"bee grateful"

A few years ago President Hinckley gave some great counsel to the youth. He said to be grateful. He said, "The habit of saying thank you is the mark of an educated man or woman. . . Let a spirit of thanksgiving guide and bless your days and nights. Work at it. You will find it will yield wonderful results." For some reason I have been feeling a little bit down lately. I think mostly because the demands of motherhood sometimes leave me feeling overwhelmed and inadequate. I started to think about this wonderful counsel from an incredibly inspired leader and I realized that I need to take some time to reflect on the blessings in my life. These are just a few of the things that I am grateful for (in no particular order):

1. A wonderful husband who tells me he loves me every day.


2. Three sweet little boys who constantly bring smiles and laughter into our home.


3. Beautiful, sunny spring days.


4. Wind to fly a kite.


5. A mom who is always just a phone call away.


6. Amazing doctors who save my child's life.


7. Great nurses who put me at ease when my baby is lying in a hospital bed.


8. Incredible parents who love me and taught me well.


9. Sleeping children.


10. Laughing children.


11. Date night with Jim.


12. A husband who is willing to help me with the kids and housework.


13. An inspired Prophet who guides my life.


14. Renting rather than owning our home (especially when we have floods that destroy our basement and kids who get poop all over the floor - the flood happened 2 years ago, the poop happened today.)


15. Friends who accept me for who I am.


16. Friends who inspire me to reach higher.


17. Clean Laundry.


18. A working washer and dryer (At least for a few more months until we move into student housing.)


19. Dishwashers (including Jim).


20. Bryers double fudge brownie ice cream - yum!!


21. A playroom for my kids (I will enjoy that until we move!)


22. A husband who is wise with money and helps me to be.


23. A husband who lets me put my cold feet on him.


24. Clean sheets.


25. Singing kids.


26. Modern technology that allows me to find information on anything and everything, email, blog, download, upload and create anything I want.


27. A husband who will let me cry on his shoulder when I need to.


28. Children who are entertained with just a shovel and a truck.


29. Disposable diapers.


30. Kids who potty train easily (thank you Jimmy, let's hope Ben will do the same).


31. New York strip and loaded sweet potatoe at Texas Roadhouse - YUM!!


32. Incredible grandparents to my kids.


33. Incredible great-grandparents to my kids.


34. An opportunity to move out west this summer and be a little closer to our family.


35. A husband who works hard to support our family.


36. The opportunity to stay at home with my kids - even during the times that I would rather be anywhere but home!


37. A husband who loves to learn and TRIES to teach me what he is learning about (tries is the key word).


38. Hearing the sweet prayers of my children.


39. Kids who love to have family home evening (lets hope they do in a few years too).


40. Kids who get excited to read the scriptures.


41. Kids who get excited over the popcorn blossoms on the trees, worms, butterflies, rocks, mud, clouds in the sky, leaves changing colors and everything else in nature that I take for granted.


42. Finding new recipes to try out.


43. HGTV (even though I don't own my own home or have a garden it's still fun to watch).


44. Scriptures.


45. My Savior.


46. Church callings that challenge me (I better not say that one too loud!)


47. Days when I actually get up before my kids.


48. Capris - they're not too short but they still keep me cool in the summer.


49. Good books to read.


50. Hearing my 4 year old read a book to me all by himself.

So I know I said only a few things but once I got going I just couldn't stop. There is so much more that I could add to this list. It has been extremely helpful for me to focus on my blessings. It's like therapy. There is a lot to say for the power or positive thinking.