Blessings of the week...

This week I'm grateful for so many supportive friends and family members.

I'm grateful for good counsel from Church leaders (listen here) and a chance to examine my life and see where I need to improve. Oh, can we count the ways? I love Conference weekend. I love eating cinnamon rolls and watching Conference with my family while they color ties and play Conference Bingo. (This time around I missed gathering at my granddad's house for a yummy potluck and visiting with my family.)

I'm grateful for a VT who knew that warm rolls and a simple note would be more meaningful than a lengthy visit and message.

I'm grateful for friends who brought soup and rolls and treats and words of encouragement.

I'm grateful for a dear friend who provided me with a box of decadent dark chocolates, complete with a guide so it wouldn't be a guess each time I chose one of the treats she hand-picked for me.

I'm grateful for kids who love me, even though by their own admission (and mine) I wasn't very much fun this weekend.

I'm grateful that Roberts gave us a chance to get out of the house and let the creative juices flow.

We made some alligators with boondoggle and beads. Longest craft to make EVER especially for a make-and-take. They should have called it a "stay for three hours and make this ridiculous alligator with no clear instructions and then take it with you if you can finish it with the help of the well-meaning and helpful worker who probably wishes you had passed her table by craft." Coleman loved it. Me, not so much.

Liv made this darling card.

I'm grateful that my husband finally returned to cell phone range.

I'm grateful for another chance to get out of the house and listen to uplifting music. If you need to commission some music, M. Ryan Taylor's your guy.


Most of all, I'm grateful for family members and friends who have provided leads for work opportunities, help with piano lessons and gymnastics classes, and good shoulders to cry on--even though many are in much worse situations than we are.


**What's your favorite part about Conference weekend?
**Do your craft projects ever elicit such negative emotions, or is it just me?
**What do you feel grateful for these days?

We Have a Winner!

It must be morning somewhere in the world, right? So much for being on top of things. Regardless of the fact that I'm announcing this several hours later than I had wanted to, I am very happy to announce the winner of the Happiness Giveaway--She was chosen at random and is lucky commenter #5:

Kim who said:

What a great thing to do with the school! One thing that makes me happy is that it is 8 pm, all 3 children are asleep and hubby is making me roasted chickpeas. Yep, that makes me real happy :)

February 6, 2009 8:11 PM

Thanks to all for sharing the things that make you happy! You know that some of the things that make me happy are good mail, crafts, and giving gifts, so I'm thrilled to send this Valentine block off to Kim!

Kim is a friend that I met through the Breastfeeding Cafe a few years ago. She is so fun to be around and makes everyone around her feel happy. I was so sad when I learned she'd be moving away from the area, but thank goodness for blogs (hers is a great one) and other ways of staying in touch! Congratulations Kim!

Happiness Giveaway

Our PTA has felt that there is much in the world that drags us down. We wanted to help our kids focus on good things, so we dubbed February

"Happy Month"

at our school (props to our president for a great idea). One of the ways we are helping kids to focus on being happy is with our happy wall--they can write on a piece of paper what makes them happy and then it gets posted. I have to admit, I didn't expect the kids to get as excited about this as I was--and we did get a few older grade kids who rolled their eyes--but for the most part the kids couldn't wait to write down what makes them happy. The photo above is after only two days!

I want to find out what makes YOU happy, and for an incentive to participate, a comment will enter you in a drawing for a darling Valentine's home decor piece (still in the works, but it will be so cute!). Leave a comment by 11:59 pm on Sunday, February 8th to enter--you must include in your comment what makes you happy. I'll announce the winner in a Monday morning post and get it sent off or delivered in time for the winner to enjoy for Valentine's Day.

**What makes you happy?