I have so much to be thankful for this year it's hard to know where to start. Obviously, my four (!!) beautiful, healthy children. In particular, for Claire's surviving her terrifying hiking accident this summer and for another successful VBA2C with George. For Adam's job, with his company's extremely generous paternity leave policy and for his promotion which perfectly coincided with our first bill for Catholic school tuition. For our cozy rental home, in such a great location and with the absolute nicest landlords. For all the wonderful teachers our children love dearly - Claire's preschool and kindergarten teachers, the great volunteers at Catechesis, Ms. Madeleine at Maggie's art class who always has extra supplies for Betsy to participate, and Ms. Allison our lovely music teacher who has known each of our children since they were babies.
But, right at this moment, I'm feeling especially grateful for my mom. She very, very generously stayed with us for three weeks surrounding George's arrival, just like she did when Maggie and Betsy were born. She was primarily here to watch the girls while I was in the hospital, which was a hard enough job in itself. But she did so much more! Cooking dinner, doing laundry, deep cleaning the bathrooms, stocking the freezer with delicious meals and dozens of chocolate chip cookies, making sure Claire and Maggie each got some quality time to beat her at Candyland. Betsy asked about her repeatedly when she left last Saturday - it's a good thing it was only for a few days, as my parents and brother were all here to celebrate Thanksgiving with us.
Isn't it a wonderful thing to look back at your childhood and want to give the same memories to your kids? This summer, I was thinking that maybe I should be taking our children on more exciting outings, like venturing into Seattle for the zoo, museums, etc. But then I remembered how much I loved our summers growing up - swimming at the pool, going to the library, and having friends over to play. That's what I want to give to my kids too. I hope I can also give of myself and my time so generously when I am a grandmother one day.
We had a really nice, low-key Thanksgiving. Claire was off school the whole week and Adam took the girls on a fun little outing each day - to an indoor playground, to a puppet show at the library, and to see the resident turkey at the farm park. I joined them for Mass on Thanksgiving and a trip to Pike Place Market on Black Friday. George's first non-church or doctor's office outing! We all made something for Thanksgiving dinner and watched Elf while the turkey roasted. I'm pretty sure Claire is the only person in existence who has found that to be a scary movie. She gets a little too emotionally invested these days, which she definitely inherited from me. I'm still scarred from my first and only viewing of Titanic as a child.
You have to drive through the Cascade Mountains to get between here and my parents' town in Eastern Washington. It's not always possible to do in the winter. All the passes are closed when there's too much snow. Sadly, that means we won't see my parents or brother for Christmas. But, we will see my sister, because she'll be back (for good!!) from her missionary service in Honduras. We can't wait to see her!
Isn't it a wonderful thing to look back at your childhood and want to give the same memories to your kids? This summer, I was thinking that maybe I should be taking our children on more exciting outings, like venturing into Seattle for the zoo, museums, etc. But then I remembered how much I loved our summers growing up - swimming at the pool, going to the library, and having friends over to play. That's what I want to give to my kids too. I hope I can also give of myself and my time so generously when I am a grandmother one day.
We had a really nice, low-key Thanksgiving. Claire was off school the whole week and Adam took the girls on a fun little outing each day - to an indoor playground, to a puppet show at the library, and to see the resident turkey at the farm park. I joined them for Mass on Thanksgiving and a trip to Pike Place Market on Black Friday. George's first non-church or doctor's office outing! We all made something for Thanksgiving dinner and watched Elf while the turkey roasted. I'm pretty sure Claire is the only person in existence who has found that to be a scary movie. She gets a little too emotionally invested these days, which she definitely inherited from me. I'm still scarred from my first and only viewing of Titanic as a child.
You have to drive through the Cascade Mountains to get between here and my parents' town in Eastern Washington. It's not always possible to do in the winter. All the passes are closed when there's too much snow. Sadly, that means we won't see my parents or brother for Christmas. But, we will see my sister, because she'll be back (for good!!) from her missionary service in Honduras. We can't wait to see her!
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You are awesome.