On the 3rd and 4th day-

So yesterday didn't exactly go as planned... I have been under the weather, and it finally caught up with my little guy. Luckily he was just starting with a head cold, so we kept all the kids home from school just to make sure they don't over do themselves and get a full blown cold.

So my day was filled with naps... tissues... and movies....


And as much as I wanted to be able to pop on here and share another inexpensive gift idea or family tradition... I realized that the place I needed to be was cuddled up in mommy and daddy's bed watching movies. So that is what I did.

But it made me think of a few things. I had a few other blog posts planned for yesterday and today, and well... being with my kids helped me to see a few things differently.

3rd Day- Change of Atmosphere.

One thing that I have adopted this season is burning a LOT of candles around my house. Now hear me out before you say, "Well this is nice and all Liz, but how is this "blessing" someone? Well... it blesses me. and Inadvertently it blesses my family. Quick little secret about me... I use to sell Party lite Candles. So although I have sold off a lot of my inventory, I still kind of have a bit of a candle collection (although I cheated on Party lite the other day and bought some Chesapeake Bay Candles, I mean they had a fragrance called "Sparkling" How could I resist?)


With this in mind, and well with all of us not feeling so hot, I have started to make it a point to light candles in the evening to change our atmosphere. And I have to say, it truly helps. If James or I have been having a tough day, it is very relaxing to come home to the sweet scent and flicker of candles.

picture courtesy of Google

picture courtesy of Google

picture courtesy of Google

So similar clusters to these can be found twinkling around my house. And what I have found is that by having not only the scent of candles burning, but also the beautiful lights that they give off this offers an inexpensive change of atmosphere that naturally soothes and relaxes. After a long day, for our family this does the trick. Also I think of the memories that our children will have when they grow into their own families, and I hope that they will remember the warm candle lit nights that we would cuddle up on the couch together watching our favorite movies.

And picture courtesy of Google

And you can't have a picture of candles with out this moment.... seriously WHERE WOULD THE ENDING OF SIXTEEN CANDLES BE WITHOUT CANDLES? (Sorry... just had to add this ☺)

Day 4- Little things

Last Sunday we went to Old Town here in our little city and took our family Ice Skating. Simple.
This is something that we have been wanting to do for a while and well with the hustle and bustle of life, have put off year after year. Well this year, we just got up one morning and went. We had a blast, and I still look at the videos of the kids and smile.

caught this shot quickly while skating

Now I could easily recommend taking your family out and going Ice Skating. I was talking with a friend just yesterday that lived in Arizona and she said that her daughter enjoyed going to the local rink that was only a mile and a half away. Skating rinks are usually still pretty accessible for everyone, but what I really want to share with this portion of the post, is TO GET UP AND DO IT. Maybe it isn't ice skating, maybe it is something else. But whatever it is that you have been thinking about doing, attempting or enjoying. DO IT. Why Not? I have found that my main reason for not experiencing some of the things that I would like to in this world have been either because I never had the time, or because someone told me it could never happen. Either way I have listened. I shouldn't have... I know that. But I just never took the time to tell myself otherwise.

So consider this your turn. Your turn to take a moment, stop what you are doing. Look at what it is that you WANT TO DO, and take a moment to decide if THIS is the time you actually do it.

So much of our decision making in life is not having enough time to make the right ones. And it is so tough on not only us, but those who depend on us that if we don't take the time to make an informed decision... we may spend more time trying to make things right after making the wrong decision.

So I hope for this last day that you will consider to take a few moments to yourself. Collect your thoughts, gather your mind and take a moment JUST.FOR.YOU.

You deserve it... always.always.always.


~Liz ♥