My Family Is a Blessing

There are days that I sometimes wonder what life would have been like had I decided to go back to work and be the career person that all my old friends encouraged me to be. They thought I was wasting my time "sitting at home and playing house". They thought I should get back to having a "real job" like they did. I think about those "helpful suggestions" and look at my family, and know that I did the right thing, and stayed home to have my "real job" just as the Lord had intended. It was difficult watching my friendships dissolve, because our beliefs and points of view were so different.

I am truly blessed with such a wonderful family, and I know every time I look at them, I've done the right thing staying home and home schooling. Seriously, I don't think I gave a thing up to be home, but instead I've gotten so much more than I ever did from working outside the home.

This past week is just one example that I'm truly blessed. Thursday was my birthday. My husband took off work, and he and the kids let me sleep in, while they made breakfast. I was treated to sausage and gravy over biscuits, scrambled eggs, toast, orange juice and coffee. The whole day I was not allowed to do anything, but just relax and enjoy the day. While I was relaxing, they made me a chocolate cake (from scratch) with peanut butter icing. Then they made a tomato, garlic, and onion pizza for supper. YUMM!!! After the yummy cake, was present time. DD gave me a set of earphones for my MP3 player. I accidently cut the wire on my other ones last year while I was gardening. My DS gave me a certificate for the movies and it had to be a movie of my choice - not one the whole family would like. If I couldn't find anything at the movies, the certificate stated that I could buy 2 DVD's of my choice instead. :) DH gave me a box that contained a repair kit for my new headphones just in case I decided to cut the wires again. (HAHAHAHA!!!) In the bottom of the box was shipping info for my gift that hadn't arrived yet, with no clue what it was, except that it was in transit. For the evening treat, we played Mario Kart and watched and Indiana Jones movie. I had a fantastic birthday - one that made me realize how much Iwas appreciated and loved!

Friday, my birthday present arrived, but the kids scooted it in the house before I could see it. DH wanted me to wait until he got home to open it. When it came, it was very obvious what the package held, and they didn't want me to have any hint of what it was. It was a long wait until DH got home, as I am so childlike when it comes to surprises - I love them, but hate to wait to get them :) Oh, but the wait was sooooo worth it! I was absolutely stunned! DH bought me the mixer of my dreams...



A Kitchen Aid Professional 600 series (6 qt.). It has a 575 watt motor and mixes like a dream! The first thing I made was Cheddar Cheese Crackers from the Kitchen Aid book that came with the mixer. They were so easy and tasted so good!! To make it even sweeter, all has not arrived. There is still an ice cream maker that will be sent to me when the rebate form is sent in!!



You would think that things couldn't be any better, but Mother's Day came, and again, I got treated to a great breakfast. We had pancakes, sausage, orange juice, and coffee. For my Mother's Day gift, everyone went out and put up a lovely clothes line for me.



YAY!!! Now, I will once again have freshly dried clothes. I have missed this luxary for the last few years. How could my week get any better? By having dinner made for me. We had some of the best home grilled burgers!! The kids did a wonderful job cooking - with just a bit of help from DH. We were all so full that we didn't even eat dessert, but instead had Bible study, then played Mario Kart. I'm sure if anyone went past our house while we were playing, they probably thought we were nuts - all the squeals that came from all of us while we played. Mario Kart has got to be one of our family's favorite games. It was sad that the weekend had to end. I haven't had so much fun in a long time

Today I was hoping to be able to wash and hang clothes out on my new clothes line, but I woke up to a nice rainy day. Instead, I spent the day going through some boxes from the attic. Out of everything I've brought down, I've decided to weed out about 2/3's of the stuff. So far, I've been successful. I've listed a bunch of books on Paperback Swap, and have a box full of stuff to give away on FreeCycle. I decided that I was going to go through things as if we were moving away. If it's not worth taking to a new home, why am I keeping it?