71. I was thankful for the soft fleecy inside of my zip up hoodie this morning. The cool January air, the shining sun, the blue skies, and the sight of my son climbing trees- awwww pure sweetness to my soul. Thankful that Jacob and I had 25 minutes together to just be together at a small park. Oh the sweetness, when he stopped and was delighted at the finding of a ladybug on one of the branches. He sat there studying it and letting it crawl all over his fingers. That was a sweet moment indeed. I tried to just soak up that moment. He was in no hurry to rush on; he just sat there studying it’s every detail. He shouted down to me: “Mama, one part of it is red and the other part is more of an orange color”. Ohhhh how I love that kind of attention to detail. Thank you God that you have given Jacob the sight and ability to see your intricate patterns and colors in nature. When he finally did want to continue on, he tried to let the ladybug transition to his shoulder so that it could go for a ride. And, yet, in that transfer somehow the ladybug feeeeeeeeelllllllll and hit the dirt/grassy patch below the tree. We both could hear the little sound as it thudded into the ground. “Oh no!!!” Jacob exclaimed, “is it still alive?!” I looked and yes, indeed, it was crawling away. And, yet, it now had one of its wings extended and seemed unable to curl it back under its red protective coat. It almost seemed to confirm in Jacob’s mind why he should climb with caution. He climbed with hesitating steps before that and now ensued a conversation about how things that fall fast to the ground can get hurt. So we talked about whether its the speed of the object that causes the injury. He said ‘yes, mama, yes. Something that is half a pound or something that is 20 lbs, have a different speed as they hit the ground.” Aha I could see a conversation unfolding about Force = mass times acceleration. Love it when learning can happen in the context of moments like this.

72. I am so thankful that we had 3 days with Martha! It was suuuuuuuuuch a treat to get to visit with her after so long. We had missed her! But now we got to hang out with her and have great quality time. Yay!! So thankful that we shared in memories of making snowball cookies, eating yummy steak and sitting at the dining room table for a couple hours chatting about life! Good stuff. So thankful that the kiddos and her had great quality time too! Loved it that Natalie yearned for hours and hours with her….a special one-on-one time heading over to Dino’s and back, followed by hours of mall time. Pure hilarity that Natalie dressed herself in Jacob’s clothes and Martha was willing to walk around with her looking like that while also carrying the potential weirdness-shame of walking with a booster seat for HOURS in the mall. Martha sure has a lot of confidence!