Wordful Wednesday - I am grateful

I love the format that Cocoa used, so I'm following her lead...

A few things I am grateful for...

I am grateful for having kids who are sick with colds... because there are many parents out there with kids who are sick with much worse then colds and their children may never be healed while here on earth.

A job, I'm grateful that as of now, both my husband and I are employed. We're very grateful for that.
Memories of my brother and stepmom. They've both passed on recently, and I'm thankful to have wonderful memories of the both of them to warm my heart during the holidays.

Grateful that I'm able to stay home with my children, for now. I've been fortunate enough to work from home, and it's been a blessing in disguise.
Running in the leaves with my kids at the park. We don't have alot of trees in our yard, really only one that produced some leaves to play in... but it is a blast to let go of my responsibilities and just run and lay in leaves with the kids.
A husband who's alive. There are many widows and widowers this holiday season. I'm so very aware of how quickly that I could have been a widow.
Twinkle twinkle little star, and Are You Sleeping Brother John... both of which the toddler sings to mommy, daddy and his brother everynight before bed while I hold him in my lap in the rocker in his room...
E. I'm grateful for big E. Soon after marrying my hubby, big E moved in with us permanently. His biological mother has her own agenda, and has not called or written in over 4 years. Big E has taught me alot about parenting and myself. I'm a better person for being his mom.
Friends. Both near and far... old friends and new friends...although I may not get to see my dearest friends as often as I like because of distance, I am grateful to be able to talk with them weekly on the Internet, or by email or phone.
Unusual circumstances. It's a joke between my husband and I that we almost always find ourselves in unusual circumstances... his heart attack that happened in a doctors office taking a stress test (all he went in for was shortness of breath after helping a friend move!), some situations with big E's biological mother, family circumstances in general, my strange auto-immune issues, pregnancy only 4 months after his heart surgery (unplanned, and what a blessing), and many many more little things that have grown us as people, parents and partners in life.
Living in the USA. Even with the state of the economy, the uncertainty of where we'll go as a nation financially.... we're sooooo fortunate to have our freedom, the luxuries we have are plentiful in spite of all that this nation is going through. Many days I forget how lucky we are. Today I read about a family in Haiti, who survive off of 100.00 a YEAR, who can't afford to send their kids to school for an education which costs roughly 250.00 per year, who's children work in trade for food, and clothing. Who's mother has died from the toll of starvation and childbirth, her body wasn't healthy. We are BLESSED to have each other, the freedom we have, this life we live.