My sweet hubby

Lately I have been very thankful for my hubby. Almost every morning the kids and I wake up to a preprepped smoothie in the fridge. Seems rather simple, but it gives me so much relief every morning to not have to think about breakfast for the kids, at least initially. I can pop it into the blender and give the kids a healthy start to breakfast within minutes. They usually need something else within an hour, but since they had a healthy protein fruit smoothie to start with, I do not feel so bad about giving them Life cereal in a baggie an hour later.

My other reason for gratitude is that even though staying home can be exhausting and there are days that I miss work. Ok not the work part, but the getting out of the house and being with other adults all day part. I am so thankful that staying home has allowed me the luxury of going to all the kids' school parties and volunteering in Shane's class several times per month. I have gotten to know Shane's teacher quite well and even all of the kids in his class. It is so nice to have that special relationship with the people that Shane spends time with. Also, Shane loves having me there, and I know that will not be the case forever, so I am thankful that I can do it at an age when it seems to mean so much to him. If he could have his way, I would be in his class everyday, but the excitement he shows when I am there is truly flattering. Brian and I joke that once all of the kids are in school, I will be a full-time unpaid employee of the school if I work in each class. I may have to set limits, but I do look forward to being with them during school as much as possible.

I am far from a perfect stay at home mom/wife. I am a terrible housekeeper, no shocker to those that know me, but I am becoming a much better cook and I was not all that bad to begin with. I am far from organized and consistent with the kids, but they all seem to be happy and secure children, so we are doing something right. Brian puts up with my imperfections and encourages me to take sanity breaks as well, and for that I am thankful.