the power of a positive mom

this week we attended our first mops group. little did i know the speaker was karol ladd, a friend of my family's. (i think i'm doing good to get all three of us up, fed, dressed and out the door by 8:45 on a monday morning, much less pay attention to that days topic!!) anyway, she is the author of the book, the power of a positive mom. she did a fabulous job, was very encouraging, and i walked away with several good thoughts and ideas. one thing that she encouraged us to do was start our days by listing 5 things that we're thankful for. so today, i'm thankful for:
1. the cooler weather that allowed us to get outside and exercise, even though my boys were either throwing things out of the stroller or at each other and screaming for the entire hour....oh right, we're being positive! thank you lord, for this cooler weather!
2. will's hard work and dedication to our family.
3. god's immeasureable love for me and wonderful gift of grace.
4. the chance to hold and rock hayes while he curled up on my chest and fell asleep, meanwhile maintaining his death grip on the tylenol bottle, his new teething toy.
5. hudson's new name for me that has cracked me up with every sentence today, "mom". ... thank you, mom. what's that, mom? hayesie crying, mom. what you doin', mom?

now, let me really tell you about today. from 12:00-12:30pm it looked a little less joyous around here.....

B is for big brother and broken glass. hudson was trying to get the boo-boo frog for hayes (see "O") and as he pulled it out of the freezer, the plate came with it and shattered all over the floor in a million pieces....great when you have a new crawler who is everywhere and picking up everything!
O is for OUCH! hayes is crying because while i was sweeping the floors after lunch (our vacuum conveniently isn't working correctly because the filter needs to be replaced and i've been to three different stores and back to the same store all in hopes of finding our filter....nope, don't carry it. i knew i should have just bought the nice dyson a long time ago!!!) and so now he has a big goose-egg above his eye, just in time for our upcoming portraits....will be changing that to a later time. in addition, hayes' knees, feet, and hands are covered with a dark film of black as a result of crawling on our "clean" floors....another reason, i should have bought the dyson!!
Y is for YES, that is pencil ALL over hayes' crib and end table. and YES, i see that you have colored in hayesie's room. and YES, "hudson need paper. be right back, mom."
S is for smeared desitin diaper cream all over areas of the body that don't require any cream, all in a two year old effort to "bug bites hurt mom. no bugs bite hudson's leg. this make all better, mom." ...to keep the bugs away.

good thing i started my day with positive thinking because those thirty minutes might have sent me over the edge....but instead, i'm so thankful for these busy busy BOYS!