Thankful

Every year I spend Thanksgiving thinking of all the things I’m thankful for. Of course I do, it’s the main purpose of the holiday.

This year I was up early – before all my boys – and I was thinking of how lucky I am, how much I have to be thankful for and it made me all teary. When I really thought about why, I realized that while I think these things often I rarely say them. And what good is it if other people don’t know how you feel.

It’s so easy to say thank you - for gifts they give or their time or their kind words & actions. But what’s more important and rarely gets said is how truly thankful I am for each and every person in my life. Thankful that just by virtue of being themselves and being present, they enrich my life. By bringing their personality and unique point of views and their love. I am who I am because of the people who surround me.

So, while I may have argued about how many combinations of desserts there were this year (I’m sure I was wrong) at the same time I was also incredibly thankful to have a house full of loved ones to share the day with. Thankful to look around and see smiling, loving faces sharing stories and laughter. Thankful that my boys will always be surrounded by love – and not just by the people who joined us this year for Thanksgiving but by all of their family, near and far, who are so incredibly special to me.

I am truly thankful.

The grass is always greener...

when you actually have grass. Yesterday I was so surprised to come home to a perfectly green yard - it's lovely. We are so happy that the weather has finally cooperated long enough to let it dry out just enough to grade, install the sprinkler system and put in sod. It really does make a huge difference in the curb appeal. Now we just need to finish the landscaping and we'll be all set - as if it's that easy... I think that part it's going have to wait until next spring (much to the dismay of our neighbors, I'm guessing).

The move last week went really well despite the rain, cold, wind, and snow we all endured. Thank you to Wade and the Messeroles and Curt for braving the elements and helping us so much last week. And also a big thank you to Ron & JoAnn for watching H&E during the week and all weekend - for carving pumpkins, taking them trick-or-treating, taking good care of Eli's bad cough and just generally showing them a great time. We couldn't have done it without all of your help! By Saturday afternoon almost every single thing we own was in our new house and it was shocking how much stuff we actually have. We spent the last 10 years finding a place for everything in our old house and now all of our stuff is just sitting around - either in the garage or in the basement or still in boxes scattered throughout the house. But we're having fun opening boxes and finding our missing treasures. And, of course, I'm throwing tons of stuff in the garbage or in the garage sale pile.

We still have some shopping left to do before we can feel totally at home. We need a TV for the family room, areas rugs for the main level, furniture for the living room & the sunroom, stools for the kitchen island, bed frames for H&E's rooms, window treatments (especially upstairs) and lots of shelves and storage-type stuff. It's hard buying new stuff! But the house is kind of bare and echoey and doesn't feel as cozy and warm as I want it to so I would like to at least get some of the stuff sooner rather than later.

I didn't get my camera out once during the move. Wait - I did get it out once and that was to photograph the inside of our storage shed. Troy has some seriously amazing stacking abilities. It was like a clown car - stuff just kept coming and coming and coming - it felt like it was never going to end. And you know what - I bet about 80% of the stuff in that shed was not missed even one.tiny.bit by anyone in this family! I know I didn't miss the ironing board...

So anyway, we're here. It's fun and we're happy. And we can't wait for everyone to come visit!