Things that Make Me Smile Today

I consider today to be a great day! We woke up to a COLD morning and it's great. It not only inspired me to whip up a batch of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies but it also helped me get the motivation to go through all the clothing. I pulled out all the warm fall/winter clothing and I'm feeling so blessed. I was getting a little stressed that I didn't have enough clothes for the kids this season. I was able to get a few things at a consignment sale a few weeks ago but I didn't have much more than that. Last week we received a generous package from Matt's sister Tamie. It was full of warm clothing and the sizes are perfect. How did she know we needed it so badly? So yeah...today I've had so much fun going through the kid's clothing. It is a little bitter sweet...I can't believe how fast they grow. I may have shed a little tear while putting away some of Levi's too small outfits. It's life right?

Do you see how much life is in this little girl? Yesterday while we were getting ready for our preschool birthday party I was a little frustrated. I was having hair issues, my house was such a mess even though I had cleaned so much the day before, I couldn't find my keys, etc. I told Lily (rationally) that I was feeling so frustrated and a little angry. She said, "It's okay, Mom. Just be happy. I'll sing a song for you...twinkle twinkle little star...." and then she sang the entire song in a beautiful innocent voice. I was instantly better. How could you not be happy when such a sweet child tells you to be happy and then sings a beautiful three-year-old song for you? Oh man..it changed my day.

I'm not sure if Linda knows we have this blanket of hers but I'm so thankful it made the trip with us to Oklahoma. It's funny how a blanket can make you so happy. Matt LOVES this blanket. It reminds us of his parent's home and being with our family in Idaho. Thanks for letting us borrow it, Linda.

We always have lots of quality art to display in our house so we made a special place for our art display. Our refrigerator door was getting a little full.

This kid is all boy! Notice that mallet in his hand. He has made it into a hammar and "fixes" a certain wall in his room often.

Check out those red marks on his wall. Don't worry though...he's taking care of that wall for me. It takes a lot of pounding to make sure the wall is in good shape. Thanks, Levi.

I'd like to thank Lily's nursery leaders for doing this fun activity with butcher paper. They must have had a lesson about their bodies. The leaders traced each child on sent it home with them. It has been a perfect 'keep Lily busy' project for me this week. I keep telling her I don't want to see white on that paper. Every time I see it, she has added more color and is even writing letters on it.

This little blanket makes me smile. Levi carries it around everywhere and I think it's adorable.

The blanket was my inspiration for the colors of this twelve month picture. I had my friend Sara put together this darling scrapbook page. She's got some major digital scrapbooking skill. I told her that I loved red, brown and blue together because of Levi's blankie. She added yellow to it and I love it. I love how she put the page with stars because stars are on the back side of his blanket.

So that inspired me to use those colors for an afghan. I've had so much fun doing this at night while Matt is doing homework. I'm not even half way but I'd thought I'd share. For some reason the red looks really bright. It is actually a burgundy color. I'm going to keep chugging away at the afghan and I'll post the finished product. Love this season!