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Here Benjamin, Michael and I are playing in the playroom. It's a great, red room. Filled with Michael's art from pre-school. We spend lots of time in there and we have a lot of fun.
Michael has been a bit sick today, so Ben and I went to the mall on our own. (Thank goodness for the Navigation System in Amy's van!) I let Ben do something today at the mall I never thought I'd let him do... I let him ride the little 25 cent rides! I always thought it was such a waste of money, and if I never let him do it then he'd never know. But he LOVED the rides! He really enjoyed himself. Sure, it set me back about 4 bucks, but the look on his face was priceless. I'm glad I'm overcoming a lot of my mom issues. (Another one I thought I'd "never" do was bring him out in public with messy hair and a dirty, food stained shirt. THAT certainly didn't last long.)
We're really enjoying our stay here. We miss Mark, but Ben is getting the hang of "talking" to him on the phone. Tonight when I asked if he wanted to say good night to Dada he looked for my phone.
Today I am thankful for...
1. watching Michael and Ben play together. Michael shares really well and looks out for Ben when he's about to do something he shouldn't. Today they were playing outside and Ben started to eat bark. Michael was quick to say "No Ben! NO!" Very big brotherish.
2. Ben not showing any signs of being sick (other than a runny nose, which I'm chalking up to teething, for right now). I'm not a fan of sickness, I'm not sure if anyone is, but especially not being home, and not having Mark with me, I just wouldn't do well if Ben or I should get sick. So, maybe this is partially a prayer request as well. :)
3. the time Ben and I had at the mall today. It's really funny, when I'm in another state and I go shopping, even if I go to Target, it's really exciting. I want to buy everything, even though I can go to the Target down the street from my house. Am I alone on this one? Anyway, we shared a pretzel and played in the kid-maze and, like I said above, rode some rides. It was a lot of fun for both of us.
4. Amy's wonderful cooking! Did you know that she makes dinner in the morning when she has the most energy and then re-heats it when everyone is ready at night time to eat? What a genius idea! I'm learning so much here!
5. all the neighborhood kids who congregate in one backyard or another and play for hours in the afternoon. It's cool that there's really no walls here; just low, double rail fences so everyone can see each other. Kind of strange, coming from Cally, to not have that -mandatory-privacy. But it really does make for great friendships among the 'hood. You actually HAVE to talk to your neighbor when your son goes into the backyard everyday. I love it. People in SoCal would freak out if everyone could see into your backyard.
6. Amy sitting here and typing out her thankful list next to me. She's so fun, just like a sister. We have a lot of laughs, mostly at my expense I think, but we really do have a good time together. Many of my friends couldn't understand that I would visit Mark's sister without Mark. I am very thankful for her patience with me over the years. I can be pretty silly sometimes. :)
7. Todd's abilities with the computer. He's very gifted and helps A LOT of people out when we get stuck with a computer problem he could probably fix in his sleep.
8. Jones green apple soda.
9. Joe made it home safely from Hawaii. And that he's helping Mark out with the house on his remaining days off.
10. the rain last night, and clear skies today. It's just beautiful here!
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