take time to be silly...

i've been sidetracked from my HAPPINESS PROJECT efforts. Well, to be honest, i lost the book for a bit. while i was away in Illinois, my husband found it necessary to clean off the bathroom vanity and stashed my pile of magazines /books that i leave by the bathtub, under my bathroom sink. i can't blame him for cleaning, but who knew to look under there for my pile. so just this week, i found my stash and there was the happy book.  my last chapter of reading was in march. catch up time for chapters "april" and "may."

love this book. i have to say - it's just such a great read!

so "may" is to focus on PLAY! may - play. easy enough to remember, right?

with the focus on  playing is the goal to TAKE TIME TO BE SILLY:

which brings me to this picture:

i posted this photo on my facebook, reluctantly, because it's "just not me." i'm not the silly mom. i am the mom who is usually taking the pictures, or the one who scrolls through the pictures and deletes the pictures of me before they can even be uploaded to the computer, because i either have black circles under my eyes, or i pushed my neck out too far to show elephant rolls in my neck, or my hair hasn't been washed in three days -- there is ALWAYS something that i find to beat myself up with. anyone relate? ridiculous, i know. i hate this about me. i grew up getting so frustrated with my mom for never wanting her picture taken or refusing to have her picture taken until she could put some lipstick on. i've become my mother!! not the lipstick part, but just not feeling worthy enough for a picture! enough already!

But I DO LOVE THIS PICTURE!

there were two comments on facebook under this picture:
1. from a high school friend --
Love the Krispy Kreme pics. Adorable. I'm sure you're a really fun mommy.
2. from my sister-in-law
!!!!! I LOVE THIS!! This will be used in her wedding someday! Can't you just see this in a slideshow?! Classic!


I smiled when i read those comments because I want to be the fun mom, the silly mom, the embarrassing mom and i am happy that someone else saw that in me in this photo. i am that mom in private, behind our own doors, when no one can see me or judge me for being too silly, but i want to be the confident mom who is happy and silly no matter who is watching. I looked through a few more pictures that i posted on facebook that same day, a small album of mother’s day pictures that were taken before attending the mother’s day tea at mia and maddie’s preschool:

and I like what I see. I am silly with my daughters. I am the fun mom. the girls’ silliness is contagious and I’ve caught it more than I realize. the girls insist on being called giggle box and goofball, two names that my mom, their nana, lovingly gave them...and quite fitting, wouldn't you agree?

and with all that silliness, i got a really good picture that i truly love - no elephant wrinkles in the neck, hair is washed, concealer covers the dark circles, and MORE IMPORTANTLY, i am happy and smiling and honored to be a mommy at the mother's day tea.

it had to be all that goofing off in the morning that created such a great picture!

( and yes, mia on the left cut her own bangs...5 months ago...let's speed up the growing back process please!)

...

now i know my ABC's...

It was headed for the trash - but I really did treasure this piece. It was originally a very colorful artsy piece from IKEA that my mom bought for me the week my father-in-law passed away back in 2003. It was a colorful splash of colors, looking a bit floral, but a bit more like just a pile of colors -- regardless of what it was really supposed to be, it reminded me of the vibrant colors in the movie of "what dreams may come...," the movie with Robin Williams that portrayed both heaven and hell. This picture matched their scences of heaven just perfectly.  But somewhere over the past few years, I decided to paint it and well, I botched it up. I couldn't let of the canvas however. So, the ABC's are a big part of our lives right now with the twins learning their alphabet throughout the last two years of preschool. A little paint and some whimsical freehand alphabet letters, and this is what I ended up with. Thank goodness for my little proofreader Maddie who repeatedly questioned me "where's the K?" as she sang the song over and over out loud. She was right - I left out the K.

You gotta be smarter than your preschooler, but sometimes, it's just the other way around!

Sharing with:

A few less flowers...

I'm on the bloggers MIA list once again. I have to admit - I've just been worn out. I am constantly on that endless search of figuring out how to balance it all. Having a husband who commutes over an hour a day has really changed our schedule over the past year. Jason has been blessed with becoming a State Farm Agent about 15 months ago, but his office is an hour away from where we live. So we've had a lot of time with Daddy out of the house - BUT when he is here, he is an incredible dad and husband. It's all a process of just learning how to make it all work. The talk of moving has been in the works for over a year but that too is stressful just thinking about it. Ok, I know I am preaching to the choir in terms of being a MOM who is tired, but just wanted to vent.. I went outside the other afternoon to find a few of my flowering plants                                                                          ...flowerless....

 

                                          and instead my flowers were scattered on the driveway...
But before I let loose into my speech of how not to pick the living flowers, let them bloom..blah blah...
                                                                 I saw more of the scene...

Who needs flowers on their plants when you can have a Princess Wedding with two 5 year old princesses?

I'll choose a princess wedding any ol' day over flowering plants. I saw the meaning behind this - "take time to scatter the flowers" -ok, or smell the flowers, but point being, I need to slow down, put the stress aside and soak in these little things that add beauty to my life each and every day.

a little (a lot) laundry, a late-to-arrive-home husband, a broken dishwasher? Who cares! I'd rather be the wedding photographer!

OOOOOOh, do I love those girls!

lovin' the handmade...

Handmade Gifts are Priceless.

My talented neighbor Chamonix made this hat for Izzy's 1st Birthday.

Could it be any cuter?

let's lighten it up in here...

i've made the leap onto the ruffle bandwagon. ruffles are everywhere it seems. and little did i know that my limited sewing skills allowed me to create these ruffles. inspired by many blogs and by this shower curtain shown above from the influential Anthropologie magazine, i knew i wanted this look in my own home.

although in love with the curtain, the $98 price tag and i weren't so much in love.

solution - Grandma's Linen Closet.

once again.

using her old white sheets and white tablecloths, i created these curtains for my living room. it is amazing how much it lightened up the room.

my favorite part is how some of the ruffles are yellowed - this was from the yellowed stains on the tablecloth. i loved the mixture of the off-white and white together.

no measuring, no perfect lines - just cutting the tablecloth in strips, creating the ruffles and then sewing on the strips to the sheet. i used a king size sheet and cut it in two and hemmed the edges.

i think grandma would be proud.