Thankful...

“Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV)

An excerpt from Rachel Olsen's blog (Proverbs 31 Ministries)

Welcome if you've found your way here from my devotion. Feel free to introduce yourself and maybe tell me what are you thankful for at this moment on this day.

If answering that question is surprisingly harder that you expected, maybe you should join me in staring a gratitude journal. I've keep one in the past and I can tell you it is certain to stoke the fires of gratefulness in your heart, and bring the many benefits of "thank you power" I wrote about in the devotion linked here. You just have to commit to doing it several nights a week - it only takes a couple minutes.

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I wanted to take the time to write down 5 things that I am thankful for today:
*My sweet husband took care of Rachel for most of the day on Saturday so that I could go to a jewelry party. He also made Rachel and I dinner last night. :)
*The wonderful kisses and hugs (squeezes) that Rachel gave me this morning while we were playing. She also told me that she was having so much fun playing with me. Awwwww!
*I loved this beautiful weather God is giving us today! So sunny and bright and just the right temp. :)
* I am grateful for my sweet friends... yesterday I had a blast listening to and eating with and talking to my friend Emily while the kiddos played so nicely. God has blessed me with such fabulous friends. :)
*The great sleep that I got last night was amazing! God gave me such peace and rest last night that I didn't get up at all for 7 hours straight! :)
*My wonderful mom and dad who are always so supportive and helpful... tomorrow they are going to be taking care of Rachel so Ben and I can go out on a date! :)

"Member Mommy?"

Rachel always asks me if I "member" things from when she was a little girl. I tell her the stories of her being a baby and she just loves them. She asks me to tell her again and again. I was just going to post some pics of R's clubhouse, but found some pics that help me "member" my baby as a baby.

Here she is only 1 week old... I wanted to put a pic of her first Halloween, but don't have it right now, so this will do.

R at 15 months as Pocahontas for Halloween '06.

R as a ballerina princess @ 27 months for Halloween '07.

R as Alexa (Diamond Castle Princess) for Halloween '08.

Okay, so here are the pics that I took this week of R, my mom and I enjoying her "clubhouse". :)

It's too much fun! Mom and I even enjoy being in there talking and playing with R. It's warm when it's cold outside and cool enough when it is warm outside. :) Thanks Papa, we are all enjoying it so much! :)

Tea Time @ Rachel's Cottage.

I love this girl so much!

R playing with her bear and baby. She's a good little mommy.

Tada! Thanks AGAIN Papa!

A little behind

The Saturday before last, Ben was so sweet to take care of Rachel for the morning so that I could help my mom and aunt do a "Wreath Workshop" with Friends. :) Mom just has a natural touch when making floral decorations. My Aunt Paz asked her if she'd help her and some work friends with making some holiday wreaths. Mom agreed and we all met at Hobby Lobby to make sure that all the materials were picked out and purchased. We all then headed to mom's patio to work on the wreaths on that beautiful day! :)

Tia Paz showing off some of her beautiful bird ornaments to be put on her wreath. :)

Mom and Ms. Gerloff finishing her Hanukkah decoration. Carrie showing her final product! ;)

Alma had to leave early, but she bought alot of great items to freshen up this wreath! :)After we had lunch, I headed home to give Ben a break. Rachel woke up from her nap and was given a little "parize" (her word for surprise) from mommy. New Cinderella sunglasses!

Jump to Tuesday Morning for our Women's Bible Study. Rachel wanted her picture taken in front of the beautiful flowers outside of the Bibleland classes. She loves her school. :)

Afterwards, we went to Alamo cafe to celebrate Ms. Emily's b-day! :) She had one of her sons, Jackson join us. He and Rachel were so good during this lunch. We were quite proud. :)

Happy B-day Emily! May God continue to bless you and your family!

Ms. Susan and Ms. Kim joined us...
Susan was a sport and let me take a pic of her!
I wasn't so lucky to get Kim's pic! ;)

Okay, onto some fun news from Papa and Lala's house... Dad has been wanting to build Rachel a little play house. He mentioned it a month ago or so and was in the planning stage. He thought about and even got a plan from online to see how to build it. He was showing us and telling us all about it, but the planning stage was a bit longer than Rachel wanted. On Halloween, while Dad was pushing Rachel on the swing, she asked him about her house. The conversation went something like this...
Rachel: Papa?
Papa: Yes.
Rachel: When you make my clubhouse?
Papa: Well, tomorrow I am going to Home Depot to get some supplies...
Rachel interrupting Papa: No Papa! TODAY!
Papa laughs....

Well, that night, mom told me that her pushing really got him going and thinking, so the next day he began. It took a few weekends and some help from mom, Rachel, me and their neighbor Lonnie to get it done! :) Here are some pics of the almost finish project. I will upload the finished project soon!