I'm also grateful I didn't beat them

I had it all planned out. 

I was going to write a post on gratitude, and possibly list the things I was grateful for, just because. 

But then my morning exploded into cacophony of tears and yelling and both of my children taking turns screaming and/or launching toys across the room just to see if I was paying attention.

I was.

So, maybe this won’t have quite the lovey, sappy “I’m so thankful for life and pretty trees and rainbows” feel to it.

At this point I’m just grateful that I didn’t lose my own temper and that I remained in control through it all.  Yes, there may have been some irritated sighs and possibly an inner eye roll or two, but at least I didn’t collapse into a puddle of tears when I saw that Adele had dumped the entire contents of my 2/3 full coffee cup onto the kitchen floor while I was upstairs dealing with her brother, who was pitching a fit because I wouldn’t let him watch TV.

That’s progress. 

(I’m so exhausted you guys.)

Here, look at some pictures that make me smile.