Five Things That Make Me Happy Friday...

I am back from my two day hiatus. Did you miss me?

These past few days, we have been taking it slow, spending quality time with each other and relaxing a bit. Today, I'm reviewing 5 things that have made me happy about this past week:

1. My patriotic family! I went ahead and put together this gif (are gifs my new obsession? It's too early to make the obsession call on that, I think) for your enjoyment. We all looked too cute to not get an impromptu photo session in our backyard before we headed out to the July Fourth Parade.

2. Speaking of my cute patriotic family... I am soooo happy I found this tutorial and was able to make each of them (and me) cute matching shirts/dresses for under $4. Add those adorable red/white/and blue sunnies and they are styling for $5 (yep, I scooped those up from the Target dollar section).
(for the record, Christopher didn't want to match us...)

3. As much as I love going to the gym, I'm pretty happy I decided to take a week off from it. I feel like absence is making my heart grow fonder and my kids will also be happy to go back on Monday to the play center. They were starting to complain the last few times we went. With the few extra hours this week, we've played, relaxed and I am just letting the kids do what they want. Unstructured play is fun for a week, but I think they'll be happy to get back to getting back into our summer 'routine' next week.

4. This made me laugh so hard I had tears! A few days ago, there was a local news story about a wild bear spotted near USF and they tracked it to a tree outside the gates of Busch Gardens. I was telling the kids about it and they asked to see a picture of the bear. I found a news video on my phone and we watched it together.

Riley said, "Wow! She is hot!!" talking about this lady --> I took a screen shot and was pretty proud of the face I happened to seize on. :)

He has never said anyone has looked 'hot' before, he has told me I'm beautiful or look cool on occasion, but those words 'she's hot', I've never heard from this boy's mouth before, so it shocked me a little. I said, "You think she's hot, Bear?"
He replied, "Yep! It's because she's outside."

This is when I couldn't control my tears. He's so cute. It is hot outside and she is wearing long sleeves and all...

5. Reminiscing through old photos. Reliving memories. Strolling down memory lane. I have a TON of old photos. Here's one I wanted to post for Mrs. Melissa Baker's Flashback Friday. That is me and one of my besties Nicole circa 2002? We were definitely cuties. I love that I still am friends with all the best people in my old pictures. THAT makes me super happy! :)

What is making you happy today?

<3, Tabi :D

 

Blergh

The following is an exact re-enactment of what happened to me today...

via Pinterest

Stupid menstruation fairy...

<3, Tabi :D

It happened a year ago today...

It happened a year ago today...

... a terrible accident occurred, that could have been prevented.  In a split second, the lives of so many were effected and left to deal with a tragic loss. Lilly left us July 2nd, 2011.

I have a lump in my throat typing this up.

One year ago today, I learned so much. I learned that life is precious. I learned that we are not, in fact, invincible and that bad things do happen to good people sometimes. 

Life is beautiful, but not fair.

I learned that no matter how hard we try to protect our children, their safety is not always in our hands. We have a lot less control than we think we do.

I learned to focus on what's important: the people I love and care about. The rest... the rest is just stuff.

I learned that I can learn a lot from a 5 year old. My own daughter has proved to me that there is something more. I saw tiny miracles happen and I will never forget them.

I learned that a years' time doesn't lessen the pain.

I learned that there is magic in this world. I know that rainbows, dragonflies, butterflies and even frogs are all in on it.

Please keep Lilly's family in your prayers today. To try and imagine that pain is too much for me to bear, prayers do help. The universe is listening.

<3, Tabi :D

 

Currently.

I have to admit, every time I see a Sometimes Sweet Currently post, I feel a strong urge to do one myself. I'm so happy that she openly invites other bloggers to copy her inspiration, or else I'm sure I'd feel just dirty being an uninvited copycat.

So. Curently...

Roxy has lost her second tooth, widening her gappy smile and she gets cuter and cuter every day. The tooth fairy came and left her fairy dust all over the 2 $1 bills she left in place of her tooth. I sure hope Target doesn't mind.

On weekends, we let the two older kids have their 'sleepover'. This weekend, it took place in Riley's bed and Christopher is a genius and fashioned the iPad into an awesome built in TV. He is so craft, that husband of mine.

In an attempt to ramp up our social life, I invited some good friends over on Saturday to come and hang out with us. For us, since having children, our own social life has completely gone down the drain, and these particular friends had never actually been to our house, even though we've known them forever. It was such a wonderful visit, I'm so happy they came over and I really hope we get to visit a lot more often. However, I also volunteered to watch another good friend's two boys that night (which I'm happy to do, anytime*) and think I might have overbooked our Saturday, because at the end of the day, Christopher and I were extremely exhausted.

*We have 3 (sometimes 4) kids ourselves, and I've found adding a few more to the mix, usually doesn't involve much more energy on a parent's part. Am I right? or am I alone in this POV? Plus, it gives me warm fuzzies to be able to help out a friend whenever I can.

I'm feeling guilty. I had this June Word challenge I concocted and went through with every day... except for yesterday - THE LAST DAY! I'm a naughty blogger and I apologize to anyone who missed it. I would like to thank everyone who participated. For me, it was a good exercise in creativity, and I sort of liked that it made me accountable to blog every day. I also enjoyed reading the ways other people worked the words into their own posts. Especially Kizzie Cat, who was my very loyal player during this challenge. :)

I am anxious about making this summer memorable. I want to do some sort of grand gesture, so my kids can think back to this summer and remember this one awesome thing we did. I've had a few ideas: a trip up to MD for visits with my friends and family in my old stomping grounds, some kind of learning adventure involving something we've never delved into before: religion, daily bicycle trips to different places, crafts/sewing projects. Yet, I haven't committed to any of these things yet. I need to get on this and decide what it will be. Because, before I know it, summer will be over and the school grind will be in full effect again.

Listening to Johnny Cash Radio on Pandora an awful lot lately. Usually Mr. Cash is a 1-2 day craving for me every month or so, but he's been played every day for about 2 weeks now. I can't get enough of it. It's a feel good thing. And I'm not a country fan, either. ... things that make you go hmmm.

Gathering up the courage to take a trip to Walmart today. If you know me, then you know that Walmart is definitely out of my comfort zone. But I have this idea in my head that we have to have cute family red/white and blue clothes for the upcoming Independence Day. Target wasn't much help and Old Navy is far far away and kind of dangerous for me to go when my budget is so tight. Wish me luck on this, I need it.

Also, currently... my kids are wanting smoothies made, so I'd better get off here and do that, huh?
Until later, blogosphere. hugs and kisses.

<3, Tabi :D

p.s. DUDE! I totally missed my one year anniversary of this blog!! June 14th, Tabi Happy turned 1!!! Happy Birthday, Tabi Happy. <3