Blessings

Our Thanksgiving was great. I cooked and after I got over some initial anxiety, all was well! My grandma came up and helped with some of the prep and also made her signature cornbread. We had our 5, my grandma and my dad - that was all. But it was good. The kids love their grandpa so much and my grandma is really concerned about missing the kids after we move to Phoenix. It was good for her to be a part of our day and also of the decorating we did on Friday. My only regret was that I gave a stupid prayer. I wish I would've been more thoughtful about the things I'm really thankful for, and not so concerned with people liking what I had cooked... So, to make up for that, I'm going to share what I'm thankful for here. Nathan - he just wants to be good. Yesterday we were frustrated with the kids not listening as well as they should and so we were talking about going back to taking away toys when they don't listen. Because Nathan hadn't been listening, he went, on his own, into his room and started bagging up his toys. It was so sad and so sweet... I cried. So we went in and talked to him about how his heart is what we're concerned about - we want him to have a heart that will follow our instructions but obviously his heart wants to do the right thing and we're so proud of him. Such a sweet boy. Chloe - she is so smart. Lowell and I were playing a trivia game yesterday and the kids joined in. Granted, I'm sure most of her answers were guesses, but some of them, she legitimately knew! She got a ton of questions right! Her teacher marvels at her reading ability and her ease at working with any of the kids in her class. She often gets paired with some of the more difficult kids because of her ability to be consistently helpful. Also, yesterday we went through the kids' toys, paring down to get ready for Christmas and also trying to reinforce the lesson of sharing. Nathan was really struggling with parting with his toys but Chloe jumped right on board. She kept giving and giving and did a really good job chosing toys that other children could enjoy. I was really proud of her. Her generosity also rubbed off onto Jillian who really doesn't care about possessions. She caught the giving spirit and they both created a huge pile of things to take to the shelter. Jillian is a joy and always keeps us on our toes. She has such an attitude and is completely passionate about how she feels. She isn't just happy or just upset - she's all the way, 100% thrilled, or 100% ticked! She is not very willing to try new things and has perfected the temper tantrum. And yet, there are times when she will come up, totally unexpectedly and say the sweetest thing or snuggle up and love on me. And her voice is irresistible! She is just the sweetest thing! She's adorable and precious!
And then there's my husband... I am so spoiled. My husband loves me. He loves me when I'm cranky and when I'm lazy. And he loves me even though I'm hugely overweight. And he is still being vocal about it. He still writes me love notes and still tells me that he thinks I'm pretty and that he thinks I'm pretty special. (See, I've got him pretty well fooled! :)) And he makes an effort to do things that he knows I like... He supports me in the things I enjoy and he keeps me focused on reality. He keeps me from being overwhelmingly selfish and he reminds me that the world doesn't revolve around me. :) He appreciates the work I do with the kids and reassures me that he could never do the job that I do. I'm so blessed. We don't have a lot of money. We don't have a beautiful house. I don't have the perfect job or perfect friends of even perfect children or a perfect husband but I am so blessed and so thankful for the people who God has brought into my life. So many blessings! :) Thank you, friend, for being one of them!