I really have been grateful...

These last few days just seem to have slipped by so quickly!! There really are lots of things I have thought about being grateful for. So, here is my list; Tylenol, gas stations, furnaces, slippers, Lucky Charms, dishwasher, the right to worship as I deem appropriate, baby pictures, and telephones. You know, I still don't understand how a telephone works. Someone across the country can speak and almost at that exact moment you can hear them...in their voice not some digital version of it. Telephones, airplanes, and big boats...I've never understood how they work, and I never will!

Beautiful!

Since the beginning of October the weather has been perfect!! We got lots of rain in October, which I love. November has been just unbelievable. Sunny and temps in the 70s. This is when I love living in Texas!

Movie Night!

So glad to be having movie night!!! The girls invited some friends over to watch the movie UP. We are having popcorn and cookies and having a wonderful time! I really want our house to be one that our kids will enjoy being at, especially when they get older. So, no better time to start than now!

Bedtime!

Not that today has been a particularly hard day, but I'm grateful for bedtime today! The girls are sleeping in a sweet fort their dad built in the game room, and now it is my turn! It helps that I have a bed I absolutely love...I can't imagine the days of sleeping on straw or lumpy mattresses. Sure it can be hard to find sheets to fit the 20in thickness, but I sure am glad to have a bed to sleep in!

I also cannot let today pass without expressing my gratitude for all who have served and currently serve to preserve freedom. I'm grateful to grandfathers, grandmothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters who dreamed of better lives for their children and grandchildren, and went to foreign soils to defend the liberty of those they didn't know. I am humbled to know that my own family members have put others dreams of peace above their own....Thank you for allowing me to live the life I love.

Nothing as sweet as little voices singing

Today I am grateful for little voices that sing...and sing without apprehension! Kallianne had a play/musical performance at school tonight. I had a hard time understand a lot of the words when the kids talked, but it was a whole different atmosphere when they all sang. Their faces lit up, they smiled, their eyes twinkled, and they sang with conviction. One of the songs was about the little miracles that happen to us every day. This was the song that they sang the loudest. Every single child believes in miracles, hopefully as adults we do too, because there really is SO much to be thankful for...all the little miracles that happen to us every day.

Laughing all the way....

Today I am glad for pillow fights! Jared and the girls just had a great pillow fight, that lead to general giddiness and joy.

Grateful fors...

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life, it turns what we have into enough and more."

From now until the end of November I decided that I am going to post something I'm grateful for every day. Now, there are the big thing that I am always grateful for, my husband, kids, testimony, house, health, job, indoor plumbing...you know the big things. But sometimes, we let the little things in life go by without always thinking about how much they influence our thoughts and views of the world. So in an effort to better appreciate the lesser noticed joys of life, I am going to pay close attention to what it is that makes me glad I get to live a life.

Today I am so happy for the smell of burning leaves! It has been a beautiful day, and we have all been working outside raking leaves and cleaning up the backyard. Usually we put all the leaves in the lawn bags and put them out to the curb. This year, my pyro of husband decided to build a make shift fire pit and burn the leaves. It has been years since I have been able to really smell the honest scent of burning leaves! Living in subdivisions where the HOA has pretty tight control over what you can and can't do, makes it hard to enjoy the smells of fall. (we live right on the edge of our neighborhood...with fields around, so we figured it would be ok). For those of you who really know me, you know that smells are a very important way I relate to the world. They are powerful and often sneaky. The burning leaves smell takes me back to those autumn days in Wisconsin, when we used to rake the leaves into houses and huge piles to jump in, of walking through the neighborhood and listening to the sound of crunching under your feet. (Jared just walked by and brought a fresh wave of the delicious odor with him....sigh)

Photos...

We went and had the girls pictures taken...lucky for us it was a perfect day!

Halloween!!

Here they are ready for the big night!! Trick or Treating here they come....