Movie Date!

Saturday Night is our designated "Movie” night. 

It’s either we catch the latest on the cinema or someone gets a movie or we find something on a cable station and watch a movie together as we are eating pizza. 

It has been like a family tradition and my kids grew up with our Saturday dates.

We even have a mini theater room made for my movie buff husband and son.

It’s always been fun and each time has always been special to me.

Allow me to share how we  make movie viewing more fun, and use this activity a bonding time for the whole family.

At the movie house:

·        Agree on which movie to watch

·        We try to catch  an earlier show time to avoid the crowds

·        Dine at a favorite family restaurant before or after the show

·        Sometimes, we buy souvenirs from the movie

At home:

·        Agree on a pre-selected title for home viewing, or we surprise them - with an old favorite or a new release

·        Serve popcorn, chips, and refreshments (pizza is our favorite)just like in the movie house

·        Dim the lights and turn on air conditioning to set the mood

·        We either watch in the theater room, or huddle in our bed

It's difficult to spend quality time with the family when everybody seems to be busy.

But by adding just a couple of routines into a schedule, families can recapture their time together and reconnect.

Happy weekend!

Simple Pleasures

“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise”. This age old saying still holds meaning in today’s world.

I believe that I have mentioned in my previous blogs that Autumn is without a doubt my favorite season of all. 

The chill in the air, the changing color of the leaves on the trees and the dark cozy evenings.  

Lovin’ it!

When Autumn came , my husband and I decided to have our morning walks. 

I am always excited about our morning walks.

There's just peace and calm everywhere. 

And there are also a few people on the road.

 Some like us were enjoying the early hours of an autumn morning.

This morning we took a longer walk than we usually do. 

The light was really nice, autumn colors deluxe on the falling leaves and the air was super crisp. 

The sky was turning a shade of deep blue from black. 

It seemed the blue was chasing the black all over the sky.

It  is not only the walk itself that is good. 

It’s so lovely to come back home again with cold cheeks and to sit down with a nice cup of warming tea.

Tiny everyday pleasures that carries a lot of happiness...

Holiday Decorations…

The Holiday Season is here and thinking about bringing out Holiday Decorations. The Holiday Season is here and thinking about bringing out Holiday Decorations. Seasonal holiday decorating for me , typically starts in October for Halloween, not ending until after New Year.

Decorating our home for the holidays is not really that daunting for me. With a little planning, you can unpack, decorate, repack and store precious holiday decorations in a systematic way that saves time and space. It is very important that you store these decorations properly so that it’ll be easy for you to unpack them if you need to.

In packing your decorations for storage:

Evaluate your decorations. Throw out broken ones you’ll never fix, give away those you haven’t used, don’t have place to display, or don’t like. Keep only the most important decorations.

Have the right storage boxes and store them properly.

Room by room, gather all decorations. Put them onto a large, central table or at least all in the same room. There’s nothing worse than thinking you’re done only to find a nutcracker high on a bookcase. Look, look and look again.

Carefully wrap and store the rest, labeling boxes as you go. When you know everything fits into a container, you can continue replacing decorations into the same box, year after year, knowing everything fits.

Easy. 

If you have these things stored and organized properly , it’ll save you time and effort if you need to use them again…

Remembering Loved Ones

It’s that time of the year again.  

It’s Halloween and everybody gets excited with all the trick or treating and costume parties.

But a  part of me is also remembering loved ones who have passed away.

I miss them.

This was a beautiful poem that was read in a funeral service and I believe it will bring encouragement to anyone who has lost a loved one.

Safely Home

“I am home in Heaven, dear ones; Oh, so happy and so bright!

There is perfect joy and beauty In this everlasting light.

All the pain and grief is over, Every restless tossing passed;

I am now at peace forever, safely home in Heaven at last.

Did you wonder I so calmly Trod the valley of the shade?

Oh! but Jesus’ arm to lean on, Could I have one doubt or dread?

Then you must not grieve so sorely, For I love you dearly still;

Try to look beyond earth’s shadows, Pray to trust our Father’s Will.

There is work still waiting for you, So you must not idly stand;

Do it now, while life remaineth–You shall rest in Jesus’ land.

When that work is all completed, He will gently call you Home;

Oh, the rapture of that meeting, Oh, the joy to see you come!”  

~Unknown

The pain of losing someone you love so deeply cannot be described with words and going through the grieving process cannot be escaped.

Even though they are not with me there is not a day that goes by

that I think of all the good times & they  bring  a smile to my heart.

♥♥♥

Halloween!

Embracing the spirit of the season.

Halloween can be such a fun time of year! Dressing up the kids ( I can’t do that wit my Louise and Matty anymore, teenagers) , decorating the house (My front yard has been halloween-fied!), eating up the candy, and of course, seeing all the ghouls and goblins that come to the door begging for candy.

 At this time of year, I also like to wander around my neighborhood and see what others are doing for Halloween. 

I love other people’s decorations and I have some sweet neighbors who spend  time decorating their homes for the season. 

Bloody hand sticking out of the mailbox. 

Mailbox covered in faux cobwebs. 

Mammoth spider strung from the balcony. 

Tombstones in the yard. 

Severed head hanging from the garage. 

You get the grim picture.:-)

I’m looking forward to see trick or treaters on our front door this Halloween  My kids had their share of trick or treat moments and one thing I’m sure of is that trick or treaters loves Halloween candies!:-) 

Favor and treat candy bags are one of the adorable Halloween stuff that everyone loves, especially kids.

I think I should start preparing for trick or treat time..:-)

I love CHOCOLATE!

Chocolate is my favorite.

.

Dark Brown, creamy and yummy chocolates, they are admired by the entire world.

Infinite variations of this food product is found in the planet earth, the recipes include fresh chocolate cheesecakes, cookies , brownies, tasty truffles, desserts and the list goes on and on and on.

I truly don't understand when people say they don't really like chocolate! How is this possible?

Chocolate, which is derived from beans located on the inside of bright yellow and orange pods that grow along the trunk of the cacao tree, has a complex chemical make-up.  According to this website, the chocolate we eat contains over 600 chemicals.  Don't be alarmed by the sound of this - many of these chemicals are responsible for what enhances our mood when we eat it!

Chocolate also naturally contains “uppers" like caffeine, sugars, and phenylthalymine, which will make your heart pound a little harder, your breathing come a bit more quickly, and give you a feeling of alertness. The effect is not dramatic enough to be uncomfortable in most people; it’s mild enough to produce a pleasant “high," which is often equated to the feeling of being in love.

Chocolate my pathway to enlightenment. I actually associate it as my comfort food.

I love it when I want to write something. It can boost your brain same thing goes to COFFEE!

I just love chocolate!YUM!

Home Organization – Everything has a place

Do you ever find yourself moving the same thing every time you want to get to something behind it? Are you regularly searching for keys, cell phone or other items of daily use?

Organizing your home can be a daunting task when the piles are overflowing, the laundry is scattered, and the office is flooded in papers.

Getting organized is a great way to reduce stress.

Here are some important tips that really worked for me when it comes to organizing my home.

Plan your Strategy

Be realistic in your goal of organizing your home. Plan your strategy according to a time schedule.

 Everything should have its own home.

To keep your life organized, you must assign a home for all of the objects in your house. Have a specific place for your keys, pens, pencils, incoming papers, and mail. There are  a variety of organizing tools that you can use , including drawer organizers, shoe racks, magazine racks, filing cabinets, drawers, and shelving units. Make sure that everything has a proper holding spot. If an  item has been removed, make sure that it is returned to its place when no longer in use.

 Reduce Clutter

One of my favorite organizing tips is to dump it!

Get rid of things you haven’t used in one year, things you really don’t like, or things that are broken. If you do nothing else, you will see space you never realized you had.

Organize Your Drawers

Start by removing all of the junk, go through the remaining items and sort them into 3 piles: stuff you want to keep, stuff you’d like to give away, and stuff that needs to be put somewhere else. One of the best ways to organize these piles is to use large boxes or bags and label them “Keep“, “Move“, “Trash“, and “Donate“.

Now put everything that you want to keep back in the drawer. You should now have a much smaller pile. To keep everything nice and organized, I would recommend getting a drawer organizer. A drawer organizer can be especially useful for organizing office items such as pens, paper, tape, scissors, staples, and paper clips.

Keeping your home organized is an ongoing process.

So, what are your best organizing tips? I’d love to hear about them :-)

Thank You

My Birthday thank you message for everyone...

It was indeed a  beautiful day to celebrate another year!

Thank you to everyone who remembered my birthday! Each greeting really meant a lot to me and absolutely made my day. Thanks to internet for making remembering people's birthday and sending a greeting much easier!

Life has not been always a bed of roses but it has been good to me. I’m living an awesome and colorful life – been happy and sad, laughed and cried, been sane and (sometimes) gone insane. I've tasted the highs and lows of life… and well, you get the idea. I couldn't ask for anything more ’cause that would make me selfish. I am living a modest yet comfortable life with a very loving and supportive husband and  2 great and adorable kids.

I got simple wishes for this year. I wish for  a great year ahead , blessings and good health for my family. 

Simple wishes. 

Life doesn't have to be complicated. 

It’s the simple things that matter in the end. 

The things we usually take for granted.

I’m excited for what this year has to offer me. Bring it!

Thank you to everyone who have sent their greetings. 

I am overwhelmed! 

Truly a day of happiness and celebration.

I love surprises!

A wonderful surprise awaits me last night – A bouquet of roses with the most adorable daughter!

Earlier in the afternoon when Matti insisted we walk the dogs at a specific time, instead of dragging the start time out as long as possible, in the hope that it would rain and the dogs would refuse to put their pure bred little backsides out the front door.

I suspected nothing.

We always walk for a minimum of thirty minutes. He dragged it out to forty-five minutes: I want to go on the swings/Let’s go the long way home for a change/I’m interested in what you’re saying.

I should have suspected something with that last one.

We arrived home.  I could hear John talking.  An unexpected guest?  I walked into the living room – there was my baby girl!  I wasn't expecting her until this weekend!

Surprise!

Louise can't make it till Tuesday for my birthday because she needs to be in France by Monday...but this is great!

I'm looking forward to a great weekend..and I am very happy!

Another busy day

The word errand is most commonly used in the sense of a short journey taken to perform some necessary duty. Some examples of errands are: taking or fetching clothes from the cleaners; taking mail to the post office; filling the car with fuel, taking sacks of leaves to the compost center, etc.

A chore can be simply a necessary domestic task such as vacuuming or taking out the garbage, or it can be used in the sense of a really tiresome, time-consuming task.

So why am I pointing this out??

Yesterday I have been a very busy Mom, running errands and doing chores around the house.

What do you do when you day is full from top to bottom and you want to accomplish it ALL in a day?  “Heaven help me,” is what I typically say.

Yesterday was one of those days where I could use more hours to get rid of “today’s to do list” so that the next day’s  agenda is lighter. 

and I did them all...I'm a super mom...a super tired mom…

After  hanging out with my dear husband John and my sweet son Matti ( our after – dinner – bond)  , I headed for bed pretty early, and I wasn't able to read  few chapters in my book (that tired!).

It wasn't really a bad day…it was very productive. But it was a very tiring one.

October

"The sweet calm sunshine of October, now

Warms the low spot; upon its grassy mold

The purple oak-leaf falls; the birchen bough

drops its bright spoil like arrow-heads of gold."

-   William Cullen Bryant

October is my favorite month.

The air has a crisp feeling.

 

The smell of baked apple pies, mums, roasted nuts, toasted marshmallows outside and baking pumpkin seeds.

It seems like everything smells wonderful.

This is the time of year, that I enjoy making homemade stews, having our annual bon fire, hay rides, raking the fallen leaves, making my crafts, decorating our home for Halloween, snuggling up with my kids and watching movies with apple cider and popcorn.

We used to take the kids to pick out the biggest pumpkins from our local pumpkin patch.  We place them on our front steps, and then we carve them for Halloween and bake the seeds.

October reminds us that Christmas is near!

It’s also my birthday Month.

And this year my only wish is to be able to spend it with my family and friends. So happy that my daughter could join us…J

Happy times!

autumn decorating

Do you change around your home decor with the seasons? I do! I like to rearrange my furniture so that I get a better view of the Christmas tree or bring in Fall colors for sofa pillows, throws and candles to switch things up a bit when the leaves start to change.

I love the changing of the seasons and I am always looking for Fall decorating ideas that are new to me.

The rich colors of autumn set the tone for decorating with gourds, leaves, pumpkins and other seasonal materials.

Here are some tips that would surely be a big help if you are thinking of creating that “AUTUMN” atmosphere in your homes (like me ).

• When decorating your home for fall, don't forget the outside. Fill outdoor containers with autumn's bounty for a stylish, seasonal look
•  In your front foyer or located on a predominate wall; fall artwork can change the mood in your home instantly.  Consider nature themes with fall colors in oranges, rusts, and golden yellows. If you prefer more abstract art, oil paintings with browns, reds, and burnt umber will make a statement without being obvious.
• Dress up your front porch with fall inspiration: Use tall corn stalks, raffia, or straw to wrap around entry porch columns and mailboxes. Use thick colored ribbon in deep oranges and browns to contrast with the straw. Carry these same materials into lanyards or garlands around your front door and entry.
•    Use your fireplace to showcase seasonal décor: Your fireplace mantel has been waiting for this season! Whether you look in your yard, or you travel to an arts and crafts store, dried leaves and pine cones make great décor. Small pumpkins, gourds or dried leaf vines, and colorful candles will brighten your mantle and spirits.
•     Cooler temperatures mean cozy sitting areas: As the temperatures begin to fall, bring out the fall colored throw blankets to place on couches or in adjacent baskets. Complimenting fall colored throw pillows will complete any cozy nook for you cuddle up and enjoy a good book
•  Welcome guests with a beautiful autumn wreath at your front door: Simple grapevine wreaths are gorgeous on their own.  If you prefer more adornment consider adding pine cones, leaves, berries and corn husks to your wreath.  If you have a large home with many windows that face the entry of your home, consider placing matching wreaths hung from these windows as well.

I’m sure there’s a lot more wonderful ideas out the there…maybe some of you could share??? J

And yet again I am excited…decorating is one of my favorite things to do…

I love AUTUMN!

I love autumn

It's my favourite season of the year 

I get excited when this season comes

Autumn or Fall is a gorgeous time of year

Nature gives us a spectacular show of colour and richness to enjoy before we are plunged in to winter

Yes the days get shorter and colder but some of my favourite colours appear in Autumn

Cozy sweaters , hats and gloves start to be worn 

and out come the richly scented candles evocative of spices, warmth and comfort

Now there are several things i love about this season...

1. chilly mornings snuggled under the covers

2. sipping hot chocolate

3. Walking through carpets of fallen leaves in the woods with our dog

4. my morning coffee in quietude (I admit I love that year round)

5. baking apple pie (or anything deliciously sweet for that matter)

6.homemade soup simmering on the stove

7.Curling up on the sofa on a grey afternoon to watch a film or read a good book

8.Jumpers, knitted dresses and woolly tights

9.Thick homemade soups and fresh crusty bread

10.Preparing for Christmas - I love Christmas

Oh the list goes on...

Time for a cool change...AUTUMN is here...:-)

Some Tips on Moving with KIDS

Couple days back I was able to have a very good conversation with a friend in Colorado (thank you FACEBOOK CHAT) and she was talking about their upcoming move to the UK due to his husband’s work . 

Yes, she’s very excited and overwhelmed by all the preparations. But what worries her is that what effect it may have on in her kids.

And she’s right. This is something of great importance. It is our job to turn the sadness and doubt into happiness.

Moving to a new home can be an exciting and happy experience for families. New surroundings. new home…etc…But  it also can be a difficult adjustment for children. They may be leaving behind their friends, their activity centers, their school, and even other family members-many of the people and places that have provided them security and comfort.

I think we should take special care to talk to our kids about an upcoming move and to deal with their concerns or fears.

Children respond to the general atmosphere set in the home by the attitudes of their parents. If you look at moving as an exciting adventure full of new possibilities, then chances are very good that you will infect your children with enthusiasm and anticipation.

Different children may react to moving in different ways. Some kids may become depressed and may keep crying for days because they feel they are in an alien climate. The key to making the move a success with kids is to GET THEM INVOLVED! Be upbeat from the start, and talk to your children as much as possible. Make them come up with ideas on how to make moving better and easier. Make your kids feel they are important members of the family moving team!

Yes, moving in anyway can really be stressful. But if you are resourceful enough and get some help it won’t be much trouble.

I just want to share this. This is from the people who helped Louise move to France.

Check this out..really helpful..:-)

Moving with Children Part One

Moving with Children Part Two

Be Happy :-)

Happy Friday my dears! I am sooo happy that the week-end is upon us.

Being happy is a choice and it's what I choose to be today.:-)

Think happy…feel happy…live happy 

The route to a happier life is through happy thoughts. 

Not just because they make you feel better immediately... but because happier thoughts give you a stronger and more stable foundation to your life. You are in control rather than being bounced around by life.

I came across this written by Michele Blood and I think it’s great so I’m sharing this…

“Happiness and Freedom

The purpose of my life is to be happy! 

My own mental attitude is the most important influence in my life, working with peace, joy and success. 

I now choose to be happy! 

I choose to be free. 

I think for myself.

I have a right to any happiness, which I can conceive, provided that it hurts no-one and is in keeping with the nature of Divine Law. 

I know I must change the conditions within myself to change the outer conditions in my life. 

I now live with inner peace and know that I can face all challenges with calm and reason because I think happy thoughts.

As Peter Pan said…..

“With just one happy thought, I can fly!”