Earlier this morning, the Bean and I were playing, having a half dance party / half martial arts battle when she started taunting me. I teased her and told her that if she kept that up, I’d pull her tongue out of her head and fry it up for dinner. She promptly burst into tears, horrified that I would ever think about doing such a thing.

After a long conversation, I finally convinced her that it was joke, that I would never pull her tongue out and her body would remain intact. A pinky swear or two later, and all was well again.

Later we were driving home, listening to Ramona Quimby, Age 8 in the car. The Quimby family was eating dinner and everyone was remarking about how delicious the roast was until Beezus discovered that the family was, in fact, eating tongue. It was cheaper, Mrs. Quimby explained, and the Quimby’s were trying to make every dollar stretch as far as possible.

Bad timing, Quimby Family, bad timing.

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I’ve sucked at this whole blogging thing this month. I wanted to focus on gratitude this month and instead, I froze. Life is crazy busy (as always) and frankly, I didn’t know where to start when I’m thankful for everything. The family that birthed me, the family that I married into, the man who made me a wife, the kids who made me a mom, the friends who make me a better person. My little, warm, snug house hours away from the snow in Buffalo, the jobs that I so enjoy (95% of the time), the books that fill my imagination and the books that spark my children’s minds.  The animals that curl up on my toes at night and the body that keeps moving every day. There is so much to be thankful for that frankly, it’s overwhelming this year.

So I’ll cut myself some slack and hope that this whole blog (or at least most of it) exudes gratitude. I hope that even when I’m complaining about the kids or the Hubs that the amusement and the love ultimately shine through.