11.4

How fun is this for me?! I love looking at my blog roll and seeing so many "gratitude day" posts, or "5-a-day" or "my five." There are so many participating in counting their blessings, it's awesome!! check out torey, jaime, becky and maren.

so, 1. I'm grateful for my fellow bloggers. those of you who take a minute every day to think about the good stuff you've got going in your lives. I still like the rest of you, don't get me wrong, but it's honestly inspiring to read the blessings you're counting.

2. Butt Paste. My mama always taught me that "butt" was not a nice word, but it this case, it is oh, so nice! We don't get diaper rashes very often around here, but when we do, this is the stuff! It's fantastic, clears things up nice and quick 'cause sore red bottoms are no fun at all!

3. Dinner Exchange. I know it's not for everyone, but it works for me right now and makes my life easy. I cook once a week and make dinner for four families, including mine. Three other cooks (better than me.. I told you it was a sweet deal!) do the same and then we exchange. Ideally, the majority of the prep work is done and come dinner time, I just have to cook or reheat and voila! Dinner is served. It serves me on several levels... I don't have to plan for a week's worth of dinners, or cook them or shop for them. I just do it once! And when 5:00 rolls around, I'm never wondering what we're having for dinner when I have hungry whiny children. If this sounds like something you'd like, find some friends and do it!

4. The Internet. I might mention this several times this month, but I'm grateful for it for several reasons! Today, while I was cooking, Cooper kept asking me to give him math. I can come up with stuff off the top of my head, but it's so much easier to click and print and a myriad of worksheets come flying off the printer that keep him busy for a long time! He sat at the counter with me counting leftover candy corn and doing addition problems.

5. Learning is Fun. I'm overwhelmingly grateful that learning is fun for Cooper right now. I am not up for a fight every day when it's time to read or practice writing or do music homework. I love that he enjoys these things and that he's proud of his success. His preschool day begins by choosing a "busy station" to play at while his class arrives and gets settled. Today he went straight for the letters and chalkboard and started forming words. His teacher said he's been doing that a lot lately and asked if he'd been doing it at home. I hope that he loves discovering new things and learning his whole life and that I can find the right balance between supporting and encouraging rather than pushing too hard and making it drudgery.

you know you're grateful for five things today. what are they?? stop thinking you're too cool to participate. you do know that counting your blessings brings more blessings, don't you?? good. just wanted to be sure you knew.