Thursday, September 04, 2014

Thankful Thursday

Thankful for:

1. Being healthy enough to donate blood.  I'm embarrassed to say how long it's been since I've donated.  I used to donate often and then through pregnancy, Graves' Disease, years of sleep deprivation/breastfeeding where I had no extra energy, travel in SE Asia which made us ineligible for a year...it's been a while!   My iron levels were awesome and I donated in 11 minutes!  I encourage you to donate because you know, `It's in you to give!'.


2. Finding a sport Kai loves.  He loves most sports but this is something he is quite passionate about.  It's totally affordable too!  Just $125/3 months at Coastal Climbing. ALSO, if you are looking for something to do during the strike, they do have drop in for kids and you can see the link here.  Two hours for $17 and they are harnessed and belayed while you can enjoy wifi and read a book :) 




3.  Opportunities for family activities through blogging.  This summer we were able to go to Splashdown, the Abbotsford Airshow and to the Applebarn. 


4.  Long term friendships. Gary has a great group of five friends that he has known since 1993.  I love when we get to hang out with their families because I love them all too!  Only one other family lives in our area so it was awesome that we had the opportunity to hang out with a couple of them this weekend.  


5.  Twelve (?)  years of friendship with this lovely lady.  I met Ali while we were teaching. I tried to convince her to date Gary.  She didn't. Phew.  We taught together, played football on the same team, found our spouses, had kids, and I was there for the birth of each of her kids...you know, a lot of time together.  We get the dynamic of energetic young boys :) Their family is moving away and I'm torn. I'm happy for their adventure but sad that she's just, you know, 6 hours and 31 minutes away (according to google). Hey, that's not too bad!


7. Koen being in school.  He is a January 2 baby so he has been ready for a loooong time for school.  He's just part time so he will be home with Nya and I on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I think that a little break from each other might be healthy :)



8. A daughter that tells me daily how much she loves me. Sometimes you don't realize how much you need something until you have it.  The boys don't ever say `I love you' unless I make them so I really love it.



9.  An easy meal.  I tried the newest Costco salad (it has crispy quinoa and an avocado dressing!) with roasted chicken. Yum.


10.  Koen's quirkiness.  He said the highlight of his day, on Tuesday, was cleaning the sink.  I started giving him chores when he misbehaved and he was either using reverse psychology on me or he really liked doing it.


That's my Thankful Thursday, friends!  If you're ever stuck on what to be thankful for, take a quick look through your phone photos and hopefully there's a smiling face or a beautiful sunset to remind you of blessings all around.

Have a wonderful weekend...almost there!

Love,
Louise

10 comments:

  1. I didn't know you had Graves. Do you still have it? And, you are able to donate blood? I had an overactive thyroid after Luke was born - most horrible thing I have gone through. I am under watch now for it to turn to under-active. I always thought that maybe I couldn't donate blood because of that...maybe I will have to look in to that!

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  2. Margriet8:28 AM

    That video of Nya is sooo precious! She is adorable! I can't wait until my daughter can say that to me :)

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  3. Jessica-yes I had Graves (well, still do but I've been in remission for a couple of years). You can donate if in remission and no medication. Oh man, you had overactive too...it was one of the hardest things I've gone through. It happened after Koen's birth and I got very, very sick.

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  4. Glad to hear it is in remission - I totally know what you went through! They say mine was postpartum related and that it would have happened again if I had another baby - big reason I didn't go for 3. I had to ride the whole thing out without meds or anything - it was horrible. I shutter just thinking back to those days!

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  5. I love Bennett's face in the group photo. What a monkey!

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  6. Jessica-it was one of the main reasons we were going to adopt #3 :) After Nya it came back, but just briefly, and I was all over it with medication. I wonder why you couldn't take any meds? At least some beta blockers or something to bring down your heart rate and help you relax. It is brutal and I never want it again. One big reason I don't teach anymore (stress!).

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  7. Kai is SO grown up, it's crazy. So big and it looks like he's doing things I couldn't do! Crazy! And I don't think saying "I love you" is necessarily a girl thing (not that you were saying that)...Isaac will say "don't forget, I love you" ;). Love it. Wish I could capture it forever.

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  8. Jackie-yahoo! A sister commenting! I would totally say to tape Isaac saying it because one day, well, he may be too cool! I know I used to ask the boys how much they loved me and they'd spread their arms as wide as they could and say `this much' but I never had all these unsolicited ones before. Hope they last forever!
    And yes, Kai is huge. One day Isaac will be all lean and stretched out like this :)

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  9. I last donated blood 364 days before Taeya was born :) Until last month I finally did it and already have my next one booked. I have no idea why I kept putting it off...just booking one more appointment I guess. But I love that you can book your next appointment as you check in so it's set for the next time!
    So glad your boys are in school! I miss private education for that reason ;) But yeah, we are hoping to get back to school SOON. Well, eventually, anyway.

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  10. Uh yeah, so that last blood donation was 9 years ago :)

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