My Jar of Happy

You know that saying, "I wish I could bottle it?"  When something is so good we want to preserve it forever or just save it for another day? Well I think I have discovered a way to do just that!

I do not always find time to journal even though I find it very therapeutic. I also find that with my busy household, my memory isn't always so great.  Then, to top off the trifecta, I am often just too tired or lazy to write.  I put it off until after a nap or in the morning, promising myself I will get up and just do it before everyone wakes up and keeps me distracted.

So my desire to write, to record my memories and take conscious inventory of all I have to be grateful for, can often go unmet.  That makes me sad. It frustrates me. It gives me the "shoulds" and we all know that should is a very dirty word that implies so much negativity.

But my new beautiful Jar of Happy is perfect.

She sits there on my shelf, open wide to accept notes of love, gratitude and beautiful memories that are as simple as jottings on a piece of notepad. the back of an envelope or old receipt.  It isn't about how pretty the note is. It is perfect the more imperfect it is because it is from the heart and in the jar.

On dimly lit days of the heart, or when I want to stroll back in time and smile, all I ned do is reach in and take out a small selection of nots and sit back and read. And that just makes my heart sing so loudly!

I also think that it will be a beautiful lesson for my babies.

My oldest son (9) forgets quite quickly that he had fun.  He will be laughing one moment then lamenting the "worst day ever" the next.  I do not want this to become habit for him.  I know it is just a phase.  But i hope that I can encourage him to write his gratitudes, smiles, laughs and joys down and have a tangible place to see and feel and access them rather than leaving it just to sink the bottom of his memory.

I want this jar filled to overflowing.  I want it to be testimony to my life anyhow wonderful it is.

This is not a new idea by any means.  It has and is practiced by many people. Just google and you will find many and varied hits about a vessel to keep your happy or your gratefulness.  This idea is simply new to me and I'm taking it and running with it because I think it will suit my mad, chaotic, hectic and curve-balled life perfectly!

So long as that curve-ball isn't one that I have instructed endlessly, not to throw in the house!

February is the New January!

As the clean slate of 2014 lies there before me, I'm filled with eager anticipation of what I can achieve this year.  I'm filled to overflowing with zest to just get going and DO!  I want to make wonderful things happen this year!

But there is a problem..

3 problems actually...

They are called, my children.

Now don't get me wrong. I love them to pieces, and I wouldn't change having them for anything in this world.  Or the next.  They are my reason. (And sometimes my undoing... LOL)

I have reached the conclusion however, that summer school holidays and that urge to get the New Year off on the right foot, are incredibly and completely incompatible!

My urge to dive into MY year and follow MY aspirations, is regularly thwarted by, "I'm bored," "I'm hungry," "Mama! He won't leave me alone" and a myriad of minor child induced dramas.  Spilled milk, lost items, endless laundry piles, first aid incidents, cartoon reruns, toy strewn living areas and aaarrrrggghhhh!!!  I am frequently left feeling frustration and impatience instead of eager and excited.

On the flip side, while I'm struggling to find scraps of time to devote to MY year, or irritated that I can not, my children are vying for my attention or zoning out in front of the TV or xBox.  They are missing out on precious holiday time with their mother.

We are missing out on precious holiday time TOGETHER!

So, I have declared that February is the new January!

What point is there to waste time struggling to make MY New Year great, just because the calendar says it is time to start fresh!  Especially at the expense of making our school holidays less enjoyable!
Why can't February, when school returns, be the beginning of MY year?

When my babies go back to school I will blissfully submerge myself into my dreams and projects for 2014.  I will let my imagination fly and fill the blank canvas of this year.

But until then, I am focusing on children.  January needs to be about them.  I'm easing up on myself as a woman with her own interests  AND as a mother.  I'm giving myself permission to start MY year when it is most convenient for ME!  In so doing, I'm allowing myself space to enjoy my babies, work on ways that will set up our year together as a family and doing MY PRIMARY JOB of being a Mama.

In 13 days I will take my babies to school, I will get them settled for their year, and I will come home and dive into mine.  For now though, its all about fun, school preparation and loving time with one another.

I feel so much lighter in my heart and head with this excision in place.  The New Year pressure is lifted.

Start where you are and do what's right for you.  A calendar and social perception should not dictate how things should happen.  You're allowed to bend the rules and make them fit to you.

A Field Of Flowers Is Waiting

Can you imagine this field of flowers with 2 young boys and a little girl frolicking in it?

I can! And I'm going to make it happen, with the help of Coralie Plozza from Rainbow Farm Photography.

This field is part of Rainbow Farm and in September, when spring comes to Western Australia, the little yellow cake weed flowers come to life.  They create a gorgeous yellow carpet set against an enormous blue sky.

I am planning to take my kidlets, and possibly my wonky dog, to Rainbow Farm when the flowers bloom.  We will all run and roll in the them while Coralie captures gorgeous sunny photos of us having fun and being free!

I'm on the look out for cute little outfits for the children now which is half the fun of it!  ;-)

If you're near Busselton, Western Australia, this year, next or anytime in the future, I'm sure Coralie would love to have you come visit her field of flowers and snap pictures of you enjoying yourself!  I can't wait until I get to share our adventure once we are done! It has been too long since we last captured beautiful photos of our family.  Children grow so fast...