thankful: day 17

i am thankful for the great insurance we have had.  i never really realized how great our insurance was until we had to look at the options for next year.  there are major changes to the insurance lee has had at the bank for the last 11 years.  our premiums are maybe high, i think, but i don't really have much to compare it too.  we pay about $400 a month but that's for a family of 6 so to me it's not too bad.  it starts day one paying 80% on all claims, 100% on preventative care visits.  and after reaching a $5,000 deductible for the family (i'm not sure what the individual deductible is) it's covered 100%.  well...i have had a baby by c-section: which leads to a higher service and longer hospital stay.  tayte has had an overnight stay in the pedi-icu, 2 mris, 2 eegs, 1 cat scan, 1 mra, 1 emergency room visit, and 1 ambulance ride.  plus we put tayte in speech and occupational therapy this summer.  and we have YET to meet our deductible.  and now i have to have an umbilical hernia repaired and probably still will not meet the deductible.  so next year someone please remind me that i need to be thankful for any insurance that we have because not everyone has it.

tara

thankful: day 16

i am thankful that we decided to pray each night as a family.  i say each night, but it really ends up being most nights.  we try hard to do it every night, but sometimes life gets in the way.  i know it shouldn't but, that's a whole other subject.  so i am thankful we pray as a family.  it has taken a while to get the boys to open up and pray, but now that they do they ask God for some of the sweetest, most amazing things.

 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." matthew 7:7

the door has been opened for me and these prayers give me an insight into their thinking that few things do.  to listen to them all thank God for their brothers, to ask Him to protect their brothers, shows the love they have for them.  if it wasn't for those nightly prayers i wouldn't get to hear those things.  and even though they are great kids, they don't always show just how much they love each other. God is doing wonderful things through them and i get to watch.

tara

thankful: day 15

i am thankful for the home we have.  even when we bought it, it wasn't the house i wanted.  but, it was the first house that lee wanted and i could live with.  we have been here for almost 10 years and we have made it a home.  it isn't huge and the boys share rooms, in fact until just recently all the boys shared one room.  it keeps us warm in the winter, cool in the summer and full of love.  we have a table full of food every night.  we have many things we are blessed with and much to be thankful for.  i am thankful we have made this house a home.

tara

thankful: day 14

i am thankful for the bible study group i'm in and for the renew group that just ended.  i have been wanting to grow in my religious knowledge and these two groups have been a great way to do that.  i have learned so much from both of these groups and am grateful.  many times people ask me questions, especially my own children.  it seems that for some of them if i knew the answer i have forgotten it.  and, i guess because of my age i want to be able to answer them and know that i can't use the excuse that i didn't ever learn it for long.  i have to take my education into my own hands.  and with these two groups i am doing just that.

tara

thankful: day 13

i am thankful for dr. pepper and the individual who invented it.  i have one almost daily and need it some days to get my day going.

tara

thankful: day 12

i'm thankful that my children truly love each other.  i see other kids around their siblings and the way they fight or talk to each other.  it really makes me sad.  my boys do fuss with each other and have had their fair share of fights, but not like some of these kids.  i am so blessed to have boys that love each other and don't mind hugging and kissing each other in front of other people.  of all the things this is my proudest parenting achievement.

tara

thankful: day 11

i am thankful today and everyday for our veterans.  i will never comprehend their selflessness.  i understand the desire to do anything to keep my loved ones safe, but i don't have that same feeling for complete strangers.  to choose to be in harm's way so someone i don't know can go about their life and make any choice they wish is beyond my understanding.  and for many of those people to only think about soldiers one day a year.  veterans are AMAZING people.  and for their sacrifices i am thankful.

i am also thankful for their families.  they sacrifice so much too.  to send a loved one away into harm's way and to then have to worry about them because they won't hear from them for periods of time.

i am also thankful that the boys go to school where they do.  every year there is a program that honors our local veterans.  kindergarten through fifth grade sing several songs.  all of which are so danged good.  junior high kids do a flag show and the high school band plays a couple songs.  i love the song the band plays which is a medley of all branches songs.  then when a veteran's song plays they stand and get an applause.  names of all the veterans from the county that were killed in combat are called out.  and all veterans who are present have their names called and the branch they served.  i tear up at that part every time.  i am glad this is done because it instills a sense of pride and teaches kids how to show honor to these individuals.  i had a few friends who grew up here mention that they have the respect for veterans that they do because of the school doing this.

it seems so inadequate, but THANK YOU VETERANS!
tara