The unexpected

Saturday I was about to take out the laundry in the dryer and I was distracted by something, truly the story of my life! When I came back I was not paying full attention to what I was doing, I reach in the dryer to pull out the clothes and along with warm clothes there warm fur covering something! I jumped back because my first thought was that somehow I had put an animal in.my dryer and dried it to death! When I look inside it is only our cat, Ponce de Leon. This cat is such a fool and seriously the best cat you could have for a family. He so desperately wants to be an indoor cat, he sneaks in as often as chance will allow, but because my husband is allergic Ponce has to stay outside the majority of the time.
Ponce is a great little guy who loves any attention he can get. When he was about a year old we had a little girl over who kept dropping pillows on him, each time she picked up the pillow he would just be purring waiting for me. He adores being touched and it doesn't take much to get his motor going.
Jerron and Toby both love searching for Ponce when he comes inside and like a tag they will corner him and then Jerron will scoop him up and take him outside to gently, the gentle part had to be learned, place him on the ground.
We love our animals and the fun they bring into our lives. Each of our animals has a unique personality that we truly enjoy! We are so grateful for the ways they enrich our lives.

Art!

Jerron loves going to my mom's office and drawing on her whiteboard. Here is the masterpiece he put together this weekend. Early in the week he left a drawing up and a woman saw it and commented, "that needs to be framed"
I'm not trying to brag, but let's face it, everything this kid does is something to be remembered. I adore this kid! He brings color to our house, literally and figuratively!

I can't get over this kid

I know I will repeat this over and over but I am so grateful for my little man! Every day he has some new way to brighten our home and make us laugh. Today we had a disagreement about who is the boss, "mommy don't say that. I the boss." Then we would go back and forth, in the end he agreed that mommy is boss when his cousin started to say that she was the boss. He has a great sense of humor and teases already.
Every day I catch myself being so grateful for this little man.

New church time!

This year our time for church starts at 12:30 in the afternoon instead of 9:00 am. I have to say I was looking forward to 11:30 but this works just fine, once we figure out how to figure in nap time.
Today was my sons first time in a classroom, rather than just being in nursery where they have toys to play with almost the whole time. I have to say the first segment was a little brutal, with his standing up and trying to use the microphone the majority of the time, but once they did a little activity he really settled in.
The moment I was grateful for today was when all the primary children stood up and made a circle as part of an activity. My son stood between 2 primary kids who had to have been at least 3 years older and those sweet boys who did not want to hold hand with each other, held hands with my son and spoke to him and just treated him like the best little brother around. They spoke to him in such a sweet way it really made me melt. From that moment on my son was completely comfortable being with the other kids and he didn't fuss again. When he was asked how he knew that Heavenly Father loved him his simple and uncoaxed response was, "Jesus loves me. I love Jesus." Major proud mama moment!
I am so grateful for the example that these little boys set for my son and the love they showed him. It was apparent that these boys had been shown good examples before and soon after my son did the same for a little girl in his class who was being shy and sad.
Even at a young age children are picking up on the things going on around them and they are following in our foot steps. It was a sweet reminder to see how quickly he picked up on the actions around him and reached out in a like manner to someone else.
I am just so grateful for our church and the programs that we have, and the way that they are all set up. There is such a feeling community and caring it is hard not to be affected by it.  These programs are a further testament that there is someone who is caring and looking out for us. He answers our concerns, prayers and wants by the hands of others. I am grateful for the opportunities I have had and will have to help others and the many people who have done the same for us.

These moments.

There are these moments I am blessed with on a regular basis which I am especially appreciative of. Those dark mornings when my son has a bad dream and he comes to my side of the bed for comfort. Some mornings I wake up to him snuggled next to me and I would rather he just sleep so I can just drink in every moment of his innocent love.
Just yesterday morning he woke up early and found food for himself, after about an hour or maybe more he came back to my bed and asked to cuddle. We were cuddling when he fell asleep and then I thought of the calls I needed to make and the data I needed to enter and I knew I had to get up. My little man would not have me leave, he had a slight fever and I could tell he wasn't feeling well, but it seemed as if he knew I would want to get things done. Before he fell asleep he had put his leg over my legs so if I tried to move him just enough so I could escape, he would wake up. It only took 2 tries before I realized that this moment was much more important and memorable than any phone call I could make or any cleaning I could do.
I don't remember being so content to being stuck in my life. Just cuddled next to my son, looking at him and our little dog and just thinking of the great times they have created in this house.
I am so grateful for those moments when I can just stop and enjoy my life, because after all there is so much more to enjoy in this life of mine than I could ever convey to another. Every day is filled with moments of tender mercies of a God who cares for me so much that I could never conceive. I am grateful for the ways that His love is shown to me every day.

New for 2013

I have decided that this year I will improve myself by being more appreciative. To do this I am going to post something everyday about something in my life that made me feel grateful that day.
Today I am grateful for our cars. We are spoiled enough that when we are going to go on a trip we have to decide which car we want to take. 
Last week I was in accident that could have been really really bad!I was driving at 75 mph and found myself on the shoulder of the road, in snow. My first reaction was to swerve back onto the highway but something stopped me. It was until later I realized how dangerous my first reaction could have been, it probably would have rolled my car. As I sat in my car waiting for a tow truck for a couple hours I had a lot of time to think about how much of blessing my car has been and how much I truly appreciate it. it is a durable little car, one filled with great memories. I bought it from.my aunt just a month before she passed away and it serves as a constant reminder to me of the person she was and the many things about her that I would like to bring into my life.
I guess to begin with I was grateful for something rather superficial but at the end of the day what I am grateful was not just the car but was in it. I was with my mom and my son when we crashed, them among with those memories are what I am truly grateful for. The great feelings that I get when I think of the blessings that this car has hauled around for the last 17 years.