A Walk at the Arboretum

I took Annika for a walk to the Arboretum last Friday.  I used to get outside so much more when I just had one child at home, but Annika has missed out on some of the activities that Gabriel enjoyed.  So, off we went for an outing that I could do with my still-healing ankle.

We watched the ducks, watched the airplanes fly over, enjoyed the fresh air, and even got to observe a bald eagle perched in a tree.  It was so nice to be out again and clear the cobwebs. If you want to read the whole report and see all the photos, go here.  

I Did It

I did it.  I finally submitted my first essay for possible publication in a magazine.  I won't hear back for awhile if it gets accepted or not, but it feels so good to take this big step.  I feel like A Real Writer, even though I haven't been published.  I celebrated and bought myself a new pen.  Nothing expensive, just a gesture to reward myself.

I'm working on another essay to send out to a different publication.  It's hard to find the time to connect two thoughts together, but I am finding it rewarding to have projects to work on that are just my own.  When I made the decision to stay home as a mother, I thought that should be reward enough.  But recently I admitted to myself that "just" being a mom wasn't quite enough.  I needed a career of some sort to pursue.  Many things happened to help me along and encourage me in the direction of writing.  My husband bought me a laptop, and so many people gave me advice and have helped me get to this point.  

So that's why I haven't posted much of interest lately.  I am behind in things I've wanted to share with you.  I'll try to catch up over the next few days.  I'm trying to get into the swing of Christmas preparations, too.  So much to write, so little time!

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving - Day Thirty

Well, it is fitting that my Thirty Days of Thanksgiving happened to end on the actual holiday.  I did hope to be able to do this little assignment in October, completely, but I like how it turned out this way.  I've enjoyed the exercise to find something every day to be thankful for.  I was a bit ashamed, though, at how difficult it was some days to figure out something unique to post about.  Am I really that ungrateful?  I don't know, but I do know I have room to grow in my character and what I choose to focus my thoughts on.

Today I am thankful for so much.  Topping the list, of course, is my family that I get to spend time with.  I am grateful to have a family, to have incredible parents, a loving husband, and two amazing children.  We have material blessings, educations, countless opportunities to learn and follow our passions.  

I think it is fitting to end my 30 day series with this quote that I have on my kitchen window to remind me how to change my perspective and choose what to focus on.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Contemplate beauty in the world around you, and you yourself will become beautiful. -- J. Donald Walters 

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving - Day Twenty-nine

I am thankful to have had the chance to work outside in the sunshine this afternoon.  We don't get very many sunny days this time of year, and lately my luck has been that I have had other obligations during the sunniest times.  I just did some tidying up in the front, but I took a few moments to rest in the middle of my work and walk around with the camera.  I like to record what is happening throughout the seasons.  When I am old and grey, if we still live in this house, my vision is to have a record of the years as they have passed.  

This garden was an untended blank yard with a few trees and scraggly bushes when we moved in.  During the past 5 1/2 years that we have lived here, I have been working in fits and starts to make it beautiful and fitting to my personality.  This is the first time I have had a place that was all my own to work on.  It is overwhelming at times, especially when you throw kids into the mix.  But I am reminded whenever I take the time to work on the garden, how much I enjoy it and how fulfilling the labors are.  

Following are some of the photos I captured today.  The light was golden at the end of the afternoon.

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving - Day Twenty-eight

I love to see my guys having guy time together.  Today, Aaron took Gabriel along for choir practice, and when it turned out it was canceled, they had a morning of exploring parts of the city.  They saw the troll under the Fremont Bridge, touched the vintage equipment at Gasworks Park, and had lunch out.  They got to talk about their favorite things together.  Gabriel loves spending time with his Daddy, and I am grateful that Aaron will take the time to bond and create memories with our little guy.

Thirty Days of Thanksgiving - Day Twenty-seven

I am thankful for the spirituality of young children.  

Last Sunday, Gabriel wanted to take my giant study Bible with him to church, and was upset that I wouldn't let him.  So I pulled out one of our extra generic Bibles to give to him.  I was going to get him something like that for Christmas, but since it was so important to him, I decided to let him have one now.  He reads it by himself every day.  We haven't told him to do this; he figured it out on his own.  He underlines passages and puts notes in the margins, just like he sees us doing in our Bibles.  I showed him a few parts he might be interested in, or that would be easier reading (he was reading in Kings or Chronicles or Numbers or some difficult section), but otherwise he has been taking this project up on his own.

Today we brought one of his friends home with us from school until his mom could get here, since she was running late.  They walked behind me a few steps, and I could hear their conversation.  Gabriel was telling J that he was incorrect about a Bible verse J had told him about a week or two ago.  Gabriel told him how it was really supposed to go.  I think the subtleties were lost on J, but then they were moving on to compare the sizes and coolness of their Bibles they each had.  These kids go to a public school, so I think it's neat that they talk about their spiritual life with each other on their own, as un-selfconscious as if they were talking about toys or tv shows.  

Then, this evening, Gabriel finished his homework and got some paper out.  I thought he was drawing or simply procrastinating about going to bed, but he was working on writing a "scroll" for himself.  It said something like "Rule 1: Obey God." and "The Golden Rule: Treat others how you would like to be treated."  I am paraphrasing here, since he's got the scroll in bed with him tonight.  He rolled it up and put paper clips on the edges to keep it in a cylinder shape.  

How did my son get to be so spiritual?  We don't even do all the things we "should" be doing to train him in the way we would like him to go.  He asks tons of questions, though, and we've had so many deep discussions about all kinds of topics, ever since he could put sentences together.  How does he effortlessly weave his spiritual thoughts and conversations into his life, friendships, and artwork?  I am humbled and a little afraid of the responsibility we have as parents to shepherd this little guy to adulthood, with the best foundation for his life.  It seems a lot simpler to teach basic manners than spiritual depth, and it is easy to let the God-focus slip for weeks at a time in the busyness of daily life.  I hope and pray that Gabriel will keep his thirst for knowledge, and not grow too cynical as he ages.  And I wonder, as I have since he was conceived, what he is going to be like when he grows up.....  

Catching Up

I haven't felt much like writing here lately.  I've been writing in my journal, writing about my morning devotionals, writing about my therapy sessions, and writing to try to get a freelancing career going.  It seems I don't have much left for writing here.  Now I'm feeling kind of guilty. I haven't kept up on my 30 days of Thanksgiving at all.  It is going to be the actual holiday soon!  

Here are some photos from the past few weeks:

We went to the aquarium one day. Annika's favorite part was the octopus.
Here she is climbing on the beautiful sea otter carving:

I've done some baking.  Annika loves to help.  She gets up to her elbows in flour.

We tried a new recipe for us out of Bette Hagman's Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Bread book.  It uses sorghum flour as the base.  It turned out pretty good:

I taught Gabriel how to use the index in his new Usborne children's atlas, and he loves to look up places now: countries, continents, states or cities.
 I couldn't figure out how to explain looking up names in alphabetical order, but he has a lot of persistence and can usually find what he wants.

Gabriel also has been imitating experiments he has been doing in school. You can't see very well, but he is wearing his white science coat from his dress-up box. He did some sink-float experiments in various iterations. He tried toys, craft items, and spices from the cupboard.
He even cleaned up (most) of his mess without me asking him. He took a bunch of photos, and stuck with it for quite awhile. So cool!