• Happy Birthday to our very beautiful, awesome daughter!
• Happy Birthday to all who have birthdays today!
• Beautiful January thaw days, 50 degrees…
• …blue sky, a few white fluffy clouds, mountains in all their splendor
• Ginger, white tea hand soap
• GPa’s cherry pie
• Girl Scout cookies :)
• Black tie and blue jeans Cowboy Ball :)
• Multi-tasking
• Our son’s business trip to sunny, warm LasVegas…hey, somebody’s gotta do it .. LOL

1. God

2. Working together

3. Cassie bought me some socks

4. This poem

5. Carrot cake

6. The elderly man at the store who serves fruit samples delights in what he does

7. Running water

8. People and things that endure

9. Mark gives a fine haircut

10.

Well, I will never learn my true boundaries if I don’t push them some right? Well, silly stubborn me pushed a little too far 2 days in a row and today I am paying the price. I have been sore all day but have still made myself get up and move around the house. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking for me to take a picture of the boys’ surprise for you, I’ll try again tomorrow. I will admit even typing this tonight is making my fingers hurt a little too much for my liking. But, live and learn right? Lesson learned!

Today I Am Grateful:

1) That even though the boys were wide-eyed and bushy-tailed around 7:30 this morning, they agreed to snuggle up in bed with me till around 8:30 before we all got up for breakfast. Thank You for that extra hour boys, Mommy really appreciated it!

2) For the boys playing different games all day, not just on the computer or their tablets – they were still playing good ol’ fashioned Cops & Robbers style games with their play guns and such. Yeah, the bickered a bit more than I would have liked, but, they also worked together too.

3) That they boys still love the surprise Daddy put together for them. It’s amazing how something so simple can inspire so much imagination and fun!

4) For being a little silly tonight and making breakfast for dinner because it was faster, simpler and a little more fun :-)

5) That there is still one more day to the weekend, one more day for me to heal more before it’s back into the swing of getting the boys to school and such. Thank Heavens!

The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.      ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

1. Waking up fresh

2. Love squeezes

3. The Vineyard Farmer’s Market

4. Cooking with your lover

5. Writing stellar reviews

6. Roasted root veggies

7. Finishing a book

8. Making surprises

9. Sharing a laugh

10. When your hands smell like citrus fruit

Hubby was off today so it was errand day for us. We had a few plans we wanted to try to do, especially a special surprise for the boys! So to find what we needed we headed off to our favorite Salvation Army store. Struck out on what we were originally looking for, but found a few inexpensive treasures instead! Awesome! Headed back to school to pick up the youngest, let him in on the secret and headed off to the other Salvation Army store – JACKPOT!! Found exactly what we needed as well as a few other little treasures again and were done. Went back to school to pick up the oldest and then headed to the final stop for the last few pieces for what we’d need – found it all and headed home. Stayed home for all of 20 or so minutes before the boys and I headed back to their school for a free Family Movie Night – they had a great time & while we were gone hubby not only set up the surprise but also made dinner! Now the grown ups are exhausted and the kids are super excited with their surprise and of course wide awake! LOL All in all, as exhausted as I am, it’s been a pretty darn good day ♥

Today I Am Grateful:

1) For safe travels everywhere we went today – the roads were all cleared and salted well and traffic was just light enough every time. That was a big blessing all day!

2) For amazing finds when you’re not looking for them – we found two different series of books perfect for our budding reader – one full set of Scooby Doo books (12 in all!) and a set of The Magic School Bus (Books 2, 3, and 5-12) so we know he’s going to love them – best part was they were only 25 cents each (and might have even been less if they considered the book tags white which was their half price tag).

3) That the youngest loved what we were trying to do as a surprise for he & his brother and gladly taking part in helping us find what we were looking for – what a fun treasure hunt it was!

4) For finding the *perfect* items at the second stop as well as a few more little treasures that made everyone happy by the end of the day.

5) For the enjoyable evening at the school for the Family Movie Night – the boys and I enjoyed watching “The Lorax” for the first time. They were amazingly well behaved for me as well – I was very proud of them! Then we came home to Daddy having dinner made and waiting as well as the surprise put together (easier than he first thought too! LOL)

6) For anticipation! I’ll share what the surprise is tomorrow when I can take a few pictures to share – I’ll bet it takes many of you back to your own childhood memories :-) Until tomorrow my friends…

We must teach our children to dream with their eyes open. ~ Harry Edwards

1. Connecting at just the right time

2. Learning from mistakes

3. Getting up and dusting myself off

4. Deeply loving and being deeply loved

5. Making time

6. Coffee and Uno at our favorite coffee shop

7. Logan’s new haircut

8. My new haircut…11″ gone and sent off to Locks of Love <3

9. A new calender

10. Now

1. A friend who trusts me with her heart

2. Trusting divine timing

3. Those gifts that you didn’t realize were gifts

4. Communication

5. Recognizing that difficulty in human relationships is universal and indiscriminate

6. Being okay with the hard stuff, even though it’s HARD

7. Mothers and daughters and wives, and the men who love them

8. Watching a strong and beautiful woman take growing pains in stride (inspirational!)

9. Counselors from my teenage years that changed my life (thank you!!)

10. Knowing that if we reach for help, there will be resources available

Very Grateful for ~

God’s artistry

A walk at sunset

The way trees at the end of sunset look like silhouettes

{finally} figuring out the new client’s computer system

I am not sure if I have tenacity or stubbornness, but I am glad for whichever it is.

Stamps

John 16:13

Big Wave Dave’s upcoming mission trip

The young men who work at the car wash

I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. ~William Faulkner

I woke up this morning hurting more than I have all winter – then again today was the coldest day so far. My hands were the worse so I asked my dad if he would please make sure the boys got to school safely & on time. Then I asked if he would come back and pick me up so I could still drag my butt to the gym. Thankfully, he did both.

Today I Am Grateful:

1) For my Dad – he safely got the boys to school on time and even came back for me so we could go to the gym. Thank You Dad! ♥

2) That hubby & I were able to pick up much-needed supplies for Smokey (our cat) earlier today – he needed both food and litter and we got a good deal on both – Wyatt even helped!

3) For having a fairly good time at Half Price Books with the boys – we took them over so they could finally use their gift cards from Christmas and they both came away from the store happy and with 75 cents left on the cards! LOL

4) For picking up a few $1 clearance books myself – including one on how to help kids learn how to understand and deal with their emotions.

5) That hubby, even though he’s sore and tired from a long week at work, got dinner made for us after we got home. Thank You Gene! ♥

Never Let The Odds Keep You From Doing What You Know In Your Heart You Were Meant To Do – H Jackson Brown Jr

1. Snow
2. Baking when it’s cold
3. Turquoise- a warm reminder of summer
4. Blooming bulbs
5. Not needing to go outside
6. My husband picked up lunch for Karen and I
7. Pine trees
8. Early bedtimes
9. Loving this wild, unpredictable world
10. Now