Grateful Revisited.

11. Wednesdays.  Jeremy often gets some or most of Wednesdays off. It is so nice to have him around to do fun things together, or get errands done, or get some extra things done around the house. Yesterday he got the whole day off, and it felt like a Saturday for us! It is always so nice to have him around, and he is much more productive at cleaning quickly than I am. (Especially since I usually have 42 interruptions. Per minute.) He takes such good care of us!

12. Air conditioning. I know it's not hot anymore, but as someone who doesn't deal well with the heat (dry OR humid) I am so grateful for A/C. Jeremy is also grateful that I have A/C. You have no idea.

13. Jeremy's job. We may be thousands of miles from family, and it may not be exactly what he wants, but I am so grateful that we found an associate position learning and practicing what he wants to do, and that we can afford to keep a roof over our heads, and that it's in such a beatiful location!

14. (Relative) health. Sure, we may think that we have problems and setbacks within our family (health-wise) sometimes, but when I read about what some people and some families have to deal with on a daily basis, I am just humbled and overwhelmed with gratitude at how blessed we are.

15. Our bed. It is so amazingly comfortable. When we got married I was working full-time at EAC and Jeremy was working for a furniture store, so not only could we afford to buy a good bed, but we got it at cost! I have never regretted that purchase. And I am so glad we finally get to have our frame with us again too! (We left it in Arizona when we moved to Iowa so it would get less banged up in all the moving... it's a good thing, since all of that stuff moved 5 times...)

16. On that note, Sleep. It's a little hit-and-miss around here right now, mostly due to Katy teething and not being able to let her cry at all (even when she's not in pain, but just awake) to go back to sleep if she wakes up at 4 am (without waking up her siblings, which may or may not go back to sleep - and they don't nap!). It just makes me that much more grateful when everyone sleeps all night, and doesn't wake up until 6:30(!). So nice. The time change has also been a little rough on sleep around here, so I'm so thankful for those mornings they don't wake up at 5:30 or 6. 

17. TV. Sad, but true. My older two have been champion TV watchers (as in, they really liked it and it kept their attention) from their Baby Einstein days. It's hard to make sure they don't watch too much some days, but it's sure nice that they like it so much when we have those long car trips, or when things are just a little too chaotic. I know that will get the older two, at least, to settle down, if we put something on. Katy is harder to tell. Sometimes she'll watch for a little while, sometimes not. I'm also grateful there is "better" (as in more educational, less violent/scary) programming for kids now than when I was a kid. I loved 80's cartoons, but when I watch them now (including some of the Disney movies I loved), I am so glad there are other options... Not such a fan of listening to Dora or Diego, but I don't mind a lot of the pre-school programming available, and I think they're getting something useful out of it often. Kids are always learning something when they watch, so it's nice to control a little bit of what that is!

Let's throw in one for tomorrow as well:
18. Autumn. So excited for the cooler temperatures and the holidays, and the leaves have been beautiful the last few weeks! I don't have any of the pretty oranges and yellows around here (why? I don't know!) but here's a picture of Jaina standing by some bushes at Jeremy's office. :)