good things

My gratitude list:

- Baby had two helpings of turkey soup, Peter had three.  "This turkey soup is so good!  Can I have another bowl?"  Having two people in this house who really like food--hubby and Peter--is rather nice, I've decided. I don't have control over very much in this life, but I can work hard in the kitchen and really make some people happy.

- Mary, sweet Mary, has a sweet tooth, like her Momma.  We made fudge today, finally, for the first time.  Very easy.  No glitches.  She loved it and it warmed my heart.  That's probably silly (especially since it's mostly sugar! Yikes!), but it really did give me the warm fuzzies to see my pretty girl enjoying her treat.

- Miss Beth was an into-everything terror while I made the soup.  My top was so about to blow.  But then I remembered it's a blessing to have a baby whose limbs can climb readily and whose arms can reach and whose legs can run.  She is not disabled.  Hallelujah.  If I were a drinker I would time a drink every night right around the dinner prep hour.  Lord knows I need some help with my nerves!  Fudge, instead?  Yeah.  That worked.

- The weather turned and we now read together under a blanket.  It just doesn't get any better than that--to cuddle with your little ones under a blanket on a cold night, enjoying a story.

- The children decorated the Christmas tree on Thanksgiving day.  It didn't get pulled down today by You Know Who, which is more than I can say about yesterday.

-  The church Christmas Pageant practices are going well.  This is such a huge undertaking, and our children's director does it joyfully, despite the extra practices taking away from her family time and leisure time.  My children consider it one of their holiday highlights.

- Penpals for kids.  Don't underestimate the joy a letter brings to a child.  To carry a letter to my son, and see his entire countenance change from serious to seriously thrilled, is so uplifting to me as a Momma.  Is it because his love language is affirming words that he likes them so much, I wonder? Paul is happy enough to get one, but not thrilled.  He's my cuddle bug.

- Pilgrim and Mayflower stories.  I love that they teach the rewards of having faith, courage, and long-suffering tendencies.

- Behind me are about five loads of laundry needing folding.  I'm mindful of the blessing it is to have plentiful, clean pajamas (or rather sweats), undergarments and linens

- Harry the Hamster is still alive, seems happy, and still livens up my evening blog and chore time by running furiously, continuously, on his wheel.  I don't ever get anywhere either, Harry.  Can you see my progress on the baskets of clean clothes?

And on that laundry note, I'd better be getting out of this chair.

Goodnight, friends!