Gratitude Day #30: A Full Month of Gratitude

Well, I did it… not without a few bumps in the road (AKA: going back and posting after the fact), but I’m glad I managed to write every single day this month and look for the blessings that I have in my life.  I am truly blessed to have the life I lead.  It’s definitely not perfect ALL the time, but I am where I need to be.

Gratitude Day #29: Employment

Lennard and I were able to attend his work Christmas party tonight.  As always, we had a great meal.  It was nice to get out for an evening and not have it cost us a bundle!  (Mom came and babysat for us.  Thanks, Mom!)  This year they hired a comedian for the entertainment.  I think it was almost more fun watching the reactions of some of the people there than the actual comedian.  He definitely got a little borderline on some of the jokes, but overall it was a fun night.

I’m thankful that Lennard has such a good job.  There are moments when he gets frustrated with some of the people he works with, but overall it has been (and is) an excellent job.  He works so hard to make sure the Town’s electrical system is as good as it can be.

Gratitude Day #28: Parents

I love living close to my parents.  LOVE it.  I love that they can pop in for a few minutes just to say ‘hi’.  I love that my kids get to have a relationship with them like I had with my grandparents.  I love that they are able to come for dinner as often as they do.  Emma and Ben inform us regularly that we can’t sit in certain chairs because they are ‘Grandma and Grandpa’s chairs’.  Thanks, mom & dad, for always being there for us and loving us through all the ups and downs!

Thanks for being the kind of parents that have taught me to stand on my own two feet…

Gratitude Day #27: Stay and Play

I am so grateful for the free Stay and Play program that our community has.  It gives us a chance twice a week to go out and play with other kids (and visit with other moms!).  The kids LOVE going and I love seeing them interact and learn with other kids.  I have also discovered that it is a good chance to see what kinds of toys they love to play with… which makes picking out Christmas presents lots easier!

Lately, Emma is enamoured with all the dress-up clothes.  She will try on a number of dresses, complete with shoes and ‘her baby’.  Last week she discovered the lion costume and will now dress up with the lion, princess slippers and a baby!  Quite the combination!

Not the best picture… but when I only have the iPhone this is all you get!

Gratitude Day #26: Oh Christmas Tree!

A couple of days ago we pulled out the second-hand Christmas tree that I bought off the local buy and sell.  To say that it was a ‘Charlie Brown’ Christmas tree would be an understatement… there were branches falling off, ‘needles’ shedding and so many lights that we couldn’t get the branches spread properly.  After about 15-20 minutes of fighting with it, Lennard looked at me and I knew… we were going to be heading to Costco to get a new tree.  We have wanted to get a nice, pre-lit Christmas tree for a few years now, but we’ve always decided to spend the money elsewhere.  This was the final straw though.  We loaded in to the van and headed for Lethbridge.  Unfortunately, we didn’t clue in to the fact that Costco closes early on Saturdays and we ended up being 5 minutes too late and they were closed.  Grrrr!  We picked up a few other things that we needed at other stores and headed home ‘tree-less’.

Needless to say, guess where I was heading this morning?!  Yup… to Lethbridge to get a Christmas tree!  I loaded the kids into the van and we were at Costco almost as soon as they opened the doors.  The kids had a blast riding on the ‘big’ cart and then balancing on top of the Christmas tree as we went through the check-outs!  What an adventure.  I would have taken a picture, but I was a little busy keeping kids from falling off a moving cart!

My gratitude moment for the day?  I’m grateful for the symbol of a Christmas tree and for the opportunity we are given each year to look beyond ourselves and see other’s needs. 

Gratitude Day #25: Faith

Each day that goes by, I am thankful for the faith that I have in a loving Heavenly Father that allows us to keep learning and growing each day.  I am thankful for the chance to repent and try to do better when I make mistakes.  I am thankful for the wonderful friends that we have in our ward and for the support they give us.  I feel truly blessed to be where I am in my life at this very minute…

Gratitude Day #24: Family Outings

Earlier this week, Lennard heard about a Santa Claus Parade being held in Fort Macleod.  We both decided that it would be something fun to do with the kids so we loaded up this morning and headed out.  We managed to find a pretty good place to sit and settled in to wait for the parade to start.
    
They were okay for about 10 minutes and then they didn’t want to sit or be wrapped up.  They had fun exploring for a while and had to be chased down the street a couple times (fun times).  Finally the parade started!  They loved seeing all the floats and especially all the bands.  Emma was dancing around and put on quite a show for those sitting around us.  Ben got pretty cold by the end of the parade, but he had fun too.  They both thoroughly enjoyed gathering candy and I’m sure that helped keep them a bit warmer!

We thought that the kids would be excited to see Santa Claus, but when we pointed him out to Emma she ran back to where I was sitting and exclaimed, “I don’t like Santa Claus!  He’s scary!”  Oh well… at least she loved all the other floats!

Gratitude Day #23: Good Reminders

I love having good quotes/sayings around me… they help me remember to keep trying to be a better person.  It can get overwhelming at times feeling like I’m not doing a good enough job, but it helps to know that I can keep trying to be a little better each day (and sometimes from minute to minute).

Gratitude Day #22: Happy Birthday, Lennard!

The kids were SO excited to celebrate Lennard’s birthday today.  I waited until the afternoon to put up balloons, which was a good thing…  Both Emma and Ben were trying to climb onto the table to get at them.  We had a nice dinner together with my mom and dad and then Lennard got to open his gifts.  The kids had ‘picked’ presents for him and as you can see from Ben’s expression, they were excited for him to OPEN them!

I couldn’t ask for a better husband and best friend.  Love you, Lennard!

Gratitude Day #21: Time Out

I've have been terrified of letting Emma use scissors... I've seen way too many horrible haircuts from kids who have experimented with scissors!  After seeing her try to use them at Stay and Play, I decided I'd better at least let her try them (under my contant supervision!).  She loved cutting up the paper.  She definitely doesn't hold them properly, yet, but that will come.  I even pulled out the glue stick and let her 'glue' to her hearts content.

Ben got right in to it too and had a blast.  He even managed to hold them right a few times... just not in this picture!

I had a Relief Society Craft Night at the church with a dinner, so I came up with something quick and easy for dinner.  We made popovers and the kids had fun 'helping' make them... though if you look at the picture you can see that Emma enjoyed eating them more than putting them into the tins!

It was such a nice 'time out' for me to go to the church tonight.  I love being able to sit and visit.  We don't get the chance very often in this ward, so when it does happen I make sure I'm there!  I love the sisters in my ward and the chance to get to know them better.



Gratitude Day #20: Talents

We (as in Lennard) started the grouting on the tile in our ensuite.  One step closer to having this room completed!  It has taken years... only because it keeps getting put on the back burner while other projects take priority.  I'm thankful that we have been able to learn and grow our talents with all the projects we have done in this house and in our other homes.

Gratitude Day #19: Insurance

When the hailstorm hit, I can't remember thinking to myself that I was thankful for the storm... but with all the insurance coverage we were able to get I have now come to the conclusion that I am indeed thankful.  I'm glad that even though we've had to 'fight' a bit with our insurance to get what we need, at least we had insurance and everything is going to be fixed.  The biggest blessing (in my mind) is that we really needed to have our living room window replaced.  The seal had gone on it and it let in quite a bit of cold.  When the storm went through, I was a little disappointed that it hadn't cracked the window, but once we had contractors out looking at all the damage, they discovered a hole in the frame of the window.  Voila!  Insurance was contacted and a new window was ordered.  Today was the happy day that it was replaced!  Oh to be able to see out and enjoy the view again!  What a blessing!

Before... if you look close you can see the kids drawings!

A work in progress.

The final product!  Now to get blinds and curtains up!

Gratitude Day #18: Wonderful Life

Every Sunday I tend to shake my head and wonder if we'll ever get through Sacrament meeting again without a meltdown.  I know that the kids are just tired, especially with having church go until 2:30.  It doesn't help that they've missed lunch and naps...  I 'know' that... but it's still frustrating when I can't tell you anything about the meeting I just tried to sit through.  Having said that - I've been trying to 'look for the positive' and find something good out of each Sunday.  The brief moments where the kids sit and listen (though brief and far between) make me feel like things are starting to click.  When Emma decides to stand up and lead the music or wave hi to someone she happens to see - I try to see a beautiful little girl who is active and curious about her surroundings.  When Ben lays on top of me and won't hold still - I try to remember that he is 'only' two and that he loves ME!  Truly, life may not be perfect... but it is wonderful!

Gratitude Day #17: Making Memories

After a bit of adventure getting to the cabin (Mindy's van got stuck and we had to unload everything out of her vehicle and carry it up the hill in the dark to load it into our truck!), we had a lot of fun visiting, eating yummy food and playing games until the wee hours of the morning.

You can see that mom is already tired in this picture...

The rest... enjoying the snacks.

This morning after a wonderful waffle breakfast, we started working on the '25 Days of Christ' kids that we'd all bought.  Mom and Nysha didn't have kits, but there was enough work to share!  They turned out really cute and thankfully it was one project that got completely done!  So fun.

I'm thankful that I live close enough to attend these kinds of weekends now.  It is a wonderful chance to make memories and build our relationships.  I hope we can continue to have good relationships with each other!

Gratitude Day #16: Sisters

I'm heading out for our Sister's Weekend today.  There has been a bit of drama surrounding this weekend and I hope that we can forget all the silly 'stuff' that has gone on and just have fun.  I love my sisters... even when they sometimes drive me crazy!  I can't imagine my life without them.

Gratitude Day #15: New Days

Today, I am thankful that each day is a new day.  The things you go through today are in the past tomorrow (if you let them).  I am glad that I can start fresh every day and try a little harder to be a little better.

Gratitude Day #14: Grandparents

I had the best grandparents a girl could dream of.  I miss them every single day.  I am grateful for their influence on my life.  For showing me that love can survive through the years and that you can find happiness in the little things.  I loved being in their home and feeling like I was the most important person in their lives. 

Gratitude Day #13: Little Blessings

So this may seem silly, but today I am so incredibly thankful that when Ben undressed himself and took his diaper off (for the first time), that it wasn't a dirty diaper!!!  I've felt very lucky that my kids haven't discovered how to take their diapers off by themselves.  Emma never did, so I was hopeful that I would just skip this parenting right of passage... but Ben figured it out tonight.  I was upstairs in the kitchen when my little streaker came racing up proclaiming, "Wook, mom!"  He was so proud of himself that I was almost afraid to go downstairs and look at what the damage was.  I managed to chase him down, get a diaper and pajamas on him and then went to see what kind of mess I had to clean up.  Thankfully, he was kind to me (this time) and his diaper was only wet!  I think I'm going to have to find the duct tape soon!

We're working on the tile again... it's not going as smoothly... we've already broken one drill bit trying to drill the hole for the shower head.  It could be a very late night.

11:15pm - We just finished... with the very last tile is in place.  We had NO left over tile... way too scary how close it was to not having enough to finish!  So glad we've managed to get this much done!

Gratitude Day #12: Modern Conveniences

I am thankful for all the modern conveniences that we have now.  I love electricity, power tools, television, DVDs, running water, microwaves, washer/dryer, computers... yup... love it all!!!

Since Lennard got today off, we decided to tackle a project that neither of us have ever done... tiling the shower in our ensuite!  We had installed a shower enclosure a while ago, but we wanted to tile the ceiling and walls above it.  We jumped in and it actually went pretty well.  We had a few little hiccups at first, but once we got going it went okay.  There are a few little 'quirks', but since it's our ensuite no one else will have to look at them except us!  Unfortunately we ran out of thin-set, so we couldn't finish it up, but we're hoping tomorrow night that we can get the last 20-30 tiles put up.  Then we'll wait a few days and grout them and hopefully by the weekend we'll actually be able to USE our shower for the first time in about 5 years!  That's what we get for always putting in on the back burner while we do all the 'other' projects!  I'm glad this one finally made it to the top of the list!

Pictures to follow...

Gratitude Day #11 - Veterans

This Remembrance Day, I am grateful for all those who have served our country and defended our freedom.  I am especially thankful for my great-grandpa (John Arthur Spencer), my grandma (Louise Cahoon), and Lennard's grandpa (Arthur Willard Nichols) - for their service in WWI and WWII.  I also honor my father-in-law, D. Lennard Nichols, for his many years of service in the Canadian Army.  The sacrifices he made to serve our country meant he was away from his family a lot more than he would have liked.  He missed a lot of things while his children were small, but it's because of men like him that we have the kind freedoms that we have in this country. 

I loved being able to look out and see the Canadian flag waving in the wind on our front lawn.  What a powerful symbol of our wonderful country.

Lennard was able to participate in the Town's Remembrance Day ceremony at the high school this morning and layed a wreath in honor of his grandfather.  I was pleased to hear that more people are now laying wreaths for their personal ancestors as well.  When we first moved here, they hadn't had anyone really do that, so it's nice to see that change!

I took Emma and went to Sacrament while Lennard stayed home with Ben while he napped.  It was a nice meeting, though Emma was over-tired and probably should have been home in bed as well!

I tried to get her to stand still and smile for a picture and this was as close as I got.  We definitely got a lot of comments on her outfit.  Such a cute girl!

Gratitude Day #10: Adoption

There are no words to describe the heartache of wanting something so badly and not being able to 'solve' the 'issue' yourselves.  For ten long years Lennard and I ached to be parents and when we were finally told that we had been 'chosen'... it was a dream come true.  I cannot think of another gift that has blessed our lives so completely.  I am SO incredibly grateful for the brave couple that put Emma's needs first and made the courageous choice to place her in our arms.  I think about them every day and pray that they will always know of our love for them.  Our family would not be complete without them.

Talking on the phone... a favorite thing to do lately!

On a completely different note... we changed Ben's crib into a toddler bed today.  He is officially a 'big boy' now!  Yikes!  How did he get to be so big so fast?! 

Ben was very excited for his 'new' bed... Emma - not so much.  She was not impressed that Ben got to lay on his bed first.

We started mudding and taping the laundry room today and Emma decided that she needed to help...

Gratitude Day #9 - Pinterest

I know, I know... you're saying, "Really? Pinterest?  Of all the things to be grateful for, why Pinterest?"  Well... since joining the band wagon and using Pinterest it has made my life SO much easier!  The biggest reason today that I'm grateful for this tool, is that our meals have had more variety lately.  I have tried out LOTS of new recipes and it has been so fun to feel like I'm getting on top of ONE thing in my life!  The last 4-6 weeks I have had menu plans made with at least 2 new recipes to try each week (sometimes 4 or 5!).  I have cut my grocery budget, made healthier meals and even had fun making dinner!  It's just nice to check out new recipes and be able to read the comments of people who have made it before and know if there need to be tweaks to the recipe.   So there you go... I'm thankful for Pinterest!

Gratitude Day #8 - My Home

With the weather forecast looking scary, I am extremely grateful for my home. 

I'm thankful for a well-built, warm, comfortable home.  I love my house and all the things we have done to make it OURS.  I can't say that I want to do any more major renovation projects, but I am extremely glad that we've done what we have.  I love our front entry now... especially when we all load in with wet boots and winter gear!  I love my huge kitchen that I can spread out in and enjoy having my kids 'help' (most of the time).  I feel very blessed to have all that we have when there are so many in the world with next to nothing.

Another random photo:  Emma decided that Ben needed help eating a bagel.  At least they know how to share (when they want to)!

Gratitude Day #7 - Being a Mommy

I had the chance to go in to Lethbridge today with the kids.  It's not very often that I take them by myself as it usually turns into a bit of a gong show trying to keep them from running off or touching every single item in the stores we go in to, but they did amazingly well today!  I'm trying to give them a little space to explore when I can be sure it's safe to do so, and I was impressed at how well they actually listened (most of the time).  We had to put a few things back and apologize a few more, but there were no meltdowns or disappearing acts!  It was actually quite fun to watch their expressions and see how excited they were for every little thing they saw.  Emma was a little worried about going in to Wal-Mart because she remembered all the Halloween stuff that was up the last time we went in.  She was sure there was going to be 'scary' things there.  Ben 'helped' push the cart all around the dollar store.  It was just an all around good experience, which really made up for this morning when they were both crying and throwing temper tantrums for 45 minutes straight!  It makes me want to be able to capture every little thing about them so that I'll never forget... they grow so fast and it seems like a blur now from when they were just babies (could have been from the lack of sleep).  I love being a mom... especially when I allow myself to do things on 'their' time and not mine.  No deadlines make a huge difference in how happy we all are!

Gratitude Day #6: Canada

I am thankful for the country that I live in.  With all the upheaval around the world, and with the election going on in the States, I am grateful to make my home in Canada.  We can always find things to complain about, but I love my country and am proud to be Canadian.

Gratitude Day #5: Lists

It may seem silly, but I am grateful for lists!  It makes my day when I can check something off a list... especially when it's something huge.  I have all kinds of lists and it must be fairly obvious as Emma is now showing me her 'lists' that she has made.  It's quite cute!  I have lists for groceries... by what store I need to buy them at.  I have lists of projects to be done around the house.  I have lists of craft projects, goals, people to see, what I need for food storage, things to do, emergency preparedness, babysitter checklists, etc, etc, etc.  I love knowing that I've actually accomplished something... and while I have never written things down that I've already done just so I can check them off - it wouldn't be too far of a stretch for me!  I love being able to look back and see all the things we've accomplished around our house, especially when there are still so many little things that need to be done.  It gives me motivation to keep going and to see the big picture!  (Thankfully I have given myself permission not to feel overwhelmed at the amount of things ON my list... just to look at all the things that are actually checked OFF!)

Just had to add this picture in... I came downstairs to get Ben for bed and he'd already fallen asleep. 

Gratitude Day #4: Good Bishopric

The thing I am most grateful for today is a good bishopric that laughs at all the craziness during Sacrament meeting instead of getting upset at it!  We certainly put on a good 'show' for them today!  I think they were all laughing at us at one point.  One of the highlights was when Emma didn't want to sit still while the Sacrament was being passed and so, while Lennard was holding her on his lap, she proceeded to call out things like - "I want down!  I want my mommy!  This is terrible!  Get me outta here!"  I just had to laugh with them... what else can you do?!

Gratitude Day #3: Talented Husband

I am grateful for a husband that is so talented and can do SO many things around our house.  We worked on the laundry room again today.  We got the rest of the tile up, the plumbing done for the new laundry sink, gyproc up and the horrible popcorn ceiling scraped off!  It's really starting to look like something!  Now we just have to get the tiling done in our ensuite so we can make sure there are no leaks in the shower before we can get the last piece of drywall up and we'll be ready to mud/tape/sand/prime/paint! 

Ceiling - partly scraped!

The mess afterwards!

Gratitude Day #2: Good Health

Today I am thankful for good health.  I am starting to get a cold and every little ache and sniffle makes me grateful for not having to go through any major illnesses.  It seems like everywhere I look these days there is someone else I know going through a horrible sickness.  It is heartbreaking to see parents lose children, couples losing a spouse, etc.  Some of the most amazing people I know (or have known) have been given the largest trials.  I pray every day that we can keep healthy... and if we must get sick... that it is something that we can overcome.

Gratitude - Day #1: Kids

A friend of mine is doing a 'November Days of Gratitude' where every day of November you list something that you are grateful for.  (Thanks for the idea, Nicole!)  It got me thinking that if we would all stop and look at the things we have instead of what we don't, the world would be a much better place to live.  So, I have decided to try it!  It may not get posted here every single day, but I will consciously try to think of all the things I am grateful for.  The power of positive thinking, right?!

Today, I am grateful for my kids.  All the ups and downs of raising two wild and wonderful children make me thankful for the every day little things.  Seeing the world through their eyes makes everything new and exciting.  The time we have together doing simple things make life worth living.