So much to give thanks for

Every thanksgiving, I tell myself that we have to properly celebrate it. Go all out with the turkey and mashed potatoes and casseroles and pies and eat till we have to put on our Joey Thanksgiving Pants and then we’ll all talk about all the beautiful things that happened in the year and just be thankful. But as the day draws near, I’ll think about all the cooking that needs to be done and completely chicken out. This year, I thought about it for a moment and immediately decided that it would be a crazy idea. That I even considered doing it was crazy, what with the baby and the other kids…plus it’s been an insanely busy period for us.

Well, we did get our christmas tree up and all the presents wrapped so that’s something.

Instead, we had some milk + cookies and snuggled up in bed with the kids for a limited edition 2014 thanksgiving game. We were all supposed to list 3 things we were thankful for and it turned out so well we got up to I don’t know, we lost count somewhere around 27. Granted, some of these things included “I’m thankful for toes” (h/t to Finn!), which is pretty much the whole point of the game, right? I’m glad I can be thankful for things like toes because I love my toes and I wouldn’t want to be without them.

Maybe next year when the baby is less of a baby, we’ll attempt that massive thanksgiving dinner I’ve been dreaming of having. If not, there’s always the year after that.

There ain’t no turkey this year but we’ve got so, so much to be thankful for, so hold on tight, I’m about to do one of those “These are all the things I’m grateful for” type posts. These posts are good for the soul.

\\ I’m one lucky girl. I know this.

I sometimes forget this when things aren’t going the way they’re supposed to in my head, or when bad things sneak up on me, or when I’m in a funk but the moment I stop to look at all the things going for us, I realise how terribly good I’ve got it, and how being grateful is the only way to be.

Especially so this year. I think this year will go down as one of those years we’ll look back on and say “remember 2014? WHAT A YEAR.” This year has been so ridiculously good to us.

I’m grateful for dreams that come true. You know how when you dream of achieving something and you work your butt off to make it happen and suddenly the stars align and it finally starts happening for you, and you’re just sitting there both in awe and filled with so much gratitude it makes you giddy? That’s how we feel about this year. It’s been busy and exhausting and fun and exhilarating and satisfying all at the same time.

I’m grateful for family. Family can sometimes drive you nuts but they’re always there to love you and cheer for you and celebrate with you and offer to help watch the kids!!

I’m grateful for friends who choose to stick around as we go on this journey together. For friends we don’t get to see a lot but whose company we cherish when we do. For friends that we get to see every week, whose kids put a smile on my kids’ faces.

I’m grateful for the chance to explore the world with the people I love. Travel is my biggest weakness and I’d willingly give up jewellery or bags or fancy dinners for a couple of days in Melbourne or Maldives or Tokyo. We have a system where instead of buying me presents, the husband sends me travel credits, yeah, I came up with that.

I’m grateful that we get to do what we do. I was talking with the husband and we realised that we both have jobs that didn’t exist 30 years ago. It’s like the internet conspired to create these opportunities for us to do what we love. And boy, are we grateful for it. On that note, I’m so humbled by all the kind emails of encouragement I’ve gotten from you guys. I’m lucky to have the best readers on the internet, of that I’m sure. Having a blog can get to your head, with all the exclusive invites and junkets and trips and swag. Every time I get one of these emails, the husband calls me a big important blogger and I punch him on the arm because getting caught up in all of it is just a bit silly. This blog is really just a love letter to my family, like a time capsule I’d like them to open up and read years from now. I’m grateful for everyone who drops by to read it, and all the opportunities it’s created but I realise that I’m just a girl who gets to do something I enjoy.

Most of all, I’m grateful for the 5 people I love more than anything else in the world. I look at them and it almost feels like a dream.

**Bonus point: Thank you all so much for the overwhelming support for Child Label during our Black Happy Friday sale, the site pretty much exploded on Friday. We’re hard at work making sure all the orders get out as soon as possible, we’ll be up all night for the rest of the week to make sure it happens. ;)