An Attitude of Gratitude!

An attitude of gratitude makes all the difference, don't you agree? Do you look at the cup half full or half empty? I really try to always see the positive in things ... most of the time it makes life so much easier. I also love to count my blessings. I have so much for which to be grateful -- even when things are less than smooth and easy. Here is a look at the last week of June.

We had a camp out in the backyard. Little Red Riding Hood and I slept on the trampoline, which was very comfortable. The guys slept in the tent. It was fun to look up at the night sky. This home is so much quieter than our last, and camping in the backyard is much more enjoyable.

I am not much of a pool person myself, but it sure makes my kids happy to get into a pool. They had two opportunities to go to local pools this week. I loved seeing how grateful they were for wet fun.

We visited with some relatives we hadn't seen in a long time. It was a peaceful afternoon.

I am grateful for a few good friends. My dear friend took me out for lunch to celebrate my birthday this week. 

Little Red Riding Hood and I had lots of fun making Ink-a-doo tattoos. I have been so blessed by this special time with my girl while Tom Sawyer was at camp. Speaking of Tom Sawyer, he had a wonderful time at camp. There were no injuries and he got along well with all of the other boys.

I turned 42 this week. Forty-two feels pretty good. We had berry pie this year and then went to a baseball game. Goodwill was offering free tickets to anyone who donated three gently used pieces of clothing. What a blessing it was for us to go to a free game on my birthday!

Making an owl cup

Little Red Riding Hood had a great time making a cup at the ceramic place. She is such a crafty child. 

Dear husband pulling pork at the church picnic.

We went to our church picnic. This past year with our new church has been such a blessing. This community of people reminds me of my childhood church. They are so warm, welcoming and civic/charity minded. 

When something goes wrong, it is harder to have an attitude of gratitude. However, I still like to find the bright side. It is amazing how often there are numerous things to be grateful for even when the going is rough.

Example 1 ~ We dropped our muffler on the highway on the way home from the church picnic. However, there was so much to be grateful for even in this situation. We were on an exit ramp transitioning from one highway to another when it happened. After determining that it was still partly attached and that we weren't safe staying on that ramp for even a minute longer than necessary, we slowly moved to the next exit dragging our muffler behind us. This particular exit was right next to an ExpertTire store, which is open on Sunday and which we had visited before so they already had a record of our car. There was no wait and our car was immediately taken in for service. The muffler was unharmed and we were able to buy a universal strap and have it installed. We were back on the road in less than an hour with only a tiny dent put into out pocketbook!

This is not the way your car is supposed to look!

Example 2 ~ Sunday night our area was hit with intense rain. It was coming down in buckets. Before long our basement was taking on water and we were flooding in two rooms. I am so grateful that we were right there and were able to go into action. The family came together and worked steadily. We didn't lose very many items (only a few papers and two card games that were from a fast food place), and we were able to redirect the water to the sump pump. The next day Tim went up on the roof and checked the gutters which didn't seem to be the main problem. However, the drainage pipes of the gutters did seem to be clogged a bit and we dug them out. Hopefully, we can resolve this by reworking the drainage pipes so we can avoid the expensive of installing a French drain. Another blessing is that last year we did lots of work on the other side of the house to regrade and seal the garage. That side of the house didn't leak at all, so the work that we have done has paid off. Now we just have to do the other side. 

The remaining amount of water on day two.

Blessings, Dawn