Day 23

29th January 2014

Today I am grateful for the lovely relationship between my two boys, Narada and Charlie. This moment between them when Narada was serving dinner caught my attention. Charlie has a love of food and cooking, and always wants to help his Dad when he's in the kitchen. It's funny watching him later on when he's in his play kitchen doing the things he's been watching Narada do so closely.

Narada was always a very keen player of Lego as a kid so he takes great joy in playing Duplo with Charlie.

Then then my final bit of gratitude for the day is for my favorite time with my kids, reading them stories. I love to read to them, put on different voices for different characters, get them to read along when they can, discuss the pictures and snuggle up to me as we go through the final part of their day. It gives me so much pleasure to do this with them, and I think it is such a vital thing to do with our children. 

Day 22

28th January 2014

With Mum being so sick it's been difficult to find moments to laugh at the moment, so today my gratitude goes to those who gave me moments of laughter.

Firstly my husband Narada trying on some funny sunglasses at Pigeon Hole, a shop in the city. Silly I know but I love his silliness! 

In the evening we had dinner at my Mum in law Deb's house and her partner Adam entertained Hanna with his quirky Irish humour. Hanna had great fun and laughed so much at that at one stage, after he tried to convince her that it wasn't chicken but crocodile we were eating for dinner  she yelled out "G.G (what she calls Deb) Adam's being CHEEKY!"  He had us all laughing which as they say is always the best medicine.

Day 21

January 27th 2014

Today I'm grateful for community and the fun that can be had when people get together. We went down to North Fremantle to the hilliest park I had ever seen and a group of mix ages races and families set up a hundred feet water slide, squirted it with water and detergent, cranked a generator to power blasting out tunes and participated in slipping and sliding down the slide on a sunny public holiday Monday afternoon. I sat on the sidelines with Charlie and observed, but it was so uplifting to see the glee, joy, happiness and pure delight on every ones faces as they threw themselves to the mercy of plastic on the hill. It was a real treat to watch Hanna and her Dad go down the slide fearlessly. Here are my grateful moments from the afternoon.

 

Day 20

26th January 2014

An easier day to get through today. Mum is slowly improving which I am so grateful for. As she allows herself to rest she will continue to improve.

This afternoon we headed up to the Eastern Hills to catch up with my Grandmother and my Aunty and Uncle. As we were about to go my Gran said "Doesn't my garden just take your breath away?" I took a moment to capture both her and her flowers on camera. My Gran has always been my friend, confidante and is always in my corner in difficult times. At 88 she is finding the going getting harder, but she always manages to see her way through with laughter and her wicked sense of humor. 

Day 19

25th January 2014

Mum had a very worrying day today and my gratitude is first and foremost to the staff of the Intensive Care Unit for their amazing care of my Mum at the moment. They not only treat Mum with care, dignity and great respect, but they are also so good to us her family, always taking time to talk to us, ask questions about Mum, her life, her loves and her care for others. I'm so grateful for this.

Mum had a delivery arrive from her work colleagues, and she was unable to see it as flowers can't kept in her ward, so I took photos of her gifts. So grateful for the outpouring of love and kindness for her right now.

On a lighter note my other grateful moment that made me laugh this afternoon was my cat Jasper sprawling himself out on the windscreen before I drove back up to the hospital. He lay their languidly and was very reluctant to move from his spot until I picked him up. It's his favorite place to be, and I wonder sometimes if he actually wants to get in the car with me and go where ever I may be going. 

Day 18

24th January 2014

Firstly I want to apologise for the lateness of my last couple of posts. It's been a really really difficult week (all the more reason for me to grab on to those moments of gratitude!) and by the time I go to type it all up at the end of the day I'm a zombie! 

Fridays gratitude goes towards my beautiful Mum in Law Deb, who took the kids for the day while I went up to visit my Mum in hospital. She is such a fun person and her grandchildren just adore her and always find themselves doing interesting things when they are with her. She is also an amazing kindergarten teacher, and as a student teacher I consider her to be one of my most important mentors. She has been a rock for me during this really rough time with my Mum and I wouldn't be getting through it as well without her.

My second little moment of gratitude was this note left by our house cleaner and my friend Kylie. A little gesture that meant so much.

Day 16 & 17

23rd January 2014

The past two days have been so tumultuous so today is a rare day where I will be giving you two days of gratitude rolled into one - with only one photo sorry.

Yesterday my grateful moment was watching a new friendship begin to take place between my daughter and Charlie's Family Day Care Lady's son, Ben. They were on the same holiday day camp together and Ben told me at the end of the day he was starting to be able to "understand" Hanna a lot better. At the end of the day we all has an impromptu visit down to the beach and Ben and Hanna played and played and played. It was so lovely to see - I feel so grateful when I see my daughter making new friends, I know it isn't an easy thing to do when you have a limited vocabulary. Here is my picture of my grateful moment for Wednesday.

My grateful moment of today is the beautiful smile Mum gave me today as she awoke groggily after major surgery. It was a welcome and very special moment!

Day 15

21st January 2014

" "Really really need d & m + Scrabble and iced coffee at the moment!!! Are you up for it?"

ok

Awesome coffee machine is ON

be over soon

that is the best news I've heard all day" "

Very very grateful for friends, iced coffees and Scrabble this afternoon. Lisa was there like a shot when I sent her this distress signal after I had had a really rough day. Those three things were the perfect trifecta for me to pick myself up and dust myself off a bit. Here are my grateful moments this afternoon.

Day 14

MONDAY 20TH JANUARY 2014

Today my gratitude is for our Family Day Care Lady who looks after Charlie in her home, Andrea. This beautiful kind and caring lady brings Charlie so much joy and is helping to guide him through the ups and downs of toddler hood, from hat wearing, toilet training, sharing with other children, eating fruit and vegetables and all those other bits and pieces that can be struggles and trials for a 2 year old. Andrea is there to guide him through this stuff, and she is also a great friend to me. She always makes us feel welcome and even when she has half a dozen kids running around she still manages to find time for a chat and a laugh. Today I captured this moment when Andrea was constructing trucks with Charlie. This is my grateful moment for today. Joining in the play is Charlie's friend Diezel.

Day 13

19th January 2014

My grateful moment today was late this afternoon while painting the pirate ship, my faithful animal companion Jasper watching on approvingly, Hanna sitting in the tiny old sand pit concentrating as she tipped sand from one container to another, Charlie running around with nothing on happily and the Weber cranked roasting a rack of lamb Narada was preparing for dinner. It was a moment on this Sunday afternoon of pure contentment, and I captured this grateful moment on this perfect warm summers afternoon on my I phone camera.

 

Day 12

18th January 2014

Today my grateful moment was the late afternoon at Rockingham beach. I love this little corner of the world we live in, especially in the summer. The water is crystal clear and teems with little fish, crabs and the occasional jelly fish, the beach has some shelter from the wind and I am so grateful to have opportunities to unwind there with my family. It's a lovely place to find many moments of gratitude!

 Hanna is our water baby and enthusiastically swims out with her Dad, Charlie is a bit of an aqua phobe and tends to like sitting on the shore digging holes and building sand castles, just tolerating getting his feet wet. Narada loves being out in the water with Hanna and it's where they share some special moments together. 

And me? I just love the feel of the sand between my toes and the salt from the ocean  on my lips!

 

 

Day 11

January 17th 2014

Today my gratitude was for a milder summers day in the most beautiful park in the world, catching up with old friends and watching my beautiful cherubs play and explore the Treetop Walk at Synergy Park in Kings Park. It was green and glorious and I was so grateful to be where we were today with my beautiful kids.

Day 10

January 16th 2014

I am very very very grateful today to my beloved sister friend Lisa. Feeling very down this morning she offered to come over with her son Hunter. On arriving she took one look around the house and said "Right where shall I start?". She explained to me that when you're under stress having a messy house would only create more of it, so she took it on her self to start tidying up the lounge room. I love this girl so much. Whenever I need someone she's there, and she's just been a tower of strength for me the last few days since my Mum has been sick. I wish everyone in the world could have a friend like Lisa! 

Here is my moment of gratitude when she was standing in our transformed, clean playroom. Thank you beautiful lady!! x

Day 9

15th January 2014

This morning my Mum sent me a text and asked "Are the kids happy?" I looked up and said "Hanna show me your happy face" and quickly took a picture to send to my Mum. Her reply was "Yes she definitely looks happy" - Later that day she spoke to me again and said "I just can't stop looking at that photo of Hanna".  My daughter Hanna's "Happy Face" is my grateful moment today. She lights up rooms with that smile, and wherever that smile goes it spreads warmth and love.

 

Day 8

January 14th 2014

My moment of gratitude today is my Mum's smile. The picture I captured today is her face lighting up while playing with her grandson (my boy Charlie). Mum is facing a lot of adversity at the moment but she still manages this beautiful smile even in the toughest of times. One of the reasons I love her so much and why this is my moment of gratitude today.

Day 7

13th January 2014

Today my first grateful moment just could not be photographed, as it came via messages from family and friends sending their love and support during this tough time for our family. The love and warmth was just so overwhelming - and I know those positive thoughts are going to help my mother as she goes on her difficult journey, and to me and my family as we embark on it with her. 

My grateful photo today is of my dinner. My husband Narada cooks dinner every night for us, he does it with passion and with what he says is his secret ingredient - love. His amazing meals have kept me sustained for the past 14 years, and our kids for the past 9.  Tonight it was simple pasta cabonara, but it was so good and nourishing that I just had to share it as my photographic grateful moment of my day.  

Day 6

January 12th 2014

Today was a day full of gratitude. Gratitude for my family, their strength in the tough times, and the common blood ties that can be stronger than steel when they have to be. It was also a day of gratitude to the woman that makes this all possible and brings us all together, our Mum. So many pictures today - one just was not enough to capture the emotions and hope from today. So grateful for these moments. They are more precious than gold.