A Month of Gratitude: Day Thirty

These boys.  That remind me that a good picture doesn't have to be perfect, and a good boy also need not be perfect.  I love my boys.  I love who they are.  I love what they are going to be and I love the struggles they hand me.  For if it weren't for struggles, then there would be no gratitude in getting through them.

Here ends the Month.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Twenty Nine

Grateful for success.  I work my butt off, sometimes falling asleep with a crochet hook in my hand.  But this one day of shipping makes it all worth it.  I have achieved success in my crafting life.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Twenty Eight

Grateful for the leftover gluten free pumpkin pie my Mother-in-Law made for me.

And grateful for cool-whip, but then again, who isn't?

A Month of Gratitude: Day Twenty Seven

Thankful for sons that enjoy playing together despite the 3 year age difference.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Twenty Six

 

 Grateful for a flexible family that doesn't see Thanksgiving as a Thursday event, but a time when we can all get together and relax.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Twenty Five

Grateful for a husband that vacuums before our guests arrive.  I love you, Tom.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Twenty Four

Today was a long day.  A long day without a photo op.  I've been fighting headaches for a couple weeks now, my doctor says it's the weather.  I have one right now, but this photo made me smile.

I am thankful for wool.  The wool that has traveled with me in the car, camping, to the doctor's offices, to the playground.  The comfort of the repetitive stitches gives my head a break and permission to get lost in the motion of the hook.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Twenty Three

Thankful for plants that can not only survive, yet thrive, after being neglected for months on end.  Slightly early for Christmas, but I am thankful for these tiny buds holding the promise of Spring.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Twenty Two

 

This lamp.  This lamp has been packed away since we moved back from Chicago.  All because of the fear of running boys and crashing lamps.

I am thankful I inherited it.  I am thankful for my Great Grandmother that owned it and loved it, just as I do.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Twenty One

Grateful for a large pile of progress and completion!

A Month of Gratitude: Day Twenty

Grateful to have feathered friends enjoying the harvest of our burning bush in front of our house. Next time, I'd prefer the birds were in the sunshine, so I didn't get such dark birds!

A Month of Gratitude: Day Nineteen

 

Grateful to see beauty in things not so fresh.  

A Month of Gratitude: Day Eighteen

Grateful for good-fellow-blog friends and new inspiration.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Seventeen

For pieces of history, handmade.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Sixteen

This one may be a stretch, but here goes...

I'm grateful for quiet places filled with lives past.  They always make me nostalgic.  The stones with centuries of time embedded into them make me wonder who is missing this loved one.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Fifteen

Grateful for places to explore where concrete isn't allowed.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Fourteen

Grateful for the love and wonder of exploration in my boys

A Month of Gratitude: Day Thirteen

I'm thankful for friends that make me laugh and make me feel like a real photographer.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Twelve

Mid-November sunshine giving us 60 degree weather.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Eleven

The quiet moments.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Ten

I know, I know...this is a stretch, but hear me out.

I'm having a bad day.  This one task I need to perform at work is taking 6.7 minutes per document.  Halfway through, I need to click a check mark.  And it ties up my computer, working on something else, makes it take even longer.

So...I'm grateful for the Scholastic Book Orders (who isn't?).  I love the browsing, the imagining what the boys will pick, the joy of the book delivery day and especially the time I have to get cozy on the couch and read the new books with my boys.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Nine

Grateful for an afternoon coffee made by my husband.  And, who wouldn't be grateful for the most brilliant thing Tom and I did...traded the kids all their candy for a new toy.  No guilt eating it, other than the guilt I face on the scale, but that's for another day.

This is my mug, not a working camera lens, I drank too much of the coffee before the picture.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Eight

Grateful for this boy.  This boy has taught me patience, the importance of giggling and unconditional love.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Seven

A gluten free beer in a frosty glass and a full gluten free menu, complete with baked brie on gluten free bread, crab cakes, and cheesecake.  My second best gluten free meal...ever.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Six

Owning a pair of these sloggers in this weather is something to be very grateful for and to have been gifted them by my husband is even better.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Five

Finding a butterscotch pudding in the bottom of the fridge that you didn't know you had...and dunking gluten free pretzels in it.

A Month of Gratitude: Day Four

For family that supports my need to fly the coop...alone!

A Month of Gratitude: Day Three

Grateful for the beauty of nature on glass

A Month of Gratitude: Day Two

Learning how to use my camera to slow down the shutter.  More importantly the connection this photo has to my Dad.  I am so grateful for my Dad.  He is a wealth of knowledge.  We are finding ourselves more connected lately.  Pond life, photography life and art life.  We do things very similarly...from my monster purse eyes to his 3-D watercolor eyes.

You can visit my Dad's website here.

Month of Gratitude: Day One

Bits of summer color dotting my yard in November.