What are YOU Thankful for?

I'm thankful for good friends who take my boys on overnighters that last until 2 the next day.

I'm thankful for a best friend (whom I just happen to be married to) who likes to surprise "his girls" with spur-of-the-moment gourmet dinners.

I'm thankful for a daughter who likes to help her Mommy bake apple pies.
I'm thankful for the health of everyone I love.

I'm thankful for my own health which enables me to celebrate with said loved ones.I'm thankful for brown eyed little girls who watch The Velveteen Rabbit while slicing apples and chatting with her mother about the slushy snow that is falling outside the kitchen window.

I'm thankful for 2 handsome sons who fling their arms around me with smiles after being away all night.
I'm thankful for the simple pleasure that a picture like this can evoke within me. It's memories like these that I want to hold onto the most.

I'm thankful for everyone who ever touches my heart and feels as though I've touched theirs.

It's true that "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." May you all be breathless this Thanksgiving weekend.

Travel safely. Hug someone you rarely hug. Tell the ones you care just how much they mean to you...

Can you feel it Mr. Crabs? Can you feel it? *

I can feel it. Can you? That beginning of anticipation for the holidays? The expectation of how fabulous and wonderful it will all be? The children will be joyful and grateful for the lovingly chosen gifts their parents have managed to purchase! Cookies will be baked while they press their noses to the frosty windows, eyes upturned to the sky, wondering at how a reindeer can fly! The weather will be crisp and cool, with lovely clumps of fluffy snowflakes falling on the ground. Not a trace of ice or brutal wind! No, the weather will be more than agreeable as every family gathering includes delicious (yet easily prepared!) meals ending in carols sung around the piano while the fire crackles in the fireplace. There will be no tears over a toy not received! The lack of sleep and high expectations won't backfire into a silly argument over how to discipline a whining child! The smoke alarm shall never break the rhythm of Bing Crosby's solo. No dogs or toddlers will spill milk/pop/water/etc. all over the pergo flooring, causing grandparents or cousins to experience a one-socked death skate into the dessert table.

Nope! None of that.

Of course, if any of the above does take shape this holiday season, I hope that I am able to step back and laugh and remember it all. I hope that the craziness that inevitably accompanies any holiday only adds to our memories. I know that it's actually the wildest aspects of a Thanksgiving or Christmas gathering that are the parts we remember the fondest.

What's the wildest that's ever happened at your family's parties?

* I know that I'm not the only parent to recite this phrase over and over and over again. Right?