Gratituesday: Where We Live

I don't remember to write posts for Gratituesday very often. But yesterday, as we walked around Washington, DC, I was reminded of how blessed we are to live close enough to enjoy our Nation's capital on a regular basis. Washington DC truly is a beautiful city, rich with history.  Yesterday was just about a perfect spring day. Abit breezy, but not unbearably so. Not too hot, not too cold. Bright and sunny! GORGEOUS!! Of course, as I thought about it, and remembered driving around for quite awhile to find a parking spot, and remembered the horrific, though not unexpected, traffic we experienced a few days ago when we took the girls on our "driving tour" of DC. I was also reminded of how blessed we are to not HAVE to go into DC, or any other big city, every day, or even every week. I feel so thankful today to have the opportunity to live in a country setting, but close enough to appreciate many of the great historic landmarks of our country. We live within easy day-trip distance of Philadelphia, New York City, Gettysburg, etc. My parents live within easy day-trip distance of Antietam, Baltimore and Washington DC. We are truly blessed!

Gratituesday - SPRING!!!!

I usually forget to write posts for Gratituesday, even though I LOVE the idea! But I'm actually remembering this week!!

It's going to be a short post though (shocking, I know!). I am SO SO SO THANKFUL for Spring this year! And I'm thankful that we are GETTING a spring this year! When we had such a cold April, I was afraid we were going to miss spring altogether and go straight from winter to summer, and that may still happen to some extent, but this week the weather has been absolutely PERFECT!! Not hot, not cold, sunny, breezy but not windy . . . absolutely gorgeous! And we are LOVING it!!! So, on that note, I'm going to stop typing on the computer and go enjoy this weather some more!

Gratituesday - A nice warm home!

Today is cold and icy and just plain ICKY out there!! And so, today I am extra thankful that we have a nice warm home (though some would disagree, we keep it colder than many people do (the heat is set at 67 downstairs, 64 upstairs), but we like it that way thankyouverymuch, and it saves on the heat bill. Though we make up for it in the summer when we also prefer it cooler than most LOL). BUT not only am I thankful for the physical warmth of our home, but also for the warmth of family! I love the activity and fun of a house full of talkative little girls! From listening to the big girls pretend they're grown-ups (at last count, A has . . . 13 children, I think. She told me she plans to have 20 LOL).  To the chatter of Little Bit commentating on life . . . she likes to point out "messes" (that's easy to do around here), and remind us of our various body parts (eye, nose, head, mouth, teeth, and, of course elmo (otherwise known as an elbow)), and generally tell us every little thing that she sees, or does, or sees anyone else do. She's also quite the mimic, repeating everything her sisters say . . . that's not always so good, but *is* cute as can be! This afternoon L complained that puzzles were "bor-ring!" and Little Bit, while continuing to happily work on her puzzle (L was complaining because Little Bit wanted L to help her with her puzzle), repeated "bo-ing" hee hee.

I love the warmth of kiddos climbing up on my lap for a cuddle, or snuggling up with me. Last night Little Bit slept better than usual (certainly better than she had the last few nights, the worst of which, she was awake every 1/2 hour, yawn!), but she was cuddled right up against me, using my arm as her pillow, so cozy!

So, today, as it's a cold & icky day outside, I'm thankful for my wonderful family! Especially my 3 wonderful girls, all snug at home with me!

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Gratituesday - Snow (that doesn't stay around too long)

Saturday night (you know, CHRISTMAS) Rodney told me that they were calling for snow, up to a foot, starting overnight that night. EEK!!! The whole "go stock up on milk & bread" thing doesn't work on CHRISTMAS!! And to add to it, we buy our milk & eggs from a Mennonite (or Amish, there are so many "levels" of each & I can never tell and don't know how to politely ask, not that it really matters LOL) farm so they weren't going to be open on Sunday either. Now the reality is, we keep a deep freeze stocked and a pantry stocked and we could probably live for a year and not actually starve to death, but we DO like our milk and eggs and I usually stock up on those before any predicted storm.  We live at the bottom of a steep hill and the snow plow got stuck plowing us out once last winter, so after that he left us for last, so we do need to plan for being "stuck" for awhile if we really do get a big snow (and for where we live, 10-12" is a big snow!).

Sunday morning we woke up to no snow, so I at least went to the regular grocery store and made sure we had other food for the week (way to encourage me to get back into menu planning!) I also got a box of powdered milk so at least we'd have SOME kind of milk if we were stranded for very long (dh is a big milk drinker, the rest of us only use milk in things, but those "things" include hot chocolate which the kids like to have when they come in from playing in the snow, I figured powdered milk, while nowhere near as healthy, would do in a pinch for hot chocolate (and still be better than the powdered hot chocolate mixes) and in cooking.

It started snowing Sunday afternoon and snowed all night, but we only got a couple inches. Woke up to a beautiful white world and an already plowed driveway. So we were never stranded, and the kids had a great time playing in the snow yesterday (though the 4 degree F wind chills kept Little Bit and me inside, I figured she'll see snow again this winter).

She was so cute today though, as we were running errands. She saw the snow (what hadn't melted) and kept pointing to it and saying "no" for snow.

So, this week I'm thankful for the beauty (and kid-fun-factor) of snow and I'm thankful that we weren't snowed in on a week when I was feeling unprepared for it.

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Gratituesday - Christmas Edition

I know, I know, I haven't even written last week's wrap-up yet, so obviously I'm running behind (not to mention the things I have to ship, yesterday, and the house that's still not clean (we host the grandparents for Christmas every year), and and and . . . BUT . . . perhaps BECAUSE of the long to-do list, I wanted to take a moment out of all that busyness and just be thankful!!!

We have SO MUCH to be thankful for! And what better time to remember that, and express that, than this time of year, when we're supposed to be remembering the greatest gift of all.

So today I'm just taking a few seconds out of all the busyness to say I'm thankful for family. I'm sitting here listening to A1 "read" a book to Little Bit as Little Bit squeals with excitement (we've found that stories are lost on Little Bit, but she loves to have us describe the pictures and point things out to her, so that's how we read to her right now), and I'm SO thankful for these special children that God has blessed us with.

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Gratituesday - Windy Fall Days!

Yesterday my parents, the girls and I headed out driving to Florida. We're splitting it up over 3 days, to keep the days from being too long for Little Bit, and she did wonderfully for her first day of the trip! Which is something else to be very thankful for LOL!  But, mid-afternoon we stopped for a potty break and then let all 3 girls burn off some energy at the rest area. It was a beautiful sunny, windy fall day & they all had so much fun running around the grassy hills of the rest area. Little Bit has been my "wind in the face" girl ever since she was itty bitty, and much as she was loving RUNNING, every so often she'd stop and turn her face into the wind and just seem to be soaking it all in! It was adorable and a beautiful day!

(I'd have loved to get pictures but my phone was in the car and I was too busy enjoying watching the girls have fun to go back to the car and get it)

See other Gratituesday posts here. (for some reason blogger isn't letting me add pictures, so I can't include the Gratituesday banner)

Gratituesday - Blueberries!

Apparently I can only actually get a post up for one meme per week, last wee

k I managed to get menu Monday up, this week I'm squeezing under the wire and getting Gratituesday in.

Last summer we were able to order blueberries in bulk through my husband's employer and we enjoyed those blueberries (I think we got 30 lbs) all winter long. So needless to say, we've been anxiously awaiting a chance to order blueberries in bulk again. When the information came out, we started talking about it, and first said 40lbs (this time it needed to be in 20lb increments), and then last minute, upped it to 60lbs!!!

The blueberries came in today and hubby brought them home mid-morning.

So our day was spent washing blueberries, spreading them out on towels to dry, putting them in freezer bags, and putting them in the freezer. We got 40lbs frozen and part of the 3rd box washed and laid out on towels to dry. So tomorrow will be another blueberry day.

I am SO thankful!! I am thankful for all these yummy, super healthy, blueberries that we will SO enjoy all year long, in muffins, smoothies, pancakes, on ice cream and just straight from the freezer. I am thankful for how A1 & A2 dove in and helped without complaining today. They spread the washed blueberries out on the towels, they helped put all 40 lbs into freezer bags. Such good little helpers! And this evening, A1's main question was "so when can we go pick the raspberries?" (the wild raspberries are ripening, but it's SOO hot this week I've been putting her off). And just in case you wondered, this is what 20lbs of blueberries looks like!

See other Gratituesday posts here. Pssst! As an extra, this week Laura's included a giveaway on an awesome sounding, brand new, preschool e-book, in her Gratituesday post! Check it out!!!

Gratituesday: SPRING!!!

We had a lovely taste of spring last week, and then a cold, rainy weekend, just to remind us that it is only March . . .but today it's GORGEOUS out again!! My kids spent the morning outside! I have clothes hanging on the line . . . A1 is gung ho to start gardening!!! I LOVE this kind of weather!!!

See other Gratituesday posts here.

Gratituesday: Cell Phones!

When we moved to PA (almost 2 years ago now), we decided since we both had cell phones and generally used them rather than a home phone anyway, we wouldn't bother getting a home phone. And that worked wonderfully, until about a year and a half ago when Rodney's phone was stolen. He never took the time and spent the money to get a new phone. Which had it's moments of frustration but since he was pretty much always at work it wasn't a HUGE deal. I could call him at work, and if he was at home chances were he was working (or playing) on the computer so I could instant message him. So, while I randomly reminded him that it would be helpful if he'd get a new phone, it wasn't an end of the world kind of thing. Then, just as he was actually to the point where he'd picked out a phone and was all set to get it, his job changed. And with that job change, 2 things happened. First, the new job with came LOTS of travel, both multi-day trips (that we generally go with him on) and day jobs. So that whole "just call him at the office" ceased to be an option most of the time, as did Instant Messaging. Second, BECAUSE he travels so much, he gets a work cell phone, which is great but instead of moving forward to get the new phone on our current plan, it meant taking the time to jump through the hoops to get one through his office. So . . . for the past 2 months (give or take) we have been sharing my phone! Which has been challenging . . . it's been a daily (sometimes hourly) thing of who needs the phone right now. Not in the sense that we fight over it or anything, just a matter of who needs to make calls or whatever.

Finally TODAY hubby got his new phone! He picked it up at the office, dropped my phone off at home (he'd been going to have it today), and headed out to meet with a treasurer. It was SO nice to have him call when he was on his way home! And for that matter, earlier in the evening, he needed some information from me, he tried IM'ing me but I was busy with the girls and wasn't at my computer, so he could actually CALL me! That's been the big frustration, no matter who had the phone we couldn't call each other because ONE of us was always without a phone.

So, while I know that people have survived for thousands of years without cell phones (and w/o ANY phone for that matter), and I survived the first 20-some years of MY life without a cell phone, tonight, I am very thankful for cell phones! Especially with all the variables of dh's job, us each having a cell phone will make the logistics of our life so much easier!

Last month we spent a week in Philadelphia while dh was working down there, but he was at different people's houses different days, he ended up borrowing their phones to call me when he needed to, but it would have so much less stressful to me (yes, I like to plan everything down to the smallest detail) if he'd had a phone so I could just touch base with him and see when he wanted me to pick him up or whatever . . . Now we'll have that again, woo-h00!!!

See more Gratituesday posts here.

Gratituesday: Snow

I really want to get back into the habit of writing a Gratituesday post each week. I have SO MUCH to be thankful for!! (we all do! After all, God tells us to be thankful in everything!) It's just a matter of remembering it AND finding time to type on TUESDAY LOL).

Anyway, this week, in the spirit of "in all things give thanks", I am thankful for snow. We have SO MUCH of it around here (not at all normal for our area). And yet, it's meant lots of cozy days together as a family. It's meant lots of fresh air and exercise for the kids (and hubby, all that shoveling!). It's SO BEAUTIFUL!!! We've lived here for almost 2 years, and still I am daily blown away by the views out my windows! So much land, trees, ponds . . . SO MUCH of God's wonderful, amazing nature, right on my doorstep! And right now that amazing, beautiful nature is all white sparkling snow and it's just beyond breathtaking!

So, while I know many people are struggling in many ways because of all the snow we've had (lost revenue for businesses, lost income for employees who couldn't get to work, people who went without power for days . . .), I'm still so thankful for the beauty of the snow God has sent us this winter!

See all the Gratituesday posts here.

Ps. Speaking of God's Beautiful Nature, you have a few more hours to enter my giveaway for an amazing Butterfly notebooking (and so much more) pack here.

Gratituesday - Beautiful Children

I haven't done well at remembering to post for Gratituesdays recently, not because I'm not grateful, but because I don't remember to post on Tuesdays LOL. But this week I MUST post!! Because I have so much to be grateful for!!!! Our beautiful daughter, Lina was born last Thursday. She's healthy & beautiful and we were able to bring her home that same night (which is especially appreciated since our twins were in NICU for a week, it's such a blessing to bring a healthy baby home right away!). We had planned a homebirth but had to transfer to the hospital due to meconium in the amniotic fluid, I'm so grateful for our wonderful midwife who made sure that we had as close to a homebirth experience as was possible. She continued to include our older girls in the delivery, dh was laughing that even as she was coaching me to push Lina out, she was still managing to answer the girls' questions.

I'm grateful for 2 big girls who are absolutely in LOVE with their baby sister. The vast majority of their fights have been over who gets to hold the baby, choose the baby's clothes, etc.

I'm grateful for my mom who's here spoiling us all while I get back up to speed.

Children are such a blessing from the Lord, and we have been richly blessed!

See other Gratituesday posts here.

Gratituesday - Snow Day!

Yesterday we took a snow day! Sunday we got enough snow that the kids spent awhile out playing in it, and it was still there when we got up yesterday morning so after breakfast and such the kids wanted to go play in it so out the door they went. Around noon it started snowing again, Yay! More Snow! And yes, the kids were STILL OUT THERE! Around 1:15 I finally suggested they come in & eat some lunch so they came in for hot chocolate & sandwiches and as soon as they were done they WENT BACK OUTSIDE! DH came home around 4:30, kids were still out there. Soon after that I turned the outside lights on for them. And sometime after 6pm they finally called it a day & came in for supper (and more hot chocolate LOL). They were out there ALL DAY! They had a blast! They got a wonderful dose of fresh air (that's been abit lacking lately with our colder than normal (for here) temperatures, I can't blame them for not wanting to go out & play when it's in the single digits!

So . . . did school happen yesterday? Nope! Did the normal Monday chores happen yesterday? Nope, unless Mom did them. Do I think that's a bad thing? Nope! They got tons of fresh air & exercise (needless to say they slept well last night LOL). And they went ALL DAY LONG without once squabbling to the point that I heard them or had to referee (I can't swear they never did, but nothing very major since I peaked out on them regularly & can hear raised voices through the windows even when closed).

And today is shaping up to be another such day. I did sneak in a couple quick chores while they were in for lunch, and they came in on their own around noon saying they were cold and asking for a tea party instead of hot chocolate so we had a tea party, then ate lunch, and THEN they went back out. So perhaps it's abit colder today than yesterday? Or the cold is building up in their systems & they can't handle it as long? I don't know . . . We'll see if they last out there all afternoon.

I love that we have the flexibility to do this! And yes, while I think chores are important, I also think flexibility is important too. In the grand scheme of life the fact that the microwave door didn't get cleaned this week seems pretty minor compared to a great day outdoors playing happily together!

And so, today, I'm thankful once again for our lifestyle. I'm thankful that the kids can play outdoors all day w/o any scrambling to rearrange schedules. I'm thankful that such days don't mean missed work, with lost pay or taking vacation time for me. I'm thankful that we live somewhere that it's safe for the kids to play outside on their own (because I can tell you I'd have frozen solid LONG before they came in yesterday if I'd had to be out with them).

See more Gratituesday posts on Laura's blog.

Gratituesday - Putting on a Gentle and Quiet Spirit

I keep a running wish list of books on half.com. It is mostly either religious books for me, homesteading/homemaking type books for me, and all sorts of educational books for the kids. Whenever I "need" to order something from half.com I go through my wish list and if the same seller has books off the wishlist (at reasonable prices) I go ahead & get them and combine shipping. Many of the books I want are in the $1 range but if I order each individually the end up being close to $5 (I think shipping on one book is $3.85). BUT if I order them when I'm ordering something else the per-book shipping for each additional book from that shipper drops to $1.85 (or something in that range). Not a huge difference, but every little bit helps (Amazon, incidentally does NOT do this with their used books, which annoys me to no end!). Anyway . . .

Awhile back I was ordering something & going through my wish list & one of the things on my wish list is just kind of a general "books by Elizabeth George" category. So, as I usually do, I searched the seller's list for her name. Weeded out the OTHER Elizabeth George (there are 2 popular authors named Elizabeth George. One (the one who I was searching for writes Christian books (A Woman After God's Own Heart is probably her most well known), the other writes mysteries). And started looking at what was there. One of the books was, Putting on a Gentle and Quiet Spirit and since that is a verse that I've felt strongly speaking to me in the last year or so, I ordered the book. I didn't realize until it came, that it's a Bible Study guide for the book of 1 Peter. Since at the time I was using a "read the Bible in the year" plan for my devotions, so I set it aside for this year. I'm now about halfway through, I am LOVING Elizabeth George's Bible Study guides (& have since ordered several more so that I can continue using them through the year). If I had realized, prior to ordering Putting on a Gentle and Quiet Spirit, that it was a study guide rather than just a book to read through, I probably would have skipped it, so today I am thankful that I didn't realize this. I'm thankful that God led me to order this book that has been such a blessing to me and that I anticipate the others in the series will continue to be a blessing as I go through them later in the year.

Gratituesday can be found here.

Gratituesday - Imaginary Play

Yesterday A & L had a minor blow-up while playing upstairs. Once I got them both calmed down enough and talked to them both and sorted it all out, A had made a "tent" in their room by tying strings (from a lacing toy that I'm not sure they have ever used AS A LACING TOY but they have re-purposed the parts of it a thousand different ways LOL) from the dollhouse to the spring horse and draping a blanket over it and . . . I didn't quite figure it all out to be honest. Problem arose when L declared it too small for them to both sleep comfortably in (she was right) and A declared that if L didn't want to sleep in it she couldn't play in it . . . so, once I sorted it all out, I suggested that I help them make a bigger tent that WOULD have room for them to both sleep in it. They thought this was a great compromise (now to get them to come up with these compromises, or come to me for help with these compromises BEFORE WWIII breaks out every single time, sigh). So we did some room rearranging and got a queen size sheet instead of the small throw blanket A had been trying to use, and errected a big sheet tent under the loft in their room. They have spent HOURS, seriously, HOURS playing in that tent, both yesterday and today. It is amazing how much enjoyment 2 little girls can find in a SHEET!!! I am thankful for their imagination that allows them to play for so long with such simple things. I am thankful for our lifestyle that allows them to HAVE hours to play and just be kids!

For more Gratituesday, go here.

Gratituesday - Joy of Giving

Last week my friend, Kim, sent an e-mail to a homeschool list I'm on, talking about a wonderful woman in Hati who is doing all she can for orphans and young mothers there. My friend is pulling together a box of needed items and Christmas gifts to send down there. So I told the girls about it yesterday during our morning worship and suggested that each of the girls could put together a Christmas bag for a child about their age and I would do one for one of the young mothers and I'd drop them by Kim's house when we're near her house this weekend. One of the things mentioned in the e-mail that really made an impression on L is that some of the children in Hati are so hungry that they eat mud cakes to quiet their stomaches. Needless to say, my children couldn't fathom being that hungry and not being able to go get food. L got very into the project right away, getting money from her piggy bank and candy from her Halloween candy bag and reminding me numerous times during the day yesterday that I'd promised to take them to the store to get toys and such for the gift bags. A, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with it. Even when we got to the store she wanted nothing to do with it, "I don't know these kids, they don't know me, why should I help them?" I decided the best approach was to encourage L's excitement about the project and essentially ignore A's bad attitude. And apparently that was the right approach. As we went down the toiletries aisle L excitedly chose toothpaste, toothbrush (JUST LIKE MINE! I'm sure the kids will LOVE it too!) and a comb & mirror set. And I just added the same items for A's gift bag, and told her if she didn't want to do a gift, I'd do one for a child AND a mommy. When we got to the toy section she did a total & instant turn around! I told them they could each choose 5 small things for their child. A was just as excited as L about choosing things and if anything thought things through better. She chose a stuffed animal (so they have something to sleep with) AND a small fuzzy pillow (becuase some kids might not have pillows) as well as other items. And she's been great throughout the rest of the process (sorting out our purchases (and items we already had) into bags for each person today and such. She also asked me this morning, as we were putting the bags together if we could do this every year and declared that she wants to be a missionary when she grows up and travel to lots of places and help ALL the children. Awww. L, decided she also wants to be a missionary but "just in our state, and maybe as far as Mama and Papa's house" she doesn't want to travel too far from home LOL. I've been so thrilled watching my children learn the joy of giving and being excited about helping others and I'm thankful they are learning this.

Of course the flip side, when dh told the girls that his office is having a Christmas Party this Thursday and before we go to eat, we'll be stopping by a hospital to sing Christmas songs and pass out toys to the children there. L's reaction was "those kids don't need toys as much as the kids on the island!" (her description of Hati) LOL. I talked to them some more today about some of the kids in the hospital, their parents don't have the money for toys because they have to pay for medicine and doctors, and I think they decided it was an acceptible charity. So hopefully when we get there Thurs night they won't "lecture" dh's boss about how these toys should have been sent to Hati instead LOL.

I think we'll build on their newfound interest in 3rd world children and look into sponsoring a child. If anyone has any experience with the various organizations that do sponsor a child programs I'd love to hear your opinions (good and bad). You can leave a comment or e-mail me (my e-mail link is in my profile). I know I for sure want an organization that assigns a specific child and encourages letters/pictures sent both directions, since I think the girls will benefit from seeing WHO they are helping.

And finally, if you would like to send a donation or much needed supplies (the e-mail Kim sent out quotes Barbara (the missionary running this facility) as saying "we need everything BUT stones and babies, we have plenty of both". Specific things that are needed include liquid infant vitamins, prenatal vitamins (both can be purchased from walmart for less than $10/bottle), liquid formula (water supplies in many parts of Hati are tainted so liquid formula is a better option than powder), and this time of year, Christmas boxes for the children and mothers.

Checks can be made out to "Reach Out to Haiti"

Checks and other items can be sent to:

Barbara Walker
PO Box 2556
Port Au Prince, Haiti

(no postal code is needed).

If you live in the Hagerstown, MD area and want to include things in the box Kim's sending e-mail me & I can put you in contact with her.

See other Gratituesday posts here.

Gratituesday - Faith of a Child

Yesterday dh took the girls to his mom's house for the day. Since the church near her house has a big open field, perfect for shooting off rockets (as opposed to all the trees around us), they took their model rockets along to finally shoot them off. I'm alittle unsure of the specifics (having 2 excited 5 1/2 yr olds telling you about it is rather . . . confusing LOL) Well, when they shot A's rocket they somehow lost track of it & had NO IDEA where it came down. The girls prayed that Jesus would help them find it, and they started looking. Just when dh had said it was time to give up, the pastor & a neighbor came along. The pastor had been standing in another part of the property & thought he'd seen it come down (but hadn't known what it was until he came over to talk to dh, MIL and the girls), so they went and looked where he thought he'd seen it & sure enough, they found the rocket but not the parachute/top piece. Well today, the neighbor called MIL, he & his wife went for a walk today & the parachute/top piece literally blew right across their path. The girls are SOO EXCITED that Jesus answered their prayer! And honestly, that's what I'm most thankful for! That God cares enough to honor such small, inconsequential requests (the rocket was easily replaceable) and remind all of us of His love & the power of prayer!

Gratituesday - Simple Pleasures

A couple weeks ago we (ok, it was all DH) finally set up a sandbox that we've had FOREVER! We got it when we lived in MD and at first, we thought we'd be putting in a deck that summer so I was waiting till the deck was built to set it up under the deck, and then when that didn't happen I spent forever trying to figure out a good place to put it since we didn't have a deck . . . and it just never happened, so then we moved and since then it was just a matter of getting it cleaned up (since it had been sitting outside empty for however long) and putting the sand in it, which dh finally did a couple weeks ago. And our girls have had SO MUCH fun playing in the sandbox!! I love listening to them out there coming up w/ all kinds of things to build and create in the sand. And I love knowing that despite what society tells us about electronic toys and such, kids can still get so much enjoyment out of something so simple . . .

Gratituesday can be found here.

Gratituesday

Today I'm thankful for my health :) Yesterday was our first midwife appointment. This morning the phone rang while I was doing "school" w/ the girls. L came down to get bring me the phone but didn't get there in time, so I figured whoever it was could wait a few minutes till I finished circle time. When I checked the message it was a very short message . . . "I'm calling for K, please call me back at xxx-xxx-xxxx" I recognized the number as being the Birth Center, by this time it was slightly after noon and I knew from experience that they tend to all be gone at lunchtime so the answering service picks up, which would be useless so I waited . . . while trying to imagine what horrible thing they had discovered in my bloodwork or pap smear from yesterday (because why else would they call one day after my appointment?) . . . needless to say, I was starting to freak out a little bit. . . finally it was after 1pm and I tried calling, but the line was busy THREE times!! Then I had to go run errands, so I pushed the whole "what could possibly be wrong" to the back of my mind and went about my day, called again when I got home, since I couldn't tell them WHO from the birth center had called me the receptionist went "hunting" and somehow hung up on me in the process. So then the midwife herself called me back (which further freaked me out, obviously if it was "you left your wallet here" the receptionist would've called back, right?!?!?! And then . . . she askedME why I was calling! HUGE sigh of relief! Nothing earth shattering, she doesn't know about the call, it can't be some horrible news or she'd know . . . turns out it was the billing person, just calling to let me know what my coverage was and what I'd owe and when it would be due. . . so after that slight (but unfounded) scare this morning, I'm doubly thankful for my health & a (as far as we know) healthy baby still growing quietly like it's supposed to.

(and if I think about it, I may mention at my next appointment, that they suggest the billing person INDICATE that it's about billing when she leaves messages, to avoid more freaked out pregnant women LOL)

Gratituesday - Contentment

A recurring theme I see on "mommy boards" (or maybe just the ones I frequent?) is a lack of contentment. It seems that many of the moms of young children that I know are constantly looking for something more. This has made me all the more grateful for the contentment I feel with my life. I dont know what the difference is. I enjoyed my career pre-kids, but I don't miss that season of my life. I enjoy a variety of hobbies now, but I'm content to fit them in with the kid stuff. I appreciate the occasional day "off" when dh takes the girls to his mom's or on an outing of somesort, but I also enjoy the time I spend with my kids. I enjoy their enthusiasm to help in the kitchen. I enjoy listening to them playing together deep in some imaginary scenario. While I don't enjoy when they fight or are defiant, it's part of the job (there are aspects of all jobs that aren't fun), and when I see one of the girls control her own temper or appologize without prompting or show compassion and empathy to her sister (or someone else) that makes the rough spots worthwhile.

There are days when I get frustrated, and days when I wonder what I'm doing wrong, but overall, I'm content with my life. I'm content to be a mother to my children, a wife to my husband, and a keeper of my home. I'm content in a small house full of love and surrounded by the great outdoors. I'm content to fix simple, healthy meals. I'm content . . . and I thank God for bringing me to a place of being content with the life He has given me.

Gratituesday - Sisters!

Last night at bedtime A was crying and didn't want to go to sleep (I could never figure out a reason why & it started after I'd left dh & the girls to have their "talk time" so I wasn't there for the beginning of it). L suggested that she could cuddle w/ A in her (A's) bed to comfort her and A said she'd like that. So we left them cuddled together in one bed to go to sleep. And they slept that way all night. I wish I could've gotten a picture w/o risking the light (or me climbing around on thier loft) waking them up. It was soo sweet! So, today I'm thankful for sisters who love and care for each other :)