Happy Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving! For me, it is the official beginning of the holidays. I was lucky enough to be born into a big extended family and marry into an even bigger one and holidays are all about being together. I have so much to be thankful for and today I tried to just enjoy it. I didn't worry about what the kids were or were not eating or if everyone was wearing matching clothes (as in individual outfits that actually go together, not matchy matchy family matching...I'm not THAT crazy). I was just happy to be with my family. It was soooo relaxing. I think I will do that more often...well I'll try. Anyway, no Thanksgiving post would be complete without a list of the things I am thankful for, so here goes (in no particular order).

1. I am thankful for my warm cozy house. I am very thankful for the wood stove that not only heats my house to what I consider comfortable (anywhere between 74 and 80 degrees) on a daily basis but also did not fail me this week when our power was out for 15 hours and the outside temps were in the low teens. I know that not everyone was so lucky.
2. I am so thankful for my parents. All 5 of them. They watch our kids, feed us dinner, laugh at my jokes (thanks Mom!), support our dreams, and pick us up when we feel like we can't do it ourselves. I know that we are so very lucky to have parents that are so close (geographically speaking) and who we are so close to.
3. I am thankful for my friends. I seriously have the world's best friends. A whole pile of 'em! My girls have been there for me through everything for the past 10 years and I am grateful to have friends who I know I can count on. As life has gotten busier with marriages, jobs and kids, we don't see each other nearly enough. But when we do, it is like we haven't missed a beat. I love you girls! Thanks for being the best friends a girl could have!
4. I am thankful to have a job that I love. I mean I really love my job. Some days definitely go better than others but I really wouldn't want to do anything else. I feel like it is the job that I was meant to do. I work with some really fun people and I am lucky to have an awesome class this year. And let's not forget the 3 best things about my job: June, July & August!
5. I am thankful for my husband who works hard for our family and is an amazing dad. He does such fun things with the kids that I would never think of and they love it! He puts up with my OCD (although I know he thinks I'm crazy) and I am so proud of all he has accomplished.
6. Last, but certainly not least, I am thankful for these two goofballs:

They are cheesey, they are silly, they never look at the camera at the same time and they ask MILLIONS of questions but I love them so much. They are happy (most of the time), healthy (knock on wood) and they make me laugh about 100 times a day. They are smart (too smart sometimes) and goofy and genuinely so sweet. I am constantly amazed that God gave me the perfect kids for me. I certainly wouldn't have planned it this way and some days go better than others (the other day I felt like a walking public service announcement warning against the dangers of having more than one kid on the same day) but really it has turned out to be the perfect situation and I wouldn't change a thing. Well, I would like my old stomach back, but that's about it...and even that is worth it! Ben & Abby, I love you more than you will ever know. Thanks for making me such a proud mama!