ten thoughts on a wednesday |46|

 
 

one.
i love that thanksgiving comes right before (slash in the midst of?) christmastime. cultivating gratitude in my heart just sets me up just right for approaching christmas with a spirit of giving and simplicity.
you'd think we'd celebrate thanksgiving less living away from america and having the fourth thursday in november be a regular old work day, but this year we celebrated a lot more than usual - with three separate thanksgiving feasts. somehow the only pictures i have of said celebrating are the four above showing off the leaves on our thankful tree, the leaves on our street, and moses in the turkey costume we made together ;) we are blessed to have feasted with friends and family over here across the pond.

two.
speaking of gratitude and christmas giving...
it can be really overwhelming (at least for me!) to decide where and how to give donations when there are so many needs and so many organizations addressing those needs in our world. i feel thankful to have a direct connection to someone working closely with perhaps our world's most acute need presently - refugees. a family friend who works with the oinofyta centre for refugees in greece has shared information with my sister about the people staying at the centre (600 syrian refugees, 300 of which are children - 90 under the age of two, and 75 of which are nursing or pregnant mothers). and as i've learned about these families stories and needs, my heart has been so so swollen. my sister and her children have organized an awesome fundraising campaign to help. these families have fled unimaginable conditions and extreme violence in a desperate bid for a better life. yet, 1200 dangerous miles later, they find themselves struggling once again for survival.
please check out my nieces' and nephews' fundraising page and consider donating to this extremely worthy cause as you move through the abundance of the christmas season. all donations are matched 1:1, so even a small donation goes a long way.

it feels so frivolous to talk about anything else in this post now...! but i do have eight more thoughts to share... and here's some pictures of the world's smiliest, cutest, sweetest baby boy:
  

three.
my brother tal recently introduced me to two different compilations of short videos that are fascinating and useful: the school of life youtube channel and the atlantic's "home school" video series. if you have a spare 5-10 minutes here and there in your day, give a few of them a quick watch. tal is perhaps the deepest thinker i know, has a degree in positive psychology, and is always full of interesting ideas and conversations that promote growth. love him.

 

four.
i am 100% convinced that candy cane joe joe's are the best treat in the entire world. ian's cousin was in town last week and brought us a box...! i cannot be too emphatic about this. i love loooove looooove candy cane joe joe's.

five.
the text exchange in the screenshot above sure made my day. ian is such a fantastic dad and gosh am i grateful that he is the father of my children. there are a lot of reasons being married to ian is awesome. another one is that he really loves to thoroughly research and plan trips and experiences. i often just get to be his +1 on all kinds of adventures that he has very carefully organized. this past week he sorted through a bunch of logistics and tips to make sure we will have the best possible experience when we visit the vatican on our trip to rome at the end of december and when we attend the royal ascot in june. those are just two examples of many, many. i'm a lucky girl.

six.
i was thinking that we could go without a double buggy (between the carrier, scooter, ride board and single buggy), but a few weeks ago we caved and bought one second hand. and i'm so glad. when you live in a city without a car and with kids, strollers are important. and having the option of keeping both boys strapped in a seat when we are out and about is awesome. the bonus is that moses loooves having gabey right next to him in a buggy. he's been almost as thrilled about that as he has about sharing a bedroom with his little brother (which he mentions excitedly pretty much every day).

 

seven.
i've been thinking a lot lately about different stages of life - as i've been chatting with friends and sisters that are in different stages than me. i think there's a lot of power in acknowledging and choosing to cherish our current chapter. there's hard things about each one, but if we focus on the good we get to really enjoy the journey. that all sounds so cheesy and trite, but isn't it true? my stage right now is sometimes totally chaotic, and includes sleep-deprivation, tantrums, and lots and lots of little messes to clean up. i'm still learning how to get things done in mostly ninety second increments when i'm somehow not busy caring for a little boy, and i'm adjusting in allocating time for self-care. sometimes i daydream about the future when the kids are in school all day. but this is my chapter!! and it's wonderful and happy in so many ways that i don't want to regret not cherishing.

eight.
i've also been thinking more (i mentioned this in my last ten thoughts post) about ways that i've changed over the past decade or so. a couple recent observations: i enjoy food less generally but chocolate much more, and my wardrobe has completely morphed from super colourful to mostly neutral. i guess i'm just evolving in all different ways. and i think that's kind of great. being a human is neat.

nine.
when we were in switzerland a couple weeks ago, i stayed up way too late one night chatting with my brother and sister-in-law. we had a lively discussion and the main (unanswered) question that came out of it was: why do we assume that it is better to lead than to follow? i could write a lot more about this but ooop, i just heard moses starting to wake up from his nap! this is the chapter of my life...! ;)

ten.
so i'll end this post with some pictures of london christmastime, which is the best! sooo excited about this christmas with two excited little boys.

 
 


happy wednesday!
life is beautiful!