Happy Independence Day!

Today we shared in the tradition of Independence Day Fireworks! Sharing in family traditions is something that always brings happiness to our family, and the fireworks extravaganza tradition was no exception!

Flannery said her favorite part was the "grand finale," which she called, "when they all happened at the same time." Too fun!

And I loved that the photos of the fireworks look like an amazing jellyfish exhibit I once saw at the Chattanooga aquarium.










What Independence Day traditions do you want to keep? Any new ones you want to start?

Mothers' Day Starts Early

Today, Flanna's school had a sweet mothers' day tea, complete with cupcakes. It was such fun to get to visit her school and see all her favorite "work" that she does there. After school, we had an impromptu visit to the museum. It was a fabulous day (stiflingly hot, but still fabulous), and I felt lucky to start my mothers' day weekend off so well.

Oh, another neat thing--Flannery decorated an "F" for me by gluing beads on it all by herself. I had bought it for her to hang in her room, but once she started working on it, she decided that it would be a gift for me. And now I think it's going to look really nice in my room.







Then, at the end of the day, when I was putting Flanna to bed, I thanked her for the sweet gifts and card she had made for me, and was telling her how much I appreciated the work she put into them. And she said,

"Well, mom, that's because I love you."

And that, folks, was the best mothers' day gift I think I've ever gotten.



What's the best mothers' day gift you've ever gotten, or given?

It's Easter Every Day

As part of my happiness resolution to "Share and Create Family Traditions," Flannery and I made Easter cookies last weekend. From scratch, at that! Cookies are a family tradition on both sides of our family. My mom is a master cookie maker. Her chocolate chip cookies are amazing, and all my friends from childhood say one thing they remember about my house is the smell and/or taste of chocolate chip cookies. Isn't that a neat memory? And then, on my hubby's side, his aunt is an amazing cookie maker, as well. At every holiday get-together, Aunt Sharon brings beautifully decorated (and incredibly yummy!) cookies...our favorites are gingerbread men and sugar-cookie cutouts.

I really love to bake, so this is a tradition that's easy for me to keep. Any time we're looking for something to do, my first thoughts go to baking something. Flanna's gotten pretty good at measuring, pouring, and stirring carefully, and she's slowly learning how to not gorge herself on cookie dough. (I think she gets that inclination from me...Mmmm, cookie dough.)

Anyway, our Easter cookies turned out really cute, thanks to Aunt Sharon's frosting recipe and some new "neon" food coloring I found at Kroger. The neon coloring made really cute pastel colors that were still vibrant. (And now I'm excited about using it to dye our easter eggs when the time comes.)

Making cookies with my mom and sister is something I remember really enjoying, and I hope Flannery will remember our happy baking times fondly one day, too.


What traditions from your childhood do you want to keep going?

My 3 Things

My daughter and I are spending a few days with my sister and my 6 year old niece, and I've been paying a lot of attention to the mood we create for our time together. So far, I think we've managed to be lighthearted, and even downright silly, most of the time. Which has made for some fun times. And for some pretty well-behaved kiddos. And also, my daughter and niece won't let me forget to keep a little happy tradition every evening that I think is not only boosting our happiness, but that hopefully is also helping the girls shape a positive view of themselves.

Every night as we tuck them into bed, we tell them their "3 things" for the day. These are just 3 things that they did well that day. The 3 things usually range from things like,

"You shared your toys without complaining today. That was so generous." to

"You ran really fast to catch the dog when he got loose on our walk. That was athletic." to

"You tried 2 new foods you'd never tasted before at the restaurant today. That was super brave."

It's amazing how much these 3 little things puff up the girls with pride before bed. And how they will nod in agreement with each specific little statement like it's a secret they've long known about themselves that we are just discovering.



What were you really good at as a child? Did those strengths become things that make you happy now? (Like, I used to be pretty good at art back in the day, and I still really enjoy making something beautiful, like a well-wrapped gift for a friend.)

Anticipate Fun!

It might SNOW here on Saturday! Snow!

I'm so excited! Being from Georgia, snow is all about fun for me. (No--that year I spent in Boston where I dug my car out of 4 feet of snow repeatedly--it didn't take the fun out of the snow, either!)

I thought about keeping it a surprise for my daughter that it might snow, just in case it didn't. You know, so she wouldn't be disappointed. (The pics are from last winter when it snowed like crazy in Athens, by the way!)

But then, I thought, half the fun of snow is the anticipation of it! Looking out the window the night before the snow is expected, hoping for a snowflake, making plans for the hot chocolate and snow angels you'll make.

It's that way for a lot of things, really. Getting engaged, getting married, having a baby, vacations...it's really fun to dream about how these things are going to be, to anticipate them.

So, we told Banana that it might snow on Saturday. And she's SO happy about it! She said she's going to make a snow monkey with a snow banana. (??) And I promised her I'd figure out how to make snow ice cream. And my husband went out searching for a sled at fifteen different stores.

On a similar note, we're also already making Valentines. As a part of my happiness resolution to Share & Create Family Traditions, each holiday is a big deal in our household. And anticipating the fun of each holiday is fun in and of itself!


What happy moment are you anticipating? Enjoy it!

Celebrate Traditions

Today was my hubby's birthday. I completely forgot to tell him happy birthday this morning before I left for work, though. How terrible, right?

The moment I wrote the date during my first treatment session, though, I realized my mistake and called and sang happy birthday to him (with my two speech kiddos).

When I got home from work, Flanna and I made him a giant cookie cake and ordered Indian for dinner. And we all danced together before dinner. Fun! Flanna kept asking her dad, "Will you be my prince?" when she meant, "will you dance with me?"

Sooooo sweet.

At the end of the night, she said her favorite part was eating his cake and picking out his candles. (I let her choose which candles to put on his cake).

Making a point to truly celebrate each special day that comes up has probably been the most effective happiness resolution I've made.

Now, to sleep off this sugar high.

Share & Create Family Traditions

One of my happiness resolutions for myself is to "Share and Create Family Traditions." I find that when I look back on the past year, some of my happiest times have been when sharing in family traditions. So, I'm trying to be sure I take advantage of each holiday and each special time that comes along during the year, to boost my (and my family's) happiness.

It's not always easy. There have been years when I've been too busy to put up a Christmas Tree, or when I've gone to 3 different stores and all of them have been out of pumpkins to carve for Halloween, or when I've had to work on holidays. But, I'm trying, and enjoying the benefits. Take the first ever Halloween costume party we threw this year. It made me really happy to dress up and just be silly for a day.

Or my daughter's 3 birthday celebrations (one at home, one at school, one with the extended family while we visited them in Georgia). (OK, maybe I'm overdoing it a little bit!) Or putting up the Christmas tree with my daughter, and getting to share the excitement of making something beautiful together.

What traditions do you cherish the most with your family? Are there any that you could do without?