3 Blessings #20

1. I spent most of my day with a friend. Our kids played. We talked about whatever came to mind from homeschooling curriculum to spiritual insights to kids to, well, whatever came to mind. It was an incredible day!

2. Lukas liked the meal I made for dinner, a Pampered Chef recipe called Warm Lemon Pepper Chicken Salad. Delicious!

3. Our pepper plants are finally doing super well! I think that the couple weeks of temps in the 90s and even close to 100 a few days almost did them in, but now we have 3-4 peppers almost ready to pick and TONS of blooms! While we were gone over the weekend, one of the plants appears to have grown 3-4 inches!!!

3 Blessings #19

I do NOT feel very blessed today. Maybe writing this will help me to see that this day is not a complete and total disaster, but considering that my plumbing still isn't repaired and I briefly caught my oven on fire today on top of dealing w/the plumbing all day, sigh. I'm just not there right now. If yesterday was a difficult day to write this post, then today is almost impossible. I was in complete agreement yesterday with those friends who reminded me that the blessing of being renters is that we don't have to pay for repairs. Today, I would just rather be the one in charge of getting things done. I would never treat anyone the way we've been treated over the past two days, so finding the blessings in this day is not as easy as I would like.

1. Lukas spent the day with a friend, so Ava and I had a tea party over lunch. We tried our hand at some challenging origami. We failed at it, but we still had fun. My mom gave Ava a tea time mother/daughter devotional when she was baptized, so we did some of that. Mama/Daughter time is always a blessing.

2. Cooking can be so therapeutic. Knowing that my family will be enjoying a healthy, from scratch meal makes me feel great on so many levels. Plus, I get to use a sharp knife to work out some of my frustrations. Muwahahaha!

3. While there are so many people in the world who have no integrity, who lie, purposefully mislead and avoid their responsibilities, I am married to a man who willingly stands up to them when needed without compromising his integrity in any way.

3 Blessings #18

I already blogged today, and I was going to skip the 3 Blessings blog for the day, but THIS is the kind of day on which I must search for the blessings. Our basement drain has overflowed twice soaking a ton of laundry, blankets, carpet, etc...with absolutely disgusting sewer water. We had to sort through it at our local over-priced laundromat. I had to come home and disinfect myself (which is when it overflowed the second time completely saturating a good portion of the family room carpet)!!! I woke up super sick because I neglected to take lactaid yesterday. I'm still dealing with a head cold. You get the idea. It has not been a great day. The good news is that even in the midst of a trying day, there are always blessings if you look hard enough for them. God is amazing that way! So here goes. Let's see what I can come up with.

1. All the laundry is clean. That almost never happens.

2. Lactaid can be a life-saver for those of us who are lactose-intolerant when we remember to take it. I am thankful that I can include some healthy dairy in my diet because of it (and next time, I will remember to take it).

3. My kids are so cool. They're watching the old Super Mario Brother's cartoon. It makes me smile.

3 Blessings #17

1. Rainy days at home with my three favorite people. 

2. We're getting ready to use the free tickets we won to see Dolphins and Whales at COSI. Even though we won't be able to see the exhibits because our membership expired, it is a blessing to get to see a movie on the IMAX Extreme Screen. (EDIT: We didn't get to go! We got stuck in a HUGE traffic jam. Instead, we drove up to the dollar theater on Bethel Road and saw How to Train Your Dragon. It only cost us $4 for all of us to see it, but I'm still annoyed about the traffic. BUT...the movie being so cheap was a HUGE blessing to us too!).

3. I haven't had any ear pain since Sunday. I'm still waiting for the pressure in my ear and sinuses to go away, but I am extremely grateful to not have ear pain anymore!

3 Blessings #16

1. Ava learned to ride her bike on 2 wheels today. Lukas helped. It was a big milestone leap for her, and a sweet moment for me.

2. Caring friends have shared a few herbal treatments for my ear infection. I am so grateful and hoping to have it cleared-up soon!!!

3.Renting is a blessing sometimes. Even though I would prefer to own my home (hands down!), it is a blessing to know that someone else has the responsibility of fixing things. Right now, someone is sprinkling something around the exterior of our house to help with our extremely bad carpenter ant problem. They'll be coming back to fix the electrical box and sagging eaves. All of this does not come out of my very empty pockets. Yay for renting!!!

If you know me at all, you know I have to work hard to put a happy spin on being renters instead of home owners. Haha!

3 Blessings #15

1. The fact that I have so much swirling in my head may seem overwhelming, but it is a blessing because of the topics which have my head spinning.God is active in our lives!

2. We watched The Lone Ranger with the kids tonight for a family movie night(they borrowed it from their grandparents). I don't recall ever watching this movie, but it reminded me of all the old westerns I used to watch with my grandparents, especially my Grandpa Hendricks. He would call Grandma every afternoon from work to make sure she remembered to record whatever big western was on that day so he could watch it when he got home(and if there was a John Wayne marathon on, we all just knew the t.v. was off limits unless we planned to watch it). It's a good memory of him. He also called her just to say he loved her even if they were fighting, and she would shout, "Jerry!" into the phone in her "I'm disgusted with you voice" with a smile on her face because they both knew he had won the argument just by calling her to say he loved her in spite of their disagreement. Good memories!

3. Natural health remedies rock. I'm currently sitting with a hot, smelly onion pressed against my head below my right ear. It is relieving the pain, and, for that, I am extremely grateful! Thanks to Mindy for sharing this remedy with me. Tomorrow, if I'm still in pain, I'm going to look into getting some tea tree or oregano oil thanks to my Facebook pals blessing me with their knowledge of natural remedies!

3 Blessings #14

1. Jammie days. Truthfully, I'm not good at jammie days. I make it maybe an hour before I'm dressed and groomed for the day most of the time even when I plan in my head "Today will be a jammie day," but I like the opportunity to choose to have a jammie day if I want to. Today is one of those days (at least until evening).

2. My kids spent much of yesterday and part of today at our neighbor's house. Yesterday, she even fed them lunch. I love hanging with my kiddos, but it is a blessing to know that they are safe and cared for with a neighbor.

3. Possibilities are pouring into our lives. Now we just need to sort out which possibility is God's chosen path. It's nice to have possibilities.

3 Blessings #13

1. Seeing all four of the the Southwestern City High School bands marching in the parade this morning was fantastic!!! It's so great to see them back in action last year. We were especially glad to see our nephew, Kyle, marching bass drum.

2.During Red, White and Boom last night, part of the sound track included Amazing Grace. First of all, I love fireworks, so that was a blessing in itself. Second, this has to be one of my favorite fireworks moments ever. As Amazing Grace was playing, they were shooting beautiful white fireworks into the sky that looked almost angelic. It brought tears to my eyes. Someone else pointed out that the other colors were purple (royalty) and red (sacrifice). It was phenomenal!

3. We're spending the afternoon and evening with our friends, Jamie and J'Nessa, and their delightful cherubs, Triniti, William and Samantha. Can't wait for them to get here!

3 Blessings #12

1. 8 hours of sleep. It's been a while.

2.Lukas is napping, and Ava rested for an hour quietly. Quiet time for the mama! Two nights in the tent wore the kids out. Haha!

3. Fireworks tonight!!! I've not been blessed by this yet, obviously, but I will be. I love fireworks as much as the kids!!!!

3 Blessings #11

1. Time spent with a good friend with whom I hadn't spent time in far too long. We always have such a nice time together. I'm glad she remembered that we were getting together today and reminded me last night. :) My memory is too short lately.

2. A nap under a tree in the back yard that helped me to relieve my very tired body after getting very, very little sleep last night. I will not turn into grumpy wife and mom this evening because of this blessing.

3. A grilled, summery meal made by my husband and enjoyed in the back yard together. I love summer.

3 Blessings #10

1. The kids and I checked out Aldi today. I hadn't shopped there since college (because we didn't have one once we moved from Indiana). My bank account was very blessed by the fact that they built a store on South High (the verdict is out on whether or not our taste buds will also be blessed...haha).

2. We filled our bird feeder on Monday night, and I have LOVED watching the different kinds of birds engage in battle over the seed. Purple finches are my favorite, and I thought I briefly saw a canary yesterday. Some of them have gorgeous songs to sing to me. What? You don't think they're singing to ME??? In this instance, I only care what I think, and, in my head, I am Snow White and the birds are singing to me. Heehee!

3. While the kids and I went to a piano lesson and got groceries today, I am loving this low-key week with them. I purposefully planned a low-key week to get us into a good, summer routine. I'm not one of those moms who can not go, go, go 12 months out of the year. Knowing how I tick is a blessing, and having a husband who supports me in slowing things down when it is needed is a blessing as well.

3 Blessings #9

1. Red, white and blue mani/pedi with my favorite little girl.

2. Hearing my children play Uno Spin, Toy Story and Super Heroes all day.

3. The weather is glorious!!!! This break in the heat is so appreciated!

3 Blessings #8

1. Conversation. I had some good conversations with a great friend today.

2. Forgiveness. My kids are some of the most forgiving people I know.

3. Grandparents. Our kids are going to their grandparents' tomorrow and spending a couple days so that Eric and I can celebrate our anniversary at home. This is a huge blessing for which I am extremely grateful!

3 Blessings #7

This is a little late, but I'm getting it done. I thought about it earlier in my day when I didn't have time to write. It was a tough day for me until evening when it got much, much better. So here goes...

1. The kids' friends, Triniti and William, have been coming to the Neighborhood Bible Club at which we're ministering this week. They're both having a blast, but watching Triniti sing and dance her heart out tonight just absolutely blessed me!

2. My niece, Amanda, took the kids swimming today with their Grandma. They had a blast, and I love talking with Amanda. She's a blessing.

3. Time Warner had an outage in our area, so our internet went down just as I was trying to watch a movie on-line because I was home alone and could do so without interruption (and Cary Grant is so timeless and wonderful to watch). You would think that this would not be on my list of blessings, but it is because, instead of watching a movie, I took a much needed nap. This week my energy has been zapped. The nap felt great!

3 Blessings #6

1. Air conditioning!!! Enough said.

2. Rest time. I sent my kids to their rooms for an hour hoping that very cranky Ava might actually nap. She didn't nap, but they both rested, and I had a blessed hour to myself.

3. I started my day with love texts between my husband and me. Perfect start of the day.

3 Blessings #5

I didn't forget that I was planning to do this daily. I just got BUSY over the weekend as you can tell from my previous posts. In addition to the grad party and baptisms, we also had a Father's Day cook-out at our house. Those things were all incredible blessings to us, but they left me with no time to blog. Here are today's 3 blessings...

1. I slept late this morning after a late family night. It was a nice treat!

2. Our family is privileged to minister at a Neighborhood Bible Club this week. Eric is teaching the Bible lesson, the kids are leading worship (I think), and I am helping with crafts. It's going to be a fun three nights!

3. The church posted the video from Sunday's service in which our kids were baptized. They got very close-up to the kids, which is a blessing because our video switch got bumped between Lukas and Ava, so only Lukas' baptism ended up on our video camera. I am SO grateful that they church recorded it and we can get a copy of it!

3 Blessings #4

1. Time Alone!!! I had a chiro appointment this morning. Eric was home with the kids, so I went alone. Afterward, I was able to run errands for a couple hours by myself too. It was much appreciated time to myself even if I was just getting stuff accomplished. When a Mom goes somewhere and there's no arguing in the back seat, it's a much appreciated journey.

2. Lemonade/Art Sale...My children have made their own posters, mixed up some lemonade and are sitting in the front yard trying to sell lemonade and their own artwork. It makes me smile. I just hope someone shows mercy on them and actually purchases something.

3. Cooking...I have been able to be back in the kitchen this week, which is significant because it means my back is getting better. I'm usually in need of a good chair when I'm finished, but at least I'm managing to put some healthy meals on the table again without relying on my already busy husband to help or to do it for me. Some of our culinary treats this week have been sausage lentil soup, turkey reubens and chicken scampi over whole wheat pasta.

3 Blessings #3

1. Shady Grove...the area at Slate Run Metro Park that is almost entirely in the shade all day. It was a lovely afternoon to be there!

2. Time with friends is always a blessing. Today, I spent time with two lovely ladies and their kids. This leaves me with two exhausted children and one refreshed mama.

3. An evening at home with the family is such a blessing. We don't have any evenings scheduled for soccer, basketball, cheerleading, dance class or musical rehearsals. I love everything we do, but I sure love the summer break from it all too!

3 Blessings #2

1. My children are painting. I love their art projects. They plan to sell them on Friday in the front yard, which makes me giggle, which means this blessing is multiplying itself. Perfect.

2. My garden is growing extremely well. I couldn't be happier with how things have sprouted and grown this year. 

3. I so enjoy going to Lukas' piano lesson. Even if he wasn't my kid, as a music teacher myself, I believe that I would recognize that he is an extremely talented young musician.

3 Blessings #1

I've been told that my blog is taking on a negative perspective on a regular basis lately, and it still might from time to time. It's real. It's who I am right now, and I'm working on pushing forward to where I need to be instead of dwelling in a dark place. To counteract this attitude trend I've been experiencing, I've decided that I need to focus on the blessings in my life. For a while, I'm going to try to post three blessings each day as I've known a couple of blogging friends to do in the past. It's something I need to do right now for me to help me to push through and remind me that God is in control of my life. With the busyness of life, I'm sure I'll miss a day here and there, but I'm going to try to be purposeful about making this a daily thing. 

So here goes today's 3 blessings...

1. My husband is loving me so well today. I'm not sure what I would do without him.

2. People care about me. In the past 24 hours, four people have made sure that I knew this.

3.Sun-catchers. My kids have artwork all over the house, but today, I looked at my sliding glass doors and realized how beautiful their sun-catchers are (even if they are dinosaurs). The sun-catchers made me smile.