#409-430

The Joy Dare continues. Learn more here.

MY LIST CONTINUED...

 409. The Girl's joy at getting her very own library card

410. Creating a kitchen backsplash mosaic that the homeowner loves
411. Working on a tile project with my aunt
412. The accomplishment that comes in finishing a job - and within the time frame I had!
413. Sangria with maraschino cherries
414. A walk at twilight around a quiet Stillwater lake
415. Rocks, twigs and pinecones - The Girl's treasure trove after a nature walk
416. Excitement that comes with looking forward to something
417. Easy-to-cut travertine tiles
418. Rice bowls
419. Staying up late with wine and good conversation
420. Morning cuppa tea (or two)
421. Learning a new game with friends
422. A child's all out there style of love
423. A Facebook reminder to appreciate the amazing early childhood years, despite all the work that comes with them - they really are so precious
424. The Boy's swagger
425. The Boy's exaggerated swagger when we notice and start copying him - HILARIOUS!
426. Buildings with books, so many books we can borrow
427. New public art created by students at the high school
428. High school students with paint brushes in hand, focused on their role in a larger mural
429. A last-minute babysitting request filled
430. The brown coffee mug from J. with its large flowers that I use every day

#377 - 408 - Spring, oh warm spring days!

The Joy Dare continues. Learn more here.

MY LIST CONTINUED...
377. Sun warming my bare arms during a walk with good, old friends and lots of kids
378. Sitting in the sun with a book, planning out my garden

379. Making felted eggs
380. Sunlight glinting off glass beads

381. The Boy's first painting project

382. The Girl's painted mugs
383. Finishing projects and watching the kids finish projects. I love finished projects.

384. Sage Norwegian advice for growing flowers
385. Visiting a coffee shop I've wanted to get to for over 6 months
386. Silver ceiling tiles at Keen Coffee
387. The Boy sleeping in my arms for over an hour at the coffee shop as we talked with subdued voices
388. Whimsical artwork hanging on the coffee shop walls - in oh, such bright colors!

389. A classic yellow Tonka truck

390. The Boy's fascination with this sky - he kept looking up and then looking up again to catch a glimpse of the blue and white and black

391. Green rain boots - They're way too big for the Boy, but that makes them easy to get on and he simply loves them
392. The quote AJ picked for her coffee mug project: I solemnly swear I am up to no good
393. A stolen half hour without either kid to read a book - Thanks A and J!
394. A packed community meeting regarding the Midtown Farmer's Market site
395. The soft feel of my baby's hair while we snuggle
396. The way The Girl still fits in my arms, gangly at age 5

397. Shrieking cousins at a birthday party
398. My Shutterfly photo books, a way for me to capture our family history
399. Audio books
400. Short videos made by a teen showcasing Minnesota's birds in the spring
401. Bird calls

402. My big fat fluffy black cat
403. Chicory and mango juice
404. The Girl learning 1-5 in Spanish just like that when music and dance were added to a lesson
405. Shiny, soft yarn
406. Tea tins
407. Curious George - music, movies, books and stuff animals
408. Stan Tekiela's field guides

Gifts redeemed, round and uncovered

The Joy Dare continues. Learn more here.

Joy Dare Prompts:
3 Gifts Redeemed
3 Gifts Round
3 Gifts Uncovered

MY LIST CONTINUED
361. White and black tiles from a floor project at the Cambridge house
362. Birds roosting on the pillars of the Hiawatha/Lake bridge
363. Another dinner redeemed as this night's soup
364. Ugly power station redeemed by artistic panels that turn to gold in the last light of day

365. Round wooden cupcake toys to play with on a playdate with a friend

366. Letter V lesson

367.  Wingspan as wide as...

  368. Round grain elevators with the world's largest mural spread across

  369. Round bicycle and stroller tires we can finally take out because the snow is melting!

  370. More round grain elevators - there are two rows stretching along a railroad in this area of Hiawatha Ave.

371. Exploring a new building in our neighborhood

 372. Curvy landscaping near the historic panels at the Longfellow Station

373. Each panel tells a story...

 374. Our sandbox is no longer covered by snow

 375. Leaves uncovered after the looooooooong winter

376. An experiment on grass that has been uncovered from its winter blanket - Volcanoes!

#344-360

The Joy Dare continues. Learn more here.

Joy Dare Prompts:

3 Gifts White
3 Gifts Entwined

MY LIST CONTINUED
344. Photos of The Boy and The Girl wearing long johns in the freshly fallen April snow
345. A wonderfully shaped white coffee mug
346. White tips on the Wet Brush that makes brushing the wet hair on a child so much easier
347. Little fingers in mine
348. Two heads of blond/brown hair
349. The gratitude list I keep and the one my best friend keeps
350. The sound of the rain
351. A black crow flying towards a white fence
352. The white husky standing guard in front of a city house, standing on the leftover snow
353. Rice and beans and salsa - our new favorite lunch
354. The felt butterfly eye patch
355. AJ feeding The Boy
356. 3 heads bent together - one 11, one 5 and one 1.5
357. Memories of the Arrowsmith concert C- and I attended in the 1990s
358. The Mona Lisa mural on Fat Lorenzo's outdoor wall
359.  Blue boots searching for every puddle
360. Turquoise in the stained glass window at Park Ave. United Methodist



THE GIRL'S LIST
- Bunny ears
- My white hat
- My school books
- Notebooks
- Birthday decorations
- Houses
- Car wash
- Frogs

Joys #327-343

The Joy Dare continues. Learn more here.

March Joy Dare Prompts:
3 gifts spoken
A gift sung, written, painted
3 gifts almost gone

MY LIST CONTINUED
327. Praise for my guacamole from Auntie
328. Thanks for organizing a field trip
329. Telling my Hawaii stories from a 12-hour layover when I was 12 to The Man
330. Rediscovering old music (Petra, Michael W. Smith, Collective Soul, White Heart, Steven Curtis Chapman)
331. My Bible Study's gratitude list

332. The Girl's beautifully painted birdhouse

333. AJ's great watercolor inspired while we were at Wood Lake Nature Center
334. Teasource Spice Blend

335. Sap from the maple trees (such a short, sweet season) - one we learned about with our preschool homeschool group

336. Gorgeous snowy views

337. Tasting the watery sap right from the tree

338. The mud puddle under the gutters in the back yard

339. Finally - A walk through the neighborhood in near 60 degree weather and exploration of what is near

340. A history lesson written on the side of a new apartment building

341. A picnic lunch indoor with friends

342. The last tile laid on my bathroom project! It's almost a workable bathroom!

343. Hard plum cider imported from England, drank in Minneapolis

Want to be happy? Be grateful: Brother David Steindl-Rast at TEDGlobal 2013

This recent TedTalk fits in perfectly with the lesson about gratitude and joy I've been working at learning. So, I thought I'd share the link.

Here is the first paragraph:

David Steindl-Rast is a monk, and a composed, serene figure to wrap up the last session of TEDGlobal 2013. His theme, gratefulness, is also appropriate for the end of a long and intense week. After all, he points out, we all share the same essential goal: to be happy. And gratitude provides the key. “We all know people who have lots of misfortunes that we ourselves would not want to have, and they are deeply happy, they radiate happiness,” he says. Why are they like this? “Because they are grateful. It is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.”

http://blog.ted.com/2013/06/14/want-to-be-happy-be-grateful-brother-david-steindl-rast-at-tedglobal-2013/

#313-326

The Joy Dare continues. Learn more here.

March Joy Dare Prompts:
3 Gifts that made you laugh
A gift salty, sweet, just right
3 Gifts found in God's word
3 Gifts found in women today

MY LIST CONTINUED

313. The Boy's smile

314. The Girl's laugh at using an umbrella in the rain.

315. The Boy's wet, wet shirt after playing in the sink while I made dinner for company
316. Sea salt
317. Sweet treats at A Cupcake Social
318. Asparagus grilled with lemon and garlic
319. Exhortation to do and not just hear (1 James)
320. Realizing the number of times the word "thanks" precedes action in the Bible
321. God's word as a lens so that the world doesn't warp
322. Nadia Boltz Weber
323. Anne Lamott: "The opposite of faith isn't doubt. It is certainty."
324. Ann Voskamp

325. Seeing The Girl's photo in the newspaper I've been reading since I was a kid

326. Watching The Girl learn to write the letter V

Bubbles, sunlight and stories

The Joy Dare continues. Learn more here.

MY  LIST CONTINUED
301. Iridescent bubbles on the windows during a car wash
302. Sunlight reflecting off water droplets
303. Josey's smile during the car wash - she just loves them!
304. Photo frames on the wall that haven't been hung up since we moved 3.5+ years ago.
305. Running into 2 people I knew while at the neighborhood library - it's starting to feel like home down here

 306. The Little Boy baking gluten-free banana bread

 307. Finger puppets for Purim

 308. Lego groggers for Purim

 309. Seeing my daughter and her grandma together

310. A tree nearby being yarn-bombed!
311. Watching AJ have fun with The Girl and The Boy
312. Listening to AJ tell stories about The Boy

My list #287-301

The Joy Dare continues. Learn more here.

March Joy Dare Prompts:
3 hard eucharisteos
A gift turned, folded, hung
3 gifts red
3 Gifts Eaten

MY LIST CONTINUED
287. A new bathroom sink
288. Shopping
289. Spring - oh so lovely and oh so allergy-inducing!
290. Fancy Nancy books
291. Cloth diapers
292. The amazingly gorgeous, handmade window decoration The Girl got from Auntie C for her birthday
293. Red jewels on the earrings C gave me during The Boy's Baby Blessing
294. Red Crocs that The Boy wears around the house every day
295. Red on the inside of our Target bowls
296. Homemade granola
297. A's chickpea salad

298. My boy, the banana bread baker
299. A handwritten note in a package of hats from Alabama
300. Reliving the highlights of this year's Olympics by reading online articles and printing them out for The Girl's notebook
301. The aroma of baked chicken filling the house, a chicken cooked by the Hubs

THE GIRL'S LIST
Owls
Birds
Spring

The feeling of lightness in gifts given away

The Joy Dare continues. Learn more here.

March Joy Dare Prompts:
3 gifts found in silence
3 gifts given away

MY LIST CONTINUED
267. Quiet mornings when I have space to think my own thoughts
268. Nap time when I have time to work in the silence
269. The rare evenings when the house is quiet and I can read

 270. A hat for Team Yarn

271. A hat for the new baby of a dear girl I've known since she was a toddler

272. Another hat for Team Yarn - Head Huggers
273. The feeling of lightness I have at Team Yarn meetings, in gathering together for a great cause, in giving of ourselves, in learning over and over how valuable it is to volunteer and give to others
274. The fun of seeing how creative our Team Yarn members are
275. Chai cold press at Silverwood Cafe in St. Anthony
276. Knowing I encouraged someone and inspired them to make their own handmade hats
277. Turning sorrow into gifts
278. Watching The Girl begin to draw letters
279. Telling The Girl how to spell the words she asks about
280. Chocolate pudding made with dates in place of sugar, shared with close friends
281. Shrinking snowdrifts
282. The sound of late spring snow pellets when we walk on them
283. The Girl's joy when she comes out of her gymnastic class
284. Books from A Little Free Library

285. The Girl's glittery fairy masterpiece
286. The Boy's love of m&ms, received after he uses the potty

THE GIRL'S LIST
- Bubbles
- Tinkerbell
- Chocolate pudding

So many gifts today

The Joy Dare continues. Learn more here.

March Joy Dare Prompts:
3 gifts in Christ
A gift in wind, in water, in white
3 gifts round

MY LIST CONTINUED
244. An amazing group of ladies at Wednesday morning Bible Study
245. Purim finger puppets
246. Purim face masks
247. Seeing The Girl enjoy one of my most favorite thing: board games!
248. Hearing about the voracious appetites my kids develop when A- feeds them
249. Seeing The Boy cuddled up in A's lap reading a book
250. Rearranging my walls

251. The satisfaction of finally putting all the pieces in place for my mosaic (it only took 1 month - aiii!)
252. A colorful, round plate of healthy food
253. 2 more bookshelves in my hallway library
254. The smell of the spring wind
255. The Boy two-fisting it: aqua sippy with water, orange sippy with Kombucha

256. White training underwear, white toilet and the white shirt on a Helpful Girl
257. The tang Balsamic vinegar adds to a dish
258. A chubby round toddler face
259. The round wheels on The Boy's motorcycle t-shirt - what a fantastic pass-along find!