Thankful Friday...

Happy Friday Everyone!! How was your week? Things here are good. The week started with plenty of sunshine and it hasn't been too cold - so that has been lovely. Caleb is recovering from his run-in with a goal post and the stitches should come out this weekend. (Phew! He's missed soccer, PE and basketball all week and he's been a touch grumpy with the lack of sports! Let's get those stitches out so he can get back to practice and PE!) Grayson has been busy with school activities and sports and a smidge of driving me insane. And, Blaine spent the latter part of the week visiting some plants and customers in southern Poland. So...we're all happily into our routines.

For the month of November, the blog will be dedicated to "thankful things." This doesn't change much from the normal tone of Fab 5 Fridays, but November does seem to lend itself to thankfulness with the American holiday of Thanksgiving coming up at the end of the month. So thankful I shall be! No thing too big or too small! And, here we go!

1. Caleb. Caleb turned 11 yesterday. So hard to believe. His baby picture showed up in my Facebook newsfeed for TBT and it was hard to believe he was ever so little. He is such a great boy/kid/young man. He is caring and polite and smart and funny and quiet. Well, he's got a million good qualities. Anyways, I'm definitely thankful for Caleb!

2. New Friends. We went to a Halloween party last Friday night and Saturday night we had friends over for dinner and football. I can say that I'm thankful for new friends. And, I'm thankful that Blaine is making new friends. As the stay-at-home spouse, I find it's easier for me to make friends, especially with the school connection. But, I think for Blaine, it's much harder when you are working and spend so much time with only your colleagues. Maybe he would disagree, and this is only my take on things, but we had two very enjoyable evenings last weekend filled with lots of laughs! (Ask me to tell you the story of a Polish man we met who was practicing his English while in Britain many years ago and told us a hilarious story about the difference between cement and semen. Well, you can probably guess where that's going!)

3. Our Fireplace. I just love having a fireplace. Love it! And yes, while it would be easier to have a gas fireplace where I could easily flip the switch and my fire would be going, the wood one we have is great! It makes our house so cozy! So cozy that even the kids seem to leave their room and join us when the fireplace is going!

4. Time to Blog and Coffee. I'm so grateful for Friday morning blog time. Many of the mid-week posts are done on the fly - often while helping kids with homework or as I prep dinner, but not Friday. I've taken to sitting at the bar (in my home) on Fridays with a cup of coffee, staring out the window and banging out the Fab 5/Thankful Friday post. It's my time. Uninterrupted time to think, blog, plan the next week, send friends some catch-up emails...and it's wonderful.

5. My Parents' Visit. My parents are coming to visit in December and my mom and I have the countdown going. I cannot wait! Everyday I check my little countdown calendar to see how many days we have left - and it's going so quickly! It will be here before we know it!

So there's it is, folks! The first Thankful Friday! What are you thankful for this week?