A-Z Quasi-Funny What I'm Thankful For

 I'm sure it will come as no big shock that I am thankful for my children and for my husband. I am also thankful for so many other things. Lemme do an ABC list for ya!

Aron, amazing, amorous spouse
Boobs with milk in them and industrial-strength BRAS
Callie, my baby girl, chocolate, Coke, coffee, Chapstick, Carmex, Camaros
Doing stuff
Eva, my baby girl
Friends (you know who you are)
God, going places
Homeschooling, Haters (they spur me on), our House
In-laws (yes, all of them)
Joel, my baby boy and Jordan, daughtersitter
Kicking ass and taking names
Love
Michael, my baby boy and Mustangs and my Mommyvan
Never having to work at a day job again (hopefully)
Opportunities
Power of prayer, parents and steppies who rock
Qualms, having none
Reading, Reever the little singer girl
Samuel, my baby boy and sarcasm
Teenagers, God bless 'em and their hormones! I remember!
Understanding
Vienna sausage
Writing
Xylophones and x-ray machines (what do you WANT me to say?)
YOU, for suffering through this post
Zoos ... any and all because I get to shirk my home responsibilities and play with my kids for the day

Add your own!

Loose Park in Kansas City, Missouri

A few weeks ago we grabbed my mom and headed to Loose Park in Kansas City, Missouri. So much history there! They have this gorgeous rose garden that is famous for it's many varieties of roses, some of which are very old.

isn't this the best tree for a kid to hang out on?!

The park is huge, even sporting a little lake with ducks!

To end the day right, we went to Baskin Robbins in Brookside for a boatload of ice cream courtesy of my mom, Tutu (Hawaiian for grandma, and no, she is not Hawaiian).

My Son the Altar Server

This is Joel on his first day being an altar server! There are two more kids who do it with him, but I had to crop them out because I didn't know if their parents would be okay with having them on this raunchy blog! Anyway ... I was so proud I CRIED when he walked in. I CRY when they walk in for their First Communion (so far only 2 kids of mine have done it) and I am sure I will BAWL LIKE A LITTLE BABY and go all fetal when they get married. It's just what I do. It's my thing, my schtick. I try to tell myself to knock it off, but when I see one of my kids doing something all MATURE that shows they are growing up, the waterworks start. I really should carry more Kleenex. Thankfully, Aron often carries a nice snotrag around (I mean, I handkerchief), because he's all old school like that. I was hoping that having MORE kids would safeguard me from some of these my-baby-is-leaving-me kind of emotions, but it's simply not true. Crap, now I'm getting all emotional just writing this post, so I gotta go. Have a great day! Savor every single one of them!

Firetrucks are Cool, a Guest Post by Sam

Okay, so a few weeks ago some dumb kid set the recycle Dumpster at the school park on fire ... again. I don't condone that sort of behavior, but I do like when the firetruck comes to put out the fire cuz then we get to walk over to the school park and watch the fire hose and talk to the firemen and GET FIREMAN HATS!

And then I like to wear my fire hat ALL THE TIME.

Even while I'm eating. I think I love firetrucks more than the average Sam because on the day I was born, I WAS READY TO BE BORN. I mean, let me out, already. So I got labor started around 7 a.m. and by 8:30 I had Mom all freaked out and stuttering to Dad, "Call 911" and Dad was all like, "Nah, really? You're fine." And she's like killing him with her eyes, trying to say that there ain't no way she's making it to the truck in the state I've got her in! So the AMBULANCE came and the FIRETRUCK! And I was almost born in the ambulance, but not quite. It was cool.

Gratitude Check

There are crappy times in the life of any mother, stay-at-home or not. I like to gripe as much as anyone about how I'd love to have a cook and a trainer and a cleaning lady and a personal secretary. I'd love to just homeschool and chill with the kids and chase them around and read and write and travel with my family and go on dates with my man and always dress fashionably and have great hair and makeup. So there's the Mommy Curse: to have these wonderful blessings and this great life, we have to deal with all the crap (sometimes literally) that goes along with it.

As we come up on Thanksgiving, I think we're called to really reflect on what we are grateful for, on our blessings. There are always two ways to look at things. Like, for example:

Sure, we are broke, but if we were rich we would probably turn into total JERKS like so many do.

Sure, your kids has autism or Down Syndrome or some other health concern, but at least he is ALIVE.

Sure, your marriage is in trouble, but there is always HOPE and HELP.

Sure, my husband travels for work, but that just means he has a JOB.

Sure, the house is always a mess, but at least we have a place to LIVE.

Sure, my car is dinged up and sometimes doesn't want to start, but at least we have a way to GO PLACES.