Now that the boys are older,
I love to do little things each day
that are fun and make them very happy.
I love the excitement they have
over something as small as a glow stick.
Sometimes we grown-ups are a little too serious,
and forget to do little things for ourselves that make us happy, too.
Around here, we've been taking a lot more time
to do more little things and savor the fun!
1. "Monster Bananas"
This was a big hit around Halloween.
We have some Jolly Rancher Green syrup
that I lightly pour over their bananas (or apples).
Voila! MONSTER bananas!
Monsters!
2. Glow Stick Baths
Put kids in bath.
Give each child a glow stick.
Turn out lights.
Listen for squeals of laughter.
Need I say more?
3. Playing outside
...and explore!
I think Michael was experimenting with Rosemary here.
Goofy boy!
4. Playing Dress Up
The boys play dress-up just about everyday.
This mask was on a box of AlphaBits cereal.
It was a big pain to cut it out, but they begged.
Now they want more Alpha Bits.....
so I guess the cereal box designers knew what they were doing.
(This is SuperWhy from PBS)
Super Why!
5. Throwing Pennies
Water + Pennies = excitement!
The boys love to throw pennies in the water fountains
outside the post office and in the mall.
It makes for a great (and inexpensive) 'reward'.
Pennies in the fountain
6. Stuffed Animals
They follow us wherever we go. Seriously.
Sometimes we even allow one to go with us into Publix or Moes.
Michael sleeps with at least 4, sometimes more!
We even taker them on vacation.
And they each have names....
which are getting hard to remember at this point!
They'll sure let ya know if you get the name wrong!
But my oh my, how much enjoyment they get from those little things.
And when they get dirty, I just give them all a bath
(in the washing machine)
and the boys wait around dying for them to be 'ready'!
7. Football
We made a bigger deal of football this year.
The boys dressed up on game days.
Sometimes we let them stay up a little later
or we ate a 'gourmet hot dog' picnic in the living room.
Either way, they're cheering "Go Gamecocks" now!
Go Gamecocks!
There are so many other little things the kids love...
Hot chocolate nights at the table
(sometimes with cookies! yum!)
'Late' nights up - this is a real treat to them!
Snuggling in bed all together after prayers
Just playing together
Family Movie Night
Bath fizzles (colorful baths!)
Fun, hooded bath towels
Pancakes...for dinner! Chocolate Chip ones, too!
Helping me cook and do chores (yes, they love this!)
Taking part in recycling and saving can tabs for the hospital
Countdown calendars before the holidays
Chocolate milk!
I even wore glow-in-the-dark toenail polish for them...
(and scared myself once in the middle of the night when I saw it)
But in general, almost anything that breaks the routine
is exciting for these little boys!
And I love to see their excitement and smiles
when I tell them we are about to do something
totally, awesomely, fun!
Love these smiles :)
Such a cutie
29 weeks pregnant (5.5 weeks ago)
While I do these fun things for the kids,
I am not much for pampering myself.
But yesterday evening,
I popped a Christmas movie on for the boys,
took a peaceful shower (!),
and after a little aromatherapy scrub,
Mary Kay satin lips, lotion, and pampering myself...
I felt a little more special....
and ready to tackle the rest of the evening's madness.
Oh, and Casey stripped my glow-in-the-dark
toenail polish last weekend
and I painted them red and green for Christmas.
I normally wouldn't do something like that,
but it makes me smile every time I see it!
And since the weather has been so WARM,
I've been wearing flip flops and showing them off this week!
Try to fit some little things in for yourself this week!
It can definitely improve your mood :)
<>< Stacy
