Grains of Gratitude

It's been awhile since I've been able to sit down and do a Grains of Gratitude post; and I do have plenty to be grateful for.

1. I'm grateful we had a safe and uneventful trip traveling from NM to MD; and that we were able to stop and see family along the way. Despite just one rough patch on the road when Lucas just wouldn't stop crying overall it went really well...and the weather was decent with just some strong winds.

2. I'm grateful we all seem to be over whatever stomach virus was going around here (and glad my mom didn't catch it!) Lucas just has a lingering runny nose now, and might possibly be teething, but other than that we're feeling better.

3. I'm grateful Kayla had a great first week of school and seems to have wonderful teachers. She seems to have adjusted really well to the whole transition and comes home from school happy. We still need to have her IEP meeting with the new teachers and therapists and I'm hoping that will go smoothly.

4. I'm grateful I was able to join a MOMS club; there seem to be a lot of kids the same ages as Kayla and Lucas, so that's nice. I'm glad my mom decided to go to the HOOT and HOWL dinner with me on Wed (since she has a Husband Out Of Town I told her to come join us). It was a nice dinner and all the kids were well behaved.

5. I'm grateful for the genuine goodness and generosity of people.
a) A few months ago I participated in a Pay It Forward from LauraJ and she sent a beautiful, soft, baby blanket for Lucas that she made (she's so talented!).
b) I won a set of wine charms from a contest Alisha held. The wine charms were from Danette and she was so sweet to include a bracelet with Kayla's name on it...what a nice surprise.
c) I participated in another Pay It Forward from Tracey and I received my gift this week. She sent a beautiful pair of purple (my favorite color!) earrings and some yummy chocolate from Australia!
d) Last, but certainly not least, Nancy sent me an adorable pair of Fire Truck Soft Leather Shoes all because in a contest she was having I mentioned I would chose these shoes since my sister is a firefighter (I didn't win, but she was generous enough to send me a pair for Lucas anyway!) Thank you everyone!

So now on to the Pay It Forward exchange. How it generally works is the first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a gift from me (it's usually supposed to be handmade, but I'm not creative like that, so mine probably won't be!) You then need to post the Pay It Forward challenge on your own blog and make (or buy) a gift also for your first 3 commenters. The gift can be in any price range and you have 365 days to send it. So you won't know what you're getting, or when you're getting it - just that sometime in the next year you'll get a gift from me! And since I participated in 2 of these exchanges the first 6 commenters will get a gift from me (but remember you have to Pay It Forward too!) If you don't want to participate let me know so I won't count your comment :)

Edited to add: The winner of the Children's Place gift card is Tracey!