Thankful Thursday

Is it Thursday again already? Really, where does the time slip away to? The minutes seem to be slipping by more and more quickly these days, which gives me cause to wonder if I'm making the best use of the time I'm given. Each day is a gift, and we never know when that gift will be taken away from us.

Which brings me to the point: I'm thankful for all the moments that make up a day, which make up a week, a month, a year, my life. And all of those various moments are encased in choices. Some people aren't fortunate enough to have numerous opportunities every day to make choices for themselves. For those of us that are so blessed, I am grateful for the choices and the lessons, the opportunities for growth, and the miracles that lie within them.

Do I allow myself to give into the frustration and be upset about the challenges and difficulties that I face, or do I choose to handle them with grace and a clenched smile and face them head on?

Do I sit idly by and watch my children play with the same toys that they've played with a dozen times already this week, or do I seize that moment to put their shoes on their constantly moving feet and take them outdoors and blow bubbles the size of their heads and listen to their giggles of delight?

Do I cry tears of sorrow for the very close friend that will move away next week, or do I cherish the memories of all the moments that she has been in my life and made it a little more special?

Today I went out to my rose bush, with the intention of cutting some roses to put in a vase in my kitchen. The rose bush sits on the side of my house near the street, where everyone driving past can see it and appreciate its beauty, where the bees can buzz and pollenate, where the sun can soak the petals in warmth.

I chose instead to leave the flowers intact. To let them continue to grow and thrive as they will rather than disturb the path of nature, because that's what I'm grateful for at the moment in my own life.

Quaint Quotes

Recently I asked my Etsy friends (have I mentioned how much I love and adore my Etsy friends lately??) to share some of their favorite quotes with me. They obliged, of course, and now I want to share some of my favorites of the bunch with you.

How beautiful it is to do nothing, and then rest afterwards. -Spanish proverb

Here is a test to see if your mission on earth is finished... If you're alive, it isn't. -Richard Bach

If you would only have the faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could move mountains -Matthew 17:20

Life is raw material. We are artisans. We can sculpt our existence into something beautiful, or debase it into ugliness. It is in our hands. -Cathy Better (This quote is featured on the above photo, which will be available as a print in my Shultzie shop later this week.)

The forest is magnificent, yet it contains no perfect trees. -Gye Fram

I learn more from the experiences I hate than the ones I love. -Wally Lamb

We are the product of the choices we make, not the circumstances we face. -Roger Crawford

A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out. -Walter Winchell

The road to success is always under construction. -Lily Tomlin

Fall seven times, stand up eight. -Japanese proverb

Never place a period where God has placed a comma. -unk.

A few of my favorite things...

...from a few of my favorite Etsyans

With the economy unfortunately being what it is currently, I, like so many others, cannot treat myself to many of the beautiful creations that I find on Etsy. So I heart them for later, collecting my favorite items and favorite shops and making a mental wish list. As I do so, I drool over the talent that I find and want to share some of that talent with you.

1. A teabowl from one of my dearest Etsy friends, Elizabeth, of happylake. I am blessed to own several of her gorgeous creations. She is currently taking a little vaca from Etsy, but you can still browse through her sold items to see a sampling of her most beautiful clay work.

2. Too cute! This suncatcher from another friend who is near and dear to my heart, Jessica of beadbug00. I own several of her glass pendants and I would love to have this in my kitchen.

3. This painting epitomizes beauty. Painted by a very talented and wonderful woman, who is referred to as Jan the Great by those of us who know and love her. You can find more of her wonderful watercolors, as well as fantastic vintage finds in janeleven.

4. Thanks to the pink family, I have sworn off all manufactured soaps. I will only only only use handmade soap after using pinkparchment's soap for the first time. No soap-in-a-kit here. This stuff smells good enough to eat, lathers like no tomorrow, and lasts forever and a day (and much of it is vegan friendly). I don't know how they do it, but I hope they never stop!

5. Rhonda's lovely work, such as this cute bunny card, certainly fits in a cozy loft, or cabin, or country kitchen. Adorable and made with love! (When you visit her shop, don't forget to link to her new owl-themed shop!)

6. The seababes are not new to my blog, but they have many eye-catching new works of wearable art in their shop, such as this uber-gorgeous amethyst ring.

7. Check out these unique earrings, made by hemlock- so orange, so springy, they'll make you so glad.

8. Dellane of rainwolf shares her unique perspective of the world with us via her photography. I absolutely love this print that she captured while visiting Katoomba (how fun is that to say?!).

9. These whimsical Victorian earrings by jessi are just my style. Simple is elegant.

10. I can't help but adore these fun shoes by stacey of inkwear99! Truly tattoo inspired, they remind me of my lilly tat on my foot. When it's too cold for flip-flops, I'd love to have these warm my feet.

11. Fantabulous Carribbean tikis! Goat has many wonderful soaps in her shop (my personal fav is the pomegranate tiki) but the tikis are her hallmark.

12. Erica, of sierrapelonacrochet, is famous for filling treasuries with her adorable angel cats and hearts. She has other eclectic crochet creations as well.

13. Solange, of xbutterfly0318x, has recently reworked her shop using only the very highest quality silver and gemstones. Owning several pieces of her jewelry, I can attest to the quality of her workmanship and the beauty and originality of her designs, and would love some of these beautiful pearl hairpins. Truly inspiring.

14. The most unique polymer clay creations out there are made by clayitagain- this baby is made entirely of polymer clay (and a lot of love).

15. Rhody (Rowdy Rhody as we lovingly call her) makes the cutest wreaths I've ever seen, like this Easter one, which would cheer up absolutely any neglected doorway in your home.

16. Some people have to practice talent, and some people are born with it. If you are running your own Etsy shop at 14, you are born with it, such as Sandro does with his varying and unique creations such as this candle- yup, candle, not an actual edible dessert.

Thankful Thursday

I have so much to be thankful for everyday, but today I am most especially and fantastically grateful for my boys. They are a bubble of joy that bursts into my life every morning and refuses to pop even when they lay their tired little heads down at night.

Since Tanner hadn't been feeling well for the last five or so weeks, his demeanor had been less outgoing and smiley (which also happens when a person hasn't slept well in weeks and weeks). Within a day of surgery, you can see his usual self reemerging. He is laughing and dancing and Braeden is quite thrilled to have his little brother back, as well.

I'm thankful for the boys even when I leave the room for 23.7 seconds and come back to discover their "body art."

I'm thankful that Tanner finally let me give him a haircut (I thought I was going to have to start giving him a ponytail or braids every day for how long it was getting). Though I wouldn't think for a second to complain about those long curls.

I'm grateful that they have both taken such an interest in art. Particularly Braeden. The other day he got the watercolors out and began creating the most beautiful painting (I intend to print it and list it in my shop under his name). Yes, he watercolored the carpet in the process, which I think just makes him a true artist. ;)

I'm thankful to have boys that are happy and healthy and full of obnoxious amounts of energy. When I'm too exhausted to keep up with it, I can record it for others to enjoy:

Wednesday Update

Tanner's surgery is done and was successful. In about ten or fifteen minutes they had the right eardrum lifted and the tubes in both ears. He will start more antibiotics today, and start eardrops in his left ear today and in the right ear in a week. Then hopefully he will have another year illness- and pain-free (in his ears anyhow).

He woke up from the anesthesia fighting mad, just as last time. The anesthesiologist said he would expect nothing less, though, especially from a two year old. On the way home he mellowed out and took a short nap.

Tanner is a fighter. He fights having his ears checked, his temperature checked, his weight and height checked. Last time he got Rocefin (the antibiotic injection) he managed to grab hold of the needle while it was in his bum and drag it through his skin. So it was no surprise to me today that he grabbed his IV and yanked it right out of his hand. They wrapped it up to stop the bleeding and to minimize the bruising.

By the time we got home Tanner woke up and was ready for a snack. He had some cheese and crackers with a little bit of milk, and once I made sure his tummy was settled enough he had a popsicle. He was walking around like a drunk little man for a bit, but he's less wobbly now and I suspect very soon it will be difficult to slow him down.

Thanks once more for all of the prayers and support. I suspect that he and I will both rest easily tonight. Oh, and my antibiotics have finally kicked in and I can feel the strep throat getting better. Amen!

A couple more updates very quickly. They will test Tanner's hearing when he has his follow-up in about a month. We will know then if his hearing has returned. Also, they gave Tanner some medicine before the surgery that made him sleepy before they took him to the O.R., and the Dr. said that will also obscure any memory he may have of the surgery. He supposedly won't remember anything from the time he got that medicine until the time he got home, which is comforting to me.

And lastly, here is Tanner showing off a couple of souvenirs I found when I went to change him for his nap. He is still looking like a bit of a drunkard here, lol: