It's Groundhog Day!

 Good Morning Everyone!!  Hey, Aunt Debbi and cousin Tracie! I am so excited 'cause today is Groundhog Day!! This is my very first Groundhog Day ever, and so it was such fun to get to watch Punxsutawney Phil (that's a very big word!) come out of his burrow and predict whether or not we will have six more weeks of winter!  Mommie took some pictures of him on TV with the gentlemen who handle him:

And looky there!  Punxsutawney Phil  saw his shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter!

Everyone laughed and cheered! I'm not sure why, because it seems like winter has been pretty cold and snowy for everyone so far (up north), and you'd think they'd like to have an early spring! 

Here's Phil now, and he looks happy to have this over with for another year. Now he can go back to sleep in his burrow for six more weeks.

Mommie and Daddy and I tried to go take a walk, but it is very cold here today too, and the wind is blowing and we were just too cold to go for our walk.  So we turned around and came back home. And it was a good thing we did, because Auntie Pamela stopped by with something special for me!!

Looky at this adorable little hoodie and jacket for me!! Auntie Pamela sewed it just for me!! Isn't it darling?? It's SO warm and cuddly!! I love it!! Thank you, Auntie Pamela!

She also made a few cute little tops for me to wear too:

And she brought my Mommie a special carrier so she can carry me when we take our walks and have her hands free to take pictures and stuff:

(Actually she gave this to my Daddy on Sunday as a joke because she saw that he had given me a piggy back ride, and this is a picture of Mommie and me on our walk yesterday)  Mommie says some people may think we are silly, but we are really just having lots of fun!

And we love what Auntie Pamela did for us, because she was SO happy to have something special to do to make other people happy too! Mommie said sometimes people just need a fun di-ver-sion from the mundane of staying home all the time, and if this makes people smile and laugh, then it is worth it all. So we tried my little carrier on Daddy: 

He's a good sport!! Sometimes you just gotta have fun!!

Now that we've had our little joke, Mommie wanted to share something that she said we are going to try and do this month and see if we can keep it up.

Mommie said a lot of people already have heard of Ann Voskamp,  because she is a famous writer and speaker and has a nice website with helpful things for people to read and do.  Well, a few years ago Mommie was given the gift of her book, One Thousand Gifts, and in that book Miss Voskamp tells us a lot about counting our gifts every day and setting a goal to count 1000 gifts every year, by naming 3 gifts each day.  You can print out the list of "joy-dare" prompts for each month https://annvoskamp.com/joy-dares/ here.   

So Mommie says that we are going to try to keep up with finding the three gifts each day and show them to you here.  The gifts for today are "Three Gifts on Paper".  

1.  This beautiful fan was a gift to Mommie from my sweet Aunt Debbi. She put this in my special box when I was sent to Mommie, and Mommie really loves it! Isn't it beautiful?

2.  Mommie said this puzzle that she got for Christmas is a gift "on paper" (more like cardboard, but she said it will count because it was a gift)  Mommie has been trying to work on this puzzle a little at a time, but she said when I came along she kind of got distracted!

And so she hasn't made much progress, but it is 1000 pieces!  That's a lot!!

I said I would try to help her and we can work on it together. Mommie said that should really help her a lot!! I hope so, because I want to be a good helper!

3.  The third gift on paper is this book that Mommie received in the mail last week from the author, Marica Moston. Mommie said if you click on her name, it will take you to her blog. She is a famous author and she wrote this very nice book and when Mommie said something nice about it on her blog, she sent her a copy as a gift!  Mommie was so excited!! She loves getting new books. So now Mommie is trying to finish reading it, but again, she said I've been a bit of a "distraction"...but a lovely distraction. So I told Mommie maybe she can read it to me, and that will help her finish the book! She said that was a great idea!  Mommie said she will write a review when she is finished. She loves the book so far and wants to sit down and finish it very soon!!  

So those are our three gifts on paper for today!! We've had a busy morning already, and it's only 11:00. Mommie said we have to take a ride later this afternoon someplace, and maybe I can go with her and Daddy if I'm a good girl, which of course, I am!  Or at least I try to be! 

Mommie said we should give thanks to the Lord for all of these wonderful gifts and special friends who have been so kind to us to give them to us.  

Psalm 9:1-2

1.  "I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart;

I will tell of all Your marvelous works.

2. I will be glad and rejoice in You;

I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High."

Amen!