Day 27

The end of a good weekend...

1. A lovely ladies brunch with my sisters and my step-mother.

2. Having so much fun playing Wii Fit with my family (I was the best at hula hoop).

3. Yardwork on a sunny (but chilly) day - it's very therapeutic.

Day 26

1. A relaxing kid-free stroll through the grocery store after 2 weeks of having kids with me all the time. (very exciting Saturday)

2. A healthy family.

3. Scattered, smothered, and covered - yes, we went to Waffle House this morning.

Day 25

1. Reading Purplicious to MJs preschool class.

2. It's Friday.

3. A trip to the bookstore with M.

Day 24

1. My husband is back from a week-long trip.

2. The kids & I survived a week without Daddy relatively in tact (lots of eating out).

3. Eating great pizza (Jagger's) on the couch with my husband while we watch American Idol.

Day 23

1. Getting everyone to school on time for a change.

2. A workout with my Wii fit.

3. Knowing that I am done with housework for the day, and somewhat ready for tomorrow.

Day 22

Any readers out there? Feel free to leave a comment and/or follow along here or on Facebook...

1. Pink plastic dollhouses and the little girls who love them.

2. Transportation City - a great feat of the parents at MJ's preschool that the kids find amazingly fun!

3. The look of pride on M's face when he correctly answered a question in karate class today.

Day 21

1. I told M (age 7) that he needed to sign something for school on the signature line, he said "Does that mean that I write my name really fast?"

2. A kid-free morning and coffee with other kid-free moms. Of course we spent the whole time talking about our kids!

3. The laundry is all done, folded and put away before bedtime.

Day 20

1. The movie The Princess and the Frog, my favorite Disney movie, yet.

2. Nordstrom (it always makes me happy).

3. The Princess and the Frog - it was so good, it deserves to be mentioned again.

Day 19

1. The following conversation between MJ (age 3) and C (age 5)

C: "Do you know how to play paper, scissors, rock?"

MJ: "Sure I do. I call scissors!"

And she was scissors, every time.

2. Seeing my 5 year old go in her room and pick out a book to read to herself, it's amazing how much she is learning in kindergarten.

3. Dinner, followed by a huge piece of cake, out with the girls (my daughters that is).

Day 18

After the week I've had, it was the little (and tasty) things that made me really happy today...

1. Venti soy mocha from Starbucks

2. Whole Foods - sushi for me and pizza for the kids

3. A hot chocolate date with my 3 favorite people after M's basketball practice tonight

Day 17

A tough day that is still not over, but here were some things that made me happy today...

1. MJ (home sick again) wanted to curl up for a nap on a rainy morning - a very rare treat in this house.

2. Looking at beautiful flower girl dresses online, a nice break to my crazy day.

3. NO PNEUMONIA! MJ had to have a chest x-ray to find that out.

Day 16

If I have any readers out there, I recommend giving this experiment a try for a few days. It is refreshing to think of a positive note on which to end each day, but it's really not easy...

1. 3 miles with MJ in the stroller on a day that felt more like March than January (we stopped for coffee, shopping, play, and lunch while out).

2. Seeing how excited M was to have such a fun playdate with a friend this afternoon.

3. A fever-free day.

Day 15

1. Making plans with my big sister for her visit in two weeks.

2. Chick-Fil-A drive through, sometimes it is just necessary for dinner and my sanity.

3. At bedtime, MJ put her hands on my face and said, "I love you, Mommy and you're so pretty."

Day 14

1. MJ woke up fever-free. Side note: the fever came back later, but it was good news for a while.

2. Beautiful day for a long walk.

3. Harry Potter - I am having so much fun reading the books to M, we just started book 6.

Day 13

I'll admit, it's not easy to have a really happy day when you're home with a sick 3 year old, but I found a few happy moments...

1. Finding what I thought was a lost tag sticker for my husbands's jeep - sometimes it really pays to clean out junk drawers.

2. Wearing my great new jeans and feeling great in them, even if I never left the house today.

3. Krispy Kreme doughnuts!!

Day 12

1. Taking M & C to experience their 1st musical, "Annie" at the amazing Fox theater! There is nothing better than live theater, and it was great to see them enjoy it as well.

2. Finding the perfect pair of jeans, they are amazingly comfortable and fit like they were made for me - the best denim find for me in years!

3. The perfect jeans were at a consignment boutique which was having a sale so they were a great price, too.

Day 11

1. Elementary school lunch with my favorite 2nd grader (I didn't actually eat, but it was still fun).

2. 20 minutes with a good book and a green tea latte at Starbucks all by myself.

3. Beautiful weather for walking to the afternoon carpool line at the preschool - who knew that 50 degrees could be so nice?

Day 10

1. Singing along to a Billy Joel song on the radio while getting groceries at Kroger this morning - I apologize to anyone who might have heard me.

2. Catching up with other moms while Mary Jane had ballet this afternoon.

3. My bed.

Day 9

It would be much easier, on some days, to list things that did not make me happy during the day. Blog comments would make me happy, and here are some things that made me happy today...

1. Sunshine and temperatures warm enough for a little outside time.

2. My very clean and organized bathroom closet.

3. A little downtime this catching up with my husband and a backlog of average TV shows on the DVR.

Day 8

1. Snow on lawns in front of houses, a rare and beautiful sight in Atlanta - most of it melted this afternoon, but it was still pretty this morning.

2. Fancy Nancy books with my favorite fancy 5 year old.

3. A good report from the dentist!

Day 7

I've kept it up for a week, here's some things that made me happy today...

1. Snuggling with M on the couch for a chapter of Harry Potter while the girls were at a neighbor's house this afternoon.

2. Everyone like the dinner that I fixed - there was no supplementing with plain pasta or extra toast, just jambalaya (from Zatarain's mix in a box) all around.

3. Organization out of chaos in the room shared by two little girls.

Day 6

1. A lazy morning - in my world that means that it was close to 8 before anyone started calling for things, and M slept till 9!

2. Dinner at Granddaddy's house, fun for all.

3. A beautiful new sofa and chair in my living room, I'll post pictures soon.

Day 5

I'm still finding things to be happy about, every day...

1. A great evening with old friends - six kids between us, and they all play so well together.

2. Getting the kids ready for bed before we started the long drive home, they were all asleep by the time we pulled in our driveway!

3. A big bag of trash as I started to clean out and organize my bathroom - I will not miss any of the 5 year old bottles of lotion, perfume, etc.

Day 4

1. 3 southern kids making snow angels in 1/2 inch of the white stuff.

2. Watching a cardinal peck at the snow outside MJs bedroom window.

3. Overhearing C, while watching Aladdin with a friend, say that "love makes the world go round."

Day 3

1. Tying pink ribbons in MJ's blond, curly pony tails.

2. Seeing the kids' pure joy at the snowflakes falling even if it was only for a little while.

3. My sweet husband agreed on the new sofa that I love. Hopefully we'll get it this weekend!

Day 2

I've spent the day trying to look on the bright side of things, and here are my happiest moments of the day:

1. A hot shower on a cold day in an empty house - no one interrupting me to tell on someone else or to ask for a snack.

2. Knowing before noon what I'm cooking for dinner and having all of the ingredients I need.

3. 60% chance of snow tomorrow - the anticipation is big excitement in Atlanta even if it doesn't actually amount to anything.

Happy Thoughts, Day 1

Here goes the first list, just three things that made me happy sometime today...

1. A good "morning rush" on the first day back from the holidays - everyone ate, dressed, lunches packed without any tears or fights. They even wore all necessary layers to protect against 18 degree weather on the way to school.

2. My Wii Fit trainer, I'll call her Betty, kept telling me what great posture I have during my workout.

3. The sight of a beautiful sunset behind the Atlanta skyline as I drove M home from karate tonight.