Little Bits: Falling Thankful

That joyous feeling of Maddie's health was further intensified when my nurse best friend shared that a co-worker of hers also had the condition. Unfortunately, it was not caught in time and led to a heart transplant. :( So thankful for the Lord nudging my heart to have our girl seen, even when her symptoms seemed so random and obscure.

Grateful is something I think that comes pretty easily to me, maybe because my heart bleeds for others who hurt and has since I was little. After having kids, though, I learned a whole new level of grateful. The kind that comes when you deep down, way down, way deep down know that your baby sleeps safely under your roof-- and even though that could change at any minute-- you have it for now, for this moment. And you hope that moments like that string themselves together into a lifetime where you can claim such gratitude.

Ah, it's Wednesday... my bits.

~*So, it's fall.

~*Glorious tree painting, cider drinking, football watching, crockpot cooking, apple orcharding with dear family at a halfway spot... fall.

~*Oh, and bread baking to accompany all that soup. "I wanna help you kneadle it, Mommy!"

Maddie's hands aren't filthy. She and Alysse just have an obsession with messy, frozen blueberries.

~*See:

~*The only downside to fall? All the shifts in weather can bring out the worst in those guys called germs. This has been on the menu a time or two during the week. Wiping my girls' noses much to Alysse's dismay, holding them close, and mediating feeling yuck disagreements is somehow helped by saying, "My Mama used to make this for me when I was sick as a little girl." It turns the whole nasty thing into a rite of passage, that simple tradition of tomato soup and grilled cheese.

~*When funk producing grumps got the better of us, we found silver linings in quiet afternoons. The littlest taking much needed naps while the biggest worked on word families in the dark.

~*Meet our newest family members. They came to us after I went all "Dave Ramsey" on my kids at a fall bounce house, faux pumpkin patch rip off. Instead of paying the ten bucks (per kid!) at the gate, we regrouped and decided we could have three times the fun by taking our dollars elsewhere. Which ended up being true because all three of these cuties and ice cream sandwiches at the park, indeed, only cost us 1/3 of the admission price.

From left to right: Gabriel, Sally, and Julia.

~*We can't leave out Happy Face, who came to us many weeks before his grandchildren. We happened by him at a cute, little apple orchard one afternoon. I fear he must have been trucked in because about a week or so later he began to rot, which meant carving him sooner than anticipated. (Please don't judge his elderly acne; I imagine he's pretty sensitive). He was named and made to the girls' exact specifications: triangle eyes, a heart nose, and one happy mouth. No matter his imperfections, he positively glows on the dark deck during stories or songs before bed.

Each year I love telling the girls this at the end when we light up our carved creation.

~*This has nothing to do with fall or the happenings from last week, but finding these photos has a lot to do with thankfulness. Friends who drive a couple of hours just to hang out for an afternoon of loving on your kids?

Yep, so grateful.

~*It's been a while I realized since we had some HAM. HAM makes me laugh, usually pretty hard, and that makes me thankful indeed.

Often we'll go on about how cute Alysse is with ridiculous sayings. Some I've heard in the last week:

Hope: "Alysse is so cute I could just.... just... shut my eyes on her!"
Maddie "Alysse is so cute I could just.... just.... pop my tooth out on her!"

Agreed.

~*Maddie is a riot. The other morning she woke up convinced, from a dream we believe, that she had eaten a puzzle piece. That led us on a scavenger hunt and a half just to be sure. The other night she wanted me to light candles on this long tea light thing I have. But instead of the normal, "Hey Mom, could you light these candles?" we got, "Mommy, please light up those perky little holes!"

Totally a summer pic, but just so... so... shut my eyes, pop my tooth Maddie.

~*In the spirit of HAM, my original bite sized comic has a new mission in life. Yes, I'm thinking she will be the next Surgeon General. Ever since she discovered no smoking signs and consequently what the habit does to your body, she is sure to keep us all out of harm's way. All it takes is someone anywhere lighting up and she's all, "Smoking Stick! It's a smoking stick. Come away!!" While riding her bike near some neighbors the other day Joe noticed her holding her breath with big puffy cheeks. When questioned if she was alright she let out a huge exhale and seriously informed, "Oh Daddy, I didn't want my lungs to turn black!"

Recently my husband's status read, "Just finished an early morning run. Feeling good. Thank you Lord for breath for another day!"

Isn't it true? Breath for another day is no small thing. With a little practice and eyes willing to see, gratitude lies in wait everywhere. While we live out these final warm days of fall, I sure hope the beauty and even hardship around me doesn't let me forget.

Thankfulness.
~Katrina