I give.

I am giving up on this thankfulness series.  It was a good idea at the time but I am finding that some of the things I want to write about just sound shallow when put into a thankfulness perspective.  I think the love series I did a few years back fit much better with what I wanted to say.

So now I will catch you up on life around our house!

Ethan is smart.  You know I don't brag on my kids often but I will do it right now.  He is reading very well, at a 4th grade level but probably much higher.  His teacher can only test him up to the end of 3rd grade and he totally nailed that.  His test scores were high enough to get him into an enrichment program that will focus on reading.  I've never wanted my kids to be labeled as gifted; in fact, I've always said average is just fine with me.  But he has been bored in class and I think this program will be perfect for him.  He is still in his regular class but will just get pulled out a few times a week to do the enrichment program.  Proud of the little man.

Olivia is just herself!  :)  She is a delight.  She is in her third year of preschool (I keep calling her a super senior) and she is doing great!  Last year was rough for her and school was mainly about getting emotional support.  She actually unlearned things from her fall conference to her spring conference!  Not this year though.  She is making lots of friends and learning lots of things.  I am very glad she didn't go to Kindergarten this year--that probably would have been a disaster.

We are looking forward to having a few days off this week to just play!  Our weeks are usually very busy--two nights with their dad, DivorceCare for Kids and Awana.  That doesn't leave much time to do sports and activities at this point.  DivorceCare will be done in two more months.  Ethan has expressed interest in karate and Olivia desperately wants to take either dance or gymnastics.  I have asked my family not to get lots of toys for the kids this year for Christmas--we are literally overflowing with crap around here.  I would much rather have experiences--trips, outings, activities.  That way the only tangible things I have to store are photos!  :)

Here are a couple pics from the last few months.

Day 15: I am thankful for my son!

Today my sweet boy turns 8!  I can't believe he has been here that long.  I still remember the nervous excitement of staggering into the hospital, pausing for contractions and being sure they would send me home.  I soon found out I was already at a 6 so I settled in for the dreaminess of an epidural.  A few hours later I was holding my first child in my arms!

Ethan is such a wonderful boy.  He is curious, smart, funny and so empathetic.  He sometimes gets hurt by things and since I too have empathy (too much at times), we can relate to the feelings together.  He has told me several times that other boys just don't have the heart he does.

That they don't Ethan, that they don't!  It is part of what makes him such a special, uniquely awesome kid.

Ethan, I am delighted and blessed to have a son like you!  I pray that you will grow up to be a strong man with a great heart and a never ending pursuit of God's plan for your life.

Day 14: I am thankful for healing.

I was looking back at Day 1 and read the part about how I wanted to be in a coma for a while to make it through everything that was happening to me.  I can thankfully say that I no longer feel that way!  In fact, I don't think I have had that thought cross my mind in months.  Life is good.  I am healing, although I am not healed.  It might always be a work in progress.  Stuff still happens and knocks me down but I am able to get back up a lot quicker than I could at the beginning.

So I am thankful for healing and the ability to continue down a path of healing.

Day 13: I am thankful for helpful people

I am thankful for helpful people.  Specifically, helpful men that can help me with the household jobs that I have always relied on a husband for.  Tonight my friend reset my sprinklers to actually work, so the atrocity in my front yard might actually resolve itself soon.  He also changed a battery in a smoke detector for me. 

There have been a number of great men in my life that have helped me out in the last 7 months.  My dad, my brother, my brother-in-law, my neighbors, my friends' husbands....I am thankful for all of them!  I try to do as much as I can on my own, but let's be honest--sometimes you just need a man to help you out! 

Feminists everywhere are dying right now, I know.  :)

Day 12: I am thankful for time.

Yesterday the kids and I went to say our final goodbye to their last great grandpa.  He is 86 and has lived a full life and is ready to go.  The kids did great and I think I made the right choice in taking them.  He was peaceful and joyful.  He knows where he is going and is looking forward to seeing his wife that passed away 9 years ago.  I am so glad we had a chance to say goodbye to him while he was still able to talk to us.

I have never been around someone at the end of their life.  It was an extraordinary experience.  I was struck by the happiness that seemed to surround him.  He wasn't lying there full of sadness and regret--he was embracing the situation and preparing to move on.  We should all strive to live a life that enables us to embrace the end of our life like that. 

Day 11: I am thankful for summer colds

Are you sensing my sarcasm?  Because I'm laying it on pretty thick....

Oh, the summer cold.  Somehow so much worse than a winter cold, not sure why.  I brazenly shared a drink with my sister last weekend even after she warned me she was sick.  I don't get sick!  At least not usually. 

But here I sit today with a runny nose, scratchy throat and lots of sneezing.  And moms, you know what happens when you sneeze after popping out a couple babies.  It ain't pretty.

I am holding out hope that it will improve quickly--I haven't actually gotten a real cold for quite some time.  I have these symptoms for a day or two and then feel better.  Hopefully this is just a pretend summer cold!

Well, there's always money in the banana stand.

Day 10: I am thankful for road trips!

Last weekend I took a road trip with my sister to visit her BFF Gena in Evanston, near Chicago.  I am so thankful I got to hang out with them!  We had an awesome weekend involving clubbing downtown, lunching uptown, napping, facebooking when we shouldn't have been and lots of girl talk. 

I have been itching for a road trip for quite some time and it ended up being just as awesome as I had hoped.  Yea!

Day 9: I am thankful for Pandora!

For some reason, I never really bothered listening to Pandora.  Now I am wondering why!  I have heard so much music in the last few weeks that I never would've heard but that I love!  And it is FREE!  That definitely works with my budget these days.  :)

Day 8: I am thankful for Adrien!

Today I am thankful for my dear friend Adrien.  We met when our boys were little babies.  The first time I met her I decided she was just too much for me but she disagreed and clawed her way in.  Now she is one of my besties.  :) 

She is the kind of friend that knows how to get food and water at my house without needing to ask.  We don't feel the need to stop talking and shut the door when we use the bathroom.  We have taken naps together while our kids were napping.  She is just all around awesome!

She is also one of the few friends I have that has been through divorce.  She totally gets it, in a way that no one else can.  I can say things to her that I don't say to many other people because she understands where it is coming from.  I don't need to sugarcoat things with her, which I find myself doing sometimes to just avoid any unpleasantness.

She is just a wonderful, generous, caring woman and I am delighted and thankful to call her a friend!

all atwitter (how old is that?)

I have caved into peer pressure and rejoined twitter.  If you were following me before, that account is now defunct because I created a new one.

time2bawesome!

Follow me so I can follow you!  I used a new email address to set it up so it isn't syncing with my contacts.

Day 7: I am thankful to be a mother

I am so thankful to be a mother. It is something I always wanted and I feel so blessed to have gotten the chance. My kids are the lights of my life. They make my heart smile all the time. Sometimes they frustrate and exhaust me but even still, I love them madly. I can't imagine how empty my life would feel without them.

Day 6: I am thankful for dance floors

On Saturday my sister and I did a little wedding crashing!  A family friend's daughter was getting married and Em and I asked if we could come dance.  Then, a couple canceled the night before so we also got invited to dinner!

This was easily the swankiest wedding I have ever been to.  Awesome decor, awesome food, awesome everything.  Em and I sat at the cousins table, which we totally rocked and were a huge hit.  :)

Then the music...and the dancing!  Oh, the dancing.  We danced for at least three hours straight.  They had a band and a DJ so it was just a nonstop dance party.  We busted out our best moves and even our worst moves and had an absolute ball.  I haven't had that much fun in quite a while.

Will someone please open a dance club that is like a wedding reception every night?  Good music, white girl dancing and no creepy guys bumping up behind you.  I would be there every weekend.

Day 5: I am thankful for a king size bed!

I am thankful for a king size bed.  Why, you ask?  So that my kids have a place to sleep when the thunderstorms roll in.  The bed was pretty crowded last night but we made it work.

My kids are terrified of thunderstorms.  Ethan is getting better but Pibs just loses it!  It was not a very restful night for any of us, despite the bed.  Around 11, I thought the storm was done so I turned off all the lights and they settled down.  Then the room turned red and started shaking when the thunder came.  I think lighting either struck our house or someplace very near by.  And then the power went out--only on one wall of my bedroom.  Weird!  I managed to get it back on by flipping the circuit breaker.

We finally fell asleep around midnight.  I moved Pibs around 2 because she was sleeping directly across the bed and pushing Ethan and I off the sides.  Thankfully no more storms came last night.

But looking at the weather for the next few days does not give me hope of a good night's sleep!  So I will just be thankful for my big bed.  :)

Day 4: I am thankful for family

I could name a hundred reasons I am thankful for my family but I will go with what they did for me yesterday.

My whole family came over and helped me clean my house, inside out and top to bottom.  My dad and brother mulched my entire yard, cut down a huge shrub, tamed my climbing rose and just generally spruced up the outside.

The rest of my family spent the day inside wiping down every surface available, dusting, clearing out clutter, reorganizing and just generally sprucing up the inside.  JT did manly jobs like hanging curtain rods, replacing light bulbs and removing a faucet. 

It ended up taking much longer than I expected (we really dug in deep) and the main floor was left mostly undone yesterday.  I've spent the day blasting music and cleaning every square inch.  It feels like we just moved in. 

The whole point was to give me a fresh start in my house---I'd say mission accomplished!

My family is so awesome, it defies words.

Day 3: I am thankful that my child does not have head lice...yet

On Monday a note was sent home from preschool saying that someone in her class had head lice.  Eeewww.  I have been totally skeeved out since then and am constantly combing through her hair.  So far so good.  No nits, no sign that anything is amiss.  But I don't know if there is an incubation period and if so, how long it is. 

But for now, I am thankful that there seems to be no lice in my house--pray that it stays that way!

Day 2: I am thankful for podcasts

I am thankful for podcasts!  They have become a joyful little slice of my day where I get to zone out for a while and learn something. 

Some of my favorites include Stuff you Missed in History Class, Stuff you Should Know, History Chicks, MarketPlace and This American Life.

Some new ones I've recently discovered are Titanic Letters (letters from people who were on Titanic, read in a delightful Irish accent) and BBC Witness. 

Do you have any favorites to share?  Please do!  I am always looking for new stuff to listen to.

Day 1: I am thankful for perseverance

Perseverance. Without it, I would not get out of bed each day. Perseverance through God is what gets my feet on the floor, gets me moving even when every part of me just wants to be in a coma for the next year. The promise that God is with me, pushing me forward, holding me up when I want to crumble is the most amazing gift. I am thankful for it every day.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James 1:2-4

30 days of thankfulness

I need more thankfulness in my life. In the past few months, it has been so easy to focus on what is hard, what has been lost, what is uncertain. I am going to spend the next 30 days posting daily about what I am thankful for. I am excited to see the results!

ha!

I guess I tricked you. I have nothing to write yet, mainly because I don't know how to get pictures from the camera onto the computer. Once I figure that out, I will tell you about our trip to Disney World!

welcome!

Thank you for joining us at our new blog address!