I have collected this list through many other blogs I have read, things the Lord has shown me, and from my own childhood.

Give your home to God…EVERYTHING.

Laugh a lot.

Kiss your husband like you mean it.

Keep a routine with the occasional spontaneity.

Don’t over think.

Play, color, wrestle, swing, and slide.

Be at HOME (Don’t over commit).

Be quick to forgive.

Be even quicker to ask forgiveness.

Try to at least have the kitchen clean before you go to bed.

Remember there is always tomorrow.

Put the kids to bed early.

Keep the coffee stocked.

Put down the phone.

Encourage your children to be best friends.

Turn the radio up and just dance it out with the kids, even to “Old Macdonald.”

Look for ways to bless others and do it.

Every day carries different circumstances with different ways to find the joy. It’s always there, it’s just a matter of bringing it to the surface as often as we can.

How do you turn your home into a happy one?

Yesterday was my Granny’s 75th birthday. I am not lying when I tell ya that this woman is one of a kind. If there were words to describe her, they would perfectly match the title of this post. Yes, she is stubborn and bossy, but with that kind of will comes a God-fearing woman who believes in her passions no matter what. As I get older my husband loves to point out our similarities! I confess I am not NEAR as bossy, and she would agree:).

The awesome vision here is that you never know what kind of legacy you are going to pass down to future generations. The good and bad qualities about us are what make us memorable and able to pass something down that’s useful and worth it. My Granny believes when the Church doors are open then you better be in that pew. She believes no meal is complete without a big slab of butter and grandchildren to feed it to. She loves her morning paper with black coffee and would read it and drink the coffee all day if time allowed. She believes in escaping reality with her late night TV shows of, “Dancing With The Stars”, and “David Letterman.” She knows when you’re hurting, and in her own way makes you feel better by just saying, “Honey you just got to trust in God.”  She believes in a warm home, making your bed, and changing bathroom rugs like it’s nobodies business. This woman has had no major accomplishments or won any grand prizes from society’s perspective. However her love, character, passions, and even her stubbornness are knit through all of us. For that, she has accomplished great and mighty things.

I wonder what legacy I am knitting through to generations after me? I feel like because of Granny and all the God fearing women in my family before her, that I can pass on the same convictions, passions, and even rebellion to my children and their children’s children. For all these reasons and many more I feel so happy and blessed to have a stubborn and bossy Granny. Happy Birthday you crazy woman! We all love you to pieces!

Yesterday was just one of those days. The kind you wish you could go back and rewind to try again. It started out great. I was able to wake up early and have time to myself with the Bible and coffee in hand all before Zoe came downstairs demanding breakfast. She woke up in a particularly great mood and was sweet and snuggly. The other two woke up not long after that. As I was feeding everyone breakfast I was excited to tell them we were going on a filed trip to Aww Shucks corn maze and Farm. They were very excited. Ty started getting a little grumpy and I questioned a time or two if the field trip was worth it. In reality I’d much rather had been home cleaning and getting stuff done but decided to seize the moment. I picked up my mom and off we went. The farm was awesome and the kids had a great time. We fed animals, played on their many playgrounds, had a hay ride, and a picnic lunch.

These are some of our, “Perfect looking” day pictures:)

Sounds good so far right? That is until we got home. Oh let me tel ya, this momma was a grouch. It hit me all of a sudden of how exhausted I was from all the running around we had been doing lately. The kids wouldn’t nap, and as I’m sure most of you know, when mammas in a bad mood it spreads like wild-fire. There was fighting, yelling, spankings, Willow getting stuck in a tree outside then getting a splinter, Zoe loosing her blanket, Ty pulling out the entire flower out of my flower-pot, and him  learning to scream to get his point made….the list goes on and on. On top of all this, I had a tutor meeting for our home school group that night. Tim was at the fire station so I had my aunt Debbie come over to hang out with the kids. As I was preparing supper I started wondering what happened and where did it all go wrong.

Just a couple of days ago I was on cloud nine as far as momma time goes. The kids and I had an awesome productive day. We did school that morning since I knew we would miss some this week. We read books outside, went on a walk, got some cleaning done, laughed, snuggled and enjoyed each other. I crashed in bed that night feeling accomplished as if I had conquered the day.

It finally dawned on me that the difference is that we were at home all day on my good day and were running around like crazy people on my bad day. I suddenly felt God’s gentle nudge telling me to slow down. It’s not worth the frustration. God led me through this day to help me prioritize in order to live the most effective life possible. I want to be intentional about the relationships between the kids and I and the ones they form with each other. I want to be intentional about time well spent as a family learning, helping, laughing, and loving or way through this life. All the things we are doing are great, but not at the expense of a grumpy momma and grumpy children. My motto for a while will be less is more!!! What’s your motto to get though the bad days?

One of the things I hope to pass down to my children is the importance of time well spent with family. Time that is unhindered by clocks and schedules but is still shortened by laughter, and days full of reminiscing. I want to teach them to never take the opportunities for granted. We had the privilege to spend the last week in Lake Keowee in South Carolina at an amazing lake house with over 30 of us all together including Aunts, Uncles, Sisters, Brothers, Cousins, and Grandparents. We can’t get this precious time back.

There were many mornings of people staring at the coffee pot waiting for that first cup to head to the front porch and watch the sun hit the water and finally our faces. There were huge plates of pancakes, cinnamon rolls, fruit, breakfast casseroles, and bacon going around. Soon after that, little kids started running to get in bathing suits, to them that is when the day starts. The rest of the day was spent in water, on sand, in a boat, in a kayak, snacking, sipping on pina coladas or iced coffees, Pandora blaring the country music, slathering another layer of sunscreen, playing cards, watching the ball game, and basically soaking in every moment of lake Keowee.

The nights were spent pulling out the big plates once again and filling them with mac n cheese, chicken, slaw, meatballs, potatoes, and green beans. The late night campfire with the most beautiful moon reflecting off the water will be a long lasting memory for me. As well as the good old fashioned gambling game we all played around the table with three dollars a piece topped off with a batch of our familie’s famous homemade stickies. Then came ice cream, couch sitting, and TV watching. Unable to hear the TV from all the comments about what was on it! Laughter and blankets filled the room as one by one people went to bed to start all over again the next day.

As it draws to a close I am ready to get home, back to my normal. I only like to escape for so long, but it sure was nice to escape with people you love the most.

  …and one more with Zoe not screaming:)

My Aunt Debbie came over this evening with food from one of my favorite restaurants, South 21. The trout was so good, it had been so long since I had some.

It was an interesting dinner to say the least. First off, when Debbie walked in the door my children acted as though I haven’t fed them all day. They were grabbing her bags of food and yelling, ” What’s that?? I want some!!” So in a frantic rush I grab plates, start to cut up food to cool, and put Ty in the high chair with a distraction of puffs.

Finally, we can eat. I take a few bites when Zoe gets a speck of water on her dress. She immediately wants to take it off. Shorty after that she has to pee and wants my help. As I’m done helping her I see Ty grinning ear to ear while diarrhea leaks from the high chair to the floor. No lie… I told Debbie not to judge me and that I was gonna finish my food before I cleaned him up! Oh what a hungry Momma will do! ,Bout that time Zoe spilled her cup of water everywhere all while Willow is sneaking food off everyone’s plate!

The biggest part of me wanted to scream,”Can’t I just eat my stinking trout?!” But God’s grace was sufficient and I started to laugh. I know Debbie enjoyed the entertainment as always, she makes it that much easier to laugh.