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.