Whine your blessings

Yes you read that right! You see as of late some of the statuses I have seen on Facebook have irritated me to no end. Here are just a few:

"I hate having a job!"
(REALLY? I know a lot of people that would love to have it if you want to quit!)

"Got a new car, hate that it's a 2010 and not a 2011!"
(Seriously?! Our van is a 1994, 270K miles, has two broken door handles, no heat or A/C...wanna trade? Don't get me wrong here I am VERY VERY THANKFUL for the vehicles we have! Go here to read about how I feel about my cars.)

There are a few others that people have posted that I won't post here because I know that they read this blog and to be honest I do not want to hurt their feelings but they really need to get a serious reality check. I believe it's all about perspective and if I sat down and wrote out everything I wish were different I would be whining instead of being thankful for what God has done.

There's a little song we use to sing in Sunday School called "Count Your Blessings" and the chorus goes like this:

"Count your blessings name them one by one, count your blessings see what God has done, Count your blessings name them one by one, Count your many blessing see what God has done."

I have days that I do whine about what I don't have but want but those days are far and inbetween. Our family is very blessed. In fact despite what I thought our Christmas celebration was going to be like turned out to be the best Christmas we have had in a variety of ways. I plan to share pictures and other things about the events of this past week in the next few days. But today I just couldn't take one more person whining about something that they are blessed with! I was sharing some of the statuses I have seen lately that have been irritating me to no end to Sean and he came up with this little parody. It is quiet funny. Enjoy!

WHINE ABOUT YOUR BLESSINGS by Sean Kelly

(sung to the hymn, “Count Your Blessings”)

When upon life’s pillows you are self-absorbed

You got a new Chevy but you want a Ford

Whine about your blessings, spew them one by one

And it will surprise you how ungrateful you’ve become

Chorus:

Whine about your blessings, whine them one by one

Whine about your blessings till the day is done

Whine your blessings… whine them one by one…

Whine about your blessings till the day is done!

Are you ever burdened with blessings untold?

Mounds and mounds of silver when you cry for gold?

Count your every instance when you get short-changed

And don’t be surprised when you turn out deranged.

Chorus

So amid the blessings whether great or small

Do not be content for God should give you more!

Whine about your blessings, others nerves you’ll grate

Wallowing in self-pity till it’s way too late!

Great night!

So last night was our church's Christmas candle light service and children's program. It was FANTASTIC! Great message, fantastic worship, kids did wonderful. Jaron had his first speaking part and did excellent. So proud of them. Even Kristofer did great...a wise man on crutches. Oh yea, you see over the weekend Kristofer took a tumble down the stairs and bruised his ribs. Then on Sunday afternoon he tripped and bruised his heel bone and Achilles tendon with a slight sprain. He was on crutches for a few days. Did fantastic on them and used them last night. Today he has not been using them and seems to be doing a lot better.
So last night Jaron was one of the narrators, Sara was an angel, Eli a shepherd and Kris a wise man. They all did fantastic. So proud of them!
Today was cookie day. I guess I could make this a seperate post but I have decided not to. You see I woke up once again sick. I just got over and finished antibiotics for strep and double ear infections. I was just starting to feel better and today I get slammed. Actually it started last night with my sinuses burning but I am sure you don't want to know the details. Seriously though I woke up feeling like a mack truck hit me. :-( I do not like being sick! Specially when we have special visitors coming to visit for Christmas.
Anyway on to the cookies. You see the cookie below well that is suppose to be a gingerbread man for santa. Note to self next time take the time to make sugar cookie dough instead of purchasing the pre=made dough at the store! Our sugar cookie cut outs well had issues and because one giant sheet. Kids just laughed but I know Kris was very disappointed in the gingerbread man.

Our sugar cookie cut outs...SO SAD! But they did still taste good!

Then I got creative with the sugar dough and added snickers bites and crushed candy canes. Don't they look yummy! They are!

To finish off the batches we made chocolate chip cookies. All in anticipation of our special guests!
Of whom we have not spent Christmas with in 5 years. My parents are coming, my parents are coming! YAY!!! I can't tell you how excited I am about this. My brother Chris and his wife Leah and their two kids and my other niece Anna whospent the summer with us is also coming our way. SO excited to see them!!! They should be here sometimes tomorrow night and will stay for a week. YAY!!!

Introducing RG

Kristofer has been working on RG all week. He started by finding some bottle caps,
light bulb and the jar. Then he set out to go to work creating his newest robot.

Through out the week he has added and changed different parts. This morning as soon
as he got up and dressed for school he was back to working on RG. You can see the
changes he has done....oh wait "up grades" as he calls them.

The air freshener container is the robot's (RG's) gun.

When he returned from school he was ready for more "up grades." This time he added an air tank (pill bottle) to the back. The finished RG at least for now is below.
I am always amazed at what he creates. When asked what he wants for Christmas this year all he says is a robot creation box. In layman's terms...a box filled with craft stuff, a glue gun, glue sticks, googley eyes, pipe cleaners, other odd shaped items ect... This is one amazing kid we have been blessed with.

Kris' Aircraft

Well he's at it again :) He really does amaze me with his creations. Now he is starting to show Eli how to do it. He has a hard time letting Eli do it alone or create what he wants. Kris' creative mind is always working. This was another creation he made yesterday.

Mommy Daughter Day

Sara has been asking all week for a day that we do girlie things. Just her and I. So today we made home made pumpkin facials which was very simple to do. Sara's comment was, "Mommy I smell like pumpkin pie." Which I had to agree with her on. We also painted our nails with a clear coat to make them shiny. She enjoys these fun things that we can do with each other at home. I do love a professional facials of which my favorite place is at Just Skin in Venice, Florida but this special time with my beautiful little girl means the world to me.

Creations by Kristofer

As you know from previous posts our Kristofer is on the autism spectrum. He is very high functioning and because of God's hand on him and therapy he is doing fantastic. Well one of his favorite things to do is build. We had an IEP meeting this week and I learned that he has been building at school and his special ed teacher of whom I love, has been giving him extra time to unwind with her by building something before heading back to his normal classroom. Of which I am very pleased with! It helps him prepare mentally to contend with the large group setting.
He is my recycling king. Today on Thanksgiving he was constantly asking me when we would have our Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Dinner which equals popcorn, pretzel sticks, jelly beans and toast...minus the toast. I explained to him that we would be having dinner with the Shorts and that seemed to make him happy.
I went looking for him and found him building ... no surprise there :) What did surprise me is that he had found the hot glue gun and was using it...correctly!His newest creation is below. He calls it his stick man robot and hover craft. I think he did an excellent job creating it. To us it may be junk but when he sees odd shapes and items he sees a masterpiece.

Isn't that the same thing God does with us! He picks us up and out of the trash...often times we are throw aways by society's standards or ours, washes us off and there begins the start of a new creation of which He is faithful to complete. Today I am thankful for Kristofer and his building/creating abilities. Love that boy!

40 Things

Happy Thanksgiving! For 40 years I have celebrated Thanksgiving. Some years I do not even remember, for I was too young. Many years I was barely thankful for what I had but today I am very thankful for even the smallest things. So I am about to attempt to write out 40 things, one for each year I have been alive of things I am thankful for.

I am thankful for…

1. My ever faithful Lord and Savior

2. Jesus’ love and forgiveness despite my failings.

3. My husband, I love you Sean!

4. Strongheart Jaron

5. Kristofer the conqueror

6. Tenderhearted Eli

7. Princess Sara

8. My Angel Seanpatrick…you may be in heaven but I am forever thankful that I had 9 months to get to know you and can’t wait to see you in heaven!

9. My parents..Mom & Dad…A constant reminder of what love can do and how you can overcome the many things that life throws at you.

10. My 3 brothers and my sister…memories of my childhood : )

11. Best friends – In no certain order… Angie, Michele, Deanna, Leah, Marty, Jessica

12. New friends

13. A warm place to call home.

14. LIVING IN KY – We love it here!

15. My dogs – Bently and Oddie…what a pair you are!

16. Two cars that are paid for!

17. New Haircuts!

18. Warm winter coats

19. Crock shoes

20. Diet soda

21. veggies and dip

22. Turtle cookies…as Kristofer says, “Sweet glory” they are good!

23. MY DISHWASHER : )

24. Modern technology

25. Seasons of Rest

26. Dolls…I love dolls.

27. Klove radio

28. Facebook – connecting with old and new friends

29. Board games-Scrabble

30. My wonderful neighbors.

31. Video games

32. Playing Uno and Pacman with Sara

33. My granmother’s ivy that is growing strong and I have had for 9 years.

34. My ceramic Christmas tree that was my great grandmother’s.

35. Living less than 3 minutes from the stores I shop at.

36. Redbox…yes I love cheap rentals.

37. Pumpkin Spice Coffee and creamer

38. The ability to walk without crutches or a cane.

39. Pain medicine

40. Ability to worship in a free country without fear of being attacked or thrown into jail.

WOW I did it! I knew I could but with all the storms we are facing and going through I wasn’t sure I would come up with that many things. Oh I have so much more I am thankful for mainly all that God has and is continuing to do in my life and in my family.

Happy Thanksgiving my friends!

Happy Birthday Seanpatrick

We Place You in His Hands

Tiny life so fragile, sent to earth from heaven's gate

Blessed our lives for just a little while,

a testimony of His grace

No harsh words were ever spoken, to dim your precious brow

We know you're in the safest place, in the arms of Jesus now

We give you back to God, we place you in His hands

We place you in the hands of the Father above

Knowing He will keep you safe within His love

We place you in the hands that calms the raging waves

Knowing that He is still able to save

We give you back to God, we place you in His hands.


Today is our son SeanPatrick's 13th birthday. Will I ever stop counting the years that he was taken from us? I don't know. I wish I could say yes but the truth is, I probably will always count the years. I know one day I will hold him in my arms when I get to heaven. Every year I post something about his special day. This year I am just posting the song that our dear friends Gary & Rhonda Gray and Christy Cain wrote and recorded for us to play at the funeral. If you would like to read more of what took place and why we do not have him you can go here to read about it.