Fun at the Fair

Oh, my!  I'm getting old!  I got so dizzy from the little rides we rode at the fair during our spring break!  I used to be able to ride all of the roller coasters with no problem!  But we had fun, anyway!

Are you still able to ride roller coasters without consequence?

Jump on Trampolines

Gretchen Rubin (of Happiness Project fame) says that jumping up and down can bring you a quick happiness boost, and I have to say, I agree.

We visited our friends Heather and Chuck, and their gorgeous kids last weekend, and they have a brand new trampoline!  The kids had so much fun jumping!  And I even got up there in my little sweater dress and jumped!  (Luckily no one snapped any pics of that!)  And it really did boost my happiness!  Maybe it was because I was following my happiness resolution to "Be Silly, Have Fun," or maybe it really is just fun to jump.  Either way, now I'm thinking that I need to look into used trampolines for the back yard!

And isn't baby girl just the cutest thing in the world???  I didn't want to put her down.  Ever.



Would you feel silly jumping in place, or would you be willing to try it for an endorphin boost? 

Be Silly; Have Fun

My happiness commandment #4 is, "Be silly; have fun."  When I pause in my whirlwind of chores and work and general busy-ness, and remember to follow my happiness commandments, this is the one commandment that I think does the most to make my relationship with Flanna stronger.

And I think that being silly together creates bonds between Flanna and her friends, too.

Take, for instance, Pajama day at Flanna's school last week.  The kiddos (and even Flanna's teacher!) wore their PJs to school last Thursday as part of a special Polar Express party celebration, and it was such a cute bonding experience for all of them!  They gasped at one another as they came into school that morning (I made sure to come into her classroom to snap pics!) and just laughed and grinned.  Flanna  was visibly beaming, and her sweet classmates were, too!

How can you be more lighthearted during this holiday season?

Go Forth and Be Silly

Cleopatra, Monarch Butterfly, & Soccer Player

What a fun night!   We walked a few blocks around our house and were very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the trick or treating in our new little neighborhood!  I even saw another Cleopatra!  And Robi met someone dressed up as an equally unknown soccer player!

Flannery wore her sparkly light-up shoes, and it was really cute to see her stomping and skipping around to light our path.  Her favorite part, though, seemed to be passing out candy to the "customers," as she called them.  (I think that was probably because she could eat candy while doing so!)

How have you been silly and had fun lately?

April Fools Jokes for Kids

Frozen Bowls of Cereal (Note the blue milk in the cup, too!)

My daughter loves a good joke.  She's currently obsessed with the "interrupting cow" joke, which I really do find funny.  Here's how it goes:

Flanna:  Knock Knock.
Me:  Who's there?
Flanna:  Interrupting cow.
Me:  Interrupting cow--
Flanna:  MOO!

She can never get the timing just right on the first try, but it's still hilarious. 

Anyway, because one of my happiness commandments is to be silly and have fun, I've tried to play a (nice, not mean!) April Fools' Day prank on Flannery each year.  Last year, I gave her pretend food for breakfast, and then my husband gave her one of my dresses to put on for school.  This year, since we were on vacation with my mom, sister, and niece, we were able to pull several jokes together for April Fools'. 

Blue Milk (It looks scary gray in the cup!)

First, I froze two bowls of cereal and milk with the spoons in them the night before, and then when the girls woke up on April Fools' Day, I gave them the frozen bowls for breakfast.  They were so funny.  They poked at the bowls and looked, surprised, at one another for a second.  Then, my niece said, "These are frozen!" 

Early that morning, the girls and I planned a few other jokes to play on their grandmother.  We put blue food coloring in the milk.  So, when they asked their grandma for milk that morning, she pulled a gallon of surprise from the fridge.  They also drew little faces on the eggs so that when Grandma went to make scrambled eggs for breakfast, she would open an egg carton of fun!  The girls were so thrilled to be "in" on a joke, and it really made for a nice start to our day.


I hope that when they're grown up, my daughter and niece will look back on April Fools' Day with fond memories.  And I also hope I can keep coming up with fun ideas (and never mean spirited ones!) each year to keep them guessing!





What April Fools' Day pranks have you pulled, or been the "victim" of?

How to Bore a Child at Christmas

Step 1:  Set your camera to self-timer mode.  

Step 2:  Instruct your whole family to stand in front of your camera for 5 minutes straight while you find the perfect height and angle from which to take a group photo.  

Step 3:  Force the family to pose through at least 4 iterations of this process.  

Step 4:  Repeat steps 1-3 at every celebration you have, with every family/friend group you visit with children in tow.  

You may think I am kidding, but I assure you, I am not.  My poor sweet bored Flanna is extremely familiar with these 4 steps.  

The only saving grace for the poor children are the moments we remember to be silly and have fun... and those moments produce the best photos by far!

I'd love to hear about any silly family traditions that exist in your family!  How do you and your friends/family have fun when you're together?

Be Silly

We've been spending time with Flanna's Grammie and Poppa, and it's been a real treat to have lazy days together.  Here are some adorable photos I got of Flannery and Grammie having fun together.  Flanna just loves when her Grammie is silly with her!  (Being silly and making a point to be lighthearted have been key to my happiness project this year, too!)

The dogs, thankful for crumbs!

Robi grading with dual computers...too funny!

How can you be silly or lighthearted with your friends and family as you visit with them this holiday season?

Be Silly

This weekend was really just too much fun. We dressed up for Flanna's school Halloween party on Saturday, and then today, we dressed up again for the neighborhood party and trick or treating. Flannery went as Ariel. My husband was King Triton (Ariel's dad), and I went as Ursula the Sea Witch.

We had such fun being silly in our costumes, and it made us all really happy to be silly together. I'm hoping this will be a tradition we carry on for many years.








How can you be silly or light hearted more often with your family?

Make everyday events more fun

This morning, we made cinnamon toast. With a twist. Instead of regular cinnamon sugar, I used our colored sugars from my cookie decorating stuff.

Flannery was thrilled:

"Wainbow toast! That's just what I wanted!"

Our tongues were purplish-green after breakfast, too, which just added to the fun. Not the most healthy breakfast in the world, but, every now and then, fun trumps healthy.




How can you make some boring event a little more fun today?

Be a Kid Again

On Saturday, two of my best girlfriends from college and I met up at the zoo, along with our daughters. We had such a wonderful time!

The great thing about having children is that it gives us a chance to just be a kid again.



We rode the carousel. Magical!

We rode the train. Not as magical, but only because it was too slow to work up a breeze, and the day was sooo hot!



The best part was watching our daughters enjoy themselves together.



Oh, and the giraffe. Trying to get water from a stream. Too funny, poor thing!


It was a marvelous day. We're going to have to start having fun reunions more often!



Tonight I let myself be a kid again for a moment, and splurge on ice cream for dessert after dinner. Fun! And very good for my happiness level! What makes you feel like a kid again?