Day #4

Yesterday was a very special day. This woman pictured above (my mother aka Grandma Crews) turned a fabulous 65 years old! And so, today, to honor her for her birthday, we would like to talk about why we are grateful for Grandma Crews.

Ben is grateful for Mom because... she gave him me.

Anita is grateful for Mom because... she is my hero. I would say that I want to be just like her when I grow up, but I think it's a little late for that. I'm a little more bossy. Just a little. But hopefully one day I can have faith like she has faith, and be loving as she is loving.

Olivia & Kelsey are grateful for Grandma Crews because... she takes them swimming, makes them pancakes for breakfast, and mac & cheese with hot dogs for lunch.

Connor is grateful for Grandma Crews because... she helped take care of him right after he was born. She came almost every day for a week or two and made dinner, did laundry, and took care of him mom, his sisters, and him.

Day #3

Ben is grateful that... we live in Oklahoma, because if we lived anywhere else he would be unemployed.

Anita is grateful for... modern cooking equipment, like stoves and ovens. Can you imagine trying to make rolls and soup over a cook fire?

Olivia is grateful for... playtime with Mom.

Kelsey is grateful that... Jesus loves us every day. She loves Him, too.

Connor is grateful for... the delicious rolls Mommy made for dinner. He enjoyed them so much he wouldn't even try the soup.

Family Home Evening Funnies

So tonight Kelsey was in charge of our lesson for Family Home Evening. Generally she will select a picture from the Gospel Art Picture Kit and read the caption on the back that talks about what's going on in the picture (i.e. a family praying, Jesus with the children, etc.)

Tonight she said she wasn't going to use a picture from the kit. She said she just wanted to talk about how Jesus loves us. So I grabbed a framed picture of Jesus to use for a visual aid and was willing to let her wing it for her lesson. She is 5 1/2, after all, and I was curious to know what she was going to say.

Kelsey's lesson consisted of a family discussion about Jesus and how we know he loves us. The kids talked about their blessings (family, home, food, etc.) and listed those as ways we know. But then I asked whether Jesus still loved us, even if we didn't have food, home, family or any of those things. Does Jesus love people who don't have those blessings? The girls responded, "Yes, he still loves us then." So I asked how we knew? Because he made us - that's a blessing he has given everyone, right?

To this Kelsey responded, "Yes. Even when we die he loves us."

Olivia's response? "He's happy when we die."

That's when I lost my composure and couldn't stop laughing. Of course, the rest of Olivia's comment was something about how then we could be with Him after we die, but I just couldn't get over the first part.

I love my children. What a lucky Mommy I am!

Day #2

Ben is grateful for... his job.
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Anita is grateful for... our new doctor that is less than a mile away. We biked there this afternoon for Olivia's follow-up visit.

Olivia is grateful that... she has a family.

Kelsey is grateful that... Jesus loves us.

Connor is grateful for... our nice, fenced-in back yard where he can safely play with his dog for hours and hours on such a nice day!