462. My day off.

461. I found my quilt stencil.

460. Kibbi.

459. Tiramisu.

458. Helping to set up for the church fellowship.

457. The church fellowship.

456. Knowing that the Lord will carry me through whatever comes ahead, and will equip me for whatever those situations require.

455. Great sermon today about the how hard it really is to love. From Luke 6.

454. Time to pray for our Sunday school class today.

453. Leftovers that we got to take home from the church fellowship.

452. Egg and cheese biscuits from Hardees.

451. Home decorating shows.

450. The book of Titus.

449. The snuggles from my kids today.

448. Lainee had a great time at her first sleep over party.

447. The ladies who helped me carry in two covered dishes and a 22 lb bag of ice tonight so that I could stay with my kids while we waited for the nursery workers to arrive.

446. Seeing the new baby at church for the first time tonight. And seeing that his mom is doing well after having some complications.

445. Hearing that ANOTHER lady at church is pregnant. Yay, babies!

444. The young lady at church who liked the rice dish I made enough to seek me out and tell me so. It was a mix from the store. So funny. But sweet too.

443. My hubby.

442. I found my long sleeved, white T-shirt.

441. God using me in someone else's life.

440. Eating ice cream and cherry pies at McDonald's with my family.

439. Seeing Lainee's excitement about going to a party tomorrow.

438. Watching Lainee share her ice cream with Bethany tonight, unprompted.

437. Lainee helped out, really helped, around the house today.

436. Dancing and rolling around on the floor this morning with my three babes.

435. God's faithfulness to me, even when I am not faithful to him.

434. Knowing that there is fulfillment to be found in taking my eyes off of myself. Ironic, I suppose, but true.

433. Our adoption agency.

432. Priceline dot com.

431. Being part of the future of my church.

430. Chicken for dinner.

429. Being asked to do something that I have been asking God if I could do for a long time.

428. The offer to be PAID for that thing I have wanted to do for so long.

427. Going outside today with the kids.

426. Bethany laughing when she knows she did something silly.

425. Meeting up with my family tonight at the local ice cream joint. They went out while I was at a meeting. After the meeting I decided to get myself some 'scream before I went home. When I walked in, lo, and behold...

424. Doing a 100 piece puzzle with Lainee today. Twice. She's getting pretty good.

423. One more time... chocolate peanut butter ice cream.

422. Getting invited to eat dinner at friends' house last night.

421. Bethany falling asleep in my arms today.

420. The butterfly light in the kids' room started smoking on Monday night. We caught it before anything became dangerous.

419. Coffee ice cream.

418. Being reminded that patience (perseverance) is developed through suffering. (Romans 5:3)

417. Everyone liked the fruit compote I made for dinner tonight. I was expecting it would be a flop.

416. Words of thanks from someone at church tonight.

415. The kitchen sink is clean and empty again after about a half week of not keeping up with the dishes.

414. Finding a few new blogs that I enjoy.

413. Becoming more grounded and confident in myself. Dealing with the self-esteem thing.

412. Kisses, unprompted, from Lainee several times today. Followed by "I love you"s.

411. Hanging out at MOPS yesterday. Good time just to talk with the ladies.

410. Making it through the day without a nap, even though I stayed up way too late last night.

409. A sure hope. (Romans 5:5)

408. Encouragement coming from someone who has traits similar to some of mine. You know who you are... Thanks!

407. My BFF. Helen. I heart her.

406. Loads of laundry consisting completely of towels. Reduce the laundry pile by 25% without spending half the day folding. Thank God for towels.

405. Healthy kids.

404. Having a picnic in the family room with the kids at lunch time today.

403. Cranking up the music and watching the kids dance on the beds. I stand guard to make sure Bethany doesn't fall off while she does her little shaky, swaying.

402. Jonathan has had a bad cough at night, but the humidifier seems to be helping him get through it without waking up all the time.

401. Noodles, peas, mushrooms, and onions in a cream sauce.

400. Shopping for Paul's birthday - done. (two weeks ahead of time!)

399. A sale on cake mix and frosting AND a coupon, right when I had to buy cake mix for Paul's birthday... and so I picked up cake mix for Lainee's b-day (in April) and I am WAY ahead of the game.

398. Buy one get one free sales.

397. Bethany did great her first time in the nursery at MOPS.

396. Found a good resource about attachment in adoption.

395. Kids who sleep through the night.

394. My hair looked really good on Monday. I don't know how that happened, but I really liked it... and I didn't DO anything to make it look that way.

393. Hearing Bethany giggle when I spun her around on the computer chair this evening.

392. Being able to pray for other people.

391. Eggs. I love eggs.

390. 5 visitors in our Sunday school class this morning.

389. A church to call home.

388. A sermon from Philemon today about living out the faith we claim to have, and the importance of forgiveness.

387. Realizing how I get mad at people who don't extend grace... and how that causes me not to extent the grace of forgiveness to them.

386. Being my kids' mom.

385. Starting to learn what I like and what I don't... and being okay with them.

384. Being able to think.

383. Undergoing change in how I view giving.

382. Living in America.

381. Hanging out with a neat family from church tonight

Today God blessed me with:

380. Rolling with my number one homie. Paul and I went on a date. A good time.

379. Eating grits a the Waffle House.

378. A good selection of songs on the jukebox.

376. Babysitting provided by the Qs. Free.

375. Conversation with Paul that wasn't about kids or life at home.

374. Someone giving me some helpful ideas about how to plan weekly time to work on the stuff that interests me.

373. It's crazy cold outside. I have a warm house.

372. Bethany did some things tonight that she has never wanted to try before - while standing, she moved her grip from me to a chair, and she took a few steps too.

371. The moon looks awesome.

Check these out:

370. Our car insurance premium just wend down.

369. Family photo night was a relative success. Great pics of Jonathan. Good pics of the whole family (which I think is a miracle, based on the fact that 3/5 of the people in the photo are under the age of five... and very squirmy too.) AND the bonus is that the photographer suggested we take some individual shots of Bethany since our last (four) trips for her portraits yielded NOTHING. Lo, and behold... we got two decent pictures of her.

368. Dropping in, unannounced, on some friends this evening, and getting some good hang out time.

367. Finding a few new blogs that look interesting.

366. I didn't get much accomplished today. And my husband had absolutely nothing to say about it. (Not that he normally does, he just didn't say anything about it, and it was nice.)

365. Just the thought of a cool homeschooling arrangment that I am currently mulling over. It might not even happen... but thinking about it is fun.

364. Rags. The kind you clean up spills with.

363. My Sunday school class.

362. Finishing a book. (This one is pre-posted. I am going to finish it as soon as I am done here.)

361. Starting another book. Hmmm... which one, which one?

360. Pretending to eat Bethany's hand and hearing her laugh with delight.

359. The other day my boy child cracked me up. I started reciting this little rhyme to him that I made up from the nonsense way that I say his name. I kept repeating it. So he started dancing to it. Twirling his hands around, bending his knees, and rocking side to side... all to the beat.

I no longer have a son. I ate him up right after that happened.

358. Lainee loves to make crafts. Sometimes I let this annoy me, because she always wants to make something, and I never have anything for her to make. At least I think I don't. Today, she was totally content to make a castle by gluing popsicle sticks to a piece of paper. Making her happy is really so much easier than I think.

357. Lainee also did my hair today.

356. My ankles stopped hurting.

355. Friends from the blogosphere. Am I the only one who wishes I could meet some of them?

354. My kids love to talk to my mom on the phone.

353. A gift certificate for a free kid's meal at Frisch's.

352. Eating out and the whole family sharing food off of their plate. Normally I am not a fan of this, but for some reason it just made me feel warm inside tonight when we all sat together and kindly shared whatever someone wanted. Toast, pancakes, fries, onion rings, jello, egg, bacon, chicken strips. They all got passed freely to whomever asked.

351. Sarah McGlaughlin. Good music.

Thirty more blessings since Monday:

350. Today was so beautiful that the kids went out to play wearing just jackets.

349. Over the last 5 years we have fixed the same (or very similar) problem on the car three different times. Paul discovered the same problem again just a few weeks ago (right around the time we were taking the van in to be fixed...) Our past experience told us to brace ourselves for a fairly expensive repair. Only the guy at the repair shop couldn't find anything wrong except for a loose cap on the antifreeze which caused the fluid level to get too low. So, he topped off the antifreeze... and we paid nothing for the "repair."

348. Good conversation with the scrapbooking ladies.

347. Bethany. Enough said.

346. Sitting next to a friend at church.

345. Jonathan got a e-card from one of the girls in our Sunday school class (for his birthday.) It was so funny. He just giggled and giggled, and asked me to play it for him over and over again.

344. My husband brought me home some chocolate peanut butter ice cream for Valentines Day.

343. I found my hair brush. (Oh where is my hairbrush...? Just call me Larry.)

342. I found the template I made for the quilt I am working on.

341. Jonathan might be showing prolonged interest in using the toilet.

340. Watching Lainee and Bethany play on the floor this evening.

339. ANOTHER bag of clothes given to me at church.

338. Reward certificates from the grocery store credit card.

337. Thanks to a weird set of circumstances, I have all sorts of leftovers in my house and I haven't had to cook yet this week.

336. The opportunity to be involved in a new ministry from the very beginning.

335. Watching the Olympics. (Did I say that one somewhere else already?)

334. Making people laugh.

333. Killer Brownies.

332. Facial moisturizer.

331. Bethany had a blast at our friend's house on Monday night while Paul and I went to a meeting. (And our friends had a blast with her too.)

330. Ibuprofen.

329. Health.

328. The kids totally love these books my mom sent for Valentines Day. It's page after page of featureless faces and all sorts of stickers to make crazy faces out of. They have been kept amused by these books longer than I ever thought possible. And they just think their creations are so funny.

327. Finding a few tea bags in a bag at the back of the cabinet today. I have been out of my green tea for two days and I was starting to go crazy!

326. Footie socks.

325. Egg salad sandwiches.

324. Being able to be totally honest with God.

323. A couple at church just had their first baby.

322. Bookworm on Yahoo games.

321. Being able to renew library books online.

Today's blessings have been brought to you by God. Mine were:

320. We think Bethany is saying "ball."

319. Bethany was trying to pull herself up and and I think she got her feet out from under herself for the first time.

318. Another bag of clothes from someone at church.

317. Talking with Joey about the book I am reading. He's about the only one I know who is both willing to listen to me talk about kinetic theory as well as capable of understanding what I am talking about.

316. All the kids fell asleep at the same time today while Paul was gone running. So I got to nap too!

315. And the nap was on the couch, along with Jonathan and Lainee.

314. Free babysitting for tomorrow night.

313. We got invited to dinner with a family at church that we haven't hung out with in a while.

312. I have a great desire to write, and now I think I might have something to write about.

311. Better understanding of my spiritual gift.

Today was a lovely day. God gave me the following blessings:

310. My boy turned three. Love that boy.

309. Having family and friends over to share the day with my son. We are so blessed to have these people in our lives.

308. Birthday cake.

307. Watching the Olympics. I love watching the Olympics.

306. Snuggling my babe after she woke up tonight. So sweet. So crazy sweet.

305. Stain gaurd on the carpets.

304. A basketball hoop for Jonathan. He loves it.

303. Tonight, Mrs. Q offered to take the kids some time "so Paul can take you out to dinner." It just so happens we were planning a date for next Saturday, and we needed a someone. She agreed on the spot. Best part... it's FREE!

302. Kids who were tired at the end of the day.

301. Chatting with Helen this afternoon.

Thanking God for:

300. I'm adding this last because it seems a shame to leave the list hanging at 299. But I gotta think, here, because I had a hard time coming up with the last few. OOOOh... I can't believe I forgot this one... Paul got a Baby's R Us gift card at work as a belated gift for Bethany's adoption. That is definitely a blessing.

299. Frosting Jonathan's birthday cake and having some frosting left over. Hmmm, I wonder what I could do with some left over frosting.

298. Bethany making more eye contact!

297. Snuggling with Bethany today and not worrying that nothing else was getting done.

296. Making a meal every day this week and it didn't seem like as big of a deal as it usually does.

295. Happening upon a jump rope and remembering that Lainee has been asking for one... so I got it!

294. Listening to Lainee instruct Jonathan in how to jump rope. Mind you, this is funny because Lainee does not know how to jump rope.

293. Getting a few "odd" chores done.

292. Bethany's laugh. I have never heard another child laugh like her. When she laughs hard it is very deep and throaty. (And fun to hear.)

291. An exhaustive concordance.

290. Gardening.

No complaints about blogger difficulties... but I fully blame them for keeping me from posting this last night! :)

Thanks to God for the following blessings from yesterday:

289. A night off.

288. Learning.

287. Thinking about the friendships God has blessed me with and how they make me a better person.

286. Perspective.

285. Getting some of our trashed house under control after Paul took the kids to the neighbor's.

284. Paul finishing up in the living room after I left for my night off.

283. Having a car and being able to go do stuff wherever I feel like it.

282. Having a "project" that I need to get done that I can be creative with.

281. Lainee "fed" Bethany her dinner, which made mine (almost) peaceful.

280. Alphabet stickers on clearance at the scrapbooking store.

Lots of blogger outages and me trying to get to bed earlier have made it difficult to post in the last few days. But, here are at least 30 blessings from today and the last two.

279. God's grace.

278. The wedding of Super Man and the Queen. I was the Queen. (Hair styled by Lainee) and Jonathan was Super Man. I don't know why my kids like acting out weddings so much, but it is cute. I felt honored that Jonathan didn't balk at the idea of marrying me.

277. Three-in-one dishwasher tablets.

276. I remembered to take the meat out of the freezer for tomorrow's dinner. And I did it LAST NIGHT.... (who IS this person living in my body?)

275. A killer sale on pop the week we needed to buy it for Jonathan's party.

274. Bethany eats tuna fish. How easy to make myself some tuna for lunch and share it with her. No left overs. Everyone is happy.

273. A nap.

272. I found Bethany's other snuggler!!! YAY!

271. Watching Bethany during the puppet show at story time was a hoot. There was music in the background the whole time. So, while her eyes were fixed on the puppets, she was swaying back and forth through the whole thing. She just loves music. She sways whenever she hears a catchy tune.

270. Lainee actually answered a question the librarian asked during the story. The fact that she answered it aloud is a pretty big deal. She is always shy around groups of people she doesn't know. But Mr. H, the librarian, also said "Yes, that's right, Lainee" which I think will make her a little more likely to participate again in the future.

269. Bethany didn't fall asleep in the car tonight after church. She is so easy to put down to bed, but I still don't like it when she naps right before bed.

268. I was getting ready for bed the other night and I realized I forgot to take my medicine. I came back out to the kitchen only to see that I'd left a candle burning. Good thing I came back out!

267. A bag of hand-me-downs for Bethany from one of the ladies at church.

266. "Softing" Jonathan's back.

265. I really like my mattress.

264. Jonathan's relative cluelessness that his birthday is coming up. He is still too young to be giving me lists of things he wants for his birthday or counting down the days. He is just happy about dinosaur plates and napkins.

263. On our last visit to their house, Lainee told Mr. and Mrs. Q that Jonathan's birthday was coming up. Jonathan just loves them so much that he invited them to the party right then and there. I love it that he hasn't gotten to the place where he doesn't want to be around elderly folks. (And I hope he never does.)

262. When we got home, the kids were explaining to Paul about how Jonathan invited the Qs to the party. Lainee said "Mrs. Q said they just might come. And I think they will because they love us a lot!" They do love my kids. And they are a blessing to our family.

261. One of my old college roomies and her husband just brought home their first child from China.

260. The peace that comes into my day when I start it by reading the Word. And how God uses it to remind me to pray through the circumstances that push me to the edge.

259. Discipline enough to get up before the kids do so I can read my Bible.

258. Getting to bed early.

257. Cabbage.

256. Bethany is a good eater. Why it makes a mom feel so good when her kid eats a good meal, I will never know. But it does. And she is.

255. Teaching Lainee to read. She gets so excited. I love watching it and I am so proud of her.

254. Tom Horton's chocolate Danish.

253. Hanging out with my whole family at Tim Horton's. Looking at everyone sitting around the table and thinking I love my family!!!

252. Playing the "who loves..." game with the family. We all say something like "who loves Daddy?" Then everybody raises their hand.

251. The kids were so excited about the Valentine's cards they made for their dad that they gave them to him as soon as he got home.

250. My best friend from high school is pregnant with her first baby.

God has blessed me in the following ways:

249. It looks like adoptions might get rolling again in Ukraine.

248. Talking to Helen tonight.

247. Writing.

246. My husband who offers to let me take Lainee to kids' choir b/c he knows it means I will have time to sit at church, in the quiet, and read my book.

245. Baby Bucks at Meijer.

244. The Bible. Always teaches me something new.

243. The little boy at church who prays for Bethany "almost" every night.

242. Linda. Old college roomie and adoptive mom. She sent us all sorts of great books and CDs for Christmas, offers lots of encouraging advice, and e-mails to check up and make sure I am hanging in there. I have a sneaking suspicion she might be praying for us too. THANKS LINDA! I will e-mail you soon, I PROMISE!

241. We can afford to buy groceries. And not just the empty calorie kind either.

240. Mikesell's Groovey Cheddar and Sour Cream Potato Chips. (One of the empty calorie grocery items that I DID buy!)

239. Jim Wallis speaking at OSU on a Tuesday in March... and Tuesday is usually my "night off."

I didn't post for yesterday yet, so here are twenty (plus one bonus) blessings God has given me in the last two days:

238. I got to eat chocolate peanut butter ice cream today.

237. The camp out in the living room on Thursday night in which Jonathan was delighted to let me share a blanket with him, and kept smiling at me when I opened my eyes to see if he was asleep.

236. Having a really bad dream that I think reflected some of my unspoken fears... and then waking to realize that it isn't reality.

235. Got Bethany's readoption forms in the mail today.

234. Jonathan's excitement over the dinosaur napkins and plates that I bought for his birthday party.

233. Those carts at Meijer that have a little two-seat bench attached to the front. How much easier it is to shop with the kids when we have one of those.

232. Despite the pain in her ear that kept her up Thursday night, Lainee does not have an ear infection.

231. Going out all by myself tonight for some much needed "me" time.

230. Coffee, a book (see #224,) a blueberry muffin, and the time to sit and enjoy them.

229. A chiken philly.

228. I bought new material for a quilt that I am so excited about, I can hardly stand it. I have told myself I need to finish one particular one before I start a new one, so it will be a little while. But having the fabric is motivation to get the other one done. People, I LOVE to make stuff.

227. Being able to say "no" without feeling guilty.

226. Learning to make decisions that are best for our family without worrying about what other people will think or putting irrational expectations on myself.

225. Spending $10 (or less) on my kids' birthday presents and not feeling like it "should" be more.

224. God's Politics by Jim Wallis. It is putting a lot of my jumbled and incoherent thoughts into words.

223. Lainee thinks it is hilarious to read the sentence "The fat cat sat on the bat."

222. I had the kids on Friday night while Paul was away. The yuckiest part, putting them all to bed, went just fine.

221. I managed to get all three kids' bathed.

220. And gave them haircuts too.

219. Jonathan fell asleep in my bed last night. When I finally went to sleep, I just watched him, all peaceful and cozy, and then I snuggled him until I fell asleep. (And moved him at 3 am when he started getting restless and talking in his sleep!)

218. Paul took a personal day on Friday and spent half of it w/ the family. We went to the children's museum and the kids had a blast.

Thanks to God for:

217. Having kids who eat stuff like broccoli.

216. Being able to bear burdens for others through prayer.

215. Crossword puzzles.

214. A little (not quite) three-year-old at church who loves to play with my hair.

213. One that I forgot from a few weeks ago... getting my hair washed and cut. I could let people play with my hair all day.

212. Shout Gel.

211. Chocolate Chess Pie and coffee for dessert.

210. A friend called to ask me a question about a party that both our girls were invited to on Saturday night. Uh, yeah. THANKS FOR REMINDING ME!

209. I didn't have to cook dinner tonight.

208. Before Bethany came to live with us, the kids would always pray for her at night. I think I prayed one night that Bethany would be "healthy and safe." Lainee and Jonathan picked up on that, and it became their regular prayer for her.

Once Bethany came home, I figured that they would stop praying for Bethany to be healthy and safe. She'd made it here, after all, so why did we need to pray that any more?

But, see, kids (thankfully) don't think this way. And so they pray for their sister every night, asking that God would keep her healthy and safe. All the while, Bethany is sound asleep in the next room.

And you know what? Bethany has been healthy and safe ever since she's been home!

Okay. Today it may be really hard for me to come up with ten. I am trying:

Thank you, God, for:

207. Mrs. Q from down the street called today just to see how we were doing. She hadn't seen or heard from us in a while and wanted to make sure we were all okay.

206. I put two pony tails in Bethany's hair. It was so cute. I love pony tails on little girls. (Do two pony tails count as two blessings? Hmmm....)

205. I had a tea party with Lainee today.

204. I did some extra cleaning that I'd been putting off, thanks to Jonathan, who dumped OJ all over Bethany while she was in her high chair. So, Bethany got a bath, the floor got mopped, and the high chair got a complete and total cleaning - and none of that was slated to happen today. But it sure is nice that they're done.

203. A not-so-hot morning didn't turn into a not-so-hot day.

202. We have some great neighbors. The "check engine" light came on in the van last night, just in case I didn't know that the funny noise it was making was something to be concerned about. So we had to drop the van off at the repair shop, but all three of the kids' carseats don't fit in the Civic. So, the Q's took the kids on a half hour's notice while we dropped off the van. And the O's took Lainee to church tonight, since we could only fit B and J in the Civic.

201. Getting to hang out with my husband, alone. Before we returned home from dropping off the van, we stopped at Arby's and sat in the parking lot eating sandwiches and chatting. I asked him if it counted as a date. He said, no. Me? I'll take whatever I can get.

200. The mechanic at the repair shop was very nice. It's the first time we have taken one of our cars there. Definitely a nice first impression.

199. The hand lotion I bought for my purse smells better on my hands than it does in the tube. Maybe that's minor... cut me some slack, eh? It counts.

198. Snuggling with Jonathan at bed time and listening to him sing a song as he made it up. At the end of every line, he turned and kissed me. I told him that I really liked that song, and asked him if he would sing it to me every night. He said he would :)

Well, that wasn't quite as hard as I thought it would be!