• Watching everyone wait, on Mother’s day, as the mommy duck led her ducklings across the road
• A day of shopping and love from my men
• A pair of pants that fit and I like
• Finding a new place I can eat on my diet
• enjoying the quiet in the house while Granny has the boys
• Being at an amazing Bible Study and enjoying being with other ladies!
• I am a child of God!
• a red throated bird who sat outside my door in the rain long enough for me to catch a picture of him
• Finding something healthy one of my boys will eat.
• Saving the boys from a snail and getting a good laugh.
• Sunshine
• Watching the boys pretending to be fishing in the back yard.
• Little tiny wildflowers in my untamed flower gardens
• Little boys being monkeys
• A clean fridge
• Doctors and Nurses willing to work in such a hard field as a children’s oncology floor
• He is the great physician
• The ability to pour out our hearts to Him and know that we don’t need to know all the answers because He does
• Healing

What are some of the gifts you received this week?

You may have read my post last week and you may not have. I want to share with you this weekend some of the gifts I have received from our gracious and amazing God. There have been so many that this list is incomplete, but I want to share with you some of the things I have given thanks for.

• Little boy pretending that his sweatshirt is “High Shining Armor” running around with a fake helmet on.
• Looking back at a video from March 2nd and seeing the weight that I have lost!
• The bushes in front just about to bloom and share that amazing aroma that they give off when they open.



• The sunshine coming to warm up the afternoon and free the boys from the house.
• A chance to trust a little boy to take photos and enjoy the cute things he chose to capture (with his finger in each photo)
• Random playdates with the neighbor
• Little brother repeating what big brother says and does no matter what.
• An evening drive to get ice cream
• Watching the sunshine creep down our fence waiting for it to touch our yard and let the boys free
• Watching littlest slide down the stairs on his tummy to “run” to get his treat
• Licking the beater
• A MIL who gives hubby and I a date night
• Listening to big brother tell little brother all about the things he’s imagining them doing.
• Big brother teaching little brother a new word, “Owl”
• A sweet call from my husband giving me an early mother’s day present.

What are some of the gifts you received today?

I was reading a dear friends blog. Kari’s blog is in my “must read” folder on my reader, that is overflowing with too much too read, so that I don’t miss a post.

For this I’m so thankful for. For the other day she was writing about a book she was reading, One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.

For some reason I was thinking it was a devotional. Some reason I felt like I needed a devotional even though bible study was starting in only a week or so. But the way my friend described the book pulled me in and I quickly added it to my kindle wishlist and as soon as TJ came home I asked if I could buy it.

I was surprised to find that it was more of an autobiography, but her prose pulled me in quickly. When I figured out the meaning behind the title I wanted to know more. I wanted to know how she did it. I wanted to count my own gifts. I wanted her experience of seeing the world in a new light.

Then I started to count my gifts and my heart lightened and my world brightened.

Driving home from a job that is hard on my soul my eyes opened up. I looked out beyond the highway and saw the scattering of dark clouds that threatened rain and I thanked God for them. I thanked Him for the beauty of the sun rays that seeped through the cracks between those clouds. I found myself being filled with His love and His beauty and my heart was no longer heavy from the day.

I want to share my list with you, though I’m not sure how I will do this yet. If I will do as Kari is doing and post my list every weekend. I thought this would be a wonderful meme, but meme’s are so hard to build. I have also thought that creating blessings in images would be beautiful and even have started counting some of my blessings on my pinterest.com.

I stopped, I don’t know why, too busy to take a pause that is so important. But I’m starting over, I’ve been slowly adding it in and today I will share with you my gifts.

• Waking in the middle of the night to rock my baby who had a bad dream
• The feeling of his weight draped on me
• Hearing him suck his thumb as he snuggles back into his blankets, he only needed a few minutes of love
• Watching the light start seeping through the blinds as the morning dawned
• A new day
• Listening to the shower as my husband gets ready for his day
• Being awake enough to say good bye to him
• A little more sleep
• Little boys who climb into my bed to snuggle
• Listening to battle hymns being song by my little boy
• Finding forgotten grapes in the bottom of the fridge
• Little toddler “ank ooos”
• Peanut Butter Sandwiches
• Crossing things off my to do list
• Listening to a toddler try singing with no words
• A wonderful husband that lets me sneak out of the house for a little while to go thrift shopping after bedtime

God fills our lives with amazing little gifts that we forget to stop and thank him for, but I am going to take the time to pause and enjoy these moments, to  count each one.

This summer we may be doing a book club at my church, maybe I will try and do a book club here also. Maybe I will do a dare to see who can count to a thousand with me. I’m not sure but I know that this book was an amazing life changer for me, so I hope you will read it!

What are some of the gifts you received today?

Super Surfing Sundays are all about the great posts I have seen this week. Have you seen anything great this week? Hope you will share them with me!

• Construction Party – I had to bookmark this. Even though Zane’s birthday is 5 months away I am getting excited! This year he will be so much more aware of what’s happening and it will be fun. Frustrating part is I will have no idea what he will be loving at that time so I can’t make plans yet! Trucks and construction sound like fun!
• Lego for MUJI Paper and Block Set – This is a great idea!! I hope we get to see them in the U.S. soon.
• How to Fall in Love Again – Ann write about how to make a point and love on your husband.
• How to Make a Memorable Holiday Cookie Swap – I used to host a cookie decorating party. But this was a big chore and hard to do when I had a little one to take care of. I think this year I may do this instead.
• The Twelve Days of Christmas – This is a very sweet idea. I may think of someone I would like to do this with. I may have an idea.
• Cheap Kids Stocking Stuffer or Gift – I love this, I have wanted to make crayons in the past and it didn’t know you could use silicon muffin tins. And I didn’t know Target had some in the $2.50 section. I may have to make these for the neighbor girl.

Do you post your faves on your blog for the week? Then please add your link!!

I have finally decided what I am going to do for neighbor gifts. Every year I try to make our neighbors a gift, I also make a few extra for just in case. This year I am going to be making Cookie Dough Log Rolls. I’ve seen them in a few different craft places, but this is my favorite at Make and Takes simple yet elegant.

I know for sure that I am going to be making my favorite Super EasyPeanut Butter Cookie Recipe.

• 1 Cup Peanut Butter
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 1 Egg

1. Mix all ingredients together

I will be including these directions on a tag I will create with my scrapbooking supplies:

1. Slice dough or create teaspoon sized balls
2. With a fork make a cross pattern
3. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes

I will probably make sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies and maybe a shortbread also. I think I will tie a few logs together for the gift. I am going to start making cookie dough tomorrow and wrap them up and freeze them till ready to wrap up and give away.

Do you make homemade gifts for Christmas? What kind of gifts have you made? Do you have any recipes for edible gifts?

See more edible gifts at Cents to Get Debt Free.