"This is the best day ever mommy!"

I have noticed on some of the blogs that I read that they do "Thankful Thursdays" where they list everything they are thankful for every Thursday. Well, today isn't Thursday but these last few days I have had days that have left me overwhelmingly grateful that I needed to share.

For starters, I have had sick kids this last week. (no, this is not what I am thankful for :)) Hope was sick first then Carys came down with a high fever Friday. On Saturday I loaded her up along with her brother Shepard and we headed to the Immediate Physicians Care since our Pediatrician's office was closed. We found out she had strep throat and got our prescription. After we left I decided to zip into Staples real quick to grab a few school supplies. While shopping we came upon a table with all kinds of "pretty" paper clips. Carys was so excited and begged that we get some so we got a small container and filled it up with these cool paperclips that will look so pretty with our schoolwork. She squealed with delight as she was jumping up and down. (for those of you who know Carys, I am sure you are envisioning this) On the way to the drug store I announced that she could pick out a drink and some candy when we got there. Again, she got overly excited and exclaims..."This is the best day ever mommy!" I laughed to myself that she was having the best day ever while running 101 temp and couldn't swallow without terrible pain. Thankfulness flooded in as I smiled back to her through the rear view mirror. I am thankful for such a happy, thoughtful little girl who gets excited about the small things in life.

I am also thankful for Mark's job change because now our insurance covers the doctors here in B'ville again. I used to have to go to Owasso for every visit and it got tiring. Today, I took Shepard for his one month checkup and got to see our favorite doctor....Dr. McQuillen! I am thankful for such a wonderful, caring, listening Doctor who not only knows us by name but knows what is going on in our lives. It had been a year since we went to him and when he saw us in the hall he came right up and said how much he missed us. He chit chatted with us for quite awhile before we even got into the room. Now that's a Doctor!

I am thankful for the clear bill of health for little Shepard. We had health issues with little Hope when we was born with 3 holes in her heart. (runs in my family) We didn't find out with Hope until her 1 month check up because the blood pressure in babies don't fall until then to detect the murmur. I was holding my breath as he checked out Shepard's little heart and relieved that he is fine. Thank you Lord!

I left the dr.'s office feeling so thankful for my family that I could just burst. As Carys would say..."This is the best day ever!"

Now, would this had been the "best day ever" if I had to drive to Owasso and find out Shepard also had a heart defect????? No. Would I be thankful? No, not right away. It is hard for me to be thankful at the moment when things go wrong. I know I am supposed to but it doesn't come right away. sigh.

Cookin' with the Jones Girls

My girls love to help me in the kitchen and I am getting used to letting them help more. I have to remind myself of the precious memories we are making and how soon they will be gone. The song “Cinderella” by Steven Curtis Chapman usually brings me to tears as I know that my little princesses will be grown too soon. So amidst all of the messes, extra time, and inconveniences of letting them help, which can usually have me frustrated with them, I am trying to step back and look at the big picture.

Mark stole this picture of us making bisquits. If I would have known, we would at least have done our hair. :) Now, before you decide twice about ever eating a dish from the Joneses (I can hear your gasps now)…I promise their hands were clean and they didn’t lick anything…that I noticed anyway.

ps. Little Shep is one month old!

4th of July Pictures

Well, the morning of the 4th I got all of my children all dressed up in Red, White and Blue and took their pictures and planned on taking more pictures of the fun festivities that were in store for us for the rest of the day. Our Sunday school class was having a swimming pool party and then a trip to Hudson lake to watch fireworks. As the day grew longer and Mark still knee-deep in painting Dawson's room and me not looking forward to staying inside with the baby (very hot day) while everyone was outside, we opted for staying at home. We did get to see a small fireworks show outside in the backyard so we are glad the kids didn't totally miss out. We made up for it the next night as we got together with close friends for a cook-out. The kids had a blast because when all of us get together, you are talking tons of kids! Mark and I really enjoyed the time with our friends as well.





Dawson trying to mimic brother

Fears

Tonight I am letting a fear freak me out. Spiders! Just a few days ago, while talking to some friends, one of them was telling us of a girl who got bit by a recluse spider and her kidneys almost shut down and she almost died. Now, I am already terrified of spiders as it is....add something like this and I am over the top. Well, it just so happens that the next evening...not kidding...I walked into the entryway into our garage and two big spiders started to scatter. I screamed and the kids come running wondering where the spider is because the only time I scream is when I see a spider. Mark comes and gets it and what is it? A recluse! I could hardly sleep for fear that maybe we are infested with them. To top it off, tonight I grabbed a throw blanket to put up and a big spider went scattering. It went hiding too fast to tell what it was but in my mind, it was a recluse. So now, I am sitting here scared of these little things. It also has me thinking about fears and how they can totally paralyze. I wish I could say that spiders are my only fears but they are not....add to that list elevators and airplanes (and I am sure there are some others I have forgotten). There are so many scriptures that I hold onto and memorize to help me when I am faced with one of these issues. So why do I still struggle? Is it because they frighten me enough to need Him or is it that I haven't totally let go of that fear and given it to him?.....or both???? I call Him "My Hiding Place" most of the time, I just wish I could learn to stay there awhile and not run in and out.

"Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, them I am strong."

Oh, the newborn stage....

Wow, it is amazing how easily I had forgotten about the newborn stage from just 2 1/2 years ago with Hope. I was expecting to be very busy with my little newborn but the memories of all my other three babies come flooding back as I am taking care of Shepard in his first week of life. It makes me wish I would have enjoyed the newborn stage better with the others but the sleepless nights; constant dirty diapers; and feeding every few hours kept me from it most of the time. Maybe because this is our last or maybe because I am older, but I am really enjoying every minute with Shepard...even at mid-night; 2am; and 5am! Now ask me a few weeks from now and I may tell you a different story. :) I wish I could freeze time and enjoy my babies forever. For now, I am going to catch some Z's while I have the chance.

Here I go!

Well, I have finally decided to bite the bullet and start a blog. I have really enjoyed reading my friends blogs...so much so that it is a daily habit. I feel like I know them so much better because of it and enjoy reading about their daily/weekly activities and stories. I also thought it would be great for family out of town to keep up with what our family is doing. With that said, please forgive this new blogger as I learn how to upload photos and such. :) This site will not look too pretty for awhile. My only hope in creating this blog is that I will have "something" to write about.