A Month of Thanks, Day 9

Honestly, I have to say that I am fairly impressed with myself for having posted a thankful blog everyday for 9 days.  That's pretty good for me!  Anyway, on with the blogging!

Today, I am thankful for my grandparents.  They spent a great deal of my childhood and adolescent years instilling a sense of right and wrong in me.  They were proud of my achievements, punished me for my crimes, and loved me unconditionally.  In fact, they still do.  I'm not sure where I would be today without them, really.  They were an essential element in the molding of my young mind, and are still an extremely large part of my life today.  They are the reason I have manners, compassion and morals.  I owe them my love of 50's music, and classic country.  They truly are fantastic people, and thanks to them, I feel that I am a good person.  So today I say thanks, Jane Margaret and Oliver Gleason, for being the best grandparents a girl could ask for!

A Month of Thanks, Day 8

I've lived a lot of life in my 29 years, and some days, I feel like I should be much older.  In reality I feel much younger.  Closer to 17 than anything, really.  I guess that could be a result of a lot of things that have happened in my life, but the fact of the matter is this: Today, I am thankful for me.  Now, I  don't want that to sound narcissistic, or selfish, because that is certainly not what I intend.  I am simply saying that I am thankful for all the things that have happened in my life, for all the choices that I have made, good and bad, that have brought me to who I am at this moment in time.  I am thankful for the things I have learned, even if that means I had to learn them the hard way.  I am thankful for the people who have come into and gone out of my life, forever changing some aspect of myself.  I know without a doubt that I'm not anywhere in the vicinity of perfection.  Hell, most of the time I have a hard time feeling comfortable in my own skin.  But I am thankful, every day to be me. 

A Month of Thanks, Day 7

Today I am thankful for the changing seasons.  Though Fall is my favorite, I enjoy them all in one way or another.  I am thankful that they change, so that I can have a favorite.  I love the new life of Spring.  The heat of Summer reminds me that I don't mind the cold.  Fall is beautiful with its vibrant colors and sweatshirt temperatures.  Winter sparkles in snow, and makes me thankful for Summer.  I guess that when it comes down to it, I am more of a cold weather person.  Funny, because I live in the desert.  But true.  So, today I say thanks for the changing of seasons, and the highlights of each one.

A Month of Thanks, Day 6

Apple Pie.  Homemade Apple Pie.  Well, I guess technically it was Home-assembled Apple Pie, but it was great all the same.  Yes, we purchased the crust at Wal-Mart, and the filling at Safeway, but we put it together in our very own kitchen.  Now surely that counts for something, doesn't it?  Anyway, the Apple Pie isn't really the most important part of my Day of Thanks today, nor is the Vanilla Ice Cream that accompanied that warm Apple Pie.  Today I am thankful that I got to sit down at the kitchen table with my four beautiful budding children, and eat that warm Apple Pie and Vanilla Ice Cream.  I guess, when I think about it, we could have been eating anything and I would be thankful.  I will admit, though, that warm Apple Pie and Vanilla Ice Cream are a personal favorite of mine, and that having my phenomenal daughter help me assemble this tasty treat, and then sharing it at our kitchen table with all of my children at the same time send it over the top.  Drake smeared his on the table, and held the ice cream in his hand until it melted all over his pajamas, and Anthony ate only the ice cream.  Michael enjoyed his, then returned to the football game he had previously been watching.  Leelah cleaned up the leftovers.  And I sat at the table, quietly enjoying each of my unique children, and that moment of family.  So today, my friends, I am thankful for warm Apple Pie and Vanilla Ice Cream shared at the beautiful kitchen table my uncle made in high school with my four impossibly amazing kids.

A Month of Thanks, Day 5

Today, I am thankful for the youngest of my four amazing kidlets, Drake Joshua.  Named for two of the best men we know, Drake is such a sparkling little gem!  He is eternally happy, such a pleasant little soul.  He hasn't decided if he's left or right handed, and has recently started blaming his poopy pants on anyone and everyone available to try and talk me out of changing him.  LOL  He is always laughing about something, and loves his big sister "Lala" more than anyone on the planet.  I love that life is so new and exciting to him, and I just want to soak up every moment I can, because I know how short this time really is.  So for now, I will be thankful of his smallness, his honest love of life.  Today, I am thankful for my charming little Drake-asourus-rex.

A Month of Thanks, Day 4

In keeping with my running theme of thankfulness, today I am thankful for Anthony Gleason.  He's the most amazing 4 year old I know, although he can't wait to be 5.  LOL  He loves to be outside more than anything, and wants to do everything his big brother Michael does.  His laughter is infectious, and he gives the best hugs.  I love that he is my lefty, and my only light-eyed baby.  I even love (sorta) that he will eat nothing but peanut butter sandwiches (no jelly) and pancakes.  Honestly, if he could, he would eat pancakes 3 times a day with peanut butter sandwiches for snack in between.  And some chocolate milk to wash it down.  So today I am thankful for my crazy, funny, 100% 4 year-old-boy, Anthony Gleason.

A Month of Thanks, Day 3

Since I seem to be traveling right down the line, I may as well continue, right?  LOL

Today I am thankful for my Michael Brent.  He is the oldest boy of my trio, and amazes me in so many ways.  He eats, sleeps and breathes football, and is a Steelers fan to the core, even in a family of 49ers fans.  I love that Michael is just Michael.  He is stubborn to a fault and so much a smarty pants like his mama.   I love that he puts his all into what he loves.  He is handsome, and daring, and fantastic.  I love him more than even I can fathom.  He came into my life only ten months after his big sister, and I was scared of how that would work out.  I shouldn't have been, as Michael has helped to make everyday of my life all the more joyous and breathtaking.  So today I say thanks, for a fantabulous 10 year old Michael B.