Life Well Lived

Recently I was asked to be part of the "Life Well Lived", "Getting Happy" blogger panel.  The question this week was...

How do you teach the children in your life happiness?

I mulled and mulled and mulled over this question.  I'm not completely sure you can teach anyone happiness.

Luckily, our son seems to be incredibly happy and I'm sure I had some part in it but it took me a while to think through what I may have done to contribute to his happiness.

This is what I came up with and the best advice I could give another parent:

BE HAPPY.  

I know, it's so much easier said than done.  And you never want to constantly put on a happy face because your child won't know that other emotions exist but try you best to exude happiness.  I am a firm believer that happiness is a choice. I choose it everyday.  My husband and I laugh a lot. We're silly.  We revert to our inner child. We try to find the good in a world full of a lot of bad.  I think that is really important.  

Choose happiness and live it. 

Secondly, 

FOSTER WHAT YOUR CHILD LOVES TO DO

If we notice Aidan has a true, genuine interest in something, we jump in head first.  We learn more about it, we spend time letting him pursue it. We encourage him.  He loves to spend time outside. Everyday when he gets home from pre school, he knows I'm going to let him get an hour in out in the sunshine.  Whether I'm out there with him or watching him from the kitchen window, I know he's so content digging in the dirt or running back and forth with the dog.  He loves firetrucks.  So we take him to the fire station, we watch YouTube videos on the iPad of fire fighters, we read books about firetrucks and stations.  We pay attention to what intrigues him, to what makes him tick.

And I have to tell you, I don't know where it came from but on a daily basis Aidan says to us "I'm so happy."   I can only HOPE that I've had a little bit to do with that. 

So tell me, What are you doing to teach your child happiness? I'm curious to know!

Head over to BlogHer and participate in the conversation!

and make sure you Enter The Life Well Lived Sweepstakes!

Mom and Aidan Time

I love all the time I am getting with Aidan.  As many of you know, when Adam is home, Aidan doesn't know I exist.  We have a good time he and I. 

Don't we look alike? Yup, he's definitely mine! ; )

Bethenny Ever After

My girl crush Bethenny is back for another season! I seriously love her! Are you watching?

She and her husband Jason are so down to earth and their daughter Bryn is precious. I think they are totally relatable (minus the fact that she is a gazillionaire) and I am always laughing watching them. Except when I'm crying which happens too.  She has a lot of baggage.  Don't we all. See? Relatable.

You are missing out if you are not tuning in.
Monday nights on Bravo.  9PM Eastern

via

I stole this great photo of her from her website.

Pajamas

Since Adam is gone a lot, I try to keep him in the loop by sending him pics via iPhone of Aidan and I.   This latest one was of Aidan in a new pair of pajamas.  I don't know what's up with the goofy face but I thought it was hilarious he climed up on the toilet and asked me to snap a pic of him to send to Daddy.

PJ's-Carters



Scout Harvey

Minus the fact that he is an escape artist and I spend a lot of time chasing him around the neighborhood, Scout is still clicking with us pretty well.  Secretly, I LOVE him to death!

He enjoys sitting on Aidan's with his squirrel.

Luckily he loves Aidan as much as Aidan loves him. 



He gets so jealous if I pay Adam any attention. The other night we were trying to watch a movie in bed.  I went to lay on Adam's chest and this is what I got.  A paw to the face.  "Back up off my man." 



Gettin' Your Nails Did

Rarely do I take the time to go and get a manicure.  Pedicures are a different story.  It would take a lot to keep me from allowing another woman to rub my feet at such a small price.  But I have so much fun doing my own nails.  And I like to change them up a lot.  My Essie nail polish collection is slowly growing.  Here are some of my favorite colors from them...



And this makes every single one of them more exciting:

Set in Stones

Lately I've been painting my nails and then putting Set in Stones on my ring finger. I love the look.

Show here: Mochacino with Set in Stones



The Rut

I know I have been absent from the blog recently.  As usual we have a ton of stuff on our plate around here. No one is complaining (we are counting our blessings) but it doesn't leave much time for blogging.  And truth be told, I've been in a rut recently. 

Adam is working 85-90 hours a week and we never see eachother. Aidan and I spend a lot of time by ourselves.  While I know it's not something that will last forever, right now it feels really awful. I (we) miss having him around.  It's like being a single parent.  Plus we have all the other things going on that I am pretty much responsible for all by myself.  The last thing I want to do is bother him when he comes in the door close to midnight every night with more stuff he needs to do.  There's a lot of pressure being the sole person making such serious decisions about our future!  We're grateful for his job and the opportunities it provides for us but I still get to miss having my best friend around more.

Then there's my side kick. The kid has been in rare form for the past couple of weeks.  I was on the phone with my best friend Candace earlier today and I felt badly for venting. She just had her second son Mason and her little boy Cole is 18 months old. Talk about having your hands full!!!   And I'm freaking out because Aidan threw at tantrum about not getting a bag of potato chips right before dinner time??  Luckily she's more than happy to listen, can relate and we are able to have a good laugh when the bad days are over.  Thank God for best friends. Right?  And little boys.  Even on the bad days...I love the heck out of that Aidan.

Oh and Scout has learned a new trick.  He can break out of the fence in the backyard.  Anywhere, any way.  We could build a 10 foot wall with a moat around it and he would still be down the street with the neighbors.  The only way to get him to come back is to offer him a treat and quite honestly the last thing I think he deserves is a treat when he has just made me run all of God's earth in my bathrobe because he couldn't just have a morning pee and come back inside. 

My life in a nutshell. Glamorous isn't it?  I know that these things will pass and I will always make it through to the other side. Sometimes is just sucks being in a rut.