Thankful Thursday

1.  Obviously Luke and his fourth birthday!  I wrote a post about the party here in case you missed it.  We had the best day together on his actual birthday of Monday as well.  I played whatever he wanted to play (for the record, it was his new card game "War" and the matching game about half a dozen times each...) and only ran one quick errand to the post office.  When we got finished there, we explored around the small downtown area and stumbled on a little library box.  Just like it sounds, it's a small box on a post where people can take or leave books for others in the community to enjoy.  We sat on a nearby bench and read a few kids books and then moseyed around some more.  That night we took him out to Five Guys for dinner and then home for a cupcake and to open his new Imaginext Batcave and tie-blanket that Audrey and I made for him.  It was a great, nostalgic day enjoying my not-so-baby baby boy.  

Warning:  Bragging Mommy alert.  Sorry...

2.  A great parent-teacher conference for AJ.  David, Audrey, and I met with Audrey's teacher yesterday (students join in for the second conference of the year) and were super proud to hear how well our girl is doing.  She is reading on a 4.8 (4th grade, 8th month) STAR reading level and ranks in the 99th percentile.  She is doing fantastic in math and writing as well.  One of her own personal goals she wrote out was "to improve my handwriting".  Well you and me both, sister.  We took her out to celebrate at Yogi Mogli just the three of us and gushed over her a little.  Not only is she doing so well in school, but David and I were both amazed at how mature she has been this past week while Luke got all the attention and gifts for his birthday.  She never pouted or complained and went out of her way to make him feel special about his big day.  To me, having that kind of attitude is a skill of equal or greater importance than her reading level, honestly.  Nobody cares how smart you are if you're a real jerk (okay, so it worked for Steve Jobs, but it doesn't for everyone...)

3.  A hard worker who does hard things.  David has had an incredibly tough week at work as his company laid off some people in their Atlanta office.  He personally had to let two people go and was understandably torn up about it.  I'm thankful he has a caring heart, even when it makes stuff like that so hard.  I've never given much thought to that side of management, but it is sometimes a necessary evil.  This week, we're saying prayers of gratitude that he has a job and praying for those that lost theirs.

4.  Blooming cherry trees.  The bulk of winter is behind us and Spring is coming, y'all! 

5.  Having some time to catch up.  Valentine's Day is over.  The consignment sale is over.  Luke's party is over.  I have about 3.5 seconds to catch my breath before we are knee-deep in some home improvement projects, teacher appreciation weeks begin, and Timber Trek stuff starts up, but doggone it, that's still 3.5 seconds.  I am going to use it to knock some things off that never-ending to do list that is always lingering in the background and I'm going to enjoy making a check mark or two on it!