God gave you 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you"?
- William A. Ward
1. I am thankful for JCPenney. Phoenix is going to Homecoming this weekend. (With a girl. I cannot believe this day has come.) Pants to fit the boy are not easy to come by. However, if I can find them, size 20 in the kids' section of JCPenney work beautifully. I scored a pair of black dress pants for him on the clearance rack for $15. Slim shirt in the men's section on sale for $14.99. The salespeople at the store were fantastic, sizing him within seconds, pointing me to the proper shirts, then, when we were looking at some ties, told us we needed to go to the other section with slim ties so Phoenix didn't look like he was wearing a bib. (Yes, that was a run-on sentence. Thank you for asking.) And then!! When I was checking out, the teller scanned a $10 off coupon for me.
2. I am thankful for good, affordable lunches at school. The choices the kids have are great, and the daily hot lunch choices are actually good, and usually quite nutritious. It saves us hours and hours of packing and cleaning lunch boxes. More importantly, it makes my life a great deal easier.
3. I am thankful for our proximity to Indianapolis, which has lots and lots of activities for us to enjoy. This week, the little boys were thrilled to take a trip to the zoo with some friends.
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| Under the dolphin pavilion where the dolphin shows are held is an underwater viewing area. It's mesmerizing. |
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| The dolphins were extra feisty that day. |
4. I am thankful for soccer schedules which make my life as easy as possible. We have 5 kids playing soccer, and the schedules could be extremely grueling on the weekends. This year, karma was nice to us. We have had so many kids' games and locations match up, the season really has been the easiest one yet. Giant and Star are in a local tournament this weekend, and the four Saturday games lined up perfectly. I got to see all four with very little wait time in between. Since I didn't have any other kids with me, I could get some rare photos. (Star took the ones of Giant.)
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| Giant takes a corner kick. |
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| He was soooo close to making this bicycle kick goal. |
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| This happens too often. Kids run in to block one of his kicks, and BOOM! This one wasn't so bad. The boy hardly flinched. |
But did get to play the field a bit.
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| This photo cracks me up. After a corner kick, Star went up to head it into the goal while six of his opponents stood and watched. (The ball didn't go in. So close.) |
5. I am thankful for organized children. I have three children who are fantastic about keeping up and ahead of schoolwork. They are thorough and detail oriented and forward-thinking. I am thankful, because we have one child who is not, and just one of them is about to kill us. If the other three were like him, I'd seriously have to question my parenting ability.
6. I am thankful for the perfect weather we've had this week. I know, there's nothing more boring than small talk about the weather. But, OH, the weather!! Perfectly perfect in every way. Call me boring.
7. I am thankful for COW. It was his birthday on Friday, so he brought flowers home for me!
He's 42 now, and just as smart and funny and thoughtful as he was when I met him at the age of 16.
And he's managed to stay buff after all these years.
8. I am thankful for the end of pig season. The little piggies went to the butcher this week, and I couldn't be happier. The stress of keeping them alive and in their pen was taking it's toll.
9. I am thankful for the folks who purchase the meat from our pigs. If no one wanted the meat, we wouldn't be able to raise them. We can't just have one pig, and we can't eat more than one in a year.
10. I am so thankful for my fun, creative readers who participated in the poem contest the last couple of days. If you missed it, you must go to the post to read the hilarious poems everyone came up with. Puts mine to shame, to say the least.
Plus, the contest is still open!! Please feel free to add your own. I'd love it!
It's your turn! How many of those 86,400 seconds can you spend on saying "thank you"?
Have a lovely day!
Your hosts
A Fly on our (Chicken Coop) Wall, Considerings, Finding Ninee, Getting Literal, I can say mama, I Want Backsies, Rewritten, Steps into Parenthood, Thankful Me, The Wakefield Doctrine
first Comment!! (bu yah!)
ReplyDeleteI re-read my Comment. Perhaps I should subject the core theme to further development, maybe even introduce, oh I don't know a Topic? a complete thought perhaps?
ReplyDelete(lol but,,, but!! I was the first Comment...and with this internet you can never tell when someone, somewhere is about to hit 'Publish')
Good photos... reminds me of how much fun physical activity can be, especially (when) you're young.
Congrats on the 'end of pig season' does that end the farming for the year? (not so much a farm guy, but you could probably have guessed that.
I was thinking of you when I got to Lizzi's last night and found I was going to be the first commenter. I thought for sure Janine was going to hit publish before I did. :)
DeleteEnd of our pig farming. Plenty of other farmers have pigs year-round. And we still have chickens to care for.
JUST ONCE, I'd like to beat Janine and be the first one to comment. JUST ONCE.
DeleteDid you happen to notice that I added to my contribution? I put it in my thread of comments which included my submissions...I don't think it's enough to put me over the top and really have a chance at winning the whole kit & kaboodle, but still...I can't seem to stop!
ReplyDeleteLove the soccer pictures...glad the week-end (ok, day so far) went well for you...our game was UGLY but only because some parents made it so. I was NOT thankful for that. Embarrassed might be a more appropriate word. Ugh!
Anyway...LOVE the zoo pictures. So cute, especially the ones with Cucko. Because you know any picture which includes my favorite of your flock is always going to make me happy.
And you picture of COW made me laugh out loud...and not to criticize but you might want to work on your photoshop skills just a wee bit more. Just a smidge. :)
*your (I HATE it when I miss a typo!)
DeleteYes, yes I did. Sometimes, things like this just get stuck in your head and you have to keep writing them. Feel free to add more. :)
DeleteOur games have gone quite well. Both boys won 10-0 this morning. Star got his first goal of the season! Sorry to hear about yours. There was some ugliness on other fields, and it just makes me want to shake the parents.
I intentionally made the photo look photoshopped. I didn't want all those readers who don't know him in real life to have a false image of him. :)
Good thinking...you don't want people to be envious of your writing skills, farming skills AND your smokin' hot husband... ;)
DeleteHaha! Envious of my farming skills?!?! Hahaha!
DeleteHappy husband's birthday to you!
ReplyDeletegreat post! following you now! i hope to see you in my blog sometimes. thanks!
ReplyDeletekisses from VV!!
www.voguelyvan.com
Wow looking at Cows physique it's no wonder all your kids are so athletic. You gotta love JC Penney my mother swears by them as well for the same reasons. And she's 85 now so they've been doing it right for very long time. No no no here it is. That last sentencewas actually me hollering at skip for stealing one of my books instead of his toy. Right now he's about to rip off another one so I have to go. I always love reading your blog though. Now I'm off to chase the dog!
ReplyDeleteHa! No surprise at all. :)
DeleteMy uncle used to be a high up guy at JCP years ago, so of course my grandma thought it was only place worth shopping. Since they've redone it the past year, it is even better. I haven't had any trouble with quality, either, which is more than I can say for other stores.
Oh, that Skip. Just wanting some attention, I imagine. :)
Freaking Roger he is! Well.... ok with a clark on the side....
DeletePerfect Christine!! He certainly looks as fit as a fiddle!!
ReplyDeleteYes, he does. (Looks can be deceiving.)
DeleteSuch a beautiful list, Christine! I'm glad you got such a great soccer schedule, It would be heartbreaking to decide who to watch and who not..
ReplyDeleteYour kids' school lunch program sounds awesome, glad you have access to it. Lots of nearby activities are always a bonus, love that here has well!
Hope you have a great start into a new week tomorrow, Christine!
We've had plenty of times when we had to choose which game to watch. It's rare, but sometimes a child doesn't have a parent there at all. I would be sad about it, but three of the kids really are fine with it. One even considers me bad luck.
DeleteThe lunches are complete blessings. It is actually a parent of a boy in my oldest's class who runs the cafeteria. Wonderful!
That is A LOT of soccer! Glad the schedule works out for you. I wish we had programs at work like the lunches at school!
ReplyDeleteSomeone asked us today how many games we had this week. We both thought it was a light, easy weekend until the number 10 came out of our mouths. 10 games in two days? Between 4 kids. Yet, we found it to be an easy weekend. What does that say about us?
DeleteGreat idea for the lunches at work!
I laugh every time I scroll past that photo of COW. Ha! Yes, indeed. :)
ReplyDeleteStill getting some poem entries...
Thank you!
Great list - there were a few on there that caused me to nod enthusiastically as I read! **Good, affordable school lunches - YES. And I only have 2 kids! Can't even imagine what a life-saver this is for you! The photos of your kiddos were great. What sweet, happy munchkins.
ReplyDeleteI am quite jealous of your organized children. We have exactly zero of those here.
I love that you included weather! The weather here (texas) can be an enormous beating, so I am extremely thankful when there's a break from the heat!
Thanks for an awesomely thankful post!
Love those school lunches!
DeleteThanks. I think they're pretty cute, too. :)
Well, the one who isn't is such a colossal disorganized mess, the other three combined barely balance him out.
Yay for fellow weather lovers!
Thank you for an awesomely detailed comment!
First off, YOU get flowers for your husband's birthday? What the heck? How does this happen? I don't even get flowers for MY birthday!
ReplyDeleteYes, each child is different even though they are raised in the same house. So you DO know how lucky you are that three of them are organized and don't need prodding to do their homework. I had one of each. It was not fun.
And, uh NO, I did NOT fall for the stick Cow's face on the buff body photo! Ha ha!
He's a catch, for sure. I don't remember ever getting flowers on past birthdays of his, but he is good about getting me flowers at least once a month.
DeleteOh, I know. I thank them all the time for being so organized with their school work.
I don't know what you could mean about COW's photo... :)
The pigs are gone. I'm going to have to wait until next year for all the posts and videos about the new batch of pigs. I've enjoyed them so very much. And we used to raise those buggers too. Entertaining to say the least.
ReplyDeleteHave a terrific day. :)
Yes, you'll have to wait. I will do plenty of things for this blog, but raising pigs year-round is most certainly not one of them!
DeleteYou used to raise pigs?!?! Stories, please!
My disorganized child somehow managed to graduate as #2 in his class of nearly 500. He did all but the last year with my finger on his back, pushing, pushing, pushing. He's on his own now. I ask how his classes are going, but I don't do anything else. And he seems to be making it fine, so, yes, THERE IS HOPE.
ReplyDeleteGreat pics at the zoo. And soccer. And, um, the one of COW.
I've read your blog for two pig seasons, and each season, one of your pigs has bitten the dust. Is this usual for you?
You've said that about your child before, but after this weekend, I'm having trouble seeing this ever happening to ours. He is pushing us right on over that edge.
DeleteThanks. :)
It seems that losing a pig each year is normal, unfortunately. We've had pigs for 5 years now, and only one time have they all made it to the freezer. 1 simply died for no reason we could see. 1 was killed by coyotes. 1 drowned itself. 1 died before we realized what was happening and could give him a shot.
Not good odds. Don't ever bet on us keeping all the pigs we start with.
I love those soccer actions shots and the dolphin pavilion looks like such a fun place. Your children are all so beautiful and look so happy and healthy - must be that country life! It's so great when school offer good quality, affordable lunches isn't it? Hope you all have a wonderful week :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! The dolphins are certainly a highlight of any zoo trip. The lunches are a blessing indeed.
DeleteUm first? The dang contest should be over already. I'm pretty sure I already won, once you disqualify Lizzi for being too perfect and young. Second> 5 kids in SOCCER? WOW. Impressed. Happy birthday to Cow. He really has stayed buff. Done a much better job than my hubs has ;) who turned 50 a few weeks ago. Ouch. However, any guy that brings home flowers for his wife on HIS birthday totally deserves to have his head wedded to a 32 year old's body. I think my hubs may get to have Alex Skarsgaard's...mmmm. Also however to spell...
ReplyDeleteThe contest is officially closed. We shall be voting on a winner tomorrow.
DeleteI'm thinking Lizzi may just pull herself out of the running. She kinda felt bad for being so good right off the bat before anyone else had a try. :)
What do you mean, his head wedded to a 32 year old's body? That totally him. ;)
Love the pics of the kids at the zoo!! Thanks for putting those up!! Also, that picture of COW should get mysteriously printed out, framed, and placed somewhere on his work desk.....(maybe next to the gigantic pencil);)
ReplyDeleteIt was a wonderful day. We all had so much fun.
DeleteHahaha! That would be hilarious. Hmmm...
Wow...flowers for YOU on HIS birthday! Nice! ;)
ReplyDeleteMy kids didn't play soccer (I'm in the thick of FOOTBALL country anyhow...*go, huskers!* <--in lower-case, 'cuz I couldn't give a rip --) So, my kids aren't into anything sports-related, but it also is a sport in their schools, either. I did get in on a couple of my nephew's games in Colorado and I think it's a sport I could really get into. Great pics of Giant & Star!
Wonderful list of thankfuls Christine!
I know! Isn't he sweet?
DeleteI thank my boys all the time for choosing soccer over football or baseball. Football is dumb, what with the point being to knock the tar out of each other. Baseball is way too boring. I love soccer most, because it really is a sport where your brain is just as important as your brawn.
Thank you!
That picture of Cow has made my day...so funny! I would put that picture on my thankful list this week for sure. Laughter is the best.
ReplyDeleteYou practically have your own soccer team! I'm glad the scheduling is working out. I can see how that might be difficult if it didn't.
I'm glad you like it. I crack up every time I look at it. Fortunately, COW got a laugh out of it, too.
DeleteThe schedule has been wonderful. We've had years where it was a mess, so I really appreciate this one.
Isn't it great to count your blessings...and read other people's? So uplifting.
ReplyDeleteIt really is. I'm so glad Lizzi started this whole thing.
DeleteIt does help to have a couple of organized children. It makes up for the ones who aren't! And yay for piggies going to the butcher! I am sure you are quite relieved!
ReplyDelete