Today We Are Thankful For . . .

1. Return address labels. I have refused to order these over the course of the past five years, because all of our living situations were so very temporary. I resolved to order them only when we found ourselves in a permanent living situation. Now that we have purchased the house, I carefully chose the labels that I wanted and ordered them with glee. They arrived a couple of days ago and are oh-so-super. Just wait until you receive a letter from me, and check out the upper left corner of the envelope!

2. Return address labels for Miss. For her own very special correspondence.

3. A beautiful, blustery day. Fall is in the air, but the chill hasn't quite come on yet. We are expecting that over the next few days.

4. Homemade applesauce and pumpkin bread, both of which I have made during the past week. Smells fall-o-licious in our house.

5. Miss's ability to take delight in the simple things. She entertains herself during "quiet time" by pretending that she's talking to the Veggie Tales characters. She was thrilled beyond belief by her "souvenir" from the Twins' game earlier this week -- her ticket stub.



6. Master's newfound habit of laughing to himself. He will be sitting and playing alone, and will just begin to laugh a great big belly laugh. Apparently something is going through his mind that is quite hilarious, and it is hilarious for us to watch.

7. Bath time. Both kiddos love it. They happily splash around and play together, and there is nothing like how sweet they are when the are all clean, smelling of soap, and wrapped in warm towels.




8. The Minnesota DMV. We *finally* took our drivers license tests this week, and were expecting the worst from the DMV office. We were very pleasantly surprised to find a clean, uncrowded, efficient office in a beautiful building. There was even a kid's play area, with a great big bus for the kids to climb on. You betcha!

9. The articles I've read about the planned Minneapolis city-wide wireless internet system that should be operational next year. Reportedly, all city residents will have access to wireless for $20 per month. Yay!

10. Our neighborhood. We are loving our walks around this area. We have strolled around Lake Nokomis, admired the Minnehaha waterfall, and played at the neighborhood playground this week. All without going more than a mile or so from our house. We feel very fortunate to have so much beauty right at our doorstep.