Ouch!!

Bug went to the pediatrician today for her 15 month checkup. She weighed in at 19 pounds. She did great until it came time for her shots. She screamed so loud I think everyone in the office could hear her. Nothing wrong with her little lungs. Oh but it breaks my heart to see her in any pain. She has been a trooper since her visit but she is about ready for bed. So off to give her a warm bath and get her cozy in her jammies. Oh my sweet little love bug.

Bits of Gratitude

So many things to be thankful for happen around here everyday. I try to add them to my ongoing gratitude journal. I have kept a gratitude journal off and on for years but was inspired to start again by Ann at Holy Experience. She is an amazing writer who shares her heart and her faith honestly. As we go through our days I try to point out things to notice, things of beauty, something nice someone does unexpectedly, an unexpected treat. We are given so much to be grateful for everyday. The attitude of gratitude can change your view of life, I know it has mine. Faithfully recording the days blessings has helped me regain that sense of wonder about life. It removes so much of the cynicism from the everyday grind. I am intentional in looking for the blessings in everything I do, even in the chores that never end. It has helped me find contentment.

And no it isn't always easy to look for the blessings in every situation it is possible. Last week I wasn't very grateful when the washer, which is located on the second floor, overflowed sending water down between the walls to come pouring out of the ceiling in the basement onto the carpet. BUT I was very grateful I was home at the time to turn the water off and prevent more damage. Because I was here when it happened there was very little damage after the hours of cleanup. Did it completely throw off my schedule for the day, yes! But since we had to take everything out of the laundry room to clean the mess Mr. G. decided it would be a good time to paint the room. He picked a lovely cheerful yellow to go with my blue machines and white cabinets. While he was at it he put up some new shelving. I love shelving! So in the end I was blessed with a freshly painted laundry, a sparkling clean floor and a reminder not to turn the machine on to wash when I am not going to be home.(A bad habit of mine)

My life is far from perfection. My kids misbehave, laundry needs done, the toy room has exploded all of its toys onto the floor again. But it is my attitude about these things that makes all the difference. If I focus on all the work and monotony of the daily grind I would go crazy. If I choose to focus on the good, the beautiful and the many blessings I have been given I can get through anything and even enjoy tasks that I find distasteful. I choose to see my glass half full. I choose to be optimistic. I choose to smile more. I choose to be thankful for all the children who make the mounds of laundry. When life seems so overwhelming I choose to take a breath and mentally list my blessings for the day. God is so good to me. I choose an attitude of gratitude.

Fireproof

Just by chance Mr. G. and I ended up with a free afternoon. After dropping a few of our brood off for sleepovers we took the remaining 2 to Meemaws for a few hours. We headed off to see the movie Fireproof . A friend emailed me the link to the trailer. What a well done film. I loved the story. Every married couple should see it. After the movie we stopped for a snack. I was hungry for soup. We stopped at a place that serves Cajun style food. I ended up with a bowl of red beans and rice, it was soooo good. Yummy comfort food. It was nice to have a few hours alone with Mr. G.. It doesn't happen very often around here and it was a nice treat.

Friday Night Football

The older kids have been waiting all day to see if the weather was going to cooperate and clear up. It's been raining off and on all day. Now it's about 6pm and I am sure the game will go on but I don't know that I want to go sit in the misty rain. Now that Bird is in middle school football games are a requirement, at least according to her. Being the parent I am, I insist that Mr. G. or I attend to supervise. When the weather is nice we all go to watch, tonight I think I will leave the fun to Mr. G.. I am sure he will be thrilled. So before they head off to the game we are heading to pick up a movie for the little people who will stay cozy and dry with me. Maybe a pizza on the way home...

I love Friday nights.

Magical

The wonderful, magical world of miniatures....

My littles have always like to play with small toy sets, animals, cars, dolls that are tiny. Princess has her own doll house that lives in her bedroom. Monkey boy has always wanted to have the tiniest cars and action figures, Peter Pan being his favorite. They will play and imagine all sorts of possibilities for different scenarios. I myself have always had a love affair with the world of miniatures. My nan always had an elaborate Christmas village that we set up every year. Complete with roads and working streetlights. I would set it up as she directed me where to place everything for the most life like setting. Now I carry on that tradition with my kids, we put our village under the tree. And even though it is not as elaborate as hers the kids love it. Which brings me to today... Princess and I have some time alone while Bug naps in the afternoon and the others are still at school. She has the tendency to want to spend to much time planted in front of the TV. So we needed a "project" to work on together. I have been wanting to redo my childhood dollhouse for some time now so we brought it in from the garage.

My nan and pap gave me this lovely little cottage when I was around 10. It seems to have fallen into major disrepair. The family living here must have abandoned the cottage when it was moved to the top shelf in the garage. Apparently they didn't like the location. In fact they must have left the door open because it looked as if a little bird family was trying to make their home here.

After assessing the damage Princess declared " We sure have a lot of work to do!". She is quite right. Our little "project" will be to try and restore the little cottage to her former glory. And so the renovations begin.....

Applesauce Days!

Thursday was the start of applesauce days! Princess, Bug and I headed over to the farm store to get seconds(apples). We started with 3 boxes and my sister brought over 4 more. The apples make their way into my farm sink to be washed, then onto the cutting board and into the pots. I do 2 pots at a time. Bug prefers to watch the process from the comfort of her highchair with cheerios to snack. Princess was interested in the washing part but that's where her excitement ends. It's a simple process really, I just chop and plop. Once they are on the stove I cook them until they are mushy. The mushy mess goes into a hand cranked food mill to smooth the sauce. Now I add a smidgen of sugar and some pure vanilla, give it a good stir and enjoy. At this point there are 3 options: eat the yummy warm applesauce, put it in freezer bags to freeze or can the sauce. Today I chose the freezer method. Easy and simple. The best part is how it makes the kitchen smell, a sweet, apple, fall smell. I love to eat the applesauce warm. So does Bug.

I have quite a few apples to go and it will take a few days but it is so worth it. It always tastes so much better than grocery store sauce.

Procrastination

I have written, deleted and rewritten this first post more times than I care to share. I have been struggling with what I want this blog to look like and how much information to put "out there". I think I have come to the best compromise so that I can keep an honest journal of our crazy days, my unfocused creativity and the blessings bestowed on our little family. I want this to become a journal of our days together, a place to share the projects we create and for the ideas we share. For the sake of privacy I will write of my children using nicknames only. So here is my brood: Bird(12), Einstein(10), Monkey(6), Princess(4) and Bug(as in lovebug 14 months). Then there is the love of my life, Mr. G.
Here's a little background. Mr. G. and I will be married 15 years in October. We have lived on both coasts but never in the middle. Our family is the most important thing to us. We love having a big family and a crazy life. I try to look for the positive in every situation. I want to be content in all things and circumstances. I look for the beauty in the everyday things because that is where I find happiness. Attitude is a choice and can make or break the day. I try to find time for something creative everyday. So for today I am going to try and figure out how to make this blog pretty, because you can never have to much pretty.