10 Simple Things to Smile About: June (And Random Tuesday Thoughts Rebel)

This has been my year for smiles and heart-happy moments so I'm taking a moment out to do 10 things to smile about with Emmy Mom.
1.  The school year is over.  Finally.  Did I mention how happy I am that the school year is over.  No more weekly Monday morning calls from Rob's reading enrichment teacher to tell me that he put his head down in class.  Forget that he reads at an advanced level.  Forget that he hates reading despite being quite skilled.  Forget of course that every single week I explain again and again the nature of his bipolar disorder and the effect his single medication has on his alertness at 7:30 AM every single morning.  BUT IT IS OVER FOR THE SUMMER and I am certainly smiling about that.  It is good to enjoy my easy-going laid back boy without the pressures of the local public school.   2.  3 month old baby girl smiles and giggles!   

No further explanation required!

3.  Spending time with beautiful grown daughters.  Watching sisters born 19 years apart  enjoy each other.

4.  Spending long days at the pool with ten year old boys.

5. Teenage boys who are willing to wear their baby sisters.

5.  Grandmas who give awesome cuddles and read silly stories.  

7.  Thinking of my parents with smiles and laughter instead of tears.  I miss them every single day, sometimes with an ache that threatens to swallow me, especially knowing that they will never know and enjoy their tiny grand-daughter as they did my older kids .  But lately it is the sweet memories that surface most often.  

8.  Being married to the sweetest man ever.  Knowing that myself and the kids are the most important part of his world and seeing his choices reflect that every day.   I am lucky and I know it.

9.  Finally having a baby I can stay home with for a while.  Granted I am frustrated with everything breaking in my house and not having the money to fix it all fast enough.  But it is oh so sweet to be able to snuggle in the mornings and to be the one who sees her first smile of the day AND her last every single day for a change.  

10.  E-books.  I cannot say enough about how much it rocks that I can carry a couple hundred books with me on my kindle everywhere I go.  

If you've had plenty of things to smile about lately, or even if you just need a boost because things have not been so smiley... I totally recommend stopping over to Emmy Mom's place to remind yourself what's going rate for you lately.

Also please take some time to stop by and show some love to Stacy at Stacy's Random Thoughts for Random Tuesday Thoughts Rebel.