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Thankful. Grateful. Appreciative. Blessed. I am all of these<\/strong>. Much more than a roasted turkey thankful. Far more than sweet potato pie grateful. Abundantly more appreciative than a football game on the TV while we stuffed our faces yesterday. Blessed. And while the preparation was exhausting, it was a labor of love…because I know what those blessings are.<\/p>\n Today was another kind of gratitude. No cooking, other than heating up some leftovers, and no football game to get wrapped up in. Today I got to spend some Mommy Time with my oldest three. They are such a big source of my thankfulness, my prides and my joys, my beautiful children.<\/p>\n Boo Boo, Mamacita, and Dee Dee Girl – where do I even begin? How do I express my respect for three kids who shared their parents with so many others. When we made the decision, they had no say. Boo Boo was too young and the girls weren’t even born yet. Our time, attention, finances, our home, our lives<\/em>…shared. It is only in hindsight that I can clearly see what was\u00a0lost – as well as what was gained.<\/p>\n On the other end we added the maniac midgets to the mix. We would not, we could not, ever be complete without those two little Sparrows.\u00a0Looking back\u00a0though…I see more clearly the sacrifices of and benefits for my older three…again. I am so proud of them. They are my heroes.<\/em><\/p>\n Today, I was gifted with some private time with the first three to\u00a0provide me with\u00a0mommy-hood. While Daddy and the boys stayed home with the leftovers – we scrapped that tradition for half price appetizers at our local Applebee’s\u00a0. Then we headed to the Dollar Tree to pick out some goodies – and\u00a0proceeded to\u00a0smuggle said goodies into the movie theater, with a half hour to spare. I made good use of that time by giggling with my amazing kids, paying close attention to every dimple and beautiful tooth that their laughter shared with me.<\/p>\n Thankful. Grateful. Appreciative. Blessed. I am all of these.<\/strong> I have real life heroes living in my own home…and I got to date all three of them today.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Thankful. Grateful. Appreciative. Blessed. I am all of these. Much more than a roasted turkey thankful. Far more than sweet potato pie grateful. Abundantly more appreciative than a football game on the TV while we stuffed our faces yesterday. Blessed. … Continue reading