Thankful Thursday

Several blogging gals I know do a "Thankful Thursday" segment on their blogs, which I have to participate in, but since it's Thanksgiving, it seemed an appropriate day to jump on the band wagon, even if it's only this once...

I am thankful for:

*My three gorgeous, smart, and hilarious children. They may drive me bananas some days, but they are my shining stars and I'm so thankful for them.

*My husband's job. It keeps him away from home an awful lot, especially this past year, but it supports our family of five and allows me to be "at home" with our babies, and very involved in their schools and activities.

*My parents. They've really bailed me out of some tight spots with their babysitting services this year. Not to mention their involvement with my children. Emily loves her "Dancing with the stars" dates with my mom, and the boys love to go play and do puzzles, etc. I wasn't close with my grandparents growing up, and it thrills me to no end that my children have the opportunity to be close with theirs.

*My in-laws. Not only are they willing to babysit the kids, but they happily take our puppy, too! They feed us nearly every Sunday, stay involved with the kids, and go out of their way to make sure we're a close-knit family (planning and paying for vacations, setting up planting parties, tea parties, etc for the kids). TONS of people I know can do nothing but complain about their in-laws. I am very lucky to have great IL's!

*glasses. My sweet Emily Grace's vision took a major downward spiral over the last few months, and while she was insisting her old reading glasses were working just fine, I was seeing a rather drastic decline in her schoolwork, a HUGE blow to her self-confidence, and was witnesses to DAILY tearful tirades as she ranted about how hard school was and how stupid she was. I begged our way into an ASAP vision appt. as a starting point to figuring out what was going on, and low and behold, the kid needed full-time glasses to help correct a "lazy" eye (which wasn't wandering, but was considered lazy because it was so weak, she wasn't actually using it when reading). After a month in her new glasses, she's back to LOVING school, is no longer calling herself names, her schoolwork has improved drastically, and she's ENJOYING her schoolwork again...

*friends. I have two very good friends, who both also happen to live in my neighborhood, and I have been so very thankful for them. They babysit my kids when I need it, they bring us meals if/when we're sick, I can count on them for good advice and support... The added bonus is that my children LOVE being at either house, and it's such a comfort knowing I have good people nearby that I can trust and turn to. Then there's my less local friends, whom I love and trust very much as well. I've never had very many friends at a time, but I appreciate the strong connections with the friends I DO have. Good quality people...

*Dan's Blackberry. Without it, I probably wouldn't have any sort of connection with my husband any longer. He works LONG hours and was impossible to get ahold of (his job entails dealing with over 100 phone calls a day, several hundred emails, job walks, paperwork, etc). Now, if I can't reach him by calling, I can email and/or text and know that whether he's in the office or out in the field, he WILL get my message and be able to get back to me. I'm also thankful that work pays for it, AND that it makes his job much easier throughout the day.

*Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Honestly, my kids eat that stuff at least once a week, and we always make extras because they love leftovers. And I will admit to a fondness for the stuff as well. It's high on my list of "comfort foods". *grin*

*our health. There's a lot of scary health stuff happening for people all around us, and I am so thankful that my family is overall very healthy.

The list could go on, but I'm sure you'll be thankful to hear that I'll stop rambling and let you get back to celebrating Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I hope it's a peaceful day and you find yourself surrounded by those you love, enjoying many reasons to be thankful...

XOXO