birthday.

I'm thankful for my birthday.  Praise God that He allowed me another year older. More days to live to the fullest and be the best person that I can be. 

This morning, I called my parents to thank them for birthing me; most of the gratitude to my Mother;-) My friends took me to lunch.  A co-worker brought in cupcakes.  My facebook page was full of birthday wishes.  Friends joined us for dinner before visiting Santa and my family surprised me with some gifties from B&BW. 

A beautiful day.

And the fun hardly stopped there.  Both kids were excited to see Santa this year. There was no trepidation, no fear - just pure magic for the asking.  Elaina popped herself right up on Santa's knee along with the Toys R Us catalog and pointed to at least a dozen things that she wanted.  Lincoln ran over to Santa and really just wanted some conversation.  Santa gifted them both with 'magical' elves; Lincoln's first year to care for one of his own.

It truly was a great night and the only thing that could have made it better was more sleep.  Sill fighting a cold and apparently my (new) old age has just worn me out.

familiar

Did I mention that hunting season is (almost) drawing to a close?  And were you aware that my beloved husband also stops shaving his face at the end of October?  An entire month of wiskers.

Joy.

And so, 5 whole minutes before friends were coming over for dinner, Eric decided it was beard-off-night.  He busted out the clippers and tackled his furry face until I could see the silouhette of the familiar face I had once known.  After a quick shower and full shave, my husband had been renewed.  Smooth, clean and handsome.  Tonight's thanks is all about my handsome husband and his face that I love.  I'm glad to see it's return.

Church play

Rest is good.  A day of doing so very minimal, almost nothing - priceless.

Today I have felt much better.  And so much for a day without commitment.  Housework.  Decorating Christmas outside.  Laundry.  Oh, and a little Christmas play that Elaina has been working on for nearly 3 weeks. This evening was the grand performance.

I signed up to help prepare the miniature cast with their stage make-up.  I took the liberty of doing Elaina's darling face at home and sparing time for the rest of the kids.  Within an hour, all the kids faces were shining like disco balls with glitter swept across their eyelids and their bodies busy with excitement.

Let me also mention that Lincoln wanted no part in attending play practice but, by the time the play actually rolled around, he whined that he wanted to be in the play.  So.  It doesn't quite work that way.

Seeing Elaina glowing with equal parts of confidence and blush, she made me so very proud.  She delivered her lines with ease and hit her mark every time.  To say that I am thankful for this girl would be a great understatement.  To say that this child makes my heart happy and completes my life is a closer to the truth. 

Simple things

Maybe it's a head cold.  Maybe my neck pipes are rusting and discenigrating.  Still unable to discern.  But I don't feel good.  That, I am certain.

Though today carried no commitments, we were invited to a surprise party to celebrate one of Eric's friends/ co-worker's birthday.  Since I could see no way that my pajamas or my blanket would be acceptable at such an event, Eric took the kids and left me to rest at home.  This concludes my day.

Yet... the light at the end of the tunnel.  As I was putting Lincoln to bed he asked for a drink of water, upon my return with his mini cup only partly full, he whispered "thanks Mom.  You're the best."  My day had become fulfilled.  Blessed by this thirsty boy.

Grueling

It's been a grueling week.  It's week 2 of hunting season which easily translates to "mostly single mom season."  The kids have had severe attitudes which have landed them early bedtimes.  I've been battling cold symptoms and migraines.  And I'm looking at the third week in a row that my dining room is filled to capacity with closet purge/ outgrown clothes/ Christmas totes/ and incomplete projects - all needing attention and a new home.  This, alone, makes me batty.

At this point, I am thankful that the weekend is finally here, I've posted the 25 Days of Christmas tv schedule on the fridge and we don't have *too* many commitments for the weekend. I'm thankful for leftovers for dinner and brownie sundaes to celebrate a "green month" for Elaina (green on her daily report is good) and enjoying the fireplace in the kitchen to keep me toasty warm.  Capping off my evening, an early bedtime for me and a husband who is picking up some slack while I'm tucked into my bed.

Finding Good. And other things.

This is one heck of a way to kick off the gratitude blog. 

As I was brushing Elaina's hair before bedtime on Tuesday, I noticed a little glisten in one of her strands of hair.  A tiny "bulb" if you will, that seemed pointedly out of place. Investigating more closely, it was becoming more clear to me that I had found a dreadful nit in her hair.  (Since my blogging break, I have failed to mention that we've been through this before with Elaina back in June.)  Oh, the work that is involved with nits and long hair. 

Tonight's thanks is that we already had the shampoo/ treatment on hand and 3 hours later (and about 10 loads of laundry), we had remedied her of what could have potentially been spread to all of her friends and family.  I caught it early and at this point, I feel confident that our house and our heads are free and clear of this dastardly little bother. 

It's time. No, really.

No excuses.  No more. 

So much of life passes us by goes so. fast. these days.  While it's (mostly) all good, I can barely seem to keep up - even on a good day.  At the same time, I'm so thankful for all of the goodness and fulfillment that this crazy, hectic life has to offer and that's become my newest inspiration for breathing new life into this very stale blog. 

A friend of mine posts her facebook statuses under, '#1000 thanks.'  And as sure as I can make time to facebook, I AM going to make time to post my thanks.  My gratitude journal as Oprah suggests.  Some thing or event in our day that makes my heart sing and deserves preservation. 

Let's face it, I'm not a great writer by any stretch and it seems apparent that I have a tendency to ramble, feel overwhelmed and then shut down.  (thus: no blogging) But this, this will be easy.  And on the heel of Thanksgiving and the Christmas season, there is just SO much that I am thankful for each and every day. 

I can be mostly certain that many of my posts may be choppy. Some may seem mundane while some may seem down right boisterous.  But, this is life - our life - and there's not a single day that I don't feel more blessed than I deserve. 

Let the gratitude GUSH!!!!