Happy Halloween! My little wizard and animal doctor are finally tucked in for the night after walking around the neighborhood in 80 degree weather. You gotta love Florida. They survived a week filled with neighborhood parties, school parties, tons of sugar, and loads of fun. Bring on November.
Happy Birthday to my one and only. Get ready to rock the last year of your thirties! Let’s send it out with lots of hugs, kisses, fun adventures, yummy meals, and family memories along the way. I love you. We love you.
Aw, man. I love when I can capture a picture like this. That’s one happy kid. That’s JOY.
Daniel hates to pose for pictures and I’m getting better about just snapping the moment without staging it. Annabel will ham it up, but the best shots are the purest ones. The ones where they aren’t looking. The ones when they’re truly happy.
“That’s what I want for you. I want you to be happy.” I tell them that all the time. I took Daniel out of camp this summer because the look on his face after he came home the first day was horrible. “It’s not worth it,” I told him. “Remember, I want you to be happy.” It gets tricky too. I understand that their homework does not make them happy or maybe even a sport doesn’t thrill them right now, but certain things are fine because I know it will lead to two confident, happy people.
The thing is…I’M not always happy. The few people that really, really know me understand how sensitive I am. Most people see me as organized, hard working, and caring. As happy. But the truth is, I over think everything. I hate that I still care too much about what other people think of me. It’s this crutch that I’ve carried since childhood that makes it difficult for me to say “no” or put myself first. I really enjoy being a Mom because I can put my energy into my kids. But I feel defeated knowing that I’m still a work in progress. That I lack self confidence. That I have anxiety. That I still think about this and this. That I’m still looking for my place. For the perfect, comfy seat. For peace. For joy.
The other thing is the constant influx of bad news. Man, it will just ruin my day. I’ve finally stopped reading it. You know how celebrities say they don’t like to read bad reviews or negative comments because it will make their work suffer? Well, I’ve had to stop reading the headlines because it will make my day suffer. I do believe that people are good, but there is so much bad it weighs on my mind. Another mass shooting, another child missing, another bully-inspired suicide. I’m overwhelmed with protecting my family from it all. I’m overwhelmed with what I can do to help or how I can make a difference. What is the point of writing about Prince George’s christening dress or Taylor Swift’s new song? Shouldn’t I be trying to make the world a better place? What SHOULD I do?
Phew. Breathe, maybe?
Well, what I do is what I know. I go back to writing about Prince George’s christening dress and Taylor Swift’s new song. I volunteer in the school lunchroom and for the PTO board. I start a new business. I conquer my fear of going to the doctor and I exercise more. I learn to say “no.” I read other amazing blogs that give me inspiration. I pray. I make donations. I go out with awesome friends. I watch my kids play. I remember to be grateful. I remind myself that I’m so very blessed. And then, there it is. Just like that. The happy. The joy.
Annabel went to her first professional football game yesterday. And even though the Jacksonville Jaguars lost, she had a blast. (We are having a really, really sad season. But we “Stand United!”)
Daniel had been to a few games with Daddy already, so it was time for my little girl to experience the excitement. She wore her pink jersey and we bought her some Jaguar ears at the stadium store. She had so much fun trying to get beads from the attendants walking around. She watched the game, but mostly danced around with her brother and friends. She had a super pretzel and cotton candy for lunch. What could be better.
The countdown is on! Halloween is only 15 days away. My kiddies have been diligently updating our funky witch calendar since October 1st.
I’m always looking for fun craft and game ideas for school parties and I love to find yummy and healthy Halloween treat options. I’ve put together a “Trick or Treats!” Halloween Idea Board on Pinterest. Click HERE to check out my idea board and you can follow me on Pinterest by clicking HERE!
Do you have a cool Halloween craft or treat idea that I can add to my board? Comment below!
“Surround yourself with the dreamers and the doers, the believers and thinkers, but most of all, surround yourself with those who see the greatness within you, even when you don’t see it yourself.” – Edmund Lee
I love having my kids’ birthday parties at home, but I also love NOT having them at home. As much as I enjoy all the fun and details, it’s A LOT of work. If I had to list one of Daniel’s favorite things this year, it would be LEGOS. (He even went to LEGO summer camp.) So I was not surprised when he said he wanted to go to LEGOLAND Florida for his 7th birthday. The deal? It would just be our family. He was fine with that…so off we went!
We first experienced LEGOLAND Florida during their grand opening festivities in October 2011. We were excited to go back and check out the new attractions and finally visit the giant water park. It was August in Florida, so we knew we’d welcome the cool off after a day filled with rides and lots of walking.
We spent the first night in Orlando where we hung out at Downtown Disney and had dinner at Daniel’s favorite restaurant, Joe’s Crab Shack. The next morning we were up bright and early to drive the 30 minutes to Winter Haven, FL – the home of LEGOLAND!
Daniel’s favorite part of LEGOLAND is MiniLand USA. It’s the heart of the park and features seven different cities all built out of LEGOS. It’s truly amazing and my future architect could not get enough. We stayed there a long time and he had to pose in front of all the landmarks.
Annabel’s favorite part was the LEGO Friends Shop where she picked out her one treat. It was a stuffed LEGO puppy dog. No surprise there. She even met one of the LEGO Friends!
I love the Safari Trek. Whenever I can see a giraffe, I’m happy. Even a giraffe made out of hundreds of brown and cream colored LEGOS.
And I held the stuff while the rest of my family enjoyed the roller coasters. It was the first time Daniel and Annabel went on the LEGO Technic ride and they loved it.
We also saw our first LEGOLAND live show, the Pirates’ Cove Water Ski Show. It was all about pirates invading the LEGOLAND lake and there were some seriously cool water ski stunts and special effects. The best part? The hero of the story was a girl! Annabel was thrilled. (Daniel thought it was pretty awesome too.)
And you can’t go to LEGOLAND without building with LEGOS! The kids went right to the earthquake building zone where you try and build large towers that can withstand the giant shake button. Everyone was checking out their creations. They could have stayed there all day. I kept reminding them that they have boxes of LEGOS at home, but it’s definitely much more fun to build there.
I didn’t snap any pictures of the water park because it was packed and hot and all we wanted to do was spend time in the wave pool and water slides. The final stop of the day was the giant LEGO store to pick out Daniel’s birthday present. He chose a glow-in-the-dark ghost train. The biggest accomplishment was leaving the park with just ONE box. Phew. But the REAL accomplishment was that smile glued to Daniel’s face for eight hours straight. Thanks for the fun, LEGOLAND Florida! See you soon!
Yesterday, pop star Fergie’s hubbie Josh Duhamel posted this photo on Instagram of his gorgeous newborn son, Axl. Josh is laying in a striped shirt and Baby Axl is swaddled right next to him in a red blankie with a blue pacifier in his mouth. Josh wrote, “Gonna catch some football with my little guy today.” This is some serious cuteness overload.
Happy Monday!
