Basket of Blessings

I know I have mentioned over the last 15 months just how abundantly blessed I am, but I truly am! This afternoon a basket of blessings was delivered (anonymously) to my house. Words will never express the gratitude I feel for the outpouring of love shown to my children and myself this last year.

Amending a Record

When Peyton's social security card came in the mail, several weeks after she was born, her name was misspelled. I was devastated. What made this worse was when I called, they said it must have been a clerk error, and she would forever have a 2 page birth certificate to correct the spelling. I ordered the paperwork to amend her birth certificate in Fall 2010, knowing I needed her name fixed before she started preschool. I never filled them out because Grandma died, and then Mike, Peyton never attended preschool...and well, I forgot. Until it dawned on me, she's starting Kindergarten in August!

Vital Records tell me it takes up to 4 months for the record to be amended. We're right at the cutoff of Kindergarten starting. I filled out the paperwork, called the hospital for document verification that they were wrong, when I was told she would have to pull that file and make sure I didn't make the error. Okay. Well, if everything I have from the hospital shows her spelling as PEYTON, not PAYTON, and as I am not the clerk entering in her information, I am fairly certain the hospital made the mistake. Insult to injury, it will cost me $20 to fix this, and my daughter will have a 2 page birth certificate for the rest of her life. But go ahead, pull your file.

When she called back, she sure changed her tune and said, "I see here that you filled out all paperwork as PEYTON, is this correct?" Yep. She then informed me that because it is a hospital error, they fill out the paperwork and pay for the amended record. All I need to do is get a sworn statement notarized stating that I am her mother and run it by the hospital. Woot! Woot!

New Easter Tradition

Honestly, I was just grateful to get through Easter last year. The first major holiday after Mike's death. We did nothing unusual, and I even made the same Easter dinner I had for the last 11 years.

This year, however, I wanted to do something different, something we haven't done. I read the Bible, but I have never read it my kids. I found a list of verses, broken up by subject (i.e. The Last Supper, Jesus Arrested, Jesus Has Risen, etc) and decided to read three subject areas a night before bed, equaling about thirty minutes of reading time. If this worked, I could see this becoming a new Easter (and Christmas) Tradition.

The first night, the kids grumbled. The second night, they grumbled, but didn't fidget. The third night, they sat down excitedly to hear how the story would unfold. The fourth night, they interrupted with questions and genuine concern. Tonight, Cameron, who rolled his eyes at me the first night, said, "After Easter can we continue this every night?" YES! Yes. We. Can.

My intention was to teach my children the true reason we celebrate Easter, but as each night passed, my intention changed and I wanted to read stories from the Bible every night, as a family, before we say our prayers for bed.

I am blessed!