30 Days of Thankfulness

Day 30

Today is the last day of my 30 Days of Thankfulness series.  I must say that it has been good for me to think about all of the things, both big and small, that I am thankful for.  Today I am thankful that I have this beautiful life.  I get to stay home and raise my children, I get to teach children God's Word, I get to teach precious little girls ballet, I get to attend Bible Studies and church, I have amazing friends and family.  I have a wonderful husband, 2 awesome children, and we are all healthy.  I have a big beautiful home to sleep in every night. I have a nice big van to drive around in.  I am beyond blessed.  There is a laundry list of other things that I am thankful for and I can only thank God for it. He has done all of these wonderful things for me and so it is only fitting that today, on the last day of my thankfulness series, that I give Him all praise and thanksgiving for this life of mine.  It is bigger and better than anything I could have ever planned for myself.  I hope that I never take anything for granted. I hope that I continue to see God's hand at work in my life. I hope that He continues to use me for His purpose and plan.  I am truly thankful to my Savior for all He has done and all that He will continue to do with this beautiful life of mine.

30 Days of Thankfulness

Day 29

Today I am thankful that I get to bake yummy homemade treats for some special ladies.  I don't bust out my mixer for just anybody.  So yesterday I made some yummy Nutella cupcakes for my fellow CBS teachers and my director to enjoy during our coffee fellowship time this morning. I think it's safe to say that they were a hit. Yay!

30 Days of Thankfulness

Day 28

Today I am thankful for fog delays.  Fog delays mean school starts 2 hours later. And that is good news for Miss. Isabella. Fog delays mean we get to sleep in.  It also means that we get to enjoy a nice long breakfast together.  The best part is that we get to take our time getting ready for school. No rushing around, no craziness, no grumpy kids, and that is good news for this haute momma.  

30 Days of Thankfulness

Day 28

Today this haute momma is thankful for leftovers.  After a busy week and weekend it's nice to have a day off from cooking.  Tonight at dinner we pulled out all of our leftovers and everyone ate whatever they wanted.    We had all kinds of food in our frig from the past week. Soup, rice, shredded pork, turkey, ham, brussel sprouts, mac n cheese, and just about anything else you could think of.  It was kind of like going to a buffet.  I think we have enough leftovers for the next few days.  I just might get a few more days off from cooking a complete meal. Yay!

30 Days of Thankfulness

Day 26

Today I am thankful for quiet mornings.  On Tuesday both of my kids went and spent the night at my parents house.  So when Wednesday morning rolled around I got to sleep in, wake up to a quiet house, and enjoy a cup of coffee while watching my recorded episode of Parenthood.  It was the best. 

30 Days of Thankfulness

Day 25

Today I am thankful for my friend Felicia who braved Black Friday with me and made it the best shopping day ever.  We left at 6am and returned home at 10:30pm.  Yeah, that's how we roll. We knocked out a bunch of Christmas shopping and even treated ourselves to some lovely things as well.  I mean if you come across some awesome sales you have to treat yo self.

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30 Days of Thankfulness

Day 24

Today I am thankful for holidays spent with family.  For family traditions like the watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in our pj's. For a day to reflect on all the things God has done for our family and all the ways He has blessed our family.

 Have a Happy Thanksgiving! Eat lots of yummy food and enjoy your time spent with family and friends.

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On another note: it's been one year today since I started this blog.  I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. I am thankful to all of you who read my almost daily rantings. I hope you find something here that makes you smile and laugh, something that inspires you to create, and mostly that you just enjoy the everyday adventures that fill your life like I'm trying to do.  Have a blessed day!

30 Days of Thankfulness

Day 23

Today I am thankful for Girls Day Out with Isabella.  She has all week off from school so today while Ian spent the day with my parents Isabella and I went to run some errands.  We did some shopping (she got some cute new boots), had lunch (her choice), and went to the craft and scrapbook store (she picked out some fun Christmas crafts for her and Ian to do next month).  We listened to Christmas music and I annoyed her with my loud singing.  She gave me advice on clothes that I tried on and laughed at me when I tried on a dress that was not so flattering.  I like these girls only days and I try to make sure that we do them often.  I look forward to many more days like today.  

30 Days of Thankfulness

Day 22

Today I am thankful for my mom and my mother in law. Not only are they amazing ladies but they are the most awesome grandmothers.  They love our kids so much and our kids are over the moon about them.  They are our primary babysitters and are always willing to watch our kids day, night, weekends, and will even invite them over just to give me a break. I am so grateful that they are so willing to help out when I need them. They make every effort to create memories with my kids and I love that.  They will take them out of town for a weekend to visit family or to take a quick trip to the beach.  They don't mind playing board games, setting up train tracks, or sitting through endless hours of movies with them.  They make them their favorite foods and have all of their favorite snacks on hand at all times. My kids are very close to them and I wouldn't have it any other way. It would be an understatement to say that my kids are lucky.  They are very blessed.    

30 Days of Thankfulness

Day 21

Today I am thankful for on line shopping.  It makes my life so much easier to be able to order just about anything I need on line and then VOILA it shows up at my door.  I've ordered clothes, books, ipods, scrapbook supplies, shoes, home accents, and baby stuff.  I have my favorite on line stores and always keep a look out for free shipping or any coupons I can use.  I can shop from the comfort of my own home, in my pj's, and I can do at any time of the day or night.  It really is the best.  

30 Days of Thanksgiving

Day 20

Today I am thankful for Pandora.  What's better than customized radio stations based on the kind of music you want to hear?  No more changing the radio when a song comes on that you don't like. I especially love that it's on my phone and I can listen to it in my swagger wagon. We have so many Pandora stations.  Some for me, some for Mr.G and some for the kids.  I love it! What's playing on your Pandora?

30 Days of Thankfulness

Day 19

Today these are the things I am thankful for:

listening to my kids pray at bedtime

watching them play 

hearing them laugh

listening to them sing

when they tell me "I love you"

when they give me bear hugs

when they snuggle with me on the recliner

30 Days of Thankfulness

Day 18

Today I am thankful for craft days/nights with friends.  I love to do crafty things and it's so much better to do them with your friends.  And when you stay up until 4:30 in the morning make paper roses you know you had a good craft night.  I have had a lot of craft nights this year and I certainly see more to come in the future.  I spent a lot of time helping some women of our church make things for our Country Pantry, then I helped my friend Tori make decorations for a wedding, and most recently I helped my friend Angela make decorations for her daughters Ariel themed birthday party.  I have burned myself with a hot glue gun more times than I can remember, consumed large amounts of coffee, and eaten about 10 lbs. of candy and sugary sweets during these crafty get-togethers.  But what I have truly loved about these craft days/nights  is the time spent with all of these ladies.  The fellowship, the laughter, the funny stories we share, and just getting to know each other better has been the best thing about these days/nights.  And you know what they say, "Whatever happens at craft night, stays at craft night".  

30 Days of Thankfulness

Day 17

Today I am thankful for Netflix movies that you can stream on your computer while you scrapbook. It makes the time go by faster and you get to enjoy watching some old favorite movies.  Yesterday I watched Breakfast at Tiffany's and An Affair to Remember.  I wonder what I'll watch next?

30 Days of Thankfulness

Day 16

Today I am most thankful for uniforms.  It makes getting ready in the morning so easy. No arguments over what to wear.  The only options Isabella gets are whether or not to wear a jumper or a skort, tights or knee socks, tennis shoes or dress shoes.  Seriously, it is the best.  I'm going to try to make her wear uniforms all the way through high school. Not sure if I can convince her but it's worth a try right?

30 Days of Thankfulness

Day 15

Today I am thankful for two of my favorite websites. I am even more thankful that I can access them from my phone.  I am totally obsessed with Pinterest and bloglovin.  If you haven't heard of Pinterest you must be living under a rock.  It is an online pinboard where you can share and find ideas for just about anything.  I spend way too much time on Pinterest but there are just way too many awesome things on there that just when I think I'm done, I find more awesome things to pin.  I've found lots of scrapbooking inspiration, fashion inspiration, recipes, and tons of DIY ideas.  I need a pintervention.  Seriously.  My other obsession is bloglovin.  It's a website where you can follow all of your favorite blogs.  You can add as many blogs as you want and every time there is a new blog post it's right there ready for you.  I read tons of blogs and this has been such a time saver for me.  I love it!  I know that these things can be time robbers and I can spend way too much time in front of the computer so I really need to make sure that I monitor how much time I give to them.  I like to wait until Ian is taking a nap and then I sit down and check them both.  It's nice to have some quiet time and this haute momma likes to have her quiet time.

30 Days of Thankfulness

Day 14

Today I am thankful for coffee.  I drink it everyday.  At least 2 cups, sometimes more depending on how much sleep I've had or how busy my day is going to be. I drink it year round.  Even in the summer you can find me drinking a big mug of hot coffee first thing in the morning.  I think it's safe to say that I am 100% in love and addicted to coffee. Don't judge me.   

30 Days of Thankfulness

Day 13

I am thankful for opportunities to volunteer at Isabella's school. I am thankful that I get to participate in a lot of her school activities.  She looks forward to seeing me there and I feel blessed to be able to be there. I've been able to do reading groups, go on field trips, do the bulletin boards, and volunteer at school fundraisers.  I'm looking forward to helping out in Ian's classrooms too.  These years are going by fast so I cherish any time I can spend with them.  

30 Days of Thankfulness

Day 12

I am thankful for family movie nights.  We have been able to take our kids to the drive in and to the regular movie theater to see movies.  It is so much fun to share these experiences with our kids. I'm looking forward to planning our next family movie night soon.

30 Days of Thankfulness

Day 11

Today I am thankful for those rare moments when I get to sit down and spend some time reading a good book. I have more books than I know what to do with,  Some day I will have all the time in the world to read them all but until then I will enjoy the few minutes I have here and there to get lost in a good book.