Tonight my kids were thankful for sunshine, sunblock, parents, music, stars, toothpaste, and basketball.

Some new things we're thankful for: (this has become a nightly routine now with all three of our kids, they each say three things and then mom or dad has to say three things): Pictures, my mommy, my binkie, pillows, bear blankie, clocks, Ember's laugh, trees, the alphabet, the earth, family, shoulders, the church, & puzzles. That's not all of them, for some reason it's difficult to remember what we've said because we're trying to pick things that you wouldn't normally think about. Now we're encouraging the kids to add these things to their prayers, because it is God that gives us all that we have to be thankful for. They're still struggling with entitlement and selfishness, but learning about gratitude is just a first step in the right direction.

Grace enjoying a nice windy day!

Grace is a diva at only two years old. She's fabulous, and she knows it. She likes to perform with singing, dancing, playing piano and being silly. This is a video of her singing and playing her favorite song, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. She even takes a bow at the end.

Ben started taking gymnastics this year and is doing very well. He's one of the best in his class, and he's the only boy in a sea of girls. He doesn't mind that at all!

A few more zoo pictures

Ben had his first school fieldtrip today to the Phoenix Zoo. He and Grace got the chance to ride a camel! At first he thought he would be exciting, but as soon as the camel started moving he got scared. Grace, the two year old, had a blast and didn't want to get off. The funniest thing Ben said today: "Mom, the Zoo workers sure do have a lot of pets."

I stayed up tonight trying to explain to my daughter the difference between being unhappy and being happy. The difference, I told her, is gratitude. If you're always thinking about things that you don't have or can't do, you'll be unhappy. If you count your blessings and have gratitude, you'll be happy. She and I took turns (for an hour past her bedtime) listing things we were grateful for. Here's our list so far:

Elbows (otherwise we wouldn't be able to feed ourselves), toothbrushes, eyelashes, horses, purses (can you imagine trying to carry all that stuff around with just your hands?), God, our parents, good teachers, answering machines, family, books, toenail clippers, remote controls, computers, colors, imagination, brothers and sisters, pajamas, grape scented conditioner, music, Ember's laugh, rice-a-roni, and our dog Lady.

This is a work in progress, it may become a nightly tradition to list five things we're grateful for before we can go to sleep. Perhaps it will eventually change her way of thinking, and my daughter will start to realize how many blessings she has, and maybe not feel so bad about not getting a new Tinkerbelle backpack at the END of the school year.

I asked Ben today, "What is wrong with you?" He answered back with a sigh, "I wish I knew." He's five! About five minutes later I had to put his baby sister Grace in the bath because she had painted herself with yogurt, even the outside of her diaper. Ick. And to think, someday I'll look back at these days and miss them, wondering how they went by so quickly. This afternoon, they can't go by quickly enough. Another mom once told me that these are long days, but short years. How true.

The latest in Grace's destructive adventures. She colored on the couch with crayons while mom wasn't looking. This is just one day after she painted the laundry room floor with glue. She has the face of an angel, but she sure can cause less than angelic feelings in me when she gets one of her ideas. I heard once that when your kids do something destructive or messy, just take a picture of it. You laugh about it later anyway, but taking a picture will help you to laugh a lot sooner and diffuse some of that anger and disbelief. I have to use this tool a lot when it comes to Grace!

Come meet our family!

I realize that people have been creating blogs for a long time, but this is a first for me. I guess I'm just behind in the technology revolution. Or it could be that I have three small kids, a part time job, a home to take care of, and a church service position teaching music to children. All those things might keep me from posting as often as I would like, but I'll do my best. An intro: Austin and I have been married almost 11 years, but we've known each other since we were 12. We have three beautiful children, Ember is 7, Ben is 5, and Grace is 2. I work part time for the Mesa Police Department doing quality control for Police Reports and compiling the crime statistics for the FBI. Austin is a software developer for the University of Phoenix and is in the middle of a huge new project called Documentum, which is driving everyone crazy. Ember is in 2nd grade and will be baptized in July of this year. She also takes ballet lessons, and is very talented. Ben is in Kindergarten and recently starting taking gymnastics classes. Grace is 2 and spends her days playing with mom and getting into mischief. Life is good, we are very happy. It's not very often that you can say that your dreams have come true, but Austin and I get to say that every day.