Things I'm thankful for....

1- The most recent- ** grossness warning- read at your own risk** I was changing Kara's dirty diaper this morning and as I took it off I could tell "it" went up the back side of the diaper. As I slowly lifted her tooshie off the diaper afraid that we had a blow out- I finally got to the top and the mess had stopped a centimeter from going out and onto her clothes. To those of you without kids you are thinking gross- why does that matter? to those of you with kids- you know how immensely grateful you can be for that centimeter which saves you from a nasty batch of laundry and a bath... So I decided to think of random things I'm thankful for... So my first is this...***This is to you- little Kara- thanks for saving me some headache and laundry time by not making a giant poopy mess this morning (I know you were kind to me on purpose :)

2- Ducks-- we were in AF the other day driving around and we were stopped at a stop sign and the guy in a jeep in front of us jumped out of his car and ran into the street to stop the traffic- at first I'm thinking- either he's gone crazy and is gonna car jack someone- or he's been in an accident. But neither were true- he was stopping traffic for a mommy and like 10 baby ducks. The little yellow family quickly ran across the road safely and made it to the gutter on the other side- the man got back in his car and traffic resumed. But then the kids and I noticed another problem- the gutter they made it to was one of those famous 3 feet deep Utah gutters. The mom hopped over and waddled away leaving her little ducks stuck in the ditch. They were jumping their little hearts out trying to get over the curb but only about half made it at first. Then we saw the man in the jeep stop his car across the street and get out and help the remaining ducklings get over the curb. It was so random but so cool to see some random guy in a bright yellow jeep spend a good 5-10 minutes helping this random little duck family. And I'm grateful for random instances and people like that who are genuinely good and nice and just awesome! Scott thought the guy was so nice to help the little ducks so obviously it affected my kid. I know really long pointless story but there ya go. After that we followed them a little more to a river where we watched them swim and walk around for like 20 more minutes giving us something to do on an otherwise bland day...
***So this is to you- random bald guy in the yellow jeep- thanks for teaching my kid how to do random acts of kindness! And pointing our attention to the duck family that kept us entertained for close to an hour! Thanks!

3- backyard toys.... We made a trek to wal-mart last weekend and finally got some decent toys for our back yard- the Wal-Mart special 2 swing swingset complete with slide, trapeze bar (aka u-shaped metal bar), and teeter-toter (aka future culprit of Brock's first broken leg since Scott jumps off his side while brock is still high in the air making Brock hit the ground at like 50 miles an hour with his feet under his seat at least 5 times a day). We also got a super deal on a sweet sandbox/water table thing. It was the outside display and the only one they had left and was missing a part so we got it for 50% off! Score! Plus it was packed full of the cool new crayola blue sand. Anyways- on to my next thank you....
***And this is to you- backyard toys- thanks for letting me chuck my kids in the back yard when they are driving me totally insane and they are trapped back there because they are still too short to reach the latch that would let them escape from the yard. So now when they are trapped back there they have something more to do than squirt themselves in the eye with squirt bottles! (See earlier post)

4- an awesome neighborhood- So our houses in our neighborhood are on teeny lots and super close together- like you can see into each others windows without trying if they don't have fences... But it is great because my kids can run down 4 houses down to the party place (aka Tillman, Peterson, Callister backyard area...) And their friends can come over here without needing rides or even bikes. Anyways- there are some of the funnest coolest kids in the world living in our neighborhood which is why we'll probably cram ourselves into this house for the next 3-4 years just so we don't have to tear our kids away from the best friends they could ever have. My boys have the funnest time with all their friends and we're always meeting new kids at playgroups and at church and just walking around the neighborhood. It's so amazing to have the luxury of such great neighbors and friends...
***So this is to you- Loch Lomond neighbors and my kids' friends' parents- thanks for raising kids that are such awesome friends to my kids! YOU ROCK! And I'm sorry Scott ever pees in your front yard-- we're working on that :) He didn't learn it from me :)

5- the Backyardigans- Brock loves to sing and dance. So the show "The Backyardigans" is a household favorite. Brock is also obsessed with pirates. So he loves the episode where they sing about pirates. Anyways- someday I'll figure out a better way to load my videos on here but Brock totally entertains us with his singing lately. So next time you see him ask him what a pirate says and if you're super lucky he just might break into song...


***And here's to the makers of the Backyardigans- keeping our family not only entertained by your shows but by the reenactments we get when Brock busts out in random song and dance every so often- it's super cute! Thanks TV!