Clouds

30 Day Photography Challenge, Day 3: Clouds
Here are a few of my favorites...

If you can't tell, I'm going about this photography challenge from a mom perspective. Because, well, I'm a mom and that is pretty much my life right now.

I don't have a fancy camera, just a point and shoot with 8 megapixals. You aren't going to see great photography on this site, I will save that for Tami.

Regardless, this should be fun.

What I am Wearing Today, cause I know you were curious.

My friend and photographer extraordinaire, Tami, is doing a little 30 day photo challenge. She invited her blog readers to join along. So I am.

Today's "photography challenge" is "what you wore today." If you hop on over to Tami's blog (one of my favorites!), you will see her working the wrinkled shorts look and totally pulling it off. 

What I wore today... not so styling. It's a gym day (yay! my gym days are harder to pull off lately) and the sun isn't shining and its cold and after the gym I have no where else to go. Add that up and I'm working the sweats today.

And since you were curious about the turquoise hoodie...

I bought it at the Old Navy in downtown Seattle last summer on our way to China. We had a nine hour layover. I was cold and realized I had forgotten my white hoody at home. So I bought the turquoise one. Only to realize, again, several hours later as we waited to board our plane that I had, indeed, brought my white hoody. I didn't need a new one. Especially in the oven that was China that week.

So there you have it, two hoodies.

One of which I wore today. :)

Has Thomas the Train moved on?

If you have followed my blog over the years, then you know my boys love playing with Thomas. They received their first train set on their second birthday and were hooked. Barely a day would go by that they didn't play with Thomas. At bedtime they would "talk trains" late into the night.

They would disappear into the basement for hours. Sometimes I would sneak down to "listen in" on their play and hear snippets of life in train world.

"Come over here, said Thomas"

"No, said James"

Wordless Wednesday would often feature the many places Thomas was found in our house. The pictures were never posed and I loved finding Thomas in surprising places.

Yep, our investment in Thomas and friends was well worth the money, probably the best toy investment we have ever made.

The other day I overheard a clerk in a fabric store inform a customer that Thomas is not as "in" as he used to be. I wanted to argue, but even I had to admit things have changed around our house since the boys started school.

I don't find Thomas the train in surprising places anymore, at least in train form. And the boys don't stay up late discussing Thomas's adventures. I don't get to overhear "train talk" like I used to.

This makes me a little sad.

Instead, my boys have found a new passion that still includes Thomas, which makes me happy.

As Suhn would say, "Ta Da!"

They have become quite the artists and yes, we go through a LOT of paper.

Now instead of finding Thomas the train laying around the house I am finding portraits of Thomas and James and all their train friends.

These portraits used to appear taped to the walls throughout our house until Mya had the brilliant idea of creating an art museum in the basement.

Our basement museum continues to grow. I love the creativity it represents.

Thomas may not be as "in" as he used to be, but he will always hold a special place in this momma's heart. And our little museum will commerate (for now) the days of yore when Thomas was all the rage.

 Even though they grow up and move on, there is nothing quite like a boy and his train.

up to our necks in leaves, literally

I Heart Toothless Grins

The Discipline of Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is not so much a feeling I feel when I’m feeling thankful...

Instead, it is an intentional act. Or better yet, an intentional thought process. It takes discipline.

The more I practice it, the more I am rewarded with that feeling I feel when I’m feeling thankful. It’s a good feeling. Like Grandpa says, it can make a person feel almost selfish it feels so good.

A thankful person is one who remembers where all good gifts come from. And even if the circumstances of life don’t feel good, a thankful person is one who trusts that God is in control anyway. Even when life is hard, there is always something to give thanks for. The person who finds that something and gives thanks for it, in all circumstances, lives a joy-filled life. I believe that is true.

I want to live that kind of life.

I want my kids to live that kind of life too.

Thus begins my quest to live a more thankful life.

I bought a little notebook the other day that sits on my bedside table. The goal is to record five things I’m thankful for every night before bed, so that I can end each day on a thankful note. I started this little practice two weeks ago. And while I’ve only actually written in it, ahem, three times, I have found my days are interrupted more often with thankful thoughts and the intention to add these little praises to my notebook.

I’m still hoping to get more consistent with the actual recording process. A notebook filled with reasons to be thankful has to be a motivating read when I’m finding it hard to find things to be thankful for, right?

Yep, I think so too.

Today I am giving thanks for fall colors, a working vehicle, the God who hears me, a Starbucks gift card, and Focus on the Family podcasts.

What are you thankful for today?

He did it again

If you ask his kids or grand kids, or anyone who knows him, you would end up with a long list of wisdom. He likes to talk and the words that come out of his 80 plus years of living are ones to be remembered. In fact he made a list once, filled with some of his favorite sayings gathered and used over a lifetime. Some he used more often than others. I blogged about it once a long time ago.

He did it again the other day. I heard about it from my dad. He added another bit of wisdom to the list. One I have been mulling over for days. I think he is on to something.

He said, “It is almost selfish to be thankful for everything because it makes me so happy.”

If you know him, I have to ask… doesn’t that sound like something he would say?

How cool would it be to have a statement like that “sound like something you would say.”

Yep, I wanna be like my Grandpa.

I think I will start by giving thanks for him!

“Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18