Today I'm thankful for...

1. Play dates.  Lillian was invited to play at her friend E's house.  She met E in her preschool class last year and they are totally BFF's.  Their friend K was there, too, so it was three times the charm.  Lillian was SO excited about her play date all week long that she told EVERYONE she met about it.  I think the whole neighborhood knew about her play date today.  Shortly after I dropped her off I got this text.  Princesses, indeed!  Thanks, E and K for making Lillian's day awesome!

Princesses!

 2. Close calls.  We've been lucky the last couple of days- Sydney and Liam in particular.  Sydney's little tricycle is on the porch.  The porch is two steps up from the yard, sidewalk, and little garden bed below.  She was riding her bike around the porch while I was inside when I suddenly heard her crying.  When I went out to investigate, I saw Syd's legs sticking up in the air over the side of the porch!  She had accidentally driven off the edge, right into the flower bed.  She escaped the accident with only a little scrape on her arm and a bruise on her leg.  She got pretty lucky in more ways than one- she narrowly missed falling down the hard cement steps and she landed in a way that didn't cause too much trauma like knocked out teeth, banged up head, or broken bones.  Now she is a very cautious tricycle rider.

This morning Liam almost took a nose-dive off the bed onto the hardwood floor.  He was laying on his back wedged between two pillows while I was in the bathroom getting his bottle ready.  Bobby was brushing his teeth and I was letting the water run, waiting for it to warm up.  Bobby gave me his two cents and said he never waits for the water to get warm, he just serves up a cold bottle to Liam and he still guzzles it down.  I was slightly annoyed by him sharing his opinion on a matter that I felt quite experienced with.  However, I was getting impatient and tired (it was 5:00 in the morning), so I just mixed up a cold bottle and headed back into the bedroom.  I saw one pillow shoved to the side and Liam scooching on his belly at the edge of the bed, with his head peeking over the side about to careen down to his doom!  I did an Olympic leap across the room and grabbed him before he toppled over the side.  That's the last time I trust him to stay put on the bed...and he'll probably never get a warm bottle that early in the morning again, it's just too risky.

3. NO cavities!  Lillian had a check-up at the dentist this morning, and for the first time since she started seeing the dentist, she didn't have any cavities!  Wahoo!  All the brushing, flossing, and fluoride is FINALLY paying off!!  Here's my proud girl (and a proud mama behind the camera):

Lilly's holding "Mama Fox" that she got from Ikea for her birthday.  It was Mama Fox's first trip to the dentist, and Lillian helped her not to feel afraid.  I have a sneaky suspicion that Mama Fox helped Lillian not feel afraid, either. :)

4. Birthday money.  Bobby's mom sent Sydney a birthday card this week with a very generous monetary gift tucked inside.  While Lilly was at her play date, Syd and I hit the toy section at Target to spend some of her money.  She calls it her "happy money"...I think she means "happy birthday money", she just forgets the birthday part.  But, heck, it is HAPPY money! :)  She made a b-line for the little shopping cart as soon as she set her eyes on it and her opinion could not be swayed against it.  She pushed it around the store next to my big cart for the rest of the trip.  She couldn't wait to get home to use it.  She's already been on quite a good number of shopping trips.  Our cupboards will be well-stocked.

 

5. Liam's grabby hands.  He tries to grab everything around him- my keys, my dinner plate, my hair, my nose, my phone, the girls' shirts (and their hair), my shopping list...  As soon as he gets whatever he's reaching for into his little hands, he sticks in straight in his mouth and drools all over it.  Today he tried to grab my camera.  But I was too fast!

6. Boys in a princess tent.  Sydney and Lillian convinced the boys across the street to play in their pink princess tent.  They didn't seem to mind the various shades of pink all around them.  They were fascinated with opening and closing the flap on the door and leaning against the sides so the whole tent tipped over- very boy-ish behavior.  The princesses of the castle put the rowdy boys in order.  Our next door neighbor said he would have to hire knights to guard the castle. :)

7. Bobby's forgetfulness.  He forgot to bring his change of clothes with him this morning.  He had to go right from the hospital to a meeting at a fancy-shmancy restaurant in the city.  So I got to meet him by the Art Museum to hand off his clothes to him.  We got to see him for a few minutes, which was nice, especially for the kids since they were all asleep before he got home.  On Monday night we got a lucky visit from him, too.  He was on call, so he checked with the ER before leaving to make sure there weren't any pending cases that would call him back to the hospital.  It's a 45 minute drive and he would rather stay and wait to take care of something than make it all the way home only to have to turn right back around.  The ER said there was nothing so he came home.  Right before he walked in the door his beeper went off for 2 cases in the ER that needed his attention- clearly no one had actually checked in the ER to see if there was anything that could call him back.  He was quite annoyed about it, but we both were happy for the chance to see each other before he had to go back.  He had time to eat some dinner in the bathroom while I gave the kids baths, help with pj's, and do family home evening with us.  Since it's a long drive there and it was already getting late and he had to be there at 5:30 the next morning, he decided to stay the night at the hospital.  Even though he was gone the rest of the night, I'm grateful that he got to see the kiddies before they went to bed and that we were able to spend some time together as a family.

8. The mouse in our kitchen.  There is a brave little mouse running around in the kitchen.  And the dining room.  And maybe (probably) elsewhere throughout the house.  We want to catch it and dispose of it (sorry animal lovers), but tonight its appearance was helpful.  Bobby has to stay up to study and prepare a presentation for tomorrow.  He was starting to fall asleep at the table when the little rodent ran out.  The wild goose (er, mouse) chase that ensued was enough to thoroughly wake him up.  The little sucker escaped, so the chase is still on.  I will be making a trip to Lowe's tomorrow to buy some big sticky traps (again, sorry animal lovers).