Just say, 'Thanks, Mom, for making my breakfast."
- me
Teaching kids to be thankful ain't easy, especially during weeks when they are cranky. There's been some cranky this week, which means crying and whining and hollering about "that's not enough syrup!" and a child being banished from the kitchen for a while.
Despite the crankiness taking over our house this week, and the difficulty some of the kids have had being grateful, I have been working hard at keeping track of things for which to be thankful. You know, so I can be a good example for the minions.
1. I am thankful for icicles. They're just plain beautiful.
2. I am thankful for thoughtful people. A friend surprised me at pick-up one day with a sweet card and a bag of M&Ms. Her thoughtfulness made dealing with the crabby kids just a bit easier.
3. I am thankful for the
Even COW is getting into getting the wise men set up these days.
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| Perhaps the barnyard animals will know where Jesus is. |
4. I am thankful for my mom. She came up to help us this weekend, so the kids didn't have to spend almost the entire weekend alone while COW and I go galavanting all around town. The kids love it when she visits, and not just because she brings her iPad.
5. I am thankful that the Christmas cards are ready to go in the mailbox. I spend a lot of time on these cards every year. As I hand-write an address, a little (or long) note to the family, and sign it with all of our names, I think about and pray for the person to whom I'm writing. The recipient may not know it, but it is kind of like my little gift to my family and friends each year. I certainly couldn't buy gifts for all 80 families I send them to.
6. I am thankful for tree decorating excitement. The kids get so excited to put the ornaments on the tree each year, waiting in line to see which ornament will get unwrapped and handed out next. Cuckoo was exceptionally happy about it this year.
7. I am thankful for my ability to overlook the "not perfectness" of ornament placement.
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| Yes, that silver ornament is hanging from the lights and actually resting on the floor. And yes, there is a snowman simply lying on a branch on his face above the red ornament. The tree looks it's best at night, when only the little white tree lights are illuminating the room. |
8. I am thankful for the temperatures being just a tiny bit warmer, so we had rain instead of snow today, making the snow we had perfect for snowman and snowball making.
9. I am thankful for eggs. People, we are getting eggs! Up to 9 each day! Sure, that means only a third of the girls are laying, but I'm not having to buy eggs anymore. It is especially fun when chickens first start laying eggs, as their bodies don't quite have it down yet. We get lots of weird things. Lots of double yolks, for example. The most interesting are the ones without shells.
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| This was a day or so after we found it in the coop. When fresh, it is nice and full and round. It starts losing air immediately, though, and the membrane gets dry and brittle. |
11. I almost forgot! I am thankful for my and my dental hygienist's sense of humor. While I got my teeth cleaned, I let Cuckoo play Angry Birds on my phone. At one point, he got really quiet. At a break in the cleaning, I looked up to ask him what he was doing. He replied, "I'm taking pictures!"
Who doesn't want a photo of herself getting her teeth cleaned?
A bit of business...
This will be the last 10 Things of Thankful link-up for 2013. We're taking a break from the hop for 2 weeks, so everyone can do what they need to do for the holidays. WE WILL BE BACK ON JANURARY 4!!! Mark your calendar.
Although, my hiatus is basically over, so I'll still be posting through the three weeks. I'll remind you.
Have a lovely day!
Your hosts
A Fly on our (Chicken Coop) Wall, Considerings, Finding Ninee, Getting Literal, Home On Deranged, I can say mama, I Want Backsies, Rewritten, Thankful Me, The Wakefield Doctrine
You do have much to be thankful for. Your cranky kids are right at the top of the list too. It's just part of them growing up. Bless their hearts. You've a wonderful family.
ReplyDeleteYay on the eggs. That rocks. Nothing better than fresh eggs directly from the hen.
Have a fabulous day. ☺
Thank you. Yes, growing up involves crankiness. Shoot, being an adult involves crankiness. It's all good. :)
DeleteI am lovin' having fresh eggs again.
Love the photos! Just think, Cuckoo could have been shooting video. :-)
ReplyDeleteWe have the same nativity set, judging from your wise men.
lol… ayiiee
DeleteHahahaha!! Silver linings... :)
DeleteIt is one of two nativities we have. This is the "play" one. The other is in a cabinet the kids can't get to and ruin. :)
I love your list this week (well, others, too, but this in particular). The tree decorating one is awesome - we just finished doing ours. Zilla gets herself so excited, though, that she ends up going a little bonkers. And I have to fight my urge to "fix" the oddly-placed ornaments. I have a five year old little girl and a Jewish husband doing the hanging while I unpack. Needless to say, they have inexperience working against them!
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about the being warm thing. I often catch myself doing that. I complain that I'm cold or hungry or nothing in the closet makes me happy to wear it today and then I remember the people who sleep outside on frigid winter nights while I turn up the thermostat and grab an extra blanket, have no food in the cupboards while our "empty" ones still yield perfectly decent meals, and wear whatever they grab from a shelter handout - often not warm enough - while I whine about mine not fitting quite right. I'm not a horrible person - I just do what we all do which is forget how much we really do have, sometimes.
Hope your week is wonderful!
Oh, and I LOVE the dentist visit photo. :)
Thanks!
DeleteIn my younger days I would "fix" the ornaments. And in years when we will be having a big Christmas party, I may move the really badly placed ones. :)
COW and I are both well-trained in the tree decorating department. Both of us have parents who were/are particular about their trees.
Yes, that "nothing to eat" thing is huge. Yes, we have plenty to eat. It may not be what I'm in the mood for at the moment, but there is plenty to eat and I shouldn't be complaining.
WOW the girls are laying eggs! COOL! Ours have slowed down for the winter ... we are getting maybe 2 a day tops... from 16 girls... oh well... I love walking into a house and knowing there are little kids there by looking at the Christmas tree... we had one that only had the lower half decorated beyond the lights one year... it did take a bit of tolerance and a sporting attitude to ignore it initially but then its so stinking cute! Hows the foot!?
ReplyDeleteYes they are. Finally. Our chicks usually lay pretty well through the winter their first year. With 28 chickens, we should get plenty, with enough to sell.
DeleteBefore this year, we would have a tree that looked like it had a personality disorder. Plain or unbreakable ornaments hung by the little kids on the bottom, pretty, fragile ornaments properly placed and spaced on top.
The foot is all better. He has gone two days without the boot, with no complaints. Thank you for asking!
The last one was the BEST. Love me some Cuckoo. And you look beautiful as always...even getting your teeth cleaned you look lovely :) And BTW the glasses didn't help...I still recognized you.
ReplyDeleteI know you do.
DeleteAnd you are the sweetest, most blind friend I have. :)
Wow, I had no ideas that egg without shells exist, how funny :-) Yay for moms babysitting. I hope you enjoyed the shopping trip with your hubby. If it had gone as our kids wanted, there would be all the ornaments in two little spots in the tree while the rest would be blank. Luckily, daddy helped out our little elves :-)
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful weekend, Christine, and enjoy the snow!!
They are rare. We've only gotten them two or three times in all these years.
DeleteYay babysitting moms!
I guess I wasn't clear on why she was babysitting, though. We didn't go shopping. (We NEVER go shopping together. It's a disaster.) We had parties and a football game to attend. Actual fun things. :)
I didn't pay any attention to where the kids were putting the ornaments, but fortunately, a couple of the big kids were watching the little boys and helping them find better spots.
Thanks!
The icicles are very beautiful! Where I live, if it ever gets below freezing, my husband sets up a contraption of stuff in the front yard and turns the sprinkler on to make icicles for the kids. That hasn't happened in about five years!
ReplyDeleteI got an egg with a double yolk once but have to say I have never, ever seen an egg with no shell! That's pretty amazing! I'm curious...can you still use them if you get them fresh enough?
Tell Cuckoo thanks for the awesome picture! Love it!
What a fun husband you have! That is a great idea!
DeleteWe get double yolks all the time for the first month or so of the girls laying. The shell-less ones are rare, though. Yes, we can use them. It's a bit harder to get them "cracked" but we never get shell in the bowl. :)
I will. :)
Wow, that's amazing that you write so many Christmas cards every year and I love that you say a prayer for the person or the family as you're doing so. That's beautiful. As are the icicles! I think you should send one to me in the post! :)
ReplyDeleteCOW and I both have large families. Add in the friends we have, and it's a whole big stack of cards.
DeleteI would be happy to send one in the mail, but alas, I might as well just send you a puddle.
Christine, the photo of the icicle is beautiful, and so is the one with everyone playing in the snow! Have a great holiday season, now!
ReplyDeleteThanks! The snow one was taken by my mom through the kitchen window. I'm the taller one on the left. :)
DeleteThank you!
Put the shell-less egg in water and it will soon be just as you found it.
ReplyDeleteFor real!?!? Thank you very much for the info!
Deletelove the dentist office photo, "we are dismissed, now"
ReplyDeletelol
love icicles …in photo graphs! and maybe to throw snowballs at.
Even though I look a tad less than my best, the photo cracks me up to no end.
DeleteI never thought to throw snowballs at icicles. I lived in the snowbelt of Ohio growing up! How did I never throw snowballs at icicles???
…I suspect it's a Y Chrome thing… I mean, snowballs are for throwing and if you're throwing them, then you are throwing them *at* something and you want to know if your effort (in throwing) has paid off and/or exhibits excellence in skills (i.e. throwing things).
Delete…no, don't ask them about it? wait until you are in the vicinity again, and (if the iciciles are still there) causally toss a snowball in that direction and watch the response ….
Too funny that he took the photo of your cleaning! And the icicles are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it, though? Never could have predicted him doing that. I didn't even know he could get to the camera app.
DeleteThanks!
aww, you're such a good mommy...I, on the other hand...well, let's just say this -- we have a small tree upstairs in the hallway that is the KIDS' tree...what goes on there is all the hand-made ornaments they bring home every year and who gets to decorate it? You guessed it! The kids. They can do whatever they want with that tree. This was the first year, I did trust them to put ornaments on the tree downstairs and no one had interest in decorating the tree upstairs. But, the imperfect placement of ornaments would surely drive me nuts (although, in my 'older' ...and ?wiser? age, I am getting more flexible).
ReplyDeleteYay!! EGGS! We go through SO MANY eggs in our house... I should maybe invest in some chickens. But, then a) I live in town and b) I don't think I'm up for the challenge. ;)
I love icicles too... there are some nice/pretty aspects to winter...mostly from indoors, but... ;)
A second tree is a very "good Mommy" thing to do! They still get a tree, and you get a "pretty" tree. Win-win.
DeleteI know more than one person living in a neighborhood who raise chickens. You can check with your HOA for the restrictions. :)
Very few winter aspects are enjoyed from outside.
Beautiful icicles! I'm just now checking some TToT posts out (I was off computer most of the weekend and didn't do a TToT post myself, unless you count me hijacking Lizzi's comments and doing them there!) and HAD to come to yours!! I'm impressed your son would sit through an entire dental cleaning. I don't know if either of mine would, even with a phone to entertain them! Kudos to him....very funny that he snapped photos of you. I always find photos of the inside of my son's mouth, or up his own nose. Or video of him showing all his scabs. Those are always a fun surprise to come across on the phone. Lol.
ReplyDeleteCute photo of all the kids around you mom and the ipad. Sweet! And love that you're getting eggs - woop!
Okay off to check out a few more blogs....TTFN!
Aw, you're so sweet. I know it's hard for you to get online on the weekends, and I appreciate the effort. And i read Lizzi's comment section. You crack me up.
DeleteWith the big kids, COW and I would schedule our cleanings back to back, so he could sit with the kids in the waiting room while my teeth were getting done. With only two (or one now) seemed like a piece of cake. Usually. There was one time when I got a crown, he sat on my lap and looked over the dentist's shoulder the entire time.
I wish I had video. They were giggling so hard at the game Cuckoo was playing.
Enjoy! They are good, as always!
Ohhh I miss icicles! I still remember eating them like popsicles when I was little. Also I've never seen an egg w/o a shell. Interesting. Isn't it great to be done w/ Christmas cards? I dropped off a whole bunch today but realized I forgot to write up just a few more. Whoops!
ReplyDeleteI used to eat them, too, and my kids do now. In my old age, I just can't warm up, so eating an icicle holds zero appeal for me.
DeleteI could not be happier to have those cards in the mail. There always seems to be at least one or two that have to be written later.
Your thankful posts always make me happy--and a little more grateful, too.
ReplyDeleteAw, I'm glad. Thanks for telling me that.
DeleteI agree with you that those icicles are beautiful. This is a lovely list - your wise men look fun, your tree sweet, and getting all those eggs each day is - yummy!
ReplyDeleteYou are in the book Herstories Project too? I have to read it! I got it for free on my Kindle app because my friend Dana is in it. I need to read it ASAP. If I love it, she is anxiously awaiting my review. :) So fun that you all get to build snowman. I guess that's one thing I won't be able to do with my kids unless we visit northern Arizona since we never get snow. The picture of the icicles that you have on your house are so perfect! That looks like the effect people are going for (without the light element) when they get those lights that look like icicles. Very cool! Thanks for hosting such an awesome hop!
ReplyDeleteI am! You really should. I'm 88% through it (according to Kindle) and have enjoyed many of the essays. Dana's a good egg. :)
DeleteNever. Get. Snow. After having to back down my 1/3 quarter mile driveway for the 1,000th time thanks to the snow and ice all over the drive, that statement physically hurt. I want to live in Arizona.
I wish those icicles were on my house. They are actually on the school where I work. They get those icicles all the time, thanks to the giant slant in the roof.
Thanks for joining in!
I am doing my best to find the good things about winter. It's blasted hard, but those icicles are purty.
ReplyDelete50s!?!?!? and no rain! I don't remember reading about that on your thankful lists. Have I missed it? "Cause it should be!
Fun ones are a bonus. I expect the girls to lay eggs. it's their sole purpose for being here.
We'll see about the phone. He's the kind of kid who would try and get photos of me on the toilet.
You are absolutely correct. It is perfect.
Ok, so I was actually eating (what else is new?) while I read this and was a teeny (a lot, like gagging) bit grossed out by the no shell eggs. While I realize this is beyond dumb, as I LOVE eggs, and have the pleasure of farm eggs when we go to my inlaws (WOW what a difference), well. Anyway. YAY for Her Stories. We are reading (omg we're in a book) it for my Febuary book club!!! OH! UGH I almost forgot! The ornament placement? Perfect. Please don't change it :)
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love the photo of your son waiting to see which ornament gets opened next! I can feel his anticipation :) Regarding tree decorating - over here my husband couldn't help but "fix" some of the placings he disagreed with. But he's a photographer - so we let it slide ;). Finally, I'm off to the dentist with my eldest tomorrow morning - so hopefully she doesn't take photos of me! But you look lovely!
ReplyDeleteI love the way your tree is decorated! I would rather see a tree lovingly decorated by children than one carefully arranged by a decorator. (Low hanging ornaments are fair-game for certain kittens, so I did have to make sure breakable ones were moved up this year. What few breakable ones are on the tree - only have about half the ornaments on it this year, just for that reason.)
ReplyDeleteI am so honored to receive one of your cards, and it made me feel so warm and fuzzy to know that you prayed over it before you sent it. Thank you.
Chickens have to LEARN how to lay eggs? If that don't beat all!