Being Thankful

Yesterday I gave a recap of our Thanksgiving holiday, but I failed to mention all that I am thankful for.  

Friend, fellow blogger and mom of triplets, Casey, created a very special Thanksgiving post that I just loved.  I told her that I planned to copy her idea and here I am, doing just that.

First of all, I am thankful for my life -- God has granted me so much, despite the fact that I let Him down every day.  His unending love and desire to see me happy never ceases to amaze me or humble my heart.

I am thankful for Todd, who works very hard to give our whole family the good things in life.  We're not rich, but being rich doesn't equal happiness.  We are comfortable, are able to do the things we want to do, see the things we want to see and buy what we need, while all the while maintaining a lifestyle in which we are given the opportunity to count our blessings every single day -- and all of this is because of Todd's hard work.

I'm also thankful for the gift of laughter that Todd bring to my life.  I am thankful for the shoulder he always has for me to cry on or the ear he lends for me to bend.  I'm thankful for his kind spirit, his nurturing personality and his desire to lead our family toward our goals in life.

I am thankful for my sister, her family, my dad, my stepmom and my stepsisters and their families.  I am thankful for my friends, my neighbors, my community, my church and my faith.  I am thankful for my home, my cars and all of the luxurious things that the vast population of our world will never have.

But I want to take this opportunity to address each of my kids, both individually and together, and tell them how thankful I am for them, because without them, we would not be a family -- and family is the thing I am most thankful for.

All Three of You

I am thankful for...

Our days spent playing on the floor in the living room

Our nights upstairs in the hall, playing and acting silly

Our family dinner

Our bedtime prayers

Our silly songs

Our walks to school in the morning

Our trips to the Zoo, Sea World and other fun places

Your laughter and smiles

Devin

I am thankful for...

The love only a first born can teach a mommy

Your desire to do the right thing

Your energy (even if it does make me crazy sometimes)

Your big, bright smile

Your enormous vocabulary and how beautifully you use it to express yourself

The heart-to-heart talks we can have together now that you're growing up

Your enthusiasm for learning

Your endless list of questions

The tears of happiness you bring to my eyes every single day

Faith

I am thankful for...

That sweet face that still fools me into believing you couldn't possibly be up to something bad

Your shrill laughter

Your constant asking of "What's that?"

Your bold personality

Your girly attitude

Your desire to find every pacifier in the house and keep them as your own

How you snuggle your "babies" and rock them back and forth, just like I rock you

The tears of happiness you bring to my eyes every single day

Grace

I am thankful for...

Your belly laugh

That funny, wailing, siren-like yell you do when you're ready to get out of bed in the morning

Your desire to get the heck away from Faith before she steals whatever you're holding and hits you upside the head with it

Your command to "Do it," when you want me or Daddy to demonstrate how something works

Your love of animals

Your quiet spirit and snuggly nature

Your command to be held (arms thrust upward with a grunt of, "UP!")

The tears of happiness you bring to my eyes every single day

From the Pruetz family to yours...

We hope you have many things to be thankful for, both now and throughout the year.