Thankful: What I Love

So the plan was to do one post each day leading up to Thanksgiving about each of my children and what I love about them. But since this was a CRAZY week it didn't happen. So now I'm going to lump them together in one big post. Here it goes......

B is getting so big. In one week we will be celebrating his 9th birthday and I can't believe it. I can barely contain my excitement about his big birthday surprise!!! More on that next week. I love B's sensitive heart and his amazing discernment. I love how he is such a great big brother. He is especially helpful with Hannah. I love how even though he is getting older he still will play with "little kid" things to make his sisters happy. I love that he can put together a Lego set in no time. I love that he gets so passionate about things. I love that he literally could stay up all night reading. I have found him asleep with a book numerous times. I love that right now he is so into learning about the World Wars and how he can't wait to see my Grandpa at Thanksgiving and Christmas to ask him questions. I have a feeling B is going to talk his ear off but I also think my grandpa will be happy to see him so interested. I love that B loves cleaning the kitchen and unloading the dishwasher. Now I just need one to love doing the laundry and I'll be set.

Then there is L. I love her "I will not give up" attitude. I love her curly, blond hair. I love her dimples. I love her "excited" smile and laugh. I love how she makes me laugh. I love how she loves to do girly things like paint her fingernails but then will turn around and play sword fighting with her brother. Have you ever seen a little girl in a cute dress with a pink bow in her hair go looking for frogs with the boys? I have!!! I love her fearless self. Although this trait has taken many years off of my life. Like when my little girl flies down our big hill on her bike...just a week after she learned to ride with no training wheels! I love her love for adventure.

I believe this picture says it all. How could you not love those cute cheeks and big blue eyes. I love that H makes me laugh on an hourly basis. I love that when she gets tired she gets slap happy and is even more hilarious. And I would never admit that I have let her stay up late just for the pure entertainment of it. I love how she loves animals and has no fear of them. A person she doesn't know will produce instant tears but a huge dog she doesn't know will produce instant smiles. I love how she absolutely adores her big brother. They have such a special bond. I love her new found opinion even though at times it can be exhausting. I love how she dances to any song in her own unique way. This is usually how she makes me laugh on that hourly basis.

I feel very blessed with such a great husband and these three kids. J and I hope that God has many more of these little blessings in our future but right now we're thankful for the three we have and we are going to continue to enjoy them.

But most of all I'm thankful for the salvation, joy, peace, and love given to us by a Wonderful, Counselor, Healer, Deliverer, and Messiah.

Seasons Changing

H trying to keep up with the big kids.

So now that H is 18 months old and it was when B was 18 months old that I started staying home full time it makes me so grateful that I can be with my children all the time now. Even though I was only working a couple of days once B was born it was still hard to not be with him. I can remember having these same thoughts when L hit that big 1.5 mark.

This past summer I spent a lot of time thinking about how things used to be before homeschooling entered the picture. I can't believe how different my life looked. I can remember meeting D and the boys at the mall and playing for hours. I even remember one time we got stuck there because of a tornado warning. I remember being huddled in a hallway with our kids and about 20 other complete strangers. Oh and it got really interesting when K had to nurse and there wasn't much of a choice! I remember trying to hold a blanket up for D to give her some sort of privacy among our new "friends". Ahhh, great memories. Oh, and there was a tornado that went through right by the apartment we were living in at the time. I was praising the Lord we had been at the mall! I remember Mom's Group field trips and lunches. For some reason one of my fondest Mom's group memories is packing up the old church for the move to the new. I also remember going to get our family picture taken for the new directory and that morning I had found out I was pregnant with L and every time I saw anyone I just wanted to shout,"I'm pregnant!!!". I did keep the secret....that day. I must admit that there were times this past summer I felt a little depressed thinking about those "good old days". The cold summer also didn't help!

But now our family is in a new season. A season filled with new learning opportunities. A season that is just as fun...but very different. It's so funny because when I first started this post I was going to title it "If I Could Go Back" but that is not what I'm wanting. I don't have any regrets. OK so maybe I wish I would have realized when B was little how fast he was going to grow up. I notice that with H I am very aware of that. Even though I do see the fun in this season I also feel the exhaustion of it. I'm tired. This season of homeschooling, homemaking, homechurch......I NEED TO GET OUT!!! This extrovert needs to be extroverting! OK so now I think I may be making up words. Is extroverting a word?

Well today I start another 90 day Bible Study with three other women and I'm so excited about it! I feel like in the next 90 days the Lord is going to do some amazing things in all of our lives. It's so nice to not only be doing an intense study but to also have the opportunity to get together and discuss. Last night we got together for the first time and it was fun to fellowship and discuss. The next get together there won't be as much casual talk but more discussing what we've been reading and I'm just as excited to do that. It was in the midst of this same study last year that the Lord changed the direction of what He was calling our family to do and I can't wait to see what happens this time! OK so I'm also a little nervous about what we may be called to do next....but I know it will be great!