I Am Thankful For...Babies, Bellies, Wind and Fruit Snacks

Sometimes my boys crack me up just by talking to me. Here are two separate conversations I had with each of them today:

(My conversation with Alec this afternoon)
Alec: Mommy, when are you going to have a baby come out of your belly?
Me: Ummmm.
Alec: Will you have a baby come out of your belly soon?
Me: Well, I don't think I will have any more babies come out of my belly.
Alec: Why?
Me: Because there are no more babies in my belly.
Alec: But you could have someone put a baby in your belly.
Me: Do you know what would happen if another baby came out of my belly?
Alec: What?
Me: You would have another brother or sister, like Chase.
Alec: Wow!
Me: Would you like that?
Alec: Yes, I would. But it would have to be a girl because there are already three boys in our house and only two girls.

(My conversation with Chase in the car on the way to pick Alec up from school)
Chase: Mommy? I want to go to Hersheypark sometime.
Me: Ok, we can go there sometime.
Chase: Mommy? How do you blow the wind away?
Me: Well, the wind kind of blows itself away.
Chase: Mommy? I made a turkey at school.
Me: Good job, Sweetie. I can't wait to see it.
Chase: Mommy? I don't like coffee.
Me: I know. You'll probably like it when you're older.
Chase: Mommy? Go to sleep.
Me: I can't sleep now, I'm driving.
Chase: Mommy? Can I have fruit snacks?
Me: You can have some for a snack later.
Chase: Mommy? Pirates say "Arrr."

So today I am thankful for babies, bellies, wind and fruit snacks for providing very entertaining conversation topics for my children.

*In the spirit of Thanksgiving, "I Am Thankful For..." is a blog challenge I have decided to do during the month of November. Each day I will pick one thing that I am thankful for and blog about it. Obviously I am extremely thankful for the many things in my life I am blessed with, such as a wonderful family, my health and my family's health, great friends, a roof over my head, food on the table, and more. But this series is about all the other day-to-day things that I sometimes take for granted and that make life just a little bit better -- you know, the little things. To see a list of all the posts in this series, please click here.

I Am Thankful For...65 Degrees

That's what the high temperature was here today. In November. It just doesn't get much better than that. Sixty-five degrees and sunny is my kind of November day.

I have to admit that I'm a tad jealous of people who live places where 65 degrees is a common November temperature. I would gladly sacrifice fall colors for higher temperatures. Because higher temperatures mean more outside play for the boys. And more outside play means that the boys are actually playing instead of beating up on each other. And the lack of beating up on each other means that Mom is happy. And everybody knows that when Mom is happy, everybody is happy.

So today I am thankful for 65 degrees, for making this mom very happy in November.

*In the spirit of Thanksgiving, "I Am Thankful For..." is a blog challenge I have decided to do during the month of November. Each day I will pick one thing that I am thankful for and blog about it. Obviously I am extremely thankful for the many things in my life I am blessed with, such as a wonderful family, my health and my family's health, great friends, a roof over my head, food on the table, and more. But this series is about all the other day-to-day things that I sometimes take for granted and that make life just a little bit better -- you know, the little things. To see a list of all the posts in this series, please click here.

I Am Thankful For...Bleach

I feel the need to begin this post with the disclaimer that I do not get paid to mention products in my blog. My blog isn't about reviewing products, and this is in no way an ad for Clorox (unless, of course, they would happen to read this and want to send me some money. In that case I would be happy to delete this disclaimer. Hey, I didn't say it couldn't be an ad for them...just that it isn't an ad for them...). I just happen to be extremely thankful for something their company provides. So anyway...

I recently saw a commercial for Clorox, and I just can't stop laughing at it. I've seen it a few times now, and every time I swear it gets funnier.

It starts with two dads chatting in a park, sporting their babies in carriers. One of the dad's older sons runs up to him, and, well I'll let you watch the rest...

I'm not sure what it is about this commercial that makes me laugh. Every. Single. Time. Maybe it's the way the dad talks about his minivan like it's as cool as Monday Night Football. Or maybe it's the fact that two dads are enjoying the kind of parenting situation that is often left for the moms to enjoy (it does kind of remind me of the time Chad found himself in a similar situation). Or maybe it's Teddy's "moves" at the end. Whatever it is, I am thankful for Clorox for providing me with a much needed laugh, over and over again.


*In the spirit of Thanksgiving, "I Am Thankful For..." is a blog challenge I have decided to do during the month of November. Each day I will pick one thing that I am thankful for and blog about it. Obviously I am extremely thankful for the many things in my life I am blessed with, such as a wonderful family, my health and my family's health, great friends, a roof over my head, food on the table, and more. But this series is about all the other day-to-day things that I sometimes take for granted and that make life just a little bit better -- you know, the little things. To see a list of all the posts in this series, please click here.

I Am Thankful For...My Oldest Child

Long before Alec and Chase, came Chad's and my first-born child. She's now 10 years old, and she is by far the best behaved child.

She is the only other girl in the house, and she really does a good job putting up with her brothers.

She's always there for me if I need her, and she can tell when I'm having a bad day.

After the boys go to bed, she likes to snuggle with me on the couch and watch TV.

She never talks back, and she never throws tantrums.

She always lets me go to the bathroom in peace.

She never interrupts me when I'm talking on the phone or talking to Chad.

She loves animal crackers and cheese, but her absolute favorite food is vanilla ice cream.

And today I am thankful for her. I am thankful for Smidgen, our dachshund/rat terrier pup. So three "woofs" for Smidgen -- the oldest child, the best behaved child, the child who lets me pee in peace, and the other girl in the house.

*In the spirit of Thanksgiving, "I Am Thankful For..." is a blog challenge I have decided to do during the month of November. Each day I will pick one thing that I am thankful for and blog about it. Obviously I am extremely thankful for the many things in my life I am blessed with, such as a wonderful family, my health and my family's health, great friends, a roof over my head, food on the table, and more. But this series is about all the other day-to-day things that I sometimes take for granted and that make life just a little bit better -- you know, the little things. To see a list of all the posts in this series, please click here.

I Am Thankful For...Sippy Cups

Every night at dinner, the same thing happens. We sit down as a family, eat our meal, talk about our day, and Alec drops his cup on the floor. Every. Single. Night. It always happens at least once, but usually multiple times throughout the meal.

It's not that he's being careless (usually). He just always manages to bump it with his elbow, hand, head, spoon or who knows what else. I swear sometimes he doesn't even touch it. It just falls.

So for this reason, my almost-5-year-old still uses a sippy cup. I would love to give him a cup without a lid at the table, but I just can't bring myself to get rid of the sippy cup. The glorious sippy cup. The cup that can be dropped, shaken, tipped, held upside down and shot out of a rocket and would still not spill more than a measly drip. I don't know who invented this miraculous cup, but I would love to personally thank them.

At this rate, I think Alec might still be using a sippy cup when he graduates high school. Maybe they should make "ability to sit through a meal without dropping a cup, plate, bowl, fork or other eating utensil on the floor" a requirement for graduating. Who needs math or English? Let's focus on the important things here.

At some point I guess I will have to give in and deal with the spills like a responsible parent. But for now I will leave the responsibility of spills up to the sippy cup.

So today I am thankful for the sippy cup, for preventing spills by kids everywhere, one dropped cup at a time.

*In the spirit of Thanksgiving, "I Am Thankful For..." is a blog challenge I have decided to do during the month of November. Each day I will pick one thing that I am thankful for and blog about it. Obviously I am extremely thankful for the many things in my life I am blessed with, such as a wonderful family, my health and my family's health, great friends, a roof over my head, food on the table, and more. But this series is about all the other day-to-day things that I sometimes take for granted and that make life just a little bit better -- you know, the little things. To see a list of all the posts in this series, please click here.

I Am Thankful For...Other People's Kids

My kids have gotten into their share of mischief... There was the time Alec took a Sharpie to the brand new couch. Then there was the time that I found Chase hiding under the dining room table with an entire container of sprinkles and an entire container of bacon bits, some already eaten and the rest on the floor.

And I have no doubt that the worst is yet to come. But there are a few things that my boys have never done that make me feel like there just might be hope for them.

Like this:

Or this:

Or this (ok, maybe this one has happened, but it's really not that bad):

Or this:

So today I am thankful for other people's kids (particularly boys) who make me feel better about my own kids. Here's hoping that my boys never write on the dog, always pee on the right pot and never redecorate the family room.

And you thought I was joking about the bacon bits and sprinkles...

*In the spirit of Thanksgiving, "I Am Thankful For..." is a blog challenge I have decided to do during the month of November. Each day I will pick one thing that I am thankful for and blog about it. Obviously I am extremely thankful for the many things in my life I am blessed with, such as a wonderful family, my health and my family's health, great friends, a roof over my head, food on the table, and more. But this series is about all the other day-to-day things that I sometimes take for granted and that make life just a little bit better -- you know, the little things. To see a list of all the posts in this series, please click here.

I Am Thankful For...Diane Sawyer

As most of you know, there was this thing going on yesterday in the good old U.S.A. called an election. This means that for the past six months, my facebook news feed has been filled with everything Obama and Romney.

But today, for the first time in six months, my news feed was filled with something else. It was filled with Diane Sawyer.

No more statuses preaching about Obama or Romney (other than a few gloaters and a few moaners). Just a bunch of statuses about a possibly lit Diane Sawyer, mixed in with all the usual statuses of whose kids celebrated what birthday, photos of babies and puppies, and the always exciting statuses of what people had for breakfast.

So today I am thankful for the next three and a half years of a mostly political-free facebook news feed, starting with Diane Sawyer. Let's raise a glass to the inebriated news anchors of the world!

*In the spirit of Thanksgiving, "I Am Thankful For..." is a blog challenge I have decided to do during the month of November. Each day I will pick one thing that I am thankful for and blog about it. Obviously I am extremely thankful for the many things in my life I am blessed with, such as a wonderful family, my health and my family's health, great friends, a roof over my head, food on the table, and more. But this series is about all the other day-to-day things that I sometimes take for granted and that make life just a little bit better -- you know, the little things. To see a list of all the posts in this series, please click here.