Thankful

while there is no possible way to include all of the things that I am thankful for here, 

here are a few that are on the forefront of my mind today. 

 family. i'm thankful for my family. that my parents raised me in a way that in turn helped me make good choices, pick a good partner, live with purpose, work hard, and teach and instill values and manners in my own children.

thankful that my own boys are happy, healthy, spunky, confident and LOVE 

their cousins and are always looking forward to the next time they get to see them. 

they are all good, sweet, happy souls.and i love all of them and their creators.

thankful that my entry way is ALWAYS dirty and littered with leaves.

if it wasn't, it may mean that i don't have people constantly coming in and out.

thankful that my little guys are still so little and naive that when asked what they are thankful for, say exactly what is on their mind that they time. hence, "breakfast" and "flag football".

but mostly thankful that they make me laugh constantly and rarely does an hour go by when we don't hear their belly laughs coming from somewhere in the house. i love their belly laughs. 

and while i often forget to be thankful for this, and sometimes long for pretty, organized, simple  

bookshelves, i am thankful that my bookshelves look like this. vomiting art supplies, full of games and puzzles and when i sweep, i find more lego parts than anything else. we live in a happy, creative house. for that, i am thankful.

                                                   

i always envisioned my formal living room to be a place of peace and serenity. with structured furniture and warm blankets where people would want to nap and read. instead, i often hear the scraping sounds of furniture on the floor as charlie rearranges the room, so that he can play basketball. i am thankful for our awesome house that has a basketball room and thankful that i'm getting better at not longing for a pretty living room....because there will be plenty of time for that when my boys are grown. for now, we will just invite our guests to sit on or play basketball. in our living room.

i am especially thankful for nate. a constant, reliable, loving, playful, fun husband, partner and father to our boys.  the rock of our family who is excellent at reminding all of us what is important in this life.

happy thanksgiving.