Giving Thanks

It was Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend.  We braved the Friday afternoon traffic and headed to the cottage.  Its a 6 hour drive in decent traffic and anyone's guess in bad traffic.  We hit not-so-great traffic and got there after 9pm.  But when we woke up to brilliant sunshine, gorgeous fall colours and a sparkling lake, we were thankful indeed.  Its worth the drive every time. 

I spent a lot of the weekend being thankful.  I looked around me and saw nothing but a charmed life.  My beautiful boys (who will be five in less than a week!  FIVE!) played pretty nicely, all things considered.  I don't think I gave anyone a time out this weekend.  I'm definitely thankful for them and their cheeky smiles.

Throw a cute, noisy little sister into the mix and you get a whole lot more laughs and smiles and reasons to be thankful.  I'm definitely thankful for Elly and the fact that she slept through the night on Friday.  Not on Saturday or Sunday or Monday, but hey, she did on Friday and for that I am thankful.

Seeing the kids spending time with Gran & Grandpa was wonderful.  They all take such pleasure in each others' company.  Its just a great big love fest, basically.  I'm definitely thankful for patient grandparents who listen and laugh and read stories and make delicious dinners, who offer a glass of wine (or limoncello? A little port? Cherry brandy? No? Are you sure?) at just the right moment, who puzzle over their puzzles and offer a hand to hold when its time to go exploring. 

Thankful for amazing weather that allowed us to run around outside and let the wind blow in our hair.

So very, very definitely thankful for a husband who took an extra day off work to spend time with the children who adore him.  He works far too hard, but when he stops to play, well, its joy all around.

And definitely thankful for a best friend who ended up as my sister-in-law and a brother-in-law who ended up being a best friend too.  Its always so wonderful to spend time with Karen and Dwayne.  Especially when Uncle Dwayne is in a silly sort of mood.  But then, isn't he always?