Happy Thanksgiving!

We are having my in-laws over today for a co-hosted turkey day. The turkey will be cooked at Mr. M's brother's home, since we don't have a full sized oven. It's only a couple of blocks away, and in addition to the bird we're sending over 2 dozen brown and serve rolls and a few bags of steam-bag veggies. It's nice the other house is so close so we can pull this off.
Not that we're slacking here. We're making 2 dozen rise and bake rolls, four pies, home-made whipped cream, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, two kinds of dressing, cranberry waldorf salad, and prepping the turkey.
The kids are pitching in with the cleaning so they can earn minor jobs helping with the cooking. They'll be rewarded with a nice hot brunch of GF gingerbread, orange rolls, eggs and sausage.

It should be a great afternoon/evening of good food, good family, and good football. It's truly a day to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving alls!

Thankful for my big kids being home today

Today started kind of rough. It's the first day of a five day break so the boys were um, "excited." So grouchy mom tried to be snappy. It didn't work too well. Our dear oldest son, just said "okay" every time I asked him to do something...even things I should have been doing.
"Get your sister breakfast"
"K"
"Keep the tv on preschool channels so I can get work done."
"K"
"Guard my soda from Si-Guy"
"K" (and he didn't drink any of it either!)
It's hard for a mom to stay in a bad mood amongst the three ring circus when there's even one kid who has their act together.
Later in the morning, post stolen diet pepsi and not stolen diet mountain dew,...I had a new task for them. Cleaning the back living room/dining area. We are having my in-laws over tomorrow after all...and Dad is working today.
This time it was our second son who just "did what he was told." Again, just one kid doing what he was supposed to, but then that child's good behavior was able to guilt the other two boys into coming around. AND Princess D, who didn't have to help, asked for a job! Woot!
Maybe we're doing something right on this parenting gig after all.
I'm thankful for the glimmers of maturity I see in my kids from time to time. All of them.

Being thankful for today.

Today is the kind of day I just want to go back to bed with a quilt and a book...relish the cool damp weather by surrounding myself with warmth and quiet. Seeing Si Guy using a flashlight as a microphone for a be-bop concert, I don't think that day is likey.

Yet I am thankful for my little soda-stealing ray of sunshine. He's almost always joyful, and full of noise to prove it. His partner in crime is all smiles this morning too, and that is something I'm grateful for. Princess P is the little girl, just without the curl.

The older kids will be bouncing off the walls when they get home. FIVE whole days with no school! AND we get to eat all their favorite foods on Thursday. They'll be joking, running, hugging. Their relationship with each other is something to be grateful for.

Chip has his "turkey bowl" tonight at the Football Factory. I'm grateful for his coach opening up his schedule to get the kids on the team together for the holiday.

Princess D has "daisies" tonight, and she's always over the moon about it. + We may get the first of the cookie forms back. We're greatful for her leaders and their sweet spirits, and the fundraiser that's getting us started.

Seems there's a lot to be grateful for in today. Family, friends, and of course, God giving me the strenght and grace to put my wishes aside for their good...which is the greater reward.

Thanksgiving week!

Thursday is Thanksgiving and we have much we are thankful for. I have a few friends posting their "1000" lists, and those are so fun to read. This is more of a how to "flip gripes into thankfulness" thread.

I truly believe there is wisdom in being thankful for "all things." Some things are hard to be thankful for...like dirty dishes or being knee deep in various kinds of debt...except that it means we have dishes and the products/services that debt is for. It's easy to be gripey about student loans, but where would we be without Mr. M's education? How much insight would I have lost without mine? Other gripe to grace thoughts.

I often get overwhelmed by the faults of our home, but taking a house with "personality" allowed us to move into a great neighborhood. It also has a big back porch we like to eat on in warm weather, and a decent sized yard for the kids to play in.

The laundry for a family of eight is a massive affair, especially with toddlers and sports, but that means we have our six children with us, and they all have clothes, and we have the means to let them have "extra" activities. THOSE CLOTHES are mostly gifted to us through friends and family, including things for eleven year old borderline "husky". (Down to football pants for his practices. We are so blessed!) I only "have" to buy pants for the two slim sized boys. Our friends/family have truly blessed us in this manner, and that is something we are grateful for every day.

Feeding allergic kids can be a challenge, but that means we have the medical care to find out what was causing their issues, and the wide array of groceries available for them to have a varied and healthy diet.

So now I've started it...what gripes can you turn into grace my friends?

Sunday was such a fun day!

Today things reverted back to almost normal. I took kids to Sunday School this morning. They were excited to be back. Miss. D is making a turkey placemat that says "Give Thanks Unto the Lord" and it is working up to be so adorable. She was really excited to be back in Kidz World too.

This afternoon I took each of the kids over to our soon-to-be home and let them pick three potential colors for their bedrooms. I taped the colors on the wall, and informed them we'd revisit them again around Thanksgiving to see if they still liked their choices, and what their top two would be. It was a good time of almost one-on-one with each child and visiting with their grandparents.

Tonight was AWANA and ALL the kids were ready to be back. (I think derby cars had something to do with that for a couple of boys.) It was "hero" night. Lots of capes wandering around the gym. My TnT'ers all got big bucks, and my Sparkies all received sparkly jewels,. Miss P made a pine cone turkey. It was a great night.

Hopefully Sundays will stay this smooth for a while. :)

Are we ready for some football? (to be over!)

Today is the last day of the football season. Note of gratitude for today. The weather is awesome! Who would have thought it would be in the 50's at 8am in November?
The kids are excited. Kind of end of the season excited. They've been living, breathing, sleeping around football since early August. They've missed playdates with friends. They've had to do homework instead of watch t.v. after school because of evening practices. In some ways they're ready for a break. Ready for.....
No more practices four nights a week. No more keeping track of pads and "bananas". No more worrying about them getting killed out there. But then there's no more outlet for Chips endless energy. No motivation for our oldest to unplug himself from his assortment of digital devices. Uhmmm. Not exactly.

There's still the good ole football factory. Once the "official" season is over. That's when it cracks open again. Yes kids. First graders have off-season training, and I'm grateful. Fifth graders lift weights in the off season, and do some conditioning too...and I'm stil grateful. Our first grader needs to stay connected to other activity addicts like himself. Our fifth grader needs anything that can motivate him to exercise. Coach E. tells them both how it is, in an affectionate grizzly military commander kind of way. So football season may be over, but football "lifestyle" has just begun.

Things my kids have said today.

Si Guy:

"Knock Knock."
M: "Who's there?"
S: "Nana!"
M:"Nana who?"
S: "Knock! KNOCK!"
M: "Who's there?"
S: "Ba-na-na!"
M: "Banana Who?"
S: "No! ME banana!" Running towards kitchen and pointing at fruit shelf.

Princess D:

"Mom, Do ladybugs like potato chips?"
"No honey. They like aphids. Little bugs that grow on rose bushes."
"How about the leaves on the bushes?"
"Don't know. Have to look that up."
"How about peanut butter?"

Princess P:

"No Silas! Not that way! This way!" (Showing him the proper way to push a chair over to raid the freezer.)

One of the older boys:
" I'm starving. What's for dinner?"
"That? I'm not hungry."

Gotta love kids. :)

Giving Thanks.

Some of my friends on FB are doing a daily thankfulness list for their status each day. I've updated my flair board for thankfulness. My kids know that Thanksgiving is coming, so I'm encouraging them to share something they are thankful for each day with me.
Yesterday, we hit the basics...food, drink, shelter,family....
Today, unprompted, my darling 3yo princess P came up to me with a sleeping beauty doll and said "thanks."
"You're thankful for the doll?"
She nodded yes.
Then off she went to watch dinosaur train with her brother.
It's good to start on the right foot.

Being thankful for what is not.

Tonight I spent the evening at the ER with our second son. The doctor was amazed at how calm I was, despite the news/non-news about his condition. Although at the time I blew it off as experience in medical settings, the truth was I was thankful for what is NOT wrong with my son.

He did not have any abnormal labwork. (No meningitis or other serious infection.)
He did not have an abnormal CAT scan. (Between these two, no brain tumor is likely to be involved.)
He did not need to be admitted or transferred, (a consult was done by phone by the excellent doctor we had drawn who "just happened" to have a special needs child of his own thus have the connections we needed on a personal level.)
Whatever he has may be chronic, but it is not terminal.

Other things that went well.

The ER wasn't overly busy.
We were taken back to a room rather quickly.
My son remained positive and calm throughout.
There were shows he liked on the entire time we were in the ER.
We got a competent, calm, compassionate doctor who likes kids, and was straight forward without being overbearing or rude.
We had a kid-friendly nurse.
His IV went in on the first try.
It was time alone with one of my kids.

Still working on the attitude of gratitude when I saw what the prescription was for, and heard "neurology appointment".....(the great land of the unknown in medicine.)..but practice makes perfect, right?

Leaf love.

I love the colors of fall. The kids love raking the yard. Not that they intend to bag the leaves. No, they rake the crunchy brown piles so they can jump into them and run through them. That's okay though.
It's good to learn that hard work has rewards at a young age. It's good to learn that work sometimes has to come before play. It's good to learn that working outdoors can be energizing and fun. It's good to learn work can be fun, period.
Now the older kids will eventually start bagging the leaves. Fifty cents a bag is big money after all. They look forward to spending it on Stuco bake sales, arcades, soda, and the other small joys of childhood.....after they're done jumping in the leaves.