Archive for Gratituesday
Gratituesday: The Painless Dentist Visit (and Why I Can Eat Lettuce Again)
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I had put it off long enough.
Admittedly, I don’t go to the dentist as often as I’m supposed to. I actually had no idea when I had last been in for a cleaning/check-up and I was afraid to make an appointment and have my dentist shake his head at me as he told me how long it had been. Yes, I am 37 and I was afraid of being scolded. Go figure.
But, I had been experiencing an area of pain in one of my back teeth for several months. I realize I was only delaying the inevitable, but I just wasn’t very eager to go into the dentist office.
And so I put it off. In the meantime, I began to avoid a very important food: Lettuce.
There was something about the crunch of lettuce that shot a searing pain from my jaw all the way to…I don’t know…South Dakota? And so, not only did I avoid going to the dentist, I avoided eating lettuce because it is not fun for pain to shoot from your jaw all the way to your northern state border.
I finally decided that I was being unwise, and also a whiny baby…so I made the appointment.
The dentist only gently suggested that I come in more often, then looked and found my painful spot and said, yes…it looks like I have a tiny bit of decay on a back tooth. They had a cancellation the next day. Did I want to come then? Well sure I did. Gulp.
The next day I was ushered back and as I sat down in the special chair, I had this tremendous urge to buckle my seat belt. Am I a weirdo, or what? Apparently sitting in the dental chair made me feel like I had just taken a seat in my mini-van. What, was I afraid I might fall out or something?
They put the cute little bib on me, then the dentist gave me the option: the cavity was so tiny that I may not want to mess with having a shot to deaden the area. Did I want to try receiving the filling without having the area numbed?
As it was a Wednesday and I hadn’t really been looking forward to drooling down the left side of my face during Bible class that evening, I decided to give it a go. But I think I said something like, “If at any point during the drilling I feel like punching you, can I then have a shot?”
Yes, I actually said that…to my dentist. I have got to learn when and where it is appropriate to use my sarcasm.
Thankfully, he understood that I was joking (I think) and said that yes, I could have a shot if the pain was too much to handle.
Then they started to drill. I braced myself for the pain. But it never came. Then they put the composite filling in my mouth and drilled that down and then took off my bib. I was done.
Not only did I never have the urge to punch my dentist, I instead had a very big urge to hug him. Painless dental work, really? And I could still feel both of my lips too? What a deal!
Of course, that night I went home and celebrated with (you guessed it) some lettuce. We’re obviously big partiers at our house.
So yes, today I am SO grateful that I got my dentist appointment over with and that it truly was painless. And I’m thankful that I can eat lettuce without pain. I know that’s silly but I truly am thankful for it. (I suppose I should also be grateful that I didn’t punch the man drilling my tooth. Or maybe he should be grateful for that?)
What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Write about it on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!
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Gratituesday: Oh, the Abundance
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I am writing this Gratituesday post as a reminder to myself to be grateful for Pete’s sake. You know why? Because lately I have been a whiny baby who has been feeling very sorry for herself.
What in the world is wrong with me?
I’ve been whining because I have tomatoes and peppers needing to be picked at a crazy fast pace. I can hardly keep up with making them all into tomato sauce and salsa. They are constantly covering my counter-tops.
Also, my friend gave me a huge bunch grapes that I need to hurry and do something with. And I have two sacks of apples that I keep tripping over that really should be made into applesauce. And there are more apples to be picked if I could ever get around to going to pick them.
My kitchen is exploding with abundance…and I am whining.
I’m whining because I have too much food. Really Laura? I’m whining because I have so much work to do, really?
It’s time for me to stop whining and be grateful.
Thank you for letting me confess my rotten attitude and for holding me accountable to changing it.
God is good and if I can’t remember that…perhaps I should just take a good look around my kitchen at all the abundance. Because of Him, my family will not go hungry.
Nope, in fact…we’ll be eating like kings.
What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Write about it on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!
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Gratituesday: Teamwork
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Matt and I love the idea of working together as a team. We don’t get to spend nearly as much time together as we would like to, but as much as possible we like to do “teamwork”. Work gets done so much faster when we work as a team.
Now that our boys are getting older, they join in the teamwork. They’ve always been “helpers” but wow is it cool that they are all old enough to really be a part of our “team” as we serve together.
I’ve really been struck by the blessing of our family working together as a team while we’ve all been feeding the soccer team together this week. Our boys don’t always do what they’re asked to do without complaining (trust me), but for some reason this week they are hopping right in…asking what needs to be done…going from one job to the next without complaint.
I am so proud of them. The work has been so much more fun with all the boys pitching in and being a part of our team!
What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Write about it on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!
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Gratituesday: Back to School Shopping
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If you’ve been hanging around here long, you might already know that the boys and I have a tradition each year a few days before we start school. Each boy gets his very own “school supply list” and off to Walmart we go so that they can pick out new notebooks and folders for the year.
I will admit that I tend to forget each year that while this is an incredibly wonderful experience and I love doing it…there is also a fair amount of chaos involved with four boys, four baskets, four lists and an aisle full of bright and attractive objects. My older guys can be calm and patient while basically picking their supplies without much help. My youngers require more help and also um…they don’t always like to follow their list so much. My youngest doesn’t know how to read the prices on the shelves, which means that I have to quickly redirect him to the 15¢ notebooks instead of the really cool $2.50 notebooks. The paper inside is the same, ya know. ;)
Oh yeah, and this year I had a fifth boy with me…because if you’re already taking four, you might as well take five. Five boys, five lists, five baskets. Five hundred questions. All at once. (”Is this the kind of folder I need Mom?” “I don’t know…why don’t you get it out of my face so that I can actually see it?”)
And yet, I do it because the boys love it. And mostly, so do I. It is SO much fun to watch them enjoy getting excited for school to start. It is so much fun to watch them walk out of the store with their very own bags of supplies.
And…it is so much fun to only pay 20¢ for glue sticks.
The best part is watching them come home and pour the contents of their bags out to look at all over again. Then they put it all away to have it ready for the first day of school. (Or, they leave it sprawled out all over the floor so that it can get ruined already before it even has a chance to be written in yet.)
There really is something magical about new school supplies and new books that brings an excitement to the beginning of a new school year. So far we’ve had three days of school and every one of them has been just wonderful. Perfect? No. But wonderful nonetheless.
Today, I’m grateful for the chance to be my boys’ teacher and thankful that we share traditions that will be lifetime memories. I’m even grateful for that crazy joy in the Walmart school supply section. Having a bunch of boys eager to start a new school year…now that’s something to be grateful for!
What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Write about it on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!
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Gratituesday: A Real Vacation
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We are just pulling back into town after a five day (LONG) trip to Michigan! Matt performed the wedding ceremony for one of the sweetest couples on earth, which is what took us so far north.
I will admit it: I was not looking forward to the trip. I was looking forward to the wedding and I was looking forward to staying with our friends in MI…otherwise…I was sort of dreading the getaway.
I don’t like spending money on gas and hotels. I don’t like sitting in a van for hours. I don’t like compromising what we like to eat for days on end. I just like being home. I’m a stick in the mud when it comes to travel…and this summer has been FULL of travel!
I now completely and totally take back everything I ever felt about traveling. Before we left, I talked myself into relaxing and calling this a “VACATION”. Why do I have to talk myself into these things? I pre-wrote posts and set them up to show up on my blog each day without me needing to be on the computer. I got the house clean, packed food, made an inexpensive hotel reservation for our stop on the way there.
And then I relaxed.
You can’t see me right now…but my face is beaming. I just spent HOURS of car time talking with my husband. Do you know what hours of time talking to your husband will do for a gal’s disposition? We NEVER have enough time to just talk…and oh we just talked and talked. The boys were fabulous riders and only argued a little bit about whose turn it was for the laptop. ;)
We not only enjoyed a wonderful wedding, but we were able to spend time with people we haven’t seen in years. We stopped along the way and did some things we’ve never done. Wow, it was absolutely awesome!
I’ll tell you more about all the wonderful fun as soon as I unpack my camera. And catch up on laundry. Okay, I’ll share the fun before I catch up on laundry, because you’re likely to not want to wait that long. ;)
For now, I’ll just tell you how grateful I am for an incredible getaway filled with joy and memory-making for our family. It truly was a vacation.
(Ooh, and it just so happens that this Gratituesday is my birthday! Friends are coming over for lunch, which is a perfect welcome home for us!)
What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Write about it on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!
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Gratituesday: REJOICE!!
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I know I just talked about Asa and how proud we are of him LAST Gratituesday…but he becomes the topic again this week. ;)
Asa came home from camp with a lot on his mind. He spent a lot of time talking one-on-one with Matt. He kept finding ways to just hang out with me in the kitchen. He had a lot to talk about. It’s a pretty awesome thing when your teenager wants to spend lots of time with you.
Asa was ready to make a commitment.
And so on Wednesday, with many of our family and friends there with us, Matt baptized Asa…
(It’s very hard to hear anything Matt is saying…but it sure is wonderful to watch!)
I’m not sure I ever wore a smile as big as the one I wore on Wednesday night. We are so proud of Asa and thankful for his commitment to being a part of God’s kingdom. It’s a great time for rejoicing!
What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Write about it on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!
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Gratituesday: Changed
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It was the longest I’d ever been apart from one of my children.
Asa just got home after being away church camp for two entire weeks. Two weeks is a long time. I felt like my right arm was missing. I was so, so happy for him to be at camp, but I missed him so much at times I could hardly breathe.
Can you tell that he is my firstborn? The one who has to “break me in” to new things? This must be part of the loosening the grip thing, huh?
After he’d been gone for 13 days and the time was coming for us to pick him up soon, I emailed my friend to say, “Will it embarrass him too much if I hug him for a solid five minutes and smell his hair and cry when we pick him up at camp tomorrow?” (I was kidding, I think.)
And then I shared my fear. My fear that his being away and working toward independence during these past two weeks would have changed everything. That he would come home and nothing would ever be the same again.
I don’t know why I was afraid. But I was. Change is never easy. I don’t like change.
Asa did come home changed. His eyes are different. His smile is different. It was as if we had dropped off a boy and two weeks later, we picked up a young man.
With tears in his eyes, he told us how being at camp had changed him. How spending one on one time with God each morning had helped him to grow spiritually. How he’d taken part in leading songs around the camp fire. How he’d led the entire group of campers in a devotional one morning.
For the record, he did let me hug him in front of his friends at camp when we arrived. Twice. He didn’t seem to mind. (I did, however, refrain from sobbing into his hair, in case you were wondering.)
My boy is growing up. And I like it.
Maybe change isn’t always so bad.
What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Write about it on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!
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Gratituesday: The Date
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Everyone else had plans.
Malachi got to go to a birthday party. Asa and Justus got to go to yet a different birthday party. Matt was working.
That left just Elias and Mama. When does that ever happen? Mama with just one boy for an entire evening?
And so, I told Elias that he should use this opportunity to take me on a date. You should have seen his cute little eight year old eyes! And eye brows. And grin. You would have thought I had offered to buy him a toy store.
He didn’t say a word. He just wore that cute little joyful face and he just nodded. I could see the wheels turning inside his head, “Where should I take Mama? What should we do?” (And yes, he really does call me Mama. The older boys, and even Malachi have started calling me just “Mom” now…but Elias still says Mama. Yum, I love it.)
He decided to take me out to the China Buffet. We ate. We went back for seconds. We picked out desserts. We talked about silly stuff and serious stuff. We talked about what he might like to be when he grows up. We got tickled because we had the EXACT same fortune inside our fortune cookies.
Daddy had slipped him a little cash to pay for our date, so Elias covered the bill. It was SO precious!!
I am going to work hard to make this happen with each boy as often as I can. Alone time with the kids is hard to come by. We’ll have to be intentional. But now that Elias has had his turn, the other boys are asking constantly about when it will be their turn to take me out. Since they’re so motivated, I think it will be easier to make it happen.
And hopefully, Matt will occasionally still be able to wrestle down the competition and take a turn himself. :)
What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Write about it on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!
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Gratituesday: It’s (almost) FINISHED!!! And I’m Giving One Away!
Posted by: | CommentsI am SO excited to tell you that the project I’ve been working on for hours and hours lately is ALMOST (but not quite) finished!!! The only pieces left are the final tedious editing and perfecting of details. In the meantime, I’ve decided that I’m dedicating this Gratituesday to tell you about it because seriously, you have NO idea how excited and thankful I am to be almost finished with this project and to almost be able to offer it to you!
Many of you suggested that perhaps I was working on a book…not an ebook…but a book, book. Oh, how honored I was to hear you say that you’d be so excited if indeed I was working on a book! Thank you so much. That’s not what I’ve been working on, but someday…someday. It is a goal of mine…one I’ve shared with only a few people. But others in my life have encouraged it…and now you are encouraging it…so yes…someday. When God tells me that the time is right and when He opens all the right doors. Thank you so much for your encouragement. You truly humble me.
What I HAVE been working on though is a little tool for you to use with your kids. And by little tool, I really mean a 240+ page tool. Not at all little, actually. I began this project back in 2008. I had the idea to share with you in ebook form something that had worked very well for us when we had a bunch of little preschool aged fellas running around. It was something that we came up with to help us teach our kids the preschool basics…but more importantly…it was something we did as a family to serve other families and individuals around the community.
We focused on one alphabet letter each week and did all kinds of fun activities centered around that particular letter. But our main focus each week was thinking about people or families we knew whose name began with the letter we were studying. Toward the end of the week, we had a special surprise for several people. For instance, during Mm week, we delivered Mini Muffins to the Millers, to our friend Mark and to Mrs. Moses. We included a nice card explaining that they were a part of our Alphabet Blessings project and thanked them for letting us serve them. Usually we were all able to sit down and enjoy a nice visit together for a few minutes.
It was a HUGE joy to do this as a family and we have so many wonderful memories of our years doing this with our little guys. It was, of course, also a wonderful way to help them learn their letters and letter sounds!
And so, in 2008, I began putting some of these ideas into an ebook for you. Within the past two years, the little ebook grew into something much more. So much more in fact, I got completely overwhelmed with it and felt like it was too huge to ever finish. I would work on it for a while, then put it aside feeling like I would NEVER be able to get it done. It had evolved from a small ebook idea into a complete comprehensive curriculum package full of ideas, worksheets, Bible work, picture tutorials…..oh so much.
My husband is the reason this project is almost finished. He saw it for what it was…saw how many hours I had put into it…saw how close it was to being completed. He encouraged me to finish, he said he would help. And now here it is, with over 35 recipes, more than 65 crafts, experiments and other projects, Bible lessons and memory verses! It’s full of pictures and instructions. It’s full of games and challenges. And most importantly, it’s loaded with ideas to inspire you and your young ones to serve others together.
By God’s grace and with the help and encouragement of my family…this downloadable curriculum kit is almost complete. I am overwhelmed with gratitude. That is why I am sharing this on Gratituesday.
While I’ve never mixed Gratituesday with a Giveaway before…I’m so excited that today I’m breaking my rules!! :) If you are interested in winning a Learn Your Letters, Learn To Serve Curriculum Kit, leave a comment letting me know of your interest! In addition, you are welcome to leave additional comments if you tweet, facebook or blog about this kit and the giveaway.
Thank you all so much for your encouragement as I have plugged away at this project. The giveaway will end and the Curriculum Kit will be offered for sale in just a few days…just as soon as the final tweaking is completed. Can I just way…WOOHOOOOOOO!!!! Thank you Lord!
Just so you know, this curriculum kit is not just for homeschoolers. Not even close! My intent was to make it usable for any and every family with young children…or for teachers, grandparents…anyone! There are SO many more details to share…but I’ll wait and share them once it is all complete and in my shop! I’ll even be offering a small sampling of the kit for free, just so you can have a taste of what it’s like.
In addition to leaving comments for chances to win this giveaway, please do let me know what you’re grateful for either by commenting or by blogging and linking up with us here!
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!! :) YOU CAN PURCHASE THE CURRICULUM KIT HERE!
Gratituesday: Oh, The Irony
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Whelp, just when I’ve blogged about cell phones and how I don’t need one…I am now devoting an entire Gratituesday post to the fact that I am very much, ever so thankful for my tracfone.
I have spent the past few hours of my life trying to connect my internet. It went out suddenly in the early evening, and I tried every trick I know to connect it again. When I picked up the phone to call my Internet provider, I realized that my phone was out too.
Many thoughts raced through my head at that point. First, that it wouldn’t be such a big deal to not put up a new post tonight…except that it’s Gratituesday and I didn’t want to leave you all hanging. Second, that I needed to somehow get ahold of someone with internet service so that I could borrow their computer and get a Gratituesday post up.
But oh yeah, I also didn’t have a vehicle. Matt’s truck is in the shop and he had the van at work.
So, no Internet, no phone, no vehicle.
I felt a few moments of panic. But only a few. Good grief, in the grand scheme of life, these things are merely silly inconveniences.
Still…it’s not a fun feeling that you have no way to get ahold of anyone. And of course dumb things went through my head like, what if someone cut my connection and they knew Matt was working late and, and… Yeah, dumb. Why does my imagination get the best of me sometimes?
Then, I remembered that I had a tracfone. With it, I was able to call our phone/Internet company and talk to hundreds and hundreds of recordings. I used up a bunch of my pre-paid minutes pressing three to hear more options. But, within a few hours, repairs should be made (according to the recording I listened to after I pushed two, or was it four?). I never did talk to a live person, but those robot ladies talking to me in monotone sure were nice.
Anyway, I also called Matt and let him know the scoop. As soon as the restaurant closed, he came and picked us up and here I am on his computer while he does paperwork in the other room. The boys are hanging out enjoying bonus time with Daddy and the fact that they get to stay up super late tonight.
I am very thankful that when I needed it, my tracfone was there for me. That’s exactly why I got it, for times of desperation…and so that I could (for a long, long time) listen to computerized voices telling me to chose a number option.
If you’d like to leave a Gratituesday link of your own, press two now.
Just kidding. But, I really do hope that you write about what you’re grateful for and link up with us!
What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Write about it on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for!
If you are linking up a blog post for Gratituesday,
please copy and paste the following sentence into your post! Thanks!
Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!
