Things I Am Grateful For Today

1.  Dylan's sense of humor (if you call it that)

- We went to the park and were playing on the playground.  Out of the blue, Anthony came over and sat on the bench and said, "My mommy went to heaven.  It's far, far away and I don't get to see her any more.  I miss her so much."  He folded his arms across his chest and just started sobbing.  I scooped him up on my lap and did my best to comfort him through my own tears.  "I know you miss her.  It's okay to be sad.  Your mommy will always be in your heart and watching down on you from heaven..."  (I don't know what exactly I said, but whatever I could think of at the time).  Dylan noticed the two of us crying and came over and started to cry too.  Next thing you know, my sensitive little Preston, having no idea what is going on, is next to us crying - he's a sympathizer (empathizer?) that one.  Dylan, sensing the tense emotional moment, says, "Anthony, I hate it when you're sad.  I'm going to tell you a joke."  I can't remember what he said, but it wasn't a joke - it was like 5 of them combined.  It started like a knock knock joke, mentioned something crossing the street and I'm pretty sure included a banana, an eyeball and a chicken.  Either way, it was enough to lighten the mood and help get us back to playing.  

2.  A swamp cooler that works

- Marcos has been working on that thing for a couple of days and was convinced we needed a new one.  It is 15 years old and pretty much rusted through.  Unfortunately the timing for our cooler to go out was horrible!  It's a year we've had to upgrade a lot around here...everything is pretty much falling apart faster than we can replace it.  Luckily with the help of our neighbor Marcos got a new float put in (the thing that stops the water when it's at the top - like in a toilet...that may be part of the reason our water bill was so high last year).  Then the dang spider/octopus looking tube deal that takes the water to the hay insulators wasn't working.  My brother-in-law told him to take it apart and clean it but the dang screw is stripped and he couldn't get it out.  He tried a wire, squirting into the tubes with the hose, but nothing worked.  He finally got the idea to blow through the grimy tubes with his mouth.  You should've seen him on top of the roof with his head inside the swamp cooler blowing into this tube.  But it worked.  He bought a new pump and some new hay (the stuff around the cooler) and we're back in business for the year - for just over $40.  Way better than the $1000 + it was going to cost to get a new one (not to mention we don't want to put money into a new swamp cooler, we'd rather wait and get central air when we can afford to).  So we're grateful for what we hope is another cool enough summer with the swamp cooler and are praying we can save enough for a new air conditioner of some sort next year.

3.  Sleeping in

- Marcos let me sleep until he had to leave for work this morning and didn't even pester me.  He has a hard time with this.  He's a morning person by nature and doesn't understand why I wouldn't want to be woken up with his talking to me, hugging me or whatever.  I have nicely (and not so nicely) tried to explain this to him and I think he finally gets it.  I just want to sleep - it's the best, most loving gift he could give me.  So yep, I think it was in the 8:00-ish range before I had to roll out of bed.  So nice!

4.  Preston's morning

-Preston is a little more like me.  He can sleep in if allowed to.  Dylan somehow ended up with the non-sleep gene from Marcos.  Dylan has gotten better at tip-toeing out of the room so Preston can sleep.  Well not only will he sleep in, but he is completely content to play and talk to himself in his crib in the morning.  I heard him playing in his crib, but decided to hop in the shower and get ready first.  When I went in to get him, he was reading a book and playing with a ball that he found.  Just as happy as can be.  What a blessing that is!

5.  Dishes all loaded and running

- Again thanks to hubby, I have a dishwasher full of dishes and just had to load the stuff from the kids' breakfast and get them started.  What a sweet man I married!

6.  Laundry that's almost caught up

7.  An office that can hold all the unorganized stuff until I can get around to it

8.  My newly stained deck (I've been busy lately)

9.  Summer stuff - camps, swimming, sunshine, fresh fruit and veggies

10.  Kids that mind (I thought I'd throw that one in there - I'm hoping my being grateful for it helps it come true)