Still Counting

#98 first spring bulbs blooming
#99 kid's cousins
#100 my dear husband who has taken to cooking meat for the carnivores in the family
#101Pandora!!
#102 five day media fast thanks to the winter snow storms
#103 movie theater popcorn
#104-105 great moms who plan homeschool field trips that my kids get to participate in and a grandmother who helps me get them there
#106 rising and setting with the sun while we had no power - all of us
#107 getting to wake up next to the person I want to be with most in the whole wide world - every day
#108 and that person can trim my hair
#109 and he can hang art and pictures that have been in storage for over 9 years since we built our house
#110 the crockpot - almost impossible to burn things
#111 snow
#112 videos to go with the book
#113 Lent on the horizon
#114 turning a new calendar page
#115 Six Flags Read to Succeed - these kids are motivated!

God's Love Language - gift giving?

All of the 5 Love Languages probably originated with God but I've certainly become more aware of His delight in lavishing His gifts upon us.  How opulent!

Some more underlinings in 1000 Gifts:

"Behold glory and be held by God"

"I pay tribute to God by paying attention"

And some of those lavish gifts unwrapped this week:

#79 baby pictures
#80 toddler waking, blood-sugar stabilized, entering into the imaginary world of play
#81 an occasional invitation to enter into the imaginary play world, to wrap a "baby"and pick which cabinet she should "sleep" in, etc.
#82 8yo boys in blanket capes at bedtime
#83 lifting up little girls by the tights while dressing "to get them on all the way"
#84 big girls who reminisce about being lifted up in their tights
#85 tomboy who does home-repairs for me
#86 new starts and second chances
#87 90+ Valentines leaving our home this morning
#88 our little neighborhood charter school, only 3 minutes away despite our rural location, offering our family the change we needed this year
#89 my mom explaining the concept of a "career change" that I was calling an "identity crisis" now that I don't have all my children homeschooling under one roof on most days.... still wrapping myself around that.....
#90 the promising visual and performing arts highschool that my first-born daughter will attend next year....still wrapping myself around that too....
#91 the flicker of shadow, sunbeam, shadow, sunbeam as I drive through the tall trees on a sunny day - low February sun coming at us from an angle
#92 my sister-in-law enjoying 1000 Gifts too and recommending it to others - it's not just an Internet thing
#93 automatic dishwashers
#94 I was able to upload and old, random photo with this post for the first time in over a year!  must have been a Blogger thing.  yay!  hope that means I'm back to posting pictures.  maybe they'll work on Facebook too
#95 good quality salt.... makes me ponder what it means for a Christian to be salt and light...
#96 the "like" button on Facebook
#97 children that accept my simple cooking - they mostly don't know any better

"Freeze Frames of Thanks"

Part of what helps me justify my book "habit" is that I can always resell my books.  Most do get resold eventually.  It's a special book that earns a permanent place on my shelves that are ruthlessly purged each year (wanna-be minimalist.)  1000 Gifts has definitely earned a place.  I knew that early on.  So I started underlining in pencil.  Some of my recent favorite quotes:
-these chronicles are "freeze frames of grace"
-"Eventually, I am guaranteed to lose every earthly thing I have ever possessed.......All human relationships end in loss.  Am I prepared for that?"
-"How do you know how to sift through a day, a life, and rightly read the graces, rightly ascertain the curses?"
-"..the spirit-to-spirit combat I endlessly wage with Satan is this ferocious thrash for joy."

#66 forgiveness extended
#67 hand-me-downs
#68 kids who buy meat and cheese when they get a little spending money instead of asking for treats
#69 the good kind of guilt that keeps my selfishness in check
#70 husband aglow in new business ventures
#71 6yo loving her jump rope
#72 T-Tapp, every time I do the workout it's like a visit to the chiropractor - the Pearl of Great Price in exercise for me. Once I found T-Tapp I got rid of every other exercise related "thing" in my life
#73 the writings of Brian Jacques, God rest his soul.
#74 Power Writing lessons from Grand-daddy - it's been awhile but we still use what we've learned
#75 pure spring water coming right through the tap
#76 not being able to see neighbors but being only 10 minutes from town - the best of both worlds
#77 spell checks
#78 each day's Gospel reading