Happiness Week 35

Oh my gosh I nearly forgot it was Monday. Happy Labor Day! I hope you aren't laboring. We had a pretty decent last week of summer (despite oral feeding challenges, a topic for another day) and I hope you did too! Like many places around the country my kids go back to school this week. If you are doing the same thing I wish you great luck. I know I'm going to need some luck and some big pots of coffee. Have a good week and thanks for reading! Here are this week's photos.

Daily Happiness Photos - Week 35

08/27 Being the Dragonfly Catcher

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For some reason this summer we have had a lot of dragonflies(and a couple birds) fly through the door and into our house.  Honestly I will catch and release any creature including spiders. It is especially fun to set a dragonfly free. Adrian's a bit like me in the way he feels a sense of kinship with all creatures and so I love when he comes running to me to rescue a critter and I get to be a hero in his eyes when I set it free.

08/28 Fun At the Zoo

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I LOVE animals. And I LOVE the zoo. Sure, sometimes I feel bad for the animals but teaching humans to value and appreciate all life, well that's a life with purpose and it's a safe life so maybe it's not so bad. Ainsley was afraid, but I forced placed her in the turtle shell anyway. Then she realized it was fun and had a blast. She even played in the wood chips even though they "feel funny" (quite a step for a girl who's had some sensory issues in the past).

08/29 The Tooth Fairy

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Out of sheer laziness we had 3 teeth for the tooth fairy. Based on past experience I really didn't think Ainsley understood. But now she does that's for sure and I'm pretty sure when her other front tooth comes out she's going to insist on it going under the pillow right away.

08/30 Art for 1st Period

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I am a night owl, as is my birth mother, and my daughter. We are not morning people. It's in the blood. So I've been scared, really scared about the transition to middle school. We got the transportation assignment mid-week. The bus picks Evie up at 6:50. It's not funny, don't laugh. But the Gods were smiling upon us when Evie got assigned World Art for 1st period. It might make all the difference in easing the transition. It's a much better way to wake up....than say Math.

08/31 Saying Yes to Sculpey

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Sculpey was on our list for the summer but I kept saying no when asked to do it because I hate cleaning up the mess. It's oily and sticks to the table. So imagine your worst Playdoh nightmare times 10. I'm fussy about my house (yes I know, probably shouldn't have had kids but it's too late for that advice) so the threat of permanent damage to my carpet sets me a bit on edge you might say. The kids created the most amazing creations. To keep Ainsley out of the Sculpey I brought out the Playdoh too. Man-o-man was that the biggest mess!

09/01 Tubes

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Even more fun that bringing out the tubes and seeing the look of excitement on the kids' faces was being able to say to Steve "Seeee, I TOLD you!" Over the years he kept telling me I was crazy for saving these tubes (from rugs) and wanted to toss them but I knew from my days as a working parent at the co-op preschool how much kids LOVE pushing cars down tubes. It feels good to finally use them.

09/02 Family Fun

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 Not everyone likes their spouse's family but I do. I'm really lucky, Steve's family is great and really easy to be around. Steve and his dad are close and it's always touching to see them together especially like this, having fun playing badminton against the girls. We invited Steve's family over for Labor Day weekend and the cousins stayed the night as the last final hurrah of summer. They had so much fun.

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To view a slideshow of the entire Happiness Photo Project click here. Confused about what this is or why I'm doing it? Click here for an explanation of what it's all about.