Thankful #13

Since I am behind I am going to combine several things I am grateful for into one post. Today I am thankful for my husband, Adam.

#8: I love being in another room listening to my kids giggle uncontrollably while Adam plays with them. He is full of a silliness and playfulness that both of our kids love and respond so well to. When I hear their giggles, it makes my heart melt and it reminds me just how lucky I am.

#9: I am thankful for Adam stepping up to help our family while I have been so sick. Today he knew I was in a lot of pain and pain medicine just wouldn't cut it. When he got home from work he told me to take a break, I was able to relax and watch Once Upon a Time while he played with the kids and made dinner. It was just what Dr. Mom ordered. Laying down for 45 minutes might not seem like a lot, but it made a world of difference to me today.

(See previous posts for #s 10 and 11.)

#12: I am thankful that Adam puts the well being of our family above what his own wants might be. Instead of allowing an imminent layoff catch us unprepared, he was proactive in looking for and applying for new jobs. I can't say much about the situation right now, but I will say he won't have any time off this winter. It is a tender mercy of the Lord that for the first time in several years Adam won't be out of work right before the holidays.

Thankful #11

Today I am thankful for all of the veteran's who have sacrificed time out of their lives to protect our country and our freedoms. I am especially thankful for both of my grandpas, Richard Harline and Joseph King, who served in World War II. Thank you for keeping us safe!

Thankful #10

I'm a little behind on my expressing my gratitude. I'll work on catching up soon.

On Sunday I was so thankful for the sweet spirits of the primary children at church. They have been working hard all year to learn songs and their spoken parts. I was so proud of all of them at church when they sang their little hearts out and shared their testimonies, as simple as they are at this age.

Thankful #7

Today I am thankful for my son's karate class. A boy at school started punching Matt during recess and because of karate, he knew what to do. He told the boy to stop and when the other kid didn't stop, Matt used his blocking techniques that he learned in karate until a teacher saw what was going on and stopped the situation. He told me that he didn't punch back because his karate teacher told him he couldn't punch kids at school. He did the right thing and kept the situation from escalating. A couple of years ago that would have turned into an outright brawl. I am thankful for karate which teaches Matt the appropriate time and place to engage.

Matt in his karate uniform. He officially gets his yellow belt next Thursday!

Thankful #6

Today I am so thankful for the fact that I have been asked to give a talk on gratitude in Sacramento meeting in two weeks. It is forcing me to think even more about the many blessings I have and how much the Lord has given me.

Thankful #5

Today I am grateful for children's ibuprofen. My daughter is either teething or growing (I'm not sure which). She has also been up since 4:45 and my son has been up since 5:15. Advil is the only thing that has cut my daughter's screaming down from a full voiced shriek to a more manageable whimper. And the girl takes after her cheerleader mother, she has a loud voice.


Today I have also prepared a bonus blessing. I am thankful for bedtime. Mine and the kids'.

Thankful #4

I have graded 34 sophomore essays in the last 6 days with another 31 to grade by Friday. I have another 36 junior essays coming in on Friday. For those of you who are like me, not inclined to do math voluntarily, that makes for 101 essays to grade in 3 weeks.

Today I am thankful for a website called turnitin.com. This site is a Godsend to the beleaguered English teacher. It checks for plagiarism and keeps a database of every essay submitted by every student at RHS. I don't have to worry that my students' work is their own. It also helps me check the grammar in the essays so I don't have to mark up all of the students mistakes, I just have to check for accuracy. This one website has made my job so much easier and has saved me countless hours in grading. I am so thankful that I can focus on grading student essays for content instead of mechanics.

I know this isn't a fancy thing to be grateful for, but it is usually the simple things in life that make it so much easier to cope with everything else.

Thankful #3

Today I am thankful for my wonderful daughter, Mia.

She has such an enthusiasm for life.

Mia is almost 20 months old and a little spit fire:

• She is a little ball of energy, the girl seriously never stops moving.
• She is learning how to talk, she is saying about one new word a day.
• Even when she isn't saying anything discernible, her mouth is always going a million miles a minute. I wish I knew what she was trying to say because that little girl has a lot to say. It would be wonderful to get inside her head.
• She loves her naked baby dolls. She refuses to leave clothes on the dolls and only puts them in clothes to have the joy of taking them off. Unfortunately, she thinks every baby she sees is a doll and wants to play with real babies the same way she plays with her dolls.
• She equally loves building towers with Legos, playing with swords, and with any other toy her brother happens to be playing with at the time.
• She loves to ride her scooter around the backyard.
• She loves to show affection for everyone, she loves to give hugs, kisses, high fives, and claps when you do something well.
• She is very stubborn and opinionated and even though she can't yet say the words, she knows how to get her point across (we fondly refer to it as "baby cussing").
• She is very independent. It is a daily battle to keep Mia from running into the classroom and going to school with big brother. She has no problem walking up to a complete stranger and sharing her baby, her food, or just giving them a hug.
• Happiness and joy radiate for her. She is one of the happiest children I have ever met. She brings that joy to the rest of the family as well.

The world became a better, happier place the day she was born.

Thankful #2

Today I am thankful for my wonderful, crazy, active little five year old son.

Matt's kindergarten picture.

This picture pretty much shows Matt's goofy personality.

• At the age of five Matt is in kindergarten.
• He asks a million questions a day. His little mind is so full of curiosity and wonder. He helps me to appreciate the simple things in life every day.
• He is working towards earning his yellow belt in Karate (testing is Tuesday).
• He loves to play baseball. He is a much better batter than catcher, but he's working on learning how to catch without getting hit.
• He loves to play soccer.
• He loves to play in the backyard with his mama, dad, and sister.
• He loves his little sister, that is when he's not frustrated with her taking his toys.
• He tries his hardest in everything he does.
• He is a perfectionist and is learning that it is ok to make mistakes. He always reminds himself that only Jesus was perfect so it is ok when he is not perfect.
• He loves to read new books.
• He excels in math and science at school, but is still working on learning to read. 
• He fills my life with laughter and energy and I love him to the moon and back.  

Thankful #1

It has been a really long time since I have blogged, and an even longer time since I have like a real human being. I have been feeling a lot like Eeyore lately so I decided to jump on the November thankful bandwagon. I am hoping that this list will help lift my spirits this month and help me focus on all of the wonderful blessings I have in my life, because they are many and plentiful.

No more Eeyore!

Thankful #1:
I have been terribly sick ever since I got pregnant with my daughter (who is now 20 months old). I had morning sickness the entire pregnancy and I longed for the day that I would have her and the nausea and vomiting would miraculously disappear. To make a long story short, it didn't go away and I continued to feel terrible on a daily basis. The last two months have been particularly bad so I finally broke down and saw my doctor. She ran a bunch of tests to try to discern what exactly was wrong with me. Many of the tests she ran were to determine if I have cancer. After waiting for almost two weeks, I finally received the biopsy results: I DON'T HAVE CANCER!

Being cancer free is something most people take for granted. But for me, I am celebrating the fact that all of my tests came back normal. While I am still feeling sick, everything seems just a bit more manageable without the threat of cancer hanging over my head. Now, on to to figuring out how to make myself healthy again... It will be a long road, but worth it in the end.