Category: gratitude

children, gratitude, happiness, mommyhood

The Blog and the Smile

WFAM

Little T.Puzzle and I were hanging out together while Mad Dog and Full Speed went to a Tae Kwan Do class. Little T.Puzzle was watching a cartoon and I was on my laptop. After a few minutes he told me to ‘make room’ for him and he snuggled up against me.

“Are you working on your blog?” he asked.

I told him yes and then he ordered me to ‘put my blog away’.

He thinks my laptop is my blog. Very cute.

Who am I to argue with such cuteness?

I put my ‘blog’ away and proceeded to tickle him.

“Stop tickling me! You’re driving me crazy!” he yelled. Of course the gleeful smile plastered across his face told quite a different story.

However, my face and words matched the spirit of the moment exactly.

Happy.

Little T.Puzzle at movie theater playing a game while we wait for our dollar Tuesday movie to start.
gratitude, mommyhood

Quote of the Day

WFAM

Happy Memorial Day Everyone! Our family spent the day at a local festival. It was very fun, it rained a little and because we are in Florida, it was HOT. Hope you all enjoyed your long weekend. And don’t forget to hug and thank those service members in your life. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude.

Since it is a holiday I’m taking a day off (sort of) and instead of writing a post, I wanted to share this quote from Oprah. It is a reminder that what we do as mothers and caretakers everyday is valuable. Even on the days when it doesn’t feel that way.

“We should no longer allow a mother to be defined as ‘just a mom’. It is on her back that great nations are built. We should no longer allow any woman’s voice to be drowned out or disregarded. As we affirm other women, and we teach our sons, husbands and friends to hold them in the highest regard, we honor both the mothers whose shoulders we’ve stood on and the daughters who will one day stand tall on ours.”

Now, go hug your kids.

gratitude, happiness, marital blissishness

‘Ever Thine

WFAM

I am a huge fan of Sex and the City. I have waited patiently for almost a year for the release of the second film in the SATC franchise. Of course by no control of my own, the premiere date landed on the night before little T.Puzzle’s eye exam under anesthesia. To remedy this unfortunate coincidence, I arranged for our babysitter to come on the Sunday morning following the eye exam so Mad Dog could take me to see it.

This is why I love my husband. Not only does he accompany me to my crazy ‘chick flicks’, he does it with such an air of relaxed confidence that no one would dare question why he is there. He doesn’t care what anyone thinks. He doesn’t care that the reviews of SATC2 have been less than flattering, that the audience was made up of 90% women or that the movie (in his perspective) was a long, drawn-out spectacle lasting well over two hours.

All he cares about is me.

I’m no Carrie Bradshaw with a fancy Manhattan apartment filled with endless designer clothes and shoes, but I am perhaps one of the luckiest ladies on this planet to be married to someone like Mad Dog.

‘ever thine.
‘ever mine.
‘ever ours*

Love you, Mad Dog!

*(poem excerpt by Beethoven to his immortal beloved also quoted in the SATC movies by Carrie and Big)

img_0253

gratitude, happiness, kids, life in pictures, mommyhood

Aquamarine

WFAM

As the mom of boys it’s a given that you are going to have to participate in activities that you don’t really understand. Things like spontaneous wrestling, watching racecar or train themed shows, arbitrary kung-fu contests and laughing at random and sometimes purposeful bodily function noises. I get that. So, it’s a pleasant surprise when you have to do something boy-related that turns into something unexpectedly fun.

We took the boys to a Corvette show that included a chili cook-off. I don’t know if it’s because they are getting older and seemed easier to manage, or that the show was small and uncrowded but I really enjoyed myself. Of course I judge the Corvettes by which one is the prettiest color (an aquamarine blue convertible won my top vote) so I may not have been appreciating it the way I should.

Anyway, since my life is destined to continue in the realm of all things boys; it’s nice to see the shimmering aquamarine lining finally starting to peek through. Regardless, you’ll never see me initiate spontaneous wrestling.

Full Speed’s favorite Corvette, little T.Puzzle in the foreground refusing to pose (shocker)
gratitude, happiness, mommyhood

The Real ‘Secret’

WFAM

If you have two ‘spirited’ children and you want to have a leisurely lunch, the kind of lunch where you sit outside, have an actual conversation with your in-laws, eat tons of salsa and chips and slowly sip a mango mojito here’s what you do:

Take your kids to the beach for three and a half hours, no more no less, before you go and you are golden and delicious. Just like your mojitos.