30 Days of Gratitude - Day Twenty Three

I am grateful for books.  I love books and I married a man that loves books.  We are book people. 
When packers come to help us move they always end up referring to one room in the house as the "library."  Same for when movers helps us move into a new house.  There are three substantial bookcases in our living room.  One in the man cave.  Each of the boys has one in their bedroom (though Timmy's is half stuffed animals right now). 
There's something about the well-written word that is intriguing.  I can never read enough.  There's always more knowledge to be gained, a new insight about the world to be discovered within the pages of the next book.  I haven't been able to read nearly as much as I would like to since the boys were born but the books I do read inspire me in a way that other forms of entertainment rarely achieve. 

30 Days of Gratitude - Day Twenty Two

I am grateful that we have a washer and a dryer in our home!  Having two kids and cloth diapering would certainly be a lot more difficult without them in the house!

30 Days of Gratitude - Day Twenty One

Today I am grateful for weekends ... and time off in general.
It wasn't so long along when we lived in Minot and Chris' schedule was chaotic.  From month to month, day to day, the schedule changed.  We were lucky if he got two free days off in a row some months, let alone have those two days off on a Saturday and Sunday like the rest of the western world.  Getting time off around the holidays was always hard.  The military members performing Chris' job were all lucky if they only worked one holiday between Thanksgiving and New Years Day. 
It's been, well, two and a half years since Chris "pulled crew" and had that schedule.  Since then he's also missed an entire holiday season while deployed. 
No matter how time has past since then, it's always fresh in my mind.  I get questions sometimes, especially with Chris' current job, asking about the hours he keeps.  People feel sorry for him and for us because they assume that the hours are hard.  But I'm always immediately reminded of those past experiences.  Times, not so long ago, when Chris was a missilier and when he was deployed and his side of the bed was empty.  It overwhelms me with gratitude for our current situation, which seems so easy by comparison. 
It's not like we do anything special on Saturday and Sunday.  We have two small children.  We play, we eat, we cuddle up on the couch, we take walks, go to church, maybe take a trip to the beach.  But I'm grateful for every minute of it.

30 Days of Gratitude - Day Twenty

I missed a day.  So, here's yesterday's gratitude.
I am SO grateful to be able to afford a babysitter so that Chris and I can have an adult night out.  Last night we went to see the new Harry Potter movie (which we both thought was pretty darn good) with another couple. I enjoyed the break from the boys ... and David enjoys playing with his babysitters, so it's a good time all around.
I'm grateful to have a strong marriage.  It's something that I'm proud of because we, well, the common phrase is "work at it."  But I don't like that phrase.  It makes it sound like I think that my marriage is work or that it's a chore to keep a marriage strong.  Technically it is a chore, and it does take effort, so it can be defined as "work."  But this work, this marriage ... it's a totally different thing.  When it comes to relationships with other people, my marriage is number one, then my relationship with my children comes next, and other friends and family, after that.  I think that's the key.  And it's nights like last night that cement that relationship.

30 Days of Gratitude - Day Nineteen

Today I am grateful for the financial means and military support that allow us to give the boys a variety of experiences.
Today, while David was in preschool, Timmy and I participated in a music class.  We sang songs, played instruments and danced with other parents and young children.  It was a blast.  Timmy wasn't so sure about all the stimulation, but I think, given more opportunities to experience it, he would really love it.
On the way home I was thinking about how lucky we are.  The boys get to be involved in so many different activities and have some really incredible experiences because of our lifestyle.
This week the three things that come to mind are preschool, gymnastics, and music class.  I am so grateful that we are able to afford for the boys to be able to learn about the world and themselves through these activities. 
We are also fortunate that the Air Force and the Department of Defense make these activities available to us (and at no cost for people with limited means).  For as much as military spouses might complain that military families get forgotten in the shuffle, it's days like today that I am reminded that we do have a lot of resources at our fingertips, if we care to take the effort to use them.

30 Days of Gratitude - Day Eighteen

I can't believe that I've gotten this far into a month of gratitude without being grateful for David's hilarious personality!  I am so grateful he has so much joy and excitement in his heart and that he expresses it in his own special way.  I had a pastor tell me one time that everyone has a fruit of the spirit that comes more easily to them.  Well, then David's fruit of the spirit is joy.  It's like there's an unending fountain of joy bubbling up inside of him.  In honor of my brave and special little boy, here's another David story.

Last night, David and I sat down on his bed to read a book before tucking him in to bed.  He had picked The Grouchy Ladybug, which is one of his favorites.  After sitting on the bed, David gathered up a stuffed Elmo doll and "Mimi" (a blanket with a stuffed lamb head that is David's main lovie).  As I opened the book, I realized David was holding Elmo's head with one hand and Mimi's with the other so that they also were looking at the book.  Totally cute, I thought.

David has a great memory.  He has some of his books completely memorized and loves to recite what he remembers.  So in order to keep him from talking over me while I'm reading, we've come up with a system where David always gets to say certain things, like the key word on each page.  One of his favorite things to say is the author's name.

So, last night this is how the beginning of The Grouchy Ladybug went:
Me: "The Grouchy Ladybug by ..."
David: "Eric Carle"
Mimi (in a high voice): "Eric Carle"
Elmo (in a low voice): "Eric Carle"

I was laughing so hard, but trying not to laugh out loud, that I was actually crying.  David just looked at me in a puzzled sort of way ... because all stuffed animals talk, right?  And I love that Elmo got a low voice, because Elmo, if you've ever heard him, has one of the squeakiest Muppet voices.

David held Elmo and Mimi's heads through the whole book so they could see the story too.

Have I mentioned how much I love this kid?

30 Days of Gratitude - Day Seventeen

"There are the people you have known forever. Who like..... know you... in this way that other people can't. Because they've seen you change. They've let you change." - from My So Called Life

Today I am grateful for the support and encouragement of a couple of friends that I've known since my age was a single digit. 
It's funny how it works.  We don't even have to talk about each other's problems.  We might not ever even say to the other that it's been a hard day or a great day.  We just talk.  Things in our lives remind us of the other.  So, we chat about books or TV shows or children, hobbies, our loves, our jobs.  But in the midst of that chatting about the interesting book or the great vacation, I am uplifted.  I am reminded of how much I am loved for who I am, accepted for the person I've become, and how much greater my successes are because my friends rejoice in them with me.