Michael Jackson and Tacos

Tonight I'm thankful for...

1. Michael Jackson dance parties with neighborhood friends.

2. The way my kids devour tacos and how Liam gets sour cream on his nose.

3. Holding hands with Lillian while I sing bedtime songs and she drifts off to sleep, then giving her 3 squeezes to say I-Love-You and getting 4 squeezes back to say I-Love-You-Too...our secret little code we've been doing for years.  She's still my little girl.

4. The way Sydney will eat an entire bowl of cherries, and then inevitably have diarrhea later, but how that won't stop her from eating another bowl of cherries tomorrow.

5. My house.  I have to remind myself how happy and excited I was to move into it three years ago.  Now that we are very settled into it and we've had time to examine and experience every crack and flaw that it has to offer, I have to still be grateful for it.  It's a huge improvement from where we were before (in terms of both space and location), plus it's on an awesome street, and I know I won't live here forever (just one more year, in fact...not that I'm counting down or anything).  So even though it seems like clutter piles are EVERYWHERE and toys are spilling off shelves and laying all over the floors, and sometimes I think I'm going to explode from the chaos that is housed within these walls, I am still grateful to call it home.

6. My malfunctioning endocrine system and the anxiety that it causes.  I'm not actually grateful for this, but I am grateful for my improved ability to identify it, recognize it, and realize that it's not a normal way to feel.  I do not take my "normal days" (which hopefully are more often than not...) for granted, and I've learned to recognize those as well and to savor in the ease and joy that they bring.