Unwrapping Gifts

Gifts I have recently unwrapped:

#46 toddler napping in the fetal position
#47 self-awareness in my children - expressed
#48 a dear friend and mentor whose influence is still with me daily though she has moved away
#49 the delicate tops of young Douglas Fir trees yet to be split by harsh weather - as seen from the chairlift
#50 family parties
#51 home grown lettuce
#52 grandparents who are retired teachers who have invested YEARS in our homeschooling efforts
#53 a really clean kitchen sink
#54 clear kid lungs - breaths that you can't hear
#55 opportunities for big kids that don't require much driving
#56 Ordinary Time
#57 six year old's dialog
#58 hockey for almost all the kids, free equipment, barter for the cost, totally into it coach and no weekend commitments
#59 skiing the last run with one of the birthday boys
#60 my tomboy
#61 beginning readers reading to me while I work
#62 I absolutely LOVE being a homemaker - can't think of anything more fullfilling
#63 parents that have loved me unconditionally - I'm only gradually starting to wrap my mind around such love
#64 a quiet house
#65 a loud house

Learning a New Language

 

 Thank you Ann Voskamp for these language lessons.  Were you speaking of me when you wrote "Long, I am woman who speaks but one language, the language of the fall - discontentment and self-condemnation, the critical eye and the never satisfied."?  I have heard the need for gratitude whispered in the confessional, laying the foundation for this awakening:

#21 shoes piled around the door - evidence of 8 healthy walking children each with two legs
#22 The Litany of Humility
#23 Elizabeth Foss - if I were stranded on a desert isle with only one blog I would choose hers
#24 homemade cream-top yogurt (a new experience as a recovering vegan)
#25 family all around - through the woods, up the mountain, down toward the valley, and across
#26 our technology angel who visits us several times per year and is able to solve almost any problem
#27 my husband acting like an 8th grader again with that technology angel
#28 The dear Ennis Family with whom I like to plan arranged marriages between loads of laundry and dinner prep.
#29 children recovering from illness and thriving again
#30 a dear Godparent and mentor who makes it possible for my daughters to attend the West Coast Walk for Life
#31 a room cleaned by some one other than me
#32 "Even though we ain't got money, I'm so in love with you honey...."
#33 an 8 year old cook
#34 many short attention spans plus aging memories - a school of patience
#35 little girls mass-producing paper crafts
#36 baby snuggling first-born
#37 a baby sleeping in my bed for a while longer
#38 biggest daughter showing littlest daughter what I once showed her
#39 wood heat
#40 tree silhouettes at dawn and dusk
#41 my children surpassing me in so many ways
#42 having just enough
#43 coconut oil for inside and out
#44 my book arrived!
#45 good doctor/patient relationships developing - who could ever replace Dr. Borgquist?

One Thousand Gifts

I've stopped blogging because I've had some trouble getting pictures to upload to Blogger.  I like pictures.  I don't really like to read blogs that don't have images so I want my blog to have them.  I'll keep working on that but for now I have a new purpose for my blog.  At least for now I'll be recording my One Thousand Gifts:

#1  2 year-olds that remember to say please and thank you
#2 Raw milk shared with us weekly
#3 A 16 year old that can drive himself out into the world
#4 Unconditional spousal love
#5 64 degrees in January
#6 Three 8 year old boys running through the woods in the 64 degrees in January
#7 apple cider vinegar
#8 HOT water
#9 borrowed vacuum cleaners
#10 a talented young photographer in the family
#11 naps
#12 I love laundry
#13 The writings of other introverts and melancholics
#14 secret notes slipped under my door during Quiet Time
#15 conversations with my very verbal toddler
#16 my "puffy blanket"
#17 big siblings helping little siblings
#18 almost 8 year old Liberian son in size 5 shoes- the gift of decent nutrition
#19 gifts from Godparents that keep on giving through the years
#20 driving into the fog only one mile down the road from our spring-like hill-top