31 Days Grateful- drama, the good kind

I have lots of little things to be grateful for today.
The first is that I don't feel sick. I think I just needed some sleep. That leads me to my great afternoon nap, another thing to be grateful for.

While I was napping, my husband directed a movie starring Hannah and Jane. I watched it when I emerged from my cave and I had a good laugh. Those girls love to play parts. The story was prompted by Dan's unscripted narration. They did a great job following it.

Then, the girls put on a puppet show for Claire. Claire laughed good, and not just her throaty, machine gun laugh (it's hard to describe). It was full and hearty. Soon the girls were putting the show on for themselves, and the audience lost interest.
Anyway, good wholesome family entertainment on a quiet Sunday afternoon. Perfect.

30 Days Grateful- muffin morning

Laundry, to-do lists and muffins. It's been an exciting week ;)

It was a mellow morning. I don't bake breakfast that often, but I enjoy it when I feel like I have the time.
Making muffins was about all I accomplished today, because after that I couldn't sustain enough energy to complete a task. I fear I'm getting ill.
Hopefully, my grateful post tomorrow will involve not being sick.

29 Days Grateful- 2 minutes

I had so many little things to do today, things that I have been putting off for long enough. Sometimes, the quicker and easier something is to do, the easier it is to procrastinate.



My husband once forced me ;) to read a book called Getting Things Done. Although I can't say I actually read every word, or even every chapter, I can say there was one good piece of advice that has stuck with me when it comes to getting things done.
Simply put, it's this:
If you can do it in less than 2 minutes, DO IT NOW!

In 2 minutes, magic can happen.

These are all the things I was able to today, with the 2-minute philosophy in mind:

• file some papers
• make doc appointment
• sew on a button
• make a meal plan
• pay mortgage
• enter receipts for budgeting
• respond to an email
• respond to an email
• respond to an email
• respond to an email
(if I did not respond to your email, please email me)
• burn a CD
• make a phone call

I'm so happy to have all those little things done. They were burrowing deep and starting to fester in my RAM. It is now cleared.

Now I need to go do all the things that take longer than 2 minutes.
Sadly, I don't think a nap is on that list.

~•~

If you are a mom...

Off Design Mom.

A beautiful message with beautiful images, which probably wouldn't have meant as much to me before I became a mother.
Love it.

28 Days of Grateful- Apple Care

I am so grateful that we bought Apple Care with our MacBook Pro.


(Hannah needed an art project, I needed something for this post.)

We have bought the insurance with every Mac we've had, and we've never regretted it. I know everyone has their own opinion about Apple, but I think they are pretty great in terms of customer service and efficiency.

We have two laptops. I had to let go of our preferred laptop Tuesday. I only had to do without it for an evening and a day. In that time, it was shipped out, it was serviced and early this morning, it arrived at my door.

Apple is not giving me anything for saying all of this (I wish they would :). I'm just happy to have my computer back!

27 Days of Grateful- an empty laundry basket

Photographer's challenge: make empty laundry basket look interesting.
Hmmm...



I love it when the laundry is done.
It's not as exciting as the chocolates, but that doesn't mean it doesn't feel good.

I had so much laundry since last week, much much more than what this little basket can hold, and we didn't even have company recently.

I complain about not having my own washer and dryer, that I have to haul my kids down to the basement laundry three different times to get it all done. The best, and possibly only good thing about our co-op laundry room is that I can get all of my loads done at once. Less than an hour and a half once a week (plus folding time) and laundry is done.
I'm grateful laundry doesn't consume my life... yet.

*Note to husband: In no way does any of what I just said mean that I do not want my own washer and dryer in the near future :)

26 Days of Grateful- unexpected packages

I am grateful for this surprise I found in my mailbox. Unexpected packages are always welcome!

"Ooo!!!" I said when I opened my mailbox.

First, I looked at the name of the sendee-
"ME!?"
Then, I looked at the sender-
"Florence's Exquisite Candies, Mom's Kandy Kitchen, Rexburg, Idaho"???

"Ooo!" I said again, but I was bewildered. Who on earth...?

I had to tear through two layers of cardboard to find a nicely red-wrapped box with a note on it.
It was sent by my SIL, Christine and my brother Sam, although I think Christine might have had more of a hand in this ;)
It was a thank you for some photos I snapped of them and their kids over Christmas.

Inside the red box is a nice layer of BIG chocolates. I have NEVER received chocolates in the mail before.
Thank YOU, Sam and Christine! These came on the right day.

~•~

25 Days of Grateful- stormy days

Despite the beatings we took getting Hannah to and from school (we got pummeled and considered the possibility of getting blown or washed away), we were grateful for the day's storm. Well, first we were grateful to be home, safe and dry, and then we were grateful for the storm.

Stormy days are perfect days to:
• watch a movie
• make a movie
• take a nap
• cuddle
• read
• eat soup
• perform science experiments
• make cookies and
• play in the sunshine house

We did all those things today, all things to be grateful for, but I think my favorite of the day was the Sunshine House.

Above is a photo of my girls' Sunshine House. It was tailored to fit perfectly over our dining table, thanks to my mom. It's a little get-away, especially for Hannah.
Ironically, the Sunshine House is quite cave-like (it was named "Sunshine" because of the bright colors in the fabric and ribbons), so I put a lamp in it today. Hannah got cozy immediately, and after a while, I heard her "reading" to herself, in the way she knows how. I listened to her put some funny stories to pictures in a nursery rhyme book. If she had known I was listening, I probably would have had nothing to overhear. I never said it was a private get-away.
Nevertheless, it's their space and I'm glad they have it. Doesn't everyone need a Sunshine house on stormy days?

~•~

24 Days of Grateful- Twirling Sunday dresses

It's not like I don't see my girls in dresses, but they are most often of the dress-up, princess variety and not so twirly. I just love the Sunday dressy dress every once in a while, and one that twirls makes it twice as nice.

~•~

23 Days of Grateful- alone time

*I don't have a photo of this...yet, but I had to at least write down something I was grateful for yesterday.*

My husband took all three girls elsewhere after lunch, leaving me alone to be... alone.
I could have done whatever I wanted, but I chose to finish cleaning the house, shower and get ready for our jaunt out to Long Island. It was a leisurely time though, and I cherished every one of the 90 minutes it lasted.

~•~

22 Days of Grateful- sweet drawings

I am grateful for the drawings my kids make for me, especially when there are rainbows involved.



~•~

21 Days of Grateful- bright, colorful things that grow in winter

I am grateful for the little red berries my girls spotted on our walk today.

It's nice to see something thriving in the deadness of Winter.

~•~

Another ABC book

I was going to share this before now, but here it is anyway...

We've seen these books around, but we thought we'd make our own ABC book for our family Christmas gift.



All the letters in the book, as seen on the back cover above, have their own page.

You can buy ours here or you can make your own. My kids loved searching for the letters when we were looking for them to photograph.

I had some rules about the book:
- The letters had to be in things. They couldn't be actual letters.
- I couldn't rotate the image. It had to be as we see it.
- I wanted the image to be recognizable, not too abstract, so that we would remember where we found the letter.

Let me know if you make one (or have already made one). I'd love to see what you found!

~•~

20 Days of Grateful- libraries

I am grateful for this place where we can borrow books and DVDs for FREE!



When my daughter goes to the library, she takes countless books home, but the best part is that she can. Actually, the limit is 50 books, but our stroller isn't big enough to carry that many.
She loves books and we have plenty that she loves and will read over and over again. It's nice to mix things up a bit though. Thank goodness for libraries!

*The photo is not from our public library in Queens-- that would be sad. It is from the old library on Governor's Island, NY.

~•~

19 Days of Grateful- little life lessons

I am grateful for the fun I can have teaching my kids little things like twirling pasta on a fork.

Believe it or not, we rarely have long noodles. It's because they are messier than tube or bowtie or spiral pastas and when your dining table is over carpet, less mess is best.

Tonight, since the dish I made just had to have spaghetti noodles, I let the girls have them too (no red sauce was involved, thank goodness).
We gave them a little lesson in twirling the noodles around the fork. My oldest, Hannah, used her free hand to wrap the pasta around the fork while Jane just keep turning the fork, pasta and bowl all together. In the end, Hannah was eating (slurping up) the noodles one by one while Jane was stuffing her whole fork full into her mouth all at once. Still messy, yes, but we had a good laugh.

Next dinner lesson: etiquette

~•~

18 Days of Grateful- Homecoming

I love to come home, especially when I have left my loved ones there.

Who wouldn't be grateful to come home to this?
I always feel well-loved and well-missed when I am away from them.
I missed them so much.

~•~

17 Days of Grateful- a legacy

All day Sunday, I contemplated the legacy that my grandmother left behind. I am grateful for the closeness of her posterity, for the values she instilled in us and for her strength to keep it all together during challenging times in her life.
It all made me wonder, what kind of legacy am I creating?

~•~

16 Days of Grateful- the strength of my parents

I am grateful for the grace and strength my parents showed on Saturday while mourning the loss of loved ones.



Both my parents suffered loss this last week- a mother and brother, respectively. I was amazed at how well they were able to manage speaking, one at each funeral and to be the support for other grieving family members. They are a good example to me.
Most importantly, I am grateful my parents are still here.

~•~

15 Days of Grateful- A daddy and his girls

I am grateful that Dan will graciously take the girls any time I need him to and that they will always have a good time.

Hannah and Jane had so much fun with their daddy while I was in Utah with Claire. He took them into Manhattan and that means the subway. He took Jane on a date for cupcakes and play time at the park while Hannah was at school. He took them to the library, on a picnic and a little hike through Forest Park.
I love knowing that my girls are in such good hands when I am gone.

~•~

14 Days of Grateful- flying

I am so grateful for flight benefits.

I love that my family and I can decide to fly out of town at the drop of a hat, especially when I have important things to attend like my grandmother's and my uncle's funerals. It really is a blessing.

~•~

Going West

I am flying to Salt Lake City for the weekend to attend two family funerals.
Saturday will be a hard day.

I will resume my grateful posts when I get back on Monday,
assuming we can get my hard drive to work...

13 Days of Grateful- clean babies

I am grateful for bath time when my baby can be clean again.

The smell. The feel. The taste?

~•~

12 Days Grateful- regardless

Hmmm...

Some days, there are just so many recognizable things to be grateful for that it's hard to pick just one. Today was not one of those days.

Just as the said former days come, so do the latter days when I have a harder time finding something to be grateful for. That's the thing-- finding something. Those things are always there, but sometimes there is something else clouding them.

Today became a day of "at least it wasn't worse" scenarios like:

At least the baby got a little bit of sleep instead of none.
At least I didn't have to take Jane to the ER after she fell and gave herself a bulging black eye.
At least I didn't completely burn the pizza rendering it inedible.
At least I was able to walk stairs to and from laundry a few times instead of getting no workout at all.
At least Jane threw up in her jewelry box lid instead of inside the base all over the precious jewels.

I guess that's part of what this grateful project is all about, finding things to be grateful for even when it's been a day where nothing seems right. It's pulling that positive needle in that haystack of negativity, so to speak. Not the best metaphor, but at least I tried.

And because I need a photo...

The semi-burned, almost ruined pizza.

11 Days Grateful- jump time

I am grateful that I could lighten up enough to let my girls jump on my bed,

because they had a blast.

I am also grateful that there are no boo-boos to report.

~•~

10 Days Grateful- my hero

I am grateful for my personal hero.

My husband. He does anything and everything he can to make sure I am happy.

A couple of days ago, we thought we had imported my prized video clips from the day's outing onto the computer. Nope. Something went wrong. The video never made it onto the computer and the video on my Flip read "empty".
CRUSHED, I was. Some moments you just can't get back.

After I picked myself up off the floor, I just resolved to make another video on another outing another day. BUT my husband stayed up late that night, took any opportunity the next the day and even the morning after that trying to recover my video.
I was so grateful for the time and effort he put into the "search and rescue" even though time after time, the recovery failed.
I was even more grateful when he told me this afternoon that he was able to recover almost all of the video files.

That is my everyday hero, folks. I love having one.

~•~

9 Days Grateful- a child's prayer

I am grateful for my daughter's sweet prayer.

My oldest daughter, Hannah, is a very sensitive soul. Last night, she was upset about something her younger sister, Jane, had done, and she couldn't stop talking about how grumpy she was because of it. I told her that if she wanted to feel better she could say a little prayer. She said she was too grumpy. I said goodnight and left her room.

A little while later, she walked out of her room and up to my side. She tugged on me and whispered that she wanted to say a prayer with me.
Her prayer:
that we would all be happy,
that we would all do good things,
that she and Jane would get along and be happy.

Yep, I had tears in my eyes at this point.
She has such a good little heart.

We got up, and I asked her if she felt better. She just smiled and hugged me. Then she found her dad and gave him a hug and she was off to bed and fell into (what I assume to be) peaceful slumber.

~•~

8 Days Grateful- subway elevators

I am grateful for the elevators subway stations.

Believe it or not, not all of the subway stations have elevators or even escalators. That makes getting up and down the stairs with anything that has wheels, namely our double stroller, a challenge. We don't go on the subway as much as we might because of it. When we do decide to go, like we did today, we are happy to use an elevator, even if it is smelly.

~•~

7 Days Grateful- lunch with friends

I am grateful for wonderful food with wonderful friends.

Not a great shot but if I had gotten a picture of me and my friends, I would have used it, hence the French onion soup. But I am definitely grateful for it.

I love my friends. I travel an hour just to see them. These particular friends I had lunch with yesterday enjoy and appreciate really good food as much as I do. We love to cook and share it with each other.
At one point, while we were eating and saying "Mmmm" after and during every bite, my friend, Ami, said, "I love having friends that love to make good food."
Amen.

And while I am talking about friends, I am grateful to have friends that I feel so at ease with, that don't ever judge me, that support me, that will bend over backwards for me and not make me feel like I owe them, that offer up ways to serve me and my family.
Those are good friends.

~•~

6 Days Grateful- my girls

I am so grateful for my sweet little children along with this blog post that nearly made me cry.

I needed to read these, maybe because I don't say some of these things enough and maybe because it reminds me of how small, innocent and new to this world they are. It is also a reminder of who I am to them.

19 Things we should say to our children

1. I love you! There is nothing that will make me stop loving you. Nothing you could do or say or think will ever change that.

2. You are amazing! I look at you with wonder! Not just at what you can do, but who you are. There is no one like you. No one!

3. It’s all right to cry. People cry for all kinds of reasons: when they are hurt, sad, glad, or worried; when they are angry, afraid, or lonely. Big people cry too. I do.

4. You’ve made a mistake. That was wrong. People make mistakes. I do. Is it something we can fix? What can we do? It’s all over. You can start fresh. I know you are sorry. I forgive you.

5. You did the right thing. That was scary or hard. Even though it wasn’t easy, you did it. I am proud of you; you should be too.

6. I’m sorry. Forgive me. I made a mistake.

7. You can change your mind. It’s good to decide, but it is also fine to change.

8. What a great idea! You were really thinking! How did you come up with that? Tell me more. Your mind is clever!

9. That was kind. You did something helpful and thoughtful for that person. That must make you feel good inside. Thank you!

10. I have a surprise for you. It’s not your birthday. It’s for no reason at all. Just a surprise, a little one, but a surprise.

11. I can wait. We have time. You don’t have to hurry this time.

12. What would you like to do? It’s your turn to pick. You have great ideas. It’s important to follow your special interests.

13. Tell me about it. I’d like to hear more. And then what happened? I’ll listen.

14. I’m right here. I won’t leave without saying good-bye. I am watching you. I am listening to you.

15. Please and Thank You. These are important words. If I forget to use them, will you remind me?

16. I missed you. I think about you when we are not together!

17. Just try. A little bit. One taste, one step. You might like it. Let’s see. I’ll help you if you need it. I think you can do it.

18. I’ll help you. I heard you call me, here I am. How can I help you? If we both work together, we can get this done. I know you can do it by yourself, but I’m glad to help since you asked.

19. What do you wish for? Even if it’s not yet time for birthday candles and we don’t have a wishbone, it’s still fun to hear about what you wish for, hope for, and dream about.

And now I need to go hug and kiss my girls!

~•~

5 Days Grateful- my hands

I am grateful for my able, working hands.



My mom is starting to have a hard time with her hands. It's hard to imagine not being able to use mine the way I know how, but it will probably happen to me... at some point.

I am so grateful for the many things I can do with my hands,
from buttoning those little buttons on my baby's clothes to kneading bread,
from making my children hats and scarves to playing an instrument (when I get the courage and opportunity),
from cutting the hairs on my girls' and husbands' heads to typing this post.

I have even used my hands as a means for support-- I was a sign artist, and my hands and the handwritings and drawings that came from them gave me sustenance. That and satisfaction. I loved that job...

Have you ever tried photographing your hands? Not easy.

~•~

4 Days Grateful- lost and found

I am grateful that someone that set aside the hat we dropped and for the many people that didn't take it.



Jane's treasured hat, her "Fievel" hat, fell out of the stroller while we were out on our errands. We were gone for almost two hours. We realized it was missing so we retraced our steps and found it on our street. Who knows how many people walked by it. I'm so glad no one took it, and so is Jane.

3 Days of Grateful- little love

I am grateful for the love this little girl so freely offers me, even when she is mad at me.



Tonight, she was in tears while in time out. When she was done with time out, and after I talked to her about why she was punished, I told her I loved her. Through her tears, she managed to tell me she loved me too. I'm so glad she still does.

2 Days of Grateful- books and time to read them

I am grateful for the opportunity to read today, even though it was one of those "getting things done" days.



I should be reading the book in the foreground for book group, but I can't put Hunger Games down.
Thanks, hubs, for making reading time happen for me.

Starting 365 days of gratitude in pictures

I am inspired by so many photographers, and I know other photographers are inspired by other photographers, and so on.

I am glad for that.

I have so often been inspired by Deb Schwedhelm. She does such beautiful work. I would say she is awe-inspiring.
Deb wrote a post last summer about another photographer that inspired her with this idea-- 365 days of gratitude, shown in Polaroid photographs. The photos by Hailey are simple and wonderful. As I was looking through them on Flickr , I started to feel grateful for the things she was photographing. Some of the images speak for themselves and some she explained with captions. I love how she captured the meaning.

I used to keep a journal of things I was grateful for. I wrote in it daily, before going to bed at night. How great would that journal have been if I had pictures to go with the words? Really great!

And so I begin, on this first day of 2010, my 365 Days of Gratitude in pictures.
They won't be in instant film like Polaroids, but that's okay. I think the project will be great anyway.

Day 1-

I am grateful for the little bit of snow we got, because it's not a lot but it's enough to make my kids wonder at it and be excited about it. I also love snow here in this city (New York) because everything seems/ sounds quieter and calmer.
The snow is going away, but I loved the moments I had to walk in the snow fall.

The first of 2010

There is a reason we don't have pictures of all of us taken that often. These took all day to get, but get them I did.
My family on New Year's Day, 2010...

We are looking forward to a wonderful year together!