Giving Thanks

(I promise I will provide you with happy Halloween pictures later. However, my camera and computer are not cooperating with each other right now and I am just not in the mood to deal with it, so you'll have to wait.)

Halloween has come and gone, and it is now November. On to Thanksgiving!

(On a side note, today is MY Daddy's birthday. Happy Birthday, Dad!)

I'm sure many, if not all, of you have seen the facebook thing that runs around in November encouraging people to post a status each day for one thing they are thankful for? I think it's a marvelous idea. It really makes you get down to the heart of the matter. By the end of the month, you can really be reaching deep within yourself to find something you are thankful for that you haven't already posted.

We are going to do a new variation on that this year, and I'm going to involve the kids. Well, okay, Monster Boy. Miss Sunshine isn't quite big enough yet to understand (or heck, tell us) what thankful is. But each night at bedtime, I'm going to have each of us say something we are thankful for and write it down. After the kids are in bed, I will then take scraps of fabric (probably quilting squares cut in half) and carefully write our "thanks" on each scrap of fabric. At the end of the month I will quilt them together to create a table runner for our Thanksgiving table. I will probably leave one end "unfinished" so we can continue to add to it next year, or perhaps I will just make new ones for each year. Either way, I think it's a great way to teach our kids about thankfulness, as well as creating wonderful memories, and a family heirloom to remind us how important it is that we give thanks for all that we have!

I'd love it if you'd like to join me in doing these things too - in fact, feel free to comment throughout the month with me and show me what you are doing too! I'll try to do a weekly update on the table runner and some of our "thanks" for the week.

And I'm going to start it off right with a little thanks of my own today : I am so very thankful for wonderful friends and family who are so loving when we need them to be, so supportive when we need them to be, and just so themselves when we need them to be!

Holiday Time again...

Well, we survived Thanksgiving. Barely. Miss Sunshine decided that Thanksgiving Day would be a good time to have an ear infection! Thankfully I still had some ear drops from her tube surgery, so we were able to get through the day with those and call the doctor on Friday. They called in a prescription for her and I am happy to report she is well on the mend. We ate entirely too much food on Thanksgiving and still have one more meal, with Daddy Mac's family, to hit today! Guess the diet starts tomorrow first thing!

The Elf on the Shelf has also made it's appearance in our home - he showed up Thanksgiving morning. Our elf's name is "Tree" (Monster Boy likes simplicity, I guess. The fish's names were Fish and Shark, so this isn't horribly unusual). Monster Boy is fascinated by this. I think a part of him doesn't really believe the elf is real, but the rest of him wants to believe so badly that it's overriding any reservations he may have.

I braved the masses on Black Friday and was rewarded for it! Our WalMart still had all of the items we wanted, even though we didn't make it there until nearly 9:00 am. Target still had all of the items on our lists too, and we went there after WalMart. Of course, we didn't want any of the big ticket items at Target, which I think helped our cause. The only thing I wanted that I was unable to get was the Superyard XT that Babies 'R Us had on sale. They were sold out here in town. I wound up ordering it off the WalMart website instead - it was only $10 more than the BRU advertised sale price, and had free shipping, so it worked out okay. We want it to keep Miss Sunshine out of the Christmas tree. We have all of our non-breakable ornaments at the bottom of the tree already, and she's already pulled at least three of them off. It's going to be a fun holiday season here!

Giving thanks...

Daddy Mac has Monster Boy out running errands with him, and Miss Sunshine is down for her afternoon nap, so I am sitting here and reflecting on all the many things I have to give thanks for this year. As many twists and turns as we have hit this year, I feel so blessed for everything we have been through. It has made us stronger as a couple, stronger as a family, and stronger as individuals.

This year, I am thankful for the blessing of my children. I am thankful every day when I look at their beautiful, precious faces.

I am thankful that my son is so very intelligent. Even on days that he is frustrating me, I have a great appreciation for how smart he can be.

I am thankful that my daughter is so loving. Even on days when all I want to do is be able to put her down without her screaming, having her hug and hold on to me makes me feel so good.

I am thankful that my children are healthy. Even with the other issues we face with Miss Sunshine's cleft and all that entails, my children are healthy, they are happy, and they are loved. What more can you ask for?

I am thankful for my husband. Most especially, I am thankful for how lucky I am to have found him. He is truly one in a million. He is so supportive, so loving. He is a wonderful husband and an even better father. He would give his life for all of us, and knowing that is a relief to me at night. When you are a single mother, you worry about the men you consider bringing in to your child's life, and whether or not they will treat your child the way they deserve to be treated. I never have to worry about that with him. I thank God daily for bringing him in to my life, and for letting him love me the way that I love him.

I am thankful for my wonderfully supportive extended family. They have been there for me through the good times and the very bad times, always with love and understanding.

I am thankful for all the trials and tribulations God has seen fit to give me in my life, because they have made me a better person. I wouldn't change a single thing, because these experiences have made me who I am today.

And mostly, I am thankful for the chance to BE thankful for all of this.

What are you thankful for this year?