Thursday Thankfulness

I am thankful for a few things today. First of all, Miss Rachel turned two on Monday! We had her party on Sunday night but there was still celebrating to do on her actual birthday. First, I decided to dress her in a cute smocked bubble I bought from Kelly at Kelly's Korner. Rachel was unimpressed. Acutally, I mostly think she didn't want her picture taken since she calmed down once I stopped.

We went to Let's Play and then Rachel had a good nap so she was ready for the rest of the festivities which included opening her present from Mommy and Daddy.

We gave her a tea set. A tin tea set, because we are not insane. That thing has gotten so much use since Monday. Currently Rachel's Cafe is serving crayons as it's main feature! Sam wanted to give Rachel a present so he got her some plastic jewelry so she will hopefully stop wanting to wear my necklaces. Sadly, it was hard to find something that wasn't branded. We went with Cinderella because she, at least, is a classic princess. Blah -- princesses :(

Now Rachel can serve tea in style!

This is Rachel opening the card from my parents, which my dad bought. Inside it says "Just ignore the paparazzi" which is kind of appropriate, given the first picture in this post. However, Opa, I would like to point out that if it weren't for the "paparazzi" you would never see any pictures so there. :)

After supper it was time for another birthday cupcake. I made sure to save a couple from the party. This time Rachel had one with green and blue icing. It was a little messier.

And the next day Rachel decided to put on earrings with her pjs and serve some more tea! It made me smile. And grab my camera :)

Second of all I am thankful I have a husband who is willing to let Father's Day be completely ignored so that we could put all our energies into getting ready for Rachel's party. We celebrated Dave yesterday. We're good at celebrating holidays not on the actual day. (See here and here for other examples!)

I got up early and cooked Dave one of his favourite breakfasts (eggs in a frame), along with coffee (in his mug from Sam of course!), smoothie, and fruit, while he went for a run and showered. I also put all the dried dishes away, which is normally his job. Last night I made Beef and Guinness Stew with mashed potatoes for supper. This is a meal I know Dave really likes. Then we spent some time outside. Dave got to trim some of the hedge, which has been on his mind for awhile now. And the kids gave Dave a card which said something along the line of, "Happy Father's Day to the King of the Castle. From your Unruly Subjects." This card made me laugh so much because it totally describes our kids lately!

I think Dave had a good belated Father's Day celebration and I'm thankful he was willing to postpone it so we could celebrate Rachel.

Third, I am thankful that Sam has enjoyed preschool so much this year. I cannot believe that tomorrow is his last day. He will be going there for two weeks of camp this summer, and then he is off to Kindergarten in the fall. It's hard to believe. Here he is on his first day this past September.

How is this school year over already?!?!?! I'm thankful that Rachel will be going for one morning a week starting in September because I think she will love it!

And this ends my Thursday thankfulness post. What are you thankful for this Thursday?

Trips to the gym last week: 2 (But Dave said I still get new exercise clothes because this weekend was INSANE!) This week I've only been once but I'm going again tonight.
Nights without snacking: A lot! I forgot and had some popcorn at my church's women's movie night on Saturday but Dave said that was okay. We also had date night on Monday so I had a small plate of nachos. Mostly though, Dave has been really impressed with how well I'm doing, and since my "book" is already ordered, I need to keep it up. (Speaking of which, I CANNOT WAIT to share what my "book" is with all of you!!! But you'll have to wait until mid-July because I won't get it before then.)
Hours of sleep: I have been mostly getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night which is awesome. A few nights I might have gotten only 6 3/4 hours but I'm definitely feeling better rested.

It has been amazing to me how knowing I'm going to have to post my "failures" on the blog has motivated me to keep up these better habits. Now to figure out what I'm going to change in July... :)