Day 201 - Date Night

Love, love, love date nights with my man.  My husband is my word for this year, and having more date nights is just one way to honor my commitment for this year.  Date nights with my husband are essential, and I am so thankful for ours tonight. Nothing fancy, nothing spectacular.  Our night was just low key; pizza, Verizon, CVS, and a movie at home.  I love that we both love simple things and simple date nights.  I am incredibly thankful` for my husband, our date nights, and for our family who asks to have our kids and love on them.  I am thankful for this evening of rest and to hang out with my best friend.  God is good!

Day 200 - Food, Hair, Shoes, and Boy Talk

I am so in trouble with my girl! We had a mommy-daughter date tonight and you can guess what she wanted to talk about at dinner - Boys! Her crush! She is only 7 1/2 :) However, I welcomed it, we talked, we laughed, it was girl talk over some yummy BBQ.  She got her hair cut tonight and we went shopping for shoes! Finally my girl is excited to shop! We had fun trying on sparkly, colorful shoes and sandals and she walked out with some cute tourquoise sandals with gold designs on the top! It was super fun to be with her tonight! I had a lot of work and studying to do, plus make a dessert for work tomorrow but instead I decided to put off my work and studying and bought a dessert instead! It felt good! I usually stress out and not enjoy what I am doing, but tonight, I enjoyed  my time with my girl! I am so thankful God blessed me with a daughter.  Thankful for good food, watching her light up as she got her hair cut, shopping for shoes, and even though it scares me, yes, even the boy talk! :) I especially loved the answer to this question, "Hadley, what about (crush's name) personality to like the most?" Hadley," Well, I just think he is handsome. I have never talked to him." They were on the same basketball team and they never talked! Love in second grade...Thankful!

On our way to shop for shoes!

New hair!

Excited to 

Day 199 - Thankfulness

I have been finding myself wishing away this week, which I know one is not suppose to wish away the days.  However, days when my mind and heart are full of anxiousness, I find myself wishing the days away.  It is kind of silly that I somehow think once Friday hits and it is the weekend that somehow my anxiousness will dissipate into the air. I am still thankful though, for the everyday blessings I have.
1. The run of excitement of Landry when I picked him up today and that he said "Hold you, mommy!" And how he hugged me ever so tightly.
2. Girl to girl talks with Hadley - realizing that days she has a hard time when she gets home that it stems from something that seems petty to us as adults but are HUGE to children.
3.  My husband and his appreciation of the dinner I cooked tonight.
4. My husband going grocery shopping, taking Landry, and putting them away so I could get some work/studying done.
5.  Hadley asking me to tuck her in bed, this doesn't happen much anymore since she is almost 8 yrs old :/
6.  That God loves me despite my mess.

Day 198 of Thankfulness - Laughter Is Good For the Soul

Some days the silliness of Hadley drives me absolutely crazy to the point she often gets into trouble and has to face consequences.  However, today, I welcomed it, well, after after she got in trouble once, but then I did.  Today was a rather disappointing day, this week has been full of a lot of anxiety for me, and laughter was good medicine.  I am thankful that Hadley often sees the not so serious side of life; she is always being funny, likes to make up jokes, and rarely likes to be serious.  While this does often lead to her getting into trouble for disobeying, I do think she is on to something. I take like too serious more so than I let loose and just laugh.  Laughter can get you through a lot of things, and for that I am grateful.  I need to learn more from Hadley; embracing life, enjoying life, and laugh.  Thankful for the ways God teaches me things through my kids.  Hadley's laugh is infectious among our family, especially Landry.  She will do something silly and Landry will just laugh and continue laughing at whatever anyone says, it's priceless.  Thankful for laughter.  Thankful for my kiddos and all the silliness and laughter they bring into our house.  God is good!

Day 197 - Mommy, You are Boot-i-ful

Four precious words came from my sweet little guy tonight - "Mommy, you are boot-i-ful!" I had just taken my contacts out and washed the make-up off of my face, had a headband in my hair, which means I wasn't looking my best.  I had bent down to tell Landry good night and he grabbed my face and said those beautiful four words and then planted a big kiss on my lips! So thankful for my babies kind and loving heart and his words tonight. It truly made my night.  God is good!

Day 196 - Communion

Today was a bit of an emotional day for me.  The church that I attended growing up and even attended most of my adult life, communion was served every Sunday.  Only people who accepted Christ and were baptized could take it.  When we started attending Central here in Athens last year, it took some getting used to only taking communion once a month.  I do not believe either way is wrong or right as far as how often.  I will say taking it once a month rather then weekly has helped me not take the meaning for granted and I take this time more seriously then I did when I took it weekly.  However, the bigger difference for me was that at Central, anyone can take communion, children, baptized or not.  Many of the children take it there and Hadley has been asking to take it as well.  Communion is not to be taken lightly, it is such a contemplative, serious moment between a person and God.  Josh and I talked a lot about whether we should let Hadley take it.  We both felt the maturity wasn't there as to really understanding it, so we had her wait.  She kept persisting on taking it, and today Josh let her.  We walked up, she watched her dad take it, she took it, I took it, and while I watched her take the bread and the juice and she listened to the people serving it, I couldn't help but tear up.  We walked back to our seats and she sat on her daddy's lap and he explained what we did and what we do when we come back to our seats, which is to pray, reflect, think about what Jesus did for us on the cross. I looked over and she had her eyes tightly closed, hands folded, she was praying.  As I was sitting there at first wondering if she really is "ready" to take it, I realized that and asked myself if I really "get it".  I mean, really, the vastness of God is something that we can probably never fully grasp.  I am in need of my Saviour every single day, coming before Him taking communion is something that reminds me of what He did for me.  How am I any different from my 7 1/2 yr. old daughter? She is in need of our Saviour, she knows that He died for her.  At that moment, I stopped questioning our parenting on if we did the right thing.  Instead, I thanked God for this moment, thanked Josh for being such an amazing father who knows just what to do and say at just the right time.  I was overwhelmed with emotion.  I am thankful for this moment in church today.  I later asked Hadley what she thought about communion today, at first as any child would say, "I thought it tasted good."  :) She then said, "I prayed and thanked Jesus for dying on the cross for my sins."  My heart is full and for that I am thankful.

195...Walking On Sunshine

Yay for sunshine! Yay for warmer weather! Yay for no gloves, heavy coats, scarves, etc.! I am so thankful that I was outside playing with my kiddos and our puppy this afternoon. I am thankful to actually feel hot from the sun shining.  There is something about being outside, running around with a puppy and kids, hearing them laugh and scream, and feeling the wind in your face that will enhance your mood. Thankful for today and all the joy I was able to embrace.