Gratefulness

It's been so long since I've posted on here that I forgot my password.  Man.

I need to talk today and I feel like sometimes what I need to talk about, other people might need to hear as well. So I'm back at my blog today.  I stumbled on this website... honestly, I think divine intervention sent me here...http://www.aholyexperience.com/2012/03/how-to-help-raise-grateful-kids/... but don't click there just yet.

We've been in a funk in our family the past few months.  Busy lives...hurried here & there and full schedules demanding more time than we probably have...have all lead to some cranky Hanelines.  Probably more so me than the others, but it's reflecting into our kids & that's not something I like to see.  I listened last night as my husband tried to have a devotion with my kids.  I was working on something at the kitchen table and they were in the living room sitting on the couches.  What he had to say was really good...talked to them about what we think we deserve in this life.  He asked the kids what they really wanted right now that they thought would make them happier in life... two answered a new bike, one answered an air soft gun  & some other material things were mentioned as well.  Fair enough, they are kids after all.  But, all during this conversation he was having to stop to say things like "quit messing with your sister", "turn around & sit up, listen to me", "stop playing with the blinds", yada, yada, yada.  Point being, they were not really listening.  I think he spent just as much time redirecting the kids as he did trying to teach them about being thankful for what we have.  I guess I was expecting them to sit there in awe of all the wonderful things my hubs was trying to teach them and rattle off some divine answers about all they should be grateful for.  Ok, I know... it's a long shot.  Whatever.

My kids are good kids, but they fuss & fight ALL the time. I guess it's normal for brothers & sisters to do this... I don't know, I'm an only child...but it really bothers me how they treat each other.  But really, I'm not much better.  My short temper from being stressed all the time doesn't mean that my reactions to their behavior are any better than their reactions to each other.   I don't handle things the best way all the time.  I'm constantly thinking that I've failed in how I should handle certain situations with my kids.  I'm being very honest here.  I need a lot of help & improvement.... the kind that only comes from the grace of God.

You think that the people you love the most are the ones you should treat the best.  However, it's often the other way around.  I guess it's because we know that we will always be loved by our family & most of the time they forgive us easily.  Still, it's not how we should live our lives.  If our family continues down this path, then I'm afraid I am leading them on one of destruction. But that's where the love of God comes in.  I don't deserve anything that I have... grand or small.  It's not really mine anyway, but the Lord choose to bless us because we are His.  I want my kids to be thankful for more than material things.  I want them to see the bigger picture in life.  But most of all I want my family to love God & desire to serve Him.  At this point in their lives, it's our responsibilities as parents to show them how.  I'm the resource God is using to show them how to love their brother & sister, love their neighbor, their friends, their family.  I want them to be grateful for all the many blessings that they have right in front of them that they don't even realize.  I want to be a reflection of God's love & mercy.

This link is a super-duper, great tool for doing just that.  So NOW you can finally click the link to read all the goodies for yourself.  And I think I'm going to pick up a copy of this book that all this stemmed from as well.

Blogs, Work, Life & Twilight

I have a good excuse... well, not really. Work. If you can call that an excuse. I guess between Facebook & Twitter... I feel like I post plenty of stuff that keeps me up-to-date with the world and everyone can see pictures of my kids and what's going on in our lives. That's kind of scary to think about... but I digress. Anyways, my whole point of having a blog is to keep track of stuff. Like life. Little things, big things, funny things, silly things, interesting things... you get the point. I've not been so good at that lately. {sad face} It's been quite a whirlwind the past year. I started my own business... Kendra's Creations and I must say that it has gone really well. I design stuff. I've always loved to be crafty and this is totally my outlet to do so AND get paid for it. Cha-ching... even better. So, I call it my job now, because I work & get paid for it. But it's fun. So it's a good job. One that I can sit in my PJ's until lunch & work. I can listen to music or have peace & quite, wash clothes, talk on the phone, attempt to keep the house clean... ahem.... and still be at home with my kids when they get home from school. I must say, it's been a challenge to keep up with some of these things while working from home. I would much rather being designing a logo or making a pretty notebook than loading the dishwasher. Sometimes it's very evident from the plethora of dishes that accumulate on the countertop, but it's all still worth it. Dishes will always be there... just as much as the mountain of laundry that grows in my baskets each week. I am truly grateful that God has blessed me with this opportunity this past year and I pray that it continues to grow & thrive.

On to the kids now... let's see... we are halfway through the school year. What?!! Seriously I can't believe it's gone by so fast. I mean, Chandler is going to be driving like next year at the rate that we are going. Kindergarten orientation is coming up in a couple months for Kensley & Carter will be in his last year of elementary school next year. Geez.

Chandler had his first band "concert" last night at the middle school. He is doing great playing the trumpet. He's even made first chair. He loves it & I'm so glad. I hope he's going to be a great musician. Carter loved playing football and I think he's geared up & ready for the next sports season, although we will all admit, it's been nice having a little break. Kensley is still loving dance. She's learning how to do a cartwheel and she think's that's just the greatest thing.

I have to brag on my hubs for a moment too. He saved a life last month. Yep. This makes the #3rd life he's come to the rescue for. I believe that God puts him in the right place at the right time. I'm thankful for that. While working late at the Y one night, he was making rounds checking on things & socializing when a man playing a wallyball game had a heart attack. Corby stepped up & took control of the situation. He & some others were administering CPR & Corby had to use the AED machine on this gentleman and shocked him twice. The doctors said had he not used this device, he would not be alive today. Wow!

I have recently become somewhat obsessed with Twilight. I never really had any interest at all to watch the movies and NEVER would have even thought twice about reading those ridiculously long books. I mean, I don't read and those books are like 500 plus pages each. However, my niece Kaitlyn got me started. She just couldn't believe that I had never seen the movies, so we had a movie weekend when we were in Statesville a few months back and watched the first 3 movies. That's all it took. I knew then where all the hype was coming from because I was hooked. The movies were SOOOO good!

After watching all 4 movies (and going to the theater 3 times to see Breaking Dawn: Part 1... just don't even say anything about that) I would have to say I became a "Twihard". There was no way that I could wait a whole year to know what happens in Part 2 of Breaking Dawn, so I decided I might be interested in reading the books. I mean, everyone that has read them talked about how good they were. So, I borrowed the books from a friend and I read the first book... all 494 pages... in 24 hours. Really, it was quite unbelievable. I couldn't put them down. I finished all 4 books in about 2 & half weeks. It happened to be over Christmas break, so I didn't have to worry about waking up for early mornings. I stayed up til 1 & 2 am most nights reading... not being willing to be satisfied with "just one more chapter". I've never read any books as good as these. The love story is just so incredible and I guess that's what draws me to the movies & the books. Sooooo.....

That about sums it up for an update. I always attempt to make more posts, but fail miserably at it. Follow me on facebook to keep up with my new creations! (link listed above)

A look back at the year 2011

Well, yes... I have been a little... um, a lot... behind on blogging lately. I want to but the time is just not there. I've been so busy with my job that blogland has taken a back burner. I am so thankful for my job though. It's been such a blessing. So to sum up a whole year in 7ish minutes, I'm just going to let you watch this video. And I'll hopefully have a little more time to devote to blogging in the near future!