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gratitude challenge

Grateful: November Challenge Week 5

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Today is the final recap of the 30 Day Gratitude Photo Challenge at Positively Present. If you want to read my other recaps they are here, here, here, and here.

Day 23, Energy: On this day, I was thankful that despite all the craziness, we all still had enough energy to get some major things accomplished while Brian had a few days off. I finally frosted the garage windows so everyone who drives by doesn’t have to see the mess that is our garage.
Day 24, Adventure: I struggled with this one. When I hear the word adventure I think of like an amazing trip with parasailing, zip lining, scuba diving or base jumping. I’m not a thrill like person (can’t you tell? as I drive 35 mph in a 40). Anyway, it got me thinking about more tame adventures, and I am definitely thankful for this adventure called blogging. I have met some amazing people as well has learned a lot about myself. Thanks for joining me on this wonderful adventure that basically started as a way to share recipes, DIY projects, and parenting tips. It has turned into another opportunity at ChicagoNow and 35 followers and growing (Shameless Plug: If you don’t read my other blog, check it out here).
Day 25, Beauty: Thankful for the daily beauty that makes me smile and enjoy life a little more. Here’s George watching his favorite animals (horses) at the zoo.
Day 26, Tradition: I am so grateful for tradition as I feel it helps connect me to people who live far away. On Thanksgiving morning my Mom would ask my siblings and I to break up all all the bread for the stuffing. I remember sitting with my brothers and sister in our jammies, watching the Macy’s parade, and breaking up bread into a huge bowl. I asked my kids to help me this year, and sent the picture to my brother Kevin who lives 2200 miles away. We reminisced together about Thanksgivings of yore.
Day 27, Sound: Sometimes the noise and the mess of having little ones can get to a person (I swear if I step on another Matchbox car and almost break my neck, I will lose it). However, I often think of how grateful I am for the noise and the mess. This time is very temporary and I realize that every day. Someday, I will have a perfectly decorated and clean home with no pitter patter, no giggles, no loud toys, and no pretend sounds. For now, I’m taking a deep breath and thankful for this, because I know I’m going to be one of those old ladies who leaves the radio on before leaving the house so there is noise when I get home. Here are the munchkins playing with the felt tree I made them.
Day 28, Comfort: Sometimes I still think I am destined to be a nurse. While I love to be comforted for and taken care of, it is still my favorite thing in life to do that for other people. I am thankful that I have many people in my life that I can help take care of and give comfort. Kissing Coco after a tumble outside.
Day 29, Art: I am thankful for Etsy. I know, after all that mushy stuff up there, it is silly. But honestly, when I need to cheer up, I just go to Etsy, and even if I don’t buy anything seeing all the beautiful things, crafts, and art created by people just makes me smile.
Day 30, Love: I am so thankful that there are so many days in my life I have experienced so much love, I think my heart isn’t going to be able to take it. This was one of those days.
Thanks for following along for the month of November!

Grateful: November Challenge Week 4

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Happy New Year! Just kidding. Doesn’t it seem like so long since Thanksgiving already? Maybe it is because I’ve been soaking in every bit of the long weekend, which had the perfect balance of accomplishing projects around the house and spending time with family and friends.

Since I took a blog break for the holiday, today’s post it is a recap of my participation in the Positively Present’s 30 Day Gratitude Photo Challenge. To read the first three recaps, you can click here, here and here.

Day 16, Inspiration: Being a blogger here at Home Everyday and on ChicagoNow I sometimes get a little block about what to write about, so I am always grateful for inspiration. Sometimes it comes from the strangest of places. For example, these ornaments at Target are inspiring a crafty project!

Day 17, Weather: The fall here has been amazing here. We have been spending way more time outside that I ever thought possible this time of year. Here we are doing sidewalk chalk just a few days before Thanksgiving!

Day 18, Change: A big change happened this passed week. My oldest turned 5! 5?!?!? I am so incredibly grateful that I have a happy healthy 5 year old.

Day 19, Laughter: The past week has been filled with lots of laughter. Sharing jokes with my sister and Mom at Thanksgiving dinner, the kids giggling putting up Christmas decorations, and staying up late to watch Christmas Vacation have all made me thankful that we have lots to laugh about.

Day 20, Food: Prepping for Thanksgiving dinner kept me busy on this day. When I went to put the Turkey in the fridge to brine, I realized how full our fridge was. In that moment I was very thankful for a full refrigerator. Rearranging to make room for the turkey, turned into washing juice carton, and replacing with milk to make everything fit. This is a good problem to have.

Day 21, Home: I am grateful for the physical space of our home, and thankful that we are comfortable here, but mostly I’m thankful for the people who live here.

Day 22, Color: Did you know there are way more than 50 shades of gray? Now I do. While narrowing down paint samples can be frustrating, I am grateful that I have the opportunity to choose.

 

Grateful: November Challenge Week 3

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Good morning and Happy Friday! I have been totally amazed at all the grateful posts I’ve seen on Facebook over the last three weeks. It definitely puts things into perspective. Today is my third installment of the 30 Day Gratitude Photo Challenge. To read my first two Grateful Posts, you can click here and here.

Day 9, Holidays: This year, when it comes to the holidays I am truly thankful for the traditions that were established by our families, but also the ones that Brian and I have started together with our kids. Our favorite is the day after Thanksgiving we put up our holiday decorations. Here are the boxes waiting in the dining room to be unpacked. The kids are bursting to put up their stockings.

 

Day 10, Kindness: On this day, I am so grateful for how genuinely kind my kids are to others and to each other. I took this picture after family photos while playing with my camera. I didn’t come out as I hoped, but the point is I have it captured for eternity of the boys hugging.

Day 11, Friendship: In my lifetime, I have been blessed with many people whom I can call friend. However, today is a day were I am extremely thankful for my sister. It is a bond and friendship that I’m grateful for every single day. Here she is cooking with Russell.

 

Day 12, Music: Ok, I’m one of those people that listen to Christmas music early. So today, I was grateful that the Christmas station in Chicago started playing 24/7 Christmas music.

 

Day 13, Time: Just grateful I have enough time for the things that matter. The time to chat with Russell about his day at school. The time to bake muffins with George. The time to snuggle on the couch with Caroline. The time to stay up a little later with Brian and enjoy some quiet time. The time to wake up early and play trains.

 

Day 14, Creativity: I’m often amazed at the creativity of my kids and for this I am grateful. Sometimes I wonder if we should buy them an educational toy, or if I should enroll them in another park district class. Then, I see them using what they have to play rocket ship or make up a game together with a ball. They amaze me with their imagination. Here is George with goggles and all being a jockey… again.

Day 15, Family: Yesterday we took our family portraits for Christmas cards. This day typically makes me batty. Getting 3 kids ages 4, 3, and 2 clean and in nice coordinating outfits with hair combed, shoes tied and get them to stay clean while I get dressed with makeup and presentable hair by myself is crazy. Then we meet Brian at the photographer and try to get everyone to look decently happy with bribes of M&M’s and popcorn.  I’m still exhausted! However, I am well aware that this is something we don’t have to do and that I am blessed beyond measure to have a healthy and happy family that gets a family picture taken once a year. I am grateful for meeting Brian and us being able to create this wonderful family not just today, but every day.

 

 

Grateful: November Challenge Week 2

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Welcome to the second installment of the 30 Day Gratitude Photo Challenge that I am participating in on Positively Present. Last week, I posted a the first installment and each week I will highlight all the moments of gratitude I have experienced over the last seven days.

Day 3, Nature: I do love the outdoors, but on this day I was particularly grateful for living in the midwest this time of year. The colors get me every time. A picture from our nature walk.

Day 4, Clothing: Folding clothes is one of those chores that often makes me roll the eyes. Will this ever end? As the weather gets cooler here though, I am so glad that I have clothes to fold. My kids have warm clothes, socks, and jammies. Not everyone is so lucky, and I am truly grateful for this. This is my weekly pile of kids clothes.

Day 5, Knowledge: I am grateful that I have a personality that keeps me researching, learning, reading, and curious. I love to learn, and I am grateful for that. Here is me looking up something again (after I find the perfect iTunes song of course).

Day 6, Memories: I write another blog called South of I-80 and every time I write, I recall so many happy and hilarious memories growing up. My family is truly a mix of some of the most wonderful people I have ever met in my life, and the memories keep me laughing. This is a picture of my Dad and I that I have hanging in my house, I just snapped a picture of it on my iPhone.

Day 7, Innovation: The day after Election Day. I’m so thankful and grateful for my ability to vote and be part of a country that is governed of the people, by the people and for the people. Thank you to the innovators over 200 years ago that have made this possible today. This is me walking into the polling place.

 

Day 8, Sleep: I, of course, am always grateful for a good night’s sleep, but lately as I tip toe into the kids’ rooms every night to check on them, fix their covers and give them one more kiss. I am still so grateful that they let me do this. I know my days are numbered and they will be too cool for kisses, snuggles, bedtime stories, and footie jammies.

There you have it, another week of absolute gratitude.

Have an awesome weekend, everyone!

Grateful: November Challenge

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November usually marks the beginning of a lot of gratitude. People all over the internet are Facebooking, pinning, and tweeting their gratitude for the month of November. There are millions of examples of thankful tablecloths, jars, and river rocks. While I love all these ideas, I wanted to do something that I knew I could do every single day.

All week I was trying to find the perfect way to express how grateful I am for all the blessings that me and my family have. Basically, I wanted something that was easy. We have hectic lives and hectic schedules, and sometimes the gratitude is happening right there in the moment. Like when I’m watching the kids throw leaves in the air, and I think, “Thank goodness they are healthy.”

 

The rest of the day passes, and I’m too exhausted to write it on river rocks. So, after some Googling (another thing for which I am grateful) I found the Thirty Day Gratitude Photo Challenge.

This is PERFECT! I am still learning to use our new Canon Rebel (post to come next week), and I am starting to love everything about Instagram, I knew that more times than not I would probably have a camera in hand. So, I’m joining the challenge. Who else is in?

On Fridays in November, in will be dumping all the grateful moments I’ve had that week. Also, if you want you can ‘Like’ the Home Everyday fan page or follow me on Instagram (eskibs). Let’s share all the reasons we are grateful together.

So, since this is the first Friday of November, here are my first two grateful photos.

November 1, Words: My kids are all so close in age that I can remember a time when they were all too little to say anything. So while I had a full house of kids, I did a lot of talking without a lot of response. So grateful, that all of them can communicate with me now. Like when George said, “Mommy, you are my friend, and you are my superhero.”

 

November 2, Technology: Today, I’m so grateful that I can sit wherever I like to blog, listen to music, check email and edit pictures. Even if it means at 6:30 a.m. with a cup of tea at the dining room table.
Stay tuned for the next few weeks of gratitude. Anyone else want to join in on the fun? (Don’t forget you can see more timely updates via Home Everyday’s Facebook fan page or follow eskibs on Instagram and #gratitude30).