Ok, I don’t make resolutions so I’m calling this a goal. Last night I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about how I needed to reflect more often on the little things that mean a lot to me or that I’m grateful for on a daily basis. Reading over posts from the last year, I am saddened by how stressful, negative and generally unhappy my last year was. I try to be real (as real as you can be on a public blog) and being real means that I’m not always happy, I’m not always feeling full of energy or beaming with optimism. But I hope to strike a better balance in 2007 and beyond - both on my blog and in my everyday life.

So that’s my goal for 2007 and beyond. To reflect, daily, on at least one thing that was great, amazing, special about my day. Of course doing so would make this blog sickeningly sweet and probably intolerable to read. So I am going to couple this goal with a goal to blog daily. I’ll just append the reflection to the bottom of each post. Skip it if it annoys you.

So without further ado:

My first 9 in 2007 (to catch me up):

1. Addison is such a good eater. I am so thankful for this (until she eats random scraps off the carpet!!). Noah is a vegetarian, which I respect, but it’s no picnic cooking for a family of 9 when one child can’t eat meat and the rest crave it. I don’t think that will be an issue for Addison so for that I am thankful.

2. I love my sewing machine. A friend gave it to me because she thought I would really use it. I have used it and used it some more. I recently considered buying a new one as this one is literally falling apart but I just love it too much to replace it. It has brought me hours and hours of enjoyment, pride, a sense of personal accomplishment and my kids really value what I can create with that little machine. Plus I’ve been able to teach at least one of my boys how to sew which brings me (and his future wife) great pride.

3. Staying home with my kids is such a blessing. I am so fortunate to be able to do this. Sometimes I miss working outside the home. A lot. But when I seriously consider getting a job and all that I would miss during the day, I can’t even conceive of it. And then I realize how fortunate I am to be in a position where it is an option.

4. I really appreciate the ease at which kids can learn anything they put their minds to. I love giving Dalton a graphic program and watching him figure it out and throw together templates complete with Cascading Style sheets as if he always known and understood the technology. I love that, very soon, he will know more about digital cameras and website design than I do. Watching kids’ minds work is one of the most amazing miracles I’ve ever seen.

5. I love that Teegan is excited about multiplication flashcards!

6. I love that my husband is so optimistic about everything, all the time. He almost never gets disillusioned by what life throws his way. I could learn a lot from following in his footsteps.

7. I love that Addison cries when one of us walks out of the room. I love that when we are in a new place or she sees a new person, her reaction is to look to myself or her Daddy for reassurance. She seems to be saying “Please explain the world to me, I trust you”. I love being her Mama.

8. I love that the first thing Noah did the other day when Daddy gave him the rest of his coveted Eggnog Shake was to walk it around the house and offer sips to each and every sibling before he took a sip of his own.

9. I love that my husband is here to relieve me of the burden of dealing with dental drama.