G*R*A*T*I*T*U*D*E

Ok, so the truth is that I've been a major grouch lately. Things from the important to the down right absurd have been getting on my nerves and eating at me. So much so that the blog entry I wrote in my head the other evening was titled "G*R*O*U*C*H*Y". And I was going to let of all my built up steam in high fashion. The next morning a small, still voice of reason somehow filtered through the jungle in my brain and said, "what if you make a thankful list instead--your no fun to be around when your grouchy, you don't even like being around yourself right now! Why don't you think about something good!"
So with no further ado...
I'm THANKFUL for:

• Two days of "better"oral breakfast for Mic. (Before yesterday and today for about a month shes had no more than one or two small bites for breakfast at most. Today she had a very small peach and about 8 bites of cereal!)
• Health!!--Mic hasn't been able to get over a common cold without a major GI crisis and about a week of vommiting in years...and this week she did it! A common normal cold, had and ended as a common normal cold should be, in a few days, almost no calorie cut and with no vomiting!
• Cardboard boxes and mud! Beat this one, toys r us! My kids have spent large amounts of time this week playing with minimal fighting and no boredom and their high tec entertainment has been the refrigerator box turned fort and a mud hole and bucket of water in my back patio! Messy, but worth it.
• A healthy, low-risk pregnancy and only about 5 weeks to go. (yes, I am aware that this BLESSING is also probably a very large contributor to my current state of exhaustion thus lower coping level, which is a nice way to say grouchyness!)
• Safety
• The new women's Bible study group I've been able to be a part of the last three weeks.
• Freedom to educate my children as I believe is best for their current needs.
• Maternity clothes......seriously, have you ever worn anything more comfortable! : )
• Stuborn kids,...OK this is a stretch, honestly the rigid little wills manifesting themselves so prominently around here are driving me batty, but on the bright side they are sound enough in mind and body to reason and have an opinion and state it emphatically.
• Sweet potatoe and pumpkin season!!!!!! YUM!
• A wonderful, loyal, patient, faithful husband who not only puts up with me, but loves me too!
• BMs in the potty. In light of our gross failure thus far at potty training, almost all the BM does make it in the toilet and if I have to choose something to continually clean off of every imaginable surface, I'd rather it be this way than the other...
• A home in a spot that has a good water supply (many in the city center are without) and is on high enough ground that flooding is not a factor (over the last few weeks many homes not far from here have had anywhere from a few inches to 1.8 meters of standing water)
• The best two little cuddlers ever in bed with me this morning, is there possibly any better way to start a new day!?

And I could keep going!!! ...but here comes a fussy, stinky toddler and a day full of responsabilities that I have been shirking all morning... ...catch you later!