Gratitude

This is my favorite time of year. There seems to be so much to celebrate at every turn- birthdays, halloween, Thanksgiving. It is a very social time of year for us, with lots of get togethers and nights out with friends. But staying home feels so good too, keeping cozy with good books and movies. Emma started a phase a while ago, asking for new things all the time. She would see something on TV or in a magazine and say, "oh, mom, I REALLY want that (insert obnioxous plastic toy here)." This got us started on a talk about gratitude. We did some volunteering at serve day for homeless families at church and really started talking about how fortunate we are and how others have much, much less than we do. We talked about what really makes you rich- love, family, and health. We cleaned out the playroom and loaded up Mike's truck with toys she chose to give to other kids that may not have as much ( I was really surprised at how much she wanted to give- I had to actually ask her to keep a few barbies that she does still play with all the time!) We also started a gratitude journal and evey night before bed, we write down something she is grateful for. Some of the responses have been really funny- they include:

I am thankful for:

my pretty hair because I can put lots of stuff in it,

the planet because we want to keep it healthy and kids should give the planet a helping hand,

Ice cream,

the leaves to rake and play in outside,

my nose when there are no booggers and I can breath at night to sleep (YES, me too!),

Mrs. Herring because she is taught me to say red in spanish- rojo.

my cindarella doll kit.

I think I will love looking back on this when she is older.

We had the great treat to meet Grandma Nona and Uncle Danny at mall of america for dinner when they had a layover in Minneapolis. The girls were so excited to see both of them, and it was way to short, but great to see them. I so wish we were lucky enough to have BOTH sets of grandparents close by, but again, I need to look back to gratitude and say thanks for having such great, loving family.

Emma's cough from her flu/cold virus has been lingering for 4 weeks. It really is only in the morning and occasionally at night, but it sounds terrible. I took her to the doc yesterday and she said she has bronchitis and she is now using a nebulizer for some breathing treatments. The doctor said she could hear her wheezing when she was breathing. I felt a little terrible for neglecting to take her in for so long- but it really didn't seem to be bothering her- it was just a cough, no other symptoms. So hopefully this will kick it. Both the girls are home all week for Thanksgiving so it is a good week to get healthy, and give thanks.