"A Wink and a Smile"

This has not been my most productive or happy week. As a family we are still trying to adjust to the loss of our puppy . We also have workers in our house doing some energy saving improvements. I am never really comfortable with a bunch of strangers in my home, but soon enough they will be gone and hopefully the changes will have a good impact on our utility bills. So here are my small successes ... I've kept up with vacuuming our home. I'm thankful for a good, working Dyson vacuum. With people working with insulation, it's been quite messy. Lots of tracking dust and dirt ... ick. Even though we have 5-9 workers in my home, I have managed to get a little bit of schooling done with my 7th grader. I'm going easy on her given her melancholy state. She is reading a book on my iPad and is LOVING it. I'm sure any book on the iPad is better to her ;) Anyway, I love when my reluctant reader says that she loves a book and that it's like a movie playing in her he...

The school year is winding down and with that comes a little bit of craziness. I'm incredibly thankful for my handy iCal which alerts me that I need to be somewhere. Soon enough summer will be here ... really in the next 2 weeks for our family. With summer comes a different craziness, but alas it is DIFFERENT and sometimes that's enough to make it a break of sorts. Some successes this week include ... 1. Detail cleaning ... in the kitchen the stove top certainly needed it and in the bedrooms I dusted furniture and wood blinds (despise that job). 2. Helped a certain little girl make her "cub of the week" poster about her. Mostly that entailed printing out photos and gluing them onto a poster board. She put some finishing touches on it with stickers ... 3. I baked three times this week; cookies on Tuesday for little {c}'s birthday treat at school, an amazingly yummy baked cinnamon French toast on Wednesday morning, and today (before the 8am hour) I made my...

Is it Thursday already? Forget that, is it MAY already? While some days and weeks seem to drag, I'm finding that lately my life seems to be speeding on by; busy days where I can't seem to catch a breath, and nights that just don't seem to include as much sleep as is NEEDED. (((SIGH)))) I'll be happy for summer, but then I know all too well that those days will go by quickly too. This weeks small successes ... Managing the house, school, activities, and 2 meetings WITHOUT my sidekick's help (Mon/Tues) ... he was off in Chicago. Catching up on some emails ... putting things on the calendar and then DELETING a lot of my inbox. Planting those few remaining flowers that were just sitting on my driveway in their containers. Hopefully they will LIVE and GROW in the earth now ;)

Busy time of the year, but I am trying to see the little successes of the week. Go check out Faith and Family to see more . 1. Successfully decorated the inside and outside of the house with my family. They really did a bulk of it this year and I got to watch. 2. Started the Christmas shopping. I'm late this year to start, but I'm trying not to worry or get too caught up in the craziness. 3. Organized the homeschool room (my dining room) ... off to do that now ;)

Here they are ... 1. Thoroughly cleaned, decluttered, and organized the little girls bedroom and bathroom. I don't know how such little people can make such a big mess, but they do, and NOW it is clean. How long will that last? I wonder ... 2. Scheduled some appointments ... Dogs to the VET for their boarding over Thanksgiving week and my consultation at the DENTIST. Have I mentioned that the BRACES COME OFF on November 9th? After that I hope to have a little whitening done and some bonding. The consult is for the after braces come off work. I CANNOT WAIT ... it's been a long 2 years and almost 7 months. 3. Got in a little ALONE TIME with the husband. We met for a bagel and coffee at our local Panera this morning. After Adoration he headed there to do some "work". He wanted a morning away from work to actually GET WORK DONE ;) It was nice to have a little time together even if he mostly did work and I read one chapter in my fun read .

What did you get right this week? hmmmm ... 1.  I didn't throw up at the oral surgeons when they took 2 SETS of molds.  I know I posted this earlier, but having a huge mouthpiece filled with nasty cement that almost CAN'T fit into my mouth is NOT FUN.  I had to focus on breathing so that I did't panic and GAG.   2.  I helped my 8 year old make a castle without OVER-HELPING (if you know what I mean).  The castle looks like it was made by an 8 year old. 3.  I JUST bought tickets to a Jason Mraz concert (my post surgery gift to me and my older two girls).  I usually leave this up to my husband.  When it found me seats, I had exactly 2 minutes to confirm them or I would lose the spots.  I hardly ever make a decision in 2 minutes.   ANYWAY, I did it!   Can't wait to go to this concert.