Thanksgiving #5

I'm sure thankful for these two:

Yesterday was my folks' 32nd wedding anniversary. 4 kids and 10 1/2 grandkids later they're still in love. And they're still awesome.

Thanksgiving #4

I am thankful for this book. It's changed my life in wonderful ways.

Wanna know more about it? {read this}

Thanksgiving #3

This might sound kind of weird, but today I'm thankful for my dentist. See, I have bad teeth. I basically hate my teeth and the cavities they grow just to spite me (seriously I brush and floss longer and better than a lot of people I know). I had to have braces twice in my youth, and you'd think with all the time I spent at the orthodontist/dentist I would have learned to like my teeth. But I don't. I still hate them. And I probably hate them because I always left the dentist's office feeling like a bad person--like every flaw in my mouth was because deep down I was just no good.

I have not liked dentists. I thought that they hated me first.

But this week I sat in the chair of my new brother-in-law {Dr. Dave Huffaker} and it was a whole new experience. He didn't make me feel bad about myself at all. I get to spend 3 more hours in his chair in the upcoming weeks (yeah, my teeth are still horrible), but you know what? It's okay because Dave made it clear that I'm not a bad person and that my teeth really looked good--he was impressed with my brushing skills. Someone believed me that it's not my fault!?

Awesome.

So thank you, Dentist/Brother Dave. I'm glad I found a dentist who treats me like more than a walking cavity.

P.S. While I really didn't write this as an advertisement, I wrote this for gratitude week (duh!), here's a shame-less plug: If you need a dentist in Davis County, {call him}. Seriously. He's sweet and he's good--do those qualities not make up the perfect dentist?

Well, Whatdya Know?

The city I was born and raised in and loved my whole life was chosen as one of {Business Weeks'} "{50 best places to raise your kid}."

I knew my parents had it figured out. Provo, I love you. You've always done right by me.

Thanksgiving #2

I am grateful for my adorable Grandma and Grandpa. It's Grandma's birthday today--she's 86 and the cutest 86 year old on the flipping planet.

My grandparents are the most generous souls I know. Here are some of my favorite memories of them:

• When a group of cousins and I were hanging out around Grandpa's pool table one summer, we wandered into the pantry and found a bag of licorice. I think the oldest one among us was 11 or 12, and we thought there could be no tastier treat in all the world. We downed that bag and then the guilt set in. We had stolen it. Finally we felt so bad about it we went upstairs to confess. Grandpa said "Oh gosh! That's okay, actually I'd bought a bag for each of ya." And he pulled out 9 bags of licorice. I'll never forget that day.
• Grandma and Grandpa had a big beautiful orange boat named "Missy." Every summer I looked forward to loading that boat up with cousins and spending days together on the lake. Grandpa could talk anybody into taking a spin on the tube pulled behind the boat by promising them a "nice, slow, sensible ride." The rides, however, were generally not slow or sensible, though they were always nice. I'll always remember Grandpa who wore his pith helmet and Grandma who had a matching orange swimsuit and swim cap.
• Grandpa is the most tenderhearted man. He cries about a lot of wonderful things. But I'll never forget that when I decided to go on a mission for my church (and leave everything behind for 18 months), and when my mission call finally came--calling me to Budapest, Hungary, Grandpa and I cried the most. In fact, we both cried before we even opened the letter. Mostly tears of joy I think.
• Grandma always tells me, "Megan, you're my beauty." It's not true, since my sister and all of my cousins are far more beautiful than I am, but it was a real self esteem booster to my acne infested teenage soul and now to my "I have 3 toddlers and I don't have time to shower" soul.
• Grandma has everything: amazing jewelry (most of it from her talented daughter {Susan}), costumes, fabric, dishes, games, etc. And she is more than willing to lend it to you. It always made me feel special when she'd trust me with her gorgeous costume jewelry for Prom, or give me awesome 70's polyester for sewing class.

Thanks for everything Grandma and Grandpa! I love you!

Thanksgiving #1

Today I am grateful for my 3 healthy hilarious children who give me kisses, are always excited to see me, love to cuddle, like to be read to, and make me laugh. I am so lucky to be their mom.

I need to be better at remembering this when they're up all night, wiping boogers on my shirt, screaming through church, spitting up graham crackers on the couch, or throwing their food on the floor.

Darn it, they're adorable.

Are You Ready to Hear This?

This morning I ran 3 miles. In succession. As in, I ran one mile, kept running, ran another one, kept running, and ran a 3rd one. I didn't even stop--not even at stop signs (no one was coming so chill out). It took me 34 minutes, which I don't think is super impressive, but heck! I ran.

Holy cats! Today I'm going to really sign up for the 4 mile race on Thanksgiving. I'm sure I'll be bringing up the rear, but I'll finish it. If I have to crawl, I'll finish it. And I'm getting me a t-shirt to prove it.

In other news, Maggie is a sexist. She brought me a toy this morning and said "Willman (of course that makes sense right? Cole-man, Will-man?) broke a my toy. My daddy fix it." I said, "I can fix it." And she looked at me very sternly and said "No. My daddy fix it." Even after I fixed it she acted like I'd really overstepped my bounds.

She obviously doesn't know that I ran 3 miles this morning. I'm on a roll. I think I could pretty much do anything.

Oh My Heart!

I don't know if it's the teacher or the mother in me (probably the teacher) but when I saw {these} {here} today, I fell in love.

When I taught school, I loved seeing my little kindergarten kids lined up to come inside my classroom, with one or two of them standing there with a note pined onto their shirt or crumpled in their hand from their mommy.

The notes usually said something about a change in sending the child home. Or maybe they explained that the little munchkin had had a homework meltdown the night before, and their coloring page would be returned after the weekend. Whatever the note said, the real message was that the parent cared and wanted to pass the love on to me, too.

I think I might have to have me one of those note pads, so that when I send my little babies off to kindergarten in the next few years, I'll have it handy for sending along notes to teacher. It's so cute I'll probably have to write myself some notes on it, too.

Oh! and the "business" cards! Wow. I gotta stop.

Playing With Maggie

Today Maggie and I were playing her favorite game in which she places her hands on my face and I pretend to try and bite them before she pulls her hands away. She was laughing hysterically. I was really getting into it, growling and the whole bit.

And then I bit her.

I bit her little fingers. Pretty hard, too. I didn't mean to. Honest I didn't. And she looked at me like I had betrayed her and she screamed. I felt horrible. I mean, who bites their own child on the hand? A lioness? Certainly not a human.

Just when I was about to add my name to the list of the worst moms in history, Maggie put her hands back on my face to play the game again. So, she wasn't destroyed by my mistake. She was willing to give me another chance. And most importantly, she still loved me.

Maggie, gosh, I really love you.

Thankful

I read {this} today and it really hit me. Sometimes we just need change our perspective a bit and we realize the things that drive us nuts are actually blessings.

Here's to having a more thankful week and a happier day.