Gratitude parts 12 & 13

I realize my gratitude hasn't been very overflowing of late and I blame it all on One Pretty Thing and the resulting craft mania. I have been so busy, not too busy to be grateful but too busy to blog about it. Today I give you parts 12 and 13:

I am grateful for a home that keeps us safe from the elements. Last night I was keenly aware of this as the wind threatened to uproot every tree in the Pacific Northwest. I listened to it howl and thrash about my four walls and was ever so grateful for this house that keeps us warm and dry and protected. This morning the rain was pounding down so hard and again I was grateful for this home.

I am also grateful to be a mother of three. I was reflecting how each child has shaped and changed me in so many ways. How the chambers of my heart have been unlocked again and again. Who knew the heart had so many places? I didn't, not until I had children. And I realized that a woman doesn't really become a woman until she has been a mother. No offense to those who are trying to become mothers or haven't the opportunity. Those of you who can but have decided not to, you should try it, really. You don't know what you are missing.