Happiness & Project Life week 1

Trying to get back on track after falling off the blogging wagon.
Here is my first photo for the Happiness linky this week

A rose for no reason, just because he was thinking of me always makes me happy.

Then tonight it started snowing & as of right now it is still snowing so outside looks like this:

I can't think of anything that makes me feel more like a kid than the anticipation of snow accumulation. I love watching the snow fall in the street lights, love the blanket of quiet that snow brings, love how it brightens up even the gloomiest of days. If only it would stay for just a little while. I'm hoping that it will stick around long enough for a snow day tomorrow so the kiddos can go sledding & play in it.

I'm excited I've found a way to share my Project Life/365. On Tuesday's I will share last weeks photos & link up with others who are doing the same. Hopefully this will help keep me accountable & on track for keeping up with this project since I am already loving this album! I have already shared last week's photos, I will just share what they all look like printed out & placed in their pockets.

Now I am going back to try to finish reading my book, if those beautiful fat snowflakes falling don't distract me too much...

December 13 & Happiness

Having our tree up & decorated is pure happiness for me. I love everything about it. Our random collection of ornaments that bring back memories of Christmas past, especially the ones the kids have made. The smell. The glow of twinkly lights. I love Christmas time.

Here are my December Daily pages.

Journaling reads: After visiting Santa we decided to check out the trees at Lowes. They had a nice selection for reasonable prices. Plus it was quick & easy. Matthew found the tree we ended up with. Using our military discount we got a 7ft Douglas Fir for less than $25.

Journaling reads: Our plan was to decorate the tree after dinner. Right as we were sitting down to eat our neighbors brought over some Christmas cookies. They were the perfect dessert to eat while we decorated. We listened to Christmas music & reminisced about some of our special ornaments. Marissa was especially into finding "her" ornaments. Matthew stuck around long enough to hang just a few ornaments.

Supplies used:

The Greatest Gift Kit by Trish H  trish designs

#13 by Katie Pertiet Simple Classic Christmas kit  designer digitals

Journal tag from In the Making  in the making design

Linking up with Ali Edwards

December Daily 6 & Happiness

First I just have to ask... please don't judge my decor. I am not such a Twilight nerd that I decorated with the poster. I threw a Twilight party & decided that having something up there looked better than nothing. I have a fabulous window frame just waiting for my attention that is going to go up there. It's just sitting waiting for it's number to come up.

So anyways here are my happiness photos for this week. We had just finished watching Fantastic Mr. Fox for the first time and the kids were supposed to be going to get ready for bed. Instead they were all wound up & Matthew wanted to show us how he could jump in the air, sit criss cross & then land.
Um, okee dokey.

Well he really can! Not only that, but he wanted his picture while floating in the air. The girls never miss an opportunity to try to keep up with their brother & getting their picture taken was a bonus. I was laughing so hard, I'm not sure how I got these photos!

I love these kids, they are so much fun!

Maddie has been wanting to have a wedding for her cats since she got Mr. Tiger Lilly last month for her birthday. I plan on documenting the story behind it all, but realized this isn't the place for it. I am trying to keep it simple so I can get it done.

So here is today's December Daily page

Supplies used: Christmas Magic kit from Design by Ginger from shabby pickle designs

Simple Classic Christmas by Katie Pertiet from Designer Digitals

Journaling reads:

The girls were so excited to celebrate the Tiger Lilly

wedding. They decorated their tree & selected the guests.

Daddy spoke for Spots who was the official marrying

the two cats. A cupcake reception immediately followed.

See how more people are capturing their daily December memories at ali edwards

Power = Happiness

This week I am oh so happy to have power back on & I could have taken lots of photos to document this. Vacuuming made me ridiculously happy this week, eating hot home cooked meals = happy, as much as I like candles for mood lighting they just don't cut it for day to day life with 3 kids & a big crazy dog, having my computer back = happy, being warm anywhere in my house instead of right in front of fireplace = happy. A whole lot of happy going on right now!

Anyhoo here is this week's happiness shot:

All 3 of my kiddos enjoying cartoons together.

It's kind of a double happy since anytime all 3 kids do something together makes me happy.

They were oh-so-happy to have their tv back!

What is making you happy this week?

Giving Thanks

This is making me oh so happy this week!

(project instructions below)

Each of the number pockets has 5 things that we are thankful for.

One for each of us every day this month.
It is so much fun to see what we each come up with everyday.

This project started with this picture I saw on Facebook, I just couldn't figure out how to re-create it on my own walls.

I love this idea, it's such a fun way to show off photos.

Then I saw this one at tater tots and jello, 

That is when the idea finally clicked & I knew I could make it happen.

I found this frame at the thrift store for $5. It was about the size I wanted & in good shape although I wish it had more personality, it is a great guinea pig for this project.

I took apart the backing & removed the funky tree photo. As a bonus my 15 year old is really really amused with the tree, it is HUGE. He took it & put it up in his room.

I spray painted the frame black & put in 3 pairs of eye hooks. I used 4x6 photos to figure out my spacing.

Then threaded basic twine between the hooks. So it looked like this



Now black frame. Photo taken by my 7 year old who loves to help.

Eye hooks & twine.



I used some of the thick foam board that was behind the tree photo, trimmed down to just under 5x7 to mount the Give Thanks.



I made the Give Thanks using free digital kits I got from

Mandy King,
available at Scrapbook Elements http://www.scrappity-doo-dah.com/store/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=85

http://craft-tastrophic.blogspot.com/

Sweet Digi Scraps by Leilani http://leidee-q.blogspot.com/

Not free but part of one of Jessica Sprague's $1 Wednesdays
iKari Designs from www.jessicasprague.com
The number pockets & journal cards are also from Jessica Sprague.
They are part of the Hybrid project Friday, project 4, 30 days of gratitude.

I am loving these command strips! They are like super strong velcro & make it super easy to hang up items you might want to swap out. My plan for this frame is to have it be themed & now I can easily change it up every month.

I have the extra thankful cards & number pockets in a jar below the frame. Just waiting for our thankful thoughts!

What are you thankful for right now?

Election Day & Family Thankfulness

Happiness project

Week 2

Here is what is making me happy this week :)

We are starting a new family project this month.

Every day we will write down one thing we are thankful for.

I mentioned this last week during dinner so they could start thinking of things.

I wasn't sure what to expect, especially from the kids.

Maddie was really excited to be the first to write her answer down ~ our house.

Matthew wanted his answer to be a secret which made me nervous,

 but he chose electricity.

Marissa very happily wrote family.

Matt chose his job

I wrote down our health.

I can't wait to see all the different things we are thankful this month!

As soon as I finish it I will share how I will be displaying these this month.

I am oh so very happy that election day is here!

I have little tolerance for all the political ads that are blasting

everywhere with little to no useful information.

Happy Day that today they end for another year!

See what is making others happy this week

Leigh vs Laundry

Happiness Project week 1

I absolutely love this idea from

leigh vs laundry

Once a week she hosts the Happiness project.

It's simple, just post about something that is making you happy this week.

For me it's just a fun reminder to look around and really see

 what I have to be thankful for.

Here is this week's photo that is making me happy

Truly this amuses me.

It's even better because the girls found this bad boy hanging out

 in the backyard & begged me to bring the camera.

The rest just fell into place.

I adore Marissa's expression.

Although she was hamming it up for the photo, without being asked by the way,

she despises spiders. Always has. She will run screaming from

the room at the sight of a teeny tiny one.

I am so thankful that we were able to have a fun moment with a spider!

What is making you happy this week?

Random bits of Happiness

Today is just a few random things that are making me happy right now.

I am beyond amused with these spiders. They just make me happy.

Ok, ok. I get it now. Ginger pumpkin is oh so yummy!

I asked Matt for a Egg Nog Chai because some of the

coffee shops already have Egg Nog.

Tully's is not one of them (They wait until November)

so he took a chance & got me a Ginger Pumpkin Chai.

Seriously tasty goodness!

I am loving the Hersey's Pumpkin Spice kisses that Target has right now.

More tasty goodness in a cute little kiss.

Last, but not least for today is goody mail!

I love getting goodies in the mail.

Especially ones like this that are just fun.

This is the prize I won from

Wonder Woman Wannabe

Thank you so very much ~ I love it!!

What is making you happy right now?