#168

I am grateful for progress on our painting project today. The primer is trimmed out and ready for rolling...

Here's what this little guy was doing while I was working....
Having a coffee/tea/lemonade/coke party with graham crackers! :-)

#167

I am grateful that God cares about every part of our life and I want to invite him in to every part of my life.

#166

This is huge! I am grateful my hubby watched the boys by himself today so that I could attend a wonderful Photoshop workshop in Lawrence. I learned a lot and am inspired to do more with my images!

Not only did he have to keep 2 boys from destroying each other, but he also had to take them to a basketball game AND a cub scout banquet! Good work, honey! You earned your badge, too!

#165

I am grateful to have known Gretchen Swenson. I met her once but had heard so much about her, I felt like I knew her very well already. She was the kind of person whose reputation preceded her everywhere she went and it was an untarnished one. She was a jewel. And we lost her today. She fought breast cancer for over 8 years and fought bravely. But the body can only do so much. She had fought a greater fight, too, though, and will never lose that fight, because she trusted in the one who had already won it for her.

This was at their son Scott's wedding in September of 2009.

#164

I am grateful for opportunities to help people. I love how good it feels. It's one reason why I feel okay asking others for help, too...surely they are glad for the chance to help ME.

#163

I am grateful for how good it feels to be understood.

#162

I am grateful, so grateful for my mom. Today is her birthday. I so wanted to be there to help her celebrate, but I couldn't. Even my card was late. But I hope somehow in spite of everything that she knows how much she means to me. This post will help...because I know you read my blog, mom. :-)

I am grateful for our friendship and for the times when we weren't such good friends, but you still did what was right for me. I'm grateful that you are such a creative person...from cooking to sewing to gardening, you inspire me in so many ways! You taught me what I know about butterflies and bluebirds and I know where I get my enthusiasm from for all things beautiful. You love my kids, my husband, and listen to my funny stories when I call you on my way to Wal-mart. You love ME, and support me and listen when I need a shoulder to cry on. You don't judge me, but you give me loving advice that is so easy to accept. You are wise, kind, smart, hard-working, and I want to be just like you when I grow up. Thank you for everything! I love you!

#161

I am grateful to watch the kids have a ball tonight at Chuck E. Cheese's! They earn tickets for the littlest prizes, but it makes them so happy, you can't help but be happy for them!

Logan LOVED the SkeeBall...that's ALL he did. It took him a while to get the hang of it, but once he did, he was rolling 3000s, 4000s, and even one 10, 000! It was so fun to watch him!

#160

I am grateful for warm weather today! Spring will be here soon!!! Can't wait!

This picture is from last year and I hope I don't see it this year. My daffodils are already up about 5 inches and I don't want to see any more snow!!!

#159

I am grateful that we are beginning the process to fix up our basement! It all started with a broken solder joint in a water pipe...that leaked all over the floor...and ruined our carpet. "Well, honey, since we're redoing the carpet...we might as well paint and get this place fixed up like we want it." :-) So here we go! What an adventure!


The ruined carpet...badly stained!

Getting the paneling sanded down to take paint.

The mess we'll have to live with while we're fixing it all up! :-)

Insulation going back in the wall where it had leaked. Isn't it nice to have a piano in the middle of your family room?

#158

I am grateful for fun lunches with my 4-year old. Not too many of those left before school starts for him in the fall.

No pic of us...but here's where we went...

#157

I am grateful for a wonderful old piano that has served us so well. Now that we are working on repainting and carpeting our basement and turning it into a game room/family room (one that we will use), we are going to be selling this old jewel as we have a piano upstairs, too, that was given to us. This was the first piano we owned...we bought it soon after we got married and moved into our first home in Pueblo, CO. Many a tune has been played on it! Just wanted to share a few favorite pics.

#156

I am grateful Spidey came to visit today and shoveled away our remaining snow! :-) He even wore his snow boots!

(This kid could shovel all day...he begs to go outside and shovel. Loves it!)

On a more serious note...

I am especially grateful for the privilege to sew up some gorgeous fabric into curtains for my sister-in-law. It challenged my sewing skills and I learned a lot! (Thanks, Mom!) Here's the finished product:

Bathroom curtains (lovely Paris/lady/shoe/handbag theme)

Kitchen curtains (will go great with cherry red cabinets!) - there are 3 total windows

Close-up of kitchen curtain...These grommets were SO easy to put in. (Plastic snap-together!) Makes great curtains!

#155

I am grateful that I get to decorate my home with my sister's delightful watercolor paintings! :-)
She does a great job painting snowmen...so thought I would take a picture of this one before I put him away for the summer. :-)

#154

I love Valentine's Day! I got valentines ready for my kids, my husband, my mom, my son's classmates, and still as I went about my day, I thought of so many people I would like to give a valentine to. Not because I'm a mushy-gushy, lovey-dovey person, but because I think this holiday is a great time to tell everyone how much you appreciate them. Yes, we should do that every day no matter what, but I'm glad we have something right in our face, on our calendar, that tells us to LOVE people! We need a lot more of that. I am so grateful I have so many people to love!



My gift from my valentine!

What our table looked like this morning after breakfast was over and we had all exchanged cards and gifts: Makes me happy! :-)

My cards for the boys: They were handmade at the last minute, but just making them made me smile thinking of what they would say when they saw them. Love my boys so much!

#153

I am grateful a friend shared a wonderful Thai recipe with me recently. Tried it today and it was very yummy! Coconut Curry Chicken. Yum!

#152

My grateful post today is a video clip...

I am grateful my boys LOVE to play outside and that we have lots of space for them to roam. (Well, just enough so that they can feel like they are exploring, but I can still keep my eye on them from the house.)

Today they were sledding again...taking advantage of the last of the snow before our week of warm weather! They also were exploring the creek, but I didn't get any shots of that. I have a feeling this summer they will be in that creek A LOT! :-) Frogs....here's your warning...watch out for boots (and sticks...and buckets...and nets) traipsing through your water!

#151

I am very grateful that I found a wonderful cookie recipe today...cake-y sugar cookies with buttercream icing. Valentine's Day party, here I come! :-)

#150

I am grateful for just-ripe avocados that make the perfect guacamole!!!!

#149

I am grateful for promises new each morning.

#148

I am grateful my boys grilled burgers for us "outside" tonight! :-) Let's see...the temp was probably around 7 degrees! Trevin had some achievements to do for Cub Scouts including helping an adult cook a meal AND help prepare an outdoor meal. Well, we did that tonight. We didn't EAT it outside, but it was cooked outside. :-) You should've seen the steam pour off the burgers after they took them off the grill.

Way to go, guys!

#147

I've probably blogged about this before...but I couldn't resist. I'm grateful for my little Spiderman. He gets this out and puts it on so often. Plays all day in it. Today I was watching him and caught a glimpse of an awfully grown up boy and realized in a few short months he will be gone from me all day long and I will miss him! I'm going to figure out a way to enjoy him and still get my stuff done. Hmmm... Any ideas?

#146

I am grateful for how God can take a little bit of effort from you (reading his word) and turn it into bread to feed others. At least it fed me. Hopefully it helped someone else, too. Just makes me want to be more faithful in his word to see what else he will show me.

#145

I am grateful to have discovered Groupon...the bargain hunter's dream! Usually products have a discount of 50% or more! Today we had one for Barnes & Noble ...and guess where we told the boys they could spend their prize money this week...you got it! Barnes & Noble. So we got to buy a game for free in addition to the books they picked out....very fun!

#144

You know what!!??? I just discovered I had tons of comments waiting to be moderated that I didn't even know about! Usually I get emails saying they are there waiting for me. Now I just read through DAYS of warm fuzzies...all in one night! I must say I am grateful for Anita and Raimie who let me know they appreciate my pics! You gals make me feel SO good! Love ya!

Here's one I especially enjoyed:
****************************************************************
Dear Julie #28,
Thanks for the reminder to treasure our dear friends who become like family. We are lucky enough to have several of those in our life.

Wanna be my sister? :)
Love,
Family Circle in NE

#143

I am very grateful for a great neighbor who helped us out today with our big mess. Had a pipe break in the corner behind the paneling and water was everywhere by the time I discovered it. Our neighbor brought over the steam vac and some fans to help us clean up. We must've picked up 8 + gallons of water from the carpet! The leak is stopped for now but requires more work. I guess I'll get my spring cleaning done early this year.