more thankfulness

No list of thankfulness would be complete without listing my husband and son. My two greatest gifts! The epitome of unconditional love and acceptance on this earth! They make me laugh every day. They make me whole. My support system, my love life, my reason to do and be. I love my guys!

time marches on

Last year my family celebrated our first Thanksgiving and Christmas without Dad, and this year we will celebrate these holidays without Mom. I'm sad. But I am also joyful. I have been abundantly blessed. One of the greatest blessings are the parents who raised me. A girl could not have asked for a more stable and loving home.

As I cook my contributions to our Thanksgiving meal there will be some sadness and some satisfaction. Satisfaction in knowing that I am passing the traditions I shared with my parents on to my son. Satisfaction that I am exemplifying to him that grief is natural and that joy and grief CAN walk hand and hand together!

GRACE

My sweet Momma went home to the Lord early this morning. She had decided to stop dialysis this coming Monday and we knew the end of her life on earth was near. The Lord decided to take her home while she slept. What a blessing! My mom has suffered so, and I am rejoicing that she is at peace and out of pain and casting her crowns at the feet of our Lord. I will miss her, as I miss my Dad. But how wonderful it is to know my Savior and have faith in his promise. To know that life on this earth is just a blink in what will be our eternal lives.

Today I am thankful for Grace supplied by the Lord to see us through the difficult times.

~the end of PeeWee football~

Today marked a milestone in Stephen's life. He played his last PeeWee football game. Next, it's on to 7th grade and Jr. High football.

This was his 6th year to play football. A constant in our Fall Saturday lives. Next year (YES!!!!) our Saturdays will be...FREE! Don't get me wrong, I love me some football. But, every Saturday from late August to early November, well, it wears me out!

Stephen's team - 5th and 6th grade Collinsville Pirates won the third place game. I'm SO proud of them. I could see them grow with each game. They became more and more determined and the played as a team.

Yeah Pirates!

Fridays!

I love Fridays! Yes I do! I love Fridays! How 'bout you? {in my best cheerleader voice}

I'm thankful for Fridays because I'm a working gal and Friday means blue jeans and t-shirts, casual supper plans and, this time of year, a high school football game.

Friday means that tomorrow I don't have to get up at the bottom crack of dawn unless I want to.

Friday means Stephen probably won't have homework which means I won't have to help!

Friday means two days [TWO] without excel spreadsheets. Can I get an AMEN?

Ahhhhhhh Friday! I love you!

PoWdErEd

When I was prego I ate a 6 pack of Mrs. Bairds powdered donuts and a 20 oz Dr. Pepper for breakfast everyday! And I only gained 20 lbs my whole pregnancy. Oh to be 24 again! I also ate copious amounts of chewy sweet tarts, tacos and orange sherbet. I don't think I've had a chewy sweet tart since. There's really no point here - except to say that I had powdered donuts for breakfast this morning. And they were yummy. And I'm thankful for powdered donuts because, dadgummit, sometimes a gal just needs to ingest refined flour and show up to work with powdered sugar stains on her shirt. And, BTW, those donuts come in an 8 pack now. The package grew...kinda like my behind....

THIS far...

I am thankful for my God!

2 Samuel 7:18 says:

Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and he said:

"Who am I , O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?"

Oh how far the Lord has brought me...and continues to bring me on a daily basis. And I don't deserve it! Before I was even born my sins were forgiven. All I had to do was accept!

Thank you God!

~Unknown Blessings~

When I arrived at work this morning and turned my calendar to the new month of November, I found this bit of wisdom waiting for me:

Give thanks

for unknown blessings

already on their way.

-Native American saying

That made me think of Jeremiah 29:11:

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

With a promise like that, how could I not be thankful for Unknown Blessings?

~Allow yourselves to be blessed my friends!

Giving Thanks Challenge

I think this is a wonderful idea! A way to account my blessings each day in the month on November. I heard about this on my bloggy friend Kristen's site. You can find the details about the challenge at South Breeze Farms blog. I'll be posting my daily thanks in my sidebar to the left. Have a blessed month of November...and beyond!

~my spook~

Stephen dressed as a creepy ogre-ish creature for Halloween!

What would YOU call this creature?

:)