Count Your Many Blessings

I'm fending off the temptation to write a whiny post about Ethan's ear infection putting a damper on our week. I will try and accentuate the positive instead:

1. We've experienced a miracle. To say Ethan has a hyper-gag reflex is a bit of an understatement. You only have to say the words throw-up and he will start choking. These are the first drugs he hasn't thrown up in over 3 years.

2. We updated the pictures on our living room wall. After seven years of our wedding pictures hanging there, we thought we'd finally include the kiddies. I love these close-ups even more enlarged like this.

3. The discovery of this little gem. If you like unusual ice cream flavors like I do, this one is worth the calories. The description pretty much says it all: banana and whipped cream ice cream swirled with chocolate fudge, bananas, cherries and strawberries. Yum.

4. New short bangs and haircuts for the boys. I love that my hair looks somewhat styled even when it's up in a ponytail. I also love that Luke doesn't look like a little homeless child anymore.

5. My wonderful family. I'm thinking about my Grandma Rose because today was her birthday. She has been gone for four years now, but I still feel her influence in my life all the time. We went to her house most Sunday afternoons of my childhood and my favorite part was just sitting around the dinner table, long after we'd finished eating, and chatting with her and my aunts and uncles. She made me feel loved and important, but she also wasn't afraid to put me in check when I became a teenager with an attitude. Grandma Rose made the best mashed potatoes and I think of her every time I make them, sometimes with some of her own pots and pans that I have inherited. I feel truly blessed to be her grand-daughter.

There, I feel happier already. Wish us luck for a speedy recovery for Ethan!