September giveaway #1
The first giveaway of September is a package of three different books, all with the theme of finding contentedness in life. Book #1 is Steady Days by Jamie Martin, the author of the website Steady Mom. This book is a great resource for young moms needing just a little more organization and planning in their days.
You can click on each picture to go to amazon and read more about these books. All you have to do to enter to win is to think back over the last couple days and describe a simple moment that turned out to be one of the most enjoyable in the last few days.
One really nice time for me was watching The Cosby Show on Netflix with most of the family last night, and realizing that every time I looked over at my 13yo daughter to see if she was laughing at the funny bits, she was. And almost every time I looked her way, she looked back at me and grinned. Maybe to most folks that that sounds like it’s not worth mentioning, it’s so ordinary: a mom and daughter, laughing together. But folks struggling to help older-adopted kids settle in will recognize that occurrence as pure parenting gold-at-the-end-of-the-rainbow. To be sharing normal moments of laughter with my daughter, with her smiling into my eyes….what a gift.
How about you? I hope you’ll share a moment with me! You have until Saturday afternoon to comment, and I’ll announce the winner Saturday evening. Although many of the giveaways this month will be random drawings, this one is not going to be a random drawing– the winner will be the person who most delights me with his/her story. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!
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Standard disclosure: all of these items were given to me. However I chose what to say about them.
My kids were all home from all over the country this week, so I loved seeing them together. We took pictures of the five of them dressed up at a family wedding, and my oldest made a stupid face each time the shutter clicked. He hasn’t changed a bit these past 25 years or so
Today I went to the big city with our daughter and her 3 little ones. Little B, who is 2, and I spent some time together while his big sister was seeing the dentist. He loves pretending to drive the car and buckled and unbuckled at least 10 times, in between trying to get the Barbie Princess keys to fit in the ignition and laughing at seeing himself and me in the mirror on the visor. We had a great half hour together!
Lat night I sat and watched my husband and toddler (23 months) playing together on the sofa. She asked him (ordered him!) to “lay-down daddy” so that she could lie down next to him and cover them both up with a blanket to play hiding. She kept rolling off the sofa because it wasn’t really wide enough for the two of them, but thought that was even more hilarious, especially when she took the blanket off with her.
It may just seem like a silly father/daughter moment, but my husband’s having loads of stress at work at the moment, and I know those few minutes did tons to help him calm down and de-stress from work.
(Just for full disclosure, i’m in London, UK. I wasn’t sure if this was open to folk outside the US, but figured I’d share my story either way!)
My favorite moment this week was during a day that my 15 month old daughter was extra cuddly. I was picking her up to change her diaper and she reached out and hugged me around the next extra hard. I’m trying to savor these moments because baby #2 is on the way and she won’t get to be the baby much longer.
About a w eek ago, I watched my friend’s two children while she flew west to go to a funeral. The youngest of the two is a little boy just a bit younger than my youngest boy. While I took 20 minutes to work on laundry, they were up in the boys’ room, climbing a dresser and finding the grease hidden in the track of the sliding closet doors! Then they painted the wall, themselves and a couple toys with their new paint!
I realize that doesn’t sound like a pleasant moment. . . that part came a couple days ago when my friend brought her son back over to do community service work as payment for the mess made. He and my son, his partner in crime, spent some time walking around the front yard picking up sticks that Irene had blown to the ground. The boys had a great time picking up sticks and sticking one or two in their belt loops as swords while my friend and I sat on lawn chairs and caught up. Even messes and discipline sometimes don’t hurt where friends are involved.
My son is playing tackle football again this year and is loving it. During the last game I had trouble finding him on the field among his teammates during a few of the plays. After the game I was asking him how he was involved in this play or that play and he described to me as best as he could where he was and what he was doing. He said, “Mom, over on the end of the field where you were, when the play moved away from you…”.
“You knew where I was?” I asked in surprise because I’d arrived on the sidelines after the game had begun and he’d been on the field for the entire game except 2 or 3 plays at the end.
“Of course I knew where you were.” he said, grinning his ornery 12 year old grin.
It simply made my heart flutter a bit.
{Thanks for the give away opportunity! Steady Days has been on my wish list and looks so very good!}
My moment was just 20 minutes ago – reading Alice in Wonderland before bed – and she just snuggled into me and said “I really like this, thanks Mom”.
My kids lined up in a row on the bleachers with all of their cousins, watching their uncle’s football game.
What a fitting post: I had THE BEST day with my two year old daughter yesterday. It has been cloudy and rainy here these past days, and yesterday it became so sunny and warm just as I was going to start getting dinner together. But instead of going into the kitchen, we grabbed a blanket and a pile of library books and together outside for an hour before coming back inside. It was such a great way to celebrate life! I will hold the image of my daughter’s big blue eyes smiling and giggling and hiding under the blanket for years!!
The best part of my day is when I get my 1 year old up in the morning. In the chaos of getting ready for work and daycare, I go in there where he’s usually awake, but just playing/singing by himself. I tell him good morning and he jumps up, holding his arms out to get picked up. I pick him up and he always puts his head down on my shoulder and we stay like that for a minute before bustling off to change diaper/pjs and move on with the day. That’s the BEST, a snuggly little sleepy toddler!
oh this is easy…we lost power early Sunday morning due to Hurricane Irene. We fortunately have no property damage but no power, no water. After just then 2nd day, my patience was worn thin. I was worried about when school would start, our thawing freezer contents (fridge contents were total loss by then), feeling put out by hauling water for flushing, driving to take showers and collect water for cooking/toothbrushing etc. We were all feeling out of our comfort zone and the novelty of no power had receded…we had played board games, we had played outside (beautiful weather this week) and we had tried to keep ourselves entertained. As evening approached, my husband started our fire pit, gathered a bunch of chairs around, grabbed the (still frozen!) burgers and hotdogs and proceeded to grill us dinner and we all sat together as if camping. He made the kids hot chocolate using our campstove and tea kettle, and I dug out the jiffy pop that I’d picked up and we had a really nice evening. That was one of the many bright spots over the last week of no power (finally back on as of yesterday afternoon but many remain without power and also some without homes). The beautiful star filled nights and the gorgeous sunny and cool days have been the bright spots in these last few days, but I feel such peace when I think of our entire family sitting around that fire pit, smack dab in our front yard, cooking and laughing and just making lemonade out of lemons.
My husband was home one day this week, and he and I and our 2 kids (4, 17 months) had some appointments and errands. I knew we’d be done right about lunch time but would be on the opposite side of town. And I didn’t want to go out to lunch. So I packed a lunch and we found a park we’d never been to and had a nice picnic. It wasn’t fancy, but it was just a nice time to be together on a beautiful day outside.
My moment came yesterday after a rough day. Yesterday was one of those days where my kids didn’t want to behave. All the girls were out except for my 6 month old daughter and then my 7 and 2 year old son was home. My soon to be sister-in-law came with her son to play and help me with wedding details. And through all the chaos of the day and confusion of wedding planning I looked up to see what my children and nephew was doing. There on the floor was all the kids on their stomaches watching Veggie Tales. Both my sons laying next to their baby sister. And just as I looked in I watched my two year old boy lean over and give his baby sister a kiss. It was beautiful and it made me thank God for the blessing that he has given me. And even though it was a tough day… love, family and God will always be there to make it better.
I love the gleam that I get from my boys (3yrs and 11mo) when they get to go on a walk with me. We recently discovered a park that is walking distance…so great especially when my husband has the car at work or we just need to ‘run out’ that last little bit of energy before naps and bedtime. (we even went 2x yesterday).
I truely do love life in the simple moments… My girls are 12 and 15 and have fought like crazy forever… the last few weeks it has been a little better and I was afriad to say anything about it… yesterday my older one called her little sister after school to see why she wasn’t home yet(thats never happened before) and last night I found them lying together watching a t.v. show… I crawled right up between them and watched some show I hate just to enjoy the girl time… maybe it’s the beginning of anwered prays for me!
Last week I was sitting on my front porch stoop with a glass of water in hand watching my 3 kids (11, 10,
and my hubby kicking around a soccer ball in our front yard. We live in a city but on a piece of property not directly connected to neighbors. I remember feeling so thankful that my kids were playing TOGETHER and that they were sharing in an activity they had all gone to camp for this summer for the first time (Upward). This is a testimony to putting your kids in the same activity – they can do it together! What a blessing to have my own kids play with each other and enjoy it, not to mention precious time with a very hardworking Daddy (full-time employee plus Seminary student)!
My favorite moment of late is when I told my kids that our neighbor’s baby had been born. They immediately ran to their toy boxes shouting, “The baby needs toys!” They came back with an gift of (not necessarily baby-friendly) toys but some of their dearest loved toys. When they came back to me holding the toys in their up-stretched hands I saw that this really was a gift from them of unrestrained love and sacrifice. This was one of the days, even in these tiring years of motherhood, when I wished I was more like my children.
My Gramma passed away in January and my Grampa has come to live with my parents. He’s been very depressed for months which is quite understandable. The other day I was over visiting and my 3 year old nephew was there as well. At one point, my nephew crawled up on a chair next to my Grampa and cuddled into him and I saw my Grampa smiling. That was a great moment.
The Cosby show was always something that we watched as a family when I was growing up and everyone enjoyed it. Great pick.
We’re almost done with all The Cosby seasons. My 16! year old son loves it. We’re moving on to Andy Griffith. Score! Love those shows.
I’m really enjoying reading the others’ posts and I’m glad for your request because it forced me to reflect on this crazy week – that’s about as far back as I can even recal these days!
I have 6 kids, 2 of which came to us through foster care/ adoption, and one of them whom I have a hard time connecting with. It is so challenging for me to instinctively love her and I feel guilty and stressed about our relationship on a regular basis as a result.
Well this week, in the midst of our crazy after school schedule of homework and chores, she looked me in the eyes and quietly asked to sit on my lap. My first instinct was to brush her off with all my busy excuses, not necessarily wanting her chubby six year old weight on my tired legs. But I hesitated long enough to change my mind and beckon her over to sit. I was so glad I did, for as she sat, she leaned back against my chest and tilted her head to rest her cheek against mine. I gathered her in my arms and closed my eyes, feeling her soft breath and smooth skin. And I was surprised by the love that washed over me and enveloped the two of us in that quiet, quick moment before she hopped off my lap and ran off to play.
Thanks for letting me relive and document this moment.
Had a wonderful weekend with my two girls (one 19 and one 12) when we went to grandmas. Well, to say this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience isn’t far from the truth; neither has ever had a bike before. Never really wanted one until this weekend for some reason none of us could say if asked but we have enjoyed walking our whole lives that never really thought about bikes much.
My 19 year old found an old Roadmaster AMF bike (that has to be from the 1950s) she fell in love with the moment she saw it, and my 12 year old found an old 1970s bike with a banana seat. We were visiting grandma when we spotted them for sale in a yard and they both asked at the same time if we could stop and they each went to the bike they had seen (luckily each loved a different bike from first sight) So into the back of the van they went and that is all they talked about all the way home!
They haven’t got off them since and more than one person in the community has remarked about their unique bikes. The girls have been riding about 2-3 miles a day since and for kids who never rode bikes, this is a feat.
The look in their eyes the first time they got on them will stay with me forever.
My joyful simple moment was watching my little boys, 3 and 10 months, play on the floor with their daddy last night. The baby is just getting to the point where he really plays with other people, and it was so sweet to see their three handsome heads grouped together over a tower of blocks. What good gifts the Lord gives us!
Last night my oldest daughter(18) and I were watching television and the youngest (8)up to the couch and told her, “Get off! I want to sit with Mom.” Well, I took a deep breath and suggested that there was enough room between us for her to snuggle in. She ended up snuggling up to her sister and they were laughing together at the funny moments in the show. I just love it when they connect. It’s hard with 10 years between them and I cherish it when it happens.
That’s the best moment. Love it.
My oldest is back in school. The youngest 2 were missing her. My youngest missed her sister so much that she fell asleep with her in her bed. This is amazing considering she usually falls asleep with me BFing her.
I also love the sound of when the kids play together and aren’t fighting. It’s fun to hear how they talk to each other and how they actually can play nicely together
An unusual simple moment of enjoyment was earlier this week when I realized the my 11-year-old daughter with bronchitis was finally quiet (no coughing) and had follen asleep for a short time. Thank you, God, for antibiotics! I guess it might have been more a moment of thankfulness, but I did enjoy it!
This week our four girls started back to school. 11th, 10th, 6th, and 4th. They had been bickering and snipping at one another the week prior to school starting and I knew they would realize how much they enjoyed one another once they were apart. Well, school started, we started family dinners every night, and laughter and jokes and being silly have joined our dinner table once again. To the point of last night everyone doing a “stretch break” in the middle of dinner which is a really silly dance number our youngest taught everyone! We were all laughing so hard–it was an incredibly happy, fun moment that I will treasure forever!
I sat in the floor and played Crazy 8′s for a solid hour with my 8 year old daughter and 4 year old son. I’m usually so busy in the afternoons with dinner preparations and last minute chores. It was pure delight to hear their giggles. Their two older sisters just left for college and we’ve all been a bit sad. It was nice to get lost in the moment.
Sweetest moment this week was last night when I ambushed my daughter and read a bedtime story to her. She is 19, and currently going through a depressed grouchy phase. I was seriously ready to just smack her upside the head last night (figuratively speaking). Instead, while she was making her last pit stop in the bathroom, I dragged a comfy chair into her room, selected an old favorite from her childhood (Emil and the Soup Tureen) and settled down to wait. She paused outside her door to call good night to us, and then walked in, “Wait… what??” She snuggled right down to be read to and giggled so hard over Emil’s antics and his family’s reactions. It did my heart good to see her having fun after a bad day. And the best part was WHAT she was laughing at- totally different than the parts she laughed at as a little kid, but still hilarious. We only read one chapter, but it will be continued the next night, and the next, and the next… Maybe these kids never really do outgrow being read a bedtime story.
Lunch all together today – BBQ Chicken Pizza
Making Salsa together
Plotting the youngest’s birthday in secret with lots of giggles.
Lately I have been finding so much pleasure in nursing my baby. Today is her birthday, she is one year old, and she is my third. I am treasuring every moment because I know she won’t be nursing much longer, and while I would love to have more babies, I know she may be my last and I don’t want it to end.
To feel her little hand on me, or see her grin up at me just makes me feel all “good” inside. 
Last night my 22 month old just sat and cuddled with me while we all watched a movie…at this age she is so busy and enjoys running around etc. It was so, so sweet!
My favorite ordinary moment of late is my boys, all three, crawling in bed with me in the morning to snuggle a bit before starting our day.
Having my youngest daughter, who has dealt with so much trauma, pre-adoption, snuggle up against me to hear a bedtime story.
it’s unfortunate that it took a family crisis but in the midst of it I realized that my family is hysterical and their laughter (especially in the midst of tragedy) is the happiest and most comforting feeling.
We visited family for the last 2 weeks of August. We had not been there for 1 1/2 year since it’s 4000 kilometers away.
We live out of town, so I had to abandon the garden (which mostly grows in pots) for those 2 weeks, trusting that the rain would take care of it.
At the end of my stay, I learnt that there was no rain at all during my absence.
Needless to say, the garden was a disaster when I came back.
I took me 2 days to gather the courage to look closely at the situation.
I was delighted this evening to find tiny potatoes at the bottom of a the growing pot. Tiny, but enough to feed the family for supper.
It’s cooking right now. And I am grateful for the surprise.
Two nights ago I went through our bedtime routine with my 3 children ages 4,4, and 18 months. It had been a big day and I was so ready to throw them into their own beds and drag out to the kitchen to clean up our dinner. Instead I put on a cd and we all snuggled into one of the twin’s bed. My 18 month old didn’t fall asleep, but laid VERY still on my shoulder, just listening and resting. It was beautiful.
Walking with my kids to the cupcake shop today.
One of my most enjoyable moments over the last few days was overhearing my 5 year old son and 3 year old daughter talking to each other as they played. She was struggling to build something with his Trio blocks and he very patiently and gently helped her. Her response: “Connor, you are such a nice big brother.” It just warms my heart to hear moments like these.
One of my favorite moments was today when I loaded up most of the kids and their bikes and we went to the park to run with a friend. It was so much fun to watch them learn how to maneuver the bmx track with their bikes. To watch the little ones run all over the playground and then to hear them say how thankful they were to be able to go all the way home!
My moment happened earlier today. I was home from work because BOTH my day cares were closed to enjoy a 4 day weekend and my husband is working round the clock in preparation for the 9/11 anniversary. It has been somewhat of a challenging day as one thing after another did NOT go according to plan. So, when my 18 month old woke up from his nap crying incessantly I decided we all needed to get OUT of the house. While I was getting things ready, his 3 year old brother was trying to make him feel better by standing behind him and giving him tiny little butterfly kisses on his back, one by one, saying, “Don’t cry, Jakie”. I just paused, watching them and marveling at how little acts of love can happen at any time.
When we were playing outside today one of our kids found a tiny green inch worm. Eventually we all ended up crowded around it and watching him inch along.
This was my first week to start teaching at a tutorial for homeschoolers. I have a room full of only girls this year and the male teacher has all the boys. This is new and I am finding that it will work out perfectly this year. I love to teach and am so thankful that it worked out so that I can at least do this one day a week while homeschooling my son (just one left to homeschool). It gives me great pleasure to practice some of my teaching skills and experiment with some new ones. This was a great moment for me.
My favorite moment this last week was when i was shopping at Target with my 4-year old little boy and he looked at me very seriously and said “Mama, I like you.” It was even more special for me because on the next aisle over from us, we could hear a mom talking on her cell phone telling her friend she was so grumpy and then yelling at her kids to hurry up. I know I can easily be that stressed mom, but I really want to be a mama my boys can always like. And know they are so loved!
so many favorites…
sitting outside on the blanket with my little one while my almost 3 year old was walking around the yard and singing
my almost 3 year old askin’ me where God’s house is at
walking with my husband and girls (hooray for my sept. fitness goal
)
making cookie with my daughter…and watching her sneak a bite of raw dough
(she is her mother’s child 
)
my cup overflows…
life is wonderful 
(and i LOVE Cosby too
)
I love this! My favorite recent moment was my six year old (the youngest of our eight) coming in the door and telling me that his the neighbor had her baby so “I have a new friend”. It was just that precious sweet innocent acceptance that the tiny little baby was going to be his friend.
Precious.
Jill
My 12 and 14 yr old girls hugging each other before bed and saying “I love you” to each other.
Our daughter had surgery to remove some cancer cells a little over a week ago and this Wednesday she needed to rest so she aske her little guy who is 3 1/2, if he wanted to nap w/her & of course the snuggler he is, said yes. Well his little sister of 2 yrs old decided she didn’t need or want to take a nap so I took her outside on our covered patio w/ceiling fans and let her fill up her hard plastic large pool w/the hose (yes she loves to fill up the pool herself). I brought us out some snacks and ice water along w/all art journal book, makers, ink pens and colored pencils. It was so peaceful w/her chatting to me and anything else in site as I drew a beach house & colored it in w/a big sign on the door “solitude”! After about an hour, momma and big brother came out to join us and it was so awesome the time I got to share w/her alone since this doesn’t happen very often. It is usually her taking naps. She is a total joy to just sit and watch, when she saw the lizard that lives in my plant she squealed w/joy and tried to feed him some water and part of her snack asking him “you hungry? eat” lol she has got the biggest heart like her momma.
The my joy continued as he joined her in the pool and mom relaxed next to me having mom/daughter time. It was ironic having grama/granddaughter time then mother/daughter time. Later that nite brother went to bed early and she got some momma/daughter time alone. I love this circle of life it is priceless!
(and so thankful we got the results back and our daughter is cancer free!)
Snuggling in bed extra long with my 4 year old son this morning, 2 weeks after a miscarriage.
My favorite moment this busy back to school week was a morning when i couldn’t hear my alarm clock going off over the loud fan. My two alarm clocks came in to my room and climbed into bed with me to snuggle. We enjoyed some extra snuggle time together (even my not as snuggle-ish son) before getting ready for school. Nothing starts a morning better for my boys or me than those few cozy minutes together giggling and enjoying some warm time together. This is a simple time that I treasure as a mom of two boys that are now both in full- day school!
My favorite moment happened last night. My husband and I began reminiscing about our life together over the years, remembering when we first began dating, almost 30 years ago. It was fun to discuss the people, places and events–the “remember when” moments–and we ended up talking for hours.
This past week we lost power due to Hurricane Irene. We’ve lost power before but never for three days (which I know is not as long as some), so there was a bit of worrying about how much food would spoil, and not having phone service (we have internet phone and once my cell phone died I didn’t have that either). Amongst my anxiety, there came a different rhythm to our days. I spent the majority of my days outside watching my three boys, ages 7, 9 & 11, ride bikes and play outside. They spent more time out in the fresh air than they had in a long time. My air conditioning was off so I had the windows open, feeling the lovely breeze. I did my chores much quicker knowing that I only had so much time to get them done before the darkness set in, thus giving me more free time than I’ve had in I don’t know how long. At night we were outside in the pitch black seeing the stars as God intended us to see them, bright and clear, which is not something we can usually do when the streetlamps are on. We spent more time together, doing the important things in life, rather than wasting time on computers, video game systems, or watching television. We were less busy, there was a more relaxed, purposeful flow to our days. This power outage, at first met with annoyance and anxiety, turned out to be such a blessing, as it not only brought me some wonderful moments, but also showed me where we are misspending our precious time. I was a bit sad actually when the power came on, until I realized these wonderful moments did not have to end just because we now had power. We could still live our lives with these new found priorities still in tact. It was a very eye-opening, life changing experience for me, and for my children as well.
I am happy you won.
Your tone is so relaxed and peaceful.
We can read your words and feels them too.
As if you had soaked in a bliss bath for 3 days.
I really hope you are successful at keeping that pace.
Many blessings to you and yours,
Sophie