Today I'm thankful for...

1. Olive Garden lunch with my sister.  Soup and salad- yum!  Sydney and Liam joined us.  Audrey rocked Liam to sleep in his car seat like a pro-mama and Sydney ate all the "crunchies" (aka croutons) out of the salad.  We were going to get a giant piece of Italian chocolate cake for dessert but the service was a little slow so we went next door to Acme and bought Haagen Dazs and Ben & Jerry's ice cream instead.  I'm grateful for my sister who gets me out of the house for some good sister-sister time (even when the little ones tag along, too).

2. The Book Fair at Lilly's school!  I remember when the book fair came to my elementary school.  I LOVED it!  We went to scope it out tonight and everything was buy one get one free!  Lil and Syd each picked 2 books (a buy book and a free book), but it all ended up being free for us because Grandpa was with us and he said Grandma gave him Book Fair money. ;-)  Thanks, Gma and Gpa! The girls read their new books on the way home.

3. Waitress Lillian.  Here she is listing off the 127 specials at her little restaurant to Sydney who is a most wonderful customer.  They decorated the little white table with all the roses that Grandpa brought all the way from his garden in Maryland.  You can only sort of see it, but Lillian is wearing a little pink apron and holding a pad of paper under her arm to take Sydney's order.  And yes, that is a plastic cake sitting on the table.  That was for dessert. :-)

4. Cross-generational male bonding time.  Grandpa spent the evening with us- picnic dinner on the floor (Daddy is on call), Book Fair, stopping to visit Daddy at the hospital, pj's and brushing teeth back at home, and bedtime.  Most of the time he had Liam in his arms, either entertaining him or rocking him to sleep.  My dad calls him "Willem" or "man child"- "Let me hold that man child," he'll say. :)  It always makes me laugh a little. 

5. Cards from Grandma.  Lillian and Sydney both got mail from Grandma yesterday.  They ripped open their cards and I read the nice little personalized note she wrote to each of them.  I know she misses them, and I know we miss her, too.