Counting my Blessings

I'm counting my blessings today as I sit with a swollen left cheek from yesterday's surgery.

My first blessing is to the little girl who made me a mommy.  My Julia is such a blessing.  She is so bright.  She asks so many questions, and she really cares about the answers.

She knows what she wants and has her own idea of how to get it.  She knows exactly what she'd like to do at each point of our day, and I love how she plans things and looks forward to them. She definitely got that trait from me!  We are born planners!

My second blessing is my little man, Mark.  Mark wants to be so much like his daddy, from wearing ties, to pretending he's shaving, to putting on daddy's shoes.

Mark is such a blessing because he is Mr. Mellow, and he loves to laugh and make all of us laugh.

Mark is awesome because he is super tickilish and when he gets tickled his laugh is very contagious.  He's a ball to play with.

Mark is going to be a great guy some day, he is taught how to treat ladies, and be polite, and chivalry is not dead in this house.  Mark knows, "Ladies are first!"  as he waits for Julia to climb into her booster seat and then knows he's next.  I just love this little guy.

My third blessing is the freedom to home school the way that fits our life and our schedule best.  The kids are learning so much, so fast, and it makes me so proud when others make comments and say that the kids speak so well, or they are surprised that they know all their colors, or numbers, etc.

Being able to be a teacher at home is definitely a blessing.

I go at our kid's pace and I do my best to make learning fun and have play dates, field trips, and outings to the library supplement our curriculum and enhance them.  I recently was chatting with another mom at the library who home schools her son and was also previously a classroom teacher, we swapped stories of rude people saying things like, "Aren't you worried about socializing your children?"  REALLY???? Do you send your kids to school to socialize or to learn, because as a classroom teacher we are constantly telling the kids to stop talking so they can listen and learn from us!  My kids socialize at church, at the library, at the park, with our friends, with our family, and both my kids LOVE people.  Sometimes I wonder if these parents who question my parenting think we home school moms stay in our houses all day during the week?

My fourth blessing is the man of my dreams, my John, the love of my life.  Even though this has been a tough week of work and me recovering from surgery John has been there to do breakfast, get the kids dressed, put them to bed at night, and get me jello and yogurt since that's really all I can eat.  Isn't he great?

John is such a blessing to me because he loves me no matter what, my faults and all, and trust me, I have plenty, I will spare you the details but he puts up with me and I love him for it!

My fifth blessing is my buddy from Florida, my Suzette.  Suzette and I have been friends since we were in middle school.  She is such a blessing in my life.  She keeps me grounded in my faith, she's a good listener when I need to talk, and she loves me and my family and shows it in many ways.

I am also so thankful she recently had a safe and happy arrival of her newborn son Ian Gabriel who is doing wonderfully.  Ian is a blessing and we prayed for him even before he was conceived, and we both knew he was a he!  Thank you Lord for healthy babies!

My sixth blessing is my Ladies bible study group that I lead.  It has grown from 17 ladies last year to 30+ this year!

Every Tuesday when I go to teach and pray for and encourage these women in some small way I end up being blessed!

We have been having a ball getting to know each other with ice breaker games, studying God's word, and really trying to reach out to our congregation and community and bless other women! God has been so good to us and continues to give us great idea on how we can be salt and light to the world around us.

My seventh blessing is my Christy!  Christy is truly one of my nearest and dearest best friends who never ceases to pray for me and encourage me.

She will never know how much she means to me.

We are such kindred spirits, and I'm loving being an Auntie to her daughter Lizzy.

Christy and I used to teach at the same school together.  And boy do we know how to laugh!  Christy is the sunshine to any one of my dreary days, she is such a good listener and gives awesome advice.  What a blessing you are to me, sweet Christy!

My eighth blessing is my MOPs group.  (Mothers of Preschoolers) this year I took on a leadership role of planning all the field trips and hosting them!

I also prepare all the icebreakers for our meetings once a month.  It's fun to get to meet and know the new moms in our groups and to connect with them and hopefully build relationships so I can share Christ with them.

Mops is also great for my kids.  Both of my kids go their own separate classes and they love it!  They make new friends at MOPS too!  (see we socialize)

My ninth blessing is going to gymnastics once a week with both kids!  Julia has her own class and Mark and I do a Mommy and me class!  It is great for Mark who was definitely starting to get a bit curious as to what went on in the big gymnasium.  He loves the tumble track, the forward rolls, the parachute and the trampoline.

And have you seen the muscles in Julia's arms and legs?  She is built just like her daddy!  Long and lean and muscular!  Gymnastics has been such a great blessing for our family!

We may not have it all together, but together we have it all...

I'm thankful for my many blessings and for my family that feels oh so complete!

God keep doing what you are doing, because you make all things beautiful and good in your time.

I love you, Lord.