Gratitude for Mothers

Life is Good: my mom is the best!

Day 4 of my month of gratitude

I'm behind in my posting again. It's not out of the ordinary for me to be chasing a to-do list. And today's gratitude is dedicated to the one who taught me all about writing lists---my ultimate list maker mama. Happy birthday to the most loving, supportive, generous lady I know. 

When people ask why I do the crazy things I do, they need to look no further than my mom, the one who, throughout my childhood, changed her purse and nail polish every morning to match her outfit, the one who once made a Halloween costume out of chicken wire and thousands---literally thousands---of paper napkins. She's the one who once made a set of birthday cakes for me---the big bad wolf, each of the three little pigs, plus the houses they built. She's the one who sewed the dresses I drew because I wanted something different than everyone else, the one who makes ninja turtle-shaped cookies or teddy bears or baseballs & bats or whatever my kids are infatuated with at the time. 

She's the most creative, industrious, capable lady I know. She's the strongest, too. She knows only the unconditional kind of love--oftentimes to her detriment. She's forgiving beyond measure. She's generous with both her time and her spirit. And she's the epitome of the phrase, "If you can think it, you can do it."

I can only hope that one day my children will use the words, "supportive, empowering, and gracious" about me. If they do, it's because I learned from the best.

Happy birthday, mom. I'm so glad that God let me pick you to be my mom. 

How to be Grateful for the Little Things

Life is Good: it's the little things!

I'm not going to say that I exaggerate a lot, (See how I did that?) but I do express my enthusiasm in not only actions, but also words. So I often say, "That's the greatest thing I ever did!" for little things that, I feel, make a big impact.

So today, I am grateful for some of the greatest things I ever did! Like:

* Putting a pencil sharpener on the wall of our pantry. No more complaints about dull pencils or kids asking me to sharpen pencils in one of those dinky little handheld sharpeners!

* Using a couple of extra frames, scrapbook paper, and dry erase markers for a note board. I write down stuff we run out of or things I keep forgetting on these little babies and they don't get lost (OR DRAWN UPON WITH MONSTERS or KNIGHTS!) like pieces of paper do.

* Buying these bins from amazon for the laundry room and adding a tag to them for each member of the family. Five of them plus an extra for detergent, etc fit just perfectly on the shelf above my extra capacity washer and dryer (that I don't love, but still grateful for indoor, in the house laundry!). Now, things come out of the dryer and into the bins. The bins go into the rooms and get put away. No piles of clean clothes in laundry baskets looking all intimidating and time-consuming and messy! 

* Putting this bookcase from Ikea in each child's closet with bins for toys. We are lucky to have big enough closets do to this in our new home. We never could have done this in our 110-year old house. (Which is one reason why we moved!)  I love that everyone's toys go away into bins and their rooms look neat and orderly in mere minutes after even the most major of playtimes. I also have one of these in our mudroom closet. Inside its bins you will find everything from arts & crafts supplies to each kiddos' school paperwork to extra party supplies (gotta keep 'em handy for spur of the moment celebrations!) and practical things like lightbulbs. I have one bin dedicated to adhesives---one of THE GREATEST THINGS I EVER DID was putting all of the various sizes & styles of tape, glues, clamps, etc in one bin! Really!

* Purchasing bins similar to these (can't remember where I got mine!) in our mudroom cubbies. One for each member of the family and one for "EXTRAS". Now everyone's gloves and hats and scarves and whatever are waiting in the bins for them. And none should ever get lost or misplaced, right?!?!

* Buying these slim coolers for lunch bags. No more big bulky ones or too tiny ones. These are just right for my kids' Lands End lunch bags and stay frozen until lunch time. 

* Discovering these child safety locks for our doorknobs!  Our little smarty figured out how to open all of the doors (and raise havoc in every room) really early. These little babies have prevented him from running wild through the house. Well, okay, through a couple of rooms. Our little wild child still manages to raise heck wherever he is. ; )

PS: Love these furniture straps, too! You can never be too careful when you have a little wild child in residence!

So, class: let's review. It appears today that I am grateful for BINS! ha! Well, with three kids plus a mama who loves "stuff", we need to keep things organized to keep things sane. SO viva la bin, basket, and containers of every sort. Life is good! Make sure you note that!

How To Be Grateful Day 2

Life is Good: say it!

So grateful for this dude here. Every year, he just asks where his costume is and puts it on. No complaints, no sighs. Because it's for the kids (and a little bit for me) and it is so very obvious each day how much he loves being a daddy. 

So grateful for all of the plane rides, car drives, and places discovered together...often with him carrying one of the kids!

I'm so grateful that he rode the zip line with the Big Kid so I didn't have to!

And that he runs. So that I don't have to! ; )

So grateful that family picnics by the lake are more exciting to him than hobbies that take him away from our family.

I'm grateful that he is always up for driving. And Mexican Food. And will never turn down sushi.

And for that one time...when I was on bedrest for almost a month. And I called him from the doctor's office with the news...crying...because I didn't know how our family was going to survive. And he said not to fret because we could figure it out. And he held down the fort.(in his own way. wink.) And we, in fact, survived.

And for all of the times that he indulges my need to take (excessive, some would say) photographs...

I have so many reasons to be grateful for Grant. My favorite thing, quite possibly, my most grateful, is his role as daddy to these three never-a-dull-moment little boys. Life is good!

How to be Grateful

Life is Good: so let's document it all month long

I'm going to do my best to blog all this month. This little blog has been neglected and often forgotten. I have written plenty of posts in my head. Why can't Apple create an app for that!?!?

I am the first to say that I am lucky, fortunate, and blessed. My life isn't what I thought it would be and certainly isn't perfect, but darnit, life is good. And while I fail at many things, I hope I'm succeeding at being grateful. I honestly believe that acknowledging the good in your life and being grateful for it is a key to feeling content and being...well, pleasant. ; )

Day 1

I'm grateful for all of the fun we have at Halloween. We started dressing up as a family theme the year of our Little Kid's second Halloween. He was one and it was fun! It takes a lot of my time since I typically make most or all of the costumes. Most years, I start early to avoid stress. This year, I was making our costumes late at night and too early in the morning. But after wearing them for five different events, it seemed worth it!

When our Big Kid was in first grade, he had to write a "report" about one of our family traditions.  I thought he would write about going to Grandma & Granddad's for Christmas or matching Christmas jammies & reading Christmas books aloud on Christmas Eve or mayyyyyybe taking snacks to the staff at Children's Hospital on Thanksgiving to say thank you for the many times they have helped our family, or well, anything to do with Christmas! But, nope. He chose to write about our tradition of dressing up at Halloween and talked about our various costumes and the fun he has with his family on Halloween. And right then and there, it sealed the deal. It meant something to him. It really means something. And so we will continue this tradition until the kids don't want to do it anymore. 

It's a lot of fun brainstorming family costume concepts. I had suchhhhhh a great idea this year! But I got outvoted. The Big Kid wanted to be Buzz Lightyear and talked the Little Kid into the Toy Story concept. 

They decided their dad would be Woody. And I would be...Mrs. Potato Head! Sigh. Whiney and frumpy. Thanks, kids.  After flip flopping between Rex and the Green Alien, they decided our Little One would be the latter. Felt and hot glue were everywhere. A last minute plea for me to be Jessie was finally granted. And then I discovered that Jessie wears cow print. On her thighs. Arrrrrrgh. 

Happy Halloween and Month of Gratitude from Jessie, the Slinky Dog, Woody, one of the Green Aliens, and Buzz Lightyear! I'm so grateful for this family and all of the fun we have--on holidays and every day!

Maya Angelou

Life is Good: so enjoy the moment

Why can't I remember this more often?

Jesus and Germs Everywhere!

Life is Good: we may have germs, but we have Jesus, too!

I stole this from my dear, wonderful friend, Karmin. I had, too. It is perfect. Per. Fect.

Top picks on Pinterest

Life is Good: so relax

I know my post the other day was pretty heavy. So here's a light one! Here's what I've been pinning on Pinterest:

This photo is giving me major bathroom envy! I can't decide if herringbone is going to look classic in ten years or trendy. Herringbone is a true classic, but we've all gone a bit nutty using it on everything (and its cousin, the chevron), so that's what leaves me uncertain. I still am just crazy about this backdrop!

And I must must must put this on my to do list! What an awesome keepsake. The tasks at hand are choosing which one of the 1,916 drawings my kids make each day to use!

CHORES are on my mind this week! I'm starting to feel like our Big Kid and Little Kid need more responsibilities. I love this chore chart!

I still have a love-hate relationship with Pinterest. I love to look at it when I'm trying to fall asleep! (I know, no screens is the best way to fall asleep. I know! I know!) But I hate the idea of people ripping off other people's unique creations. As a creative person who gets paid to be creative AND who has had my unique thoughts & ideas ripped off, I am super sensitive to this sort of thing. And just because it is on Pinterest does not mean that the originator put it there or wants for you to copy it. I guess my biggest beef with Pinterest is that I wish that people knew how to use it AND speak about it. For example, if you got an idea off of Pinterest and you duplicated it exactly using someone else's ideas & directions, you are not being creative. Thrifty, industrious, and many other things, yes! But not creative. Someone else was creative for you. Which is OKAY! Just give credit where credit is due.
Speaking of...
I don't say a lot of poetic things, so I love reading other people's great words! Like this:

And this:

Happy pinning!