Just when I had finally packed away all the winter stuff winter decided to show up again. Amazingly it snowed again today, big fat snowflakes, the perfect kind to chase and try to catch as they make their way down. But we spent the day inside, which was’t bad as the flakes went as quickly as they had come. It was beautiful, though.

We spent some more time with the great grandparents today and the kids enjoyed their cousins. When we got home we played games, made a sheet fort, and took a bath.

Baby E has been doing so much better. He has one more day of steroids, and while he is still a little wheezy, it is nothing like it was before. He spent most of the day in a pretty good mood and didn’t really struggle to breathe. I have spaced out his inhaler treatments and he seems to be handling them well.

Sometimes I stop and think about how blessed we are to live in a time and a culture that has so many medicines, and access to doctors and modern technology. How many times have our lives been saved based purely on the time and place we were born and raised? There are so many things we take for granted- clean water, antibiotics, and vaccines (to name a few.) Advanced medicine brought my three babies into the world and has kept them relatively healthy since. We live mere minutes from our doctors’ offices and have easy access to our medications. Our diets, while not always healthy, do not leave us malnourished and rarely ever give us a more serious problem than an upset stomach. There are no lack of options to eat, and even if you do not have much money, there are usually foods you can still afford. We often complain about the taste of our water, but it is clear, and without life threatening bacteria and we think nothing of taking long showers in clean water. It’s not unusual for every adult in a household to own their own car, and more than one family is rarely crowded into one house. We have tvs, we have computers, we have plumbing, and electricity. We have education and information at our fingertips.

So when I am tempted to think that my house is too small or my car is too old or my kids are always sick, I will try to remember perspective is the only thing that makes those things true. In reality, my house is more than sufficient, my car runs perfectly well, and my kids may get ill, but it usually isn’t much more than an inconvenience.

And when I remember these things, I can’t help but be grateful!