207. Thankful that Natalie was my morning alarm clock when she crawled into our bed at 5:30am. Glad she gave me reason to wake up from my deep slumber and get myself to the gym as I wanted to. Not sure I would have woken up otherwise.

208. Thankful for the return of that great feeling of swimming in the morning.

209. Thankful for super mega hot showers.

210. Thankful that when I came back from the gym, I came home to a sparkly clean kitchen. That is NOT at all how it was when I left. Last night I collapsed in bed too tired to even touch the dirty dishes from the day. And while I was out exercising this morning my awesome loving hubby washed all the dishes this morning. That is some serious ‘acts of service’ love language!!! I am so thankful for him!

211. Thankful for the sight of my precious Jacob and Natalie crouched down low below the kitchen counter, with their sock puppets putting on a puppet show. That was pure hilariousness.

212. Watching Jacob and Natalie take a black sharpie marker to their socks, drawing eyes, mouth and hair…..too precious to even care that they were marking up their white socks. I asked them if they could at least just use socks that are no longer part of a pair. They said it was fine- they wouldn’t mind wearing socks with faces on them. 🙂 I laughed. That was a great morning laugh to be thankful for.

213. Thankful for how filling my toast with cream cheese, chives and salmon was. Years ago I couldn’t have imagined myself eating something so gross-sounding for breakfast. Thinking happy thoughts of my Oma who used to love to eat chives on her buttered slices of bread in the morning. Thankful to reminisce about her this morning. Thankful to have awesome protein as part of my breakfast with that salmon.

214. Thankful for the suuuuuuuper long hug that Natalie gave me before going to school this morning. That hug lingered and lingered. She simply wouldn’t let go. She was so happy to be loving on me and I was soaking up every second of it.

215. Thankful that when I dropped Natalie off at the school valet line, she jumped up out of her seat and said “Mama, I want to give you another hug!” I’m telling you this is quite extraordinary coming from Natalie. She’s usually such an independent one that sitting and snuggling is not her normal fare. But this morning it was and I was so happy to be the recipient of all that love.

216. Thankful that I have friends who believe in God’s power and remind me to ponder on Him and His power.

217. Thankful for the hour-long phone conversation I had last night with my Madre. So encouraged to hear her be so excited to have us back in the same city again. I am so thankful for how much she loves me and loves the kiddos and how effusively she articulates that to us. There is no doubt in our minds how much she loves us. That is such an overwhelming awesome feeling.

218. Thankful for the song “Walk with me”

219. Thankful for the half hour this morning that the kids and I sat at the computer and watched a ‘Little House on the Prairie’ tv episode. Such an incredible feeling sharing with them a snippet of the tv movie that was such a significant part of my childhood.

220. Thankful for the powerful visual imagery of the life of the settlers. Thankful for Natalie’s utterance “wow, they worked really hard!” I love it when the kiddos make connections to different time periods and conclude how blessed we are now with all of our comforts.

221. Thankful for the kids’ exasperation when I read to them that Laura and Mary Ingalls got a penny for Christmas. “ONE PENNY!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!??!??! One???????!!!!!” Yes. One penny each. Wow. Times have changed. Thankful for that moment of realization of how truly rich we are.

222. Thankful for each night that I get to sit in the hallway with my back up against the wall, the hallway light illuminating the words of the chapter book I read to the kiddos. We used to sit on the couch reading hundreds of illustrated children’s picture books. But now the kiddos are hugely interested in forming their own imagery as I read aloud chapter books to them at night. There they are lying in their bed, with their eyes looking up at their ceiling, imagining with their mind the characters and plot of “Little House on the Prairie” or “Little House in the Big Woods” or “Ruby Lu- Empress of Everything”. I love it that my kids love to listen to stories and imagine.

223. Thankful for this day.

224. Thankful for the miracle of our bodies.

225. Thankful for medication that healed Jacob of his horrible croup last week and is now healing him of his sinus infection. So awesome to watch a child spring back to health with the administration of medicine. It simply is awesome. I’m so grateful to have access to medical care.

226. Thankful for the hours that lie ahead of me of quiet and stillness, with both kiddos at school. Thursdays are my happy Mama-by-myself days. This 9:30-2:30 glorious time is what my body and mind long for. Pure silence. Awwww the sound of it is heavenly. It’s my day to be refreshed. 🙂