counting blessings... even when you don't feel like it!

I almost didn't add to my #1000gifts list this week... it was just your average week of ups and downs... and when I sat down to type, my mind was drawing a blank.  you see, I know that God has been good to me, and that He has lavished me with gifts this week, but today I am moping... wishing that I was a writer and could write poetically.  I also knew that I wasn't going to get linked up to Ann Voskamp's Multitude Monday until it was almost Tuesday, which means not many people would click over to my page... but I KNOW that it isn't about people reading my blog, it is about me giving glory to God in all things... the mundane, the victories, the heartache, whatever!  So here I am trying to plunk out a few more gifts on my list!

353. teaching my 7 year old how to tie his shoe (yes, I am a slacker mother)
354. fresh snow (which is all gone now, thanks to rain)
355. grilled turkey and cheese on Rye Bread
356. Washing machines,
357. grocery stores,
358. libraries,
359. my 5 & 7YO washing and drying the dishes (and the 4YO getting her hands wet)

360. winning a Free Dominos pizza on twitter!
361. coffee and conversation with friends... TWICE
362. Shamrock shake from McDonald's
363. making muffins for breakfast when there is a 2-hr delay!
364. remembering 5 years ago
365. Foil-packet crockpot tilapia, Parmesan couscous, roasted vegetables for dinner
366. watching Cosby show reruns on Netflix .... I laughed and laughed!!
367. seeing God's creation in our back field... even if it's scary coyote!!

368. watching my son test in Karate... and remember more than I thought he would!
369. being the "tooth fairy" ... and having my son say "I think I know who the tooth fairy is"
270. Teeccino
271. commissioning a young couple from our church, now working with Vision for Youth in Michigan
272. getting both my bathrooms clean today!
273. family laughter around the dinner table tonight!!
274. using my twitter feed to remember the gifts I received this week!!

linking up to

Karate Testing

Thursday night was my son's first testing for Karate... he doesn't practice much at home, so I was very nervous for him and how much he would remember, but he was adorable and did a great job (as far as I can tell, we didn't get the results yet)... but I am linking up to Boys in Motion with a few of the pictures I took.

So proud of my little boy!!

Five Years Ago

Five Minute Friday prompt from The Gypsy Mama... "give me your best five minutes on life five years ago."

START

Five years ago, I was living in denial... two months of denial!! I was pregnant AGAIN!! How did this happen? (don't answer that, I do know) My second born was only 9 months old, my first born not even 3!! Me, the girl who hated babysitting while growing up... and who refused to change diapers when I did!

My husband was thrilled, he always wanted a large family.
My Dad thought God had a sense of humor... and he called me Fertile Myrtle!
I worried and fretted and complained and didn't want to tell anyone!!

How would we afford another child? where would he/she fit in our TWO bedroom trailer? There isn't room for another crib! I will have 2 in diapers for ever! WHY ME??? I had many friends around me that were trying so hard to get pregnant and have kids... and me, I didn't have to try AT ALL!!

Plus there was the whole sinus/cold sickness!! I always got it when pregnant and could never treat it properly with the pregnancy! Seriously, I had sinus issues from January till May!!

The end of February was where I finally started coming to terms with the idea... it seriously did take me two months. I even shared it on my blog in February (back then I was on XANGA)

Now, I have an adorable 4 1/2 year old little girl, who is my cuddle bug!!

STOP

Family Traditions

Do you have any family traditions??  we don't have many, but as the kids get older, I think more are creating themselves!  They make me smile... this is what memories are made of, even when the event itself is not perfect!!  I am learning to let go of perfections.

One of our family traditions is the Clarks Summit Festival of Ice... which makes me wonder, how many years have we been doing this... pardon me, while I go check my photo files... okay, so it's only been three years, but the year before that I had a one month old, not too conducive to freezing our butts off outside!  :)  it always looks a little different, and sometimes we get involved in the extra activities, but it ALWAYS includes breakfast at Krispy Kreme and walking through town taking pictures of all the ice sculptures!!  So here is a little bit of our adventure in pictures! (and some of my #1000 gifts along the way)

336. little girls and donuts with pink and red sprinkles

 

337. little boys and wide open mouths

338. Angel creme donuts... delish!!

339. precious time with family
340. a fully involved and engaged husband and daddy!

341. cheesy grins on adorable little girls

342. Ice sculptures

343. imaginations... "Mommy, I'm riding the carriage"

344. Generous people to take a whole family photo!!!

345. Warming centers... to thaw out and get a snack/lunch
346. Motrin... to help my "getting sick" little girl make it through the morning

 ... it was in the 50s on Friday the first day of the festival, so the sculptures wilted a little by the time we saw them on Saturday when it was back in the 20s and WINDY cold!!
(this is what's left of Peter Pan, Captain Hook, and Tinkerbell)

347. Family Traditions
348. photographs to reminisce


and a few other photos and gifts this week...

 349. candle light

350. fire light

351. sunlight... (on the trees in the first pic of the moon)
352. and moon light

Linking to...

friendship in five minutes

START

So, can you really talk about friendship in five minutes???  My mind has been a jumble lately, and I really didn't want to do this #FiveMinuteFriday, but I am always looking for blog ideas, and Lisa-Jo hands me one every Friday.... cause that's what FRIENDS do! :)

Friends ...the one I grew up with, we talked about boys, fought over boys, had sleepovers, had the best of times, had the worst of fights, we have both moved away from home... and thanks to Facebook, we are still friends!

Friends ... my junior high friend... best of friends for ONE year and then she moved away, we wrote letters and visited each other a few times... and then we lost touch!!  I still think about her ALL the time

Friends ... college years, I forged new paths, broke out of my shell a little bit and made friends that ... thanks to facebook, we still keep in touch

Friends ... the ones I have now, my mom friends, they know what I am going through, they understand, we share laughter and tears and most importantly PRAYERS

Friends ... the older women in my life who mentor me, keep me accountable, love me and pray for me

and Friends... the ones I have never met, but I still love to exchange words with on Twitter and blogs

STOP

not enough time to talk about friends!!

Wear Love ...and other verses I need

This year, I am participating in the LPM Blog Siesta Scripture Memory Team #SSMT on twitter  I know that I need to hide God's Word in my heart, and the accountability is definitely helping.  Yesterday, I realized that the 15th was coming and that meant it was time for another verse... I had nothing.  So I decided to read through the comments of those that had already chosen their verse for the second half of February!  The first verse I read, just slammed me!!

“And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.” Colossians 3:14 The Message

I did a great job of putting on love yesterday... being Valentine's Day and all.  But today... not so much!!  My kids have felt the brunt of my grumpy attitude; I know I need an attitude adjustment!  So I knew that this was the verse I will be working on for the rest of this month!!  But I didn't stop reading, I kept reading verses and kept finding more great verses that I have memorized before, or that I need to add to my list... so I am going to give my Top Ten Scriptures (in KJV) from the comments of SSMT verse 4!

Colossians 3:12-14  Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;  Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.  And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
(PUT ON LOVE... it holds everything together!)
 
Proverbs 15:28 The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things.
(think before you speak)

1 John 3:20  For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
(don't beat yourself up when you make a mistake... get up and move on)

Isaiah 40:29  He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
(when I have nothing left, He gives me strength)

John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
(it's not about me)

Psalm 138:8 The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.
(God hasn't forgotten my requests, God's love endures forever)

Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
(oh, my mouth is soo powerful... too powerful!  May what I say, may my heart be God's heart!)

I Peter 3:3-4 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;  But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
(once again, it's the inside that makes me beautiful to God and those around me... not my fading looks)

Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
(I am resting in His love today... He rejoices in me!)

Ephesians 5:18-20 but be filled with the Spirit;  Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;  Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
(...filled with the Spirit, giving thanks always)

linked to

Happy Valentines Day

315. A day to celebrate love
316. a new recipe for school treat cookies

317. Pink, Red, White

318. handmade valentines from my hubby and kids
319. Red tablecloths
320. free printables on the internet

321. heart shaped muffin tins
322. cinnamon struesel muffins

 323. heart shaped peanut butter sandwiches in my kids lunches

 324. pretty pictures

 325. Valentines muffin cups

326. decorating my "mantle" for Valentines Day

 327. Fun Valentine Crafts... found here on the internet!

328. My Valentine's door hanger (plate from Target and some heart ribbon)
329. My Red Front Door (such a gift from God... someday I will tell you about it)

 330. Socks with HEARTS!!

 331. Heart stamped paper in my coasters

 332. Dessert for tonight!!

333. A husband to love, and who loves me
334. Hugs and kisses from my four kids
335. Sunshine... God's valentine to me!!

still adding to my #1000 gifts list!!

I made a card!!

 It took all my energy just to make this card and take pictures of it... I have nothing left to actually write a post on what I did.  I am not good (in that I never) take pictures of the process, so here is the finished product.

I started with this sketch from Heart 2 Heart Challenges, using hearts for Off the Wall Craftiness Challenge 45, and working with this Honeysuckle color scheme as part of the CSI project....

I bought a new baby stamp set in anticipation of my new nephew that's coming this spring... but I will have to redo this card in a different color for him, but if you know of any baby girls coming and love this card... let me know, I can put it up for sale in my Whimsical Words shop... or you can make one yourself.

The hearts are punched out with Creative Memories (no-longer-available) heart punch. baby feet stamped on white heart, inside and on the envelope to bring it all together.  I sponge-dusted the front of the card, to soften the white. 

Welcome to new baby!!

linked up to...

Heart 2 Heart Sketch Challenge
the CSI Project 2011 Pantone Honeysuckle
Off the Wall Craftiness Hearts or Vintage Challenge 45