Well, it’s December. The last thing I posted was Day 19 of my 30 days of thankfulness. Can we say fail? I didn’t even get finished with all the posts I had scheduled on my calendar to write. Sometimes I overestimate my abilities to be Supermom. There’s lots I’m thankful for, but this year I learned my lesson, and next year I’ll stick to posting tidbits on Instagram and Facebook. 🙂 To make up for it though, I’ll share a little list here because honestly, today I need the reminder.
1. A baby girl that will take a nap (even though she isn’t right now of course lol)
2. Necklaces of cheap plastic beads and wooden charms, made just for me by my oldest son3. Kicks from the sweet little one growing inside me
4. Itunes radio 80’s & 90’s country music channel
5. One important phone call I had to make today was actually short, sweet, and accomplished all that was needed!
6. Naptime
7. A husband that thinks I’m pretty and tells me so
8. A computer with an Internet connection
9. Forgotten candy bars don’t melt in my purse in the winter.
10. A rare decent snapshot of me and one of my kids
Yesterday my family went grocery shopping. We were crunched on time this weekend, and the best spot available was yesterday afternoon on our way home from viewing another house. Because of the items on our list, we had to make 2 stops.
At the first stop, we unloaded our two youngest from their car seats and laid them in the front seat to change diapers. Hubby with one and me with the other – we do diaper changes in the car like pros now. Haha! We didn’t even have a kid out of the car before one was crying, and we laughed about how bad the trip was starting.
We made it through our short list for that store (of course forgetting two important items!) and at the check out my husband grabbed drinks out of the cooler for a treat for us. Back in the car, he mentioned how he sometimes feels guilty for the frivolous spending that goes on in our country, ourselves included, and so many think nothing of it, ever. I agreed. We certainly didn’t need $3 worth of sugary drinks. We are just as guilty as the rest of this country’s population.
This isn’t a new topic of discussion for us either. With a growing family, we know the importance of stretching a dollar. I meal plan, budget our finances, and cook mostly from scratch just to stretch our food bill (and keep my family healthier). Some paychecks we have to stretch more than others, but even then, you’ll find items in our pantry that others would consider unnecessary and a huge treat. On just about any given day I have the ingredients to whip up oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips. Nearly every week I purchase or make an extra dish to take to our Wednesday night small group.
At our second stop, I pulled put my long list of items needed for the next week or two. I had planned out a menu of meals for our family, double checked the kitchen for what we had and what I needed for each recipe, made a list and hoped it would all be within the amount I budgeted for groceries. Thankfully it ended up under our budgeted amount, but after we made it home with 3 sleepy kids and I put everything away, I opened one of the freezers (Yes, we use two! So many in this world will never own one!) to squeeze in one last bag of green beans and felt so very grateful to be able to feed my family – to live in a country of abundant food. Even with so many struggling financially, there are churches and food banks and non-profits handing out free food every day to those in need. There are people out in the woods and fields across the country right now harvesting wild game for their families and others. We are blessed with a basic necessity that we so often don’t stop to recognize or appreciate. This morning I’ll be filling my crockpot with the ingredients of a potato soup, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to cook another meal for my husband and children.
I’m thankful for a rare Saturday with my husband home.
Lately he has been working 6 days per week, leaving the house by 5:30 a.m. and returning around 6 – just in time to eat supper, play for a few minutes and then do the bedtime routine. All that is assuming nothing happens and he actually leaves work on time. By that point we are both exhausted (I get up before he leaves too), and usually crash within 30 minutes of the last kid going to bed. So having him home today was a treat. We slept a bit later (as late as 3 littles would allow. Haha!), hung out outside while he worked on our cars (Bless his heart, he can’t get a break!), and then after lunch he got to take a nap when the kiddos did. 🙂
I’m thankful He sees the whole picture when we can’t. I’m glad I can cry out to Him with my frustrations, anger, and heartache and hear that gentle whisper of, “I know you don’t get it now, but someday you will.” I’m thankful that even if things don’t turn out our way, they turn out the best way.
It has been weeks since I’ve gotten to spend a whole day at home with all my little ones, and today is my last chance until about Tuesday of next week. We are enjoying it by coloring, playing with play-doh, and watching Ninja Turtles in our pajamas on this really cold and windy day. On the agenda for this afternoon: a Christmas movie with popcorn and hot chocolate.
Well, I missed a few days. I knew it would happen. November is always a super busy, crazy month for us with birthdays on top of the normal Thanksgiving/Christmas stuff, and this year as a whole has just been nuts. Anyway, enough excuses.
Day Eleven
I’m thankful for the thoughtfulness of my firstborn.
Lincoln is a thoughtful caretaker. He wants to make sure his brother doesn’t go outside in the cold without socks and shoes. He wants to be sure Sissy has on a hairbow that matches her outfit and has her pacifier. He insists that she needs princess stuff, too. He makes sure no one touches their food before we pray. He never fails to tell me each day he thinks I’m pretty, and he always finds toys he wants his friends to have.
Even knowing all that, sometimes the little things he thinks of and pays attention to catch me off guard. Tonight, for instance, he went in the bathroom, pulled out the toothpaste, and got everyone’s toothbrushes ready without being asked to do so. We have three types of toothpaste, and he knew exactly which one each person used, even giving Stanton the bubblegum flavored toothpaste he loves that Lincoln detests.
I’m glad God put that little trait in his personality. It’s so precious to me.
I started this post and forgot to post it the other day in the craziness of getting ready for a birthday party.
I am thankful for my best friend, Lauren.
She’s my other sister. We’ve been together since the second grade, through high school, being roommates in college, weddings, happy times, heartaches, babies, and now our babies are growing up together. I wish everyone could have friendships like ours.
Most people tell me I’m crazy for having them so close together (or assume it was an accident), but now, even more than ever before, I’m thankful I listened when God laid it on my heart to prepare for another baby. I am so glad I didn’t ignore that and follow the world’s opinion that we should wait a certain time before having more children. Born just 13 months and two weeks apart, I can not imagine our family with these boys not having one another.
This is why:
They are inseparable.
They love each other.
They learn from each other.
They fight. They push, shove, hit, kick, & scream – but at 6:30 this morning, a sleepy Stanton walked out of his bedroom, not looking for me or his daddy, instead saying, “Where my bwudder?”
Yesterday when Stanton wasn’t feeling good, Lincoln kept asking if he had fever and saying, “I’m sorry Stanton. It will be okay. We will take care of you.”
If one of them does something special by himself, he can’t wait to get back and tell his brother about it, or share whatever treat he picked up along the way. My boys share a special bond, and I love seeing it become stronger as they get older. Forts, late night giggles, fights, & shenanigans, these two are a team, and for that I am thankful.
