#116 marvelling at what marvels my 2yo
#117 the health and strength to take on a too-full new week
#118 what's left of my memory
#119 the perspective gained from a sick-bed
#120 fresh starts and second chances
#121 the huge community reading and living out this book and all the great articles and blog posts in response
#122 2yo + Playdough
#123 Truth & Life Dramatized Bible for Lent and beyond
#124 the difficult child, whoever he/she might be at the time
#125 being remembered with birthday gifts, cards and online wishes
#126 a visit from our dear friends the Ennis'
#127 those dear friends taking our daughter on a spring break adventure to their house
#128 snow, even when I'm tired of it
#129 Great Uncle John teaching the great nieces and nephews to ski
#130 a day cuddled up sick with my baby
#131 child with a trauma background being brave through 6 stitches on his hand
#132 smiling teen recounting his day's adventures out in the big world
#133 the benefit of fresh eggs as we chicken-sit my brother's flock
#134 inside jokes and rituals
#135 strong boys that can shimmy up trees like nothing

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

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