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?

A Sickly Snow Day

Poor Flanna's not feeling great.  I'm thinking she has another ear infection.  Ugh.

But we bundled her up and let her play in the ice and snow a few times today.  We made a mini sleet-man and pulled Flannery around East Campus in our homemade sled (a.k.a. a laundry basket with blankets and an old crib sheet inside, and a scarf for the handle).  The homemade sled worked amazingly well, and Flanna just loved going fast and sliding all over campus in it.

We also played "house" in a huge magnolia on campus.  The snow under the magnolias was much fluffier and easier to make into snowballs than the rest of the icy sleet/snow in our yard. We even saw some tiny squirrel tracks along the magnolia branches. 

 All in all, it was a great day!  Although I do wish Flannery was feeling better.  

What makes you feel better when you're sick?

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?

Work Hard to Make a Connection

This holiday weekend, it's been so wonderful to be able to spend tons of time at home. I've spent a good bit of time cooking, cleaning, getting out winter clothes, cleaning out clothes that Flanna's outgrown, and decorating for Christmas. It's all stuff that needs to be done, and it makes me happy to have a few of these projects out of the way now. You know how "doing what needs to be done" makes me happier!

But I've found that amidst all that productivity, I actually have to remind myself to set all the household chores aside for a bit and make a real connection with my family. You know, talk to each other and look in one another's eyes when we talk rather than trying to do 3 things at once while I'm hanging out with them. Once I started paying attention to how often I actually look my hubby and daughter in the eyes during the day, I was shocked to realize how often I multitask while I'm "talking" to them. So, I'm trying to make a point to let myself pause every now and then to really focus on them. It's hard work to juggle life and housework and family relationships, but how often do I take the last for granted and forget to "Work Hard to Make a Connection?"

So, today, Flanna and I had a morning off from housework. We spent some time playing at the park, going to ToysRUs to spend her birthday money, and then we even ate at McDonald's where she could play at their "park." (really, it's more of a hampster maze, but for some reason, she loves it!) It was rejuvenating to pay good attention to one another, to share sweet winks and play chase and collect bouquets of gingko leaves together.

And now, sigh, I must get back to the laundry. But I promise to take a few moments here and there to try to connect.






Who do you need to reconnect with?

Anticipate Fun

Since anticipating fun is almost as much fun as actually having fun experiences for me, I've been trying to think up small things to do each week leading up to our weekend of Halloween festivities. Today, we made some yummy Halloween Pudding Cones. Here's what you need:

1. 1 box instant pudding
2. 2 cups cold milk
3. fall colored sprinkles
4. a few ice cream cones that will stand up (not sugar cones)

First, make your instant pudding by adding the 2 cups cold milk, stirring or mixing with a mixer, and letting it set for about 5 minutes. Then, once it's set, scoop some pudding into each cone, and sprinkle with your holiday sprinkles. Voila!

You could vary the sprinkle colors and use this idea for pretty much any holiday. We love to make "holiday" pudding for practically every holiday (green sprinkles for St. Patrick's Day, Red Sprinkles for Valentines, etc.), because it's just so darn easy and yummy.

Flannery really enjoyed adding the ice cream cone idea this time, and, boy, you should've seen the sprinkly mess we made in the kitchen! But it was worth it, and it brought me a big happiness boost to do this little project together with her.



What food do you love most at this time of the year?

Fall Fun with Friends

On Friday, we were so lucky to run into our friend Lucy and her mom at our neighborhood park. Flannery got to play for several hours with little neighborhood kiddos, and it was such a treat!

Then, Saturday, we had a picnic and played at the park with another of Flannery's favorite friends, Nythia. The weather was perfect, and we had a great time playing freeze tag, kick ball, and just running around. I just love fall! And enjoying the wonderful fall days with friends makes them all the more special.









How are you enjoying the joys of fall so far this season?