Grace in Small Things #36

So it is that time of the year,
when our family packs up and spends a ton of time in the car,
getting to all those that we love.
We eat, play games, eat, catch up, watch football, celebrate, drink, eat, and relax.
Thanksgiving is a time to pause and realize all that we are thankful for.
Grace in Small Things has really helped me pause more often to realize life is filled with people, moments, things etc to appreciate and find thanks in. Today I am thankful for...

1. Last night Ed and I had date night. The boys did great with the babysitter. We had dinner and saw a movie and came home smiling.

2. Health- last week it was questionable how hard our house was going to be hit with the seasonal sick crap. But we survived. The boys are pretty healthy ( a little cough here and there) and I am doing better too. And from what I hear - all those that we hope to see for the upcoming Thanksgiving festivities are feeling good too.

3. Ed was able to take off this week so that he could get an extra day of hunting on Monday. Yesterday he had some jobs to do around the house - he wanted to clean out the dryer duct thingy and then he wanted to put up the Christmas lights. It was too rainy and wet to put up the lights but he did get a few basement jobs checked off his list. I also was able to go get a haircut without 2 kids in tow running circles around my chair. Yay! The boys love when their Daddy is home for an extra day.

4. Charley's conference for preschool was yesterday. The teacher once again started out by saying, "I would take a class full of Charleys." And I remember when I was teaching and held conferences that if I said this to a parent I really hoped that they understood how much I meant it, and what a compliment it was....I sure hope she means it too, because this compliment means the world to me. She said he is listening, independent, a good role model, polite, where he should be or above, excited, sings a little, plays nice, etc. She said he also gets silly with the kids which they like to see too. She noted that he has started writing his name mirror image backwards lately - which can be common at this time, especially with left-handed writers. I have noticed that too. So we will work on that - without him knowing we are working on it. Overall the conference was good. I am having some issues with preschool this year but Ed has calmed me down, the conference helped, and I will relax now. Thank you friends who have listened to me blabber on about preschool. Charley loves his class, his teacher, and the routine and that is the most important thing.

5. Today we will hop in the car and travel all over to see family (and even some friends) for the Thanksgiving holiday. We have so far in our "married with children" life been able to see both families every holiday the best we can. We love that both sides of the family value large family celebrations, time to get together and just "be". It is always a struggle to figure out how we are going to see everyone when holidays fall awkwardly during the week. And now with two kids it is harder to put them in the car for long drives every other day. Christmas is really hard. Easter we do it. And then Thanksgiving. I am really thankful that we are included in all of our families celebrations. I am especially thankful that my children already show a huge excitement for the festivities. I am also very thankful for my mom and dad - who have given up having us home on Christmas the last year or two. They also have given up having us home on Thanksgiving for the last few years. They have been so flexible to make "our Thanksgiving" and "our Christmas" on a different day so that my sister and I can share in our other husband's families celebrations. I have grown up in a family that had traditions and holidays that were celebrated when the people could be together, not necessarily on the day that the world celebrates. Santa even came on a different day for us. I just want them to know that I really appreciate that they have been flexible and I am sorry that Thanksgiving day and Christmas day are once again a different day for you this year. And GREG! You too - you always go with the flow and let your bossy sisters rule the roost. We LOVE that you are so considerate of our extended families.

Anyways, holidays are probably one of the biggest stresses when you get married. They get that much more complicated when you have children - Mike, Becca, Raina and Andy will feel that this holiday season when they have in their hearts that EVERYONE wants to experience Morgan and Eli's first Christmas with them. Ed is so relaxed and is so willing to go with the flow with my desire to be everywhere at the same time. I think he would often times consider a quiet Christmas and Thanksgiving at home...however, he has a GREAT time once we have arrived and taken off our shoes. So today - we begin our hours upon hours in the car.

Happy Thanksgiving friends - I hope that you are able to celebrate the way you want, with the people that you love, in a pair of pants that allows for flexibility - because if you are lucky like me...this is your chance to stuff one too many of Grandma Charlie's potato dumplings down the hatch.