Thankful

 

In all honesty, this November hasn't really been my favorite of months. In a day-to-day sense everything has been very good, but some bigger things (election, friends about to move away, etc), have left me with a bit of ennui for the last few weeks. We've been busy, it seems, since Halloween, and Thanksgiving (and house guests) snuck up on me before I really had a good chance to sit down and count my blessings.  

But now that the week is over the pressure to feel grateful is gone, all it takes is a quick glance at a few days' worth of pictures to remember all the many, many things I am thankful for right now. 

Beginning with those four cute kiddos up there.  Our guests for the week was a family we have known for our whole time in the CG - we've celebrated the births of 3 of our 4 collective children together.  That they were willing and able to join us for TG was super special.  And I am doubly thankful that the illnesses of one of the children and one of the adults were not shared by all eight of us in the house.  Phew. 

 

I'm thankful that I came across Martha's recipe for grilled turkey, and that Don was excited to give it a try.  It  turned out great, and made for a much less stressful day of cooking, since the oven was free. 

(photo by Amy)

 

I'm thankful that our weather was so nice on Thursday, and that the kids played outside all afternoon.  When they finally came in at 3:30, William fell fast asleep in the middle of the living room floor. 

 

I'm thankful that my children are growing up with gentle spirits.  Amy rescued this butterfly from the cats' clutches and nursed it back to health.  She spent the better part of an hour sitting in the front garden trying to make a nice "home" for the butterfly once it recovered. 

 

And I'm thankful for this lovely climate here in SC. It's been getting plenty cold, but the warm sunny afternoons are so nice. 

 

I'm thankful for beautiful places nearby, for kids who love to go fishing with their dad, and for getting to come along today. 

I'm thankful for how much Don has been home lately, and how much we are enjoying the routine of a "normal" family life, complete with regular, dependable, ordinary weekends together. 

 

And I'm thankful for so many little works in progress to keep my hands busy. 

 

These washcloths are really just knitting practice... not up to gifting standards, but nevertheless, I love having ideas in the hopper, tons of materials on hand, and making time to work a bit here and there on all of them. 

Yup, turns out there is quite a bit to be thankful for this year, as always.