Lazy Susan

I heart Ikea. BIG heart. Love the place - we are redoing our family room, getting rid of a big clunky old armoire (used to hold one of the deep tv's) and putting in Ikea's expedit shelving and an old schoolhouse desk that I'm going to repaint. Saw it on pinterest, but mine is going to be a mustard yellow up against our red wall. I've wanted to do this for a number of years (well, something like this, but finally got all the ideas together in my head!) and it's so exciting it's actually going to happen! I'm starting to work from home and work next week - it's been 5 months of working full time at the office, and I'm so excited to be home 3 days a week starting next week. SO EXCITED!!!! This little nook of mine will make it all the better. Pictures soon...but here is partly the "before"...we had a nice fire going and David and Smith were all snuggled up together after dinner. You'll see Smith in the piano picture - that's about all the love the piano has been getting lately. Piano is now in the living room, things are a'changing!!

Oh, dinner! So the lazy susan! We bought it at Ikea for $7 (total impulse buy, although I'd been hitting Salvation Army lately to find one) and that very night, we had baguettes with a bunch of toppings on the lazy susan - avocado, roasted garlic, salami, goat cheese, fresh pepper and kosher salt - oh my mouth is watering! I didn't take a picture but should have. I am planning meals around this thing!

Had a GREAT day at the part today, David got home a little earlier than usual and we did leap frog in the park, soccer, etc. Really good family time. Love afternoons like these.

Butter Chicken and Valentine's Day

Yuuuuummmmm - just had a delicious crock pot meal of butter chicken, recipe here, from a new good friend. I always think of that Girl Scout song.

Got to stay home from work today which was nice, food in the crock pot by 10am, volunteered at the school for a bit, knit with butter chicken friend while our girls played together. Had some cute silly Valentine things for the kids - I crocheted envelopes for their Sweethearts (silly, but fun, and Tate wants me to turn them into purses!). I'm really not into this holiday, but who can resist Pepe le Pew? Love that skunk.

Here's what's on my needles - a hat! It's the 3rd or 4th time I've started it, once with way too big of needles, then I missed a stitch that wasn't fixable a couple inches in, but now I think I've got it. It's from the alpaca farm Tate and I went to in the spring...and from the very alpaca that had just given birth as we arrived! So soft.

Beyond words

An unbelievable story of goodwill and love. Love wins.

A little Valentine's Day obsessed...

Saw these adorable bookmarks on 30 Days and I can't seem to stop myself! These aren't even for the kids...I'm thinking about putting one on every desk for the people at work. Maybe with a small heart shaped banana muffin. In a cupcake paper with cellophane and some red and white twine. And maybe some chalkboard paint...gotta figure out how to add that.

This is a problem.

On the wagon

Sometimes life throws you some serious curve balls, makes you re-evaluate what is important, who you are, who everyone is around you. The best advice I've seen lately is to just...breathe. Stop, take a moment, and breathe. 

It's also about making choices. I heard a great quote from Albus Dumbledore the other day when Smith and I were watching Harry Potter 3. He said, "It is not our abilities that show what we truly are, it is our choices." I agree. Every day, every hour, we face choices big and small, and it is the direction we go that show our character, our personality. Make Good Choices. That's it, simple, sweet, beautiful. Smith and Tate both came home yesterday grumpy and tired, and I told them both that sometimes when you feel like that, you have to choose happiness, even if you aren't feeling it; a glass half-full approach to life.

Everybody has trouble, private issues, things they don't like to think about. But when you really stop and think about the lovely little things in your life, the hug from your child as they pass by you, the adoring look from your dog, the fact that you can borrow books from the library and put food on your table, these are good things. These help to make those good choices easier, from getting up and taking the kids and dogs for a walk all the way to realizing that the life you have is good, most all of the time.