always behind

I just realized that I'm 7 blogs behind in the area of THANKFULNESS. So today I'll try to get ahead by saying I'm thankful for ALL 7 of our GRANDkids. Dennis and I are in Monterey these past 4 days and you can't believe how often I've said OUT LOUD "I wish (insert various Grandkid's name) were here. He/she would really enjoy this.

Now to get ahead since I'll be playing catch up work wise once we return home. Thankful #17 is for the USPS "snailmail" without it I wouldn't be able to send Xmas gifts and other crazy food stuffs to Liz in Iraq.

Thankful #18 is a bit premature but I'm Thankful that most of our family will be together for Doug's wedding. I wish Liz could be there too. But like at Katie Davis's wedding she will be with us in spirit.

THANKS #9

We turned the heat on last night and because it had been off all last spring and summer and now part of the fall, AND because I NEVER thought about cleaning the heater ducts, AND because my allergies are going crazy. And because I have already gone through half a box of tissues this brings me to THANKFUL # 9.

I am THANKFUL for paper. ALL SORTS OF PAPER. I can't imagine life without paper. Not only the kind you write grocery lists on, but the kind you blow your nose with, the quilted or unquilted kind you wipe up spills with, the kind you diaper your baby with (I know you use cloth for this Shellie and a few others, so forget this one),the kind that is made into Birthday Cards with, the kind you wrap Christmas Gifts with, the kind that almost all packaged goods come in and if they don't their labels are made with.

YES! I am VERY Thankful for paper

# 8 education

Thankful # 8

I'm thankful for the education I received while getting my teaching credential. I think it has helped me be a better Mother and Child Care provider I'm less likely to get REALLY ANGRY at Super Tired Kids because I recognize that they are SUPER TIRED KIDS. I' really thankful that Mari and a lot of other Moms seem to intuit this. Teacher training has given me not only the skills to recognize this but to know what to do about it, and the courage to do it.

Recognize the problem ie: Kid fatigue

Identify the causes ie: time change and back to day care Monday

Evaluate the solutions ie: give up and let kid yell,scream and run wild or do calming projects with lots of attention going to tired kid until it is nap time

Communicate ie; "KID, I recognize you are tired. Yelling etc. is NOT okay. Let's do something productive. Let's talk about Thanksgiving and what nice things people have done for you. Let's be like the pilgrims and show our Thanks. Maybe we could make cards for all of the people who have been nice to us" I was smart and used crayon as the medium instead of paint. I learn by experience.

Take action ie: We traced our hands then colored them in with Fall colors. I then used a sharpie to turn ihands into a turkey. Even without him staying inside the lines his turned out GREAT (if we both say so ourselves). Wish I had a way and the smarts to scan our finished products so that we could share them

Follow thru on the real cause: Kid went down for an EARLY NAP. I read somewhere that it takes about 20 minutes to fall asleep. It took KID about 20 seconds.

Enjoy Results; I have time to type Thankful #8

# 7

THANKFUL #7

I'm thankful for really miserable nasty tough hard weeks. They make you appreciate the small stuff on the weeks when EVERYTHING is NOT going wrong. That,the miserable nasty etc. etc., was last week. This week ,although probably just an everyday ho hum normal week, seems absolutely WONDERFUL

THANKS

I'm behind in this Thanksgiving thing that Mari started because of a persnickety computer, So my 1st THANKS is to our kids for their patience and tolerance. I'm sure it isn't easy having semi-computer literate parents who constantly turn to them for help. Kids, your excellent technical and teaching skills are apparent by the fact that this blog made it to print.

Thank-you all for the computer help and all of the other things you do and have done for Dad and me on a regular basis. These thanks extend to Kris (I'm sending the Jones Camping Cocoa to Liz),Kurt, Gabe and Shellie as well.

THANKS#2 Which would have been #1 if Computer (I'm MAD at him and refuse to call him by name) weren't acting up. I'm thankful for waking up each morning to enjoy the sunrise and the promises of the day to come. Corney but true

THANKS#3 Thankful for my Mom's and Grandpa Henry's Homolies. "My home is clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy" as well as "you are no better than the worst nor no worse than the best" things I try to live by,especially the "dirty enough to be happy" one

THANKS#4 Thanks to Dr.Seuss's lessons: "A person is a person no matter how small." Obviously I was reminding myself of this one while working. And "I said what I meant and I meant what I said" I'm Thankful for KIDs and all of the lessons you can learn from Kid Books. I wish that the newly elected politicians would strive to live by this as well

THANKS#5 This could have been #1 also because I think of it often. I'm THANKFUL for FAMILY (and not just those who are related by birth) A friend once told me that FAMILY ARE THOSE WHO ARE THERE WHEN YOU NEED THEM. THEY DON'T JUDGE. THEY ARE JUST THERE WHENEVER YOU NEED THEM> (Thank you Judy). I'm Thankful that Dennis and I and all of our kids have such GREAT FAMILIES.

I'm thankful for our kids and the adults that they have grown to be. I'm thankful (even though I sometimes disagree with their parent's methods - a Grandparents perogitive) for the people our Grandkids are growing up to be.

I'm THANKFUL for Doug, who is competent and busy at work but who always finds the time for others.

I'm THANKFUL for Bob,who while suffering thru back and leg pain but how is just like his brother, hard working and always there for others first

I'm THANKFUL for Liz who is not only there for immediate family but who serves all of us in her military capacity

I'm THANKFUL for Mari and her communication skills who keeps all of us connected, immediate family and extended family as well.

I'm THANKFUL for our Sons and daughters-in-law who put up with all of the parenting mistakes Dennis and I made in raising our tribe of 4. I hope that they realize that "perfection is boring and that to enjoy life you need challenges." I'm sure that all 4 or Dennis and my kids, although NEARLY PERFECT,present challenges

THANKS#6 I'm thankful for exterminators because even though Dennis is a GREAT HUSBAND, FATHER, ENGINEER<>

Think I'll leave todays THANKFUL for tonight. The day is just beginning and holds still more promise for wonderful things to be THANKFUL for