30 Days of Gratitude.....day 6

November 6th:

Today I am thankful that my husband loves me. He is my help-mate. My kiss from heaven.
I am feeling under the weather today and he has lovingly picked up the slack for what I am not able to do and even though I know it is not how he was hoping to be able to spend his day off, he has taken care of the kids and even patiently rearranged the living room for me simply because I wanted it done. He never complains even though I am SURE I've given him reasons on many occasions to do so. He just loves me. Remember in the movie Princess Bride where Wesley always tells Buttercup "As you wish" because he loves her? Yeah, that's my husband. He's my Wesley. I love him with all my heart and he is the biggest and best blessing God ever gave me. I'm thankful for him today.

30 days of Gratitude...days 3, 4, and 5...

November 3rd:

Today I'm thankful for "Mom's Night Off" times and that I get to spend a little time connecting with my friends again. My husband has always been very good about letting me have days "off".

Being a mom is a lot of hard work and sometimes (especially after particularly difficult days) it is necessary for us moms to take a little time for ourselves. I know I can sometimes feel like my entire identity is all wrapped up in being my kids' Mama. At times, I've found myself feeling like I can't remember what life was like before kids. having a night occasionally to myself helps me remember some of those bigger-than-the-present-moment type goals I have for my life.

November 4th:

Today I'm thankful we finished all of our home school subjects by noon so we could have a half day. Trust me, it's the little things like this that make my day sometimes. We had a good day today. The kids earned their first Book-It coupon for a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut so we met Dad for lunch, which was fun and yummy. Then little Z-man got to spend the rest of the day tagging along with Dad at work while the rest of us headed north to drop B at her volleyball practice (where big sis came to encourage her and walk her home afterward) and Big E and I drove up to the eye doc's to pick up his much needed new pair of glasses. I love it when busy days work out well. It makes the tiredness more worth it at the end of the day.

and November 5th:

I'm so thankful for the ending of Daylight Savings time. I am really happy to have that hour back!
And I actually got to sleep in until 10a this morning! Whoa. That was such a nice blessing. Especially since I'm not feeling completely up to par lately. Having that extra rest was lovely.

Dad is putting Big E to work alongside him today and now, the girls and little Z-man and I are getting ready for a little friend's 8th birthday party this afternoon. Little man doesn't even mind that he will be the only little guy amidst 10 little girls at Autumn's tea party birthday because he LOVES tea and the cupcake is a bonus :)  He's such a little stud.

So, what are YOU thankful for?.........

30 Days of Gratitude.....days 1 and 2

Hello everyone! Can you believe it? November already. Where has this year gone?
There are only two months left in the year. 

The last couple months have come with mixed emotions here in our house. Homeschooling is harder than we were hoping, yet at the same time it comes with even greater rewards than we thought it would. Some days are way better than others and some days make us just want to climb back in bed and cry our eyes out with frustration.

Speaking of frustration, recently we had to deal with replacing the transmission in our primary vehicle, the '04 Honda Odyssey. After paying for WAY more than we intended and dealing with ridiculous obstacle after obstacle (like getting our transmission accidentally sent to Washington......we live in Oregon), we finally have a working vehicle again. We've owned the van for about three and a half years and up until October had absolutely no trouble with it at all. It still holds the record as the most reliable vehicle we've ever owned despite it's tranny trouble. On a slight side note, there are lots of ways to test a person's attitude, but I think car trouble has got to be somewhere near the top. My husband and I had many opportunities to practice our virtue muscles!

Well, looking back on that whole trial and with this being the beginning of the Thanksgiving month, I have decided to post at least one thing every day that I'm grateful for. After all, God is good ALL the time, right? This month will be my 30 days of Gratitude. Feel free to join me! If you do, please add a link to your post in the comments to this one. I would love to read what you all are thankful for.

So.......here goes (one for yesterday and another for today):

November 1:
I am immensely thankful that today was a far better day than yesterday. His mercies are truly new every single morning.

November 2:
Today, I am grateful that the sun came out even though it's quite cold outside. Sunshine always brightens everyone's spirits. It's made today better than it was.

Ok, there you have it. Let's hear what you're thankful for................