Thankful me!

I was thinking of all things I'm thankful for today, to make up for hating on Wal*Mart last week. I'll try to do the short list:

1. Ken, my husband, because he is so good to me, even when I don't deserve it. And, he works hard without complaining and he lets me work the coffee bar @ church (which I love doing); and he loves me unconditionally.

2. My children: Sylas because he can be such a comic, Aiden because he can be so serious, Jacklin because she gets me to play with her (so I dont grow up too fast), Colin because he makes me laugh and cry, and my baby Rona because we hang out together every other day when I'm not working.

3. Amy, my mostly helper, who comes a couple days a week after school to help me keep my sanity. She is just awesome and such a good helper with kids, laundry, meals, baths and bedtimes. . . when Ken is gone fundraising, she is my right-hand girl.

4. My house . . .it is such a nice place for our family and we are so blessed.

5. Our friends, near and far, who encourage us and hang out with us and love us just the way we are.

6. Our family, far, far, away in Oregon . . .they pray for us often and God hears and answers. We are so blessed to have such good parents, in-laws, aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents and siblings.

7. Good health and energy (compliments of coffee). . .where would I be without my daily fix?

8. My job and Ken's job . . . it can be easy to complain about the monotany of cleaning for me, but I have such a good job. I am so blessed to be employed by God-fearing and loving people.

9. The bible . . . God's word, I get encouraged to count it all joy when I experience various trials. Instead of complaining about my life situations, I can have Joy, because as I experience these trials, I get more patient, more kind, more merciful and long-suffering.

10. Low gas prices . . . it's amazing how easy it is to complain when the gas prices are high, but now be thankful when they go down. I'm very thankful for low gas prices!!

that's the end of the list for now, but I am thankful for so many more things. I want to be an example of someone who is happy and thankful no matter what. It's so ugly to have a complaining, unthankful attitude. There's the saying "If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy" and it's so true that I can set the tone or mood for my home. I want it to be a happy, safe place to be.

Well, this last weekend was the soccer tournament up in NY @ our conference center. I stayed home with sick little Rona, Colin and Jacklin. We rested and watched movies and put in the garden and drank a lot of fluids. I think it helped Rona recover quicker. She's a lot better today. We bought vegetable plants already started . . . they just do better than trying to start with seeds. We had a frost on Sunday night, so I had to cover the newly planted peppers, cukes and watermelon. They survived and look very happy in our little garden plot. We planted marigolds around the border to keep out bugs, so we'll see if it works. I let the kids pick out something from the nursery to plant themselves. Jacklin picked a raspberry bush (expensive), Colin picked a package of pumpkin seeds (cheap) and Rona picked a pkg of sunflower seeds (cheap and colorful). So, we did plant some seeds, but I always have luck with sunflowers and squash type plants are easy to grow too. I LOVE to garden . . . I wish I had a bigger area for a garden, but it's about all I can handle right now. I also have an herb garden with basil, cilantro, parsley, dill, chives and lavender (for smell). I'm thankful for my gardens, too! And, thankful that I figured out a way to keep Aida out of it!