Thankful - November 25

• Grandad has good doctors taking care of him. Before the evening is over he is going to be moved to ICU for closer monitoring.
  
• Gramma and Grandad are here and not 12 hours away where they live!
• The children slept late so that I could make supper early to deliver to Gramma at the hospital.
• Survived the grocery store the day before Thanksgiving. I was trying to avoid that but the milk ran out.
  
• We've received payment for some long past due invoices.
• I got to talk to my aunt on the phone.
• I totally blew off a friend last night since I felt like I should be with Gramma. She is still my friend today. =)
• I have the most interesting bedtime talks with Aliza.
  

Thankful for Helpers?

So I admit that during the process of making gingersnaps this afternoon I was not even 50% thankful for my helpers. Josiah got out the ice cream scoop and was scooping dough out of the bowl and was just generally in the exact spot that I needed to be in at all times. He then resorted to picking up the balls off the cookie sheet and licking the sugar off the them. He thought this was highly amusing!

Aliza's "job" was to roll each ball of dough in sugar. As she did she licked her fingers and between rolling the ball she was eating handfuls of sugar. I heard at least 10 times, "Mommy, I am thankful for---SUGAR!" And when I told her she had eaten quite enough her response was, "It's ok Mommy, I'm thankful for sugar." At least I've taught her something about the concept of thankfulness this week.


I suppose I should also admit that on some evenings I have sat down at the computer and nothing has come to mind to be thankful for. Well, it's not really true because each night I've sat down at the computer and thought, man, I'm really thankful for my Mom and Dad. But how would I ever sum up my thoughts and feelings in a paragraph?

My parents still teach me so much. Since we go to the church they pastor they have significant spiritual input in my life. As they grow in their faith I am challenged to keep my faith alive and growing. I am so refreshed and encouraged after my conversations with Mom and/or Dad. I wish I knew the key because I would be thrilled if my children grow up to have the respect for me that I have for my parents. Mom and Dad, thanks for loving me and my family and for all of the love, support, and help you continue to give me.

Tea Party

So very thankful for tea parties. Aliza and I had some time together inside while the boys had time together outside. Aliza had big ideas of how this tea party was going to work. I think that this time I was able to make her dreams come true.

We needed a small outing this evening so we decided that we would pick up something for supper. Aliza decided that she would really like a taco. I have never seen anyone so excited about a Taco Bell soft taco. We ate every last morsel. She also enjoyed having the power over the only order of cinnamon twists (they came with the kids meal). Mommy and Daddy really wanted some and she gave us one. She then proceeded to tell us that she didn't want the cinnamon twists in her tummy. She just wanted to lick them.

Some Crazy Moments

(Photo courtesy of Aliza)

These are my Grandparents. I am thankful that my children have the opportunity to interact and even develop some memories of their Great Grandparents. They along with Meghan, Caleb and Gideon were at my house for the morning.

Moment #1:
Grandad cut up a tree that had fallen during the last rain we had so we were playing outside. When he was finished cutting the tree he told me that a certain berry producing weed we have in our yard is poisonous. I suspected as much and had done my best to keep those berries out of Josiah's mouth this summer. I had really done a pretty good job of it. No sooner were the words out of Grandad's mouth and I turned around to look for Josiah. He was coming towards me--both hands COVERED with purple liquid and his mouth looking like he had generously applied lipstick. Yup, those berries. (He's fine.)

Moment#2:
Now when Josiah plays outside he gets dirty. Dirty with a capital D. So when I brought him in for lunch he was covered in, at least, poisonous berry juice, ash from the burn pile and grease from the chainsaw equipment. I washed his hands and face and put him in his chair for lunch. After adding lunch remnats to his clothes he was gross. So I took his shirt and pants off and went to start Aliza's DVD. No sooner did I get to the living room did I hear exclamations that Josiah had taken his diaper off and, you guessed it, not 30 seconds later were all my guests laughing that my son had left a wet puddle in the kitchen. All in the time it takes to start a DVD. I probably shouldn't add how much my son likes to be bare and how upset he was to get dressed again. Is that a guy thing??

Thankful - November 18

There is one (adult) person I can count on talking to just about every day. The phone call occurs just about every morning between 9 and 10, but some days it is around noon. It just depends. I'm so very thankful for my sister-in-law, Meghan. It just happens that we are in about the same stage of life with two children. She once thought (and told me) that I was old when I was 25 and was married 3 years. Now she is in her mid twenties and will be married 5 years in a couple months. =) It's funny how a couple years can change life and shrink the age gap. Meghan, thanks for being there for me. For encouraging me on days that I'm down or tired and making me jealous that your potty training experience is going so quickly and smoothly! I'm thankful that you live so close and are a part of my life.

On Pooping and Body Parts

When Aliza used the potty tonight I told her to try to poop too. She informed me that the clock only said 5:00 not 10:00 yet. Haha. It's becoming comical.

Aliza's all time best potty quote:
Mommy: Aliza, do you need to use the potty?
Aliza: No, I don't hear my pee coming out.

As I was posting my thankful post about Jeremy I realized that there are some people responsible for making him the man that he is. His parents. My in-laws! I'm thankful for my mother in law and father in law. Thank you for raising Jeremy to be a responsible, caring, faith filled, loving man. You did your job well.

One Cool Mama

The sun returned today! It was nice and warm. Jeremy was at a Redskins game with his Dad and I knew that we were not going to stay inside all day. I also knew that if we went outside there would be no keeping the children out of the flooded ditch that Aliza has dubbed "the swimming pool." So we put on rubber boots and jackets and I let them loose. They played for an hour in the water and had SO MUCH FUN. In many places the water was higher than their boots. Josiah got completely wet. When we were finished we stripped outside and went straight to the bathtub.




I'm thankful for good sleep. I'm tired tonight!