30 Things for which I'm Thankful

So this year I decided I just could not blog every day for 30 days in November.  By the end of the day, I'm beat.  I mean, seriously, I'm not sure how people have gobs of kids because I'm exhausted being pregnant with my 4th!  It's not that I don't have things for which I'm thankful--I just don't have the desire to do it every day. 

There, I've beat that one to death.  Onto my 30 things...

1.  my salvation--It's so reassuring to know that no matter what I do or what happens around me, this world is not my home.  I have an eternal home awaiting me that will have no tears or pain.  As I ponder that reality, I am struck by how lovely that will be.

2.  Ryan and my kids--As much as the kiddos can make me crazy and give me headaches, I love my little stinkers.  (Just as I typed that, Jack came out of my room mummified in toilet paper.  It's like God was testing just how much I really love them.)  I will admit that the amount I like them at times vacillates.

3.  my neighborhood--I definitely want a bigger house, but it will be hard to move with such great neighbors surrounding us!

4.  my house--It's currently bursting at the seams, but I love that it's cozy and has served us well for the past nine years.  I never thought we'd live here this long!

5.  the U.S.--I am so thankful for the freedoms we have and for the safety I feel here.  Yesterday Grant and I were watching some news coverage of a house that exploded for an as yet unknown reason.  I told him they think it might have been some sort of bomb, and he looked at me and laughed.  "Bombs aren't real, " he said.  I'm thankful that he thinks bombs are not real while I know children in other parts of the world know all too well how real they are!

6.  my family and Ryan's family of origin--I'm thankful that my parents are together and happy and that Ryan's are as well.  I'm thankful that both of us enjoy spending time with our families and that hopefully we can pass along the same love to our children.

7.  this little one growing inside of me--This week I was reminded that a healthy pregnancy is not something we can take for granted.  I am thankful that this little one is growing (just wish I wasn't so much!) and wiggling (though not as much as his/her siblings--a sign of a laid back baby?? ).

8.  Jack's school and teacher--I love that he's in a positive environment 5 days a week for 8 hours/day.  I'm thankful that he's right where he should be and is enjoying and doing well in school.

9.  my health and my family's health--I'm glad that we are generally healthy and that the issues we have are not too serious.

10.  medicine to make us feel better when we're sick--By the same token, I'm glad that when my kids are sick I can take them to the doctor and get medicine to help them feel better.  I'm also super thankful for tylenol, benadryl and motrin, which have allowed me to get a little more sleep this week than I would have otherwise gotten!

11. Little People toys--All of my kids love playing with these.

12.  peppermint mochas from Starbucks--need I say more??

13.  a nice hospital where I'll deliver this baby--We went on a tour last weekend, and it seems like it'll be a good place to spend a couple of days.  There is also a Starbucks in the lobby.  I wonder if they do room service, and I can charge it to the room. :)

14,  lots of clothes--As I grumbled about sorting all of my kids clothes the past few weeks, I probably should have been thinking about how thankful I should be that we have so many clothes. 

15.  my job--Speaking of grumbling, I've been doing a lot of it this year about my job.  However, I am thankful for the free Y membership, my kids' teachers, my great students, and my awesome co-workers.

16.  my mini-van--I love all of the cup holders and the DVD player.  I love that it fits all of us and that there is a lot of space.  I also like being up higher.  I feel like such a grown-up.  Should I be thankful for that??

17.  my TV--This is how I veg at the end of the day.  There are better ways to waste time, but this one is a pretty good one at 31 weeks pregnant!

18.  great grandparents for my kids--I'm thankful that my kids enjoy their grandparents and that their grandparents seem to enjoy them.

19.  2 dates this month with Ryan--Since we never have any dates, this month is a huge rarity.  I'm glad that we were able to get a sweet sitter to stay with the kids while we toured the hospital.  I'm sure the other people on the tour would have been thankful for the sitter, too, had they known how much more lively their tour might have been with three noisy kids on it.

20.  the Internet--I love knowing what my college friends are doing now thanks to Facebook.  I'm also thankful that we can send pictures to family via the Internet.

21.  Ryan's grandparents--As Ryan's grandma deals with cancer, I can say for sure that I am thankful for them.  They have shown me such love and welcomed me as their own granddaughter.  They have served others well for many years, and it's been such a blessing to see how God has rewarded that service during their recent time of need.  We continue to pray for pain relief in his grandma's leg.

22.  books--I love reading good books and am thankful that my kids love reading and looking at books.  I'm thankful that we have such easy access to books and that I had the freedom, in spite of being a woman, to have learned to read.

23.  clean water--I drink a lot of water, and I'm glad that I can just turn on the faucet and drink the water.  Yum!

24.  my washing machine and dryer--I hate the fact that my washing machine and dryer are in the garage.  I mean, seriously, I HATE it.  However, when my washing machine was broken last month, I realized that I don't really care where it's located as long as it works.  The idea of going to a laudromat or using some other coin-operated laundry facilities makes me cringe.

25.  when my kids play nicely together--'nuf said

26.  the crazy decoration house in our neighborhood--We have a house in our neighborhood that goes crazy with inflatable decorations at Christmas and Halloween.  The kids love it, and it always makes me smile.

27.  having a little girl--I love my boys.  I really do.  However, it is lovely having a girl, especially after two boys.  I love the tights, the bows, the baby dolls, the quiet.  I know that a lot of could be her personality, but there is just something so precious about her girliness.

28.  my bed--Again, at 31 weeks pregnant, sleep is a good thing!

29.  Ryan's job--I'm thankful that Ryan has a stable job that allows me to stay home.  That's a lot to say in this economy.

30.  Christmas music--I've basically held off until after Thanksgiving on listening to Christmas music, but now that it's over, I can listen to Christmas music 24/7.  I love it!

Happy Halloween

So Halloween this year was a little different.  Caroline started running a fever two days before Halloween so I figured she wouldn't be trick-or-treating.  Plus, we hadn't carved a pumpkin--bad parents!

 

However, we must have a carved pumpkin and a costume on each child because, afterall, there will be pictures to document our memories!

 



Ryan was gone so I cut the top open and tried to enlist the boys to help scoop the goop.  They lasted about two minutes--long enough to snap a few pics--before running off to watch "Word Girl."  At least they were willing to touch it!  Caroline was asleep so she missed all of the fun.  Poor baby!

After Ryan came home he carved a pirate face into the pumpkin.  Aargh, matey!

My superheroes and monkey--Once Caroline put the monkey costume on, she loved it and kept wanting to play with the tail.  I knew she would like it once she actually put it on!  Aren't they all adorable?

 

Caroline felt good enough to go to a few houses and collect some candy.  Of course, as soon as got home she had to try all of it.  Notice her little pile of opened, half-eaten candy in front of her.

Grant's loot--not sure what the pointing is about, but he did it in all the pictures I took.  He was in heaven with all the candy!

 

Jack sorted his candy when he got home.  We love that he doesn't have a sweet tooth. :)  He kept asking, "Do I like this one?"  It's hard to say, "No" or "I'm not sure" for candies that I love.  Needless to say, Ryan and I ended up with WAY more candy than we needed!

Indian Summer

(I just have to say, it feels very strange to call the weather "Indian Summer."  Shouldn't it be Native American Summer?  Hmmm....)

 

About a week and a half ago we had some lovely, unseasonably warm, sunny weather.  Like, shorts, t-shirts, flip-flops, sunglasses weather.  Gorgeous!!

 

Let's just take a moment to remember what those days are like...

 

I decided I had to take advantage of it, especially since (a) it's probably the last day of shorts/t-shirt weather we'll have for a few months and (b) the next time we do have warm weather I'll have a newborn, and it'll be too hard to run after two preschoolers with a baby.

 

Can you picture it?  It's a little ridiculous.

 

After dragging the kids to the Y so momma could get her workout on, the two younger ones and I headed out to the park for playground fun and a picnic.  They were so excited about the picnic.  I love that these two are so easy to please! :)  It was fun, too, because we ran into a student of mine with her mom and sister, who happens to be in Caroline's class.  The six of us hung out and did a little fitness trail at the park.  It was funny to see how differently the kids behaved--my two little daredevils, the student of mine who was so cautious, and the peer of Caroline's who ran all over the place.  All in all, it was a great day and led to great naps for two of us--win-win. (Grant's given them up, but I sometimes force Caroline to take them still.  We're all happier if naps happen!)

 

Caroline and Grant enjoying their picnic lunch

Grant LOVES sliding down poles at the park. 

 

Caroline has watched her brothers slide down the poles enough to know how it goes.  Unfortunately, my precocious two-year-old thinks she can do anything they do and makes my blood pressure go up every time she goes near the things. Someday I'm afraid she's going to take the leap.  (And yes, she chose the tutu--precocious yet girly.)

The kids also enjoyed the swings.  I realize this doesn't look like "enjoying," but a different, out-of-focus picture showed a smile.  I promise!

 

It's too bad summer weather is over.  If we lived in Southern California we could enjoy nice, sunny, warm weather year-round.  Of course, then we might not appreciate it quite as much because it would be same old, same old.  (At least, that's what I tell myself.)  I'm not ready for the cold, dreary days of winter, but I guess the change of seasons has its benefits.

one last check

A couple of Sundays ago we crossed our last Fall item off the mental list: a trip to the pumpkin farm.  We already had several pumpkins at home so it was really more for the experience than for the actual purchase of a pumpkin.  We've been to this farm (Waterman's) for the past several years and have had a good time there each time.  It was a little different going on a Sunday afternoon as we've always gone on a Saturday, but we still had fun.

Grant, the scarecrow

Jack's getting taller each year.  He wanted to wear his Batman costume to the pumpkin farm--gotta love six-year-olds.  I must say that we've definitely gotten our money's worth out of this costume!

This year Caroline saw the boys going through the hay bale maze and wanted to do it, too.  Ryan is not a big fan of it but decided he should accompany her seeing as I'm a big too large at this point.  (But let's be honest, there were some bigger people than I crawling through there so I suppose I could have done it.  Oh well.)

Caroline made it out the other side like it was no big deal.  Ryan, on the other hand, was not signing up for another trip through it.  Something about claustrophobia and the fear of a spark lighting the whole thing on fire--stinks to be an adult, doesn't it?

All of them scaled the hay bale mountain.  I stayed firmly on the ground in order to take the picture.

Of course we had to see the famous pumpkin eating dinosaur.  Caroline and Grant were transfixed by it--so cute!

 

We took a hay ride to get our pumpkins, during which Grant threw hay all over people.  The hay-throwing kids always bugged me, probably because I'm allergic.  Now I have one--great.  The bad news for him is that he's likely allergic or is going to be in the future.  Enjoy the hay rides now, kiddo.  They're not so fun when you can't breathe!

Farmer Batman

We told the kids they could each pick out a pumpkin that they could carry.  Caroline found about 5 pumpkins that she wanted.  I think, in the end, we grabbed one for her since she kept putting hers down.

 

The boys searched a long time for their perfect pumpkins.  I'm pretty sure there were tears before we left, even though we thought our guidelines would make things easier for all of us.

The boys finally found pumpkins but got tired of waiting in the super long line to buy them.  Jack made small talk with the people behind us by stating that they must be rich for buying such huge pumpkins.  At least he's learning the value of a dollar and what things are worth!