Day 14 of 365...

Day 14 of 365... Thankful for the internet.

...because, without it, there are soooo many people  I would lose touch with. I tried to avoid facebook for two years, but after a little peer pressure I gave in and joined the ranks of the facebook society. It helps me feel connected, which is good, because as a 'stay at home mom' I tend to feel isolated from the rest of the world at times.

Like anything else, I think there is a right and a wrong way to use it. And I have seen so many people abuse it, and seen/read many things I wish I had not. But I use it for it's helpful attributes. And I am glad we have access to it =)

Day 13 of 365...

Day 13 of 365... Thankful for little 'keep-sakes.'

Most of you will look at this picture and see a cooking utensil, but it is much more than that to me. I look at this and see a little piece of my great-grandmother, "Nanny Silk." Each time I use this ladle in my own meal preparation I still feel that little child inside of me, anxious for whatever she was cooking to be ready to eat...  You see, this was hers. And when I was little, I thought her cooking was the best! To this day I still would give a million dollars just to taste her food.

I may not be the great cook that she was, but when I use this ladle in my own kitchen today, I feel like a tiny bit of my Nanny Silk is with me. And the memories of her are precious to me.

Day 12 of 365...

Day 12 of 365... Thankful for happy children!

Today I am thankful that my children are happy and well adjusted. Many may take this for granted, but if you have happy, well adjusted babies you should really be thankful. My kids have so much fun together, and they enjoy each other.

I worried and worried when I was pregnant with our second child that I was taking away somehow from our first, even though the entire reason I wanted to have a second baby was so that our first would have someone for the rest of his life that he shared a bond with. Seeing them now, together, and how much fun they have together, is priceless to me.

We worried about the age gap- but I see in my boys that they are perfect for each other, and God, as usual, knew best. The 2.5 years (and one day! haha) age difference works well for them, and for us. Each and every day with my boys is so fun, and I wouldn't trade the lack of sleep and loads of laundry and messes for anything else in the world. =)

Day 11 of 365...

Day 11 of 365... Thankful for dinner with my family.

Tonight's menu: ''Chicken-a-la-king' with a side salad, and a big helping of togetherness.

Today I am grateful that my husband, boys, and I can all sit down and enjoy a meal together.

When I was a child and I pictured myself as a 'grown up' with a family of my own, I pictured that my husband and children and I would all sit down together in the evenings and have dinner together. Many people probably may not think twice about this, but as a child who grew up in a split family I so desperately wanted that home with a 'Mommy, Daddy, and 2.5 kids'. (I always wondered what the ".5" was, I assume now that maybe the '.5' is the family pet, since he was sortof our practice child, haha!)

Today I am the Mommy, with a husband of my own --and he is a fine Daddy to our two boys. He was not put on a day time schedule where he could be home with us in the evenings until a few months after the birth of our second child. Having him here in the evenings is wonderful for several reasons; mostly for the babies, who get to spend more quality time with their Daddy ... but for us as well as our family as a whole.

He is finally here, at home, for dinner time- and as we all sit at the table, bow our heads and thank God for the meal before us and another day that He has given us, I also thank Him for this time together with my family.

Day 10 of 365...

Day 10 of 365: Thankful for song-writers who get 'it'.

(I suppose I could also title this "Thankful for music, for allowing me to create a soundtrack of my life.")

There is one song in particular which touches me. I cried the first time I heard it. John Mayer is the writer and singer, and part of the chorus says:

"Fathers be good to your daughters

Daughters will love like you do,

Girls become lovers, who turn in to mothers,

So mothers be good to your daughters too..."

Having been the child of a so called 'broken home' and living through one bad divorce between my mother and father, my childhood was one that I could never wish upon a child. When I heard this song, I felt like it could have been written for me, or about me. To listen to this song (even today, although now I am at peace with whatever feelings once ailed me over broken relationships within my life from childhood to adulthood) is therapy. While I am grateful now for the lessons I have learned from other peoples' choices, I spent many days sad over those choices my own parents made. My father battled his own demons for years before finally walking a path that would bring him closer to God (and I am so proud of him today!) and my mother chose to opt out of her role as a parent after only 9 short years. I credit the choices of my predecessors partly in my own choices (both good and bad) which have been made in my own relationships. Yes, I love that John Mayer song. It is one on the 'soundtrack' of my life.

Whether I want to hear something to remind me to look to my God, or to get me energized for the day with a little heavier guitar riff, I have a song for that. If I'm angry and need to hear someone sing something a little less 'rainbows and sunshine', I have a song for that. I have songs I sing to my children to get them to sleep, songs that my husband and I sing which take us back to our dating days when we drove around Grayson for hours on end just enjoying each other, I have a song to take me back to that. There is another song which reminds me of my parents' divorce. Strange enough, today it comforts me in a way it didn't 20 years ago. I have songs that remind me of my teenage years with my friends in highschool. Mostly those songs make me miss my friends, but I am thankful for the memories we made together. 

There is a country song that goes something like this, and it sums this post up pretty perfectly:

"Aint it funny how a melody can bring back a memory?

Take you to another place and time

Completely change your state of mind..." 



Day 9 of 365...

Day 9 of 365...Thankful for extra 'free time' with my hubby!

Due to a new schedule at work, the hubster got 3 days off in a row over the weekend instead of his usual two in a row. This actually put me a day behind on my blog, and I couldn't be happier. I would take more time with B over sitting in front of the computer wasting time ANY day!

Day 8 of 365...

Day 8 of 365... Thankful for the wisdom of couples who have chosen 'forever' together...



To the left, are Brandon's grandparents, who celebrated 65 years of marriage last week. To the right, are my grandparents, who married at only 16, never stopped loving each other, and chose to spend their senior days together, until my Papaw went to be with the Lord a few years ago. 

The wisdom, life experience, and advice of couples like this is priceless to me. I could sit for hours upon hours and listen to these couples talk about marriage, the struggles, and choices they made along the way to get to where they are in life together. They are the best kind of role models.

In my life I have seen too many marriages that fell apart, for whatever reasons. Some valid, and some that just didn't make any sense at all. I think too often in today's world that when things get tough people tend to just quit, rather than 'keep on truckin' and stick it out. It makes me sad. Granted there are some instances where I understand the choice people make to end their marriage, but for me personally, my husband and I have chosen to stick it out and make things work.

Do we love each other? Absolutely. Do we drive each other insane at times? Without a doubt! Have their been times when we wanted to punch each other in the face and run as far away from each other as possible? I'd be lieing if I said no. But even on those days when I was so mad at him that I couldn't look at him, there was still no one else in the world that I wanted to talk to.  But we love each other and we love our children and we have chosen to work through the hard times. And we hope to one day celebrate 65 years of marriage together; to sit in our home one day and enjoy our grandchildren together; to one day be 'that couple' who can pass down the same wisdom of our grandparents to our children and grandchildren that I so appreciate today.