If you take the time to notice the things you DO have, there is no time to notice the things you DON'T have...

So lately life has been a little hectic, pretty much chaos every time we turn around.  I've challenged myself to a little Pollyanna game...everywhere I go and every thing I do, I try to notice the positive.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm not perfect, I whine with the best of them (as my husband hears everyday), but I'm working on it!  I have noticed that when we notice the little great things in life, all the bad stuff seems less noticeable.  Sooo...here's my Thanksgiving list of things I have been grateful for just today...

1-A body who has an internal clock who wakes up early, ready to start the day.
2-Children who love to sing and wake up excited to go to choir, even though it means they have to get up early also!
3-CAFFIENE!!  (Ok, so maybe I lied a little on the "ready to start the day" on #1)
4-Little baby cows who look so cute playing in the snow that we see on our drive to school in the morning. They make me smile.
5-My kids teachers.  They are so patient and wonderful!  Even though I know a little of their backgrounds and think they may not have it the easiest all the time, they are happy and truly love teaching!
6-A HEATER THAT WORKS IN MY CAR!
7-Having a Hubby who loves staying with his little girls while I go help at the kids school.
8-MY HEALTH AND THE HEALTH OF MY FAMILY!  I can't imagine having to worry about something like that, it makes me so appreciative of my own!
9-A good friend who has made it possible for us to find a new place for our family to settle, even though things are not going very smoothly for him either.  Not only is he happy to help and make it work for us, but he went above and beyond by volunteering to help us with anything else we may need.  THERE ARE GOOD PEOPLE OUT THERE!  It gives me hope.  :-)
10-A great husband who I can go through all the high's and low's with.  Even when the high's and low's are between us.  :-)
11-I'm grateful I got my toy room packed.
12-For 10 month olds who laugh every time someone walks into a room, and for 3 older kids who will do anything to make her laugh!
13-For laywers.  :-)
14-Warm socks.
15- Weight loss programs.  Even when I choose not to use them, it's so great to know they are out there!
16- Painkillers.
17- iphones.
18- Friends.
19- A family I can eat Thanksgiving dinner with and NOT have to eat at Del Taco, where on Thanksgiving Day they are offering 5 chicken tacos for $4.95.
20-A warm bed to crawl into tonight!

I hope that this Thanksgiving holiday finds everyone happy, and grateful for the things our Heavenly Father has blessed us all with!  He gives us things every day to remind us that life is good, so above everything on this list I am grateful for HIM!  May we all take the time to see the good, and while it may not ever cancel out the bad, it will make it more bearable!  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Even 9 yr olds have their redeeming moments...

Today started off like any other normal day...running around with my head chopped off, and not accomplishing anything.  The only different thing about today is that it's a Thursday and my kids are home from school for UEA (and I had forgotten all about it, although that's NOT something different), and I'm trying to get ready for surgery tomorrow, and trying to do a ton of paperwork, etc, etc, whine, whine, whine.  So my sweet beautiful daughter Bailey flagged me down as I spun past her, and started saying "Mom, I know you're really busy today...", and I thought "Oh, no, here we go again, she's going to ask what fun thing we are doing today and I'm going to have to tell her that we'll be scrubbing toilets".  But instead she came out with this sweet wonderful question..."Mom, I know you're really busy today, so I was trying to think of something that I could do to help, and I think that if you wrote me out a grocery list, and I took my cell phone, you could drop me off at Walmart and I can shop for you".  I have to admit, it brought a little tear to my eye, and as I told my friend Lizzy later on the phone, I will never say anything bad about Bailey again.

At least not until she throws her next temper tantrum.  :-)

Jumping on...

So I did it.  I have been saying I was going to for awhile now, and I did it.  I started a blog.  I'm sure my goal for this blog is the same as everyone's: to chronicle the daily ins-and-outs of our little Clayton corner of the world.  Although I must be truthful and admit that I only intend to put all the positive things I do, so that when my children read this 15 years from now they will only read about how I was an amazing mother, and about how much fun I created for them in their childhood.  Hopefully they all have short memories.