Small Successes and Thankful Thursdays • Vol. 17

My seventeenth weekly edition of Small Successes for moms (hosted over at Faith and Family Live - read more here!)...as they say, it’s important for moms to recognize that all the small successes in our days can add up to one big triumph. This was an especially long week, which is evidenced in the light blogging that's been seen on the farm of late. Without further ado...

1. We gave the one hundred pound dog a bath after a particularly scorching day in the northwest. Jonathan and I got soaked, but Maggie loved it and really needed to be cooled off. She would be happy living in snow 100% of the time. The 90°+ weather is really getting to her. It's on the verge of getting to all of us!
2. I burned a few mixes to CDs for the kitchen and Thomas's room. For Thomas's room, the Natural White Noise for Babies. It's been helpful when Viper's been on the rampage, barking throughout the house, and Thomas is trying to fall asleep. The kitchen mix is titled the "housecleaning mix" - which is to help me keep motivated when I'm cleaning. Thomas loves it because he dances along by kicking his feet. A few from the mix? Monkey by George Michael, Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go by Wham!, The Right Stuff by NKOTB, Any Way You Want It by Journey (that one's for you, Lindsay), and Cruel Summer by Bananarama. As a sidenote, why did Wham! have an exclamation point? Maybe I should use one! All the time! I could be Shelley! The Wee Ski would be Thomas! Or maybe not.
3. I gave up my perfectionist tendencies. At least once. When I realized that I had the wrong volume on half my small successes posts because I had Volume 9 twice: here and here. You know what? It's OK. The blog won't implode, and life will go on.
   
   I think. :)

The things I'm thankful for this week...

• A great, chill birthday. Spent it at daily Mass, at Gordon's to pick out a strawberry pot, tomatoes, and basil to replace what died. I only lost one of my herbs -- the basil. I feel pretty good about that. Took a three hour nap with Thomas, and went to an (air-conditioned) dinner with Jonathan and the baby.
• Lots of fans around the house.
• Jonathan getting up at 5:00 this morning to move stuff upstairs before it turned into a sauna for the day. The upstairs simply bakes when it's warm. But at least we're moving the furniture from my house up there to create a sweet guest room.
• Giving Thomas his first bath in both the big-boy tub (without the infant insert) and the big person bathtub. He absolutely loved the big bathtub, and kicked for about 5 minutes straight when he realized that his feet float in the water. Jonathan and I couldn't stop laughing at him. So easy to please. We'll take that as long as we can get it!
• Shelly and Joan at my office. Coming in on Tuesday morning, my whole office was decorated for my birthday and they made me lemon bars and spinach dip. Yum. They know the way to my heart. ♥
• Rich Brownrice, who had Thomas on Tuesday and Thursday because Sandy's in Texas. Rich did fabulously with him all day, and Thomas slept the whole way home both days!

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And my sweet 21 week old boy...chilling on the deck in the 90° weather!