Thankful Thanksgiving

I'm thankful. So very very thankful. For so very many things. And aren't you so very thankful that I'm going to share them all with you?

- I am thankful, for Ibuprofen. I know I've said that before but a few of these tablets and I am able to walk so very very comfortably even with an unruly sciatic nerve!

- I am thankful that a new season of Lost started last night. (My one TV show vice)

- I am thankful that my kids love each other--even if they run around the house like freaks and get a bit wild at times.

- I'm thankful that my favorite first born son made it home safely from North Carolina. I love that guy.

- I'm thankful for chances of snow. (Please God just one good snowfall this winter season would be so very awesome)

- I'm thankful for ground beef and the very versatile nature of it!!!!

- I'm thankful for a group of friends who will begin a "Biggest Loser" type challenge with me next week!!!! WAAAAAAHOOOOO WEIGHT BE GONE!

- I am thankful for a branch manager who has given me an extension on turning in my performance review.

- I am thankful that my lil sis was able to come home and connect with family. I know she needed that very much. I love her. Even if she doesn't always believe me.

Thank you God for taking such good care of me and my needs.

Validation

iGoogle has taken to posting daily youtube picks. I'm hooked. This video clip should definitely make a few folks' happy meters soar a bit. It's just over 16 minutes long but worth the viewing I promise.

Validation

Oh and by the way. You are awesome. You are beautiful. You matter.

Just when I wasn't sure...

what I was going to post about I checked out my friend, Jennifer's post over at Life With the Stanford's. She tagged me. Phew, I'm tired of running! Anyway, I'm supposed to post the fifth picture in my fifth picture folder. Thank God for me it wasn't any of my kids faces. I'm not that brave yet and I have a huge paranoia issue. Anyway, here it is...
Ain't she just the cutest thing? I caught her in mid scratch. And from the date this was before she even had fleas. I think someone has a voodoo house with my name on it and every now and then decides I need to learn to cope with new bugs. Itty bitty tiny ones that are very very annoying. I'm not proud that I just said that but I want you to know people..."I can relate!"

Ms. Dora was just over four months in this picture. Back when I ruled her upbringing. Before she was plumpened (new word that I think sounds better than plumped) with table vittles and allowed to sleep on my couch, white furniture, and our bed. Something I never ever thought I'd agree with.

So thank you Jennifer for the cute game. Hmmmm, who can I tag? I have to do more research this time since I tagged folks with my last "game" that had already been tagged previously. So, I am asking the following folks...

Liz over at Mabel's house --she always has interesting pictures
Alex --if he's even still reading my blog (thanks again for the hats by the way)
Deb over at ByGeorge
Casey over at Bundles of Beginnings (she's got a lot of glue and holds things together real well)
Anita over at Mud and Coffee (she's a model now!--really check out her blog!)

Thankful Thursday

Once again time to give thanks! Ah so much to be thankful for really. I'm thankful for...

a three day weekend. This one is especially sweet because my favorite little girl does not have to rise early for school on Monday.

extra sleep. WOOOOHOOO.

for my favorite first born son. (who scraped my windows of frost this morning without me even asking)

for crock pots!!!! Can I get an amen here?

for a dog that can pee on command. No seriously. It's freezing outside! I like to get that walk over with A.S.A.P. sometimes!

for spirited children--which lead to a life that is never dull.

for hot showers...brrrr I can't even imagined not having hot showers.

for a gym membership that I am actually using!!!!

for friends. People who pick me up with prayers, encouragement, smiles, and time. You know who you are. I APPRECIATE YOU!

changing seasons. Four of them in my part of the world. I love them all. Each for different reasons. Kind of like a work out. The warm up, the fat burner, the cardio, and the cool down.

Thank you, God. For everything.

Words Can't Say...

Have you ever had one of those days when you really want to have something meaningful to say but nothing comes to you? I'm having one of those days.

I attended a funeral today for a 35 year old, happily married, father of five. It was a skiing accident. He was a good father, a loving and caring husband. Every thought in my head pales in comparison to what that family must be feeling right now. The children are young. They have a long road ahead of them. I know God will bring them through this but that does not mean they won't feel the sting. Please pray for them. Pray for their mom. That God will give her the strength to continue raising children that are firmly planted in the path that God leads.

Not Me Monday

McMama started this "Not Me Monday" thing over at her blog some time ago and boy do people have some things to say about things they just would NEVER do. Turns out it's a lot of fun!

Some moms resort to tactics I'd never dream of implementing in my household. Like I'd...

never let my 3 year old have Christmas cookies for breakfast reasoning that he'd be saving me from extra calories and prevent me from wasting them by throwing them out. Some moms would do that but oh no NOT ME.

never get so impatient, because the vehicle in front of me is driving 10 miles under the speed limit--when I'm late for work, and contemplate getting a bumper sticker that says, "Get thee behind me Satan!" No way, that would be, well, not very nice. No way 'd do that.

never feed my kids dinner at 930 at night just because I was too busy cleaning the house and enjoying the fact that they were actually playing nice together. I mean what mom would wait so late to feed her kids?

Game Night...

Thursday night my daughter asked me, as I was tucking her in, if we could play some games the next night. Because we never play games together. So I planned a game night for us Friday night.

First up was Battleship. Complete with snacks. Healthy. Because Daddy was bringing home subs and pizza in a bit.
My favorite little girl in the world plays a mean game of Battleship.
Here was my chart way into the game. As you can see I was not doing well. I was getting pretty discouraged. Surely I should have a hit by now. I was feeling quite sure no armed forces unit would want me on THEIR boat with my pitiful homing skills.
But wait. Hmmm. Just LOOK at all that white! Wait look closer! Now I am positive both the enemy and I had the same number of ships. Oh and that they were all the same sizes. And that ONE of those boats is five pegs long. Hmmm, does anyone else notice that I have NO spaces that have five pegs in length and ZERO red pegs signifying a hit? Interesting. Me thinks the enemy is playing dirty. (Or hasn't yet learned how to play this game.)
Moving on...This one is always a good time. She's pretty good at putting those words together. GNU is the game.
She was wearing me out but talked me into one more selection. Sight word bingo. How could I resist? I mean it was another skill builder after all!
Notice the clothes change? A short break for vittles resulted in a juice spill hence the new wardrobe.
We had a good time. I think we'll be doing this again real soon. Maybe it will keep her occupied so I'm not watching her in scenes like this. (Though the ending was pretty good)

Marry Me