Gratitude

Gratitude - The state of being grateful; thankfulness.
It is so important to be grateful and content with your gifts in life. Especially now with all of the horrible images and stories coming from places like Haiti where people have lost EVERYTHING.
Even though things could be SO MUCH worse on a personal level, I have many friends who are so negative about their lot in life right now. I must admit, I have been slipping into that trap more and more lately, and quite frankly, it makes me mad!
So I am playing Pollyanna and twisting my complaints into something useful and GRATEFUL!
*Laundry is a thankless, never ending chore.
Having clothes to wear and to wash is a blessing. My children are clothed and I don't need to haul my supplies to a laundromat or worse to a river to beat them against rocks to keep them clean!

*I am so tired of having to come up with a menu and cook everyday.
There are people in the world who don't have the luxury of variety in their diet or food at all. I am thankful that I have 5 grocery stores within 2 miles of my home where I can shop for our supplies. Our budget may not be large, but we are able to keep our children fed. Cooking is one of my creative outlets and I ENJOY using my talents to feed my family.

*I wish my husband didn't work such long, weird hours.
My husband has a job and most days he really enjoys what he does for a living!

*My kids drive me crazy!
Some women never know the joy of bearing or raising children of their own. I am blessed to have had three healthy pregnancies and three healthy, strong children.

*My house is too small for five people. I HAVE to decorate it on a budget. My furniture is OLD! Nothing matches! Whaaaaa!
We have a roof over our heads. Our house is small, but do we really need more space to fill with junk or clean? Our family is forced to spend lots of time together because there is little space for privacy, and that isn't necessarily a bad thing! :) I enjoy finding bargains and take pride in knowing that the china cabinet you admire so much in my dining room was a thrift store find that actually dates back to the Civil War! Every bit of furniture and decor has a history and I like that. My house will never be in a magazine or a catalog and that's okay! A real family lives here.

So what things can you turn from complaints into blessings?

Tomorrow is always fresh

What is it about a New Year that makes people want to completely change their lives or circumstances? Its something as simple as seeing a fresh clean calendar page, writing in a new diary, coming up for air after the holidays to find that we are all still here!
I love the writings of Lucy Maud Montgomery and was introduced to the Anne of Green Gable series when I was around ten. I felt that Anne was a kindred spirit and I connected with her troubles and tenacity through every scrape and mistake. She was just like me in so many ways! But the one thing that always spoke to me was Anne's favorite saying, "Tomorrow is always fresh with no mistakes in it".
I am jumping on the band-wagon and joining Anne with her approach to life! I worry far too much about things I have no control over. And if I make a mistake, there is always tomorrow!

Its Time

Its time to use this blog for what I set it up for. To stay in touch with my friends and family across the country. To have a space to write and process things in my life. To meet other people who share the same thoughts or to start a dialogue at the very least.

Break is over

I didn't plan on it, but I took a break from blogging for the summer. I keep getting phone calls and e-mails from friends reminding me to update this more often, so I will!

School is almost out for the year!

My children have only 4 more days until they are free!!!
I am putting together a camp schedule for the summer so that we can all have fun. But - I still have to work and I want them to continue working on what they have been doing in school.
I asked the children to choose 2 themes each. So far our summer vacation looks like this so far:
June7-13 - Dinosaurs!
14-20 - VBS and then Mad Scientists
21-27 - Under the Sea
28 - July 4 - USA
5-11 - Pirates
12-18 - Ancient Egypt
19-25 Outer Space
26-August 1 - Pioneer Days

I still have two weeks to decide on themes and we may rearrange the schedule based on Daddy's days off and our family "field trip" for the week.
Each week we will work on projects related to the theme: Art, Cooking, Stories, Science, etc. I also want to incorporate a Bible Verse and some worksheet stuff into each theme.
I plan to take the kids to one of the $1 movies at AMC on Wednesdays and then go swimming and Grandma and Papas house.
More to come!

Never underestimate

As most of my friends know, I tend to be conservative in my political views. I found this on another blog and I think it speaks volumes.

Visitor in the neighborhood

The garbage men came by this afternoon to pick up yard waste - exciting, no? The neighbor's dogs were barking and at first, I chalked it up to the weekly greeting they give the garbage men. But, they didn't stop, so I poked my head outside and saw something scrambling across the neighbor's lawn. Can you guess what it was?

It was bookin' its way across our neighbors yard and into the yard of the people behind her. I had to convince my kids that we couldn't have another pet right now and that this guy was perfectly fine on his own.
I hope your day was as exciting as ours!