Grateful Day 4

It's impossible not to say that today I'm thankful for the right to vote.  What an amazing country I live in that affords me the ability to have a say in our leadership.  I disagree and am disappointed with plenty but that doesn't change the fact that I'm thankful to live in the USA.   

And someday this munchkin will vote!  

Grateful Day 3

Today I'm grateful for funny texts.  

Eleanor identified herself because she was using Kevin's phone.  It was really no mystery since Kevin doesn't use multi colored emojis.  It was a long haircut and color and I enjoyed every minute!  It was nice to be missed though and really nice to come home to hugs and compliments.   So thankful!

Grateful Day 2

Today I'm grateful for a pot roast to end a super weekend.

Take this as a sign of a winner weekend.... I've only worn pajamas.  

Though I really love cheering the girls on at their games, no one had a game this weekend.  

It was awesome.

 After a fun Halloween night, I haven't left the house.  

It felt like a reboot and I really needed to be rebooted.

Plus we got an extra hour!  

Bring on the week....right after that pot roast!

Grateful Day 1

It's the first day of my favorite month of the year.  

I love using this month to focus on gratitude and writing my thoughts here is awfully fun. 

 And helpful!  

It's easy to say I'm going to focus on gratefulness and then lose track of the days and end up knee deep in November without much thought to my blessings.  When I make a commitment though to post a few thoughts here I become more focused and I do notice a difference in my spirit.  

So, I'm back for the month!

Today I'm thankful for traditions.  

This is Emma's last year of Elementary school.  Her last year of dressing up for a school party and parade.  She may still dress up with her friends next year and maybe even trick-or-treat but it won't be quite the same. 

 Last night Emma went trick or treating with some friends and their parents in a group that did not include Kevin or me. She slept over at a friends house and sorted her candy there.  Without me picking out the Heath bars and a few peanut butter cups and wondering who on Earth gives out Good and Plenty?  It all happened naturally, the yearly Halloween planning and it made good enough sense.  She was happy and 

 I didn't have any trouble with it until last night when I was going to bed.   I realized that last year, 2013, might have been my last time to do those little Halloween traditions with Emma.  I felt a tiny bit sad and was hit with a wave of...where is the time going?  

I remembered back over so many Halloweens before and felt thankful for the years of Halloween traditions.  

This morning when Emma came home I recounted my little heart ache to her.  She said--I felt the same way.  So I ate a Reece's Peanut Butter Cup in your honor!  

What a girl!

Seasons

I find a lot of joy in chronicling the daily doings of my family. 

 I think it's a good reflective practice.  A reminder of all I have to be thankful of and maybe best of all a way to recognize seasons in the life of my family. 

 It seems that over the last year or so I'm feeling less free in my writing.  

 I live with a tween and an almost tween and they deserve a great deal of privacy. 

 They don't need me writing out the details of their frustrations, or amazing discoveries, or funny antics.  

 I am so often tempted to write these stories because they are real and beautiful and full of the magic that is life in a house with my girls.

Though, these are their stories to share if they wish, not mine. 

And because I know that change is inevitable and indeed seasons change, 

 I've decided it's time to stop sharing my blog publicly.  

I'll continue to write my version of their stories privately because this really has become such a special place for me and I know someday, a gift for my girls.

Maybe I'll start a Days with Lucy and Teddy Blog! They are still up for anything, including me posting our crazy 20 minute selfie session.  Getting Teddy to cooperate was futile! But fun!

Anyway, thank you so much for reading my blog over the last 6 years.  Remember,  like my Nana always told me, write your stories down, you think you'll never forget, but honey, you will!

Fall Quote

Over the summer my guiding quote was:

Treasure the doing a little more and the getting done a little less.

That quote made my summer.
Honestly.
When I'd start getting all keyed up about some plan I had which was not working out or about how every single spot my eye fell around the house yielded something that needed attention, I'd remember the quote.  And I'd take a deep breath and decide what really needed doing.
Rarely was it the plan or the house.

This fall my chosen quote is the one I shared on Monday:

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams!  Live the life you've imagined.  As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.
Henry David Thoreau

 You've probably seen that one a million times but maybe only part of it.  The "as you simplify...." part is often left off. 

Because, boy is that ever hard! We tend to get super excited about the confidently going in the direction of our dreams part and forget about the part where we have to make room for those dreams.
Which is exactly why I chose this quote.

It's fall.
 I have 3 kids.
They are all involved in sports and extra curricular activities.
Yes, even Lucy.
To put it bluntly, we are crazy busy.

It may not seem like it from the outside looking in but right now my life is all about simplifying and helping my girls to learn to simplify as well.  

It is a daily choice to say no.  No to great things, no to opportunities, no to fun.  It is also a daily choice to say yes.  Yes to great things, yes to opportunities, yes to fun.
The trick is figuring out which things are leading us in the direction of the life we've imagined.
We're working on it.
We're getting there.

No, we didn't sign Lucy up for a bowling league.  But that face, and those legs and those shoes!  It's enough to make a person consider it.

It's September!

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.

Henry David Thoreau