He is amazing!!!

I have big plans for my weekend. I need to get all my Christmas decorations taken down. I need to do some major deep cleaning because we have some of our FAVORITE company coming next weekend and there are some major allergies in the family. Because of the cold weather and having a puppy we've had our animals in the house quite a bit over the last 2 months. All traces of our pets must be removed, as much as possible anyway.
I told my husband last night that I was going to get up early to get started on my day. Of course, I needed him to bring in all my Christmas tubs. When I woke up this morning, it was after 9 am. My hubby was not in bed. I came out and my kids were quietly eating breakfast and playing cribbage together and all my Christmas boxes and tubs were lined up inside just patiently waiting for me. Coffee had been brewed!
After being up for just a short time, something became glaringly apparent. My kids had pulled one over on me with their quiet demeanor and "show" of getting along. Within a half hour I was about ready to pull my hair out. Anything and everything that they could fight about they were. And they weren't just fighting, they were being down right cruel to each other. My hubby came in and found me hiding in the office trying to "get-away". I apologized for sleeping in and he just hugged me and held me and told me that I needed it and it was fine. As we were trying to go over some things the girls were just getting worse and worse.
Fast forward to an hour and a half later . . . .
I just got done listening to my husband calmly and patiently talk with the girls about their behavior. He has such a gentle and yet firm way with them. He amazes me with his wisdom in disciplining them. They are now both laying down for some much needed rest. Hopefully they will actually get a nap in and when they wake up we can start the day "over".
I am so blessed by this man . . . my husband . . . my love . . . the perfect father for my daughters!

Thanks Tank #27

It's been awhile since I posted a Thursday Thanks Tank but even though I haven't posted anything in some time each Thursday I think a little more on the things in my life that I am thankful for. I love this exercise of consciously and purposefully taking time to think on the things that make me thankful. Here's my list for this week!

1. I am thankful for my new gym membership! I am excited to be able to be "hitting the gym" with my very good friend Heather. I'm excited to be setting some goals and hopefully being able to reach them.
   
2. I am thankful for a good deal on said membership. I've been meaning and wanting to get this membership for close to a year now. It's actually my Mother's Day gift from 2008! By waiting this long, I'm only paying half of what I would have been paying if I'd signed up before now! Yeah, me!!!!
3. I am thankful for the chance I had this past weekend of hanging out with my sister! We got to go up to IKEA on Saturday and have a free breakfast and then had a whirlwind shopping trip. She got lots of neat items for her home! My whole weekend was actually spent with family and it was really nice to be able to get out of the house and relax! Friday night we four girls went to see a movie. Saturday late afternoon all of us "kids" went shooting at the shooting range. And Sunday was spent out at my parents. It was a wonderful weekend!
4. I'm thankful for a chance to get together with my "other" family (my sister and mother-in-law) on Monday and scrapbook together! We hadn't done that for a long while and it was lots of fun!
   
5. I am thankful that things have been going so smoothly with our puppy but I'm also thankful that he should be going to his new home this weekend! Unfortunately, I've gotten a little attached to the stink pot so I'm praying I don't have some sort of crying fit when he leaves!
6. I am so, so thankful that my husband was able to figure out the problem with our washing machine and that we should be getting the rather inexpensive parts in the mail tomorrow! I am SO BLESSED to have a mechanically inclined hubby to do these sorts of things!
7. I am thankful for how responsible my kids are (usually) in the morning. I've gotten spoiled with them always getting up with their alarm and doing their normal morning routines without much help from me. It takes mornings like this morning (when they slept through their alarm) for me to realize that most 8 & 9 year olds need a little more coaching from Mom to do what my girls do on a normal day all by themselves. I'm very blessed!
8. I'm thankful that our very dear friends who were unable to make it up for Christmas from Oregon are coming up for Valentine's Day! I would be going insane with impatience if I didn't have so much work to do to get my house ready for company!
9. I'm thankful for my church, my church family and friends and how I miss it when I don't make it to church. We are SO BLESSED to be a part of a wonderful group of believers who love the Lord and are such an encouragement to others!