Gratitiude

Mi Famila.. a few years back in AZ... oh my this picture is so dang happy/sad! So little! 

All the cool facebook peeps started posting their 30 days of gratitude updates.  I love reading them.  I love it when we concentrate on the good, positive.. happy.  Gratitude really does turn what we have into enough.. amazing how when we start looking around for something to be thankful for, mostly there is more than just 30 or so things..

I thought maybe I would join along on facebook, but then my mind turned to my sadly neglected blog.  I have not had this much of a dry spell since 2009.  I told myself it's time to come back, even if I have to force myself.  So with great hopes of finding my words again I'm going to use faith.. faith that if I start making myself write again everything else will fall into place.  I'm going to start easy.. maybe with just a few pictures and the whole.. "I'm thankful for my family!" post because nothing makes me all sappy and wordy like Strehle kiddos.

Gratitude post #1

My 4 Strehle wee babes (who are not soo wee anymore)

-you make me laugh.. often.

(you also make me want to poke my own eye balls out but let's just focus on the positive here.. ok?)

-you are all so dang diverse... we are not a boring family, we do not fit into a typical mold and I would not have it any other way.

(I was hoping that one of you would be a prodigy musician of some sort.. you know like those young Chinese kiddos that play beethoven at age 2?) (because this is a gratitude post and not a "how my children disappointment me" post we will pretend I never wrote that)

-love.  The type of love a Mother has for her children is different from any other type of love.. its so  beautifully unconditional.  It's purity can be almost scary at times.  There is truth behind the phrase "momma bear".  I would not know this love without the 4 of you.

-you keep me humble.

Oh gosh golly how can a woman be arrogant when she drives a mini-van.

-you keep our lives full.

I think that I would like the no kid life for a while.  (maybe like 10 days.. in a nice warm sunny climate,  sexiest jogger in all the land husband jogging around fetching my cold drinks, sand in frustrating places) but..that life would be boring after a while (well someone told me that once).  This funny little Strehle house is always TEEMING with life, and for the good and the bad of it all I can't imagine my life being any other way.

-friendships

With the exception of a few duds, my children have introduced me to some beautiful peeps.  Admittedly I'm a bit guarded when I first venture out into the general population of school/sports/church groups that involve my kiddos.  "No time for crazy." is my motto.  To you, the peeps that for some strange reason I did not scare away, you have blessed me, I value our friendship oh-so much and I'm better to have known you.

(i'm sorry but time allows me only one crazy currently.. her name is Amber.. she can also be found where "hot mess blvd" meets "she must be premenopausal lane" eating chips and crying)

But mostly Strehle kiddos I'm grateful for you, just because you are you.  I can't believe that God trusted me with such dynamic children.  It still totally floors me.  Our home is such a beautiful chaos and most days (like 6 out 7) I would not trade that for anything.. not even coffee and THAT dear children is really, really saying something.