It's in the little things

We are always asked that same old familiar question this time every year...

What are you thankful for?  

And I am always tempted to say that I'm thankful for all of my amazing family members and friends.  Because I am.  So much.  

Or that I'm thankful for the gift of my good health and that of the ones I love.  And I most definitely am.  Especially this year after the health scare with my mother.

I thank God every day for her continued improvement and for the doctors and medications that are making that possible. 

I could say that I'm thankful for this beautiful home we moved into this year and for the gift of being able to choose to be the stay home mom that I am. 

I am eternally grateful for all of those things, the Big Things, and I make it a point to tell God just how thankful I am on a regular basis. 

But I'd like to talk about the countless "little" things I am thankful for this year...the kinds of things that when added all up, make my life precious and real, and while they may seem like little things now,  they will most likely be the ones I will look back on one day and smile and long to have back. 

I am thankful for...

**the noise. As crazy as it sometimes drives me, especially the bickering, I know in my heart that when my boys are grown and out living lives of their own that I will miss hearing things like "Mommm! He's taking the last waffle!!! " or "Why do I have to go to my room when I didn't do ANYTHING?!"
    

**the messes.  I constantly complain about the messes I'm cleaning up daily and the mounds of laundry I'm doing because it is never ending and my house is rarely completely neat or clean but deep down I know that the lived in look is a blessing in disguise.

**the sound of little doggie nails on the hardwood floors simply because my dogs make me a happier person.

**spelling tests with a red "100" on top, field trip notices, ball schedules, and drawings of superheroes and stick men on my refrigerator.

**band-aids with Spongebob and Snoopy on them.

**Wednesday date days with Charlie.  We may do nothing more than have lunch at IHOP and go to Petco for dog food and Sam's Club for a 24 pack of paper towels but we set aside that day each week to spend time together, no matter what, when the boys are in school. 

**all the bicycles, baseball bags, soccer shin guards, cleats, footballs, shoes, helmets, book bags, and hoodies that are cluttering up the garage door entry. 

**the sound of the school bus coming up the road.


**waking up to the smell of coffee brewing on the mornings Charlie gets up before I do.

**quiet moments spent here with the laptop and a cup of coffee with Splenda and amaretto creamer, writing about all the everyday things that make me smile, laugh, cry and scream.

What "little" things are you thankful for this year? 

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. ~Thornton Wilder