Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Blessings 650 - 655

650. Hiking in the beautiful woods yesterday with friends.


651. our navy blue house


652. 8:06 and Sam is still sleeping - probably has something to do with the fact that he was still playing on my phone in bed next to me at 10:30 last night when I rolled over and fell asleep.


653. Friend's faith as she deals with heartache and joy simultaneously.


654. Lazy mornings.


655. Sam's little and fast footsteps coming to greet me and ask for juice.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Blessings 637 - 649

637. Sam is still sleeping this morning at 7:58.


638. Ed was my helper in Sunday School yesterday.


639. Good weekend of celebrating our good friends who are moving across the state. Grilling out and euchre, potluck and stories, commissioning service at church. They will be missed, but God has great things in store for them, I know.


640. The life of my dear friend's grandfather. He passed away last night and I am thankful for the legacy he leaves behind for his family.


641. Sam just woke up. Snuggling next to me.


642. iPads.


643. Parents departed on their cruise from Denmark yesterday! Got an email from them - after some travel glitches, they're having a great time.


644. sunlight blinding me.


645. Hearing Claudia play the piano.


646. Seeing Jake helping a friend's baby girl yesterday.


647. Jake's face, his dimples, his lack of front teeth.


648. Sam's hair, its wildness, its curls, its bouffant-ness.


649. Claudia's little girl-ness. She still likes to cuddle, she's a wild and crazy thing at times, she puts together crazy outfits and doesn't care what she looks like - which is always adorable to me.


Friday, May 31, 2013

Blessings 629 - 636

629. Seeing lots of kids running through my house and yard yesterday.


630. Spending the day with my sister-in-law.


631. Looking forward to a baby shower we are planning for my sis. She's more than halfway now and feeling great. Looking forward to seeing her and Joe with a baby in tow!


632. Playing with a flashlight with Sam in a darkened room, he turns to me and says, "You're my best. Mommy, you're my best."


633. Ed got home safely after a...


634. Successful day riding with his boss and...


635. A huge dinner program with 70+ people.


636. Able to send some of my long skirts and capris to Ethiopia. How fun for them! (Friend will wear them.)

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Blessings 616 - 628

616. A productive Memorial Day weekend: new flowers and shrubs planted.


617. And we paid to have our mulch laid this year. Yay.


618. And our house is becoming blue thanks to my two cousins who are painting it this summer! Love it!


619. We are DONE with school this year!!! Feels amazing to have Claudia finished with 3rd grade and Jake finished with kindergarten.


620. Did I mention Claudia is done with math for the year? Whew. That is a real blessing.


621. Root beer floats.


622. Friends who take my kids roller skating.


623. Time for Sam to be the big shot last night while his big bro and sis were gone. He enjoyed driving the 4-wheeler and Jeep around the yard and showing me tricks. I enjoyed the time with just him.


624. HUGE answer to prayer yesterday. Our friends have been waiting and waiting to be able to bring their son home from Ethiopia and they finally heard they get to go to his court date next Friday, which means they leave in less than a week. Praise the Lord. This news came on the same day they had sent out an email asking for more prayers. Thank you, God!


625. My parents leave today for a cruise to Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Russia, and Germany. I'm so happy for them!


626. Reading Winnie the Pooh with my kids. Cozy.


627. Hearing Jake read to me.


628. Sending Claudia to bed reading Harry Potter.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Blessings 607-615

607. Wow. I've been absent for so long. Here's to a month of blessings I've neglected to record.


608. Thankful this blog is free and remains here no matter how long I am away.


609. I was sick last night - the only real sickness I've had all year. Not bad. Plus, the next day, I had absolutely nothing planned. I laid in bed while the kids watched cartoons and, apparently, had a cereal fight in the basement. Now I have plans for tomorrow: cleaning it up.


610. Also plans to go to the skatepark today with the kids before school gets out and the yay-hoos overrun it. Glad I homeschool so we can take advantage of stuff like this.


611. By the way, I think I'm done with school for the year. Another year of homeschooling under my belt. Claudia is now a 4th grader and Jake is a 1st grader. Thankful we made it and sailed through another year.


612. Gorgeous sunlight streaming in through my living room windows this morning.


613. Windows my cleaning lady just washed.


614. Jake up next to me, looking cute.


615. me: Jake, what are you thankful for?
Jake: you.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Blessings 598-606

598. I've been so stressed about getting some Sunday School curriculum out for next month, but after prayer, God has taken away my anxiety and He woke me up every morning this week at 5am without an alarm to get it done.


599. I'm not so faithful in writing my blessings, but God's unfaithfulness is just one of His wonderful qualities that is UNCHANGING.


600. Phew. A sigh of relief after we also completed Claudia's science fair project for her Thursday School science fair last night.


601. Gorgeous sunshine yesterday.


602. Sam helping me stack wood in our yard, pushing the wheelbarrow, lifting logs, proud of his muscles.


603. Seeing my Dad last night at the science fair.


604. Jake's illness was over quickly.


605. Ben turned 7 yesterday. Thankful for such a good friend for Jake.


606. Quiet time in the morning!

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Blessing 597

597. Boys fishing w Daddy.

Blessing 596

596. This pic: what happens when Ed takes a walk w the kids. Love Jake's face.

Blessings 583 - 595

583. Games of Cranium.


584. Parents who swim at 10pm w my kids.


585. Most delicious soup ever last night.


586. Most delicious cheesecake ever last night, too. Holy moly.


587. Snuggly Sam. Unfortunately every night around 3am.


588. BSF on my phone this a.m.


589. Napping on the beach.


590. Yet another lesson on how to throw a football spiral from my dad.


591. Jumping waves with Sam.


592. Verse of the day from YouVersion: For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:20 NIV)


593. Gorgeous creation He has made. Did you know Anna Maria was voted the 4th most beautiful beach in the world by Trip Advisor? I'd have to agree it's way up there, though so is any beach along Lake Michigan..!


594. Love from friends.


595. My beautiful family.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Blessings 575 - 582

575. Walking on the beach with Ed and Sam.


576. Watching Ed play ALL day with the kids: finding sand dollars, building sand castles, hunting for crabs, flying kites, SINGING REALLY loudly, meeting friendly pelicans.


577. Going out for dinner w all 13 of us, finding a place w no wait and, not that I tried it, the best fish and chips ever.


578. Chocolate malt ice cream.


579. Watching ACMs w my sisters. (Country music awards)


580. Coffee on the lanai.


581. Did I mention gorgeous beach day?


582. My hilarious brother, though I could do without the mooning.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Blessings 568 - 574

568. Made it to Florida safely!


569. Trip was uneventful.


570. Sam was awesome in the car.


571. Doing puzzles with Sam in the car. Reminiscent of doing "puddies" with 2-year old Claudia during a FL trip. :(


572. Beach house is fab.


573. Pool!!!


574. Which Trey pooped in. Don't tell my Dad or Katie. Enjoying jokes about it w Steve and Meghan. "Papa said not to take a tortilla chip in the pool, Sam! That would be the grossest thing ever!!!"

Friday, April 5, 2013

Blessings 564 - 567

564. We leave today for Florida!!!


565. With only one kid in the car!!!


566. And a DVD player (enjoying memories right now of when my dad rigged up a mini TV and VCR for us kids in our Astrovan for trips to FL!).


567. Woke up early enough to visit Brooklyn Bagel, blog, and give myself a haircut before Sammy woke up.


Blessings 551 - 563

Pics from our cruise... See the iguana in the tree?

























Blessings 545 - 550

545. My parents flew Claudia and Jake to Florida with them early for a few days! So excited for them!


546. Quality Nana and Papa time for them = quality Sam time for me.


547. And quality Great Grandparent time for them.


548. How easy it was to pacify Sam that HE wasn't going early to FL. Promising him a movie in the afternoon instantly changed his whining from "I want to go with Nana and Papa!" to "I want to watch a movie!"


549. Pics sent from my parents - like this one of them before their first (memorable) plane ride.


550. They arrived safely. Exhale...




Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Monday, April 1, 2013

Blessings 530 - 542

530. Claudia reminding me to get back to our blog!!!


531. Claudia -- new life in Jesus.


532. Claudia -- that Jesus raised from the dead.


533. How God takes the old, the damaged, the broken, and makes us new, beautiful, whole.


534. That Ed and I have experienced that transformation!


535. Last counseling session Ed said he REALLY missed ME when he was in CA a couple weeks ago! Not just the kids!


536. Singing Christ the Lord is Risen Today.


537. My new couches.


538. Oh, and a new table.


539. Friends and seeing them at church yesterday, if only briefly.


540. My awesome cousin, college-age guy, who so sweetly offered to drive over and watch our kids whenever Ed and I need a night out.


541. And how he played with my kids yesterday at my parents' house for the afternoon.


542. Remembering the song my Mom taught me to sing in choir when I was a kid:
Every morning is Easter morning from now on,
Every day's resurrection day, the past is over and gone,
Good-bye guilt, good-bye fear, good riddance,
Hello joy, Hello sun
I am one of the Easter people,
My new life has begun!

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Blessings 524 - 529

524. Excitement about seeing kiddos tonight!!!


525. Talking with them on the phone.


526. Sam's adorable stutter, "And....and....and...and...Grandma said I was going to eat lunch and...and....and....and...go to bed and then I will see you."


527. Hearing the smile on Jake's face when he said, "Hi, Mom."


528. Predicting Claudia's answer when I ask her what she's doing. "Talking to you!"


529. Enjoying our time away but talking while we were gone about how much fun all of it would be to do with the kids someday.

Blessings 500 - 523

500. Telling Ed about my BSF lesson this morning, the story of Jacob working for Laban.

501. Chance to tell Ed he is a hard worker.


502. Mindless and fun game of BINGO.


503. Yummy lunch - cruise ship food is delicious!

504. Being able to spend $5s and $10s.


505. Shows on the cruise ship = delightfully cheesy.


506. Shows on the cruise ship = booked social calendar for the week.


507. Shows on the cruise ship = good excuse to drink an amaretto sour nightly.


508. Sunny and warm during the day and nothing to do but lay out in it.


509. Affection to my heart's content.


510. Knowing kids are in good hands...


511. And not having to know any issues going on.


512. Über-friendly staff on board.


513. Card games.


514. Gorgeous blue water. And by blue, I mean turquoise, aqua, royal, even perfect navy.


515. Riding behind Ed on a moped around Cozumel.


516. Hearing Ed say he feels like we're newlyweds again. He was being cheesy, but I do love cheese.


517. 5 night cruise = right amount away.


518. Husband who enjoys shopping w me.


519. Gorgeous sunset.


520. Beautiful sunrise.


521. Floating on this scary-big ocean.


522. Wonder at what is beneath the water!


523. Amazement at God's creation.





Blessings 494 -

494. Enjoying coffee while sitting on our deck, watching and listening to the waves of the Gulf of Mexico alongside our ship.


495. That's gotta be worth more than one blessing.


496. That's gotta be worth more than 2 blessings.


497. Oh, doing my BSF there, too.


498. And making a plan for Easter Sunday School there, too.


499. And reading my book, Joy in the Morning by Betty Smith, there, too.

Monday, March 11, 2013

Blessing 491 - 494

491. Instagram = feeling like a much better photographer instantly.


492. This photo from last summer.


493. My friend who took it - so I guess I'm not yet a better photographer, so just wait.


494. 7:55am and I've been doing my own thing (including uploading Instagram) for an hour and a half. Aaaahhhhh.....

Blessings 480 - 490

480. GOING ON A CRUISE WITH ED TODAY!!!


481. The money to do this.


482. Ed's accumulating airline miles = free flights.


483. Lots of nights with Ed away from home = free hotel stay.


484. Holding hands.


485. Excited Ed - so the kid in the candy shop right now!


486. Looking forward to wearing shorts today!!!


487. Looking forward to wearing a swimsuit later today!!!


488. Our awesome friends who are caring for our kids right now -- and those who wanted to but were hit by another illness. :(


489. My too-wonderful-for-words parents.


490. Ed's sweet, generous parents, too, so looking forward to having our kids for a few nights and taking them to Bounceland.

Blessings 474 - 479

474. My sweet, scared, brave girl played two piano pieces for a judge at the St. Cecilia Music Society in GR this past Saturday.


475. We had wonderful, prayerful company on the way there - friend joined us.


476. Answered prayer -- found the site and parking and Claudia's teacher with NO problems.


477.Claudia got a Superior rating! So proud of her no matter her score!


478. Enjoyed Panera afterwards.


479. Girl time.


Sunday, March 10, 2013

Blessings 464 - 473

464. Drinking coffee with my mom


465. Eating fudge with my mom AND dad


466. Jake's Humor.

me: Jake, stop sucking your thumb.

Jake: But it's my specialty.

and another time...me: Jake, stop sucking your thumb.

Jake: But it's my professional thing.


467. Hearing what a good boy Jake was up at the cabin with my parents and cousins, Kim and Kirk.


468. Knowing he had that special time alone with those 4 very special adults.


469. Hearing how smart he is and what a mathematical mind God has given him.
at the cabin, Jake: There are 10 cinnamon rolls and 4 people. So...2 people can have 2 and 2 people can have 3.

470. Another mathematical moment from Jake.
Jake: Mom, how much did that remote control car cost that Marcy and Ryan bought me?

me: $25.

Jake: I have $290 in the bank, so that means I can buy 11 of them.

I don't know how he did that, but I think he was right!


471. Hearing other cute things he talked about at the cabin with my parents... "Nana, did you bring up this coffee pot or was it here? Did you bring up that chair or was it here? What things were already at the cabin when you came up the first time? So, what did you bring from home?"


472. The fact that he knows EVERYONE's age in our family. Except Uncle Joe - I stumped him with that one the other day.


473. How handsome my Jakey is!

Blessings 412 - 463 Memories from our Cabin Trip!