Happy Friday!

Just some random things that made me happy today:

1. Walking in to a room and finding my three boys engrossed in a book together about Roman times. (Noah was reading to the other two about Mt. Vesuvius. Man I love Magic Tree House books, especially these research guides.) 

2. The "pause" feature on the dvr. Seriously don't know what we did without that.

3. Leftovers. I hate coming up with a new idea for lunch. Leftovers are perfect. :)

4. Finding Micah's crocs! We've been looking for these for about a week now...knew they were in the house somewhere but honestly could NOT find them. We even offered the other two a reward of $1 if they found them (which means they've pretty much turned the house inside out). Still. No crocs. Today, though, Asher (hero of the day) happened upon them while he was looking for something else...and promptly brought them to me to collect his dollar. :) The crocs, since I know you're wondering, were in the boys' "clubhouse for fun" (a big cardboard box with a door and windows cut into it) upstairs. Whew. And because this little thing honestly makes me so happy, here's a picture from this past summer of my Micah enjoying his crocs:

 

5. I have it on good authority that Santa found one of the elusive items on his list for one of the boys today. Something tells me his "helper" was pretty darn thrilled with herself. ;)

So. What made you happy today? 

Break through!

I've been feeling a bit "blah" the past couple days and didn't really know why...you know, just not really excited about anything and going through the motions? Well, last night I finally sat and thought about it and figured it out. I've been conflicted and stumped.

I really want to get to work on these memorial albums about my dad (making copies for myself, my mom and my sibs). I've been gathering supplies and getting things ready. At the same time, I don't really want to work on them, know what I mean? Somehow scrapping the obituary and all that makes everything more "real"...more "final." And. I just couldn't figure out what "voice" to do the journaling in...it just wasn't flowing or feeling right at all (which, if you know me and my love of journaling, is saying something).

But, last night I had a break through. I think just admitting that I was conflicted about it helped immensely. Recognizing that I was "blah" rather than just being "blah" (if that makes any sense at all) made a difference and helped me move forward. So I started again. And I'm almost finished with the journaling now for the first memorial album (I have more than one planned). And I'm actually pretty happy with it. :) So, I just thought I'd share. That's what I've been doing and what I'll be working on this weekend while I'm cropping all day Saturday. Whew. 

Gooooaaaaaallllll!

Just a quick funny. Soccer season is over, right? Well, someone didn't tell Micah. He's so loved watching his big brothers play and has already picked up a few skills (dare I say he's got a better attitude toward dribbling than Noah did at the start of the season?). The kid is definitely going to be ready to join a team sooner than we'd like.

In any case, yesterday I found Noah literally rolling on the floor laughing at Micah. When I looked to see what was so hilarious, this is what I saw:

 

 

Micah had found a teeny, tiny soccer ball from one of the boys' lego soccer sets (yes, they make such things) and was dribbling it around the family room (pretty well, too!). He was so proud of himself, seeing as how his brothers haven't been overly willing to share their soccer balls. Micah was so intent and when he got to the couch, he'd raise his arms up in the air and shout "gooooaaaaallll!" What do you think? Does that count as a "ball"? The rule right now is that they're not allowed to kick balls in that room, but methinks Micah may have found a way around that. :) 

My never ending project...

In case you were wondering (which you probably weren't), I'm yet again working on reorganizing my office space. This time, I'm actually rearranging furniture and all. Here are some pictures of how it looked at the end of July after my whirlwind of a month working on stuff for my book:

 

 

 

Yeah. It was a bit of a disaster area. Up until a few days ago, it hadn't seen much improvement...maybe a little tidier but more cluttered (if that's possible). :) So. I'm cleaning and purging and have new shelves and a new desk to set up. Ideally, I'd just have a bigger space altogether, but that's probably not going to happen at this house. Besides, for all that it's small, this location is great...it adjoins to the family room so I can totally be in here while the boys are in the other room playing or in the kitchen eating, and I can keep an eye on them easily.  

Anyhoo. That's what I've been working on scrapbook-wise of late. Well, that and a half dozen layouts for CK that I can't show you. ;) I'm going to a crop this Saturday and hope to make plenty of progress on that memorial album about my dad I have planned.  Which means I need to get a move-on with this cleaning/reorganizing project if I want to be able to also plan my stuff to take with me Saturday. Or I can just wait till after Saturday... ;)

Seven years ago today...

This boy changed my world.

 

I can't believe my sweet boy is seven already! Nathan pointed out the other day that this means Noah's more than half way to teenager status already. Oy. I'm still trying to break the habit of referring to Micah (who turned two this past summer) as a baby. I'm not ready to have a full-fledged seven year old on my hands. :)  

(Oh. In case you're wondering, the bruise on his chin is from bonking heads with Asher, who has a very hard head. I'm still trying to figure out why it's so very specific and small in shape, but it doesn't seem to bother him at all.) 

No big plans for today. We'll probably take him to dinner tonight and let him open his presents from us. Tomorrow he's having his party with friends...just a small party, but hopefully good. 

Wow.