Thankful

I'm a day early but I may not get a chance to post tomorrow.

What am I grateful for this Thanksgiving? My family is the thing I am most grateful for. Even though I sometimes complain and get frustrated with them, each one has taught me, or is currently teaching me something.

I've always said that "patience is a virtue... it's just not one of mine". And I believe that when I pray for patience, Heavenly Father doesn't just bless me with patience. I believe he blesses me with opportunities to be patient. Believe me, with 5 kids and a husband, I've had many many opportunities to prove to my Heavenly Father that I don't need any more. To show him that I've mastered patience and he can start bombarding me with opportunities for the next virtue to be mastered. I get the feeling, though, that I'm not mastering the patience thing because the opportunities just keep coming. I've got a long way to go.

Along with patience, I'm currently taking a look at what each individual child teaches me, just by being themselves. So, here it is.

K--She teaches me kindness and gratitude. She has always been so selfless and giving. K has never been ungrateful for anything that someone has given her. Everything that is given to her is treasured and she accepts it the best the giver could offer. I love this about her. It makes me happy that she is able to make others happy just by being grateful.

A--What a firecracker! This girl is fire and ice. She'll tell you like it is...
Anthony: "Money doesn't make you happy."
A: "Well it kind of does."
This is what I love about her. Sometimes she can hurt people's feelings but I love her persistence. If she knows she's right about something (or thinks she's right), she'll fight to the death to make it known. I know that's not always appropriate in every situation but it teaches me to be more persistent in standing up for what I believe. I tend to be a doormat sometimes and I'm always worried about hurting other people's feelings or offending them. A teaches me that it's ok to fight for what I know is right.

H--Patience! Not necessarily the kind of patience mentioned above, although she certainly tries that as well. I'm talking about her patience. She is such a peacemaker and is so patient and loving. When little C is causing trouble and getting into his sisters things, which is often, she talks to him in a loving voice (usually) and tries to get him to stop. All the while, the other two girls are screaming at him to stop trying to take matters into their own hands. She teaches me that it isn't worth getting all upset about. H usually gets a better response than her sisters. Patience is a virtue that she definitely possesses. (Wow, that's a lot of s's)

C--This little guy teaches me to never give up. He is the poster child of the "never give up" campaign. His determination is unlike any I've ever seen. Everything has to be done by him. No help is accepted. Getting dressed for the day is the perfect example. He'll go find his own clothes, put his pants on (they're always first, and ususally backwards), then move on to the shirt. The shirt sometimes poses a bit of a problem for C. He always puts his arms in first, then his head. He's got a huge melon and some shirts just don't like to stretch enough to get over it. In an attempt to get the shirt on, he usually ends up with his face sticking out of the hole even though it should be the top of his head first. He then panics and starts screaming and I know that he's in pain. The shirt usually starts tugging at his nose and ears but when I walk over to try and help, he screams at me and says, "No, MY SHURN!!" as he pushes me away. Translation: No, my turn. So I back off and after a few more seconds of whining about the pain and wriggling the shirt a bit, it finally pulls over his head and he's satisfied. What if the clothes are on backwards? This happens more often than not. I simply say, "Your shirt (or pants) is on backwards." To which he replies, "Back-herds?" Then he proceeds to take off the backwards item and turn it around. He's a determined little stink. NEVER GIVE UP! The task is always accomplished.

B--My sweet baby! He teaches me to appreciate the simple things in life. It always amazes me that a baby can play with the same toy or two over and over and over and love it the same as he did 20 minutes before. Or see the same faces over and over and get so excited! He just enjoys life, the simple things. The things I take for granted every day are the things I should appreciate the most.

Anthony--Yep, I consider him one of the kids too, sometimes. What does that goofball teach me? He teaches me that hard work and diligence is happiness. Anthony is the hardest working man I know. He goes stir crazy if he's not working. His happiness comes after a good hard-working day when he can come home and say he did his best and worked his hardest. The play time is so much more rewarding after good, hard work. I love that man!

I love all of my little stinkers too. It may not always show and I have a lot yet to learn but I couldn't have hand-picked a better family to call my own. Where would I be without them? I am so grateful for all that they teach me and that despite all of my many faults, they still love me.