Grateful

Thanks for all your kind comments last week.  Events surrounding my grandma's funeral all went well.  I had such mixed feelings because she was 88 years old and lived a good, long life.  There is still sadness, but it was also enjoyable seeing family I haven't seen in years.

Miss C and I took a trip back home for the funeral.  We left the hubs and the twins to fend for themselves.  Three of my four siblings made it home.  My youngest brother from Boston didn't make it, but we understood his absence considering his wife gave birth to their second child just four days before the funeral.

I returned to the normal craziness including two little kiddos who seemed to have saved all their grumpiness for me while I was gone.  I did get to sew on Saturday for our guild sewing day.  That's always a highlight.

I've been thinking a lot recently about how grateful I am for things.  Sometimes I feel so overwhelmed with all I try to fit in.  I get frustrated will all the little petty things in life.  My life gets a bit frantic and very frustrating with three small kiddos.  I even get overwhelmed with all the blogs I follow and projects I see.  For some reason I see all this great inspiration and feel like I have to keep up with everyone, make spectacular projects constantly, and do it all right now.  I seem to forget what is right in front of me, what I have, and what I have actually accomplished.  It's too easy to compare ourselves.

I was reminded last week how much I have as I again heard stories of how little my grandma had and how difficult her life really was at times.  She grew up in poverty, lost her first husband in a hunting accident when my dad was just five years old, then married again to the man I knew as Grandpa, but the marriage was very difficult for many, many years.  Through it all she was a survivor.  She raised four children and two step-children, and has 26 grandchildren and 83 great-grandchildren with four more on the way very soon.  Her family was always very important to her.

Right now I'm trying to focus a bit more on what I'm grateful for and enjoy it.  I'm grateful for my cute little family, for a home that keeps us safe and warm, for a husband who supports and loves me, and for a hobby that is fun for me and brings many wonderful people into my life.  Even though I will never meet many of you, I appreciate the chance to get to "know" so many great, creative people who love this crazy hobby just like I do.  Thanks so much to all of you for sharing what you love.  That's what this whole blogging thing is really about--just sharing what we love.

Finally, just a few fun pictures from recent days around here of some "things" I'm grateful for.

Wishing you all a wonderful day.