Today I'm thankful for...

1. Thriftiness.  That has been the topic for sacrament talks at church this month, as well as the lesson that Bishop taught today.  I'm thankful for the lessons I've learned from my parents on how to save and how to be disciplined in my spending.  I remember grocery shopping with my mom when I was little and complaining about how it would take her forever to buy stuff because she had to compare prices on everything.  Now it's payback time because I do the same thing, and Lillian and Sydney tell me to hurry up!  I'm grateful for the pattern my mom set for me and for the habits she helped me develop.  Another part of thriftiness is learning how to be satisfied with what we have and not lusting after things that are beyond our means.  It's easy to get caught in the trap of always wanting more than what we have.  But this is indeed a trap- and a nasty one at that.  It can turn into envy, dissatisfaction, resentment, anger, and ingratitude- all of which are things that make you feel down right horrible inside.  For me, feeling gratitude is synonymous with feeling joy.  Hence the blog.  :) 

2. Bobby's battle to stay awake.  He was so tired that he started falling asleep while we were sitting outside with friends after dinner.  When we came inside he played the Snail Pace Race with the girls, then he laid on the floor with Sydney to read the book she picked for story time- "Buenas Noches Luna" (Good Night Moon).  Not ten seconds after he finished reading the book, he fell asleep sprawled out on the floor.  Good thing Sydney managed to squirm her way out from under his arm before he went in a deep sleep or she would've been trapped under him!  I didn't have the heart to wake him up for family prayer or potty-before-bed time, so I just let him lay there.  He woke up when Sydney got out of bed to go to the bathroom again (like she does every night) and then he helped her get back to bed.  He crawled into her bed with her and now he's fast asleep again.  Poor guy.  Tomorrow is the last day of this wretched rotation.  We're going to have a party when he gets home.  And we're going to spend the month of May catching up on sleep.

3. Allergy eye drops.  My eyes have been killing me.  I think it's all the tree pollen in the air.  Thank goodness for the relief from my generic brand drops!

SATURDAY GRATITUDE:
1. Signing our four year lease!  Moving day will be some time in late June!  My dad came with me to do a drive by to see the house and to drop off the lease.  He liked the neighborhood and the park near by (and we like it too!!).  I think we'll be very happy here!

2. Chilly picnics at the park.  After seeing the house we went to the nearby park for a picnic.  It was a little cold, but we stayed warm with our hats and coats and had a good time.  Sydney and Lillian took turns spinning each other on the carousel, and Sydney had fun getting dizzy.  Then Lillian taught Grandpa how to give Sydney under-doggies on the swing.  Later we set up Lil's tee and watched her hit homeruns around the playground.

3. The Mother's Day card from my parents that I got in the mail this week.  First of all, kudos to my mom for sending it so early.  Usually my Aunt Tricia is the first one to send stuff way early, but my mom beat her by weeks this time. :)  Anyways, inside the card my mom wrote: "Sweet, Beautiful Amanda- You make your mother proud.  Hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day."  My dad wrote: "Love you, Da.  And love all the little darlings who call you 'Mommy.'"  They sure know how to make me feel good.  :)

4. Lillian and Sydney's excitement to get dressed up for a fancy party.  My girls are so great.  After our busy morning and afternoon yesterday we still had a wedding reception to go to at church.  When I told them it was a fun, fancy party they were immediately on board with the plans to get dressed up and go.  Despite our long day (and without Daddy who was on call), they were wonderful and we had a great time being there with friends.

5. Lillian's empathy.  This girl amazes me with her ability to be in tune with how others are feeling.  When we were leaving the wedding reception last night Lillian all of a sudden gave me a big hug and said, "Mommy, I'm sorry Daddy is on call, but I'm so glad to help!"  I just held her in that hug for a bit longer and told her how thankful I am to have her and how she keeps me company and helps me feel better when Daddy isn't around.  She truly is a good helper and she has such a good heart.

FRIDAY GRATITUTE
1. Dunkin' Donuts coupon for 2 donuts for 99 cents.  I took the girls after we picked up Lillian from preschool.  Sydney got pink with no sprinkles and Lillian got pink with sprinkles.  The nice man behind the counter gave them some extra Munchkins like he always does.  I loved the way Sydney ate her donut- she took bites out of the top so she got all the pink frosting off first!   I'm glad simple things like this make them so happy. :)

2. Income Based Repayment (IBR) for my federal loans.  I made some phones calls to change the payment plans on my loans in order to try to save some money.  IBR is a wonderful thing because it significantly reduced our monthly payments.  AND the government will continue to pay the interest on my subsidized loans for the next three years.  How wonderful!

3. Star gazing in Laurel Hill Cemetery.  It was part of science festival week in Philly.  After home-made pizza dinner with my dad at his apartment (now it's 'Grandpa's Apartment' because Grandma is in Chicago), we went to the cemetery down the street to meet up with some amateur astronomers and observe the night sky.  There was hot chocolate and Philly soft pretzels to greet us at the entrance and a nice little crowd of people when we got there.  We set up our blanket between obelisks and tomb stones and took some peeks at the moon through a few telescopes.  Lillian said the moon looked white with spots on it and Sydney said she saw a rainbow (probably a reflection of light off the mirrors inside the telescope).  Sydney wanted to see more rainbows.  :)  Grandpa got out his night sky app and looked at constellations.  Auntie Audrey was there too, and even Daddy was able to come.  It was fun to be out in the cemetery at night and to enjoy some [relatively] peace and quiet amid the busyness of the city.  Looking up always puts our life here on earth into perspective.

4. Big Sister Sydney.  She just loves taking care of her little brother.  She had her first babysitting job this week.  I asked her to watch Liam downstairs while I took a shower.  She took her job very seriously and she came upstairs twice to tell me that Liam was NOT crying.  :)  She likes to read him stories, too.  They're going to be great friends, I can just tell!