Thankful Thursday

Welcome to Thankful Thursday, a weekly feature that came about because I started to copy Louise at Talk Nerdy To Me! There are so many things to be thankful for. Take a look at my list, then check out Louise's, and then write your own! It is so good for the soul to be able to look back over the week and count the things that are wonderful and things you can be thankful for.

1. Kindergarten

Yep, definitely the biggest thing to happen this week! I am so excited!!!

2. buzzed cuts

I took R to get his hair cut before he started school and he had the giggles when the hairdresser used the clippers on his head, saying it was tickly!

I am thankful for his giggles. Giggles make everything better.

I am thankful that he doesn't look shaggy anymore! He looks so sweet!

3. Friends close by

We are lucky in that we have neighbours on either side of us with kids in the same age group and that the kids all play together (relatively) well.  Josh is the boy that lives to our left and he is a year younger than B, and so he is often over here wanting to play with him. It is a great friendship! The nice thing is that B gets invited out to many activities with Josh and his family. (they have a little girl who is younger than Eden as well)

On the weekend, B got to go to the skate park for a bit, which is within walking distance to our house. Josh is also a very active boy and so I totally get it with keeping the boys occupied with friends!

I am thankful for neighbourhood friends to play with!


4.Helpers

We had a bunch of last-minute scrambling to do this weekend to prepare for Kai and his Dad for the school camping trip, which included preparing the BBQ. (we let the school borrow ours since it is so huge. It makes cooking for 80 kids easier than borrowing multiple small BBQ!) We had to enlist the kids in a few of the tasks just to get things moving along smoothly. I'll be honest that it is not easy getting them to cooperate or even help in a timely manner and do it without grumbling, but *sigh* I hear that is common with others too, so I try not to take it personal. 

I am thankful for Abi in helping clean the BBQ; it was a dirty job! 

I don't know many people who use a pressure washer to clean their BBQ--how about you? (it was that yucky from camping and family get togethers this summer!)

 
5. Old Friends

I bumped into an old friend this week. Not literally though, that would've been interesting. After we dropped off the boys for their camping trip (#4 & #6) early Tuesday morning, I took the kids to Timmys for breakfast(yum, so healthy!, when one of Abi's classmates came in. We waved and the mother looked at me and asked if she knew me. I shrugged it off and explained that our girls were in class together. She looked maybe a bit familiar, but nothing struck me. After they paid and were sitting down, she introduced herself and asked if she had my maiden name correct, and that's when I remembered who she was! Perky! (as she was known, since her last name was Perkins. She was energetic! She and I got along well in highschool, even though she was my sister's friend) So neat!  She has three kids (gr 8, gr 6 and gr 5) and they just started at our school. How wonderful! I had to give her a hug. I love seeing old friends.  


6. Overnight School trips and a quieter home

My husband and Kai left on Tuesday morning from the school to head to Newcastle Island for the Grade Six camping trip. It's a "welcome to middle school, get to know your classmates and teachers, team building" type of trip. (my Hunny got to go on the trip when Abi was in gr. 6 as well. He helped lead a group of three girls in various lessons. This year he went as a cook!)

Without them, our house has been a bit quieter. (I find it harder to sleep; the bed seems so big and cold and empty!) But it hasn't been too bad. I went out for a Meet The Teacher night at the elementary school the first night, then attempted to put the kids to bed early the second night so that I could watch a movie (didn't work). We managed without the boys! But I am so thankful that they come back home tonight! I can't wait to hear all about the trip and the funny things that happened. (Abi still remembers her trip; we'll see how talkative Kai is!)

7. Lego Creations

My kids are LEGO fanatics! It started with Kai and it trickled down and now all of the kids can easily spend a day playing with Lego...or doing something Lego-related (such as the website and the videos and games, and the huge Lego movie where "everything is awesome!")

Bryn made this creation while at Grandma Lynn's house this week:

A Flower Scarecrow.

He asked me to post it to the Lego site, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet. (honestly, I haven't looked into it yet. *blush* I should go do that now...)


8. Great Conversations

I have had some great conversations lately, mostly about the Teacher's Strike that is still ongoing here in BC. It is a touchy subject for many and it is hard to be able to speak your mind without offending someone. So I am thankful for the many conversations that I've had this week that have helped me shape my thoughts, have educated me, and have proven to me that adults can talk about tough subjects, have differing opinions and still get along! (well, for the most part. I have an thread on FB that sometimes sounds more touchy than it needs to be. Typing can be so tough as it can be misread so easily. *sigh*)

9. This silly girl

I will be honest, I was worried about having Eden at home, just her and I. She has had her older siblings to entertain her all these three years, and now without them what will we do? But I am so thankful that this week has been so good. She is full of energy and likes to watch her shows (Dora, Diego, Yo Gabba Gabba and Team Umizumi...thanks to Netflix) and colour pictures and read books and have baths. It has been great!

I had to get her a "lunch kit" since the others had one, of course. I luckily found this one at Dollarama for only $2.50, which I thought was affordable for something not necessary!  She loves it and has to carry it everywhere, and yes, I have to fill it with snacks every day too! (she is shirtless because as soon as we come home, she has to remove her shoes, socks and shirt. I don't get the shirt, but it's always been this way!)


10. BSF

This morning, the Bible study I attended last year started up again. Hooray!  I am so incredibly thankful that I am able to go and study the Word with other women, and that Eden loves going to the children's class. It really helped me in my faith and understanding last year.

This year we are studying Moses, which should be interesting. I wasn't too sure about what I would take from this study (as opposed to last year when we studied the book of Matthew) but I left this morning full of excitement and anticipation for what I will learn. If you are free on Thursday mornings and live in the area, check out Bible Study Fellowship, (a inter-denominational Bible study group, see their website by clicking on their name). We meet at Cloverdale Baptist Church at 9:15am. If you aren't able to attend during the day, they are starting up an evening meeting this month. And if you aren't local, check out the BSF site as there are other locations.  I have loved being able to attend and I am so excited to see what God will do this year!


So many little blessings this week.  Looking back over your week, what are you thankful for?