Multitudes on Monday...#271-280

Things have been quiet here on my blog for a simple reason...I've been going through something of a tough time lately and haven't felt any compulsion or desire to write or share anything here.  This morning, however, I found myself mentally listing things for which I'm thankful (it's become a habit on Mondays) so even if I don't blog anything else for awhile, I'll still try to post my "gifts" on Mondays.

271.  Learning to "roll with it" as a parent.  Will has been fighting naps for several weeks now, and instead of insisting on the same old-same old routine (and *MY* way), I've worked with him on various options and we've come to a workable alternative, which Puppy and I call "couch rest."  After lunch, he gets snuggled on the couch with a pillow, his pacifier, and his blanket (which he calls "Rijey"???), and I play a video from a series called "Sweet Dreams" (available on Netflix; it's nature/wildlife scenes mixed with sand-drawing and simple cartoons, all set to classical music).  He watches for a few minutes and without fail, he's asleep before it ends.  I'm limiting his naps to less than 2 hours (he used to burn through at least THREE hours and would keep going if allowed!) so he's tired at bedtime.  Anyway, all this to say that I'm extraordinarily thankful for "couch rest" and also for the fact that somewhere along the way, I've learned to adapt to a growing, changing kid with growing, changing needs.  Best. Parenting. Lesson. Ever.

Couch rest, Exhibit 1

Couch rest, Exhibit 2

Couch rest, Exhibit 3 (weekend edition, on Daddy)

272.  Eating healthier.  It is not as hard as I thought, nor as expensive as I feared.  And the difference it has already made!  Marty has lost 18 pounds so far.  EIGHTEEN!!!  I, of course, have lost a grand total of FOUR.  Oh well, I do *feel* different, and my body feels different to me even, so hopefully there's more weight loss for me coming 'round the bend, if I keep at it??? 

Eating healthy, SuperBowl style.  Pita bread toasted into chips with sliced peppers and hummus; low-fat Triscuit with low-fat Boursin garlic&herb cheese.  So incredibly yummy.  Marty even said he wouldn't miss potato chips!!!

273.  Speaking of the SuperBowl, how awesome of a show did my hometown put on?!?  Am I right or am I right?!?  Thankful for the fun and distraction that the big game gave me, for sure.  And how about that halftime show?  Madonna absolutely rocked it.  Marty said she singlehandedly made the halftime show cool again!  I totally agree.  We had a blast watching it, even had the babies up on the couch dancing with me to "Like a Prayer."  Good times, good memories.
274.  Speaking of music, I've been feeling so grateful lately for the immediate availability of music.  I've been known to say that Dolly Parton got me through divorce.  Well, Adele is getting me through this particular bad time.  There's just nothing that compares to her sultry tone, and she definitely strikes the perfect mellow chord with me right now.
275.  Something else hitting the right note -- Ken Burns' "Civil War" documentary.  You'd think that if you were going through a hard time, the last thing you'd want to watch would be a documentary about the bloodiest war ever waged on American soil.  Well, you'd think.  But this documentary has been so soulful, so inspiring, so patriotic, that it has been nothing short of *uplifting*.  I can't explain it, really, so please do yourself a favor and watch it (if you haven't already, I think it's at least a decade old?).
276.  Will's continued good progress with speech -- his therapist "couldn't be more pleased" and he voluntarily used a verb this morning to me! -- but better than that has been his complete explosion of imagination lately.  He's been combining all his loves -- cars, trains, balls, animals -- into new "sets" of play.  I haven't the faintest what's going on in his world, but I know there's some serious good stuff going on when I find things like this:

Headed back to the ocean perhaps?  "Ocean" is one of Will's favorite words!

277.  My (almost) daily ritual of afternoon tea with Lucy.  Okay, I'm the only one who has tea, but we both share some Nilla wafers and have a "chat" of sorts -- Lucy says some of her Lucy gibberish and I nod excitedly.

Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed from her afternoon nap.

Mmmmmmm...Nillas.

278.  Even though my kids sometimes have spats over toys (the plastic fishing pole is a popular one of late), they clearly love each other and sometimes I will catch them doing this:

279.  Texts, emails, notes from friends who are just checking in, making sure I'm hanging in there.  I am.  And you all help more than you know.
280.  The first signs of spring!  I hope it hasn't come too soon to the Tennessee mountains, where winter could still wreak some havoc, but I have a gut feeling that the mornings of sunshine, the return of birdsong, the first few flowers pushing up through the dirt -- that these lovely harbingers are gonna hang on and shove Old Man Winter out of the way and send him packing.  You know, back to Canada or wherever he goes.