Sunday, September 18, 2011

gratitude

We didn't do anything out of the ordinary today...just hung out at home, and in the afternoon went for a little walk.

This is the view up our road.




Part of me still can't believe I live so close to the ocean and the mountains.
And so far away from my hometown.
I grew up with a kind of unspoken rule, which was
you don't move too far from your family.

I can truly understand that in a way, being the mom
of three such little children :)
But I also knew I always wanted to live other places, too.
So (in part) here we are.

I guess I'm just in awe of it sometimes.

I've been trying to be actively grateful, lately.
It's done so much for me...opened my eyes a bit more :)
I think learning to be happy with the smallest things
can never be a bad idea.
It brought me to the point where becoming more grateful
has become something I don't think about, and just do.

And that's what kind of happened with today's walk.
I found myself marveling at how beautiful some things were...



Even things like Jakey playing with his jacket
as we walked down the beach :)


Just the fact that my sweet boy is a little clown,
a funny man, often with a laugh at the ready
(if he's in a good mood).


Addie helping Liam with his shoe.
(It's so cute how much he adores her!)


The sea.


I love how you can see the boys clamoring about
in the right hand corner, lol.


A beautiful purple flower.


A bit of dandelion or some similar plant
that Addie brought to me, insisting it was
a piece of fur some animal had lost.




It's fun to see how much the kids love the ocean.


At one point Nate went down closer to the beach,
while I stayed on the rocks with the kids.
He brought me back a barnacle as a little gift :)
Then Addie gave me a flower, so I made an impromptu vase.



Isn't it funny how the most ordinary thing can become special
because of the person(s) who gave them to you?

Here are some silhouette pictures of Addie and Jake.
I love how they look.
I just need to have Nate get one of Liam next time.




Is there anything you've been especially grateful for lately?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful healing place you live in, Marty - it may have been far away from 'home' and yet what a new home for the heart it is.
I would like to live in an area like that one day, you are lucky to be there already:)

Cameron said...

I have so much to be grateful for....I am so fortunate to even be able to say that...

Family tops the list for sure. Now that Maggie is in school, I miss spending my days with her. Her bottom 2 teeth are getting wiggly and will soon come out, she doesn't want to hold my hand when she walks past the school gate, she can't get away with wearing clothes smaller than a 7-8...she is growing up...
...and I'm trying to soak in every last ounce of littleness from her I can get...

Love those pics, Marty! I can see your new home in my mind...and it makes me long to be there again :)

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