I Love...

when I get home from work and the house is quiet. Everyone is asleep and I can get some things done. You know the important stuff like take a bubble bath, check facebook, clean the fridge, read a good book, blog. The things that make me happy are many, these are just my favorites. The top of the list though is a silent house and a nice long soak in a scalding bath.

Monkey...

This afternoon while I was on the computer I start to hear all this grunting. I look over expecting to see my son pooping his diaper but I see this instead. I can think of easier way to get into the office other than crawling under the walker.

Then I realize what his problem was. He was trying to bring his monkey with him.

Monkey usually stays in his crib that way he is up there when we get ready to go to bed or take a nap. Mason most days is okay with this arrangement but not today. Nope, today he threw a huge fit and I figured it wasn't worth the argument.

And yes those are pjs. If we don't have anywhere to go that day we don't change. That just literally doubles the laundry.

I absolutely hate these curtains they came with the house. I have the fabric to make new ones but haven't found the time to actually do the sewing. I keep thinking one of these days.

He thought I should kiss the monkey.

Going in for the kiss, eyes closed.

Kissing, eyes wide open. For his sake I hope he outgrows this.

We used to have a huge fish tank against that wall but we took it down last week and now the room feels huge.

Joy Rush

Well Barb over at so the thing is... tagged everyone to do a Joy Rush list. I thought long and hard about this list. To narrow it down to things that give me a joy rush. What kind of joy rush are we talking about. A rush so sweet that you never want to leave the moment or the ones that you know will go to fast so you lock them in your memory to bring out at will. I couldn't decide so I have included some of both.


Note: only #1 is in any order. I figured I might as well start with the sweetest.


1. Seeing my husband's face as the doctor tells him we just had a little boy. - We, being my husband, decided that we didn't want to find out the sex by ultrasound. We decided it would be fun to find out at the birth. Well the big day came 2.5 weeks early by my water breaking at home. So after a hurried drive home, finding me washing dishes, packing his bag, dropping Hyde (the dog) off at his parents, getting yelled at and abused for 6 hours before they decided to give me my epidural. There is no sweeter joy rush than seeing his face as the doctor tells him he has a little boy. Watching it sink in with all the wonder and awe. I get teary just thinking about it.

2. The sound of my husband and son playing in the living room while I am making supper. - They roll around and crawl all over each other and the dog. Basically just get rambunctious.

3. Laundry out on the line.- Nothing says summer like clothes out on the line.

4. Perfect sunny days where the breeze is barely blowing and the bees are out buzzing. You take a book out with you and doze between pages and don't care. Time just seems to stand still.

5. The telephone ringing.- My sister call 2 times a day and after being with a no talking toddler I will take anything.

6. Snow days.- When we are lucky enough to get snow without the wind and the flakes get huge and fall really slowly. Where you can go outside and stand there with your mouth open and try to feel the flakes hitting your tongue.

7. A good cup of coffee- The smell; the taste; all the creamer to candy-fy it. I use the spoon for more than just stirring. Need I say more.

8. My husband.- Everything about him. His smile, his laugh, his scent, his kiss, the fact that I can still make him speechless. I love his dry en-gen-er sense of humor. The Joy I get from laughing at him and sometimes with him is what keeps me happy. It doesn't matter how much I complain about him and his infinite wisdom, I am more in love with him today than the day we married, just as tomorrow I will love him more than I did today.

9. Mowing the yard.- I know crazy. Right? We have a huge, huge yard and it takes 2 whole hours on the riding lawnmower going full speed. That is 2 whole hours by myself. Bonus: the lawnmower is loud enough to drown out my own thinking.

10. Good friends.- I have found a new appreciation for friends. In high school I didn't make friends easily, I kinda went back and forth between groups and have no friends that live close by from those years. Since then I have made several really close friends that I couldn't live without and we have survived moves, marriages and kids together. When I say that I am going to go shopping or out to lunch with one you can bet I have butterflies just thinking about it. The joy I get out of from these friendships is priceless.

11. My dog Hyde.- My first baby. I call him the hairless wonder. As in it is a wonder he has made it through so many Iowa winters without freezing to death. He loves to cuddle. He will worm his way under my sweatshirts and sleep all day if I would let him. Some lazy days I do at least until he sets off a gas bomb.

12. Driving anywhere by myself- Well almost anywhere. I don't like to go to the store by myself. Come to think of it that is the only place I get to go by myself. I like to drive there by myself but don't like to be there by myself.

13. Laughter.- I love to laugh and to make people laugh. Good thing I don't embarrass easily.

14. Waking up in time to see the sunrise.- Stepping out of the house into the mist and watching the sun rise and hearing the birds chirping.

15. My family.- Knowing that no matter what they will always be mine and there is nothing they can do about it.

I didn't think this was going to be as hard as it was. There are a lot of things I get pleasure out of but only a handful of things I get true JOY. I challenge everyone to make a Joy Rush list. To see it in black and white how truly blessed I really am is humbling to say the least.