find joy in the journey

happily grateful: people i love

My happiness derives from knowing the people I love are happy.

Holly Ketchel

Do these look like happy faces to you?

We just got back from a quick little getaway to a hotel & mega-indoor-water park.  The trip was a sort of family party for Conner's upcoming 10th birthday.  The kids had a great time.  We had a great time.  We drove up after church, checked into our room and played some board games, then got up bright and early this morning to hit the waterpark.  There were 6 different waterslides (including one that we could all go down together on one raft), a waterplay area for the little kids, a bigger water fort (with a giant bucket that dumped water every few minutes - see pictures above), a pool for walking across the lily-pads and basketball, and a wave pool.

 (click to see slightly larger)

What made this even more special was the fact that we spent all day in our swimsuits, enjoying the water slides, while this was going on outside.

Before we even left, the kids were asking when we can come again.  

My favorite quote of the trip . . . it's our first time down the Canyon River Run, with all 5 of us in a big circular raft, Scott is leaning back as far as he can to add some extra speed fun to the ride, Payton's got the look of fear in his eyes, Anna spends the first few moments totally frozen and then says, "This is wonderful!!!" 

My favorite moment of the trip . . . when Conner and I emerged from the Howlin' Tornado and Scott, Payton, & Anna were standing there cheering.

happily grateful: good works and good fortune

One of the sanest, surest, and most encompassing joys of life comes from being happy over the good works and good fortune of others.

- Archibald Rutledge

I'm happy for . . . 

. . . friends who got to experience an amazing, pampered getaway that was orchestrated to put a few checkmarks on another dear woman's bucket list.

. . . my talented mom who got to chat with Nate Berkus.  He was asking her design questions.

. . . my brother who got an internship in Virginia and for the adventure that he and my sister-in-law will get to experience together.

. . . a friend who is moving to a new home to shorten her husband's commute and thus increase his time at home.  Happy, but slightly begrudgingly.  :)

. . . a grandmother (Scott's) who is free of the pains of this life and is finally with her sweetheart again.

. . . examples of service around me

. . . people who choose to do the right thing

. . . opportunities to celebrate others

(quote from the book "happily grateful" at live-inspired.com.  I'll be sharing a few more of these through Thanksgiving week.)

kind and helpful

As a mother, each day I have two wishes

1. everyone will get along and be happy
2. an attitude of helpfulness will permeate the house.  Whether it be doing chores for mom, telling Anna how to spell a word for one of her many notes & letters, or showing Payton how to play a tricky rhythm on the piano.

I often vocalize these wishes in our morning family prayer, "please help us to be kind and helpful."  Not only do I hope for a few helpful nudges from above, but this is also my subtle way of sending a morning memo to the fam.  You are all under notice.

The day begins, we go through the routines, life happens . . . and we hear things like,

Conner in frustration:  "Anna, you are never going to have a husband!!"

But luckily, we also hear things like,

"Conner, I think you'll look great with glasses."  Said by Payton after Conner gets the news from the eye doctor and isn't too happy about this new accessory for his face.

and

"I have the best 2 brothers I ever had!"  Said gleefully by Anna as she bounces back and forth between the playroom where Payton has created a massive train track for her and the boys' bedroom where Conner has invited her to a dance party.

and

"you're way hotter than her."  In an e-mail from Scott.  Thanks, babe.

I often think of a quote by Joseph B. Wirthlin, "There is no substitute for kindness in the home."  Yes.  A little kindness goes a long way and I'll take as much as I can get.

on a fall day - november 2010

We were blessed with a few magnificent fall days this week.

Sunshine.  Sunshine!

Temps in the high 60's.  Even reaching 70 one day.

And an explosion of fall color.

The fall color has been around for a while, but it took the brilliant, golden sunshine setting those colors on fire for me to really notice.    

Driving the kids to school in the morning has been such a treat.  Winding and dipping through the countryside with new colors, new angles of streaming sunlight around every turn.  Dew glistening on the ground.  A hint of fog remaining.  Just so beautiful, inspiring, peaceful, and magnificent.

I'd been meaning to grab my camera and bring it with me on one of these mornings.  The last morning of sunshine I forgot again.  Luckily, Payton forgot his jacket so I had to go back home and get it for him which also gave me a chance to grab my camera.  After putting his hoodie on his hook, we hopped back in the car to explore.  We turned onto the lane adjacent to an old cemetery . . . 

Wouldn't you love to drive down this lane everyday?

The cows humored me.

There is so much more to see . . . but not much room to pull over on the road.

Then Anna and I drove to Ace and picked up some work/garden gloves.  Yes, even a pair of pink kids' size ones for her.  It is time for phase 1 of the fall yard work. Pull weeds, spread moss killer, clean out the garden, and pull 2 hydrangea bushes that really don't like where I planted them.  I always look for days like this to start the fall clean-up.  Nothing is worse than trying to accomplish yard work while traipsing through swamp-like grass and muddy flower beds.

Phase 2 is rake the leaves, but that will come later when the leaves actually fall.

After the morning clean-up of the front yard we came in for a break.  Anna also brought in one of the hydrangea clippings.  She asked me, "what do plants need to grow?"  I told her sunlight and water.  I got busy with a few things and returned to find her like this:

A bowl of water and Payton's book light providing some light.  Too cute.

It was a great day of yard work.  And once again, the sun blessed us with some gorgeous rays.  Anna was such a good worker.  She stayed by my side the entire time and happily agreed to do whatever task I gave her.

A good day of yard work.

The boys came home from school.  They practiced shooting some hoops while I continued on with the yard work.  Scott came home and played with them too.

For dinner we pulled some leftover chicken and wild rice soup from the freezer.  That always hits the spot.

Then it was onto Conner's last soccer practice and Scott to youth night at church.

A very good fall day.

living room makeover

So . . . . this makeover began (and was mostly completed) back in February.  Pillows were added in March, and a photo gallery project finally went up 2 weeks ago.  Seeing as my project sharing turnaround is about 8 months, don't be holding your breath about the master bedroom/bath reveal.

This was yet another room in our house that was originally painted in Harvest Brown (Behr).  When we moved into this house it needed a top to bottom interior paint job. Pronto. I didn't have the time (or creativity) to come up with a color scheme so we handed the painter one color and let him go to town (with a few room exceptions).

I wanted to up the level of style and sophistication in this room so the primary elements of my plan included new paint (Classic Brown by Benjamin Moore) and crown moulding (with the help of my dad).

Before:

  (pretty blah)

After:

(ohhh, classic sophistication.  I love it!)

Before:

 (a whole lot of beige)

After:

 (now that's more my style - classic elements, modern clean lines, pop of color)

Here's a closer look at the photo arrangement on the right:

 (I collected several frames from Michael's (got a great deal).  The black oval frame and the gold frame on the far right came from a local antique bazaar.)

First off, we had a large 16x20 wedding portrait.  I wanted to create a collage/grouping of wedding and engagement photos of our parents and grandparents.  Kind of like a family history wall, with an emphasis on marriage and the sacred, eternal union that we treasure it to be.  I love how it turned out.  I love seeing all these familiar family faces, at such a young and fresh phase of their lives.

Here's a closer look at some of the details:

1.  white zebra textured pillows - IKEA

2.  squirrel bookends - antique bazaar.  I picked this set up for $3!  I love the whimsical, vintage-y look. Plus they give the perfect little touch of gold (which seems to be more and more popular these days).

3.  antique oval frame - ebay.  pumpkin and bird - Target (last year).

4.  damask pillow - bed bath & beyond.  creamy linen pillow cover - IKEA.  When I came up with a vision for this room I had a clear picture in my mind of the pillows I wanted on the red couch - a black damask print, creamy background, and texture.  I was thrilled beyond belief when I found these at Bed Bath & Beyond.  Thrilled!

5.  a white tray (Target clearance) on the shelves behind the couch holds miscellaneous photo albums and this cute book written and illustrated by Payton.  

6.  white frame - Target (this spring).  A few books, albums.  The witches' broom is part of my seasonal decor.

And one more angle.

There is one project remaining . . .  deciding on a window covering for the giant (and I mean giant) window seen above.  I think it's something like 64 x 58.  I'd love to do a nice roman shade.  The view out that window is not ideal - our neighbor's front yard, driveway, and a glimpse of their backyard swingset.  So a roman shade would be nice because I would only keep the bottom 18-24 inches open to let in some light.  The other option is to get drapes & sheers to match the ones on the front window.  Decisions, decisions.  For now, the collage of snowflakes made by Payton last winter are a perfect screen.

Thanks for taking a peek!