keep on the sunny side

I'm pretty good at lots of things.

You already know I'm a pro at washing dishes and cleaning up after my children.

Wiping bums, warming up chicken nuggets and avoiding the ironing pile? Yep. I'm an expert.

Lately I've realized I'm super good at a few more things.

Feeling overwhelmed, discouraged, frazzled, unsatisfied, inadequate, frustrated, unhappy? Oh, yes. I've got those covered too.

In an effort to get out of the funk and get over to the sunny side (I really wish I would just stay there all the time but dang, it's hard sometimes), I've been trying to really take note of all the little (and biggish) things that make me happy. I've got 5 index cards full of notes I've been jotting down so I won't forget.

From the top:

Cate and her daddy having a tea party. That girl loves a tea party. She's quite the hostess. She was tickled pink that Dan was playing along with her. I was tickled pink that he didn't break that yellow chair.

Vintage Halloween decor. I brought in this spider that my grandpa macramed many years ago. It's been hanging in the back garage. Spooky, huh? I'm thinking it would look pretty cool spray painted black.

The cold front blew in. I'm happy to be wearing my clogs again. I feel like that picture makes my legs look weird and my feet look really small. Oh, well. The clogs are back. I like them.

That goofy kid. I really have no idea what he was thinking. This picture was taken before the cold front blew in though. He's just a silly boy. And now the neighbors all know it since we were in the front yard.

My new favorite treat. I've tried honey blueberry, honey strawberry and honey flavored. I love them all. I have to restrain myself though since it's not fat free and holy cow that stuff's not low calorie. It satisfies my sweet tooth (sometimes) and I figure it's a little healthier than stuffing my face with chocolate.

Fancy dollar store Halloween decor. The skeleton, that is. The spider. We made them. Actually, I made them. The kids watched impatiently. And that poor spider is hung where it's hung because there was already a nail in the wall.

A package from a kind soul. Cate saw it and said, "Oh, that's for meeeeee!"

Turning 5. He's happy about it so I'm happy about it. Not sure why I shouldn't be. Am I supposed to be saying stuff about boo hoo I can't believe my baby is growing up so fast? Well, I'm not saying that stuff. I like it when kids grow. They're more fun that way. I liked him when he was a baby and I like him even more now. The end.

A budding make-up artist. Cate's been wearing that princess dress almost every day for weeks. It makes me happy because, well, it makes her happy. She saw me putting on my make-up and wanted some of her own. That other stuff I made her isn't cutting it anymore. I gave her some blue eyeshadow I bought at the dollar store. The picture doesn't do it justice. It was spectacular. On her nose and her mustache? Priceless.


OTHER HAPPY STUFF NOT PICTURED:

Cate and I were out driving one day. She pointed ahead and yelled, "Look at the mountains, Mom! There's snow on them!" I said, "I know. Aren't they beautiful?" She sat back in her seat and started singing God Bless America. She didn't get very far because she doesn't know all the words yet (like her brother does) but that's ok. It made me happy that she was inspired by those snowy mountains.

Danny said, "I can't decide what I want to be when I grow up. A police officer or a doctor or a hospitaler or a dad." I guess he could choose dad and one other. But I'm not really sure what a hospitaler does so maybe he could pick dad plus two of the others.

Halloween hand soap in a black dispenser with a spider on the front that Grandma gave us. Smells like marshmallows. A certain little boy came into the room making spitting sounds because he "accidentally" got some of the soap on his tongue. I can't blame him though. It does smell quite tasty.

Danny thinks my blueberry oatmeal smells yucky. He tells me to eat it in another room. He tells me this when I'm standing in the kitchen. I'm not sure what other room he'd like me to eat it in. It doesn't make me happy that he thinks my oatmeal stinks. It makes me chuckle which is a form of laughing and that's what you do when you're happy so close enough.

He asks for Fruit Hoops every morning for breakfast since it's his favorite cereal. It makes me happy that he'll actually eat breakfast nowadays. For a while there he just ate bread.

My favorite video came on the tv today (ahem, for that extremely brief moment that it was on) and the kids yelled at me to come watch because they know it's my favorite. I did lots of dancing and singing along in the 4 times I made us watch it. Rewinding live tv on the DVR makes me happy.

Cate was drawing with her Smarties candies this afternoon. The ones she got from her preschool Halloween party. She was sitting on my bedroom floor while I was getting dressed. She arranged the little candies in some kind of pattern and said, "Two little boobies and a belly button. Done. It's you, Mama!" I'm not happy about the little boobies. I am happy that she can see art in a bunch of Smarties candies.

Cate was watching Despicable Me (for the eight millionth time) in the front room. When it was done she yelled, "Hey, guys! There's a dance party in here!" We like to dance to the music at the end of movies. They call it a dance party. Tangled is another good one to dance to during the closing credits.

Kids who use the toilet ALL BY THEMSELVES. Oh, I never thought this time would come. It's here and I'm happy about it.



More happy stuff:

Look at those cute kids of mine. Good gravy. They're adorable. Thanks to the preschool party, I've got cute pictures of them in their Halloween costumes during the day in good lighting with smiles on their faces. Now the pressure's off to get a good picture on Halloween night. Phew.

I asked Danny what he thought his teacher would be dressed like. His answer: a weed.



How could seeing this kid all decked out in almost every piece of princess gear that fits her (plus fairy wings) not make me happy? Oh, I know how. When she gets out of bed at night, turns on the light and puts it all on instead of going to sleep. That's how. Otherwise, nothing but happy. The fact that she put all that gear on all by herself and then came to me to show off, pure happy.



This one's a big happy:

Hard Puppy has been found! Danny's slept with that mangy mutt his whole life. It's filthy and floppy and smells kinda funky. He won't let me wash it. It was missing for 3 nights. He slept anyway but I was worried. I could tell he was a little worried too. Then friends came over to play one morning and got out the big trucks. There was Hard Puppy, shoved in the back of the plastic garbage truck. Danny likes to hide him from me so I won't wash him. He must have shoved him in there and then forgot about it. Very happy about finding that guy.

See, there's lots of happy stuff all around. I guess I just have to carry around a little yellow index card with me wherever I go so I can jot it all down. That way I won't forget.