About As Happy

 

"Most people are about as happy as they make their minds up to be."

I believe this.

I'm not one who always chooses happiness, I admit.

I am a pessimist at times.

But still, I believe happiness is a choice.

Sidewalk chalk= me choosing happiness.

When we leave here,

I'm guessing this very chalk expression will still be in the driveway.

And because I enjoy this quote so much,

when you click on the image above,

you can right click then copy or save

to print it for your very own!

Designing and blogging instead of

packing or sleeping= me choosing happiness. :)

And yes, I know, I won't think so later...

Meaningful Monday: Goodness and Change

Yet again, Monday is over, but here I go :) First a few meaningful things that have made me smile lately...

I love a rainbow of colors together! I've wanted to do something with paint chips for awhile now and finally whipped out a fun little stacked bunting for my living room shelf. I framed three free printables that I found here and am so happy with this shelf right now!

These two fun pics of my boys together... pure goodness. :) Coop reading to Ry and them eating apple slices inside a living room fort....... love love love. And with two little boys, sometimes this is what you get when you  go to take the last sip of your drink...

... a plastic frog and a smile :)

And the most meaningful thing going on around here right now...

... the views around our house are about to look more like this. Before this month is over, we'll be packing up our life here in south central Idaho and moving east. Closer to Taron and Keaton, closer to both of our extended families, closer to the more productive hub of our business, closer to real mountains, closer to where we've known we wanted to be. A fresh start and a new ability to grow.

This weekend we found a house that we are really excited about in the Groveland area of Blackfoot. It sits at the end of a dead end street and will be great for the boys and their bikes. It's very near both the elementary school and the church. It has large trees and a fun yard. It felt right.

Soooo... bring on the boxes and the antibacterial wipes. (I think I'll let that shelf above be one of the last things that gets packed!) It goes without saying I may be around less over these next few weeks :)

WORK

Awesome video.... makes me so proud of my Dad and my husband, both of whom get in the trenches to make life what it is. Slide forward and start at about 11:15 or so to save some time and still get the best part...

Tasty Breadsticks!

I've wanted to post about this recipe for a long time and here it finally is. I got this recipe from my cousin Laci on her blog and have craved these yummy breadsticks ever since! They really are SOOO good...anything with kosher salt in the mix is pretty swell in my opinion! ;)  The recipe calls for kosher salt sprinkled before folding, but I thought it was a bit too salty so I only add it to the tops after baking. You can also sprinkle with parmesan cheese, I just rarely have it on hand! Click on the card image below, then right click and copy or save to print your very own recipe card! Enjoy!

Simple Birthday Fun

 

Grammie and Grandpa Huffaker couldn't come to Coop's birthday bbq on Monday night, so they brought Sis and came for Sunday afternoon! It was really a fun time with all of them. They brought Cooper his birthday gift, an adorable little play grill! And they brought Ryder's to give to him early...

this fun sturdy trike! Ryder's very favorite things right now are bikes, so he was thrilled! Cyndel did the bulk of putting this thing together!

We really had some yummy food while they were here- smoked bbq chicken and smoked baked potatoes! Thanks for an awesome visit Mom, Dad and Cyndel!

The next morning, Coop woke up to balloons hanging from the ceiling and his bike inside with this fun little bike basket I made for him attached! (Well, the basket liner anyway!) Inside we put several rolls of tape- which he  loves playing with lately! He blew through an entire roll in just a couple of hours! He also found these crazy bug glasses inside...

Could you die?!? This might just be another one of those blackmail pictures- so funny!

I was really happy with how all the festive "frosting" type stuff turned out! Cooper got to help me decorate everything- he loved putting these squishy bugs on his cake and cupcakes. He's really into bugs right now, so these were perfect! He also got to stick all of these cute pinwheels into each cupcake and thought they were great! Pinwheels are something that just makes me smile and Coop really enjoys them too! These were fun to make- I broke a skewer in half and then hot glued a small square of paper to the back...

We played a carnival style fishing game where the boys tossed clothespins on fishing line over the piece of plywood we propped up and got a prize in return! Cooper loves fishing, so this was perfect! Even the older kids had a good time with it. :)

Coop couldn't have been more thrilled that Taron and Keaton got to come over for the party with Grandma and Grandpa Wiggins. I love this first pic of Taron that Steve Gardner took...

Cooper loved every one of his presents this year and kept saying later that he got everything he wanted and "thank you, thank you thank you!" I really wanted a picture with my birthday boy and he was less than excited about it but indulged me anyhow...

I know, I look like I'm ready to collapse into bed- yikes! But regardless, I'm happy to have a shot of me and him on this day :)

I think he went to bed a happy, exhausted four year old- the day was all about him! Thanks so very much to our small circle of friends and family that traveled to share a special time with us!! We love this silly little dude with all our hearts... I've already told him that after he turns five next year that's the end of this birthday/ growing up business... ;)