gratitude beats baditude

gratitude is transformative.
My sister told me i sound like Oprah when i say stuff like that - so i guess Oprah must've figured out that kernel of truth too... nothing changes a bad attitude like gratitude.
Amidst and entwined about the harder things in life - there lies the tiny creeping vines and blossoms of gratitude that make the hard stuff beautiful. Sometimes it's easy to feel engulfed in our own discontentedness - and harder to see what could be gained from our time being planted here.
So - there are seven tiny things (because we all know that good things come in sevens) - that have brought me joy lately... i'm gonna share the tendrils of gratitude & watch them change the landscape...
*jeans that fit - mostly. They're called Artist from American Eagle.
*bangs - 'cause life's too short - & hair grows...
*butterfly bedspread - an anniversary gift last year from my mother in law - i'm grateful for it every single day 'cause it is two of my favourite things - beautiful and functional...
*tomatoes - it's the perfect food.
*my ice blue stand mixer - beauty and function getting married again...
*Ephraim's sleep sac - a hand me down from a friend - his room gets so cold at night... but now he doesn't...
*seat warmers - seriously, their inventor is the smartest person in the world & they should be standard on any vehicle sold in Canada.

i don't know why...

...you needed me so many times in the night.
Maybe it was because Sloanie tucked you in - & you wanted to make sure i was there...
Maybe your big ol' molars were giving you grief...
Maybe you had a rumbly in your tumbly...
Whatever the reason -
i'm glad that i woke up enough to feel your fleshy clinging arms as they tried to stretch around my neck. i'm glad i felt your sweet breath as it calmed to the patterns of sleep in my arms. i'm glad i felt your still tiny, baby body curl up against mine as i held you close...
Oh Ephraim - i don't ever want to take your babyhood for granted. You wrinkle your nose as you give us a mischievous grin - you're growing - and you want us all to notice you. You took some steps and called to the big kids to come see... You're the youngest of seven - and you glory in your baby throne.
And so -
to wake in the night - a rarity these days - doesn't bother me too much. Our clandestine meetings - where each meets the needs of the other - are a sweet reminder that these days are short... and those nights? Those nights are worth it.

quality vs. quantity

it's a farce...
we desperately need both.
Neil took me on a lunch date today - we talked about drafts, men's personal style, won ton's and wall calendars. After moments of silence - he told me about work and asked me about homeschooling.
He took a phone call.
We talked about a wedding we're gonna go to.
Quality? i dunno - sure - a burger & won ton soup in a drafty restaurant might be quality...
Quantity? Yeh... 's more like it. Gimme hours & minutes with the one i love. Gimme days, months & years that pile into decades. Gimme carefree conversations and long stretches of amiable silence.
Quality needs Quantity to survive...
& Quantity needs a little Quality to thrive...
it's a match made in heaven.

power

Mollen comes sobbing into the kitchen...
"What's wrong Molls?" i ask as i snuggle her closer.
She wails into my chest, "C-C-Cairo won't let m-m-me be her minion."

homeschoolin' it - read alouds

A lot of people ask me what types of books i read to my littles when i read to them as a group. This has gotten harder the more children i have had & as their age span has widened. Some years i have separated them according to age to read to them - but i always found that the others were creeping around the corners, trying to be included too - so i usually look for things i can read to the oldest 5 together. Today, i thought i'd share some of what that has looked like for us this year.
i do individual reading with my emerging readers & my big girls are like sponges that absorb every book left open to their little tentacles... but big or little - each of the 5 students love to snuggle up in a blanket & listen to mama read.
This year, we're trying to read one chapter a day from the Bible - that has translated to reading since September: Proverbs, Jonah, Galatians, Hebrews, 1 John, Matthew & we're in the thick of Deuteronomy.
We're about halfway through our 2 history books that we're reading from simultaneously for our history this year - Story of the World & A Child's History of the World.
And then there's our read alouds since September:
Little Pilgrim's Progress
Treasures of the Snow
The Tanglewood Secret
Mr. McBrooms Wonderful One Acre Farm
Lumbercamp Library
Star of Light
Li Lun Lad of Courage
The Secret of Pheasant Cottage
The Family Under the Bridge
Rainbow Garden
Captive Treasure
You'll notice (if you're familiar with these books) that they're all a fairly easy reading level. i wanted to make sure that my littlest learners were engaged, and so i picked easy, shorter books. With my 2 little boys scrambling for attention, we don't always get a lot of time - but i'm trying to keep our habit & teach them that mama thinks this is a priority.
& so we finish off our first hour of homeschool together - snuggled in blankets around the fireplace - finishing hot chocolate & trying to shush tiny boys with little ones begging for another chapter before math starts.