The Habit of Thankfuless: A Few of My Favorite Things

Aug 31st- A few of my favorite things...
~Seeing the sunset reflected in a puddle
~Watching the girlies play Garden Statue, running ahead and posing on the old carriage steps in town
~Finding a double bud Rose of Sharon to add color to an evening walk

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Aug 30th- A few of my favorite things...
~Catching up with an old friend you've known since childhood 
~Watching the crescent of the moon travel westward toward the setting sun
~A rainbow of color from the garden tomatoes

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My favorite Things

Aug 29th- A few of my my favorite things...
~Puffy clouds mixed with "mare's tales" in the sky like bunch of balloons sailing across the sky
~My Eldest bringing me home leftovers for her foodie mother to try :-)...Yum
~Discovering my hosta's flowers have an amazing scent

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Aug 28th- A few of my favorite things...
~The light purple found in Rose-of-Sharon 
~The deep purple hue of Purple Loosestrife
~The magenta-purple of Knapweed coloring our late summer world

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Aug 27th- A few of my favorite things...
~that fresh-from-the dentist clean teeth feeling
~no cavities
~and a free toothbrush, toothpaste and floss out of the deal (makes it worth it even for an adult  )

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Aug 26th- A few of my favorite things...
~Spending the day just Thea and me
~Listening to the girlies tell me all about their day at the NYS Fair
~My husband bringing me home a Baker's Chicken Coop chicken dinner from the fair

The Habit of Trying

Playgrounds are one of my favorite places to visit with my children.

We make it a point to try out new playgrounds when we are travelling.

 The kids always look forward to the familiar things like slides and swings,
 but they also like seeing what's new or different at each playground.

Each child may approach the playground differently,
one may run directly to the swings,
another might greet a new child on the equipment and make friends,
still another might campus the equipment deciding what to do do first--like a buffet line of fun.

 But the best part of playgrounds is the trying...
whether it is trying to connect with another child
or do something they've never done before...
its a great way to figure out something new...
and learn that scary habit...
trying.

Trying...it means going out into uncharted territory either for you or for everyone.
New..different...scary...
...but without trying we never know what we can accomplish.
Scientists know that whether trying leads to success or failure new things will be gained.

Even if we fail--- all is not lost--- because we have learned in the process and can chart our next steps. 

Never let someone say you cannot try.
 We were created to be bold, inquisitive and curious about our world.

Recently, my little girl boldly reminded me of this.
We were at our local kids' science center,
 when she became fascinated with the dam construction display.

After trying her hand at building it in its "proper" place in the display,
 her little sister removed a few blocks to let the water through. 

 Then, she examined the bricks down below. 

An idea came to her, and she exclaimed, "I have a better idea!" 

To which a little boy at the table declared, "You can't have a better idea! That's not allowed!"

Undaunted,
she continued to build a lower dam just below the first.
She figured out how to make a dam outside the "proper" place.

 

 Learning a new skill of making a new friend can be scary. 

Some like my Adventurous Child are always up for the challenge...

...they live for it...

..while others like my Thinker Child like to slowly work up to trying. 

But either way they know they can't succeed (or fail) unless they first try.

 The last playground we were at, my Thinker, figured out how to do this all by herself.

 While the others were playing on the main equipment, she decided to conquer this!

And slowly, carefully (that's the way she approaches everything)....

...she made her way  

 to the end!

She did it.

Only by trying do we learn a new skill.

Only by taking the chance of saying, "Hi!" do we make new friends...

Sometimes in our grown-up world we are tired.

We don't want the new.

We don't want to learn the new.

When this happens...

...remember the habit you first learned from the playground:

Try!

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Aug 25th- A few of my favorite things...
~Bright blue skies from horizon to horizon today 
~Girlies getting ready to dance at the NYS Fair tomorrow
~The ballerina in Gwyn, that when the Celtic music stops, practices ballet while waiting for further instructions 

Like

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Aug 24th- A few of my favorite things..
~Heavy dew glistening in the morning sun dappling each plant in silver
~Webs of brave spiders high in the trees glistening like silver targets in the trees
~Fallow fields awash with wildflowers flowers like a sea of color in the wind

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things...

Aug 23rd- A few of my favorite things...
~Cotton Candy Grapes from Wegmans...real grapes with a natural light flavor of cotton candy...so good.
~Listening to 2 girlies tell me all about their first birthday party they attended
~Riding my bike for the first time since my ankle injury in March...2 miles and minimal pain 

Likehttp://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/08/05/209222126/the-cotton-candy-grape-a-sweet-spin-on-designer-fruit

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Aug 22nd- A few of my favorite things...
~Seeing rainbows two days in a row like colorful waterfalls from the sky
~The excitement of 2 girlies over their first birthday party invitation (Felicity has slept with the invitation since Thursday)
~Receiving an encouraging note from a friend 

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Aug 21st- A few of my favorite things...
~raindrops clinging to pine needles like pendants on a chandelier
~fog and streetlights mingling like scenes from an old movie
~summer stars staking their claim a little further westward each night

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

August 20th- A few of my favorite things...
~Happy 2nd Birthday once again smiley Thea!
~Beating the rain to the playground with time to spare to play
~Seeing vestiges of color bravely beaming with the setting sun, even if the clouds tried to block out its presence

The Habit of Smiling

Smile...

just saying the word is almost spurs a reflexive action

 causing most if not all to smile back.

It is a universal sign of happiness.

Birthday parties, graduations,

 weddings, and births 

are just some of the many reasons that cause us to smile.

One of the first milestones after birth is

"When will s/he first smile?"

It seems to make the little one

real, interactive.
Not just taking...

...but it is the first gift they give back. 

Smiles interact with others on so many levels.

My youngest seems to have the gift of smiling.
Shortly after birth, she gave her first smile.
The nurses could hardly believe it.
They smiled back at her and
she returned the greeting, again.
Maybe it it because her first name means
"Gift of God"
and she literally has "Joy" in the middle.

Like a blessing of old,
her name is a reflection of her being.
She looks for people to smile at...
...to share her gift with.

Her smile has brought sunshine into more souls
than even her little heart can understand.
All she knows is that smiling
 brings smiles to others
in her world.

It lifts them up.
It tells another they are important to notice.
It's like giving a reflection of God
and his goodness,
a reminder
that God is good
and I see His image
in
you.

And because He is Good,
we can smile
and carry on.
Keep sharing your gift little one,
this world needs it!
And if she happens to share it with you,
remember to pass it on.
It might make someone's day :-)

Happy 2nd Birthday,
My Smiley One!

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Aug 19th- A few of my favorite things...
~Watching the New York State Fair preparations underway
~Listening to girlies tell EVERYONE they will be dancing on August 26th with the Mahoney School of Irish Step
~Remembering the fun at the fair in past years, looking forward to this years 

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Aug 18th- A few of my favorite things...
~The acoustics in old sanctuaries
~Colored light splashed across the room from old stain glass windows
~Imagining the lives of worshippers who have used the pews for the last 100 years

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Aug 17th- A few of my favorite things...
~Spying a katydid walking down the maple tree
~Watching different kinds of bees at work in the meadow down the trail
~The smile watching a butterfly brings

The Habit of Thankfulness: A Few of My Favorite Things

Aug 16th- A few of my favorite things...
~The generosity of the neighbors to send over watermelon for the girlies picnic with their friends
~A well pruned bush
~A working rear wiper in the new van (the old van's never worked)

In Which Winslow Goes to Seneca Falls....

Winslow had never been to Seneca Falls, NY before.

One of the first things he discovered just outside of town was fantastic playground.

Deciding what to do first was hard...

....he was stumped...literally! 

Winslow thought this stump was cool so he decided to explore it

It had interesting rocks and lichen to look at.

Then he saw this cool hole to explore like Alice in Wonderland! 

But he couldn't fit through... 

...so he climbed down the side instead and found this great furby-sized

cave of sorts. 

Thea helped him arrange the gravel inside to make it more homey. 

Then he was off to explore the rest of the playground.

He found a furby seat on the boat and set sail... 

...with Gwynnie at the helm. 

And Winslow thinks its especially nice to go to the park with friends...

...because when you are down, a friend is always there to lift you up...

...especially on the see-saw! 

Then he went for a plane ride with Thea...

...and with no arms, he let fly this two-seater!

And like Winslow, the girlies found that sometimes 

the greatest things to play on the playground aren't the regular slides and swings.. 

but the rock border to jump from rock... 

...to rock.

Then he went to the canal park in town for lunch.

There he found the community garden to explore. 

Winslow like seeing what other people choose to plant...

....Veggies...

...and flowers!

He liked watching the canal traffic go through on the Barge Canal. 

There were even boats docked on the other side! 

It was fun to see one of the Canal Authority's work tugs go through.

And the real treat was watching the workers up on the roof of the old woollen factory

restoring the building to be used as the new headquarters for the Women's Hall of Fame. 

Winslow is glad to old buildings be restored and loved.

Originally this factory made sock for everyone 

including NASA and NBA. 

Winslow thinks that after 170 years this building deserves to be of use once more!

Then Winslow and the girls went to the other side of the canal 

to check out the boats docked there.

He found he liked watching the boat traffic... 

...as much as the 

duck traffic along the canal. 

Winslow thinks a just relaxing along the canal in Seneca Falls

is a great way to spend the day.