Multitudes on Mondays

I'm probably not alone in saying that this week's world events changed my prayer life and showed me even more the importance of being thankful each and every day.
"Relent, LORD! How long will it be?
Have compassion on your servants.

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all of our days."
Psalm 90:13-14

And the never-ending list continues! :) (sorry this one is long, I skipped a week or two)

104. Celebrating 2 1/2 months of daily (EVERY day) Bible reading
105. Rejoicing in this new habit being built into our children's lives
106. Listening to Bridget reading stories to her puppies
107. Boys racing out of the house, slamming doors in their excitement to get to Spanish class
108. Bridget's smiling face popping up over the side of my bed to ask, "Do you want to snuggle with me?"
109. Sending Morse Code messages back and forth with Henry and Jonah during the school day
110. Early morning fires that chase the chill out of the house
111. Sam arranging a babysitter for a dinner and movie night for just us
112. A cozy soft new purple throw blanket to snuggle up with on the couch
113. Keeping up with library books and having no overdue fines (a miracle!)
114. Seeing a day-old baby goat while taking care of the Miller's animals
115. Finding a pony wandering down the road all by itself
116. Said pony sticking it's nose right in my van window
117. Lunch at Sky Ranch with Sam
118. Driving up on a herd of horses that slipped out of a fence at Sky
119. More daylight each and every day...love the longer days!
120. Dinner with the Sky Ranch OA's at our house and a fun game of Pictionary
121. Pajamas washed with a sticker on the front
122. Celebrating Mary Beth's 70th birthday with a whole weekend of activities dedicated to her
123. Ann Marie back in the neighborhood
124. Ann Marie's surprise gift of a jar of honey and a big bag of incredible apples
125. Jonah's revelation about the name Spaghetti-o's (They're made of spaghetti and they're shaped like o's...I'll bet that is why they call them that!!!)
126. Bridget, unasked but looking to serve, bringing my slippers and silently sliding them onto my feet during quiet time
127. Three joyful kids, dressed in pj's and robes tumbling down the stairs to ask if they could maybe, just maybe watch Toy Story 3.
128. Jonah loaning Bridget his slippers, leaving himself with none-just because she was sad to not have any.
129. Henry's excitement at realizing Blake was home in the middle of the day...gotta love Spring Break!
130. Henry walking around with only one slipper on because he couldn't find the other one
131. Playdate at the park with a new friend and fellow homeschooling mom
131. Another day at the same park with an old friend who knows me well
132. Watching the kids play near the edge of the water and eventually stepping in and getting wet-muddy-filthy-happy.
133. Rescuing Ella's ball from the middle of the lake with a very looooong stick
134. Bridget's sweet bedtime prayers for her friends
135. A random, accidentally dialed phone call that connected me with a friend I haven't talked with in months
136. March Madness!
137. Henry's first soccer practice of the season
138. Sam put up a soccer goal in the backyard...so fun!
139. Hilarious, belly-laughing moments at the dinner table (Bridget, "He sat on the car! HAHAHA!") that aren't even really funny, but they are moments we will treasure forever.
140. Leaning over to tell Sam, "We should see that movie Bryan mentioned in church today" only to have Beth lean over from the other side a few minutes later to say, "Have you ever seen that movie? I have it if you want to borrow it!"
141. Finding 11 eggs in one nest today, and 2 guinea eggs hiding underneath the boxes
142. Best deal ever, a boxed set of Francine Rivers books (brand new!) for $2 at a garage sale
143. Second best deal ever, a bag full of cute, new socks for Bridget from that same sale for $1
144. Henry's Lego magazine finally arrived!
145. Our first tulip bloomed...and we weren't even sure they would come up this year!


Won't you join me on a journey of thankfulness??? :)

Celebrating Mary Beth's 70th

This year was Mary Beth's 70th birthday, and we appreciate her so very much! Mary Beth has been a blessing to so many, and we all feel so honored to be able to learn from her and share life with her. The family worked together to create a fun-filled birthday weekend to celebrate with her.

Friday evening, we (all of her adult children and spouses that live nearby) got babysitters for our kids and took Mary Beth out to Red Lobster. It was an evening of much laughter!

That night we gave her a big gift...her surprise Saturday with the girls. I had arranged for her to babysit for my kids all day Saturday (to insure that she wouldn't make other plans!), but I was really planning a fun girls day out.

We started the morning with a breakfast of cinnamon rolls, fresh fruit, and coffee at my house. From there we met up with Kelly and Beth and headed to the nail salon for a manicure and pedicure. It was a treat and Mary Beth thoroughly enjoyed her first ever manicure.From there we headed into Dallas, where we met up with Amy and enjoyed a lovely tea-type lunch at a girly restaurant called The Chocolate Angel. The food was very good but the service was TERRIBLE. I had found the place online, but will not go there or recommend it to anyone because of the very poor and extremely slow customer service. We really did have a good time anyway...it's hard not to have fun with a group of girls like this!
After lunch we headed up to Frisco for a little shopping. We stopped at two of Mary Beth's favorites: Ikea and Sam Moon

By the time we were done shopping we were all pretty worn out! We still had a drive ahead of us, so we turned toward home. On the way home we stopped for a quick meal at Wendy's/Chick-fil-A.

On Sunday, we all went to our own churches and then headed out to Mary Beth's house, bringing a lunch feast of home-cooked Mexican food with us. We spent the rest of the day hanging out with her and listening to her words of wisdom gathered over the last 70 years of life.

We love you, Mary Beth! Hope your birthday weekend spectacular was wonderful! :)

Sweet Brothers

One day this week, Henry found himself in trouble for a minor little issue. I sent him to his room to think about what happened, and he was to come back out when he was ready to talk about it and had a better attitude.Jonah was greatly distressed at having Henry stuck in his room. For this very social child, there could be no worse punishment. (Of course he doesn't realize that Henry actually appreciates time alone now and again!) Less than ten minutes after Henry was sent away, Jonah came to me to plead Henry's case. His brilliant idea to 'free' Henry from the miserable punishment that I had bestowed on him was this: "I'll go up to Henry's room and take his place, so that he can come out and play!"

What a sacrifice! I didn't take him up on it, but I was so touched by his generous and selfless offer. Jonah is blessed with such a compassionate heart! :)

Mrs. Lee's Daffodil Garden

It's springtime in East Texas! Which means the daffodils are blooming at one of our favorite places...the daffodil fields. About 45 minutes from where we live, this place is a treasure that the kids and I look forward to enjoying every year. Once again, it didn't disappoint. The bright, beautiful blossoms positively glow when the sun shines on them...and they go on and on for acres. Such beauty!

Every year I've been there I've been able to snap a picture of me and the kids, and it's become a tradition. We try to take it in about the same spot every year, but this year there was a guard nearby warning everyone away from the flowers ("They won't grow back this year if they're trampled, ya know.") so we had to take it quickly and get out of there. ;)

My friend Beth was able to join us for a relaxing afternoon picnic. It was lovely, even though it was a little bit breezy and on the cooler side of comfortable.

Lest you think the daffodil garden is all about flowers, let me set you straight. There is also a lake with a path going around (and over) it. The kids enjoyed fishing some kind of greenish, mucky substance out of the water and bringing it to us. For one horrifying, brief moment I thought Bridget might actually eat it after we said it looked like Jell-o. I think hope she was only teasing us.

There is also a replica of a pioneer cabin on the property. It's set up inside with a kitchen area, tools and beds and is very interesting to walk through and inspect. The kids have enjoyed this part even more since reading the Little House books! It's so fun to see history come alive for them.
Beth encouraged me to have my picture taken among the daffodils with Bridget. I initially resisted, but finally relented...and it became my favorite picture of the day! Here's me and my girl, exploring the hills of flowers. :)

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! I love the transition from winter to springtime, beginning with subtle little signs and quickly progressing to amazing shows of glory like the daffodil fields.

Multitudes on Mondays

What a beautiful habit is thankfulness! I almost missed out on posting this today, simply because of the busy-ness of the day...but how many joys would I overlook if I didn't stop a moment to thank the giver of all good and perfect gifts...God the Father, Jesus the Son, The Holy Spirit!
85. Play-doh mornings
86. fields of brilliant yellow daffodils, glowing in the sun
87. a much needed and refreshing talk with Sam
88. plans coming together for a fun upcoming celebration
89. finishing a (very) long series of classes
90. hearing from Henry's soccer coach that practice begins this week!
91. windy, blustery days
92. early morning thunderstorms waking us all up
93. Bridget taking refuge in our bed after said thunderstorms
94. having a picnic in our backyard with friends
95. little-bitty tips of tulips and daffodils poking out of the ground, later than expected, but joyous nonetheless!
96. party night with the kids (pizza, How to Train Your Dragon, popcorn, lots of Narnia)
97. Sunday morning photo shoot with the kids
98. cooperative smiles, beautiful lighting, great pictures!
99. so many books on my to-read list that it's difficult to decide what to read at any given free moment
100. a friend to meet for morning runs
101. card playing friends who gather on Sunday many evenings to talk/play cards/hang out
102. new friends to meet at the park this week
103. an empty schedule that is quickly becoming filled

Won't you join the fun in counting your blessings with me? :)

Great Wolf Lodge 2011

Last week we had a mini-vacation to Great Wolf Lodge. It was a very inexpensive trip, as we sat through a time-share presentation last year to 'earn' our two night stay there. It is a place we have wanted to visit for quite some time, as everyone who goes there just raves about how wonderful it is. We had put it off until now because it's kind of expensive, and we thought it might not be all it's cracked up to be. Turns out we were wrong, and this place is amazing!

We're already planning next year's winter getaway here. Jon, Kelly, Jordan and Matthew came with us, and we had a really fun time together!

I really wanted a picture under the sign, but we put it off until we were leaving. Then there was quite a bit of traffic around that area and Sam was worried about the kids. He raised his voice in telling them to be careful as they were getting out of the car, and Bridget started crying. So it didn't turn out quite like I planned, but it's still a captured moment. ;)

Thankfully, Great Wolf provides handy little luggage carts in the parking lot. We would have had to take MANY trips in and out without these. (There really is a luggage cart underneath all that stuff, even though you can't see it!) I called ahead to check on the room, and someone on the phone informed me that there would be no table and chairs in the room. That turned out to be wrong, but it worked well that we brought our own table and chairs along (as you'll see later). Besides that, often places that claim to accommodate a family of five only provide four chairs. I like for everyone to have a seat!We took a few minutes to get settled in our rooms, and headed right on down to the water park. They keep the indoor water park heated to 84 degrees. It feels a little warm until you first get wet, then it feels a little chilly. We finally all got used to the temperature and found it quite comfortable, but Bridget found it to be a little cold the first day. Thankfully the hotel provides lots and lots of warm, dry towels.

We spent the entire afternoon swimming in the lazy river and wave pool, going down crazy water slides, climbing around in the enormous tree fort and making new friends (Henry).

We eventually headed back to our rooms to dry off and we went out for dinner that evening. After a not-so-great experience at Steak and Shake, the manager decided to treat us all to dinner. That was an unexpected blessing!

Then we went back to the hotel to change into pajamas. Great Wolf provides an entertaining bedtime show/story, so the kids got all ready for bed and we headed to the lobby.

The scene is really incredible, with talking trees, animals and puppets. There is a song and story, and half way through it started snowing inside! It was so fun, and the kids were so surprised by all of it. The boys loved every minute of it. Even now, days after our trip, Jonah is still singing the wolf song (There's nothing to be scared of here! The wolf's out on the prowl, just listen for his howl....hooooooooowl!).
Bridget was a little too surprised. She sought the comfort of her Daddy's shoulders to watch the story after the tree started talking. She was pretty nervous about all that, but she didn't mind watching from a distance. It was past her usual bedtime at that point too, so I ended up taking her back up to the room for bed before it was all over.
Thankfully our room was right next to Jon and Kelly's room. After the bedtime story, we put all the kids to bed and played cards together awhile.

Breakfast was enjoyed right in our room. The little chairs we brought for the kids fit just perfectly at the coffee table in the room. Sam pulled it over in front of the tv and turned on a cartoon for them to watch while they ate. I don't think they had ever done that before and they thought it was the coolest thing ever!

The next day was filled with more time at the water park. Jon and Kelly had to check out early, but they just moved their things over to our room. (The great thing about Great Wolf is that you are welcome to use the water park until 9pm on the day that you check out!) We fixed macaroni and cheese in the microwave and ate lunch in the room, then made room for all the kids to lie down and have naps. They were all exhausted, so it worked out well. :)

What did we do, while five little children napped in our hotel room? Why, we played cards, of course! This is where the folding table and chairs we brought along became so useful! We set them up in the hallway just outside of our room, grabbed a few snacks, and we were all set. We got a few strange looks from the housekeeping crew, but nobody said anything to us.

Post-nap snacks on the couch were followed by more swimming.

That evening, we got dried off and dressed and headed to Arby's for dinner with Jon and Kelly. We finished off the evening with ice cream treats from Sonic (which we took back into Arby's because it was too windy and cold to eat them outside!), and then said goodbye to Jon and Kelly.
They headed back that evening, and we went back to the hotel for another night. We skipped the bedtime story in the lobby, as everyone was pretty tired...all that swimming wore us all out! The next morning we checked out of the hotel, swam for a few more hours and then headed home. We could have stayed all day and used the water park, but by that time we were done swimming. At least Sam and I were done. The kids probably wouldn't have minded swimming for another week straight!

We had so much fun at Great Wolf! They have a game called Magicquest (which is interactive and is played all throughout the hotel) which we chose not to play this time. Next time we might join in though, as it looked like it would be worth our time to try.

We were so blessed to have this time away from home in such a great place. It was good for our family, and so fun to have Jon and Kelly along with us. What a joy!