I am thankful

I am thankful.

I may not say it much in the craziness that is every day life but I really am thankful.

Im thankful for my family. For my beautiful children that make me laugh every day, for the hugs and kisses that they give me, for the pictures they make that hang on the walls at home and for the way they love each other. Im thankful for Joe....the love of my life and best father there is. For how he loves our kids, and takes just as much of a role in their day to day life that I do, how he plays with them, snuggles with them and defines "daddy" in the eyes of someone who had forgotten what that was like. Im also thankful that he cooks.....since I dont so much do that.

Im thankful for my mom....how she raised me to have good judge of character, and to love God. How she was both mom and dad to me for most of my life, for being there for me when I need her to be and for loving me unconditionally as only a mother can. As an adult I am thankful for her friendship now too, how she has taught my sister and I how to be good moms. Im thankful for my children's maw maw who loves them so much and plays with them and makes memories with them that they will always have.

For Jim, for being my stand in father and paw paw to my kids who have no idea that he is not my real dad

Im thankful for my brother....for memories of being forced to play dungeons and dragons, only being able to walk on certain colored carpet squares in the basement, for walks to the store to get candy and stopping to play in a drain pipe on the way.

Im thankful for my sister....for all of the memories of being little....for shoving our beds together so we could sleep together, for being woken up in the middle of the night to be told that Santa came, for her older years when we started to be friends as well as sisters....for all the times we did not get caught doing things we should not have been doing, for my maid of honor, being pregnant together and now being mom's together, and for 3 beautiful nephews.

Im thankful for Joe's family.....for having 3 big sisters and lots of nieces and nephews to love and cousins for my kids to grow up with, for his mom and dad who I love.

Im thankful for my friends that I have met in all times of my life.....for the friends I grew up with that are still in my life, my AOII sisters who are my partners in crime, keepers of all secrets and who are my best friends that I will grow old with and most recently for my work friends (even the one who no longer works here).....who are no longer just "work friends" but make it so fun to have a job where you get to "play" with your friends all day. For my friends of the "sweet" variety....you are some of the best friends I have ever had, I just wish we could see each other more often...but I am thankful for those get togethers......

I am thankful