Tuesday 5: Tough Kids and Other Things to be Thankful For.

1. We have a lot to be thankful for this week. The International Man of Intrigue got some job related news that we’d been waiting for and worrying over for months. It comes as a big relief to have this news before we start our move to Hawaii, and we’re grateful that it went the way we hoped.

2. This week is also the two year anniversary of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s official adoption day. Her Godfather is visiting this week as well, so we went out to dinner tonight to celebrate her Adoptaversary. Everyone enjoyed it, and Laura Ingalls Wilder was mostly tantrum free. We’re so glad, tantrums and all, that she’s our kid.

3. In the last week, I’ve started taking pictures of Laura Ingalls Wilder while she's throwing temper tantrums in various places. At first, I felt kind of horrible about it, but after I started posting them to Facebook, I actually started feeling better for a couple of reasons. The first is selfish- it takes me out of the moment, just for a second, and really helps me keep my cool when I could get really angry or frustrated instead. The second is that it seems like people really enjoy seeing the “real” side of life. I love it when other parents of kids her age share with me that their kids are throwing fits, too. It’s so hard when it seems like it’s all day, every day. I never thought a little picture would calm me down, add some levity, and provide a little smile for everyone. Here’s to the Tantrum Photo Series!

4. I cleaned out my purse this week. I find that there’s always something unusual in there. This week, I found the x-ray of Amelia Earhart’s broken nose. If you don’t remember, she earned it playing football. I’m not sure why the x-ray is in my purse, though.

5. Speaking of Amelia Earhart and her toughness, Amelia Earhart and Gertrude Bell went to a roller skating birthday party on Saturday. Gertrude Bell played it safe by learning to skate and sticking to the carpeted area near the rink. In true Amelia Earhart fashion, she took a little while to get the feel for it and then headed out to learn on the rink. She fell down quite a few times, and hard. Every time she got back up and kept trying. She came home with some nasty bruises. I love her determination when it comes to things like that.