Thankful Thursday

As you know for the month of November on Thursday's I have been writing about things I am thankful for. I have been thankful for my savior, veterans, my husband, children, family and friends. Through this I have realized I have so much to be thankful for that the "list" could go on for ever. God has blessed me and my family beyond worldly measure in so many area it is hard to contain it in a list. I could ramble on for hours and get no where but the one thing I think I want to stress is we should be thankful all year and not just today! I do have one last thing I am thankful for that I wanted to note...

I am thankful for life! Mine, my husbands, my children's...well every one's!! Life is a gift not to go without recognizing it can be short or long but what you do with it and who and what you serve is up to you. I chose to serve the most awesome real God and I chose to be wife, mommy, volunteer and whatever else hat I can pull out. But I think all that would be for not if I didn't have Jesus the giver of life at the very center of it all. So I am thankful for life and without being repetitive I am thankful for the One who died so I could have it so wonderfully.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my family and friends. I love you and count myself blessed that you are part of our lives. Might we remember to be thankful all year!

Thanksgiving Feast

I never thought that I would be cooking an entire Thanksgiving meal alone. But these year I am. And I have to admit I am not at all excited nor am I happy to be having Thanksgiving "alone." Well I wont actually be alone but it will only be me, Michael, the boys and my brother Adam. Jesse is going to the beach with my dad and we aren't doing anything with Michael's family. So I was left in a predicament....I could usher all of us to a restaurant or start our own new tradition. We have spent every Thanksgiving since we have been married with Michael's mom and step-dad except last year which we spent with my dad. And when my mom was alive we actually had 2 Thanksgivings so we could have one with my fam. I will totally miss my mom this time she made the best dressing I am sure mine will never be as good as hers. I thought I would share our menu with all of you for fun!

McClendon Thanksgiving Menu:
Ham
Fried Turkey
Dressing
Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole
Green bean Casserole
Mac-n-Cheese
Rolls
German Chocolate Cake
Pumpkin pie

As much as I am not looking forward to cooking all of this I am looking forward to eating it! What will you feast on tomorrow?

In need of motivation...Got any?

The chaos that is my brain has thrown up in my house! I am serious my mental state has been shall we say scattered. I don't have a handle on anything and you can FORGET time management....I have none. It is that time of year where my "plate" is far too full, my mind in shambles and my pocket book starting to squeak as it is pulled so tight. Now every room in my house is suffering and in bad need of a TON of TLC. I have a chart hung on my fridge outlining my daily cleaning schedule, yeah right! I haven't done anything in days and am so far behind on my sewing that people are wondering if the "dog ate my homework" aka that lovely outfit they ordered. I am going insane over my lack of motivation or care. I don't seem to mind the mess thus wondering, about that dirty floor maybe if we let the dog in she could lick it clean, hopefully nobody will fall upon arrival at hour house considering all the toys in the floor, and that bathroom DO NOT LET A GUEST ENTER IT THEY WILL NOT COME OUT!!!! It is nuts and I must get it under control I can't handle another minute of the madness. Come heck or high water I have to do something about it. This house is affecting my mood, not to my surprise...I don't really like my house! I have done a million things to make it make me happy but nothing helps. I must get it under control and clean so I can start having something to take pride in. My mind is wondering, my thoughts a trillion different places and I can't seem to make myself start never mind finish anything. I NEED MOTIVATION...GOT ANY????

Thankful Thursday

Wow I didn't realize there wasn't many Thursdays in November. I have so much to be thankful for I am going to have a hard time getting it all in over the next two "Thursday" post. This week I am thankful for family. My wonderful husband and amazing children!

I have one amazing husband. He works a very hard physically demanding job rain, shine, hot or cold to provide for our family so I can stay at home. I have to say there is NOTHING easy about his job or the boss he has. But in this economy and his field of work that job in itself is something to be thankful for! After work he comes home and helps me with the children and even helps with the housework. He is so realistic in that he knows being a stay-at-home mom to 3 kids with full schedules and her own hectic schedule is a BUSY HARD JOB! He is very understanding if the rough end drags a little or alot and is always ready to help out and pick up my slack. He is also a pretty loving guy...Ok he is really loving! I can't imagine my life without him we as sappy as it sounds complete each other to make a PERFECT team. I know God hand picked us to be with each other. I am thankful for Michael in more ways than we have time to even list...I have a great man.

I am also thankful and count myself blessed by Gods unmeasurable favor to have 3 amazing children. All of which are healthy and mostly happy;) Jesse my oldest is a helper always willing to lend a hand no matter the task. She even helps look after Cooper is I need to take care of something or do a little "work". She is a eager learned both at school and home a wonderful student and a great friend to her mom! Duece my middle child (who has the middle child syndrome in the bag) is a really mommas boy I am so glad. He is a lover not always the most productive you should see his room and the number of tissues used to dry his tears during chore time! This kid stands up for what he believes in and is very kind and caring. Now Cooper...well he is 2!!!! And I think I could leave it there. Aside from fits and rages he is a pretty great kid very loving but all boy. And he loves him some football already I think that might actually be a prayer Micheal prayed that was answered. All joking aside I am blessed and feel like God was showing His favor on me by giving them to us! I hope that in the future He might show us a little more favor in this area;) Pick you lip up you knew that was coming!

And with out being too general I am thankful for family... parents, brothers and sister, in-laws, grandparents, cousins and all. I think we have been blessed and cursed in this area. While we have wonderful relationships with some of our family there are others we only see at holidays and it makes me sad. But we have friends who are like family and that is a wonderful blessing. But am a thankful for family no matter what. They are sometimes all you have.

I am also thankful for friends! This is one area I know we are so very blessed. As stated above we have friends who are like family to us. They always make up for any lacking family relationships and support us so much. We love them more than any of them even know they are a very big part of our life!

We are not only thankful but also blessed!

Santa Came Early...

And this is what I got!

I have been sewing for quite some time on a borrowed machine and now I finally have my own!

Back a year and a half ago I started sewing and I loved it. My good friend Ellen let me borrow a machine and dew to rough economic times I hadn't been able to buy my own. But as they say good things come to those who wait. And I got a new "brother" machine for Christmas...even better it was early:) I am so excited it is computerized has 50 stitches, 80 functions and 5 button hole settings and is SOOO easy to use. My other good friend Jennifer has been sewing on one of these for about a year and LOVES it so I got the same kind. I totally recommend it if you are in the market for one. I know I have already used it and plan to put it to good use sewing Christmas gifts I am making, thus the reason I received it over 1 month early. Well gotta go I can't wait to get back in my sewing room!

A huge thank you to Ellen for letting be use hers so long! And to Jennifer for recommending this one to me I know it and I are going to be great friends!

Just for Mom

Today my heart aches as the memories of the day I lost my wonderful mom come flooding back. I have said many times this week that there days when it seems like it happened 24 hours ago and then there days when it seems like it happened 20 years ago. Instead it has been 7 years. Boy how my life has changed and with each new adventure I long for her by my side even more.

My mom was diagnosed with Leukemia in January of 2003 and died one month shy of her 38Th birthday on November 12, 2003. The events of that day and the days following it are forever etched into my brain. After being admitted to the hospital 3 weeks before my mom had began chemo and ended up very sick and on a ventilator. While she was in ICU so much was going on I was pregnant with my second child Duece and my sister Hillary gave birth to her son Taylor all while our brother was a freshman in high school. I spent many days in Birmingham with my family but also many days at home with Jesse trying to keep her life "normal" which is what my mom wanted me to do most. I remember thinking about how she had already "beat" this once before and we would weather this storm and she would come home. I kept telling myself and Jesse that. I was wrong...She got more and more sick as time went on. On the morning of November 12 my dad called and woke me up. He told me that my moms organs were starting to shut down and that she had little brain activity (had been on the vent more than 3 weeks) and that she wouldn't make it until the night. I had a very hard choice to make leave and go be by her side or stay at home with Jesse. I chose to stay home with Jesse. I thought this is what my mom would have wanted me to do. Now looking back I wish I had of left Jesse with friends to go and be by her side. The next couple days were insane they came and went in the blink of an eye. During all of this my sister had her birthday major crappy right?

I still have tons of unresolved emotions from that day. I was pregnant with Duece (a pregnancy that already was a little rocky) and didn't want my stress or grieving to be hinder the developing baby. To this day I know I still haven't grieved like I should for what I lost. I miss my mom so much and there is almost not one day that goes by that I don't miss her. I know her heavenly Daddy longed to have her in heaven with him so He called her home. I also know that no matter how badly she or I would love for her to be here there is no way she would leave the wonders of heaven to be with me. She instead waits for me, my siblings, father and her grandchildren at those pearly gates. Knowing all of that brings me alot of comfort.

For a long time I had been questioning why God would take this wonderful special person from me. I will never know why and it is not my place to question God. But I have learned God gives and He takes away...And as the song goes "My heart will chose to say BLESSED be His name." I can't wait to get to heaven and see what my mom thinks of who I have become but most of all I can't wait to give her a hug and have a LONG talk. The one thing I miss the most about her for myself is how she use to call me every single day so by then the LONG talk will be much needed!

Mom,

I do miss you so much and my heart almost longs for the day that you and I will be together again. But God has called me for things on this earth that are yet to be done. And you have 3 grand babies who need me to shape and nurture them as you did us. So until then please watch over us everyday and save us a nice spot on that cloud you might be perched upon. Put in a good word for dad I am afraid he might need it. We love you and while you are gone from our lives your impact will never be forgotten. I love you!

Picture Blog For Mom

Because I wanted to honor my mom today I thought I would share pictures of her along her life. I unfortunately don't have as many as I would like to have but she really didn't like having her picture taken. I hope you will enjoy and I hope for family it brings back all the good memories you might.

Mom and Dad while in the fall before I was born in January.
Mom hiding her face of course with me! I am not sure how old I was here but I think Cooper kind of looks like me here.

This is a 1989 throw back Adam is about 1. Mt.Calvary church directory pic. Moms eyes are closed she haunt me for posting this I am sure.


Adam and Hillary on a visit to our Great Grandparents farm before they sold it. This is Adam's favorite pic of mom he keeps it in his car.

Me, Mom and Hillary at my baby shower for Jesse.

This is another one mom will for sure kill me for posting...This is Jesse and mom getting ready for bed in the pjs when we were staying with them after the car wreck.

Easter 2001 Some people in this pic aren't even looking at the camera but at least you can see mom smiling!

This is my wonderful mom 1 month before she died. She is watching the balloon release for Cameron at Jesse's 3rd birthday. Wow the things I would have said or done if I had of known I only had a few short weeks with her.

Thankful Thursday

This is my brother-in-law Alan on his last deployment to Iraq. I am so grateful to call him both friend and family. We love Alan and no matter where he is serving or stationed we know he is doing it for us...for you! Much love Alan we miss you even if you are state side:)

On this Thankful Thursday which happens to be Veteran's Day....I am thankful for all of the men and women who fight for our country. Each one of these service men and women joined for different reasons but all do the most important job I can think of and that is of course protecting our freedom. That freedom makes this post full of lots of things to be thankful for.

Michael and I are so grateful to call ourselves family to wonderful service men both living and gone home. Thank you Alan, PawPaw, Pap, Cousin Jay, Uncle Cecil and Uncle Matt! And we are even more lucky to call some veterans friend. Thank you JT, Jeff, Ken, Riley, and Gabe. If I left someone out I am so sorry. We are forever indebted to you for protecting us and making this country a safe place to call home.

Veteran's please know that we pray for each of you as you might be in harms way and also please know that you are all loved and appreciated in our home. Thank you once more for you service.

While I don't have pictures to share I want to say a big thank you to JT and Riley for being Jesse and Duece's guest veterans at their school program and parade yesterday. Thank you for being will to endure a couple hours with 100's of kids so Jesse and Duece you show you how much that appreciate all you have done. We love you two very much.

Money Matters

Well I am jumping on the "Money Matters Monday" bandwagon with my friend Lindsey over at www.squeezingtheday.blogspot.com. I thought I would share some of the ways I am going to SAVE this Holiday season.

It seems like every single year my Christmas list grows as I have more and more people who mean so much to me that I want to show them a small gesture of how much they mean to me. Add to that my CRAZY LONG family list of people to buy for and I promise it is no less than 25 peps not including the kiddos and hubby. Wow I never seem to have enough good ideas and time to do all I want to do. This year I made my list early and I am going to sew yes I said sew several people presents and I am also going to do some personalized stationary as gifts. I am off to a good start I just need to actually begin my handy work.

Here is a short list of what I will be up to:)
PJ sets
Hooded towels
Aprons
Stationary
Tote bags
Framing photo collages
A toddler bed quilt
And maybe appliqueing a couple of fleece blankets

I can't tell who these are each for as some of them read my blog. How are you planning to save this Holiday season????

Thankful Thursday

Today is the start of Thankful Thursday's leading up to Thanksgiving. I can't remember if I did this on my blog last year or just did a long one on Thanksgiving but anyway. I will do one a week but might be thankful for several things.

This week I am thankful for...

My Heavenly Daddy! I am thankful for salvation through him and the many many blessing in my life. I am thankful that He loves me even when I am not worthy. I am thankful He has a plan for my life. And I am very thankful that He is not finished with me yet.

I am also thankful for a wonderful church family to be part of. My church is in Holy Spirit Revival and it is amazing...We have seen all kinds of works and wonders and God is transforming and entire congregation! I love my church.

In reference to yesterdays post on being radical...I think all Christians are suppose to be that way. As my friend Lindsey's mother put it "You almost have to be a total Jesus Freak!" I don't know about you but I want that to be me:) I want to be able to shout it from the roof tops there is someone who will calm all your fears, ease all you pain, take all your worry, has a healing hand, a loving embrace, and when He shows up things get done! Radical...I shall be!

*Third religious post this week...Guess you can tell what is on my mind:)

Radical???

While JUST reading one of the many blogs I like to read I happened upon this quote:

On page 181 of Radical, Platt says:
“Radical obedience to Christ is not easy; it is dangerous. It is not smooth sailing aboard a luxury liner; it is sacrificial duty aboard a troop carrier. It’s not comfort, not health, not wealth, and not prosperity in the world. Radical obedience to Christ risks losing all these things. But in the end, such risk finds its reward in Christ. And He is more than enough for us.”

Hello spiritual stop sign....Now going to go and ponder what God is trying to say to me by making the above ring LOUDLY in my ears!

The blog I was reading is strivingfor31.com and her reasons for posting the quote I am sure have nothing to do with why it is impacting my heart! But I am going to have to find out about this book!

Worship...Not just for Sunday!

It seems like here lately alot of things are changing not just the seasons. Every member in our family is growing and changing in their faith. Michael and I the most! We are starting to EXPECT God to work and show up in our lives...Boy does that change alot. I find myself thinking if He doesn't show up I am in BIG trouble. I am going out on a limb giving my all (or the best I can) to the one who loved me so much He laid down his life for me before I was even a twinkle in my mothers eye.

It is amazing how different my life and days have been since I have started letting go off all my worry, insecurities, pain, doubt, and just my junk in general. My life is amazing I am blessed beyond any measure...I have a wonderful husband he loves me, protects me and most of all supports me. I have 3 amazing healthy children! I am provided for even when work is slow and rainy days are long. My cup truly runeth over and it is about time I start praising him for it.

I use to be a Sunday morning worshiper (is that a word). But I have decided to worship my Daddy all 7 days a week. I am not ashamed to say I know the one who holds my plan and I know He calls me daughter and friend. Join me rethink your worship life do you praise Him just for allowing you to wake each day...I didn't but you better believe I WILL/DO now.

I have started spending time listening to praise music inviting Daddy to join me in my everyday life asking Him what my next step should be. I have been spending more time in prayer and study just letting Him take over my life and thoughts. I wonder what impact all of this will have on my life? I wonder what letting his Spirit dwell in me will do to who I am or who you see me as? I just want more and more of my Heavenly Daddy!

Tomorrow...Thankful Thursday I will have one for every Thursday leading up to Thanksgiving.