Thankful Thursday... wait.... Friday

I have a friend that does Thankful Thursday on her blog and posts up to 10 things that she is grateful for throughout the week. I've thought about doing this in the past, but decided not to because I always try to be positive in each post I write. But as I keep thinking about it, it's kind of nice to sit down and really think through the week at things that happened that I'm thankful for. So I'm going to try it. I hope she doesn't mind, but I'm going to change it to Fridays because I seem to be able to sit down more on that day and really think through the whole week. It's not as catchy, but I think it'll still work :)

1. Birthdays - I love birthdays. Even when it's not my own. One of my goals this year is to remember all the birthdays of my family members. (I may try to move on to friends next year.) But I had a brother, 2 sister-in-laws, nephew and sister all with birthdays in the past 2 weeks. I was late getting things off to them, but I was happy to let them know I remembered and how glad I am that they are here and in my life.

2. Swimming - I love watching Alex at his swimming lessons. It's fun to remember when I was in swimming lessons. This week I took Darek swimming for the first time after one of Alex's lessons. He was so funny in the water. He liked it for about 30 minutes or so and then was done. But I'm glad to see that he will tolerate it.

3. New talents - I love learning new things, but I am truly enjoying my cake decorating class. I am having so much fun learning new techniques and having fun with my friends while doing it. I'm grateful for those opportunities.

4. Alex's pranks - Alex is so funny right now. He loves to trick you and sneak up on you. Most of the time you can see it coming, but every once in a while he really gets you. But I truly love it. It's fun to watch him play with his imagination and try new things (even if they do annoy me at times)

5. Darek's smile - There is truly nothing cuter than a toothless, baby smile.

6. My parents - I don't thank them nearly as much as I should. But I am so grateful that they have tolerated us for the past 3 1/2 years. I never thought we would be here that long, and I'm surprised they haven't kicked us out yet. But I know we would not be doing the things we are without their love and kindness. Honestly, we probably wouldn't have Darek and Ian if we hadn't moved in here. And as excited as I am to move out and get on with life, I will miss having them around and miss having Alex go up some evenings to torture his Papa.

7. Ryan - I know I talk about him a lot on here about how much I love him, but I really do! He is supporting our family and going to school full-time. I don't know how he does it and I know I would never be capable of doing that. But besides that, I love that we can still sit and talk for hours about anything. I love that we understand each other and support each other. I love my marriage with Ryan and can't imagine what I would do without him.

8. Friends - I have 3 friends that I spend almost every day with. Whether it's a quick hello or text letting each other know the other is missed, we are always in contact and never tire of each other. We have at least 4 trips planned for the summertime and I cannot wait for those dates to come. I am so lucky to have other friends that I love so much too. I wish we were a little closer in distance to be able to do more together, but I love that we can still stay in contact through other means.

9. Facebook - After mentioning the last one, I have to mention facebook. It's a total love/hate relationship with facebook. I love that I've come in contact with so many people, but hate that it's so addicting and I spend WAY too much time on that site. If I can learn to limit my time, I'll come to love it even more. :)

10. Game nights - Tonight we sat and played games for a long time. I love that Alex is big enough to play board games and video games. We played Clue Jr. tonight and then switched to the xbox 360 and played Scene It! It's fun to play as a family, and even Darek gets in on the action and starts yelling at the TV. I love that family time is so important to all of us.

Well, that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Now I'll just have to remember to do it every week. We'll see how well that works. Thanks for listening... hope you weren't too bored :)