Simply Happy

A few weeks ago I was tagged the task was to make a list of things that make me blissfully happy. Now lots of things make me happy but I really had to think about the blissfully part. Of course spending time with my family Gillian, Alyssa, and Jeff brighten my day no matter what is going on with me or what kind of day I've had. But for this I decided to stick with the simple things that I may not notice everyday but I love these moments and things. They do make me truly happy. I guess it made me realize it doesn't take a lot to make me happy. I'm pretty simple and now I just have to take to time and enjoy them when they are happening. I am not going to tag anyone else since I am so late in doing this myself but when and if you comment I'd love for you to post one thing that makes you blissfully happy too.

Snuggling and hugs

Getting a card or handwritten letter in the mail

A fun day being outside

New socks

A night of uninterrupted sleep

Teachable moments with my students and my own kids.

A good cup of coffee

Guacamole and pickles!!! (not necessarily together though)

Comments on my blog :)

There are so many more but these were the ones I had floating around in my head at the moment. Hope everyone has a happy weekend!

Name My Team

This is something that I've wanted to do for a while and I know it's a long way off but I'm ready to start building my team and raising some money. This May I will participating in the Kidney Walk to benefit the National Kidney Foundation. This is a cause that is close to my heart because I lost my mom to kidney disease and I wanted to do something in her memory and I think I've found it. I've gotten in contact with the local office and the woman who helps organize events and volunteers is amazing. She is one of those rare people that has enthusiasm that is truly contagious. I can't wait to get going on this.

My problem is I need a team name. I looked at some of the team names that were already chosen and some just were a business name and others were in honor or in memoriam of a person of which I prefer the person's name. My mom's name was Sue. So I came up with Sue's Striders but I'm not sure on that. There were also the one's that were cute or made me laugh like The Kidney Beans or Urine Trouble. I need some inspiration and I'd love to hear suggestions.

Alyssa's First Haircut

So I finally broke down and took Alyssa to get her haircut and Gillian too. Alyssa's hair was looking a little like a mullet. Not a lot was cut but here are the results. In the shot bellow she looks a little mad but I wanted to show off Gillian's new bob too. I think they both look pretty cute!

Alyssa was very serious the whole time but so good too. I was a little worried that she wouldn't sit still, I have to admit, but there wasn't any need. Her favorite part was the lollipop at the end. So then I started digging for Gillian's first haircut photos and I found it. Wow time does go by so quickly. It reminds me that I really should take the time tyo enjoy each day and all the "firsts" that I have left.

This one to the right is Gillian's first haircut in 2007. It's amazing how alike they look.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

A Happy Holiday

I hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas! We enjoyed celebrating with our familyThis was the scene at our house on Christmas day. Our family get together has gotten smaller but it was filled with just as much love. Even Sonny (our dog) got in on the family photo.

Here's one of the girls favorite gifts. I can imagine them playing with it for many years together. Who am I kidding I want to play with it too.

Teaching by example

This is such a simple act but as I was leaving Stop and Shop today, I heard the Salavation Army bell calling me. I reached in my mess of a purse and dug out a dollar to put it in. My two year old asked what are you doing? So I tried to think of the simple explanation and I said I'm helping someone else. She said, "I want to do it next time." Giving to others is the kind of message I want to be sending to my girls. Alyssa reminded me that I need to show them that more often.

We had a wonderful long Thanksgiving weekend! On Saturday and Sunday my daughter woke up and was happy when she realized she had an extra day off and didn't have school. She explained that she loves school but loves spending days with the whole family even better...and here we are all together :)So my new mission is teaching myself how to sew. I have no skill at all!!! I wish I did and I keep trying but my projects are not going so well. I wanted to make pillowcase dresses for my nieces which everyone says are so easy, but they came out very boxy and not the correct size even after following a pattern. Now I'm on to trying to make them each a tote bag. They were often times listed under kids sewing projects. So wish me luck. I'll post pictures when there done. Unless I'm too embarrassed. If anyone has sewing ideas for beginners, I'd love to hear them. Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving too!

I would lose my head if....

Well you know the rest of that saying. I am wondering if anyone know some good tips to help me stop loosing my keys. Maybe I'm the only one but I feel like I am always looking for them. Today as I was leaving the gym I was sure that I locked them in the car. I embarassingly had to tell the receptionist and I proceeded to call AAA. Keep in mind that this did actually happen to me over the summer so I know that AAA can do this service. Then as I waiting I noticed that my coat was hanging on a hook and I didn't remember bringing it in. So quietly I put it on and realized that they were in the pocket. Slowly I left without saying anything to anyone and snuck into my car hoping nobody would see me drive away. How embarassing! Well thinking that I may not be the only one I googled How to stop loosing you keys and here's the tips I found.

1. Designate a place to keep your keys and NEVER put them anywhere else. I feel like this one is a no brainer. Why is it that I can't do this?

2. Repeat to yourself where you left your keys. So for my example at the gym, I should have been thinking coat pocket, coat pocket, coat pocket.

3. Keep a spare set just in case. Of course I don't have one.

4. Try a Carabiners Clip. This seems like it may be the first actual idea but I want to look for something cuter. I'll be doing that tonight, etsy maybe?

So these do seem like common sense but obviously I'm not doing them if I still can't ever find my keys.