Thankful Thursday

Okay, so I actually kind of forgot it was Thursday! It's been a busy week as we adjust to early mornings and school schedules and such. *yawn*   But here is my Thankful Thursday list!  I started this feature after seeing it on Talk Nerdy To Me.  It's a great way to reflect over your week and there is always so much to be thankful for. Check out my list, then head over to read Louise' and then write your own!

1. New Kindle

Abi received a Kindle from her Aunt Jenn and Grandma Lynn for her birthday last year and she brought it with her everywhere. It was much loved. She would read all of the time! She would bring it to school, and read on the way home, but that all ended sometime this past Spring. She pulled it out of her backpack after school and found the screen cracked. She didn't recall dropping it, but I suspect that a heavy textbook must've landed on it and the pressure made it crack. Whatever the cause, it was unusable (you couldn't read the screen anymore), and that made for a very sad Abi.

There was a warranty placed on it when it was purchased, but cracked screens are rarely covered. (Aunt Jenn had hers do the same but all they would do at Amazon was give her $30 off a new one, which is still nice, but not a replacement) So months passed and we wondered how we'd be able to get her a new Kindle, when Jenn decided to call about it. Imagine our surprise when Amazon said they'd replace the whole Kindle for her!!! (we just needed to mail the broken one back)  At no cost!!!  And not only that, but it only took three days for the new one to arrive! WOOHOO!

Abi is reunited with her Kindle and it is a happy day every day again!  

We just never see her anymore again!  ...the good news is that she has read 10 books this week! Wow! (some were not that long, evidently!)


2. Good, clean, healthy teeth

Bryn had a check up this week and I am happy to say all went well! Yay! I have a *slight* aversion to dentists (I blame my dad and his horror stories of dentists he saw way back in Medieval Times; sheesh the methods they used scare me!) and I tend to worry that my kids will take after me with dental health. (I have horribly crooked, tightly packed teeth. I hate them. I would fix them if I had extra money laying around that wasn't needed anywhere else. Sadly, I seem to need all the money I have right now for other things that aren't cosmetic dentistry. Darn!)  Yay for good, clean and healthy teeth!!! Bryn has no cavities! (and his front teeth are starting to think about popping through the top, you can see the whites on the gums!!! I am so excited about that!) We celebrated with lots of sugary sweets! haha, just kidding!


3. Back to School!

Hooray! Hooray!  I am so thankful for that. My kids were restless at home and needed to get back into a routine. I am so very thankful that our kids are able to attend the Christian school, and that they aren't effected by the Provincial teacher's strike happening.  I am so aware of how blessed we are to have that ability, and my heart goes out to the parents who are scrambling to find ways to keep their kids entertained, or cared for, or on a schedule, or just any of the frustrations that come with things being out of sorts. Kids need school, and they need routine, and that is what makes September so wonderful since that is the start of both of those. Except that it's not. And that is rough.

4. Husbands who cook

I am so thankful that my husband can cook. And I don't mean just a few things, I mean that he can really cook. Like he watches chef shows and he reads cook books and he likes to be creative. Me? Not so much. I cook because I have to survive!  I hate cooking, I have no interest in it, I really like to stick with my favourites (which happen to be pizza, spaghetti, homemade oatmeal, and stew!) So imagine my happiness when I found out that my then-fiance could cook, and enjoyed it! I rejoiced and I thanked God and I laughed at how He matched me up with someone with skills I needed! 

This week, not only am I super grateful for a husband who cooks, but one who still cooks even though he is sick! I fully expected that I would be coming home at 5:30pm, after school and meetings, etc, and needing to figure out dinner. What a pleasant surprise to see (and smell) that something wonderful was in the oven already! Hooray!!!


5. New Friends

I met this woman at the park the other day and it progressed in a way that I'm not used to. We chatted about churches and I found out that she was from the Philippians and has three teen girls; she was really friendly. I get so surprised at people who can chat like old friends when they've just met!  It is really out of my comfort zone and I really suck at small talk!

I am thankful for people who God put in my life, whether for a season, or a specific reason; it always makes me laugh! Lorna and I talked on the phone and prayed together (also out of my comfort zone) and it was just interesting!

6. Daughters who know how to cook

This goes along with #4 and my lack of culinary skills. Abi takes after my husband (and my Mom, who can also look into the fridge and find dinner in all the food looking back at her) and enjoys to cook. I am so thankful that she is willing to help me out and likes playing around with ingredients. I laughed when she showed me her favourite spices to use on the chicken! (it was an interesting mix of dill and cinnamon and thyme or something like that!)

7. A Loud Home

I actually write this one while honestly feeling slightly irked. My house is loud. It just is with five children. They run, they play, they fight, they tease, they sing, they stomp, they argue, they race, they laugh; it is busy! Sometimes they do those things together and sometimes it is all alone, so I'll have two laughing, two fighting and one singing and dancing, or three watching tv and two fighting, or one running and two fighting and two playing.. (notice how I always say that at least two are fighting?)  No matter what combination, it is loud.  

Some days it is loud and I get frustrated and irked and cranky at all of their fighting and all of their loud, but I am reminding myself tonight that a lot of their loud is actually from giggling and being silly and having fun together.  For that, I am thankful.


8. New haircuts

I found me some handsome dudes at the hairdresser this week!  

I love new haircuts that make them look so well put together and cool and grown up! (I tend to put off getting hair cuts for too long and we all end up looking shaggy and unkempt!) 

9. Cocoons

Remember Friendly, the fuzzy caterpillar from last week? Well, he made himself a nice cocoon in that plastic container and has been wrapped up in what looks like a fuzzy web (it really is furry to the touch!) for a week now.  I am excited to see the transformation in the end! 

 I'm not too sure how long he stays in his cocoon, but well, The Very Hungry Caterpillar said it was two weeks, and who am I to question the classic Eric Carle book?

10.  in their words

I thought I'd let the Olders tell me their thoughts on this week and their Thankful Thursday contributions:

Kai: I am thankful for school, and for school trips coming up (he is going away for two days with the grade six classes), and that I don't need to walk up to the library anymore after school. (well, obviously he still has to walk, but he doesn't need to walk from the elementary school anymore; he can just walk down the hall. That is where I meet the kids after school.)

Abi: I am thankful that our school is actually on.  (she wasn't feeling very wordy!)


Looking back over your week, what are you thankful for?