because a thankful heart is a happy heart

I thank God for this day,
For the sun in the sky,
For my mom and my dad,
For my piece of apple pie!

For our home on the ground,
For His love that's all around,
That's why I say thanks every day!

Because a thankful heart is a happy heart!
I'm glad for what I have,
That's an easy way to start!
For the love that He shares,
'Cause He listens to my prayers,
That's why I say thanks every day!

I thank God for this day
for some time to play outside,
for the birds in the trees,
for His love that's deep and wide.
For the air that I breathe,
for my friends and family.
That's why I say thanks every day!

I thank God for this night
for the stars in the sky,
for my mom and my dad,
for this special lullaby.
For a chance to have friends
for the ways that I am blessed.
That's why I say thanks every day!

Because a thankful heart is a happy heart.
I'm glad for what I have,
that's an easy way to start!
For the love that He shares,
'Cause He listens to my prayers,
That's why I say thanks every day!

-Veggie Tales

I know that I should say thanks every day. But I'm not sure I do. That's why I'm thankful for Thanksgiving day, actually. It's really a season for me. I know all year 'round that I'm blessed. But I don't actively think about it every day like I do in this season.

And here are some things I'm especially thankful for this year:

These guys. and yes, that's one of our Christmas card pictures. You get to see it early. :)



This guy. He's my all.



This house, which is actually mine now. :)


These guys.


These friendships.


That I got THIS for as long as I did.


and a few other things that I don't have pictures of:
*my freedom. and the men and women that fight for it. and the fact that my husband is not one of them.
*that I am absolutely, 100% loved and accepted by Christ, even when I think I'm not good enough
*that my kids are healthy. I can't imagine going through what way too many parents are going through right now.
*Tom, Carla, Erika, and Christa, who I can't seem to find a good picture of. They are a wonderful family who have loved me since I was 16, and still love me, and SHOW it. :)
*that my kids are growing up having everything could possibly need, but not everything they could possibly want.

I live a blessed life. and that's why I "should" say thanks every day.

someday...

someday I'm going to write a post about the second annual "Grandma Sharon Days" celebration we had last month.

and someday I'm going to upload my halloween pictures so y'all can see how cute my kids were on that day.

and someday I'm going to do all the laundry that piled up while I was catching up on laundry. (how does that work like that????)

and someday I'm going to turn back into the mom I used to be instead of contributing to the stressed out craziness that has taken over this home.

and someday I'm going to find my container of 2T clothes, since Brielle is already wearing that size. (if you borrowed it, could you let me know???)

and someday I'm going to take a chunk of time and hang out with my husband and just be with him, and maybe do some things that have been on the "to do" list for a long time, but mostly just BE with my best friend whom I miss terribly, even though he lives in the same house. :( in fact, that someday might be tomorrow. who wants to babysit?

someday I"m going to make myself get up early, even though my kids sleep in, and get stuff done so I feel a little more on top of the game.

But TODAY I'm going to do ONE load of laundry, make as many bows as I can for my TWO craft shows tomorrow, try my hardest to sing and dance instead of yell, take pictures of my new products (but not post them yet) for my etsy site, tend to the four kiddos i have in my care today, and show you some pictures that the wonderful ALISON took for us. That link goes straight to her blog.

*to see the rest:

go to www.alisonbickel.com
click "enter the site"
click on "clients"
password is hydeen.

isn't she awesome?

okay, that's what I'm going to do today.