More Happiness

Ok let's see how many I can get in before the kids get too crazy!!

Backup to Happy Day #7 -- I'm ready for this kid to talk.  Major tantrum when I gave him water only to stop when I dumped out his cup and refilled it with milk.  Milk is William's 100happydays every day. (Maybe throwing a tantrum isn't a happy thing.  Ok that's not a maybe.  But having a few things to calm him down -- that does make me happy!)

Day #10 - Video of the queen!  I guess I need to see if I can get that on here from my phone.  Abby has a fantastic "queen" voice and bow and she was really going at it one day outside when they were playing in the pool.  Hopefully I can get it on my blog later.

Day #11 -- The bounce house is here!!  Starting off Chopper's birthday weekend right! (Yeah, this made us all very very happy!)

Day #12 -- He's a terror during the first hour of church but apparently decided to give his nursery leaders a break.  100happydays for them, but also for me because now he's happy at home!  (It's tough having church 1 pm to 4 pm but we survive.)

Day #13 -- I just love this boy and his cuddles.  (William is a REALLY good cuddler.  Abby too but especially after losing Aaron, I cherish these little boy cuddles.  They're the closest thing to baby cuddles I've got and he does it well!!)

Day #14 -- Sometimes chocolate and a book is the best part of the day.  (So funny thing about this post, I don't remember now why the day was so bad.  I have plenty of bad days but it's amazing how quickly we forget those days and moments that we turn into screaming, witchy, women because of the little things that happen or don't happen around the house.  I'm glad I don't remember and glad that I have a way to decompress afterwards!!  Also, when I posted this on Facebook it set off a funny firestorm of what constitutes good chocolate.  Let it be known that I prefer dark chocolate, See's candy, or chocolate with stuff in it (nuts, fruits -- yum Cadbury -- citrus, mint, -- wow I could go on and on), but this was what I had on hand.  And it worked.)

Day #15 -- Because how could this face not make you happy? (These are 3D glasses with the lenses removed that Megan's friend gave her.  And they are hilarious on her -- way to big for her face!)

Day #16 -- Lunch with Megan.  And that face.  (Megan loved when we surprised her for lunch at school.  Sadly, with everything going on, I only did it a handful of times.  Here's to being a better surprise lunch mommy next year!!)

Day #17 -- Abby's words were "come see mommy!  You will be amazed!"  She cleaned her room all by herself!  (Abby's vocabulary cracks me up.  She uses fantastic words and they always take people by surprise because they think she's younger than she is and she's such a talker, very unexpected I guess.  We went to see the dollar summer movie at the theater and she screamed out when the 20th Century Fox logo came on the screen -- "mommy that's ginormous!!"  She frequently makes me laugh with the drama of her speech.)

Day #18 -- Successfully (I think) altered a favorite maternity top to a hide-the-fluffy-middle top.  Now I have something to wear to church tomorrow!!  (I got a lot of compliments on my top at church but now that I've dyed my hair red Chopper says I can't wear it.  It clashes too badly.  Oh well!)

Day #19 -- Sunday mornings can be rough but today they're playing really well together.  In fact, at one point Megan said to Abby, "pretend that we're twin sisters and we like each other!"  At least they can pretend that!  (Side note -- I love these felt dress up dolls and we're going to make a beginner's sewing project out of them this summer and create some more clothes and scenery!  The girls are excited.)

Day #20 -- William's hernia appointment was a success -- no issues!  His favorite parts were running the halls and the Thomas stickers.  (This was a relief as well.  They thought he had a hernia when I was pregnant and the last thing I needed was another child going into surgery.  But the doctor wanted to wait and see and now he believes the opening has closed up.  Hooray!!)

Day #21 -- Summer reading goal!!  Although I need to add a few to this stack still. (Yeah so my update on that is that I've added books to this stack and have only taken one away.  That doesn't mean I'm not reading.  It means I'm finding more books to read . . . ) 

 Day #22 -- Last day of school, pizza party at the park with friends, then the workers turned the sprinklers on just for the kids!!

  

Whew!  That's a good start -- almost a quarter of the way through!  Well, technically I'm somewhere in the late 30s or 40s but it's good to catch up a little bit.  Today our lesson in primary was about Moses and the fiery flying serpents.  We talked in class about the complaining of the Israelites and about remembering the blessings that we've been given.  I feel like I need to focus more on that myself and as I look back over the things that make me happy every day I realize that they are small things in my everyday life having to do with my family, my talents and hobbies, and my friends (ok so I haven't posted many events with friends but I've got plenty of them -- events and friends -- plus their support in all of this!)  I still grieve and I know that I will for a long time, probably until I hold him in my arms again.  But I am not desolate.  The Lord never leaves us with nothing and I need to remember that more.  In my scripture reading I came across Psalm 4:1 -- "Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou has enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer."  I've been pondering on what that means -- to be enlarged in my distress.  I'm still working on it but I know that it partly means gaining the knowledge and wisdom from the experience that causes the distress but also I think if we turn to the Lord in our distress then our understanding and our peace and our joy can be "enlarged" because we gain a stronger testimony of the Plan of Salvation and our role in that and the Lord's love for us.  Just some thoughts.