Friends

I've said it before and I'll say it again- I'm thankful for friends. Not just for myself but also for my kids. We have gotten to visit with our friends Jennifer and her two daughters, Emma and Amelia, twice this week. It's been so fun!
I'm also thankful for my Kindle. I love having so many books in one compact device. And now that I have discovered some websites that post freebies everyday, my collection continues to grow. It's wonderful!
And lastly, I am so thankful it is spring break for us! No school or work will be great this coming week! Here's hoping for this rain to end, sun to be abundant and the kids to have a blast on their new swing set (once its assembled). :)

Blue skies

Today I am thankful for blue skies! So beautiful! This picture is taken a mile or two from our house.

Sanity

I'm lacking patience today. My kids have been disobedient and it's wearing me down. It's almost their bedtime and I'm glad for it. I am thankful for the restored sanity I will have after they are tucked in and asleep.
Tomorrow is a new day. Also thankful for that. :)

Simplicity

I'm thankful for simple pleasures in life. A hike after dinner is a great example of that.

Laughs

My kids crack me up! I'm thankful for laughter today! This picture made me laugh a lot today!

Spring

It seems spring has finally sprung here. We had lovely weather today and we all got to spend some time outside. I'm thankful for beautiful weather!

Weather and things

We have had some crazy weather this week and I'm thankful we are (hopefully) through that. We have had temps in the 60's and all the way down in the 30's as well as sun, rain, snow and wind.
So, today I'm thankful that we are heading into spring. The warmer temps have gotten us all excited to be outside more and be more active.
I'm also thankful for the neighborhood we live in. My kids can go outside and play without us worrying about their safety. Our neighborhood is also perfect for "adventure" walks through the orchards.
I'm so thankful for my kids discovering their independence more each day. Mostly, I'm happy they go outside on their own now and don't freak out when I'm not out there with them.
I'm also thankful for new and exciting opportunities for my kids. Today is the first time Zane is bringing a friend home from school to play. He is so excited and I'm excited for him. He is getting so big!

Dinner

Tonight I am thankful that we had dinner as a family once again. It's the little things that make life happier. All of us had a great day today! We enjoyed school, work, play time together and dinner/dessert together. My favorite part of our day is story time at night before bed. I sit in the middle of the couch and the kids sit on either side of me and we read 4 books. Each kid gets to choose two and we alternate. (Zane will tell you we do an A B pattern. Hehe) Claire usually melts into my side or lays down next to me and listens while Zane sits as close as he can and reaches up to play with my hair. It's the most precious thing ever. I know I will miss this dearly when he is too cool to cuddle with his mom. :)
I.love.my.life.

Normal

I'm SO thankful the weekend is over. My kids spent the weekend visiting their dad and his girlfriend. They spent each day with them and came home for bed. I missed them so much!! I'm not crazy about my kids being with another woman but I am thankful they were comfortable with her and were able to enjoy the visit. It's so not about me, it's about them and their feelings. It's always a sad time when they say goodbye to their dad but this visit they seemed to be more excited to be home again. Which is so good for me to see. I am glad we can start our week getting back into our normal routine, get some good rest in and spend as much time as we can together. I love those two so much. I'm so so so happy tonight!

Weekend

The last half of this week got away from me! Time to catch up a few days here.
I'm thankful for spring cleaning. I finally got my new desk organized and packed full of all my office type stuff. I also have been throwing stuff out from all over that is just cluttering up our spaces. Feels so good to be getting cleaned and organized!
I'm so thankful for a good nights sleep. This week was different thanks to the time change last weekend. I actually had to go wake up my usually early risers so they had time to wake up and eat before heading to school.
I'm thankful for the opportunities to be with my kids while they are at school, whether it's when I'm at work or when I volunteer in their classrooms. I always enjoy myself and I look forward to the days I get to help.
I'm thankful for a day out with a good friend and without kids. Today was a refreshing and relaxing day. Shopping, lunch and good conversation...yes please!

Muffins

Today I am thankful for time spent with Claire. She helped me make blueberry muffins and "learned how to mix". I enjoyed the time we spent. She is such a precious girl and I'm so lucky to be her mom!

Motherhood

Today I'm thankful I get the opportunity to be a mom. It's trying and rewarding all at once. I feel so incredibly blessed to be a mom to my two kids. They amaze me and fill my life with such happiness. I just cannot imagine my life without them in it.

Weekend

Our weekend has been so nice! Last time I posted I was thankful for all of us being healthy but the next morning Zane was still sick/sick again. He had to miss a fourth day of school and a birthday party but he did ok. He has been fine since Friday evening now and I am so glad! So I am again thankful for restored health in all of us.
I'm also thankful for the beautiful sunny weather we had on Saturday that allowed us to have a lot of outside play time. Bikes and scooters were ridden, papa's new riding mower and trailer were broken in, bug boxes were filled with grass, dirt and rocks in anticipation of finding bugs to inhabit them, and bubbles were blown.
The outside time is something else I am thankful for. Mostly because for the first time in the past year and a half, the kids actually played outside alone. They have always been too scared to be outside without one of us out with them. All this weekend they have played outside alone and survived it!! I couldn't be happier or more proud of them for overcoming that fear. Here are some pictures from their outside time this weekend.

PSA

My dear friend April will appreciate this. Takes me back to high school gym class with her and "running" the mile. Still true though. Ha!

Sun!

Today I am so thankful for sunshine! We had beautiful weather today and it made everyone happy! It was sunny, blue skies and about 60 degrees or so. Perfect weather! We are looking forward to another day like this tomorrow. I think spring may be on the way!

Health

Today I am thankful the restoration of health. Zane and I are both doing much better this afternoon. We will be returning to work and school tomorrow!
I am SO ready for spring and being over cold and flu season!!

Naps

Today I am thankful for naps. Especially naps taken while sick. Zane woke up around 3am and was sick with why his sister had. I wasn't feeling too great myself. We had a long rest of the night. Thankfully, we had the house to ourselves for half the day and were able to both stretch out on the couches and sleep for a couple hours. That was really good for us both. I am hoping he will be better off tomorrow. I hate when my kids are sick! :(

A week

One week since I posted last. Well, 6 days. Things got slightly crazy here and blogging went out the window. My Claire bear has been sick with some yucky flu bug. Before that we had a million things going on and places to be. I have another busy week this week, but hopefully not as crazy!
So, 6 things to be thankful for. And these are not in any particular order.
I am thankful for a good nights sleep when your kid is sick. It makes a world of difference for you and them.
I am thankful for my job. I enjoy most of the people I work with and I love the kids.
I am thankful for peace that only comes from God's guidance and love.
I am thankful for this quarter of my school being close to over. :) I have realized I don't do well in classes I need to analyze things or read between the lines and dig deeper for meanings behind things. I am a facts type of girl. Black or white, I just want to know which one.
I am thankful for chocolate milk. A few days this past week, I had to run to the store before heading home and I enjoyed some "Dairygold Old Fashioned Chocolate milk" and it's my favorite. Yay for a 15 minute commute and time to enjoy chocolate milk without the kids asking for sips or their own jug of it. :)
I am thankful for school hot lunches. I have been forcng Zane to try hot lunch a couple times a week to get him out of his little fear box of getting lunch at school. He has done well and is starting to enjoy getting it now. And he is trying new foods and liking them, which makes me super happy!
Woo! I did it! It's really not hard to find something to be thankful for at any given time though. Now I think it's time for me to catch up on some of my Bible yearly reading plan. Yep, got behind there too.