Thankful Tuesday

Aloha!  Welcome to Tuesday!  I've been up since 4:30 a.m. this morning, so my brain is wide awake and supercharged on caffeine.  From my bed, I was looking forward to coming to the computer to do this.

Today I am thankful for:
1.  Big toes.
My feet aren't very pretty.  They're large I run around the house barefoot, so they're not exactly smooth.  However, today (and yesterday I was thinking about this) I am thankful for big toes.  Not only do they hold me up, they provide a giant canvas for my kids' painting abilities.  Where would I be without my big toes?  Probably sitting down.

2.  Snuggling.
I am blessed to live in a house full of snugglers.  Whether it's a kid that got in bed in the middle of the night, a dog who wants to get close, or my husband, I love it when I'm lying in bed half asleep with someone against me.  This morning I woke up to find Capt. Midnight Sugar Dot Express curled up on my belly.  Snuggling makes me happy.

3.  Birds in the city.
We live in a city, so we've got concrete all around, but we still have tiny sparrows that hop on our driveway and cheep at me.  This morning I was walking Sugar Dot and I saw a male cardinal.  I love that in the midst of the city, there is still wildlife.

4.  Adam's brain.
While I have been eagerly working on teaching the kids to read and write, Adam has recently bought several tools to teach the kids about evolution.  That's something I don't know much about and I'm grateful that his brain can handle all that left-brained stuff.  I'm great at imparting curiousity about the world, and I'm thankful that I can often defer to him for the answers. 

5.  Children's prayers
Of their own accord, the kids stopped saying "God is great" and started making up their own prayers.  There's nothing sweeter than hearing Claire say, "Thank you God for the wonderful world and all our friends and all the food on our table."  or Paul saying, "Thank you God for all my friends that brought me birthday presents."  Yesterday Claire's table blessing included gratitude for her scrapbook kit, which she explained.  "Thank you God, thank you Spirit, for my scrapbook kit that we can stick letters on and order prints from Costco to put in my book with other decorations and bind the entire thing together in a book." 

6.  A healthy body
While I'm not winning any beauty contests, I am grateful that my body is fully functional and I've never had any major health problems. 

7.  Stickers
Last week I took both kids to the doctor for their wellness exams.  Claire had to have four shots and both children had blood drawn for lead testing.  Both kids screamed, but once they had fancy band-aids and a reward sticker, the pain seemed to be over.  Stickers are magic, just as magic as fancy band-aids.

8.  Beating the alarm clock
I can think of few sounds more annoying and dissonant than an alarm clock.  Today I woke up before I had to listen to mine.  It makes for a much more peaceful wakeup time.

9. Success in imparting wonder and appreciation in my kids
When I was growing up, my parents, in particular, my mother, loved to make fun of others.  I don't know how it started or why, but I was a participant for a long time.  As I grew older, though, I realized that I didn't want to be critical of others.  So even though, to this day, I can still hear her in my head laughing at those who are different, the voice stays in my head and doesn't come out my mouth.  What does come out of my mouth, for the most part, is intentional appreciation for those who are different.  For example, at church on Sunday, a lady wore an elaborate bright silver headwrap.  Claire said, "Look at that lady's head."  So instead of laughing about it, I intentionally directed the conversation in another direction.  "That's pretty cool," I said.  "I wish I had a silver headwrap to wear to church."  Claire said, "Yeah, that would be neat, like a princess crown."
Although Claire doesn't recognize that as a victory, I do.

10.  Perfect timing
This week I am thankful for all the times in the past seven days that we have made it on time to an event.  It takes a lot to get the whole family clean, dressed, and fed, and I breathe a sigh of relief and gratitude when we succeed.