Made Me Smile Monday

{a snapshot from my week. with or without words. something exciting. something ordinary. something special. something silly. just something. that made me smile this week. a memory to brighten my day. to make me smile again. even though it's MONDAY!}

Made Me Smile Monday

{a snapshot from my week. with or without words. something exciting. something ordinary. something special. something silly. just something. that made me smile this week. a memory to brighten my day. to make me smile again. even though it's MONDAY!}


Confession Time. This whole Made Me Smile Monday project is a bit more difficult than I imagined. I didn't think it'd be hard to find one thing in a whole week that made me smile. But before you go ahead and write me off as Mama Scrooge, I DO smile, sometimes more than once a week. The problem here is that #1, I have to be alert for "smile moments" (okay, that's not really a problem, it's really the purpose of the whole idea, but it can be a hang up along away.) #2, they have to be photographable (apparently that's not a word but...) moments, and #3, when I do have my camera handy and remember to take a picture, it's best if it's not the sort of photograph that's blurry enough to make my children appear to have three heads or some other similar malfunction. Oh yes and  #4, it's a best to post Made Me Smile Monday on (drum roll please!)   MONDAY!

But this is  something I really want to do. It is good for me to be on the lookout for "smile moments" throughout my week and I really do smile more on Monday when I think of the good things from my previous week!

And since I've already cheated and rambled on and on about life instead of just posting my one neatly wrapped photo, I'm gonna mess with the whole system and post several from this week.

If I HAD to pick just one, it'd be this one.

"Why of coarse, we should hang the dart board beside the commode. It adds such a nice touch, why didn't I think of it before? Just knock before you come busting in with your weapons please!" (courtesy of small dude's decorating inc.)

But the uncontainable excitement of little people who hear their Daddy coming home after 2 days on the road is hard to beat.

And everyone knows giggles are contagious! Especially if they come from a rather small, sweet pea!

But when a girl is spoiled enough to be sent away for a whole weekend to do something she loves, there is definitely reason to smile!! No worries about looking for babysitters, no worries that little people would not be well cared for. No one to pack for but me. No meals to prepare or clean up. No schedule or interruptions to work around. Just 3 blissful days to preserve one of the most important things I have, MEMORIES. 45 pages in a little over 50 hours. (That makes me smile for a moment, until I start to do the math. 45 = half a year in one book. So does that mean that one book = 100 hours per year? And now we multiply that by 6. Ouch!) I may be digging a hole here that I will never come out of but that's okay. I do it because I enjoy it. I do it for my kids, who love to sit for hours and look back through their own little lives. I do it for my Husband who says, "Sometimes my kids really drive me  crazy but every time I look back at these pictures it makes me love 'em more!" And when it includes a weekend away with the girls, what's not to love!!!

There you have it, my smiles from the week. Come to think of it, I may have needed all four of these to get me through this Monday. 45 pages in 50 hours doesn't leave a lot of hours available for sleeping. It was a "draggin' my tail" sort of day. The second in as many weeks. The first one caused by  a stunt I haven't pulled since high school, best described as "Why yes, we were still sitting on the couch talking when her husband got up to milk. Is that unusual?" The hubs said I would regret that one, I assured him I wouldn't. Pay for it? yes! Regret it? NEVER. You can't put a price on a good heart to heart with a sweet girlfriend!

Hope your week is off to a great start! Don't forget to look for your own "smile moments" this week!

Sweet 3!

(...doesn't have quite the same ring to it as Sweet 16, but we'll be there soon enough.)

A very sweet little boy at our house turned 3 last week.

Found this little motorcycle at a yard sale this spring and it's been "hidden" in the attic waiting for this morning. Except a couple little boys discovered it when we were moving. I found two of them up in the attic one day playing quite happily. I chased them down and figured, they're kids, they'll forget soon.....No such luck. Almost every week they would ask me if they could play with it. But the great thing about little kids is that they don't mind second hand gifts that they've seen before, he was more then delighted with his new treasure!

His birthday kinda got lost in the chaos last year since we went to Florida for Christmas so we had to make sure we partied hard enough for two years this time. It's always more fun when they get old enough to remember what a birthday is and look forward to it ahead of time.  Is there any  better way to celebrate a sweet boy than with  an over the top, sugar loaded  sweet theme??

Candyland

There are lots of Candyland cake ideas online, this is how mine turned out.

It was a fun cake to make but let's just say I've had better tasting cakes.

Of course the kids loved it. I told them they could cut any piece they wanted. 

"Go ahead, take the gumballs outta the middle."

"Sure, you can have the piece with the chocolate tree."

And then, when know one was looking, the remains just "mysteriously" disappeared.

Decorating for this theme is easy-peasy!
Anything in primary colors works great!

dug deep down in my creativity for this game :)

build your own candy house

 Like I said, SUGAR OVERLOAD!

 If you want to use this party idea, I highly recommend a January birthday! It's a great way to use
up all that candy that collects over the holidays. And if you don't happen to collect enough, a good
after Christmas 75% off sale will set you up in a hurry!
One more quick tip: fastest,easiest way to do "Gingerbread" houses.....
use graham crackers and hot glue. At least at my house it's more about the fun of making then about eating them. So if you slap the crackers together with hot glue ahead of time, it will save you the
waiting time till the icing hardens or the frustration of trying to decorate a house that's not dry and
wants to fall apart.

Fun gifts from a fun Aunt.

It's hard to believe it's been 3 years already!

Some days I'm sure I can see him growing taller!

He's sweet. He's funny. He's snugly. He's smart. 

He's determined. He's a stinker!

But he's a keeper!

FYI, motorcycles make little boys a lot more excited and cooperative about photoshoots!

(and I know someone who has one if you ever need to borrow one.)

So we've officially (and almost instantly) gone from the "terrible two's" (not that I really believe in those) to the "Why Mom?" three's. Should be another adventure!

Made Me Smile Monday

{a snapshot from my week. with or without words. something exciting. something ordinary. something special. something silly. just something. that made me smile this week. a memory to brighten my day. to make me smile again. even though it's MONDAY!}

little boy's "motorcycle face"

Makes Me Smile Monday

{a snapshot from my week. with or without words. something exciting. something ordinary. something special. something silly. just something. that made me smile this week. a memory to brighten my day. to make me smile again. even though it's MONDAY!}

This Week: The last several boxes of icicle lights on the clearance shelves at Target. I badly wanted these for my wrap around porch this year but couldn't bring myself to pay full price. I was shocked that they still had some by the time I made it there on Wednesday.

What about you? What made you smile recently??

I'd love to hear about it!

Good vs. Best

While the rest of the world is moving on to New Year's resolutions, I'm still stuck back in December. I was too busy to post about this when it happened but I really want it documented so I can read it  later (again and again and again!) as a reminder to myself.

'Twas the week before Christmas 

Still so much that's not done.

My list is still long, at least 101.

There are presents to wrap and

Gifts to be made.

And I still can't decide, 

Is that the right shade??

The cleaning and laundry,

Help! I've fallen behind.

There is cooking and baking

O where is my maid??

Then a message I see in my FaceBook world,

I should have expected this from such a wise girl.

"If your list is too long and your feeling all stressed,

Just give up the good and stick with the best."

The words stick in my mind as I go through my day,

I try to make sure that my children aren't missed.

To read them a story or give them a kiss,

To not get annoyed when the get in the way.

They are most important, of course that's what I say,

But is that how they feel at the end of the day? 

{I have no idea where all this rhyme-y stuff came from but that pretty much exhausts my earth shattering (pssht) talents. Back to plain ole English here.}

To be honest, I had a little argument with myself first.
"Who, Me??"
"I can do this!" 
"I mean, really my list isn't THAT long."
"Besides, everything on MY list IS important." 
"Maybe, I shouldn't have procrastinated so much the last 2 weeks."
"Well, maybe there is one or two things I could skip." =)

And of course in the end I realized that it really is silly to stay up until 2 a.m. so that we have cookies with sprinkles on them. (You guessed it, no one even missed em.) The fresh greens never got made into festive arrangements. They're still on a pile on the porch, at this very moment. And the presents were just as fun to open without big gaudy bows on them. I did however, make a few notes for next year.

#1. If you want to make homemade gifts it might be best to decide this in May rather than December.

one of this year's projects

#2.Those projects that look/seem so simple, still take time, not a ton of time but some time and it all adds up!

and another. simple and useful.

 #3. No matter how organized and intentional you are, someone is bound to throw something at you at the last minute that you weren't planning on so you might as well just plan some extra time for it. Can we say flexible? And hey, if not, there's always a hot cup of coffee willing to jump in and save you from total boredom.

this year's unexpected project:
"Mom, I need an Isaiah costume by Sunday."

Whoa. Bunny Trail. Back to my original story.

 By Wednesday I had decided what had to go and had made enough progress on the rest that I scheduled a lunch date with my boy on Thursday. We set out to grab a few last minute things from a couple of stores and then he chose our lunch destination. Little Brother was riding with Daddy so it was just me and little Mr. Quality Time. =)

Well, Little Miss Blue-Eyed-Cute-Stuff snuck along, but she didn't cause any trouble.

 And since it was a "real date" we tapped into our "holiday cheer" and splurged on a Happy Meal (the kind with a toy!) and a Bacon Ranch Chicken Sandwich. (That's pretty special coming from this Mama. I can usually get lunch for 4 of us for about $7. Luv that $ menu!)

And then we took plenty of time to play too. The boy loved it! The Mama loved it! 

Relaxing. Fun. Special.

This really is the Best (and the good can just wait!)

(And while I was busy relaxing I figured out something else.....I really need a room with glass walls in my house, so much better lighting for my shutterbug habit!)

Christmas Past

Memories and tidbits from our Christmas this year......

Good times with family.

Meeting a new cousin for the first time.

Our traditional Christmas Eve. seafood dinner.

The invasion of our lives by the well known "Angry Birds."

(Yes, I realize we're behind the times on this one, I'm just thankful we didn't get sucked in sooner.)

 I think they call this male bonding.

The chance to celebrate Jesus' birthday at his house, and a lovely Christmas Program

presented by enthusiastic kiddos. Yes, the Christmas on Sunday thing messed with some of our 

traditions, but it just seemed right to be celebrating Him together!

Prophecy fulfilled! A Savior is born!

 I'm rewriting the old poem to go something like this....

The stockings were hung......

....in hopes that someone else would wrap all those crazy odd shaped trinkets that take f.o.r.e.v.e.r!!

No such luck!

Getting out the door in time for church is crazy enough. These guys were super patient about waiting till 

we got home and not opening a single present in the morning.

You rock guys!!

 I tried a new game plan with the gifts this year. Everyone got 3 gifts, just like Baby Jesus did.

Gift # 1

Books.

 Gift # 2

Something Useful--this year it was slippers.

Aren't they just the cutest little Mater feet you ever saw?

 Gift # 3

A fun toy.

 (Tunes for this boy.)

 And then a moment of panic, when I realize there is only 3 gifts under the tree and there are 4 anxious boys awaiting. My mind scrambles. I can't remember shopping for this boy. I don't remember wrapping for this boy. I try to decide if I should give him the gift intended for his cousin (even though it's not something he really wants and it clearly says someone else' name on it.) HELP! I go back over the list in my head one more time and Whew! I remember. It's still tucked safely in the attic, waiting there patiently since yard sale season last spring. Daddy heads off to retrieve it and the day is saved!

 A perfectly beautiful day for testing out newly acquired golf clubs and bb guns.

 Promises kept.

(When my children begged for funnel cake in the fall I told them that that would be a great 

Christmas vacation treat. Turns out I was right, it made a perfect evening snack along side the 

M&M blizzards. MMmmm!)

 Snugly boys, exhausted from all the festivities.

 A Christmas tree that outlived the season.

I'm a "real tree" kind of girl. I'll clean up the mess in exchange for the fresh pine scent every time but

I just can't get over how well our tree held up this year.

Maybe it's because we bought if from a local farm. (We'll be going back!) Or maybe it's the kind of tree.

(Probably some combination of both of those and more.) But I

think there may be 15-20 needles on the floor now and 

I haven't really swept around it once. It makes me happy!!

  The blessing of being able to give!

It was a Very Merry Christmas indeed!

P.S. The verdict on the 3 gifts plan--it's a keeper!! I love how it simplified things. I love how I didn't feel like I was spending money on toys we really didn't need or stuff that would break next week. I loved that my kids were excited about reading because they were gifted new books. I loved that most of the "fun things" were picked up throughout the year and stashed away (a little too well) so I made it through the entire holiday season without even one trip to the mall! I love that it made it easy to keep things "fair" for all the kids. What are your ideas for keeping Christmas under control at your house?? I'd love to hear about them!