Gratitude - Day 19 (Daddy comes to school.)

For Wordless Wednesday.

Gratitude - Day 18 (Jello)

On the way home from school today:

Ben - Mom. I really want to know what Jello tastes like. I think it tastes good.

Me - Really? Did someone have Jello at school today?

Ben - No. It's something I've been wondering for a long time.

Me - (Ha! A long time. My kid is the cutest.) OK, well we will have to make some sometime so you can find out.

Ben - Can we make some when we get home?

Me - Ummmmm... (Do we have Jello? Have I ever actually purchased Jello? You know, since I stopped using it to make shots in college?) I'm not sure we have any Ben.

Well, we came home and on a whim I searched the back of the pantry and amazingly found one box. I think it's been there for years. I have no recollection of purchasing it. I couldn't find an expiration date, so I took that as a positive omen and we made Jello. Ben actually squealed when I poured in the boiling water and it turned from pink powder to bright red liquid. And then he burst into tears when I explained to him that it wouldn't be ready to eat until after his nap.

Thirty minutes later, he popped out of bed. "I slept! Is the Jello ready?" He did this two more times. When we finally scooped it into a bowl, he did a little happy jig, and then he sat at the table and laughed and laughed as he tried half a dozen times to get it on his spoon. And when he finally got a bite, he said. "It's wigglely Mom. It's wigglely on my spoon and it's wigglely in my mouth. And it's yummy, just like I knew it would be!"

And then my heart exploded from all the cuteness.

And so today I am thankful for the mystery box of strawberry jello in the back of my pantry. And for taking ten minutes out of another insanely busy day to say yes to my four year old. What a beautiful reminder, as I enter into this season of chaos and excess, that the magic really is in the simplest things.

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Oh, and lest you thought I forgot about my giveaway, I didn't. It was just taking a little longer than I thought to get my ducks in a row what with all the Thanksgivinging going on around here. But it's official now, and I have something super cool to give. And it was actually donated to me for the giveaway, when I said I wanted to use it as one of my favorite things! Oh my goodness! I'm just like Oprah. Except, that I don't have my own TV Show or Magazine or a Kabillion dollars and I think Exhaert Tolle is full of Baloney. But other than that...The Same!

Anyhoo, I am doing a giveaway. Tomorrow. Or the next day. Or Friday at the latest. But soon, and I'm really excited. In case you couldn't tell.

Gratitude - Day 17

Today was another busy day, chock full of glamorous things like grocery shopping and laundry and sorting the 18 inches of socks that had accumulated at the bottom of the basket. Mondays are always hard for me, because the week starts with a dreary and seemingly insurmountable list of chores. A list made even more dreadful by being virtually indistinguishable from the weeks before. It's hard not to feel like I am spinning my wheels. So I really tried, in the spirit of this project, to stop and notice the positive things. And today it seemed obvious, I am thankful for Clara.

When we were grocery shopping Clara sang and talked to everyone we saw. All my kids have been obnoxiously friendly shoppers at this age, but Clara's exuberance is really something to behold. She will start shouting her greetings 50 ft away. And if they stop and speak with her, she will shout at them again as they walk away. "Buh bye, Honey! See ya soon!" It cracks me up every. single. time. And when we are in the car she will demand Christmas music. And not just any Christmas music, but "Sleigh ride" by Amy Grant. And then she will dance and sing like nobodys business. It's fantastic. And impossible to resist. We make a humorous picture, the two of us, twisting and throwing up our hands in the carpool line.

Clara is our child that looks most like me. And the one most unlike me in personality. But I am just so thankful to God for the blessing of my loud, feisty baby girl. She brings such a spirit of passion and joy (and unpredictability) to my life. And I think, sometimes, it's just what the doctor ordered.


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The week ahead of me is looking a bit crazy. And by crazy, I mean I went grocery shopping today for four Thanksgiving type feasts between now and Sunday. And that doesn't even include the actual Thanksgiving shindig at my in-laws on, well, Thanksgiving! That's a lot of shopping, and baking and casseroles to be toting around. And we won't even discuss how hopeless fitting into my jeans will be when it's all over.

So I resolved to take a hiatus this week from Facebook and Blogging. Ironic, as I am participating in NaBloPoMo by doing this Thirty Days of Thanks thing. My resolutions are conflicting. Which, strangely enough, is not an unusual problem for me. So, while I will still be spitting out a post a day on gratitude, I probably won't be reading and commenting much this week. And yes, I do realize, this falls in the category of very bad blogging etiquette. To which I say: Four thanksgiving feasts people. Four! Cut me some slack.

Gratitude - Day 16 (3-year-olds and sleep)

Today was my last choir class until the new year. I am so thankful for the opportunity to sing, dance, play instruments and praise, praise, praise with my small group of 3-year-olds. What an amazing transformation we have seen in our shy, quiet bunch since the year started. That first week I was seriously concerned that my class was going to be the "Joy Preschool Solo Hour." But now they sing and dance and get out of control just like 3-year-olds should. And while I have been known to grumble when it cuts too far into my Sunday afternoon nap, I genuinely look forward to going each week.

And man, am I grateful for the faithful people that put aside their their own naps (and pride) to show up and be silly right along with me - not to mention saving me about 243 trips to the potty. I have made new friends and - after six years in fourth grade choir - have found a brand new passion. (Making music with preschoolers...whooda thunkit?) If Christmas wasn't such a hectic season I really would be sad for such a long break.

And also, right now, I am thankful for the clean sheets I am about to go put on my bed. And the down comforter. And the seven hours of sleep I am going to get. Ha! That's positive thinking if I ever heard it. Or maybe just plain claiming a miracle. But who knows? It could happen.

Gratitude - Day 15

It was a long and busy day today. I took Allie out shopping for warmer clothes. Shopping with an adolescent daughter is always a tightrope walk. Sometimes we have a wonderful time. Sometimes there are short fuses and tears. Today fell somewhere in the middle. We did - after many hours - finally find some things we were both happy with. The day ended well. She was happy and grateful which left me the same.

And when I walked in the door to my home, after just a few hours away, I was met with two fans squealing my name and clamoring to touch me. It is such an exquisite thing, the uninhibited, unconditional love of little ones. And I am so thankful today for this undue gift. Even more so for knowing how soon it will slip away, like water through my fingers.

Gratitude quickie - Day 14

The Man is out for the evening playing poker with his friends. The weekids are in bed and I'm hanging out with Brandon and Allie and one of Allie's friends. We're eating ice cream and playing word games and having a heckuva time.

I have cool kids. Cool, smart kids - Brandon keeps kicking my butt at Twirl. So in the interest of getting back to the important stuff - I'm just going to keep this short and just say:

I am thankful for my life as a mom of two teenagers (OK, one teenager and one almost teenager.)

It's hard. Really hard. But when it's good, there's nothing better.

Gratitude - Day 13 (Books)

Tonight I loaded the Weekids into the car at 8PM to take Allison to our used book store. She had run out of books and it was "an emergency!" In her defense, she has been doing extra Weekid watching and I had agreed to compensate her in used books. But the hour of our book run was a prime example of the coddling I was referring to in my last post. That girl knows my weaknesses too well. I doubt I would have made it through my truly horrible middle school experience without books. And even now, I have been known to prowl the house like a jittery addict when I run out of things to read. I can't fall asleep without at least one chapter to ease the transition from real life to dreams.

So simply because her quirks mirror my own, I caved. And withstood squinty looks from the staff while attempting to keep Ben and Clara from completely trashing the small children's section thirty minutes before closing. So she could select a few borderline appropriate young adult novels.

Oh, and for the record, Publishers...if a book has sex in it, it should NOT be labeled YA. I don't care if the sex is between teenagers. That just makes it more inappropriate for my impressionable girl to read. Please move these books to the adult section. Or maybe create a new section called "Books with teenager characters that have sex and/or do drugs and curse like sailors." But I digress.

Later this evening, as I was sitting on the sofa with my husband watching Survivor no less, it dawned on me that in 2008 there are still many people for whom this experience would have been inconceivable. And by "experience" I don't mean wrestling a two-year-old out of a lovely display case of handmade quilts at the bookstore. (Oh yes, she crawled in and made herself at home!) I mean going to a bookstore. I mean reading a book.

I don't think I had ever thought about this before.

I cannot remember a time in my life when I didn't love books. Being read to by my mother is ingrained in my earliest memories. It's one of the few things I was passionate about passing on to my own children. Realizing that there are still many children in undeveloped countries who will live their lives without ever reading, or being read to, is just another reminder that I will never really be able to comprehend how blessed I am.

So today I am thankful for books. For the people who taught me to read them. For growing up loving them. For passing that love on to at least one of my children (The jury's still out on the other three.) And for living in a society where I have access to more books than I could ever read, for free.

And, if I may make a plug, for organizations like Compassion International who are changing communities one child at time. So that hopefully, one day, no child will grow up without food, or medicine, or books, or hope.