Thankful

Apparently things have been a tad busy, so I’ve given in to the fact that I now give seasonal updates instead of weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, etc.  I’ve come to realize that no matter how flexible your schedule is with regards to work, school and home-there are never enough hours in the day to feel as though everything is truly under control.  Just when you think you have it all together someone is the teacher’s helper, has snack duty, needs to remember show n tell, spelling tests, online math practice, permission slips, lunch money, and the list goes on.  Thank god for Google calendar. . . . Then throw in there: my tummy hurts, my head hurts, my eyes itch, and that dreaded head lice letter home from school.  Now onto the fun stuff:

I now have a 3^rd, 1^st, and 4k’r. . . . Where did that time go, I remember thinking to myself: someday I’ll have a 4, 6, and 8 year old and it seems so far away? 

Alex has pleasantly surprised me with how much he has matured in the last summer.  He’s doing really well in school, and enjoys the high energy that his teacher gives off with regards to science and learning.  I am thankful for a very self-sufficient, compassionate, honest, and straight forward son; as much as I hate to see him grow up, I know he has the makings to be a wonderful human being.  

Laura’s doing well academically, and in perfect girl fashion the challenges with her come in the social form.  I am embracing her sensitive nature, and just really trying to focus on getting a solid foundation of the true meaning of friendship and kindness.   With the advice of a good friend, and author of http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0984865772/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1, I’m really trying to strike a balance between the difference in personality between us and Laura because Jason and I both struggle with seeing things through Laura’s eyes.  I am thankful for how my eyes and mind have redefined the terms sensory and sensitive.

 

And then there’s Ainslee, she’s really enjoying the structure of school on Mon-Wed-Fri, yet she’s still enjoying those 2 days off where she can socialize with her dad and Grandma Bonnie.  No sense of urgency with this girl at all, just very quiet and shy for the most part.  I’m thankful for the ‘B personality’, there is nothing wrong with quiet and reserved. 

In October I had the opportunity to spend a week with one of my closest friends, and it truly was a humbling experience for me.  We have been friends for over 10 years, we’ve weathered single lives, married without children lives, and now life with children together, and through it all I feel as though time has stood still with regards to our friendship.  We have both had our own struggles with all of these facets of our lives.  I am so thankful for the person who doesn’t just write someone off because of the current struggles in their life, for the person who gives me a moment of sympathy, a moment of ugly, a moment of beauty, a moment of clarity, a moment to take a break and find some solitude in their own thoughts, and most importantly a moment of ‘normal’.  Life is messy; those people who walk around painting this beautiful picture of life with no shortcomings really don’t know what they are missing.  It’s those messy moments which I feel have made me the person I am today, and it keeps in check the type of people I want to surround myself and children with.  I do believe God puts people in your life for a reason, for this particular friend I have found many reasons-Kim thank you for reminding me of this. 

On the heels of sappy, I might as well move on to the next person who has helped me cope with the past few months:  my husband.  For the past 5 years our lives have been a series of revolving doors it seems: children, school, college, homework, work, and time together.  Despite weekends or nights away from the children, week long vacations, etc., we spend many a week ‘tapped out’.  Just when I feel I’m reaching my wits end, I can count on Jason to keep things in perspective for me: remind me who we are, where we have come from and where we are going together.  I’m thankful for the husband who realizes my sole purpose in life isn’t to make his life easier, rather we work together to make life as a whole better for each and every one of us.         

In all the rush, I have been trying to make a point to do more reading.  After Alex and I participated in a service learning experience with our church for the second year in a row, they were handing out this book:  http://www.amazon.com/Just-Give-Little-Piece-Quiet/dp/B005Q5SX44.  I highly recommend it for moms both young and old. 

All of these reasons to be thankful help me to keep the approaching holiday season in check:  while I have been blessed with many tangible things, many opportunities to go places and see things most people don’t get to see in a lifetime; the only thing that truly matters is who we surround ourselves with: family and friends who live life as it was meant to be lived, realizing that all of the ugly moments make the beautiful one’s all the more beautiful.