See You Next Year

I'm taking a little blogging time off

to enjoy a some family time.

I hope that you and yours will do the same.

Let's meet back here next Tuesday for

52 Weeks of Happiness.

XOoXOoX

(big kiss, big hug, little hug, big kiss, big hug, little hug, big kiss)

Resolve to Slow Down

Are you making any New Year's resolutions?

 I vow to slow down and enjoy my kids more. 

 Please click here to read my column

 and join the discussion over at Athens Patch.

52 Weeks of happiness : Week 42

 

I just love Christmas Eve.

After the kids are alseep

and we wrap presents together.

I love imagining how they'll react when they open each gift.

I love making the tree look magical.

Merry Christmas!

 Enjoy the celebration and

be sure to come back and link up

your happy Christmas posts here.

<div style="text-align: center;"> <br><br><br><br><a href="http://leighvslaundry.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i969.photobucket.com/albums/ae172/leighbug_photo/stuff2/2875824415_abeaebc155_m-2-1-1.jpg" /></a></div> <br><br><br><br><br />

Want to join me in my quest
to scout out happiness for a whole year?
Simply post a photo of something that
makes you wildly happy and tell us all about it.
Then, steal my button and include it in your post.
Don't forget to link up to Mr. Linky.

Freakshow Friday : Splits Edition

It's time for another installment of Freakshow Friday. Where I ask my readers to come up with a caption or story for a funny photo. My best friend will be the judge and she's one hilarious freakaziod. So, bring it! Here is this week's photo, this guy is awesome.

 "Merry Splitsmas"

You got a better one for me?

If so, you may just when this
super duper brand new awesome award
and have bragging rights forever.
Oh...do I ever have an award for you!
You will win this brand spankin' new award!!

If you win then I'll link up to your
Blog and make a big deal
about how funny you are.
Simply leave your funny caption or story
in my comments section.

The winner will be announced on Monday.

The Village of Tomorrow : Episode 2

When we last left Mindy,

she was seeking solace at The Hunter's Tavern

after seeing her ex-boyfriend, Corbin

tightening the laces on her sister, Trudy's ice skates

in the middle of the town square.

She knew better than to drink away her worries,

there was a slight chance that she was carrying Corbin's child.

Instead, she wandered over to the cafe and ate two pancake specials,
 with bacon, a side of hashbrowns, a biscuit, a slice of apple pie,
 and drank 6 cups of coffee.

She was always an emotional eater.

As she walked home with an upset stomach

and a broken heart, she happened upon Mr. Lovelace.

She took a step back, they had always loved each other from afar

but he was engaged to Helen, Mindy's arch enemy.

Mindy knew better than to get tangled up with Lovelace.

Yet, her heart raced beneath her heaving chest as they spoke.

Helen happened upon the two talking,

her heart stopped because she knew that

Lovelace had always carried a torch for Mindy.

As she hid behind a snow covered tree,

she heard the dreaded words escape Lovelace's mouth;

"Mindy, forget Corbin. You know that I've always loved you."

Helen's tears froze on her cheeks

as she hurried to the town medium, Zelda for advice.

She told her that the only way to stop 

Mindy and Lovelace would be to destroy both of them.

She gave her a vile of poison to do with what she saw fit.

Mindy had fled from Lovelace,

her heart was shattered by Corbin

and she knew that she would never love again.

Lovelace came to her in the night,

declaring his love and begging her to run away 

with him to the town of Yesterday, which

was two towns over.

They could get jobs and live on love.

Meanwhile, back in the town square,

Corbin leaned in closer to Trudy

as they planned a surprise birthday party for Mindy.

He missed her so and Trudy was a great party planner.

The two spoke in whispers as they made plans.

It was all a huge misunderstanding.

Tune in next time to find out...

will Helen poison Lovelace?

Will Mindy move to the town of Yesterday with Lovelace?

Was she carrying Corbin's baby?

Would she find out about the surprise the party?

All of this and more will be revealed on the next episode of

The Village of Tomorrow.

P&G eStores Sponsored Post

When I heard about the great deals at P & G eStores

I knew that I had to tell you, my lovely readers, all about it.
It's this awesome place where you can get
super amazing deals on everyday products.

Here's the official scoop:

The P & G  eStore has been created with shoppers for shoppers
 to be a premier online retail site with new and better ways to shop online.
The eStore strives to inspire confidence in purchasing
 household and beauty products online,
with continual development of new services,
features and tools to help consumers
through their online shopping journey.

(okay...I might have copied and pasted that)

Now to the fun stuff!
Like I said before, they have tons
of really great discounts on really great products but
I'm most excited about the deals they offer on cosmetics
because I want to look just like this lady on Christmas morning...

 Classy huh?
So maybe I won't look exactly like her
but P & G eStore
can at least give me some great prices on make up
so I can try to look kind of fancy.

With amazing deals on

Cover Girl
 CoverGirl LiquilineBlast Eye Liner
 Cat Eye: Smoky ShadowBlast
Cat Eye:  LashBlast Volume Mascara
 CoverGirl Outlast All Day Lipcolor
 CoverGirl LashBlast 24HR Mascara

Now we can all look like pin up girls!

Be sure to take advantage
of these discounts too

But wait...there's even more!
Get a load of this VIP treatment headed your way...

15% off on a first-time order from a new customer,
using promo code: A9Z-MN5-KY3-ISA
Free Shipping on orders over $25

Free Samples with every order.

Don't say that I never gave you anything!
May you all look fancy and beautiful
during the holidays!

Now go buy some make up!

You know that I Love ya!

The Hardest Conversation

I really struggled with this one.

Did you tell your kids about the massacre.

Please click here to read my column 

and join the discussion by leaving

a comment over at Athens Patch.

The Legend of Tomorrow : A rerun

 This is a rerun of last years
first episode of the Legend of Tomorrow.
Tune in here tomorrow
for the next episode of drama
 and intrigue.

Will Mindy confront Trudy
for stealing Corbin?

Did Mindy go on a bender at the Hunter's Tavern?

*********************************************************************

In a small valley lies
a quaint village named Tomorrow.
Where the lights twinkle by night
and passion simmers in the light of day.

In the center of town you will find
Lovers Park where residents mingle
and hearts break from day to day.

On this cold winter afternoon
all seems well within the village,
yet a heartbroken young lady
by the name of Mindy is going for
an innocent stroll.

Little does she know that
disaster awaits behind the park gate.

There she spied her ex-lover, Corbin
tightening the laces of another lady's ice skates.

Her spirit dropped as she was already mending
a broken heart from Corbin leaving her
only days before.

She had suspected there was another woman.

She quickly hid behind the topiary
as to not be seen by the couple.
It was then she saw that the other woman
was none other than her sister Trudy.

How could they do this to her?
The display of public affection
sent her spiraling out of control
with wild rage and passion.

She found herself at the Hunter's Tavern.
The last time she went on a bender at the tavern
she ended up flipping tables
and making out with Noah the cute bartender.
That had been years ago.

Could she drown her worries in ale?
In her heart she knew
that it was a bad idea.

After all, she was carrying Corbin's baby!

To be continued...

52 Weeks of Happiness :: Week 41

We celebrated Griffin's 8th birthday party on Saturday.

After the horrible events that took place in Connecticut on Friday,

it was nice to have such a happy celebration.

My mom worked hard to make Griffin the perfect Mario cake

and her hard work paid off because it was quite a sight to behold.

I set up a little Mario photo booth

and all the kids would instantly start talking like Mario.

It was an instant cheerer upper to watch the kids be silly and free.

We had a pinata and I would say

that it was controlled chaos at best.

It's pretty scary to have a kid who can't see

swinging a stick above children who are darting for candy 

on the floor beneath it.

The charge for the loot was pretty intense.

Who can be sad when children are screaming with laughter

and scooping up armfuls of candy?

Griffin was the happiest little boy, beaming while 

a roomful of friends screamed the Happy Birthday

 song at the top of their lungs.

Moments like these feel even more poignant now.

We have to treasure every single celebration with our children.

As I watched him blow out the candles on his cake

that was made with so much love,

I said a prayer for the parents of the victims

that will never watch their children blow out

the candles on a birthday cake again.

I thank God for every day that I have

with my two amazing kids.

<div style="text-align: center;"> <br><br><br><a href="http://leighvslaundry.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i969.photobucket.com/albums/ae172/leighbug_photo/stuff2/2875824415_abeaebc155_m-2-1-1.jpg" /></a></div> <br><br><br><br />

Want to join me in my quest
to scout out happiness for a whole year?
Simply post a photo of something that
makes you wildly happy and tell us all about it.
Then, steal my button and include it in your post.
Don't forget to link up to Mr. Linky.

Winner : Wedding Edition

We have a winner for this week's installment of Freakshow Friday. Please take note that my super hilarious and non biased best friend was the judge. Here are the top three in no particular order.

Vandy J

When Mary told John he was a little horse, she meant it.

Linda D

When Leonardo signed up to do the the 

4th segment of Lord of the Rings, 

he had no idea he wouldn't get top billing.

Dana
 As he posed with his bride,
Bill couldn't stop humming "Yankee Doodle."

and the winner is...
Vandy J (she is on a roll)
 

When Mary told John he was a little horse, she meant it.

 

Vandy J

 is the funniest blogger in all the land

Please visit her blog

and marvel at the awesome award she earned.
 

Thanks to all the people who played.
Tune in this Friday for another installment of Freakshow Friday!

Freakshow Friday : Wedding Edition

It's time for another installment of Freakshow Friday. Where I ask my readers to come up with a caption or story for a funny photo. My best friend will be the judge and she's one hilarious freakaziod. So, bring it! Here is this week's photo, I feel bad for this guy.

Doogie Howser : The Wedding Episode

You got a better one for me?

If so, you may just when this
super duper brand new awesome award
and have bragging rights forever.
Oh...do I ever have an award for you!
You will win this brand spankin' new award!!

If you win then I'll link up to your
Blog and make a big deal
about how funny you are.
Simply leave your funny caption or story
in my comments section.

The winner will be announced on Monday.

The Stay at Home Mom Chronicles : Space Farm

My days around here seem to run together.

Ordinary moments unfold around me daily
and I need to stop and relish in them.
One day, my boys will be out living life
and I will miss these everyday experiences.

So, I am taking the time to document
the simple moments that pass between us.
I'm calling this little collection of memories...

Playing space farm with Koen.

Lately, Koen has been obsessed with playing space farm with me.

The toys have remained sprawled out on the floor
of the living room because Koen insists
that he is just not done playing with them yet.

It's a mish mash of his itty bitty toys
combined with a space station that was
rescued from a dirt pile in our backyard.

He'll scout me out in the house and say
"Mama, do you want to play space farm with me?"

Who could say no?

 It unfolds the same way every single time.
The story begins with Farmer Astro
tending to the animals in the space pasture.

Next, we make sure that all the animals are
in their positions in the space station.

Everyone has a job to do on this space farm,
Farmer Astro runs a tight ship!

All is well until a snake alien destroys the farm.

Havoc falls on the land

with animals running for their lives!

Until Farmer Astro hops in his hovercraft
and saves the day!

I treasure these days with my litte guy.
Where he finds me, takes my hand,
and leads me to play in a world
that is far far away!

Classic American Literature on the Chopping Block

Is this the great dumbing down of America? 

Bye bye literature. 

How do you feel about American Literature 

being replaced by non-fiction in US classrooms? 

 Please click here to read the article and 

join the conversation over at Athens Patch.

It's begining to look a lot like Christ-mas

I've gone crazy decorating the homestead 

for the holidays.

No area in my house is safe

from being covered in merriment.

With stuff like a fuzzy snowman

that my mom saw at the store

and just couldn't resist bringing to me as a gift.

Thanks, mama!

I lurve it.

Or mischievous little mice that look

like they could throw a snowball in

your face at any given moment.

This was my Mother-in-law's nativity

from when Roger was a child.

She passed it down to us because

Roger used to badger her about putting it out for a decoration year round

then sit and stare lovingly at baby Jesus whenever

Christmas rolled around and she put it on the shelf.

He loves this ol' thing and now I do too.

 

My most special ornament from when Griffin

was a wee baby and look innocent and sweet.

Or a dreamy girl making a wish on the moon.

I just adore these felt roses.
They make my dining room table look super fancy.

My place looks like it got shot with a glitter cannon 

and I wouldn't have it any other way.