Nurture No. 10

Time is cruising by and I'm constantly wondering if I'm doing enough, being enough, doing what really matters.

I feel thankful for so many things today.  Thankful for an amazing family and extended family that teach me by their examples and the way they handle struggles.

I had the fun :) experience of realizing that I am overly reactionary when it comes to seeing what my children have done wrong or what mistakes they have made.  I tend to over react just a bit.  I have been humbled by watching the example of parents around me (including Kurt) who remain calm and show love to their children without freaking out like I do.  I'm not sure how I'm going to change this about myself but it is going to happen, and soon.  I don't want that 'don't tell Mom, she'll freak out' thing going on any more. Even though I'm not a huge fan of having my weaknesses front and center for all the world to see, I'm thankful that I can see this for what it is so I know how I need to change.  I have hope for and I believe in change.

I am so proud of my oldest daughter who gave her first talk in church today.  She was excited about the assignment, prepared well all throughout the week, and did it 100% on her own.  This means standing up in front of a congregation of 200 people (in our congregation 55% of those are under the age of 18) and speaking for 5 minutes.  I cannot express in words how proud I am of her.  Her willingness to do the assignment and how well she did it.  I love her.

I am thankful that we were able to have a little celebration for my sister in law's birthday today.  We love living close to them and love having them in our lives.   My children are overjoyed to see cousins on a regular basis and it was so much fun to watch the arm wrestling and uno playing tonight.  It makes my heart smile to see these interactions and to know what a great family I have.  We aren't a perfect family, but we Sheffields / Smiths are a GREAT family.

Clark made it through his dental surgery on Friday and I've been worried about him ever since.  His mouth seems fine but his breathing has been disrupted by the breathing tube that he had in during the surgery.  I keep thinking it will be better soon but it hasn't gotten better so we will check into that more tomorrow.  I'm thankful that we have medicines and inhalers and a pulse ox at home so that we can keep tabs on him.  I'm thankful that we have great health coverage because of Kurt be willing to work so much and so hard for us.

I loved the snow this week - I felt so safe and warm and happy in my house with my family while the wind blew and the snow drifts formed.  Another thing to be thankful for - having this snow to melt to ward off drought.  Colorado is awesome because it snows and then the sun shines and melts it.  I love it here.

I learned a new skill this week -- by watching online tutorials (seriously, isn't the Internet awesome?) I learned how to hand finish my quilt binding.  I'm happy I added this to my new skills and look forward to working on improving it.

This upcoming week I'm choosing happiness.  I'm challenging myself to not complain, murmur, or whine.  At all.  About anything.
Sailing on to more happiness,
E