Day 20: I'm thankful for my friend Jaime . Today she and I took turns watching each other's kids (along with our own) so that we could both get an outdoor run in. This might seem silly, but when you aren't normally able to go outside and run right in the middle of the day when the sun is shining and its warm (this is Chicago in November after all), its a big deal. Whenever I'm driving to/from preschool pickup and I see people running outside, I'm always a little jealous that they are out there in the middle of the day enjoying a run. Today's run reminded me why I love running. Putting my shoes on, pushing myself for a few miles, and listening to music was so relaxing. So, today I'm thankful for both Jaime and the run.
Day 21: Today I'm thankful that Aaron learned to zipper his coat without any assistance from me. It was so fun to see how proud and excited he was that he mastered it. And, for me, I'm excited because it means I have one less coat to zip before we leave the house. For the first time in years, I'm down to zipping up just two coats when we head out the door. Amazing!!!
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| Demonstrating his new found zipper skills. |
Day 22: Cousins. I'm thankful for cousins. My kids have a slew on each side of the family. They have cousins that live just a few blocks away that they get to see for a few hours each week.
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| The Shogren/Regier Cousins - Thanksgiving 2012 |
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| The Shogren/Walmer Cousins - Christmas 2011 |
Day 23: I'm thankful for vacation days. Today was "black friday." We celebrated by sleeping in (as much as four kids will allow you to). Then we packed up the kids and stopped at The Radio Shopping Show where we purchased half-price certificates. If you live in Chicago and you don't know about The Radio Shopping Show, I can fill you in. Its still strange to me, but for some reason, the show sells majorly discounted certificates to area restaurants, services, entertainment, and activities. Their "stock" varies from time to time. Everything was 50% off of the normal selling price (which is already 30-50% off). I'm too tired to do the math, so let me just say, its a great deal.
After we loaded up on those certificates, we decided to take the boys on a date afternoon using some of them. We called it our "taste of Bartlett, Illinois" because we're cheesy like that. We used a certificate to get pizza at Nicodino's in Bartlett. Nicodino's has yummy pizza and it happens to be about three blocks from my in-laws, so we dropped Caleb there for his naptime. After lunch, we took the boys to the batting cages at Hitting Zone in Bartlett. They haven't really done batting cages, so it was interesting. They each got turns in the slow pitch cages. Aaron had a bunch of foul tips, but no real hits. He was okay with that the first time, but the second time he wasn't as happy until we reminded him that he's only four and that his brothers didn't even get to do the batting cages at that age. Yes, we're always battling male competition. The twins thought it was awesome, although when they saw another family with older boys who brought their own bats from home, they were a little miffed that I hadn't had the foresight to bring along their tball bat.
After baseball, we went to 2 Toots Train cafe where we cashed in some coupons for free cupcakes for the boys while Jon and I split a basket of onion rings and fries (Obviously we were going for healthy food today). They each got fifty cents to spend. Each of them rode the horse ride once and then bought an alien out of toy dispenser. It was a great day. While I love big family vacations like the beach and Disney, I also love the simple days that we spend a few hours out doing something new as a family and then head back to our house to relax for the rest of the night.
Day 24: Today I am thankful that I have finally found an amazing recipe for French Silk Pie. We For years, I've attempted to recreate a delicious version of this pie. Most of the other recipes I've tried haven't been chocolately enough. My other pet peeve is many recipes use raw eggs (which many people don't like or won't eat). Or the recipe uses granulated sugar and it seems gritty because of the sugar.
This new recipe I found finally solved all my dilemmas with making a great French Silk Pie. It has a lot of steps, but they are all easy and totally worth it. This recipe is officially going in my "Keeper" folder. I highly recommend it. Here is my finished product.
I was also especially thankful as I got to showcase it at a pie party at a friend's house. She had prizes for the pies and I won one of these platters that I've had my eye on forever. I can't wait to use it for holiday entertaining this next month. They make awesome gifts, so if you still have some Christmas shopping to do, go here and check out the serving dishes and all the cute "minis" that you can buy to change the platters to be appropriate for any occasion.
Day 25: I'm thankful for family traditions, even more so at this time of year. My mom established lots of family traditions during my childhood, many of them are ones that I'm continuing with my own children like making them a special birthday cake each year, doing an advent calendar each December, giving each child a new ornament each year for the Christmas year reflecting something that went on in their lives, reading the same books together at Christmas, family vacations. The list could go on and on.
We have also started some of our own traditions like an annual family picture in the summer, a thankful tree for the month of November, etc. As the kids get older, its fun to see them get excited and anticipate these traditions too. Just this past week, the boys asked me if I remembered that I need to get their new ornaments for when we decorate the tree. I have so many great memories of these concrete ways that my mom celebrated our lives and time together throughout my childhood. Its not the toys that I remember, but our family being present with each other to create new memories and to carry on our family traditions. I'm thankful for this past of family traditions and for the ongoing ones I'm establishing with my own family of six.
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