November Thankful Days 1-7

So, as usual, I am late with joining the whole Thankful Challenge thing for November, but decided to do all 7 days on here! I think I will do all of my days on here so I have them to look back on thru the year and be thankful all year long!

Day 1: I am so Thankful that I know The One who holds my future and that all of my sins are covered by His blood! Not sure how I would have made it thru this last year without my faith that there is a plan and His plan is always better than mine.

Day 2: I am so Thankful EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. that I get to be married to my very best friend and there is no one I would rather go thru life's struggles and the daily grind with than Sam. He is an amazing father, and is the calm and logic to my crazy. We balance each other and while there are times that it definitely drives me absolutely insane, I rely on his calmness and logical thinking so much. I tend to be an emotional thinker and he is a logical thinker, so it works. Its amazing to me that God, before time began, created us for each other and where I am weak he is strong, and where he struggles, I have strengths. I see it every day and it's just another reminder of the amazing love of our Creator.

Day 3: I am so Thankful for my Ellie Girl. I think of all my kids she is the most like me, and because of that, there are times that we butt heads, but every day she makes me smile. She is my little performer and wants to be a cheerleader like her mom. She loves all things girly and is trying to grow up a little too fast for mommy's heart. She is an AMAZING big sister and the bond between her and Kai is very evident. She is very responsible and helpful (when she wants to be!) and I rely on her a lot to help with the littler kids. She is a smart little cookie and has been reading to her siblings lately. It absolutely MELTS my heart to see them all crowded around her on the couch listening intently while she read them a book or to see her and Kai snuggled in a chair and see her pointing at pictures in his books and him responding. Her and Claire have a new thing that they think is secret where after I put them to bed Claire snuggles over by Ellie and El will read her a book. They think they are so sneaky but what they don't realize is that Mom is the one that put that nightlight there in the first place! :)

Day 4: I am so Thankful for my Dude. He is SO very protective of his siblings and I truly believe he would fight to the death for any one of them. He can push the girls buttons like no other, but the second he hears about someone else messing with them or hurting their feelings, he is ready to battle! He is having to learn to play by himself now that little sis is in preschool too, so that's a work in progress, but he is trying! :) He loves to be Moms helper and is my garbage-taker-outer and laundry-hauler-downer. The kid can eat like you would not believe, and I'm not sure how we are going to keep food in the house when he is a teenager if he eats like this now! He's still skinny as a rail, and I'm not sure where all the food goes-I think he has a hollow leg. He is ALL boy and loves teaching his little brother how to play "ball" and play with tractors.

Day 5: I am so Thankful for my Claire Bear. Oh my...how does one descibe Claire? She makes me smile every.single.day with her thoughts on life. She is ADAMANT that she is NOT little, she is BIG! She is very go with the flow and can play with anyone and everyone. She is amazing at playing by herself when the other kids are at school and LOVE LOVE LOVES her kitchen. She will play with it for hours. She loves to help me cook and things like that and has decided that emptying the silverware drawer is her job. She teaches me patience and how to view life thru the eyes of a 3-ALMOST 4 Mom!-year old. She goes to school 3 days a week and absolutely LOVES it. Loves her teachers, loves the kitchen at school, loves the projects, loves that she is learning to write her name like big kids-just LOVES it! I am thankful that she does and hope she never loses that love for learning.

Day 6: I am so Thankful for my Mr. Man! At the current moment, he is having a very whiny morning, but hey, we all have those at times, even when we are 32! :) Through all of the medical issues this year, I have learned so much about patience and learning to wait on the Lord. Of course, I would so much rather that he DIDN'T have the issues that he has, but I KNOW that I have learned faith like I never would have had he not had the issues he does and for that I am thinkful. I love his happy smile, his obvious adoration of his big brother and sisters, how he gives squeezy hugs and slobbery, smacky kisses. I love how he loves things that roar (dinosaurs, lions, tigers, sheep :)) and making all the animal noises. I love how I know exactly what he wants and how I know his language-it's definitely ones of the perks of motherhood! :) I love morning-after-bath sleepy snuggles and how he smells SO good.  I love how he runs and is in a hurry to get everywhere. He definitely has his brother's facination with all things sports and his newest word is "kick" and he'll kick anything he can find that even remotely resembles a ball. He would live outside and has learned to yell "DADDY" and run to Sam when he gets home from work and squeeze his legs. I love watching him wave out the big window in the living room at random people driving by. I am just so thankful that he makes our family complete! :)

Day 7: I am so Thankful for my home. It is incredibly small for 6 people, that's for sure, and I would LOVE to have something bigger, but this home is ours and we are doing it with no help from anyone. I love how we have made changes to make it ours. I love how Sam and I can dream about the somedays that will hopefully come and our plans for the future.But it's more than that. More than just the physical house, I love our home. My hope is that people can come over and just chill and relax. I hope my home is a welcoming place. I love our location and our neighbors and the fact that they watch out for my kiddos. I love our little garden and the sandbox and the swingset and watching my kids learn to ride their bikes on the street. I am thankful that we have someplace warm in the winter and cool in the summer, a place of haven and retreat from the crazy world around us. And I really love my attached garage in the winter....:)