7 Thankful Takes

In the spirit of the now over Thanksgiving, and in an attempt to stem the tide of Christmas insanity just one more day, I bring you seven "quickish" takes of thanks.

1.

First I have to start with my husband. 

On any given day, I'm pretty darn thankful for this guy. He keeps me sane, provides for us, gets up approximately 80 times at night with the kids, and is all-around not too shabby. Sure... we have our fights, but usually he'll just concede that I'm right and we move on. ;-) But on Thanksgiving, this man single-handedly prepared two turkeys, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, brussels sprouts, mac n' cheese, and a pumpkin cheesecake. And it was all delicious. #keeper

2.

Next would have to be the kids. There are many days I'm not sure what I'm doing. I lose my temper so often. And sometimes I just down right stink at being a mom. But you know what, they love me and forgive me constantly. They've taught me so much. I'm also very grateful for their health. Damian is doing so well right now, and Clare is full of energy and spunk. They will inevitably send me to my grave, but I love them for it all the same!

3.

Keeping it in the family, I would have to say that having such a supportive extended family is at the top of my Thankful List. My family provided our lovely new table first used for Thanksgiving. Nate's family generously drove to Charleston to celebrate Thanksgiving with us because Nate had so little time off of work. Combined they've never turned down our request for help--from looking after the kids to offering advice to moving us in and out of homes. They've also been known to provide us with meals at foreign places commonly known as "restaurants." I believe Nate and I used to travel there much more often in our pre-kid days, but that's such a distant memory now... I know we probably don't say it enough, but we are very grateful to be surrounded by such love.

4.

Leaving the family, but not far from it, I'm thankful for my friends--both new and old. My old friends have seen me at my best and worst and yet still call me their friend. They're loyal, loving, and brilliant. And as for the new friends, they've made the move to a new city a little bit easier and a lot less scary. I don't know how I have all these wonderful people around me, but I'm not going to ask questions ;-)

5.

On a lighter note, it's no secret that I love my city. Walking around downtown, driving over one of the bridges, enjoying the warm weather, the beach... all these things are a blessing to me.

6. 

An understatement, but I'm thankful that all my necessities are met. Never do I go without food, running water, clothing, warmth. I have a bed to sleep in, a shower to bathe in, and a stove to cook my food. Hell, I can grow a garden for "fun." It's hard in America to not take those things for granted, but in comparison to most of the world, I live like a queen. If only I would remember that more often and not always want more...

7. 

Last, and certainly not least, I'm thankful for God's faithfulness. I'm not deserving, but I guess that's the point. He is the reason for all the things listed above and I try to live my life as a thank you to Him, although I fail so often. 

Hope you all had a wonderful and yummy Thanksgiving!!

Family, Sabbath, #SundayFunday

When we first moved into the house, our weekends were jammed pack trying to unpack, organize, and accomplish all our home improvement projects. Nate and I tried to use our time wisely and get as much done as possible since I was useless during the week with the littles. And by the time Nate got home from work, it was bedtime. Power tools + bedtime does not work in this house. Thus the weekend became GET IT ALL DONE NOW time. 

That worked for awhile, until I began to realize it wasn't actually working for all of us. Damian, poor kid, wasn't getting to enjoy his weekends with his family. Sure Nate and I were there, but being there versus being present are very different things. He can only go to Lowes so many times... And watching us paint while watching Mary Poppins for the umpteenth time isn't exactly as exciting as it was the first 3498 times. So I decided we needed a change...

For awhile now I've wanted to be better about keeping Sunday the Sabbath and minimizing the "just another day" aspect of it. Of course we go to Mass so that helps, but other than that, there's not been much different. Awhile back when I was reading St. Therese of Lisieux's Story of a Soul, I was struck by how she described the Sundays of her childhood as little tastes of heaven. And I want that, more than anything, for my kids. So in a more modern hashtag-y kind of way, we started Sunday Funday. 

We don't always do some big, but we try to do at least something fun as a family on Sunday. Sometimes it's just going to a park or for a walk, other times we'll go to the beach or get a meal. Whatever it is, we try to do it together and make sure it's something we can all enjoy at some level. Even the babe. 

Today we just walked around our beautiful city 

and enjoyed the cool breeze coming off the harbor. If anything reminds me of what I hope heaven is like, it's walking around on a beautiful day near the water. It was nice to just laugh at Damian being a nut, 

talk with Nate,

and watch Clare try to play with her brother. It's good to take it slow sometimes. The dishes and laundry aren't going anywhere, and on Sundays, they can wait.