I am feeling so grateful these days. I'm not entirely sure why as not a lot has changed but I'll take it! I am generally a positive person but do get weighed down by the busy schedules and lack of "me time" these days so maybe even just having two hours to myself on Monday during the day was all I needed!
Each week I write down ten things that I am thankful for and I would encourage you to embrace this practice as well as gratitude needs to be practiced. This week I am thankful for:
1. Baby being a wonderful fit for our family. I don't know how to explain this any better but when you add a foster child to your home it can feel like you've added five more. There are visits, appointments, attachment issues and just more behaviours and interactions to manage. Sweet Baby has been the easiest transition for us because all of the kids adore her and she is quite easy going. We are so happy and I can't even think about her leaving one day.
2. Nya's patience. This girl can listen to Koen talk non stop and actually care about what he's saying. She is such a patient and loving sister, daughter and friend and I love her a lot. She will be the one to say "Mom, I'm sorry you've had a hard day. Is there something that I can do to help you?". She's five.
3. Saying "yes" 13 years ago. On January 21, 2005 I had been home from Kenya for three short weeks and started a new job. I knew Gary was going to propose and although I really wanted him to it was slightly terrifying! I felt like we were acting when he asked and I said "yes" (well, really I said "This is crazy"). Yay for us. Celebrating 13 years May 28th this year.
4. Date night. This was the first time we have ever left four kids with one sitter and we could because Baby is quite easy (a regular fussy teething baby but "easy") and we had a great friend babysitting! Gary and I went to Fortitude for dinner. The food was great and we had a $100 Visa card to use to it made me feel like it was free. Anyone else have a hard time paying $80 for a meal? I just think "I had to do two days of daycare for this!" Am I alone on this?
5. Nya's drawings. I love seeing her colour and draw for hours. It's not that she's skilled it's that she enjoys it so much. This was her first time trying to draw a dog and I love it's paws.
6. These two. Oh boy do they know how to push eachother's buttons and it's because they are so similar! I enjoy seeing them having fun together.
7. Our office. It's not fancy but it is so well used. I think it's important that every part of our home be functional as it's not that large. Ignore the wires, I do. I'm on the left, Gary on the right. I should add here some awesome news regarding this blog. I was "stuck" at 5,000 unique monthly views for years and then things really took off over the past few months. I'm now up to 12,000 unique monthy views. What does that mean? Just more opportunities and an increase in income from this space. I am very grateful to all of you that stop by here and I hope it's helpful for you on some level! Thank you.
8. Naptime!! Yeehaw. Get things done time. Love that babies nap.
9. Yum and Yummer cookbook. This week I made the Chicken BLT Pasta Salad, Carrot Cake Pancakes and Zucchini Muffins. Baby loved the all too which is a major win. This is pre-dressing as I added a creamy poppyseed one to it.
10. Gary loving his drone. The nice thing about an overcast day is that barely anyone was at the beach! He could practice it out a bit. There's been a lot of rain and he works daylight hours so he hasn't had a lot of time to work on it. He just started video and photos this weekend and you can see the first try below. I'm really looking forward to seeing what he can do with it. (PS There are many rules with it such as distances from people, vehicles, airports, daylight etc which makes me a bit nervous as a rule follower! It's hard to find places where there aren't people!)
What is something that you are thankful for today?
Love,
Louise
I love the new Yum and Yummer Cookbook! Just recently made the summer salad with chickpeas and the chicken with maple syrup. Both delicious!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. I always look forward to your Thankful Thursdays, and it reminds me to consider what I'm thankful for each week.
Bretton
It is a great book! I'll have to check out those two recipes and I love the sound of chicken with maple syrup. Thank YOU for reading, so appreciate it.
DeleteI have made a couple of the recipes from Yum & Yummer recently: Chicken Enchilada Casserole on page 166 and Beef Bowlrito on page 180. I must be in a Mexican faze - they were both delicious.
ReplyDeleteI made th chicken enchilada one too! With gluten free wraps, good reminder to do it again. Will have to check out your other recommendation. Thank you for letting me know about the book!
Delete12 000 views a month? That's incredible!!! That really boggles my mind...that's like 1/2 the population of Quesnel! Great job, Louise!
ReplyDeleteMandeep! That is my favourite comment ever: Half the population of Quesnel. And yes, it's wild, right?!
Delete