Dress Up

Thanks for joining me for this month-long writing challenge.  I've learned some, and been reminded of more.  And to finish out my month of ways to be happy, a few fresh-today photos of what makes me the most happy.

Thing 2 (Georgie), Cat in the Hat (Angel), and Thing 1 (Freddie).  The twins were type-cast this year.

David as a Dementor.  Had to take the face-mask part of his full-body shadow off during school, but had a good time with it.

Giant teddy bear (Chris) and Aloha tourist (Ben).  Chris threatened bad things if we asked what the fox says, so I won't.

Eddie as a bearded minion.  He is truly in love with the beard beanie I made for him.  Now Trent wants one.  And David.  And Eddie wants another one...

Because I love being a mom.  These kidlets make me happy like I wouldn't ever have been able to imagine.  This is the first year in a while that I didn't make myself a costume.  That's ok.  I'd rather be a happy mom than a dressed-up, stressed-out mom, and that's what it boiled down to this year.  Next year, though...

Just for today, dress up and look at the world from a different perspective.  You might be surprised how fun it is.  Or jump on a bed.  That always helps happy.

Read Something Happy

A few of my favorites.  The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin.

My sister-in-law sent me this book a few years ago, and it is still one of my favorites.  Lotsa good stuff in here.  Also see the Gretchen's happiness website here.  Lots more good.

Here is one I'm currently reading: Happiness by Joan Duncan Oliver.

And my favoritest happy book ever, Lighten Up by Chieko Okazaki.  She has got to be one of the most cheerful people I've ever wanted to meet.

Just for today, read something happy.

Settle and Un-Busy-fy

Un-busy-fy.  I like my new, made-up word.  I think, and I think most of us agree, that we are often too busy.  And sometimes busy just for the sake of being busy.

Dieter Uchtdorf, the man whose impeccable German accent reminds me of my own dear Opa, said it this way:

Isn’t it true that we often get so busy? And, sad to say, we even wear our busyness as a badge of honor, as though being busy, by itself, was an accomplishment or sign of a superior life.
Is it?
I think of our Lord and Exemplar, Jesus Christ, and His short life among the people of Galilee and Jerusalem. I have tried to imagine Him bustling between meetings or multitasking to get a list of urgent things accomplished.

Slow down.  Do the important things.  Enjoy the people around you.  Drink up the fall colors.  I'm talking to myself, as a result of my overly crazy self these past few days.  And that's all I'm going to say, because I'm getting off the computer to go read a story to my kidlets and love on them.

Just for today, settle your brains for a few minutes, un-busy-fy, and really live.  Then jump back in if you must, a bit happier.

Laugh

I have the funniest kids.  Well, maybe not the funniest.  That honor probably goes to my sister-in-law, whose children are constantly saying the most hilarious things.  But we have some pretty funny things going on here, too.  And the laughter that my children create helps to balance out the wild and stressful and not-so-funny times.

Yesterday, the twins came home from the nursery at church wearing spider hats.  I think they talked about the creation/Halloween.  Creative mix.  Georgie was running around the house and Angel and her little friend were running from him, screaming.  He wasn't chasing them; he just wanted to play with them.  As he ran through the living room, he yelled at them, "Don't run!  The Georgie-spider is nice!"

Angle got tired and spent half an hour telling me all that was wrong with the world as I held and quieted her.  In the middle of a sentence, she interrupted herself to pose the question, "What if we ate a bus?"  He abrupt shift of topics led to her telling me about stone-and-marshmallow sandwiches.  A few minutes later, after gesturing to show how big something was, she exclaimed, "Hey!  I wish I didn't have a thumb!"

Georgie was growling, pretending to be a hungry lion.  Calmly, Freddie asked, "Are you mad?"  Pause.  Renewed growling.  "Yes!"  Still calm, Freddie replied, "Don't be mad so I can look at you."

Freddie fell down and got a minor hurt.  He came running for me and climbed on my lap.  Stroking his hair, I told him that I loved him, then asked, "You are getting so big!  What will you do when you can't fit on my lap anymore?"  He thought for a while before answering, "Um... eat spicy sauce."

This quote is from Marjorie Hinckley, one of my mothering heroes, and it's literally true for me.  Many are the times I've made a feeble joke in the hopes it would ward off tears.  It almost always works.

Just for today, find something funny or even ridiculous and laugh.  It helps happy.

Be Patient With Yourself

I had a million things going on.  And at least half of them were things going wrong.

I had to make emergency runs (yes, plural) to the big box store and to the grocery store.

We got all out-of-whack about out meal schedule, which ends up meaning that we have kids at random times who get hungry or grouchy when they didn't eat at the last meal because they were still too full from the meal before.  I can be more flexible with meal times when there are fewer people around, but with everybody home, on a Saturday, it turned out to be not pretty.

I doled out normal Saturday chores at the beginning of the day, but I didn't follow up.  So some chores got done and others didn't.  Evidently, I also promised (did I?) to help a child or two with their chores (did I really?), so they spent the day waiting for me to come and help.

I was supposed to be working on Halloween costumes, but couldn't get around to it.

The cat stunk up the basement.  I've been warning the boys about leaving blankets or clothing on the floor.  I'll have to find the source of the stink, and get it cleaned up.

I had to give a couple of haircuts.  That's always a mess.  And the twins dragged themselves through the hair clippings, so there was twice the mess.

I stayed up late helping a boy finish his English paper.  All the commas in the essay had to be perfect, the teacher said.  I now know more about comma rules.  But it took much longer than we thought it would.

I chauffeured a  boy to a dance, then forgot to pick him up.

At 11:30 pm, I was finally able to start working on my Relief Society lesson.  I had to start over because I had lost the original text I had been working on.

You've had days like this.  Not necessarily with the same activities, but with the same level of too-much-to-do-and-not-enough-time-and-too-much-stress.  They happen, and we need to just accept that.  We can't always avoid them - although I could probably have planned my time and allocated my resources better.

So when a really wild, stressful day comes around, be nice to yourself.  Do the best you can.  Breathe occasionally.  You will get through.

Just for today, be patient with yourself.  This will pass.

Be Patient

It's true.  We love our chickens.  They make good pets, and they make us breakfast, too.  And my man loves having a good, hearty breakfast of eggs.  Me?  I'm a syrup kind of gal.  Pancakes, waffles, French toast.  Yum.  Give me sugar first thing in the morning, and I'm happy.  But even so, we need to have eggs.

That's why it's been upsetting lately that our chickens have gone on strike.  The ladies refuse to lay.  I;m not exactly sure what is going on, but I suspect it is a combination of issues: the watering-boy took a break from getting the birds clean water daily, we ran out of official feed and gave them whole grains, the days are getting shorter, and one hen went broody.  She sits in the nesting box all day, trying to hatch two golf balls, and clucks at anyone else who disturbs her.

Gotta fix this problem.  Trent actually had to buy eggs from the store.  No space for freeloaders here!  So we changed the water-boy.  Got more feed for laying hens.  Partitioned off the broody hen (with a chicken noodle soup box - subliminal messages) so the others have access to the nesting box.  And we sprinkled cayenne pepper in their food.  Some say it will kick-start their systems.

Man.  It would sure kick-start something in me, too.  But they really liked it.

And now we wait.  One egg yesterday.  Three eggs today.  Things are looking up.  Maybe it was good that we didn't make a giant pot of chicken soup back when we first got frustrated with the girls.

Just for today, be patient when things aren't going your way.  Do everything you can to improve the situation, then wait with hope.  The sun will come out... (bonus if you are singing!)

Grin Like You Mean It

Just had to share this photo my boy posted.

Alec and his buddy just got their airborne patches.  Is he excited to jump out of airplanes, or what?  Me, not so much.  But I love this smile.  I love the enthusiasm.  I love being his mom.

Oh, and I love that smile.  I'm gonna work on getting a smile on my face again.  I know I already wrote about smiling, but it really makes such a difference!

Just for today, smile like you mean it.  With your whole face.