day 77: "i am thankful for.......INSTANT MESSAGING!"

......because it's a great way to keep in touch with my friends who live far away.  in fact, i am i.m.ing right now with a friend of mine from ny on facebook!  she uses her phone, and i type (i don't like texting :)).  works great!  ok...gotta get back to our discussion on hot tubs.... ;)  ttyl



....so, what are you especially thankful for today?! 

day 76: "i am thankful for.....A NEW YEAR!"

.....and with this 'new year' i will create 'no new regrets'.   i have to admit...i have a couple and they are just so annoying!  so....this coming year....2013.....things will be different.  i will change my actions, i will change my thoughts....in order to change my life!  can i get an Amen?! 

have a very happy new year my friends!!  may it be a year full of many blessings, good fortune, and pleasant surprises! 

 

......so, what are you especially thankful for today?!

day 75: "i am thankful for......9 YEARS!"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN!!!!

today, my youngest turns 9 yrs old!  i just can't believe my baby is almost to double digits! ry was born on langley afb in virginia.  he came into this world with a little sweet 'whimper'.  it was the sweetest sound i had ever heard! ryan is one of those kids that likes to please.  he just wants me to be happy :0)  he still asks me to lay with him and sing to him at bedtime and by golly.....i'm gonna hold onto that for as long as i can!

when he was a baby, i use to sing him this lullaby...it's from this book 'love you forever' .  i added to it to make it 'ours'.

♪♫i'll love you forever, i'll like you for always

    as long as i'm living, my baby you'll be...

    i'll love you forever, and always and ever..

    as long as i'm living...my ry guy you'll be♪♫

i still sing him this song (and he sings with me)....almost every night.  i love you my ry guy! and i am so proud of the little boy you are and the young man you are becoming!  stay sweet.....always.

and for some pics!!  here is my ry guy......throughout the years....on his birthdays!

1st birthday! (montana)

2nd birthday! (visiting grandparents in       texas)

3rd birthday! (montana)

4th birthday! (new york)

5th birthday (new york)

6th birthday (new york)

7th birthday (montana)

8th birthday (ohio)

and here he is today at chuck e cheese's.....9yrs old!!! (ohio!)







i hope you stay as sweet as you are today......for always.  i love you ry guy.  you are my baby, and always will be :)

love, mommy



....so, what are you especially thankful for today?!

  

day 74: "i am thankful for.......BELLY LAUGHS!"

last night, my hubby and i saw the stand up comedian jeff dunham.  he started off the show displaying some of his childhood photos from the seventies. hilarious!  he then introduced his dolls, one by one..... it was a great show, with a lot of laughs!  oh, and btw....please DO NOT BRING YOUR CHILDREN!!!  it's rated R!

first...... 'achmed' ("when dunham introduced this boggle-eyed skeleton, he set the world on fire... actually, he set himself on fire, then he accidentally blew himself up, and within no time he became the world’s only beloved dead terrorist")

then.....(my favorite ;))  'bubba j' ("a good ol’ boy, NASCAR loving, beer guzzling white trash product from the famous ‘tornado alley’ of the south, bubba j is currently between jobs, and if all goes well, he’ll stay that way") 

and more..... 'peanut' ("he’s high on life… or maybe it’s starbucks. self-described as a ‘comic genius’, peanut is at the very least an endearing and loveable screwball. he’s whacky and unrelenting, whimsical and manic, frenzied and fast, and he prides himself on stealing every show")

with 'peanut'...... 'jose jalapeno' ("josé jalapeño on a stick came to the united states by stick. josé knew that hope lay just beyond the u.s.-mexico border and so he began to hop north. that's right... he was hopping for hope. josé snuck into the u.s. only to find out his parents were born in los angeles but gave birth to him while vacationing in mexico. he was totally legal. josé is a calming force among the suitcase gang... maybe because he's always tired. josé jalapeño on a stick... is a talking jalapeño... ON A STEEK!"

and some more.....  'little jeff' ("after watching him perform for many years, peanut decided he could be a better ventriloquist than jeff dunham. peanut wanted his first ventriloquist dummy to look really ugly so he fashioned it after the goofiest looking guy he knew: jeff dunham. and so was born ‘little ugly jeff.’ little jeff is one obnoxious little jerk… thanks to peanut. in fact, little jeff is the opposite of the real jeff… small, mean and funny. by the way, peanut also wrote this bio. Nnnnnyeowww!"

last but never least, we were introduced to the infamous 'walter'.....

'walter'  ("the old curmudgeon who says whatever we’re afraid to say because he just doesn’t care anymore. whether it’s a top ranking corporate executive, a statesman or a hollywood celebrity, walter has told them all to “shut the hell up!”, and they all keep coming back for more.")

here is a video jeff filmed while on stage last night....can you see us??  we were sitting in the 17th row back, on the floor, in the middle.. ;)

......so, what are you especially thankful for today?!

day 73: "i am thankful for......12 YEARS!"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAMUEL!!!!

my oldest son sam turns 12 today....and yes, he is one of the lucky people in this world that get to share their birthday with Jesus!  10 years before he was born, Christmas day 1990, my 43 yr old mom died...so, Christmas was always sad for me,  but since the birth of sam, that has all changed.  i focus on a birth rather than a death.  thank you mom for giving me the perfect gift from heaven.  

sam was born in arkansas while we were stationed at littlerock afb.  sam has seen a lot of the country in the last 12 years.  he is a very resilient, strong, smart and courteous boy.  i am very proud of the young man he is becoming, and look forward to the upcoming years, watching him grow into a man.

here are some birthday pics over the years, leading up to his 12th birthday, today!!:

   



1st birthday!!!!
(new york)

2nd birthday!!!!
(virginia)

3rd birthday!!!!
(virginia- here he is with his favorite person...aunt didi (my sis)

4th birthday!!!!
(montana)

5th birthday!!!!
(montana)

6th birthday!!!!
(montana)

7th birthday!!!!
(new york)

8th birthday!!!!
(lived in new york, but traveled to texas for birthday/Christmas that year)

9th birthday!!!!
(new york)

10th birthday!!!!
(his daddy was in the middle east on sam's birthday.  my husband surprised sam at school 2 weeks after his birthday...to help him hand out his birthday cupcakes!  this was the first time he had seen his daddy in 6 months!  it was a very special day.

11th birthday!!!!
(ohio)








and today......birthday # 12!!!  here is a picture of sam at his birthday party a couple of days ago.

i'm so glad he has made some really great friends here in ohio.  that is always the hardest part about moving away....meeting new people, and making friends.  but, sam is so friendly, and easy to get a long with, he always seems to come away a winner!

happy birthday sam!!!  i love you more......and always will.  
love, mom



........so, what are you especially thankful for today?! 

day 72: "i am thankful for......HOT CHOCOLATE!"

we finally have some winter weather around here, so yesterday the boys were hard at play 'trying' to sled, making snow angels, and 'trying' to make a snowman (we only have an inch!).  today, sam had to be away for basketball, so ryan and i ventured out in the cold for a bit.  when we came in, i decided to look up a this homemade hot chocolate recipe . here are two cups ry and i are about to gulp down, topped with mini marshmallows...(i didn't have whip cream!)



i have such fond memories of playing outside in the snow as a kid in upstate ny with my sister and cousins...sledding, tobogganing,  snowmobiling, snow angels, snowmen, snow forts, snowball fights and skiing.  my grandmother momma used to make homemade hot choco for us, so this is just one of the traditions i'd like to pass down to my kiddos....





........so, what are you especially thankful for today?!




 

day 71: "i am thankful for.....ANSWERED PRAYERS!"

thank you, thank you, thank you God for the good news!  a dear friend of mine called me yesterday concerned and worried about something going on in her life.  but, all is good.  she got a test back....and it's negative!  gotta love it if sometimes God answers our prayers with a "no"!  thank you Lord, for all your goodness, and compassion.....You are the best!!

 ....so, what are you especially thankful for today?!

day 70: "i am thankful for......FACEBOOK!"

facebook, as i'm sure you are all aware, is a social networking website launched in 2004.  you join this site to meet new people, or rediscover the old.  i joined in february 2009.  since then, i have been able to reconnect with many people from my past, as far back as elementary school.  we are able to 'post' pictures of our families, write to each other, and share really anything you want!  last summer, i decided to get off of facebook because i thought it was taking up too much of my time and also i was becoming too self absorbed....i was posting too much about my own problems, and not focusing on what really mattered.

a few weeks ago, i received a phone call from a friend of mine giving me some very disturbing news about a mutual friend of ours.  this is when i decided to log back onto my fb acct, in order to get connected again, to my friends.  i needed to get status updates, especially on this particular friend.  she is actually the person, back in 2009, that told me about fb.  she is a very sweet, loving God fearing person. a friend that helped lead me to Christ, back in 2006.  she is such a blessing in my life....and now it is time for me to bless her.

i asked her if i could post her latest post to my blog.  needless to say, she was pleased that i wanted to "share God's goodness with whomever you want to".  thanks girlfriend....i love you, and i pray for all of you every single day.

here is her latest post:

This message is going to be s long one, Spent most of the day at the Cancer Center today. D's maybe gained a pound, now 170 lbs. on his 6'3" frame! Blood count and platelets have made a slight increase and PSA count slightly down, though his numbers are still over the top and around the world. We were just really thankful for some advance real focused prayers on our telling the radiation oncologist doctor that we were not ready to consider radiation as we wanted to see how the hormone therapy drug would work, and what we did not mention was also the Gerson cancer healing diet D is on nor the doTERRA Life Long Vitality Supplements, and The Frankincense essential oils I massage him with as we didn't think he'd be too interested in that, though the nurse practioner was very interested. Good to have one advocate in our camp who gives some validity to what we are doing. We are so thankful for our Blendtec that arrived last week that was a gift of love from friends who went together to provide it for us, it's been such a blessing. We are hoping to shortly order the Norwalk Juicer that we are in real need of for D to make the most progress as this one provides what is necessary for cancer patient's high needs. While I am on a roll here of thankfulness, and I don't have the room to put it all here right now, but I will tell you about one of the first amazing blessings; before D left the hospital I was asked by someone what the one thing was that could be done for us and to name anything. I told them that I had a hard time thinking of D coming home from the hospital with the pain of cancer in his bones to our unsuitable mattress that for quite some time he couldn't sleep on more than 3 or 4 hours a night... The short of the story, God provided us with an awesome new locally built mattress, with a wool time covered by organic cotton. One we had been dreaming of having before we adopted the last pair of kids, then following that the construction economy tanked, so no new mattress. Since D has come home from the hospital he sleeps every night on his back for a full night sleep! He is sleeping better than he ever has before, I will add that I am too with all of my back issues I have had. What huge blessings God has given us to encourage us in a time like this! Every day there is something that encourages us. The Christmas cards have also made us feel so very loved knowing how many are praying for us and have blessed us with financial gifts, I m glad I can communicate with so many of you this way as there has not been a Christmas card I've written, not even a gift purchased up to this point. The focus has been a bit different, though things will come together how they should, but there are going to be a lot of blessings to recount and much to remember this Christmas. Thank you to all of you for always encouraging us! PS: I felt good today! Hoping the next will be good too ;-)

although her husband is fighting cancer, she still prevails to be thankful to God and her friends...she has blessed me in more ways than i can count...now, i want to bless her, her family and other families on fb that are going through hard times....and through facebook and God's willingness, i will try to be a better friend...to stop thinking of myself. 


 
.......so, what are you especially thankful for today?!

day 69: "i am thankful for......6 YEARS!"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY WADER!!!!!"

today is my nephew's 6th birthday!  i was there in the hospital the day he was born 6 years ago.... here are a few pics of me holding him for the first time....i was a very happy and proud aunt!  and i still am!

such a happy day

so beautiful

i love babies little fingers

wader is a very special little boy.  i just love listening to his sweet little voice on the other end of the phone (he lives far, far away :().  he just LOVES his cousins!  he really looks up to them....literally!  here is one of the latest pics taken of my boys and him together while we visited my sister in montana last summer...

medicine rocks state park

wader started kindergarten this past fall.  he just loves going there everyday.  he is a very smart and friendly little boy.....especially with the girls :)  you are gonna make the girls cry someday wade, with those big blue eyes of yours....  i love you soooo much, and miss you everyday!  have a WONDERFUL birthday...save some mario cart for when my boys visit!!

i will leave you with a few more favs....

ry, wader, and sam

ry and wader

sam, wader, and ry

me and wader

sam, wade, ry and momma

me and wader

i am so thankful you are part of my life wader.  i love you more every day....
Love, Aunt Kerry



......so, what are you especially thankful for today?!

day 68: "i am thankful for.....'HEALTHY CHILDREN!"

this article stuck a cord with me....i still have tears in my eyes as i type.  i am just so thankful my children are healthy, obedient, empathetic, loving children.  my words can't express how much i appreciate them. 

here is the article.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/16/i-am-adam-lanzas-mother-mental-illness-conversation_n_2311009.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=1785563,b=facebook



......so, what are you especially thankful for today?!

day 67: "i am thankful for......"CASEY, WANT SOME COOKIES?"!

the other day, my husband was baking some double chocolate chip cookies to bring into work the next day.  well, during his 1 1/2 hours of cooking preparing/baking, casey, our 5 yr old golden retriever, decided he wanted to help!  here is a video my husband made while the cookies were baking.....hilarious!

i just LOVE that dog!  he is my bestest bud...and i love him to bunches!  i'm sorry to say, casey did not end up getting any of his patiently earned cookies...no chocolate for doggies :(  maybe when i make my cream cheese Christmas cookies, i will let him lick the bowl...!



....so, what are you especially thankful for today?!

day 66: "i am thankful for.......BLESSINGS!"

everyday, each and every one of us, are given blessings from our Lord God above.  it's up to us to have faith and recognize those blessings.  from having a coat on our backs, a roof over our heads, food to eat everyday, or a sports car....  they are ALL blessings...  we forget about the little things when we go through battles in our lives.  it's just human nature to want more....  when tragedy hits our lives, we forget about all God has given us.  we become so self absorbed, we can't look behind the pain we feel...  please remember that our precious God hurts when we hurt...  He is still there, holding our hands, and continues to give us, through His compassion, and mercy, His grace.  He loves me...He loves you....always and eternity. 

i was just listening to this song by laura story on k-love driving back from school this morning, reminding me just how blessed i really am.  thank you for the reminder Father.....i love You.  this morning i pray for those who don't know You....for those who need You....for a miracle this morning by Your healing hands.....in Jesus Name, AMEN.

i am comforted knowing 'this is not our home'.   i hope you can be too.....



......so, what are you especially thankful for today?!

day 65: "i am thankful for......"SMELLY FEET"!

what??  what on earth do i mean "i'm thankful for 'smelly feet"??!  well, i'm only thankful for them if they make me laugh out loud!  here's the story....

this weekend, i printed out a bunch of birthday invitations for ryan's 9th birthday party being held at chuckee cheeses.  he handed them all out yesterday to his class.   this morning, on the way to school, i told him his friend alejandro was coming (his dad called last night).  ryan was so excited to hear that!  he proceeded to share with me about what his friend cameron said to him yesterday in regards to coming to his party... i guess when ry gave this boy cameron the birthday invite, his friend told him, and i quote "i don't know if i can come because my parents don't like 'smelly feet'..."!  WHAT???!!!  oh my GOODNESS!  the boys and i were laughing the whole way to school...!  now, to figure out what the heck this means?!  do his parents not want him to go to chuckee cheeses because it stinks like feet there?!....or have they met ryan and thinks that he stinks..??!  oh, my.....guess, i can't look too much into this...to not take it personally...i mean, it came out of an 8 yr old's mouth, right?!

kids crack me up!!  they really do.....  thanks ry..or should i say 'thanks cameron' for the laugh this morning..:)



.......so, what are you especially thankful for today?!

day 64: "i am thankful for.......CHRISTMAS CARDS!"

i love receiving Christmas cards!  i also enjoy writing/sending them... every year, i go thru my address book and write out Christmas cards.  i put a mark next to each person after i am done with their card.  it's funny....now there are 5 marks next to each name!  guess it's time for a new address book :)  it's also funny to think how many states my cards go to.....

my 2012 stack!

 here are all the different states i addressed to tonight:

 arkansas

florida

indiana

massachusetts

montana

new jersey

new york

north carolina

pennsylvania

tennessee

texas

woweee.....!  and that is only the friends that i have addresses for!  i get around i guess.....air force wife and all.  if you don't get a Christmas card from me this year...it's only because you are not in my address book....  or if you are and i skipped over you, maybe next year, if you're lucky..... ;)


........so, what are you especially thankful for today?!

day 63: "i am thankful for.......FELICITY!"

i just finished all the episodes of the tv show 'felicity' on netflix.    here is the opening theme song i got off of youtube......'a new version of you'.

the show is about finding yourself...in a big world of uncertainties, rash decisions, and emotions....it's about making friends and sticking with your convictions...it's also about forgiving those you care most about.   i really liked it...and i really liked this song.  it made me think...no matter how big the mistake, you can make it right again, just as long as you create 'a new version of yourself'.  if you do this.....than lasting relationships are possible...no matter how screwed up things get.



.......so, what are you especially thankful for today?!