Ten Things I'm Thankful For

Time for another installment of my "Ten Things" to be thankful for, always varied, always random bits in positively NO particular order.

Ting, ting...

Today, may I present you with a few photos from a few week's worth of photo fun, (none from our recent trip in the ten posted here). It feels like some of them took place about a million years ago, how time does fly!

Pssst.... I found the perfect gift for my husband while visiting the Vancouver area recently, one that I could hardly wait to get home and surprise him with. I'll be taking a photo and posting it real soon. (grin, grin)

First though, in the spirit of continued (simple to complex) thoughts on thankfulness, here are today's "Ten Things I'm Thankful for". Ta da!

Please know for certain that my own personal thoughts on true thankfulness can obviously never be offered, nor delivered in true completeness within one simple post. And in case you just might find it interesting and want even more today, you can always skip along to view other "thankful" posts by clicking onto the archives located - right HERE.



Here we go......


1 - I'm thankful for another new crafty project on the horizon from magazine (dejunking) clipping I've been collecting over the past while. I can hardly wait to start this (secret) project and will load up more photos once the gifting has taken place. Stay tuned...


2 - I'm thankful for being able to homeschool all of our eight children for the bulk of their educational and youthful years. Oh, the sweetness these types of morning sessions provide for peaceful and tranquil starts to our days.

We've invested in new stainless steel water bottles to keep hydration levels optimal which can be found near whomever is working nearby, a remedy for dehydration at best for all of us who forget to drink enough water everyday.

(Thank you to Kimberley's daughter who provided the Lenten countdown page shown here. Can you believe how fast Lent flew by this year?)


3 - I'm thankful for our finer spring-like-weather where one can easily mosey on down and actually get close to the water's edge again without having to plow snow along the route any longer. It's one of my own very favorite places to go and sit a spell while pondering all things in my world.

Soon, very soon, these winter snow fences will be removed and the icy thaw just out yonder from the shore will be complete. As seasons change, I am thrilled to be able, very shortly, to begin again, getting spellbound that is, by the sound of the waves lapping up on the shores.

My note to self this week is to grab a few beach chairs and place them into the family vehicle for upcoming stolen moments to sit near this amazing location and just "be".


4 - I'm thankful for Barbara for the blessing of my handmade car rosary made by her loving hands, complete with a swell and clever magnetic closure. I can grab it in a jiffy when needed but most of all, it's not as distracting for me as a full rosary swinging about while I'm driving. With a gentle tick-tock of the crucifix, it does fast become a wonderful reminder to pray for those personal intentions so dear to my mother's heart, and for those promised prayers I can continue to be thoughtful of during my driving sessions while inside of my vehicle. You know (I know YOU know) - ALL THAT TIME a mother tends to spend driving children to and from THEN becomes a big blessing and thoughtful spiritual consideration rather than feeling like the ole - Mrs. Taxi Mama.


5 - I'm thankful for the wild and wonderful imagination of a child and how simple one's joy in life becomes during those delightful childhood play sessions we can only aspire as parents who hope to sneak a peak and be able to observe our younger children around the corner or in our midst, even if they might get a bit embarrassed about being noticed when they think they're too big for such fascinating imaginative play.

• They are show horses, thoroughbreds, furry wild beasts who require continued training, who have the desire and physical need to jump over things, race about, trot, canter and lap up their massage and shower moments during their rider's set grooming hours.

• THEY are in fact not just plastic you know either, for they are (momentarily) lovingly adopted and even individually named.

• They are well loved and treasured beauties added to other barnyard toys in our Imagination station. :)

6 - I'm thankful for my mommy crafting moments when I'm afforded time to run off and play for hours at a time. I've already mentioned previously about heading off to a conference in a past post, yet I haven't been able to post all my fun stuff still to this day (coming). However, it's still an ongoing and necessary (read - love it!) hobby of mine to keep my hands busy and my creative side amused.

In the busyness of life and raising a family, often mommy and her hobbies gets left in the dust. I don't take time on purpose often enough to run away and play, but truly, when I'm able, I just love the pursuit of time well spent with others in my midst who also share the passion of crafty times and womanly visits, usually and most often - filled with enormous amounts of laughter. Have you had your mommy time today?


7 - I'm thankful for our birding study, still in session because no one wants to stop.

I'm thankful for how-to-draw books and daddy art sketching sessions because they can only assist in making notebooks more intriguing to any child for keepsakes they're sure to enjoy later in life. The children have been having continued practice sketching leaves after this (um) first attempt, and collecting those real feathers from collections about our home, mostly to preserve them by including all onto the pages of their notebooks.

The birds continue to drop by for visits on our property. So many varieties are now residing here or nearby, building nesting and waking us before 6am with their songbird symphonies. Just waking and hearing them fills my heart with thoughts of spring and summer and what a better way to rise than to a whole chorus of birdie music anyway? We'll be out in force this week to explore and investigate all our new friends who dropped by while we were away to make our property their new home.

Oh, and I am thrilled (out of my mind - yes, my husband thinks my enthusiasm is kind of NUTS!) to find a local Naturalists hiking group who all specialize in trips to local nature habitats with a marvelous weekly or biweekly calendar agenda which includes many of the remaining topics of study we already have in our learning syllabus this year. Hooray! Children are very welcome to join in and what a superb opportunity to learn from others who know the geographical habitat more than we do. I can't wait to participate in some of the upcoming daytime events!


8 - I'm thankful for SUSHI!

Oh...oh...oh....when we find a new place to dine, I am thrilled to take a big (low sodium) soy-filled bite of another rendition of a sushi chef's spicy tuna roll.

Bliss! Delight! A palette pleaser to be sure! Wow!

So, I suppose you've figured out by now we did in fact find a new sushi house, huh? Oh yes, we sure did. And I'm going to indulge all I can for now because as my husband will one day soon be banned and halted from eating any of this fine dining food fare. Oh YUM!


9 - I'm thankful for stacks of books that keep me hopping, reading, absorbing and fascinated with new angles of assorted topics I have yet to fill my brain with. Or maybe I just need a refresher on them, like a boost for re-organizing my home.

When we returned from our trip with all our suitcases in tow, that is exactly what I was able to do in one large closet. To reorder our things upon occasion seems to create a whole new and fresh approach to what we desire to keep or get rid of. I have another bag from that same closet for the Goodwill from this small endeavor.

Closet revamp

Here's another book stack, ready for me to peruse with an warm cuppa something, that is when I have time now that I've returned from our recent trip.

The reading glasses are a dead giveaway on my multiple reading sessions where I just can't put my book down until it's done. Are you like that too? I could read all day long if time permits, so rather than get all blurry eyed, I am now trying to discipline myself to use my reading lenses, if only for a gentle reprieve on my eyeballs. Perhaps a round of bilberry is necessary for me to improve these eyes? And then, reading blitzes will continue in earnest.


10 - I'm thankful for after dinner warm cuppa moments when our children beg to return to a little bit of what they consider their adopted outing, like mine. Good thing for gift cards because the visits just seem to keep coming. :)

Rather than merely wanting to sit and drink and eat, they actually bring along books to work in. I on the other hand bring my computer along to upload all window updates, java updates, itunes updates and anything else our poky slow computer can't handle on our satellite internet system.

I wasn't ever able to do anything like this with our six older children (Imagine the chaos with babies and trying to school in some type of semblance within a public like this? Uh, no.) when they lived at home, so with only the younger two learning at home this year, once in a while this is a nice little outing for us to venture out together for a change of scenery.

Here concludes one more "Ten Things I'm Thankful For", always updating, always thankful for every itty-bitty thing in my life. Are you looking out for thankful things in your home like me?