I Am Thankful...Day 17

Today my Thankful is really special to me. Today I am Thankful for my amazing neighbor, Anne. The best part of this entry is that Anne reads my blog so she will be able to read for herself how Thankful I am for her. ♥ Actually, for her and another neighbor, Alice.

Long story short (okay, so not short, but I'll try to be brief :) )

When I signed Annie up for Kindy, I knew that she wouldn't be riding the bus in the morning. I just can't put a 5 year old, on a school bus, with 7/8/9 year olds. I don't know them, their behaviors, or their upbringing. Now, that may sound like I'm being just plain silly, but I know I'm not. God knows what can happen to kids, LOTS of kids, on a bus, where the only adult has to be responsible for getting my child from point A to point B safely. So, my thoughts are that for that 30-45 minute bus ride, my child is left, in a sense, unattended.

No. freaking.way.

My struggle would have been loading up 5 kids, drive A to school, unload 5 kids, walk A into the school, load 4 kids, drive home, unload 4 kids.

Whew. Tiring. But necessary.

Along comes my amazing neighbor(s).

Anne offered to come over, every.single.morning to stay with the trio and Lilah so that I can take A to school, walk her in, give her an uninterrupted hug, kiss and goodbye therefore, focusing only on Annie.

It is absolutely wonderful. I am so so so Thankful to Anne for offering to do this for us. Not only does she come over, she comes ready to play with my kids. She brings books to read and games to play. Today, she came over ready to sing songs about our new bunny Hazel. She tells my children how much she loves them, every day. What child couldn't stand to hear 'I Love You' from every single person that knows them? I Love You is the strongest thing you can say to a child, yet I don't think kids hear it enough.

I know mine do.

Anne is also friends with another neighbor, Alice. I am also so very Thankful to Alice. She now comes 2 days a week, and Anne comes 3. Alice, too, is such a blessing in my childrens' lives. Last week, she brought over a STACK of American Girl magazines for the girls. They were in.heaven. They looked at those catalogs for the entire day. They are now on our bookshelf and get looked at regularly.

I am so Thankful that these 2 beautiful ladies have so generously offered up their time and their hearts to my babies. I feel so lucky to have them both in my life.

A special message to Anne & Alice:

Thank you both so very much. For your help, for your stories, for just being here and enriching my childrens' lives just that much more with your experiences, and for loving my babies.

They all love you both so much.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Thank you for everything.

I ♥ you both.