Back to the List...

After reading my old blogs from 2 years ago, I've decided to go back to the 10 things I'm thankful for--I just think it will be more interesting/organized.

1) Playing with cousins! Nora got to play a few times with Owen and Ian this week and also with second cousins (16 month old twins) Riley and Harper while we were in Ohio.

2) "Find the Thimble" This is a game that Kathy played as a child, Josh did, and now it's being passed to another generation. It's a simple game--one person hides a thimble (or something small) and the other people try to find it (using clues like "hotter" and "colder"). Well, Nora is definately not old enough for this game but it's hilarious to watch her try :)

3) A Saturday full of driving (and fun)! The four of us left Grabill at 9:30. I dropped Nora and Josh off at the Columbus Zoo to walk around with the Sivey's while Penny and I continued on to Kenyon for reunion weekend. It wasn't my year but it was still fun seeing some of the girls the year below me. I only had 2 hours at Kenyon but did also have a celebrity sighting! Josh Radnor (from How I Met Your Mother) is on campus making a film (Liberal Arts) and I saw him at the bookstore and stared a little too long *embarrassing*

4) Grandma Sivey's 90th Birthday party. She turned 90 two months ago but was finally feeling well enough to have a celebration. And we had a big group--27--all of the family were there. 4 of them all the way from LA! We had great food, an awesome quilt cake, a magician, and lots of fun just being together.

5) Dancing with balloons. Nora and the 3 older cousins each got one of Grandma Sivey's balloons to play with. It was a magical evening--we were out on the porch in the country with the sun setting, listening to guitar worship songs, and watching 4 little kids dance for joy! They just danced around the porch for 20+ minutes. Nora's night came to a crashing halt when she accidently let her balloon go! She cried for 5 minutes or so before calming down for bed.

6) Not so thankful for this but Nora has been taking her diaper off during naps often lately but now she's moved on to taking her diaper off for bedtime!! She did it two nights before we decided what we'd do--duct tape it on her. She actually thinks it's special and calls it her sticker! Hey, it does the trick.

7) A park day with friends on Wednesday. We met up with another family we hadn't seen in awhile and played at a nearby park that has a splashpad! It has been very warm this week so I thought this would be a great place. We played on the playground first--most of the playthings were much too big for Nora. Then we played a little in the water (Nora wasn't too interested in this part!) before enjoying a picnic together.

8) Penny and Nora's first bath together! I put Penny in the Bumbo in the bath (and supervised very closely, of course) and they enjoyed getting clean together. I took pictures and even some video to remember it forever. It is a novelty now and Nora enjoyed it but I'm sure they will have many baths together as Penny gets bigger.

9) Penny is 5 months old today. I can't believe how fast time is going! She is starting to look so old and do so many things. She is sooo close to rolling from her back to her tummy (and she isn't sure she's happy about this), sucks her thumb like a pro, likes to sit in her exersaucer, and blow raspberries. Just today P.J. discovered her feet :)

10) A cool home--as in cool temperature! This week has been in the 80s and 90s so it's been nice to have AC. I've been trying to simplify so there isn't so much clutter in the house. But it seems that things have to get worse before they get better (?) and it's difficult cleaning and organizing with a toddler and baby! Someday my home will be clean, I hope :)