I am not sure what moved me to throw a little Spanish onto my blog. Anyone who has been reading my posts from the beginning knows that I never use the names of the humans in my life, only the dogs, cats, and other pets. I did break this rule by accident on one of my posts but you’ll have to go back and read them all to find my slip. Today it will make things easier if I can refer to each child by birth order in Spanish. Our oldest son is Uno and our daughter is Dos (pronounced “dose” in case you never took Spanish in school). Then the younger two sons will be Tres and Cuatro. See how easy that is?

Thanksgiving is the time when I count my blessings. These four children are at the top of that list (right with Papa Bear of course). My heart is so full when I have all these faces at my table. Any Mama Bear can relate to that feeling when you glance around the room and realize all your babies are present. Our Australian Shepherd Dot knew that feeling, as she would finally lay down and rest when we were all present and accounted for. Satisfied that no herding was needed, she watched from a few feet away. I know just how she felt. When Uno, Dos, Tres and Cuatro are here it is a party, a relaxed “put-the-phone-on-silent” kind of time, nothing and nobody outside of these walls needs my attention.

Unfortunately, this Thanksgiving Tres will not be able to come home from college to be with us. So that moment of “completeness” will have to wait until Christmas when he comes home. It does not stop me from expressing gratitude for my four unique from one another cubs. When they were younger, I grouped them together as my little litter of puppies. Playtime, mealtime bathtime, and bedtime were all combined together. Everything was team oriented. “Bath is ready! Come on kids!” Or “Time for dinner!” The command they remember clearly was the one I shouted at the front door each morning before rushing out the door to school, “Shoes on, shoes on!” It actually sounded more like, “Shoozan, shoozan!” It meant get down her and let’s go, we are late! I still shout that from time to time on our way out the door to holiday mass or a family dinner out. When you are in a large family you know the drill and you stay with the group, no one gets left behind.

As our children have grown up they have each developed different personalities. Uno is our oldest son who is in creative advertising. He is a talented artist and musician. Uno has always been an “out-of-the-box” thinker. He has a very clever sense of humor. I especially love when he and I will engage in a word play spin off; he brainstormed with me for my aussiedoodle post about different combinations of breeds. We went on and on. I love when he tells me stories. He always makes me laugh.

Dos is our second child and our only daughter. She is smart, kind-hearted, and also has a great sense of humor. Dos is an awesome big sister to her little brothers and most especially to her furry siblings, Koda and Summer. She is patient and firm with the puppies. She accompanied me to our first puppy class and managed to contain Summer’s excitement. I love hearing Dos debate topics, she is a natural listener and talker. She helped me get my website up and comes to my aid during technologically frustrating moments. We enjoy each other’s company. I am happy to have her close by.

Tres is still in college. He is living out his lifelong dream of playing Division 1 football. His determination and strength continue to amaze me. Tres is my guy who has a big heart but a thick skin. He does not let things get him down. If he loses a game, it’s onto the next one. He is also the middle child who made my Grizzlybearma growl a little louder at times. Toddler years were pretty challenging with this one. He was head-strong even back then. For the record, Tres is the one who began letting the puppies up on the sofa early on even though we were not allowing it. Thanks for that Tres! The dogs are huge now and take up the whole sectional!

My baby cub Cuatro is in his last year of high school. Now I am not picking any favorites, but I have said that if I had to choose one child to be the last one in the house alone with us, I’d choose Cuatro. He is sweet natured, helpful, and very self-sufficient. He does not need the same homework monitoring that his older siblings needed. That probably comes from being the fourth child. On top of all those great qualities, Cuatro also has a witty sense of humor. It’s not just what he says, but when he says it. Comedic timing and commentary has made us all laugh through the years. He is the uniquie combination of a computer whiz and an athletic beast, who loves school. This mama bear will truly miss him when he is off to college next year.

Uno, Dos, Tres, Cuatro…these are four pretty special people in my life for whom I am dearly thankful.