Colorful Gems: February 2014

2/27/14

365:54 - 58 and One Thousand Gifts (335 - 344)

Still counting.............

335. Mr. Baseball got his upper and lower expanders in his mouth today. One day down, and 1,094 more days to a beautiful smile and easier breathing. He

HATES them, by the way.

3 gifts that changed today

336. The day started out with kids arguing. But then, in an effort to avoid school, they all went upstairs and played wonderfully together building Lego creations.

337. Kids got to watch Frozen unexpectedly. They were very excited!

338. After a day that seemed to last forever, my wonderful husband came home and cooked dinner.

3 gifts seen as a reflection

339. My kids reflecting me. Sometimes it blesses my heart, and sometimes its not such a good thing.

340. Seeing the world reflected in my grandson's beautiful, clear blue, and oh so innocent, eyes.

341. Seeing Christ reflected in the actions of others.

A gift worn out, new, made do

342. Worn-out: My favorite sweatshirt. It's more than 25 years old with holes in it. I can't wear it in public anymore, but I will never throw it out.

343. New: My 22 quart roaster oven that I got for Christmas. Now I can make enough food for my clan and (sometimes) have leftovers.

344. Made-do: My washer / dryer. I really want a high capacity set. I know that sounds totally ungrateful but I'm so tired of doing 2 or more loads of laundry Every. Single. Day.

365 - 54

Strange desert plant in my neighbor's yard

365 - 55

Up close and personal with a palm tree

365 - 56

Bubble duck hat

365 - 57

Short people trying to get a drink (E-Baby)

365 - 58

More short people trying to get a drink (Boo)

2/22/14

365:49 - 53 and One Thousand Gifts (323 - 334)

3 gifts in shadows
323. E Baby and Boo out in the shadows of the tree, digging to China. They found a key buried there a few days ago and I told them to keep it safe because when they finally get to China, there would be a locked door. That key would open it. They were very excited!

324. My kitty, hiding and stalking her prey, which is the dog that is 6 times bigger than she is. My kitten has delusions of grandeur!

325. My husband, sleeping.

3 gifts in giving / serving
326. Serving in the children's ministry at church. I grumble about it but I'm always blessed.

327. Serving my family. Again, lots of grumbling but they are sooo worth it.

328. My husband serving me by always making sure I have gas in the van.

3 gifts white
329. My baby's missing tooth.

330. Baby's breath

331. White clouds

3 gifts that were Plan B's
332. Adopting from the Philippines was plan B. Originally we were planning to adopt from Russia. So happy that God brought the Kimball's into our life. Within one hour of meeting them, we knew that our child would come from the Philippines.

333. When we decided to adopt again, we wanted a little girl. Just one little girl. God's plan, however, was for us to be parents to a little girl and her brother. Then later, their baby sister came to us.

334. Our plan B is to remain living here. Plan A is to move east. There are many gifts and blessings in remaining here though. The grown up kids and grand kids are here, we have wonderful friends, a great church and homeschool group.

365 - 49

What a great imagination! What a handsome face!

365 - 50

Valentine flowers from my love

365 - 51

Can you tell I like taking pictures of flowers?

365 - 52

Red Rock Canyon

365 - 53

My "colorful gems" What an amazing bunch of kids!

2/16/14

365:41 - 48 and One Thousand Gifts (311 - 322)

3 times you heard laughter today

311. My kids who are always giggling about something

312. Myself. Phineas and Ferb is one of the very few tv shows that I will laugh out loud at. I do love that show!

313. My grandson. He recently learned how to laugh. What an amazing sound!

3 hard eucharisteos (Latin for giving thanks)
It's so hard to give thanks in hard places. I'm learning.

314. Parenting challenging children
315. Failing and trying, and failing and trying.....
316. My body falling apart at an alarming rate.

3 gifts behind a door

317. My daughter - she hid behind the laundry room door and jumped out to scare me / hug me when I walked through.

318. My kitten, who attacked my ankles

319. Bear was behind the door playing with the animals.

3 ways you feel the love of God

320. God sent His Son to die for me. You don't do that for someone you don't love!
321. I am not the same person I was when I met Jesus. So happy for that!
322. He forgives me when I repeatedly mess up.

365-41

Bubble

365-42

My beautiful E-Baby!

365-43

I don't know. I think it has something to do with boating.

365-44

Tigger

365-45

(Stuffed) Lion stalking her prey

365-46

Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming

365-47

Tank at the sporting goods store.

365-48

Indoor waterfall at the sporting goods store.

2/12/14

365: 35 - 40 and One Thousand Gifts (302 - 310 )

A gift at 11:30, 2:30 and 6:30

302. 11:30 - Kids getting done with school early

303. 2:30 - Warm day at the park

304. 6:30 - My husband making dinner

A gift broken, fixed and thrifted

305. Broken - My children. They have endured more pain and heartbreak in their young lives than most people could experience in several lifetimes. Their scars will remain forever. They are my gifts, my blessings.

306. Fixed - My children. They are all in various stages of healing. Those scars have shaped them and will continue to play a part in who they become. If they allow God to work in their lives, those scars will change them for the better. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

307. Thrifted - Whenever we have toys to donate, we give them to a guy who donates them to kids in need or in the hospital. Much better than Goodwill!

3 surprise gifts - unexpected grace!

308. A friend who took my kids to the park for a few hours.

309. A warm day and evening...in February!

310. The kids I teach in Sunday school. I teach the 4-7 year old group and they are so open, honest and curious.

365-35

Tigger found this pretty blue caterpillar at the park today. He and about 6 other kids, took care of it and made it a habitat. One of the kids took it home. Hopefully it survives.

365-36

Getting dizzy

365-37

My sweet Wolfie. He's getting more personality each day!

365-38

Boo and E-Baby looking for more caterpillars...in fake grass!

365-39

Note to self: Don't microwave an egg. It didn't quite hard boil so I figured if it was partially peeled, it wouldn't explode. Um, no.

365-40

My sweet Bear bought this tulip for me at the dollar store last night. It's real too. She's been trying, unsuccessfully, to buy me flowers for about a week. She can be a little rough around the edges, but she has such a sweet heart!

2/8/14

365:28 - 34 and One Thousand Gifts (291 - 301)

3 gifts on paper

291. The Bible! The best gift

292. Love notes

293. Instructions - I always try to figure things out on my own, but in the end, am usually glad I have instructions. (Apparently, I am not as smart as I think I am!)

3 gifts found in writing

294. Ladybug loves to write stories. What a privilege to get a glimpse into her imagination.

295. Being transported into another time and another life as I read books. I prefer to read missionary stories. My current favorite is "Kisses From Katie"

296. Journaling my prayers helps me have a closer relationship with God.

3 gifts found when bent down
..........Ack! I see lots of dirt when I bend down!..............

297. I see the world through my grand daughter's eyes

Ok. Really. All I see is dirt. Moving on..................

A gift stitched, hammered, woven

298. Stitched: Repairing my grand daughter's well loved rag doll. This is the same rag doll I made for her mommy when she was little. I still have the rag doll that my mom made for me.

299. Hammered: My house.

300. Woven: The afghan that my grandma made for me years ago. I sure do miss her.

3 gifts found outside

299. Birds calling to one another

300. Happy kids using their outdoor voices

301. Warm sunshine - I'm waiting impatiently for a little of that. Hopefully tomorrow.

365 - 28

Another strange desert plant who's name I should know but don't. Still cool, though.

365 - 29

My cat has recently discovered that we have fish. She's not real observant.

365 - 30

Fun, metal sculptures at the park.

365 - 31

Boo LOVES gymnastics. She spends most of her time like this!

365 - 32

They love to perform!

365 - 33

This is where my daughter leaves her brand new glasses that she doesn't want to wear. Apparently, she thinks the duck needs them more.

365 - 34

It was bitterly cold the day I took this picture. Well, as bitterly cold as it gets here in the southwest. The buds on this tree seemed so out of place on such a cold, dreary day. Did I say it was cold? Yeah. I'm a wimp.

Drat. I'm behind again. How did that happen?

2/1/14

365: 28 - 31 and One Thousand Gifts (268 - 290)

My Gifts..............

286. Wonderful teaching by Voddie Baucham

287. Ladybug, whose tummy has been feeling much better lately.

I'm going to try counting my gifts a little differently. The woman who created this idea of counting one's gifts from God puts out writing prompts for each month. Today was to count 3 gifts that are red.

288. The precious blood of Jesus Christ shed so that I could be reconciled with God.

289. My sweet, thoughtful and handsome Knight in his red shirt.

290. The beautiful red roses at the grocery store. They brightened up a cold and windy day.

365 - 28

This is part of a series of signs at a nearby park. I liked it because it immediately reminded me of a worship song: "You lived, You died, You said in three days You would rise. You did. You're alive!"