2007: 305

305. Some clarity about how I can get the kids more involved with helping around the house and what kind of things I want them to do. Ideas to try - better than nothing at all.

304. Found the book I was looking for.

303. Found the receipt that I wasn't even looking for because I thought I threw it out. I need it to return something.

302. A walk with the kids.

2007: 301

301. Green tea.

300. Scrapbooks.

299. Writing letters.

298. Motherhood: how it reminds me over and over again that I NEED GOD.

297. Remembering to take meat out of the freezer for dinner tomorrow.

296. Warms days when I can take the kids out for a walk.

295. Handwashing dishes. How crazy is it for me to think that is a blessing? Oh well!

294. Seeing two kids asleep in the same bed.

293. A date with Paul.

292. Planting some seeds and a few seedlings.

291. Mocha chip ice cream.

290. Goals.

289. A quick, easy dinner that no one had a major complaint about.

288. A late night walk in the rain.

2007: 287

287. Ms. Boo was not injured when she ventured into the street the other day.

288. And neither was Mr. Bug when he tried to cross the street without looking first, then ignored me when I told him to stay put.... because a car was coming.

286. I loved this:
285. Hearing Ms. Boo read.

284. Snuggling with Ms. Bao in my bed this morning. It was like the two of us fit together like the peices of a puzzle.

283. Stephanie.

282. Scrapbook nights with the girls.

281. Getting a handle on things through conversation with Jeana.

280. I have never suffered torture or torment at the hands of my government.

279. Sitting outside on the grass reading my book.

278. The kids can play outside.

277. Advil.

276. It. Got. Warm.

2007: 275

275. Getting Ms. Boo's lessons done today without major incident. She's not "into" them, and after a week off for spring break, she wasn't thrilled about picking up with them again.

274. She even volunteered to do her handwriting lesson (which I hadn't even planned for her to do today. But since she was willing, in a "let's get this out of the way" kind of way, I said GO FOR IT!)

273. Avocados w/ lemon juice and a little salt.

272. Getting the compost started in the back yard.

271. A good, vegetarian dinner that Paul said he liked.

270. Looking at old pictures of my baby.

269. A picture of Ms. Bao making the silliest face next to her adult cousin making a similarly silly face.

268. People who are gracious.

267. Getting all of the kids' clothes put away today.

266. Readily available healthful food.

265. Seedless raspberry preserves.

264. Hot showers.

2007: 263

263. Mexican food.

262. A nap on a Sunday afternoon.

261. Paul being home for spring break.

260. Getting an idea of how to get a grip on life, even if I don't actually have a grip on life yet. Having an idea of how it might work is comforting...

259. My health.

258. The kids' health.

257. Paul's health.

256. A warm house when the weather is cold.

255. The Bible.

254. Our church sanctuary being used to bless people outside of our church.

2007: 253

253. The night hike.

252. Mr. Bug miraculously keeping his shoes on without one single complaint from the time we left the house until we returned from the hike.

251. Finding salamanders at the state park.

250. Seeing salamander eggs.

249. We all. ALLLLLL! slept until 10 am while we were away on a little mini vacation.

248. Hearing Ms. Bao ask to put on her "badey soup" and then ask if we could go to the pool.

247. Hearing her say "pash" (splash) while making big arm motions as a way of convincing me to take her to the pool.... even though I knew she had absolutely no intention of getting anywhere near the water.

246. The raised-eyebrow, single eye squint that she gave me when I told her that I didn't want her to get burned in her "badey soup."

245. Ms. Bao is still talking about the duck we saw last night on the night hike. When I asked her what color the duck's head was, she hit her head a few times and said "GEEE!" (green.)

244. Snuggling with my Bao baby while she slept next to me in the hotel bed.

2007: 243 (4263)

243. Six and a half hours to do my own thing. All. By. My. Self.

242. And I didn't spend any of it window shopping.

241. Reading good books.

240. Learning new words.

239. Learning in general.

238. Finding a new vegetarian recipe that sounds DEE-lite-ful. We'll see if, after I making it tonight, it is as delightful as I am hoping.

237. A haircut in which the stylist spent a whole lot of time drying my hair. It felt so good.

236. I get to love people.

235. Thoughts to be expounded upon.

234. Rain.

233. Free refills.

232. Laughing with my kids.

231. A day out with Ms. Boo.

230. God giving me enough sense not to hurry her up or correct her (unnecessarily) for every. little. thing.

229. Small victories in the area of keeping calm while being frustrated by a whiney child.

228. Asparagus. I love asparagus. I'd marry it if I wasn't already.

227. My husband has done a LOT of laundry this week.

226. And dishes too.

225. The boy says "I'm serious," and I think it is so funny.

2007: 224 (4244)

224. A new bike for Ms. Boo's birthday 20% off, and an extra 15% off with the credit card.

223. Hearing Mr. Bug say he found a "snake bone" while playing in the fossil exhibit at the children's museum.

222. Read the entire Bible in three months. YAHOO!

221. Ms. Bao is chatty, chatty, chatty. It is so fun to listen to her try out new words. Current favorites: money, see ya, go, and (when we tell her we aren't quite ready to go, she says:) in a minute (which sounds like mih mint.

220. And she said Jesus the other night too. I've never heard her say that before!

219. A great Easter Sunday at church.

218. An evening of sitting around with Stephanie drinking coffee and talking Scripture.

217. A great talk on the phone with a fellow blogger. It encouraged me very much.

216. A great Easter Sunday with family.

215. My SIL brought the latest batch of hand-me-downs from her kids.

214. Paul on spring break.

213. My neice preparing for a mission trip.

212. Seeing my nephew while he is on leave from Iraq.

211. And watching him play with Mr. Bug and their cousin Luke... just the "boys."

210. Getting a picture of the cousins together.

209. Ms. Bao with cousin Amie. She loves Amie.

208. My big girl turning six.

207. A fun birthday party for her.

206. Getting a few cards made.

205. Getting a quilt finished.

204. Getting a bunch of the kids' old clothes out of the house and in the hands of someone who can use them.

203. The boy turning four.

202. And a message on the machine for him from Andrea. She called from Georgia just to wish him a happy birthday.

201. The boy stroking my hair during our snuggle time before bed.

200. Hungry, Hungry Hippos.

199. A portrait appointment at the last minute that fits our spring break schedule.

198. The tortoise who came out to see us at the museum today.

197. A composting series run by the solid waste district and the local parks. And a free composter if I go to all three sessions.

196. Breakfast at McD's with the whole family this morning.

195. A big tax return.

194. Getting some photos in order well in advance of my next scrapbooking night.

193. Finishing the cat quilt.

192. Meeting the baby for whom we made the quilt... and his grandma too!

191. Don Henley on the radio.

190. Lots of good 80's tunes lately too.

189. Raw sunflower nuts.

188. With or without honey.

187. The salmon salad at Panera. Y.U.M.

2007: 186 (4206)

186. Two weeks ago, Mr. Bug, to whom the glass is always half full, got a stomach bug. A few minutes after one of his "incidents" I asked him how he was feeling. His response: "A little great."

185. Dancing with Ms. Bao to the song I Love you Always Forever. Not exactly a song about the love between a mother and child, but when all you can understand is the chorus, then I think it fits.

184. I heard Steve Winwood on the radio this week. Higher Love.

183. Yesterday, Bruce Hornsby's The Way It Is.

182. Puzzles.

2007: 181 (4201)

So, I've been gone a while. Not that I haven't thought of a bunch of things to post here, but life is busy. Anyway, I've probably forgotten a lot of them, but here goes.

181. The Word. The Word. God's Word!

180. A night away.

179. Paid for by my MIL.

178. Time with my SIL.

177. Getting some work done on the quilt my SS class is doing.

176. Getting two gift books done for friends who just had babies.

175. And they like them!

174. While on that overnight, where I accomplished the aforementioned crafting tasks, I also got a massage.

173. Paid for by my husband.

172. Out of his bonus money from work. How sweet is that for him to use his bonus money on me? I'll answer for you... very sweet.

171. Chocolate ice cream from the chest freezer that is so hard it almost breaks your wrist to scoop it out.

170. Said ice cream in a glass, covered in milk so that little ice crystals form on it. Yum.

169. Ms. Bao tells me "yuh you" without being prompted. (I love you.)

168. I love her too! She is talking more and more.

167. The powers that be in the district where Paul coaches are new this year. They have interpreted the contract differently than the previous administration and have decided that Paul should be paid on the salary step that reflects the years he has been coaching there (even though he doesn't teach there anymore.) So, this year, Paul will be on something like step 15 for coaching pay (where he should be) instead of step 4, where he was last year.

166. And they decided to reimburse him the difference in his pay from last year too.

165. Warmer weather.

164. The kids actually played outside yesterday.

163. I made chicken fried steak for Paul's birthday. It's the first time I have ever made that. It came out pretty good... which is what Paul said. It's the first time I've eaten chicken fried steak too, so I needed him to tell me if it was any good.

162. With real mashed potatoes. We don't do that around here much. Okay, at all. They were really good.

161. And he liked the cake we invented too.

160. The steak was on sale this week... just in time for the birthday meal!

159. New online friends.

158. Hanging out with my mentor.

157. Getting a nudge towards doing the ministry God has for me.

156. Milk for $1.50/gallon.

155. And a freezer to put it in.

154. The nice guy at the grocery store who pointed out a really good deal on ground beef.

153. And the lady who gave me the discount on the soap dispenser.

152. Ms. Boo is getting into helping around the house. Yesterday, she swept under the kitchen table for me.

151. And she can do laundry now too.

150. The kids can sort laundry too.

149. Salad.

148. My kids like prunes.

2007: 147 (4167)

147. Paul had another snow day.

146. We loaded up bikes, balls, scooters, and a picnic lunch and headed over to the fellowship hall at church so the kids could play. We had a good time.

145. Bethany is hilarious when she is running around and giggling at the same time.

144. We all napped in the afternoon. Well, not Jonathan. He found a few things to watch on TV.

143. We went to Target tonight. Half price Valentine chocolate.

142. Part of the reason we went out was so we could get a "treat" with the gift cards we all had from Christmas. So, we went to the snack bar at while we were at Target too. I had THE MOST delicious salad. Oh, my word it was so good.

141. And, y'all, I just want to thank the Lord for a warm house again.

140. The other day, after playing out in the snow, Lainee came in and started telling me about how she and Paul made an igloo. I figured it was all Paul's idea. I learned later that it was not. While Paul was shoveling snow, Lainee was picking up "bricks" of snow that had been formed after the sleet fell on the first layer of snow for an entire day. Basically, all the snow has about a two to three inch "crust" on it. Lainee kept finding pieces and piling them up into an semi-circle shaped igloo. When Paul asked her what she was up to, she invited him to "harvest" the pieces with her (a term she used to describe the process of removing rough corners and loose snow.) She told him she was working on a window - leaving a hole in the wall - which Paul finished off by putting a piece of "crust" over the entire opening. The thing they created is so amazingly cool. And it was all Lainee's idea.

139. I am a day AHEAD in my 90 Days reading. WOW!

138. I am feeling God moving in my heart about some things I need to bring before him. The big ones: wifehood, motherhood, spiritual nurture of our children, and homeschooling. And I don't even feel overwhelmed by all of that.

137. Finally got a section of my binder all organized with info about the women in the online study. Good thing I got that straightened out, now that we are in our sixth week of the study.

136. Got an appointment for Jonathan's pictures on President's day. Never thought I'd get one so early in the week, given the fact that I scheduled it so late. The very cool part is that Paul will be home that day, so I don't have to take ALL THE KIDS with me to the mall. Yippeeeee!

2007: 135 (4155)

135. A warm house.

134. Jonathan walked up to me the other day and said, "Mom, I have a present for you." When I asked him what it was, he gave me a big hug and a kiss too!

133. Butterfly kisses from the boy.

132. Bethany talking. How fun it is to hear her say new things.

131. My friend had her baby, and all is well.

130. J's 4th birthday.

129. Lainee is so big. Just a big girl. I looked at her toes tonight. Odd, yes. But I just thought they were so beautiful. SUCH A BIG GIRL!

128. Paul had two snow days in a row.

127. I got to the library today, which I really needed so I could do Lainee's lesson.

126. Finished a baby blanket for above-mentioned friend.

125. Reading Scripture. Learning a lot.

2007: 124 (4144)

124. A free chest freezer.

123. I am staying caught up with my 90 Day Bible reading.

122. Lainee did a page of work today with the most beatiful handwriting. I knew it was in there, and she finally just decided to work at it enough to make it look nice.

121. This blog.

120. When someone asks how they can pray for you. That happened recently.

117-119. As described in this post.

116. Getting something accomplished at the library with kids in tow.

115. It's 11:00 pm. I am taking my shower and going to bed.

2007: 114 (4134)

114. We had a rain check for a camera that we kept bringing back to a store only to find that they still didn't have it in stock. There was supposed to be a rebate along with the sale price, but the rebate had expired while we waited for the item to be restocked. This week, I was at the store, taking advantage of their monthly deal (5% off of groceries, 15% off of general merchandise if you use their credit card) and I figured that 15% off the camera would put the price back in the range we were hoping to pay (after rebate) for the camera. So, I asked if it was in stock. It was. They gave me the sale price (naturally,) and the 15% off. Then they took the rebate amount off the price of the camera as well. So, we got a brand new Canon Powershot for $93 and change. SWEEEET!

113. Grinding flour from wheat and making pancakes with the kids at a Metropark preschool program.

112. Lainee's reading is coming along.

111. Chatting with April after the fellowship dinner on Sunday night.

110. The fellowship dinner on Sunday night.

109. Scrapbooking tonight. GREAT conversation, as always.

108. And Stephanie joined us.

107. And I got three pages done too.

106. A cool shirt for $10.

105. Lainee read two books yesterday and one today.

104. Helen has travel dates for going to adopt her two sons in Ethiopia.

103. Keeping up with my 90 Day Bible study reading.

102. An e-mail from Addie.

2007: 101 (4121)

101. Making ice cream with the kids today. Each of them had a cup that they had to stir while it sat in the ice/salt mixture. Bethany could not be bothered with this. She just drank the liquid.

100. Insight into the Word from the ladies doing the online study with me.

99. Bethany grabbed my face last night, pulled it to hers, and gave me a kiss. She did this repeatedly.

98. She can say "pizza."

97. And "yuck."

96. My BIG girl lost her first tooth tonight. She was so excited, and I made a big deal of it. Paul asked her if it made her feel like a really big kid. She said, "I feel like I'm ten!"

95. Gas for $1.88/gal.

94. A friend at church who was 26 weeks pregnant went into the hospital today with bleeding. The decided to deliver her twins by C-section. They came out breathing and are doing okay. My friend is recovering.

93. Going out to dinner with the family, and everyone swaying to the music while we ate.

2007: 91 (4111)

91. Reading Scripture.

90. Exercising.

89. Making homemade butter with the kids.

88. Watching the kids show the homemade butter to their Dad.

87. Getting my act together with Lainee's lessons... slowly, but surely.

86. And the lessons went well today. Got more done than usual in less time than usual.

85. Having two kids old enough to trust that they can go into the bathroom at a store without me, and make it out without any major catastrophes.

84. Dance night with the family: living room full 'o rompin'.

83. Helpful Heather.

82. A better schedule today with B's nap and the kids' bedtime.

2007: 80 (4100)

80. Watching Jonathan dribble a basketball.

79. Bethany repeating the words at the end of our sentences.

78. The driver's window on the Civic was smashed when Paul went to leave for work on Tuesday morning. This was a very good thing. He ended up staying home because I needed to take Bethany to the doctor. The thing is, I forgot to set my alarm. So, since he was already awake, he was able to wake me up in time to get out the door for the appointment.

77. And he kept L and J while I was there too.

76. Dinner on the fly isn't always so bad.

75. Getting the second table out of the kitchen.

74. B-dawg turned 2.

73. And when you ask her how old she is, she says "two" in a really cute way.

72. A good party with family.

71. And chocolate crock pot cake.

33-70. The 38 women who joined the Bible in 90 Days study online.

32. Working out the kinks as moderator/owner of the online group.

31. And the ladies have been so patient about it.

30. Good first day of reading. Good, good stuff. Even learned something new.

29. E-mail from Uncle George.

28. One of the moms at church said that she sat in on her son's AWANA class when they first starting attending. It happens to be jonathan's class. She said she wanted to me "his mom" because he was so kind to her son and included him in what they were doing.

27. A quit chat with Boomama on Monday night.

26. A walk around the block in the cold weather with the kids.

25. Sunny weather.

24. The quilt our SS class is making is WAAAAY cute. I am excited about it.

23. A few days after the fact, Lainee told me the name of the waitress who had served us as a restaurant. "Her name was Jess," she told me. When I asked her how she knew that, she said "I read her name tag!"

22. Cupcakes.

2007: 21 (4041)

21. A new year.

20. Happiness without drugs.

19. Getting over the winter hump, which exists only in my mind. Once all the Christmas stuff is on clearance and the days are getting longer, winter is as good as over to me.

18. Bethany did not seriously hurt herself when a chair fell on top of her and she used a (working) pellet stove to try to steady herself.

17. Doing something about my health.

16. Veggies.

15. Hummous. Even though my jar of it that I bought broke today, I am glad for hummous, because I like it AND it's good for me.

14. A new workout video.

13. A good first day back to homeschooling after the Christmas break.

12. Going to story time with the whole family.

11. Then walking over to the local restaurant and having lunch together.

10. Friendlies.

9. Bethany gave us a few good poses when we got her portraits done.

8. A large bag full of fabric scraps from my mother-in-law to use on some scrap quilts.

7. And some of those scraps are really just 3 yards of fabric she never used. All this fabric for FREE enables me to try some things I have been wanting to try. Then I can donate the quilts!

6. Ribs at my MIL's on New Year's Day.

5. Bethany slept all the way through the night last night.

4. Finding a coat that Jonathan has agreed to wear. On clearance.

3. A great picture of Paul and the kids.

2. My sink is clean.

1. Paul grilled pork chops for dinner tonight. I got out the applesauce and heated up the mac and cheese that Deana made for our meal-sharing group.

4020

4020. A "thank you" from my son. For getting him some "really cold water."

4019. Hearing him say "this is so exciting." I don't even remember why he said it, but I can hear his voice in my head as if he were standing next to me right now.

4018. A new year.

4017. Somehow, God helped me to surpass my goal (my first one, AND my second) for this here blessin's blog.

4016. Found a cool new website that I'll likely be spending too much time reading.

4015. I didn't overeat today.

4014. Dinner consisted of three different leftovers. Take yer pick!

4013. A no hassle exchange at Blockbuster after I picked up (and paid for) the wrong movie... and brought it home and left it sitting on the kitchen table for about 6 hours until we decided to try watching the movie.

4012. Blockbuster was open until 10. On New Year's Eve!

4011. I was able to locate the fabric I'd been needing for a little project today. I'd seen it a few weeks ago at JoAnn, and went to fetch some (am I sounding ridiculously southern today? anyway...) I went to get some this afternoon. It wasn't on the shelf. I spied it sitting (or should I say "settin'"?) behind the cutting counter.

4010. We read a Bible story tonight about how Jesus said he'd be going to the Father in heaven and that anyone who was his friend would live there with him forever as well. Lainee asked if there were any people in the Bible who didn't want to be Jesus's friends. We said there were. She said, "I know. There was one man on the cross next to Jesus who wasn't his friend." That she remembered that all on her own was very cool.

4009. And we sang the "Little Honey's" song again.

4008. Making cookies with the kids. Everyone helped. And mom didn't go crazy!

4007. Shrimp with cocktail sauce that has a lot of horseradish.

4006. Buying shrimp for 10 cents each.

4005. Tonight, Lainee was crying about something and Bethany had a look of great concern on her face. I told Bethany to be kind and gentle to Lainee, suggesting that she give her a kiss on the head. Bethany leaned over the big chair Lainee was in to reach her head and gave her a kiss. Then she rubbed Lainee's head a little bit.

4004 (Yahooooo!)

4004. Bethany's fever is gone.

4003. This means we can all go to church tomorrow.

4002. Went out to dinner tonight.

4001. We spent way. too. long. at Target tonight, but no one seemed to get whiney about it.

4000. Nestle Tollhouse cookies.

3999. As we were enjoying the cookies, Jonathan said, "Thanks for making these, mom. They are really good."

3998. Finished entering our address list into our new database. (Now, how to print labels...)

3997. I am so glad, that at no point in my relationship with Paul (even when he had hair) did I ever find myself saying to him "do you need to get more hairspray?" I heard a girl say this to her significant other in the store tonight. That's just too much pretty for me.

3996. Getting a "wellness plan" together.

3995. My husband let me sleep til noon after a very wakeful night with Bethany.

3994. During the night, while I slept with her out in the living room, she would keep saying "Mommy.......Mommy.......Mommy" in this little whisper voice until I answered her. It wasn't like I enjoyed being awakened, but her voice was cute.

3993. Bethany saw a duck tonight, pointed to it, and, clear as day, said, "DUCK!"

3992. It's really cute when she says "okay" too. We will tell her something, and she will say "taaaay."

3991. And "Barney" is pronounced "bah-DEE."

3990. After a good talking to about all the stuff she likes to hold onto, Lainee decided to clean off the top of her bookshelf. Then I was able to walk her through the process of deciding to throw out a bunch of junk from her storage bins as well.

3989. I haven't gained a bunch of weight over the holidays. I don't know HOW, but I haven't. Thank you, God!

3988. Free water at Target. Sometimes places charge for it. Not Target!