Thankful Thursday

Keeping the introduction brief today. Every week I write about ten thing that I am grateful for and it seems even more important now as it's been rainy for a month and darker earlier. If you're feeling on the gloomy side of the spectrum, I'd really encourage you to practice some gratitude today. And if you're happy and you know it, being thankful never hurts.

This week I am thankful for:

1. Bittersweet chocolate pudding. It's a mix between chocolate pudding cake and mousse so basically the most amazing thing you will ever eat. I made it in our Instant Pot using Dinner in an Instant (recipe is not online).

2. The time to do Christmas activities with the kids. I typically put things we would do anyway into our advent calendar (not that they know that!) so that it isn't more work than normal. One of our activities was to decorate a gingerbread house. With "just" the three kids, this is something easy to do and they love it. And guess what tonights is? Eat the house. See? Easy.

3. Going to VanDusen Garden's Festival of Lights. We are part of so many organizations and were fortunate enough to visit the gardens. It was beautiful and a Spongebob DVD got us down there with minimal fighting ;) 

4. Koen speaking at his Christmas concert. There were about 20 kids that had a speaking part and they had a practice run at Willowbrook Mall this week which I could go to. I'm proud of him for being brave and memorizing his two sentences.

5. My dad seeing Koen perform too! I had borrowed his truck to return two dressers to Ikea (the Malm recall) so he picked it up Monday morning to watch Koen and then we went out for coffee. Koen has a very unique personality. He makes Gary and I give eachother "the look" each and every day. I would say that he has a big part of my dad and Gary in him...original, joke-teller and pest.

6. A good book to read! Big Little Lies is an easy read that reminds me of Life in Pieces (the TV show with short Chapters) and kind of quirky like Where'd You Go, Bernadette or The Rosie Project. I enjoyed it and would recommend it. Now I'm onto The Husband's Secret.

7. Christmas lights. They make our house a lot cheerier during a gloomy time of year.

8. Buying a scrunchie. Friends, I was instantly transported back to 1991 and felt like a million bucks. And I know you want to go out and get one now–$6 at Claire's. 

9. Nya paying attention to detail. This picture makes me laugh so hard (sorry, sweetheart). She was rushing through a lot of her schoolwork and we've been trying to slow down and work on details. I can see here that she was trying hard to focus on the details of eyelashes, ears and...teeth. It's true. We do smile with teeth! 

10. My Koen. I actually don't buy my kids Christmas pj's although I feel like everyone else does. However, I had brought all the kids with me to the mall on Black Friday and he begged for these because they were so cozy and they were 50% off so I did. I love this kid. He is SO into Christmas and all that it entails. It also helps that his birthday is less than a month away (he has the countdown, not me).

What is something that you are thankful for today?

Love, 

Louise