Bok Bok Thankful!

Well happy Bok Bok Gobble Gobble Thanksgiving Day! I haven't blogged daily but I've been thankful daily! Picking up from the last blog...

Day 12 I'm thankful for quite times - You know those times when you just can't think, and there is too much going on which causes you to be frustrated? This is where my quite times are most valuable. I either need to take one, or I've missed having quite time for a while. Its essential for us to rejuvenate our selves with sleep and meditation. I find that I have the best days when I've started them peacefully. Even if the day gets challenging having that quite time in the morning really helps me not to be so up tight about things that shouldn't mean a lot. So I am thankful for quite times.

Day 13 Ideas - I'm an idealist. I think of these little inventions and products daily. Some times my thoughts are silly and some are really good. My husband gets the pleasure or annoyance of hearing a lot of them. I usually start out with an enthusiastic "Honey! Wouldn't it be cool if..." It makes for interesting discussion. We'll try to figure out if it's something we'd spend time on. I've got so many things in my head that I want to do it's impossible for me to remember all of it if I don't write it down. I've found myself getting frustrated at not being able to actually make any of those inventions or products. Some of them I've forgotten. It's in my head and gone the next. I am thankful for my mind always being in a creative state. Some times it can get irritating but I am thankful that God gives me these colorful ideas.

Day 14 Possibilities and vision  -  Everything we create is first visualized mentally. Everything is possible with the Lord. So when we depend on him to work out the vision He gave to us, the possibilities are endless. Just take a look at the world around us. It's full of beautiful nature and beautiful people living out their visions and believing it's possible. I am thankful for the visions God gives me and the endless possibilities when we trust in Him.

Day 15 Surprises- I don't like surprises that I know of. I like complete surprises that are pleasant. I love those little surprises in life that give you a smile. It doesn't have to be this grand surprise party or huge expensive gift. I'm talking about the times when you realize it's Thursday instead of Wednesday which puts you closer to the weekend or the oh look what I've found or the Oh great I don't have to go to the store because we already have that one important item I needed sort of surprise. Those sort of things make me days brighter. I'm thankful for surprises.

Day 16 The bed - It's so nice to be able to slip into a bed and lay down comfortably especially after a long day. I love to feel that relief of rest at the end of the day. I do know it is a privilege as others aren't as lucky. It's a blessing and I'm thankful to have a bed.

Day 17 Our home- Having shelter from the unpredictable weather and a family to live with is a blessing I'm thankful for daily. I look around at my home and I'll complain about things being dirty and messes being every where, but I've got to change my prospective on it. I know it will help me to destress. A home is a blessing. It can be clean or dirty but if love resides there, it's a blessing. My husband and I got to design our own home with architects. It was a good experience. It taught us many things. It is rather neat to see and live in the designed space we thought of. Well we thought of with the help of home builders, architects, our kids, etc. We have things we would fix, add, change, and completely take out. My husband has learned to listen to me and more importantly I've learned to listen to him. Our home teaches me to be thankful for the blessings I have.

Day 18 Warm weather - Oh man am I a warm weather person! It's getting cold now and I'm not liking it. The only thing I can think of that I like about winter is there are no bugs! Warm weather makes me happy, I thrive in warm weather. It brings out a different happier person in me. I am thankful for warm weather!

Day 19 Baby cuddles, laughs and coos. I am so thankful to hear Baby Fia cooing. Her little voice is so touching. I love to see her smiley face. She's such a cuddly baby. When I hold her it's just something that warms my heart and makes me feel comforted myself. My toddler Helaina is such a hoot with her laughing now it's contagious! I can help but to laugh when I hear her laughing or running around laughing. I love hugs from my older kids as well as hearing them laugh and being able to laugh with them. Although they aren't cooing cute baby things, I enjoy ever bit of fun conversation time we get.

Day 20 My electronics - LOL I know it's silly right? Wrong! I do a lot of communication, learning, research, work, and shopping online. My laptop is one of the most used electronics along with my iphone. These two things have been quite helpful. I appreciate technology in providing convenience with our electronics. Some times my laptop is my only connection to the outside world when I don't have time to get out and about. It's not a crutch or a replacement for face to face communication though. I think people have to be aware that electronics can be crippling to the real social part of life. I wouldn't like to live my life behind a screen. I do appreciate the convenience though.

Day 21 Integrity - Wow what a characteristic to have! A person with integrity is priceless. I am trying to teach my children to have integrity. Honor your word, and do what is right regardless if anyone is watching. Integrity is such an important quality to have. I am thankful for those that possess that quality.

Day 22 - Grace. I am thankful for God's grace. God has been so gracious to me. I know I'm a nut case but God still tolerates me. Not much to say here other than Praise God for his grace upon my life!

Day 23 - Quality time and Acts of service. Those are my love language. When someone takes the time out to come visit me, talk to me or think of me I feel like they really care. It speaks volumes to my heart. When someone does something for me I feel as if I'm not worthy. I feel like they have gone above and beyond what they had to. It makes me feel special. I also speak these love languages. I love quality time with my family most of all. When we sit and talk, shop together or play a game together it makes me feel loved. I'm always doing something for one of my family members. It may not be a huge thing, more than likely it's something they may over look but in my mind, I feel like I'm telling them I love them. I do have to speak to them in their love language as well as mine. So I'm thankful when people spend quality time with me and do things for me.

Day 24  My in laws - I am thankful for my "Mum and Dad", not to be mistaken for my parents who are "Mom and Dad". For those that don't know my husband is English. So my in laws I refer to some times as Mum and Dad, or to the kid Granny and Grand dad. They have been such a blessing to me. They have come into town to see Baby Fia for the first time, visit with all their grand children, and celebrate Thanksgiving with us. Mum is forever helping me clean and care for Fia and Helaina. I don't think she knows how much she's spoiling us! I am enjoying having them here. They are so caring and good hearted I know I'm blessed to have in laws that are such a pleasure to be around. I'm so glad to be able to spend Thanksgiving with them.


Day 25 I am thankful for the time we spend with friends. I love to enjoy people. The strange thing is I have this anxiety issue right before meeting with people. I worry like crazy! We had a Thanksgiving get together while my in laws where here visiting. Boy that night was something strange for me internally. I loved having people over, but inside I was worried. I worried if people were ok, did they have a good time, was it boring, are we boring, I bet they won't come back etc. However, we have some great friends and I truly appreciate them all coming. It shows me that they care enough about us to spend some of their valuable time with us. I feel honored when people make that effort. Anxiety aside time spent with friends is a great thing. The problem is the time goes by so fast when we visit with friends. It doesn't matter if it is a party or just having coffee one on one. I get so much out of it. The anxiety before hand can be dealt with because in the end I find out that I had a great time.

Day 26 I am thankful for My husband's understanding. My honey is such an easy going guy. He has
his hot points for sure but I know that usually comes out of frustration. My girls and I went out "Black Friday" shopping. Well we didn't really get a lot of bargains. They are 13 and just wanted to shop. I took them out at 8 am. We weren't about to do the midnight or early morning thing! Of all places they wanted to go to JcPenny for clothes. They didn't really know the whole point of Black Friday was to shop the sale items. Well not just sale items the hugely discounted sale items. Nope they had no clue and I just went along with them to spend time doing something they wanted to do. So I'll skip the shopping part and head straight for the check out counter. The bill rang up way over what I expected. Oh my word! I wasn't expecting that. I made the mistake of trusting they were checking price tags. Why I didn't double check I don't know. DUH parenting moment for me! I clearance shop and if I don't have to buy anything full price I won't! Cheap? Frugal yes I am. :D I call it wise spending. This time wasn't very wise at all. So I pay and mentally try to justify that they needed clothes, and that we shopped for all 5 kids, mostly the girls. So I get home and have to tell my husband who was putting up the Christmas lights on the house. lol Uh um honey...Well guess what he did... nothing. He smiled and told me it was ok. He wanted to see with the girls got and just went on about life. I was standing there thinking well aren't you going to be upset? Nope. He wasn't bothered. I love him. He's such a great guy. After seeing his reaction a huge weight was lifted. Now we still have to budget for that spending but at least I don't have a mean dragon husband breathing down my neck.

Day 27 I am thankful for late nights with Baby Fia. LOL I know you might be like, you lie! Well let me say I'm not saying I look forward to them. I certainly like my full night of rest. Fia is quiet when she is up late nights. She wants our attention and will cry if we aren't cuddling, holding her or near by. So while we are sleepy our little smiley face baby is too cute to be crabby with. She likes to coo at you and she basically is satisfied. She's filling those late nights with love for us. While we like our sleep, I'd rather be up with a content happy baby than a fussy one. So I'm thankful that baby Fia is a happy night owl.

Day 28 I am thankful for a loud house. Well I guess if you can't beat em' join em'! Well not in all situations but this one applies well. With 5 kids, our house is always busy. When it's quiet I think they must be sleep! Kids kids ever where! Its loud and you know what, it's no yelling and screaming at one another (momma don't tolarate that mess), most of it is the kids playing. The teens on the Wii, or running around with the toddler. There are times when I want nothing but quiet. They are respectful and give me that for 5 minutes lol. If I forewarn them that I'm a bit on edge they usually try to be low key. They try, not always succesful but hey what more can I ask for. So when they are loud I know everyone is well.

Day 29 I am thankful for God's plan. I have no idea what it is for my life. All I know is the here and now. I am thankful though. I know God has a plan for me because I'm exisiting. I know God is leading me, and he is there for me. Being able to pray for guidance and not being completey lost and without hope is a blessing. I am thankful God has a plan.

Day 30  I am thankful for the future. Again, I have no idea what will happen but I have hopes and prayers that is is well. I often wonder what my children will choose as their careers, what sort of interests will they have, where will they choose to live, where will their spouses come from and be like, what sort of things will they do with the life they have been given. I see small remnents of it now, but they change their minds so much now I haven't got a clue! We were just talking with them the other night about this. One of the kids asked what did we see them being when they up. We enjoyied telling them what we saw them as. They were thrilled to talk about this. I think they were comforted by us "knowing" them and being able to talk in debt about it. Now I don't know if they will choose the careers we said or different ones but we let them know we'll support their choices. We they will listen to the Lord in their choices for the future. I am thanful for the future.


I hope your holiday season is blessed!