God,
Teach me lessons for living so I can stay the course.
Give me insight so I can do what you tell me-
My whole life one long, obedient response.
- Psalm 119:33-34 (The Message)
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
We Were Rescued!
I've hosted Thanksgiving dinner every year for at least the last six years. My family comes to visit from out of state, and we have a long weekend of noise, chaos, cousins, and lots of love. But this year no one was able to come. There were a lot of reasons: finances tight, work schedules, etc. Even my husband had to desert me for Thanksgiving because of work obligations. It was looking like it was going to be one of the loneliest Thanksgivings ever. But.....
We were rescued! Daiquiri invited us to her house for Thanksgiving dinner, and we ended up staying all day, late into the night.
We walked in the door to yummy smells and this beautiful table.
The kids immediately started in on the hors d'oeuvres. (a.k.a. fruit platter) (Have you ever tried to Google how to spell that word? Nobody really knows I think. I stuck with one spelling, but I'm still not convinced I'm right and spell check is no help at all. Hee Hee)
Spending Thanksgiving with their good buddies was so fun for them. (They did miss their cousins, though, Aunt Angie)
Sparkling Cider in real wine glasses made them feel so special.
Prince Charming gave me the gift of sleeping all the way through the meal. I got to sip red wine, eat AMAZING food, and have real grown-up conversation.
I'm usually so busy doing all the preparation. I really enjoyed relaxing and fitting in lots of hugs and kisses from my greatest gifts:
Later that night, Daiquiri's hubby set up a fire pit and we roasted marshmallows and made S'mores. The kids played in the dark with flashlights while we sat around the fire. I'm sure this will be one of those childhood memories they will talk about as adults.
It was a magical day. I missed my family so much, especially when I called and heard them all around the table at my brother and sister-in-law's house, but we were so well cared for right here! I'm so grateful for great friends.
I hope you all had a blessed holiday, too!
Love,
We were rescued! Daiquiri invited us to her house for Thanksgiving dinner, and we ended up staying all day, late into the night.
We walked in the door to yummy smells and this beautiful table.
The kids immediately started in on the hors d'oeuvres. (a.k.a. fruit platter) (Have you ever tried to Google how to spell that word? Nobody really knows I think. I stuck with one spelling, but I'm still not convinced I'm right and spell check is no help at all. Hee Hee)
Spending Thanksgiving with their good buddies was so fun for them. (They did miss their cousins, though, Aunt Angie)
Sparkling Cider in real wine glasses made them feel so special.
Prince Charming gave me the gift of sleeping all the way through the meal. I got to sip red wine, eat AMAZING food, and have real grown-up conversation.
I'm usually so busy doing all the preparation. I really enjoyed relaxing and fitting in lots of hugs and kisses from my greatest gifts:Later that night, Daiquiri's hubby set up a fire pit and we roasted marshmallows and made S'mores. The kids played in the dark with flashlights while we sat around the fire. I'm sure this will be one of those childhood memories they will talk about as adults.
It was a magical day. I missed my family so much, especially when I called and heard them all around the table at my brother and sister-in-law's house, but we were so well cared for right here! I'm so grateful for great friends.
I hope you all had a blessed holiday, too!
Love,
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Thank You One Thousand Times
I've been thinking more about all the reasons I have for being thankful. I remembered visiting this beautiful blog and seeing her One Thousand Gifts. Over time, Ann has blogged a running gratitude list, until she arrived at one thousand gifts. Eventually she inspired other bloggers to join her, and they have become the "Gratitude Community."
In honor of the upcoming holiday, I decided I wanted to join the Gratitude Community. So today, I begin to count my blessings, one by one: (In no particular order)
1. 
Watching my girls hold hands every morning on the way to the bus stop.
2. A hole in our fence and a worn path down the hill connecting our backyard with our buddies.
3. Priceless pictures of my babies taken often by a talented friend
4. Giggling at the dinner table.
5. Warm inside when it looks like this 
outside:
6. A new promotion for King Charming.
7. Friends who "get" me and make me laugh. (And don't judge me too much for not recycling)
8. This You Tube video when I need a good laugh
9. Zac's cartwheels : )10. My Tempur-Pedic mattress. (You know you are getting old when a great mattress means so much)
11. Being able to keep in touch with far away family like her, her, her, and her.
12. Finding old friends on Facebook
13. PRETTY pink boots for little girl feet.
14. Warm coats for my kids.
15. My morning hugs from sleepy, just woke-up, barefoot in their jammies little girls.
16. Friday Night Pizza and Family Movie Night
17. Being able to be a stay-at-home-mommy
18. These toes:
19. A bowl of hot Grape Nuts on a chilly morning
20. Dutch Brothers Coffee
21. A steady paycheck from KC's secure job.
22. My whole family is healthy. I just watched a segment on the Today Show about St. Jude's Hospital. Thank you, Lord, for my family's health!
23. Swedish pancake breakfast with the WHOLE family on the holidays.
24. Sitting around in our pajamas, drinking coffee, and trying to solve the world's woes after that Swedish pancake breakfast at Mom and Dad's house.
25. That I can still go home to Mom and Dad's house.
26. The way Mom and Dad make Christmas happen in a magical way. There's no place like home.
27. Having plans for Thanksgiving this year when I thought I'd be all alone. Thanks for rescuing me Luke and Daiquiri!
28. Blog readers who leave me comments. : )
More to come........
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
Love,
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Pint-Sized Pilgrims and Native Americans
King Charming, Prince Charming, and I went to Kindergarten today. We were invited to a Thanksgiving feast with a bunch of pint-sized pilgrims and Native Americans.
But I only had eyes for one little Indian Princess:
I've been having trouble with my digital camera lately, and most of my pictures turn out blurry. I'm sure it is operator error, but today I smiled when I saw this blurry shot. In the midst of all the chaos, there was my beautiful little girl. When it comes to my kids, this shows how I view the world. : )
Sunday, November 23, 2008
A Very Thankful Me
Last night's sermon was so good for me. (We go to the Saturday night service)
Our pastor talked to us about the importance of thanksgiving. Not in a cheezy-it's Thanksgiving week, so I better preach on Thanksgiving kind of way- but a sincere message of how God expects gratitude and how we can always find reasons to thank Him. In everything. Maybe not for everything, but definately in everything. I remember hearing a sermon on the radio a long time ago about how even if He never, ever does another thing for us, the fact that God saved us from Hell and gave us the hope of Heaven, is enough to praise Him for all of eternity.
Pastor Bob gave some great examples of areas of his own life where he was able to thank God in times when it didn't seem like life was going very well at all. I left inspired to be more thankful.
This morning, Prince Charming woke up at 6:00, a lot earlier than I hoped he would, so I brought him to bed with me and cuddled with him until he fell back to sleep. It was a great opportunity to start thanking God.
As I watched my baby sleep, I started listing things I am thankful about. Here's a few random ones:
- The dimple in my oldest daughter's cheek that shows up whenever she is sincerely laughing. Her eyes sparkle and the little dimple appears. It is a joyful thing to see. At those times I know she is REALLY happy, and it does my mommy heart good.
- Or how my youngest daughter was born with the gift of giving amazing hugs. When she wraps herself around me and squeezes, I feel so loved.
There were some more serious things to thank him for, also:
- We've been celebrating a promotion my husband got at work. We've been wanting to see this promotion happen for a long time and it was so wonderful to get the phone call this week. After years of praying for it, I forgot to really, truly thank God for that provision. Especially in this down economy, when so many families are suffering, we got a promotion. I needed to stop and gratefully say, "Thank you, Lord!"
- I also thanked him for the good that has come from the losses of my babies. I know that might sound morbid, but so much good has resulted from it. I wasn't thanking him for the miscarriages, just the way He turned something horrible into good and then blessed us with this beautiful little boy.
- I thanked him for preventing us from adopting the wrong two little boys. I thanked him for the plans he has for JJ and Benedict and thanked him for the privilege of getting to pray for them. I thanked Him for what He has planned for our family with or without adoption and told Him I trust Him either way.
There was much more. It was a sweet time of looking at my life and realizing there were more blessings there than I could even count. Remember this old chorus at church? It is the song I'm singing today:
God, you've been so good to me
You've always been so good to me
God you're so good!
Love a very thankful
Our pastor talked to us about the importance of thanksgiving. Not in a cheezy-it's Thanksgiving week, so I better preach on Thanksgiving kind of way- but a sincere message of how God expects gratitude and how we can always find reasons to thank Him. In everything. Maybe not for everything, but definately in everything. I remember hearing a sermon on the radio a long time ago about how even if He never, ever does another thing for us, the fact that God saved us from Hell and gave us the hope of Heaven, is enough to praise Him for all of eternity.
Pastor Bob gave some great examples of areas of his own life where he was able to thank God in times when it didn't seem like life was going very well at all. I left inspired to be more thankful.
This morning, Prince Charming woke up at 6:00, a lot earlier than I hoped he would, so I brought him to bed with me and cuddled with him until he fell back to sleep. It was a great opportunity to start thanking God.
As I watched my baby sleep, I started listing things I am thankful about. Here's a few random ones:
- The dimple in my oldest daughter's cheek that shows up whenever she is sincerely laughing. Her eyes sparkle and the little dimple appears. It is a joyful thing to see. At those times I know she is REALLY happy, and it does my mommy heart good.
- Or how my youngest daughter was born with the gift of giving amazing hugs. When she wraps herself around me and squeezes, I feel so loved.
There were some more serious things to thank him for, also:
- We've been celebrating a promotion my husband got at work. We've been wanting to see this promotion happen for a long time and it was so wonderful to get the phone call this week. After years of praying for it, I forgot to really, truly thank God for that provision. Especially in this down economy, when so many families are suffering, we got a promotion. I needed to stop and gratefully say, "Thank you, Lord!"
- I also thanked him for the good that has come from the losses of my babies. I know that might sound morbid, but so much good has resulted from it. I wasn't thanking him for the miscarriages, just the way He turned something horrible into good and then blessed us with this beautiful little boy.
- I thanked him for preventing us from adopting the wrong two little boys. I thanked him for the plans he has for JJ and Benedict and thanked him for the privilege of getting to pray for them. I thanked Him for what He has planned for our family with or without adoption and told Him I trust Him either way.
There was much more. It was a sweet time of looking at my life and realizing there were more blessings there than I could even count. Remember this old chorus at church? It is the song I'm singing today:
God, you've been so good to me
You've always been so good to me
God you're so good!
Love a very thankful
Friday, November 21, 2008
What Happened to Us?
We've been having an interesting discussion over on my fitness blog, and I wanted to bring it over here to see if you all might be able to add some insight. I'm curious what you think.
I've been watching the Biggest Loser this season, (Boo Vicky! Boo Heba!)and on this last episode they did a tribute to the 1980's. Sticking with their theme, the challenge this week involved a trivia game comparing health facts from the 80's with present day.
It was interesting and depressing to learn how much our society has changed since 1980. Here were a few facts that stuck out to me:
- Obesity rates have nearly doubled
- Percentage of adults with diabetes has increased 300%
- The average size dress a women bought in 1985 was a size 8, today that average is a size 14
- Women today eat an average of 385 extra calories a day as compared to the 1980's.
I found this all so disturbing. I really want to know what has changed so I can reverse the trend for my kids.
On the fitness blog discussion, the idea of how fast our society moves came up; we rely on fast food, too, much. My mom mentioned that 1980 was about the time she got her first microwave. She thought it might be an interesting study to look at how that has changed our food. Maybe, but I think more than anything, the introduction of the microwave signaled the time when convenience became most important. We want food NOW, and we settle for fake food because it comes quicker.
I was also thinking about how our lives have shifted indoors, we're more sedentary, and more isolated leading to lack of movement and more depression. I don't know. I've heard people talk about this before, but nothing is changing. We are just moving forward, getting bigger, and more unhealthy.
What has happened to us? I'm curious about your thoughts:
-What do you think is to blame for these dramatic changes?
-What do you think parents need to do to help our kids stay healthy?
Oh and by the way....Back to Biggest Loser....Go Michelle!
I've been watching the Biggest Loser this season, (Boo Vicky! Boo Heba!)and on this last episode they did a tribute to the 1980's. Sticking with their theme, the challenge this week involved a trivia game comparing health facts from the 80's with present day.
It was interesting and depressing to learn how much our society has changed since 1980. Here were a few facts that stuck out to me:
- Obesity rates have nearly doubled
- Percentage of adults with diabetes has increased 300%
- The average size dress a women bought in 1985 was a size 8, today that average is a size 14
- Women today eat an average of 385 extra calories a day as compared to the 1980's.
I found this all so disturbing. I really want to know what has changed so I can reverse the trend for my kids.
On the fitness blog discussion, the idea of how fast our society moves came up; we rely on fast food, too, much. My mom mentioned that 1980 was about the time she got her first microwave. She thought it might be an interesting study to look at how that has changed our food. Maybe, but I think more than anything, the introduction of the microwave signaled the time when convenience became most important. We want food NOW, and we settle for fake food because it comes quicker.
I was also thinking about how our lives have shifted indoors, we're more sedentary, and more isolated leading to lack of movement and more depression. I don't know. I've heard people talk about this before, but nothing is changing. We are just moving forward, getting bigger, and more unhealthy.
What has happened to us? I'm curious about your thoughts:
-What do you think is to blame for these dramatic changes?
-What do you think parents need to do to help our kids stay healthy?
Oh and by the way....Back to Biggest Loser....Go Michelle!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Keeping Grandma Happy
Grandma demanded more videos of Prince Charming. I aim to please. : )
That son of mine does not perform on command, but he did give me a little charm. I just had to work for it. : )
That son of mine does not perform on command, but he did give me a little charm. I just had to work for it. : )
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
