So much to be thankful for!

In fact, here's my top 100 thankful things (and not necessarily in the proper order)


1. The saving grace of Jesus Christ
2. Jesus' love of me the way I am and His willingness to make me better.
3. Brad. The best husband. Ever.
4. Bennett. The greatest miracle I've ever received.
5. Laughing together
6. Bennett's imagination. We're always going on an adventure and that keeps me young.
7. Bennett's smile. Even with missing teeth it's the best I've seen.
8. Mom
9. Angie
10. Evie
11. Gavin
12. Dad
13. Papa
14. Karen
15. Vern
16. Back scratches
17. This computer
18. Our house on the hill
19. The MDX and the mini-van
20. Our church
21. The leaders of our church
22. My friends
23. Friends that scrapbook :) and will take long trips with me to feed the scrapbooking habit.
24. Scrapbooking supplies. Can you ever have enough? nope
25. Heart to Heart cereal.
26. Skim Milk
27. Boar's Head deli meat.
28. Apple cider
29. Volunteering in the library at Bennett's school. 
30. The internet
31. My cell phone
32. CR
33. Coke Zero
34. Freedom to practice my religion.
35. The promise of Heaven
36. A God who was, and is, and is to come.
37. Bible Studies. 
38. Beth Moore (See #29) :)
39. Sadie. She's a crazy dog, but she keeps us company.
40. My camera. The big one.
41. RAW photo processing
42. My 'little' camera
43. Blogs
44. The washing machine and dryer
45. The refrigerator
46. The dish washer
47. Soap
48. Hand sanitizer
49. The Office
50. Community
51. Project Runway
52. So You Think You Can Dance
53. Double Fiber Bread
54. Bic Mark-It pens
55. Sticky notes
56. Coupons
57. Christmas tree lights. The colored ones.
58. Snuggles
59. The sound of Bennett's feet as they come down the stairs in the morning. Even when it's too early.
60. Our DVR
61. Our mailman
62.Voicemail
63. 3m hooks (those kind that you can easily remove when you are done with them)
64. Legos
65. Pedicures
66. Baked Lays potato chips
67. Simona
68. Shutterfly
69. Texting
70. My gym partner. I'd never go if she wasn't waiting on me :)
71. Carpool.
72. Cherry pie
73. ebay
74. Free shipping
75. The ability to learn 
76. The willingness to change
77. Rony
78. My hairdryer
79. Friends who teach Bennett to ride a bike
80. The bug man
81. Recycling
82. Credit cards that earn points
83. The remote control
84. Baseball. (when Bennett plays it :)
85. gmail
86. My Dyson
87. Brad's love of adventure... and his patience to drag me along with him.
88. Good books
89. Reading to Bennett (and the fact that he still wants me to read to him!)
90. Apple cider
91. Icees
92. Handsfree phone calls
93. The back-up camera on my car
94. Garage openers
95. Garbage collectors
96. My education - from elementary through grad school.
97. Zaxby's
98. My memory foam pillow
99. Massage Envy. Mostly Valesa :)
100. Memories. The good and the bad. They've all made me who I am today.


There are 100s more things that I could have listed. Have you made your list? Happy Thanksgiving!

He's a biker dude

I've got so much to catch up on! I've been such a bad blogger recently - and it's not due to lack of things to post... just a lack of time! So, I have several posts written in my head about our recent events. I'll start with the most recent development and work backward.

BREAKING NEWS:

Bennett learned how to ride a bike yesterday!!

Yes, he is 7 1/2 years old, and is just now learning to ride a bike. That makes me feel guilty as a mom, but really, how can it be all my fault when I just 'learned' how to ride a bike a few years ago. (I loosely say learned, because if you were to ask me to go on a bike ride with you, I would politely decline due to my lack of experience. But, I did circle the parking lot of the Elementary school successfully on one or two occassions. That counts, right? :)

Guilt is a thing that come along with motherhood, doesn't it? For me, at least, it did. I believe that the first guilty feeling that I had regarding my parenting occurred about 12 hours after he was born. Actually, it was probably when I was pregnant...

But that's another post, isn't it? This post is about how my kid is well on his way to being a biker dude!

Anyway, we live on a mountain and there is no where for Bennett to learn to ride unless we pack up the bike and go somewhere. Brad has attempted to teach him a few times, but the dynamic there is tough. Bennett aims to please so much that it is hard to learn from daddy when there's fear of failing and falling involved. 

Our dear friend, Mrs. Sallie, volunteered last Spring to help Bennett learn. I think that I actually begged her to help us, and she said 'Of course!' That's just how she is. So kind and eager all the time. Well, time got away from us, and yesterday was Bennett's first lesson. 

I totally expected her to spend a while holding on to the bike, running behind him, and then tell me that we'd get back together soon to begin letting go. Nope! He rode around in the grass for a little bit, with Mrs. Sallie holding on the seat. Then she let go and he rode for about 5 feet with her encouraging 'Pedal! Pedal!'! Then he fell over. But, they got back up and he rode longer and longer distances until...

Can you see Bennett? Nope! He's gone all the way around the park and Mrs. Sallie is having to sprint behind! It's a good thing that she's a marathon runner.

You should have seen the smile on his face when he came back around! Elation. I couldn't catch it on the camera because he was moving so fast.

He's still got a little work to do on getting started going, but that's our homework for the week. 

Here they are - Bennett and Mrs. Sallie. Don't they both look proud?

I was proud too. As I watched him going on his own, I got tears in my eyes. What a huge milestone! I was thankful for Mrs. Sallie. Thankful that indeed, we didn't wait too long (you know - as long as I waited, I guess :) and that I didn't need to feel guilty anymore. Thankful that my boy is able to move forward through a little fear and gravity.  It reminded me that that's what life is all about. It's all about balance, moving forward without getting distracted by the things on the periphery, keeping the handle bars steady, avoiding the ditches, falling as gently as possible, and then brushing off and going again after the fall.

Now we get to go and pick out a bike! (That one was borrowed - Thanks Meg!)