Yes 'Mam I love Manners

On this 13th day of giving gratitude, I am grateful for manners.  In particular, people that display and use manners on a regular basis.  

As a high school teacher I can tell you that YES! it does make a huge difference.  My classroom runs so much smoother when the students learn to show respect for each other, the items in the room AND the teacher!!

On a bigger picture, the world runs so much smoother when we all learn to show respect for each other, the world around us AND those we are in contact with daily.


Simple "thank you's", "you are welcome", "pardon me", "please", "how are you's", and "here let me help" set the tone of respect for those encountered.


Holding the door, using a friendly tone and listening to others attentively turns a stranger into a friend.


So many times it is the kindness of simple manners that turn a bad day around to being a good day.


For those people that continue to use good manners I am grateful.  For those that teach good manners by example (on a daily basis), you have my utmost respect and admiration. You make each day better for someone.  For that I am grateful.
 

Football Fridays and Super Saturdays--Gratitude Day 12

 Sometimes gratitude can be for the simplest things in life. In this case, it is football weekends. My dad took me to high school and college football games since I was able to walk. From then on, I was hooked on the game. I married a football player, I raised football players. I raised a cheerleader. I raised a fanatical fan. 
Football for our family has been one of those events that we all enjoy together. Whether it is attending the games in person, or watching on TV, football brings us together and gives  us an outlet to cheer (or jeer) and enjoy the camaraderie of being together.
When we watch the games at home we have a football food ritual where we each have our own food item to make. Games at home on TV are as much about the football feasts as they are about the game.
We spent years watching our children participate in football. The memories we have made, not just from watching our children play, but also from the friends we made along the way fill a lifetime with memories. 
Fridays and Saturdays may just be days of the week to many, but they will always be Football Fridays and Super Saturdays for our family during football season.  For this I will always be grateful.

 

Never Enough Gratitude for our Veterans

It goes without saying that my gratitude today knows no bounds. My gratitude today is a debt that can never be repaid. My gratitude goes to the men and women that are willing to put their lives on the line each and every day to defend our liberties.
 

It is not just a debt to our current service men and women, it is also a debt I owe to the thousands and thousands that have given their lives over the last two hundred plus years.

It is not just a debt I owe to the men and women that laid down their lives for me, but it is a debt to the wives they left behind; and more and more we hear of the husbands left behind. It is a debt I owe to mothers and fathers of service men and women that let their child defend our country. It is a debt to children that grew up while their parent was in another country defending our own. It is a debt to children that grew up without a parent....because they never made it home.

Our men and women of the Armed Forces deserve thousands more than they make each year. But even more important than that they deserve to be treated with the utmost respect and gratitude for years after they return from duty.

My respect knows no bounds. My gratitude has no end.

How do you say 'thank you' to people that would give all for others they don't even know?

I work hard to teach my children the same respect I feel towards our servicemen and women. I work hard to tell them stories of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers who served. I pass along stories of their uncles and cousins and friends of the family who were...and are...willing to defend their freedom.

I am proud there is a day set aside to honor our Veterans, but I hope that we use the other 364 days to honor them as well.

Their duty never gets a day off and nor should our gratitude. My gratefulness is limitless to those that are willing to keep us the "Land of the free and home of the Brave."

God Bless America

and

God Bless the Men and Women Who Defend our Freedom

 

The World At My Fingertips...Grateful Day 10

For as long as I can remember, I have been surrounded by books. My mother made sure I had every classic that was ever written. I was supplied with poetry, mysteries, nursery rhymes, animal stories, old books, new books and every type of printed word I could imagine. 

 Daily, I left the little town in Oklahoma where I was growing up and explored places my feet would never take me. The world was at my fingertips, literally, as I turned the pages of one story after another.  I remember many, many times as a very young girl taking a flash light to bed, pulling the sheet up over my head, and reading under the sheets, with my flashlight as my light source, until I fell asleep.  When I was a teenager we lived in a two story house. My bedroom was upstairs and my parent's bedroom was downstairs. I just left my light on and read. I fell asleep most nights with my light on and books (yes, plural) on my bed.

 When I see lists people make of books they want to get read, I always scan them.  Most times I can say, "Uhmm, check, check, check, read it twice, check, check, teach that one every year, check, check, been there read that, check, check...."   


Because of books I have seen the world. Many times over. I have explored cultures and regions I never would have been exposed to. Because of books, I have learned much about the history of this great country we call home. 


Somehow, someway, I ended up with a well-loved, well-used book from each of my four grandparents.  While these look just tattered and old to most people, it tells me that long before I was born, there were four people pouring through a book they loved, holding the pages in their fingers,  probably by a very dim light. That means the world was also at their fingertips...and that very ideal they passed down to me.


On this 10th day of gratefulness, I am indebted to my ancestors for showing me, without even meaning to, that through my beloved books, the world is mine to explore.

Bounty--Day 9 of Gratitude

On this the ninth day of listing things I am grateful for, I am grateful for the bounty in my life. There are so many times when I think I need this or that, or I have to have this or that, when in reality, my life is overflowing with abundance. 

It is at this time of the year when we are bombarded with pictures and ads telling us of all the things we really need. It is at this time of the year that the media's power of persuasion pushes us to pine over things we never even knew existed. Push comes to shove and all of a sudden we have gone from Halloween to Christmas and Thanksgiving has been forgotten. When did we begin to forget Thanksgiving?

When we figure that out, we will perhaps figure out when we forgot to count the bounty that each of us has. Instead our "want" list grows and our "gratitude" list is lost like Thanksgiving. 

I love Thanksgiving. I love the fact that it is non-commercial. I love the fact that it revolves around food and family.  I love the fact that it is a time to reflect and look back and remember that we are truly a lucky nation. I love the fact that I can use this time to make my own list of the plethora of things I am grateful for. 

I love it that I can think of so many things in my life to be thankful for,  that I truly have a bounty. I love it that I can use that bounty I have in all areas in my life and use this time of thanksgiving to prepare my heart for the Christmas season....and the real meaning behind Christmas. My bounty is overflowing. For that I am grateful.

Soul Mates--Day 8 of Gratitude

Perhaps it would be appropriate here to say that in no way are any of the days of gratitude written in order of importance. With that in mind, my gratitude today is for my soulmate, my husband, Tim. As corny and as cliche' as it sounds, we were high school sweethearts that got married early. Together, we've worked hard at raising our children, we've worked hard at being good parents, we've worked hard at taking care of family, we've worked hard at work, and we've worked hard at taking care of each other. We have fun together. We enjoy each others company. We have many, many ideas, hobbies, likes, and pastimes in common. But it is the appreciation we have for our differences from each other that make our love strong. We allow each other to do what makes us happy as individuals. I have said before that it is Ruth Graham's quote that I like best, "If two people agree on everything, then one of them is unnecessary."  Much like I cannot imagine getting through life without my faith, I also cannot imagine traveling this road without my soul mate. Soul mates, yet individuals; the perfect combination.

 

 

You Gotta Have...FAITH...Gratitude Day 7

 

Choose you this day whom you will serve; 

as for me and my house, 

we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15

 

On my seventh day of gratitude, I am SO thankful

for my faith. 

Simply put, it is hard for me to imagine how

people get through 

each and every day

without God.

As I get older I see more and more 

how He works in my life.

Without a doubt, my faith is most important to me.

What better day to write about faith than on my first

Sunday of gratitude, 

but it is each and every day that I am forever grateful.

Saturdays--I am SO Grateful-Day 6

I am grateful for Saturdays. I love that day of the week. I use it to refresh, renew, rejuvenate, recover and restore. I can take my time. I can relax. I can sit. I can ponder. I can take long, hot showers. I can wear old, comfy clothes. I can do a lot or I can do nothing. (That is not really a choice, but I like to tell myself it is!!). Saturday is my day to play catch-up. Saturday is my day to get ready for a new week. What a great day Saturday is for me! For that I am grateful.

Children--Day 5 of Gratitude

 Day 5 of Things I Am Grateful for is really a no-brainer. Anytime I see a number 5 I think of my five children.
There are no words on the gratitude I feel for the fact that God trusted me with FIVE lives to raise, teach, love and watch grow into adulthood.

 I realize I am MORE than a little prejudice, but when I was taking this picture a couple of weeks ago, I turned to my husband and said, "One thing about it, we really produce beautiful children." (I told you I was prejudice!!)  Names and ages for those that are interested...and if you aren't ...sorry!
Annabelle Caitlin, 27; Coulter Ferguson, 22; Fielding Jourdan, 28; Luke Timouthy, 21; Taylor Clancy, 25. Yes, we had our hands full....

 I always wanted a house full of boys. I love boys! 
 I love ballgames and dirty uniforms and healthy appetites and dirty pockets and wrestling on the living room floor and incessant teasing and girls that call on the phone to talk to the boys and how much boys love their mama!!!!

  When I got two daughters as well as three huge boys, I got the Lucky Straw.  My daughters are brains and beauty and balanced. They were the ones that kept those boys in line and hovered over their younger brothers.
(Actually the girls still look out for their brothers!)

Their personalities are as opposite as their looks. Yet, when other mothers talked about how much their daughters argued and fought, I could never join in. My girls rarely disagreed. Perhaps it was because of their opposite personalities!

 (In case you had not figured it out, I buy any 5 I see!)

 Fielding takes the job of being the oldest very seriously. He likes to give (sage!) advice to his siblings. (They have not learned to appreciate it yet!) He will make a wonderful husband because he is so caring. He picked a wife that we all love.

 The Blondes--They actually share very similar personality traits. (And, as my husband likes to point out, they seem to be my personality traits!) We like to be a little more adventurous. We are emotional. We crave, CRAVE brownies. We love bread products. We love the sun. We love to read. We tend to be bossy. We need very little sleep. Our motors tend to run at  a little faster pace! (I was trying to say all that in a good way!!!)

The Brunettes--(including Fielding) also share personality traits. (AND, those traits tend to take after my husband.) They are more laid back. They love TV and movies. They love music and can tell you every band and singer and everything they ever sang since the beginning of time. They have a ritual of food they prepare every single Game Day. They are very kind to everyone.

 All five of them are compassionate. They cannot stand to hear of any human or animal mistreated. They are all huge animal lovers. They all spoil their younger cousins. They all dote and worry over their grandparents. When we get together as a group now, it is always fun. There is still wrestling and bossing and hovering. There are stories of 'when they were little'. There are tall tales of ball game heroics. There are games and stories and memories. It is a wonderful time....just as every single stage with The Five has been. I am forever grateful, that I was blessed with five children that are as beautiful inside as they are out. (I told you I was prejudiced!)

Unplanned Moments--Day 4 of Gratitude

 I am grateful for wonderful moments, nice surprises, and unplanned memories that happen when we are not expecting them. It works to make them even more special. Such is the story of the pinecones.

 One of my sons played football for a small college in Kansas. The second year he played we got the nice surprise that the Air Force Academy was on his schedule. And it was an away game. I knew instantly that if my son was going to play against the Air Force Academy that I wanted to be at that game.

 We left for Colorado Springs on Friday evening after our high school son finished his football game. We met my parents and one of our daughters in the middle of Kansas and spent the night. We then headed off to Colorado Springs in the wee hours of the morning. We got there in plenty of time for the game. It was a cool, crisp, beautiful fall day. Their campus is breathtaking. The view from the football field was postcard-perfect.  There was a definite reverence about the place. We enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of football.  My son had to drive back to his college with the team, but my parents, daughter and Hubs had the rest of the weekend to explore Colorado Springs. We went to the top of Pike's Peak, shopped all over Colorado Springs, ate at wonderful places and headed home on Monday (we had taken that day off of work). It was a wonderful weekend.

BUT before we left the campus on that Saturday afternoon, we walked around.  Right outside the football field, on all sides, were pine trees. I gathered up several sacks of pinecones and brought them home with me.
Now every single year in the fall when I get the pincones out, I think of the weekend that my son got to play football against the Air Force Academy and we got to visit the beautiful school and enjoy Colorado Springs for two days. What a great memory!

Simple Beauty and Gratitude Day 3

I am grateful for the simple beauty I see in every day objects. Really, it is there. All we have to do is look.

30 Days of Gratitude-Day 2- Voting

I am grateful for the right to vote.

 It is almost hard for me to believe, but one of my grandmothers did not have the right to vote for a few years. She was born towards the end of the 1800's and would have been able to vote before women were given the right. I cannot imagine her sitting back and letting men tell her what to do and how to do it. She was very smart and up on issues of her time. When women were finally given the right to vote, I can almost guarantee she would have been one of the first in line. I wish now I could go back and ask her about situations such as these.

 Admittedly, there are flaws in our voting processes at times. But we acknowledge these and work to fix them. We are still given more voting rights than any other country.
Our process is becoming more and more drawn out, but we, the people, still get to decide on our officials and our issues.

 The right to vote is a privilege. It is a privilege that each of us should never take for granted. On this election day, and every single election, from presidential elections to city council we each need to exercise our right to vote.

As I go to the poll this afternoon, I will think of my grandmother and all the women before her that waited for the very moment they could vote. I'll say a silent thank you to the women that paved the way for me.  And I'll thank God that I live in a nation that gives each of us the right to cast our vote. For that, I am grateful.