Thankful Thursday

This is going to be a little different from my usual nutty, wry-attempts-at-humor-posts, because I plan to be serious.

Perfectly serious.

I'm going to write about how cranky and mean I can be.

(Don't everyone scramble from the door at once. I can't reach through the internet to bop you on the head, so you're relatively safe - for now, heh heh.)

I was talking to my dear Handyman last night (who, by the way, should be given an award for paying attention to my rantings and nodding at the appropriate moments) about what a mean, cranky, and un-thankful mom I feel like I'm turning into. Yes, I realize that having three little kids entitles one to a certain amount of stress and chaos and depleted resources of sanity, but I truly believe the Bible is right in saying that a Christian can have "peace that passes understanding" and be "thankful in everything".

Don't worry, I'm not interpreting all this as "I'm going to become the perfect Martha-Stewart-Mother", but rather, that I don't become a "Martha Stewart" when I find raisins embedded in the couch or that my daughter has eaten pizza crust dipped in toilet water (you don't want to know about the latter. Trust me.)I want to be a thankful mom. Yes, my kids are annoying. Yes, they drive me nuts. Yes, they unravel my knitting and send my sanity spinning across the floor along with the yarn ball.

But, they give me kisses and hugs, don't care if my hair could rival Albert Einstein's, make me laugh at their antics, never wonder at the clothes I think are fashionable, and love me in spite of all my crankiness and irritation. They are a beautiful canvas that I have the good fortune to hold while God paints the picture of their lives.

Thankfulness, I believe, is forcing oneself to view the positive more than the negative. The raisins will still be in the couch tomorrow, no doubt, (although I sincerely hope my daughter doesn't eat pizza from the toilet anymore) but my attitude in dealing with the day-to-day triumphs and struggles will largely depend on my level of happiness.

Happy in the midst of insanity is my goal. Hey, I've got the "midst of insanity" part down pat!

Thankful Thursday

This Thursday's "thankful post" was an easy one for me, because I am so thankful for my husband, and how thoughtful and sweet he can be. Sorry for all the mushiness, but I'm so proud of him, I just felt like sharing!

He really outdid himself for Mother's Day. (Of course, "Peter" and "Breanna" gave me the following gifts, but I know who really bought the stuff). He bought me a dozen roses in a lovely shade of yellow and orange (ignore the box of ice cream in the corner. That was not for me. He's a wonderful guy, but his ice cream he refuses to share!). He also got me some delicious dark chocolate, which I don't have pictures of, as I ate it.Then came the real shocker. He got me a . . . . . . DIGITAL CAMERA!!!!!!!!!!! (Can you tell I'm over the moon about this?) I've been wanting one for ages, and I thought we'd have to wait a couple of months before we could afford one. Sneaky man, he'd only been saying that to put me off the scent!

See, we do already have a digital camera, but I think it belonged to Fred Flintstone before we bought it used on ebay. It's about the size of a shoe box, takes 20 seconds to turn on, and about 25 seconds to load each picture before it's ready to take another one. It's great for things that hold still for longer than a month, but for children . . . ugh.
My new camera is a tiny little Sony Cyber-shot that will fit in my purse and has 7.2 mega pixels, whatever that means. I just know that it's easy to use, takes fantastic photos, and gets great shots of children and knitting alike. Woo hoo, I'm soooo thankful for my new camera (and my man!)

Thankful Thursday

Although it isn't actually Thursday, I couldn't post this yesterday because it was rainy, and I couldn't get a picture.

All week I've been thinking about things I'm thankful for, and this ranks as one of the top:

Dandelions.

Oh yes, I know many people think of them as weeds and annoying pests in the yard, but I secretly think they're lovely. They're so bright and cheerful, and they have the funniest fluffy seeds in the fall. Their other charm is that they are perfect for little boys to pick.

Peter is such a sweetie, and is always picking me flowers. Dandelions have the dual purpose of giving him something to pick for me (and thus making him adorably sweet) and sparing me the trouble of guarding my precious daffodils and tulips.

Andy is always rather proud of how nice our lawn looks, and he thinks it's because of the stuff he puts on the grass every year. However, I know the real reason we don't have dandelions in our yard. The only thing faster than the spread of dandelions is a toddler!

Thankful Thursday

I woke up a bit grouchy and surly this morning, and was feeling rather sorry for myself. However, the Lord led me to this passage for my devotions, and I thought it perfectly appropriate for this week's "Thankful Thursday".

"Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
While I live I will praise the Lord;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

Do not put your trust in princes,
Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.
His spirit departs, he returns to his earth;
In that very day his plans perish.

Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
Whose hope is in the Lord his God,
Who made heaven and earth,
The sea, and all that is in them;
Who keeps truth forever,
Who executes justice for the oppressed,
Who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners.

The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
The Lord raises those who are bowed down;
The Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the strangers;
He relieves the fatherless and widow;
But the way of the wicked He turns upside down.

The Lord shall reign forever -
Your God, O Zion, to all generations.

Praise the Lord!"

~ Psalm 146

Thankful Thursday

I am so often reminded how blessed I am to have children. While they are certainly not perfect angels, they are a constant source of amusement and joy for Andy and I.

Yesterday afternoon I took the babies to McDonald's for a nice romp in the play land. Peter always enjoys playing with the other children there. However, this time there was a little girl who decided to "fight" like lions, and Peter came out the loser. The poor thing was crying very hard from the scratch across the face she had given him.

All my mommy instincts came roaring to my brain, and every muscle was aching to leap to my son's defence and give the offender a sound beating. However, sanity (and the thought of life-long incarceration) saved me just in time, and I was able to (sort of) calmly say to the other mother, "that's alright, he was just frightened . . ." The incident was a sharp reminder to me how precious my children are.

Then, later that evening, the babies decided to imitate Andy and me dancing. I was laughing so hard at their attempts, that Andy actually got off of the computer long enough to see what the fun was all about. Unable to stay out of the dancing fun any longer, I taught them the old child's song "Ring Around the Roses".

Of course, their favorite part was ". . . ashes, ashes, we all fall DOWN!"

Thankful Thursday

"For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth over and around us lies;
Christ our God to Thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise."

~Folliott S. Pierpoint (1835-1917)

I just love that hymn, and today I was made especially aware of how thankful I am that God created us with the need for beauty. It's so amazing how much pleasure can be gotten from seeing the sunset, or watching a bird flit effortlessly across an unclouded sky.

This morning the kids and I went to our MOPS meeting (Mothers of Preschoolers). Nikki Smith was the speaker, and she gave us some wonderful tips for designing our homes into a beautiful place to live. She has a degree in design from some big school in Chicago, and she certainly is a credit to the school!

Here are some of her tips, and I thought I'd share them with ya'll:
1. Have light, medium, and dark tones in every room
2. Have small, large, and solid print/objects in every room
3. Have varying heights of furniture (not every piece of furniture should have long legs, or no legs at all).
4. Anchor the feeling the room with darker colors near the floor
5. Less is more - no clutter (AAACK!)
6. Layers: paint, furniture, rugs, draperies, lamps, art, and accessories
7. Bring some of nature in with use of stones, flowers, etc.
8. Go neutral on the basics, like sofas
9. Use texture
10. Have good light control, with such things as candles, dimmer switches, or table lamps. No halogen lights!

Now I'm looking at my rooms with a whole new eye . . . .

Thankful Thursday

This week I am especially thankful for women who inspire me to be a better person.

Of course, I could not talk about inspiring women, without mentioning my wonderful mum. I could go on and on about her many fine qualities, but I think the thing I love about her most is her determination and encouragement. When I am feeling down or fighting the temptation to binge, she is the perfect person to help me back up.

And while I'm bragging about my dear ol' mum, let me tell you that she is . . . . . (drum roll, please) . . . . . .

A GOLDEN APPLE TEACHER! If you don't know much about teaching, just realize that this is a HUGE award, and very prestigious. My mum teaches little kids (oh dear, I can't remember what age group!) and also has the coolest Science Labs. A few days ago, News Channel 4 came to her classroom to interview her, and she'll be on TV tonight. My famous Mum!

Secondly, I'd like to show you these socks my friend Stephanie made. Stephanie is one of those sickeningly amazing women who can do everything and everything well. She is such an encouragement to me not to slack off and to be more humble. Even though she is extremely talented and smart (the woman can count! I, however, am a math dunce), she is not stuck-up about it.

These were her very first socks made with sock yarn, and she did it with a beautiful twisted cable down the cuff. Amazing.

Isn't it wonderful that God gave us friends and family that can help us to be better people?

(Oh, if you are not mentioned in this post, please know that you are an amazing woman, too. However, I just heard a horrific crash from upstairs, and must see what Peter broke . . . . )

Thankful Thursday

Oh, I'm so glad other bloggers are "stealing" my idea and writing about thankfulness on Thursday (or on any other day). What with cold and flu bugs being passed along so easily, it's nice to actually "catch" something good, for a change!

So what shall I be thankful for this week? Hmmmm. I am thankful for God's mercy and forgiveness. Last evening I was feeling rather down, because I had made a boo-boo. (Okay, if you must know, I binged a bit at dinner, even though the Spirit was convicting me to turn to Him, not food for my happiness). Anyway, as we drove to church I was beating myself up for falling into old traps.

How thankful I was that Pastor chose Psalm 103 as his text for the evening!

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him;
As far as the East is from the West,
so far does He remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to His children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him.
For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust."

How thankful I am for the encouragement that I can find in the Bible! God knows me better than I know myself, and He still loves me in spite of that!

Thankful Thursday

For my "thankful topic" of this week, I am going to praise the Lord for our family's good health. I know that might, perhaps, be a bit ironic due to Andy's recent back injury and the fact that my head is swollen like a melon due to a bad cold, but seriously, we do enjoy good health.

I was thinking this afternoon how fortunate I was that my "bad cold" was nothing more than that. After all, there are many people with serious illnesses to whom a "bad cold" would be life-threatening.

So, as I sniffle my way through the rest of this week, I will be thanking the Lord for my health!

Thankful Thursday

For this week's Thankful Thursday, I wanted to show some of the sweet things I received for Christmas. Unfortunately, I couldn't put everything down here, due to time and space constraints (so please don't be insulted if you don't see your gift here).

My dad and mom gave me the most beautiful dolphin necklace. The stone at the top is a real topaz, too! It's very beautiful, but I couldn't get my retarded camera to get a very good picture.

My sister, Angie, gave me this delicious Hot Cinnamon Tea. It's unbelievably spicy; perfect for chilly days! Talk about decadent, too! Each tea bag comes in a tented glassine bag. I almost feel guilty throwing them away when I've finished making the tea!

My sister Lynn gave me some wonderfully comfy Christmas socks. I don't have pictures of those, because they are currently in the wash. Needless to say, I wear them a lot.

Andy actually took my broad hint and bought me the most wonderful book, Knitting Without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmermann, the famous knitter. It's so full of handy tips and pattern percentages. I just couldn't put it down! It doesn't look like much on the cover, but it's packed with useful information. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in knitting.

Angie also gave me this nice book, The Cool Girls Guide to Knitting. I just love knitting books. There's always something new to be learned. There are also some neat patterns for cell phone holders and purses in the book. I might try them later this summer.

Thankful Thursday

What a wonderful day I had today! My cousin, Andrea, and her husband Nick arrived from Saba (an island in the Netherland Antilles). Andrea has a new baby, Lucas, and he is such a cutie. What a chunk he is, too! He's only three months old, and he's as long and weighs the same as my baby Breanna (and she's 13 months!)

Andrea suggested that we drive to our Oma and Opa's house in Hartwell, Georgia, to show off the babies. Andy watched Peter for me, so we two women and the babies headed to the "Hartwell Monastery" (lovingly knicknamed such, because it is so quiet there). After all the chaos at the Kahue house, it was a bit of a pleasant shock to enter such calm.

Oma and Opa are the best grandparents anyone could ever have. They are fun, quirky, a bit crazy, and have an excellent sense of humor. Their house is so relaxing, and I have so many fond memories of adventures I had there. (Once, I cut through a 3-inch bamboo stalk with a pair of scissors. Opa's never let me hear the end of that one!)

I am so thankful to have such wonderful family. This vacation has been such a blast. I might need another vacation to recover from the lack of sleep I'm getting, but the fun is worth it!