of her as "another burden" in the midst of our daily chaos.

2)  The community we are creating.

 

One of the main by-products of homeschooling (so it seems) is a close-knit family.  They LOVE to play with each other.  They take care of each other (when they are not stealing each other's toys).  They genuinely enjoy each other and that makes me so happy.  Hopefully they are creating friendships that will last a lifetime.

 

 

3)  Rebekah as a helper.

 

There is no way I would survive having all the children home without her help.  I remember a quote from a homeschooling mom of eleven children with an immaculate house.  When asked how she did it she replied, "I train my children to help me and then teach them to obey." Rebekah's training is going WELL and I am so grateful.  I hope the rest of the children will follow right along in her footsteps.

 

"O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures for ever." - Psalm 107:1

Thankfulness Thursday

. . . with a heart of gratitude . . .

This week I am especially thankful for:

1)  A community of love (aka my family). 

I have come across some of my friends from high school and college lately (as in the past few months).  Some are married and have kids.  Some are still single.  It was in contemplating the single ones that I realized just how grateful I am that I no longer need to be alone.  Sometimes the single life seems so wonderful.  I drool over the thought of only having to cook and clean for myself - of being able to spend my money on myself - to do what I want to do when I want to do it!  I also find myself with very little empathy for single people who complain of being "so busy" and "not having time do do anything."  But then I think back to when I was single and remember that feeling of "being alone."  I know, God is always with us and often we have roommates, etc.  But there was much time I spent "being lonely."  Sure I did stuff, or maybe I could have worked harder to find people to be with, but when push came to shove, in the evenings, or early mornings, or just on days when I had no particular place to go, I remember being lonely.  Now, in the midst of chaos, I can appreciate always having someone around -whether it be the kids or my spouse, there is always someone here with me to love and just "be" with.

2)  Samuel. 

I love all my children and they are all blessings in their own way, but this week I am thankful for my second child and oldest son, Samuel.  I have been praying especially for him the past few weeks as I felt a little out-of-touch with him.  He is getting too "big" to cuddle and his main interests now are video games (x-box or the tank game on the Kindle).  I really want to find something I can do with him that we both enjoy (as I play x-box now and again, but it is really not my thing).  I believe teaching him is the perfect answer to my prayers.  I often fretted over teaching him as I feared I would not have patience and he would not have interest.  But as it turns out he is immensely interested and he catches on so quickly, I have no time to be impatient!  We have only done "school" a few days but sitting with him while he "learns to read" has truly been the highlight of my day.  He has such a wonderful personality and I am so grateful to be able to spend time with him and learn from him.

 

"O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures for ever." - Psalm 107:1

Thankfulness Thursday

. . . with a heart of gratitude . . .

This week I am especially thankful for:

1)  Choosing to homeschool.  This sounds silly as we have barely started, but as the school year is starting to rev up, I feel so much more at peace with life.  I never realized how school - the meetings, the supplies and uniforms, the schedules, the CRAZINESS - really stresses me out!  I am so grateful to have an opportunity to avoid that.

(On a side note, I cannot predict the future and if our homeschooling endeavors fail horribly, I will of course, give "the system" another try, but at this time, for the next year, at least, I hope to enjoy a bit more peace and relaxation as we live and learn as a family.)

2)  My camera.  (Or more specifically, having a camera - that works - in general.)  The kids LOVE to have their picture taken.  We rarely come up with AMAZING pictures, but the joy of taking them and being in them is really something we celebrate around here.

3)  A nearby Adoration chapel.  I do not get there near enough, but it is such a nice little chapel and VERY close.  Definitely a blessing!

"O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures for ever." - Psalm 107:1

Thankfulness Thursday

. . . with a heart of gratitude . . .

This week I am especially thankful for:

1)  Exercise!!  I'm thankful that I'm able to exercise.  I'm thankful for a place to exercise (even if it is a bit cramped and I occasionally hit my head or kick a wall).  I'm thankful for AWESOME DVDs to work-out with from my favorite fitness guru Cathe Friedrich.  I'm thankful for work-out equipment to assist me in challenging my body.  I'm thankful for my hubby rigging up a mini-theater so I can watch work-out DVDs AND other "entertainment" DVDs at the same time (if I want) so I don't get bored.  And mostly I'm thankful for how exercise makes me feel GOOD all day long.  Thank you God for exercise!!

2)  Air Conditioning.  This does not really even need any explaining.  And ours is not working all that well, but I'm still thankful!!!  I like to challenge myself and try to "offer things up" but being too hot turns me into the meanest, crab ever.

3)  My amazing hubby putting the boys to bed.  We often try to tag-team or tackle them together, but lately Miriam has been fussy or I have been just worn-out from the day and Gordie has been stepping up and wrangling the three boys to bed.  (Which takes a lot these  days as Paul is in the "testing his limits" phase.)  I am soooo grateful for this!

 

"O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures for ever." - Psalm 107:1

Thankfulness Thursday

. . . with a heart of gratitude

This week I am especially thankful for:

1)  A day off with the family.  The fourth of July this year was really a great day here.  For the first time in about 7 years, Gordie had the day off (yay for salary this time).  We were able to take it easy in the morning.  We cleaned up the garage (what is done so far) so the van would fit and got rid of an annoying "shrub" that had grown itself too close the air conditioner.  Then I went to Wal-mart WITHOUT ANY CHILDREN and stopped at Dillons (as there are things I needed from each) and went to two other stores to find a cable for our "original x-box.  We hooked up said x-box (which we just had sitting around) and the kids were (and continue to be) ecstatic.  Good family fun there.  (Now if only we could find Star Wars Legos, we would be set :)  Then the hubby grilled for dinner (LOTS of yummy stuff there) and then we finished the day enjoying the city fireworks from the top of the garage (with the youngest three in bed).

 

2) My washer and dryer.  I do A LOT of laundry (2 regular "house loads" every other day or so and diapers ever other day as well, plus sheets or blankets fairly regularly).  We have front-loaders that are high efficiency (using much less water) and they are nice and make me happy.   A friend of mine is constantly needing to fix her washer or dryer which I'm grateful has not been much of a problem for us (yet at least - I think we have had these about 3 years now) and I was also thinking how nice it is to be able to throw in a load whenever I need to. (Since kids make LOTS of messes!)

 

3) A fiction book I am enjoying.  I have read lots of fiction but then took a break from it for a while as I was trying to read lots of other books I though were "important." But in an attempt to "de-stress" (not distress :) I picked up a fiction book and I have been enjoying it (sometimes it is difficult to find something that holds my interest or does not feel like a waste of time).

 

"O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures for ever." - Psalm 107:1

Thankfulness Thursday

I have participated in Whiney Wednesdays and Small Successes Thursdays, but I feel inspired to create my own weekly reflection.  I'm calling it Thankfulness Thursdays.  It is just me and what I feel called to do at this time.  Whining can be a great release, but listing things - specific things - that I am thankful for really helps me "realign" myself.  The material will probably end up looking a lot like my Small Successes lists and reading between the lines will probably look like my Whiney Wednesday list, but when combined it creates the ups and the downs with the important part underscored - a heart of gratitude.  So without further ado. . 

This week I am especially thankful for:

1) The gift of a second daughter, Miriam.  Even when she fusses and cries and is not "the perfect baby" (and wakes me many times at night, making me weary), I am so grateful for her presence in our family.

2) How hard my husband (and children's father) works to support us financially.  His new position is quite stressful right now, but I am so thankful for his effort!

3) My group of friends that pray with me (and for me) and share my joys and struggles.  (I'm still looking for that checkbook, btw, but I'm sure God has HIS eye on it (and is laughing at me in the mean time) so I'm not worried.)

4) My first daughter who is so sweet and innocent and helpful in caring for her sister.  My life would be MUCH MORE STRESSFUL without her in it to help in caring for our family.

"O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures for ever." - Psalm 107:1