NOTE: It is not too late to sign up for the Restore Workshop. I believe it is open until this Saturday 4/12/14. You do not need to follow the workshop’s timeline. I am about a week behind the schedule. Some elements I like to take a little more time to work on and some days I simply run out of hours in the day. You can read my other post about the workshop here – Restore Workshop – Lessons Learned (Vol 1): Melt Downs & Being at Peace

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I am linking this post’s photos with Cari’s Theme Thursday: Remember. (Well, I was going to, but as of right now, there is no link-up. Maybe I missed something…)

I am linking up this post with the ladies over at Like Mother, Like Daughter for {pretty, happy, funny, real}, although it is a little out of order. 🙂

{real}

There are many lessons we are learning in the Restore Workshop and one of them is gratitude. I know it is sometimes easy for me to get bogged down with the “what is going wrong right now” and not pay attention to “everything that is going right.”

Part of our goal is to end our day in prayer and reflect on being thankful. Elizabeth asked us to write down five things we were thankful for at the end of each day. I had a small blank journal I got on clearance at Staples gathering dust on my book shelf so I thought it would be perfect to use as a gratitude journal. I added a quote from Mother Teresa on the front cover. It says:

“The best way to show my gratitude to God is to accept everything, even my problems with joy.”

I’ve got a looooong way to go until I can accept everything with joy but writing down five things seemed easy enough. I have to admit, it is not always easy to come up with five things every night. Sometimes I really have to ponder, particularly on days when it was just me, the kids, and housework. I had to look at the little things that brought a smile to my face whether it was a moment of humor or a phone call from my mom or a new recipe I tried that actually tasted good but I have been keeping track. Elizabeth said we could write it down or take photos, whatever works for us. Sometimes I add photos to my journal that highlight something I’m thankful for.

Other times, I don’t have five sweet things to ponder since I am just happy to have made it through the day…

…like Wednesday when all I could write was “#1-5 I am thankful I survived this freaking day! ” Baby steps. 😉

So with thanksgiving on my mind, here are some moments of gratitude from this week.

{pretty}

I took this photo today after the rain stopped. You can still see a few droplets on the petals. It’s easy to be grateful for God’s gorgeous creation.

I snapped this sunset with my phone the other day. After a long day I am extremely grateful when 7:30 PM arrives because it means the kids are in bed (despite their protests that it is still light outside) and I can enjoy a little respite with Brian. (I love my babies but I need some uninterrupted hubby time too. ;-))

{happy}

When I am cooking in the kitchen I usually chase the wild boys out but this time I was grateful for their laughter and humorous antics. So I hugged them and laughed with them and snapped their photo. (Although, afterwards I  did send them outside so I could finish cooking. ;-))

After two days of rain we were all grateful to get back outside in the sun. (I don’t know how people with real winters stand months and months of cold weather!) I was going to set up a shot but Andrew was determined to photobomb it while riding by on his scooter.

That face. How can so much cuteness cause me so much trouble. 😉 I’m grateful for a camera that allows me to record these precious moments that fly by way too fast!

My lovable boys are always eager to pose for the camera but Bella, not so much. I was grateful that she agreed to let me snap a picture of her. I love my sweet girl.

{funny}

For some reason Matthew loves going to the doctor and he gets upset when he can’t go with Brian to the cancer center. So instead he walks around the house singing “Time for a Check-up” but he was upset that his stethoscope kept falling down so he asked me to tape them to his ears. 😉 LOL.

Have a great weekend!

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