Counted blessings

"In every thing, give thanks"
1 Thessalonians  5:18

It's been a rough week and today is the last day of my summer vacation.  I was feeling a bit bummed, so I decided to head outside with a cup of coffee and my laptop and enjoy the quiet of the morning on the patio swing while I try and get things into perspective.  As I closed my eyes to the sun shining in my face, I could hear the goats head butting each other as they play, a cow mooing for grain, a variety of birds chirping and the rooster crowing from the front yard.  Mixed in was an occasional tingle of wind chimes as the breeze picks up...I absolutely love these sounds!  Each one reminds me that I am HOME.  It's still quiet in the house and I know my three precious children are still asleep, snuggled together in the living room after a night of movies and popcorn.  The house is a wreck after many busy days and little motivation to clean, but we are blessed to have it, mess and all.  There is laundry to be done and dishes to wash, but that means we have clothes to wear and food to eat.  Tomorrow I go back to work. I will miss all the free time with my kids that I enjoy over the summer, but at least I'm going back to a job I love...one where I get to see my kids throughout the day while I am doing God's work.  My life IS good...God is good.  When things seem a bit dismal and I feel myself struggling hard to gain positive ground, it really does help to stop and count my blessings.  There are, after all, so many!

So long, Max

Max died today and I cried.  Seems as if I've been doing a lot of crying over animals of late. The price of living on a farm, I guess. I looked for quite awhile to find pictures of him and much to my dismay, I didn't have many. Why do we take so many pictures of pets when they are small and cute and not so many as they get older? I do have some "puppy" pictures of Max, but it was so long ago that they aren't digital! He would have been 14 years old in October...a long life for a lab-mix. Kevin got max from the Clarksville, TN Humane Society when he was just 6 weeks old. He was part of our lives before we got married, before we had children...he has been our sole obsession as well as one pet among dozens. We have had many, many pets over the years but Max has always been a constant. An obedient companion and a fierce protector. The UPS guy has been known to just drop the package over the gate because Max looked so ferocious. We never believed he could be so intimidating until we pulled up one day in a car he didn't recognize...WOW!

At any rate, Kevin and Raymond dug a hole tonight after church and we unceremoniously buried him. It's the first pet I can remember burying. Our kids took it pretty hard, especially Zachary...lots of tears. Funny how attached we can become to an animal, especially one that has truly become part of our family. We have promised them new animals, perhaps someday in the future; but for now, I'm not really up for it. Max was such a good dog, there will not be another like him and he will be mourned and missed.

22/365 Good friend Joy

I was scheduled to help with concessions today and some good friends, Dave and Liz, were going to watch our kids so both Kevin and I could go.  But, with a sick girl (see yesterday's post), I thought I had better stay home.  It's always such a hassle to get enough people to help with these Husky games and as someone primarily responsible for this particular fundraiser, I felt like I needed to find a replacement for myself.  After all, I expect others to do the same, right?  Dave volunteered to go in my place...now those are good friends!  First, they were willing to watch my kids for the entire day and when that fell through on our end, he was equally willing to spend his day selling hot dogs; neither option I'd imagine were on the top of his "things I REALLY want to do list"!  The fact that I have a few of these kind of "good" friends truly brings me joy...I'd be lost without them!  Thanks Dave and Liz!

21/365 Sick Joy?

No pictures to show, but we had quite an afternoon today!  It was a home-game day and Volleyball started, so Kevin had the kids while I helped with the coaching.  I noticed Addison wasn't running around as she normally does and when I got a chance, I asked Kevin...she was in my classroom sleeping...odd...she never sleeps during games.  After volleyball, we all settled onto the bleachers to watch the boys play basketball.  Addison was especially whiny and wanted to sit on my lap, so I let her.  Shortly into the first quarter of play, she vomited all over me and almost hit a friend of ours that we were sitting next to.  Ugh, what a mess!  I tried to "catch" it in my hand, but what was I thinking?  This is the joy part, if you can call it that...several ladies jumped up to help.  As I tried to clean up the mess, they promptly ushered me and the girl to the bathroom and said they'd worry about the mess.  What a huge blessing!  My baby was sick and apparently getting sicker, so I got her home, gave her a bath and we cuddled while she alternately ate and threw it back up into a bowl for the remainder of the night.  No joy in being sick...

20/365 Hillbilly Joy

Today is Backward-Hillbilly-Flannel day...many ideas combined to give students more options!?! 

 It worked out, as there was quite a variety.  Raymond's favorite purchase for this costume was the fake teeth.  We all had a lot of fun with those! 

Here is Raymond and one of his classmates...both sporting those silly teeth!

19/365 Ninja Joy

I forgot to take my camera to school today for Ninja day! So disappointing, there were some great costumes... oh well.  Everyone had a good time and all continue to enjoy the Bake Sale we are having.  Who doesn't love to get out of class to buy baked goods AND get to eat those purchases in class!

18/365 Mustache and Crazy Sock joy!

First day of Spirt week is Mustache and Crazy Sock Day... we found several mustache types (including a pink one for Addison!) on Amazon and ordered some extras  for anyone at school who hadn't planned ahead.  My kids LOVED the idea...

until the mustache started to irritate their skin!  Zachary didn't last long, barely to school before his came off!  SO I ended up just drawing him a mustache with an eyebrow pencil!

 Our lunch lady, Denise, got in on the fun as well!  Can you see the mustache on the pizza?!  The kids loved it!

And Mrs. Minge's history class was in good form with their variety...including Mrs. Minge's "Moo-stache"!