Counting my blessings

What a great day to stop and count my blessings.  I have some friends that do this on a weekly basis on their blogs and I LOVE reading them (Shout out to Erin P., Karie L. and Kristy H.).  Today was just a great day for me to pause and reflect on how God is good all the time.  I felt so hesitant and unsure a year ago about moving back to Minnesota and He consistently has been showing me that this is right where He wants me.  That He not only has plans for me here but He also moved us back here to bless me.....even though I did NOT feel that way about the move for the last year.  I can see His handiwork all over this. 

Take today.  I woke up at 5:30 a.m. per usual.  No need for an alarm around our place.  Craig and I are both up automatically up with the sun most days.  I don't know if this is our predetermined personality or if we acquired this trait after years of having to be in the water for 6:00 a.m. swim practice.  I absolutely LOVE mornings.  Love taking a hot shower, getting a nice cup of coffee and sitting down and reading my bible.  Usually I can get most of this in before the kiddos get up. 

So today I was praying early, (even before shower, coffee, bible time) for God to use me today for His purposes and glory and for me to be obedient.  I can get hung up in schedules and my own agenda at times so I have really been praying to slow down and be quiet at the beginning of my day and to not see interruptions throughout the day as annoyances but as an opportunity that the Lord may be giving me to serve Him.  My mother-in-law passed these thoughts on to me and they definitely have struck a cord. 

I finished my morning schedule, turned to Craig and said...."what should I do with the boys today?"  We had no plans and it was going to be a b-e-a-utiful day.  A few minutes later my mom called and told me she was visiting Grandma today.  My Grandma's brother died recently (her last I think) and that has been hard.  PERFECT.  And that is one of the greatest blessings of our move.  I can hop in the van and see my grandma and my mom in about 45 minutes.  We are not 4 to 5 hours away in which we make a scheduled, yearly visit.  After dropping Andie off at school we were off to Sleepy Eye (yes - that is the name of the town...great huh) and spent the morning with two of my favorite ladies...Grandma Theresa and my mom. 

Isaac and I decided to make some bird feeders for Grandmas house to begin with.  We had collected pine cones, attached a string, smeared on some peanut butter and rolled them in bird seed. 

We had so much fun with this activity.  My Grandma just laughed and laughed at Isaac's antics.  He is just so completely honest and he told her the story of how a man in the senior center was eating the bird seed when we did this activity with them the week before.  He definitely has a gift for story telling. 

Here are some pictures of what Caleb did while we made the bird feeders:

Afterwards we hung up the feeders:

Ate some ice cream (at 9:40 in the morning!)

 

 

Then I ran the boys over the park across the street and we played amongst the huge oak trees and even went down by the lake.  The water was cold but the boys enjoyed playing in the sand and watching people put theirs docks back in the water after winter.

 

We had a wonderful lunch and then it was time to go.  Caleb needed a nap before he made a turn for the worse.  Before we left I made a date with my Grandma to come back for a day of swimming in the lake and picnicking when Andie has summer vacation.  I thoroughly enjoyed this day that the Lord had made.