A Day of Weird Comments...

There are so many things I'm grateful for today.

1. Joe cleaned the entire backyard and front... weeds and all. I would like to hire him full time, but only if he works shirtless.

2. Joe is growing dreadlocks (sp?). I'm not necessarily grateful for that. But I am grateful he doesn't have cancer.

3. Today at the $1 store a lady came up to me and said, "Wow! What a beautiful baby. How old?" I said 4 months to which she replied, "Well that's a tiny little 4 month old." I wasn't sure what to say because Ella is in 9 month clothing. I'm grateful she is growing so well and is such a happy little thing. I'm grateful she breastfeeds and naps well.

4. A family member at a gathering asked how many children I had. I said 5, 4 living and all here. She gave me a weird look and said, so then how many are there for me to meet tonight.
Well.
4.
I'm grateful for good hearing.

5. Nikki was over the other day and was talking about a friend who had 4 children and their mom was pregnant with #5. Nikki was totally amazed, "Could you imagine having 5 crazy kids all over your house!! 5!!! That's so many!!" to which Christina replied, "We have 5 children in our family. It's not so bad. We have a peaceful house."
I'm so grateful for her as my oldest. She is so helpful, loving, maternal, kind, quick to follow, funny, sweet. She never forgets Baby Joe in a prayer.

6. I'm grateful for good parents. We had such a lovely time together in a beautiful garden tonight. I'm grateful to be able to share my children with them and know that they love them with every bit of their hearts. That the kiddos are their lives as much as ours. I'm grateful to share so many little moments with them. These joyful moments that fill our days and make everything worthwhile. I'm grateful that my children can look to them as examples. That they are best friends to my children. That they are always there to support and help. The blessing of Yaya and Papa and Yaya Sofia are more than words can ever say.

7. The other day Maria pushed Eli down to the ground. He started crying and she felt horrible. I'm grateful that she was so quick to say sorry. I'm grateful my children love each other and are willing to learn from their mistakes. She ended up crying in her room and he had to come comfort her. I'm grateful she is such a stalwart little girl. She takes very seriously the concept of "rules" and is a stickler about them. She is so honest and truthful. I'm so grateful that she is also older to set such a beautiful and wonderful example. She was holding Eli's hand tonight. They always do. I'm just so grateful that they watch out for each other.

8. I'm so grateful for a good Primary Presidency. I got a small clogged milk duct and when I came home, Jo Ann had left a message. The spirit had just directed her and she listened. She volunteered to go to a meeting for me and cover tomorrow. I'm so blessed to be able to rely on good women to help me in my calling.

9. I'm grateful Eli is so fun. Tonight in the car he requested, "Mommy, can we start with a little George Michael and then have Fottlehose? (Danish Techno??)" He also noticed Joe being a little snarky about my "honey do" list today that I never gave him and said, "Daddy, you need to just chill out man."

10. A woman asked me, "How many kids do you have" today. I told her 5. Then she asked if they were all healthy. I didn't quite know how to respond so I just smiled. I'm grateful for their physical health, but most important I'm grateful they are deeply spiritual children. I'm grateful they understand their purpose in life and are so willing to help others. Their spiritual health is stellar.

There are so many more things I'm grateful for today. And every day. God is so good to us. I guess the last one to wrap up was a little activity at a graduation party we went to that I'll post about. It had small keys and a tag to write advice "Your key to success is...." I loved Maria's response- always share. I wrote, "Trust Heavenly Father always and be faithful."