Spring...almost!

Today I'm thankful for...

1. Spring....that ALMOST came this week!  Yesterday it hit 60 degrees...so nice!  We discovered little flower buds poking out of the ground beneath all of the snow in our yard.  It's amazing that they came up under such a freezing cold blanket, and through frozen solid ground!  Today was kind of warm, but with rain and lots of wind.  Temps are plummeting into the 20's at this very moment.  Winter coats, hats and gloves will go back on tomorrow.  :-/  BUT there is still hope for Spring- it's coming!!

2. "Smoovies"- I made some smoothies with strawberries, kiwi, and bananas tonight.  Liam called it a "smoovie."  :-)

3. The Huggy Monster.  Lillian and Sydney were invited to their friend's house across the street for a play date late this afternoon, which gave Liam and me some rare one-on-one time.  We played "catch" with a Chicago-style softball, I gave him airplane and rocket rides, and we played tickle monster.  He likes to tackle me to the ground, then hug me tight and say, "I GOTcha!"  I ask him if he his rescuing me or capturing me, and he always says he's rescuing me....my hero. :)  At one point while we were playing I started chasing him around saying I was going to get him.  He got a little scared...I guess I'm scary?  So instead I told him to catch me.  He started chasing me and I played my damsel in distress role by screaming, "Aaah!  Aaah!  Help me!"  Liam suddenly stopped and looked directly at me and said, "No, I not SCARY monster."  I said, "Oh?  Are you a NICE monster?"  To which he replied, "No.  I a HUG monster!"  Then he hugged me really tight and said, "I HAPPY!  I HUGGY monster!"  So we sat there and hugged....while my heart melted.

4. Stories with Big Sister.  Sydney got her fingers slammed in the window by accident.  She's fine, but she was pretty sad about it.  Lillian felt really bad- she was the one closing the window when Syd's fingers were in the way.  Lillian invited Sydney into her bed to read "One Fish, Two Fish..." by Dr. Seuss.  Then she let Sydney fall asleep in her bed next to her.  It was a nice sister-sister moment.

5. A clean van!!  Well, the outside is clean anyway.  The inside is another story.  My neighbor always has a clean car.  (He also doesn't have any kids...just as a side note).  I asked him where he gets his car washed and he recommended this place he goes to all the time.  I thought it was worth a shot.  My van was so crusted over in salt and grime and it was a sad site.  So I took the kids on an adventure to the car wash!  Sydney reminded me of the time Grandma took her to the car wash in Grandma's car.  She prepped us by explaining everything that would happen with the soap, the water, and all the brushes and the drying.  Her favorite part were the "ballerina brushes"....the tall round ones that spin around really fast and look like a tutu twirling around.  My neighbor's recommendation did not disappoint.  The car wash and the attendants did a great job.  Well worth the $11.79 and tip.  All afternoon, Sydney made it a point to show everyone how clean the van is.  Now who wants to vacuum out the inside?  I'm afraid to even look under the kids' car seats.  I'll probably need a bio chem suit to clean under there...