Simple Joy ~ Gavin DeGraw

It's Monday. Time for Simply Joy.

I tell you what... nothing has brought me more joy over the past two weeks than this man's music. I can not stop listening to it. I can not stop singing it. The words run through my head as I sleep. The nananananana's are rolling out of my mouth upon waking. I have not seen an artist that has moved me like this in—hmmmmmm—ever.

The more I hear of his music, the deeper I fall into it.

Gavin DeGraw. Yes.

Here's a taste of the glory...

Or try this one. The soul of the music shines through profoundly here, friends.

I'm not done yet. Check out this most fantastic Sam Cooke cover. Good God this is great!




Now if you've made it this far, you're in for a special treat. This next song ROCKS. I've been somewhat paralyzed in performing my daily duties thanks to this song. I try to leave the house, but I can't stop dancing, singing, and proclaiming my love of life... over and over and over again. Wow. What is happening to me?

I could not find a video that does justice to the blow-your-mind quality of this song. So here's the audio. Turn it up. And jam.

Simple Joy ~ Holiday Loves

The fast approaching Thanksgiving holiday is making me all sentimental about the joyous things this season brings with it. 

I'm not crazy for mall shopping, movie theaters or unmanageable bills come January 1st. Instead, my favorite parts of the season come with great simplicity and a whole lot of love.

Homemade (gluten and dairy free) lasagna full of heritage and heart.

Magical buns of delight (gluten and dairy free, of course) that find their home in my earliest holiday memories.

Sugar nuts, to keep up my endurance and stamina through all the busy-ness next month brings.

Let us not forget the Lithuanian Krupnikas parties!

A warm mug of homemade chai to share with neighbor friends on cold winter mornings.

And last but not least, the magnificent joy that comes from watching little children play endlessly in the snow.

Simple Joy ~ Cool TV

Just the other day the hubs and I were having a discussion about MTV. What the heck ever happened to music television? Why did it have such a short life? Whose idea was it to play endless reality television in place of rad music videos?

As a youth, I'll admit I had a major addiction to the 24-7 feed of videos streaming through that glass screen in my living room. I'd spend days on end lazing around on the couch watching and waiting for more Bon Jovi to come on. And more Guns 'N Roses. And more Poison. And more Skid Row.

Gosh, those were the good days. I still love music videos. Perhaps you've noticed?

Boy was there a treat in store for me last week when I traveled to Canada for a business trip. Flipping through the channels in my hotel room, I came across something so fantastic I nearly dropped the remote. A channel devoted to playing all music all the time. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.

Apparently, someone else had been asking the same questions that we'd been pondering.

The Cool TV even hosts theme shows just like I remember them. Remember Veejays? Martha Quinn was always my favorite. Ahhhhhh. The good ol' days.

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I'll spare you the potential pain it could cause to watch one of those artists I mentioned from my good ol' MTV watching days and instead send some old-timey feel good music your way.

Ricky Nelson - Hello Mary-Lou

Simple Joy ~ Anticipation of Winter

Seasons change, feelings stir.

Pretty soon, we'll all be wearing the boots with the fur.

These kids are eager with the anticipation of winter.

With it comes warm mugs of liquid chocolate and skiing fever.

Bring it on!!!

Simple Joy ~ Traditions

Happy Halloween!!! 

Today marks one of my favorite days in the whole calendar year. Not because Halloween is my favorite holiday. For it is not. In fact, I believe I was born missing a gene for creative costuming. Those with a flair for Halloween costumes have a special gene, you know. She is not I. 

However, I have much joy on this day because Halloween marks the beginning of a wickedly intense holiday season spanning the next 62 days. 

In addition to the multitude of winter festivals and holidays fast approaching, we celebrate a few birthdays in our family throughout this season as well. 

My favorite part of all of this are the various traditions that surround each and every one of these celebrations that occur over the next two months. 

I wait all year long for this day, October 31st. Most importantly because of the fact that once Halloween night concludes, at exactly 12 o'clock midnight, Christmas music will magically turn on in my house and won't stop playing for 55 days straight. I'm not joking. Ask my husband. And then do me a favor and try to convince him that this is a good thing.

Simple Joy ~ Fall Sunshine

Quite possibly, this has been the best fall on record in our region.

The factors that have worked in our favor include... sunshine, warm days, crisp evenings and brilliant colors on the trees.

The factors that are typically a buzz kill to the high hopes for a glorious fall include... high winds, torrential rain and premature snowstorms. Regretfully, we've had too many fall seasons recently that fall into this category.

Just the other day I found myself sitting in a pile of woodchips on the children's playground at school allowing the sunshine to penetrate my exterior, bringing great joy to my interior. 

Taking the time to sit and absorb made my day approximately a thousand times better. I hope you get a chance to bask in it just a few days longer, friends!

Simple Joy ~ The School Book Fair

The school book fair happened last week. It was a big couple of days in our house. The little people were jumping out of bed with joy in the wee hours of the morning proclaiming, "The book fair is today. It runs for the next three days. It starts as soon as the bell rings after school. When is that? How many hours until school lets out? Is it soon? Is it soon?" Honestly, I have never seen three little people so excited about books. At least not the three little people who live in my house.

A few interesting things unfolded last week around said book fair:

Most importantly ~ My entire house was cleaned "marine style" late Monday night by three people under three feet tall in an attempt to earn dollars for spending at the fair. They did well. And I woke up to a sparkling clean house. I was one happy mama.

Most gratefully ~ We made it in and out of the fair without any whining, complaining or throwing ourselves on the ground. (While it is typical for the youngsters to take to these tactics to try and get what they want, it is more common for me to fall victim to these methods whenever I take this triad into a retail setting, any retail setting. There are days shopping the aisles of Target when throwing myself on the ground seems a reasonable solution to the chaos unfolding around me the moment we roll by the toy aisle.)

Most hysterically ~ My husband was absolutely flabbergasted when he learned that the children took their own money into the book fair and bought books to take home. It wan't the fact that they took responsibility and earned money for their purchases that was shocking to him. Instead, it was the fact that at the book fair, students could actually purchase the books. He recalled his experience with school book fairs as a child—each kid got a free book to take home. And that was that. To which I replied with a puzzled look, "True, but the idea is that you would come back later that day with your parents and BUY more books. It's always a fundraiser for the school." "Oh my gosh", he gasped, "I wonder if my mom knew that?" We joked about this harsh realization for the better half of last week.

The thing I loved most about the book fair showing up at our local school—the cuteness that resulted. They were all helping each other read their books.

3-D glasses and all.

Even if the glasses weren't on quite right, it was the sentiment that brought joy to my heart.

Simple Joy ~ Brothers

As the kids grow older, I've stood witness to some pretty sweet brotherly moments between my oldest boy child and youngest boy child.

This morning's sweetness may find itself in the top five of all time.

The gesture was simple. And so innocent. And so full of lovey-dovey joy. It made me smile.

{Spoken with a British accent.} "Look who doth awaken?" saith the first-born to his junior. "Come hither to your elder brother for an early morning huggy." 

Granted, these weren't the exact words my 7-year-old used—but close.

The growing love between these two brothers is magical to take-in. I revel in the simple joy of their special moment today. 

Simple Joy ~ iPhone Photo HDR

HDR On

Original HDR Off

This past weekend brought a lot of joy to this little old lady's soul. I could go on with a long list of joys found in the simplest of occasions, but when considering which simple joy to share with you today, one little unknown feature on my iPhone camera landed on top.

HDR. 

A friend pointed out this button while I was snapping photos of my little boy in a tree on a warm early-fall Saturday. 

HDR. 

One simple tap made a significant change to the quality of my photos on this beautiful bike-riding tree-climbing tailgating early-fall afternoon.

HDR. 

In certain lighting conditions, tapping the HDR button 'On' will work magic to make your photos more accurate to what you see with your bare eyeball.

See that button in the top center of this screenshot? Turn it on sometime. You might find yourself reveling in a little technical joy too.

Pop Quiz:

What does HDR stand for?

A.) High Definition Resolution

B.) Heat Defined Reconstitution

C.) High Dynamic Range

Answer:

The 24th letter of the alphabet if moving backwards from Z to A.

Simple Joy ~ Last Day of Summer

Last day of Summer 2011. 

I'll take it laying down on a picnic blanket with my sweetheart by my side.

At least in my dreams that's what I did.

In all actuality, I spent it laying down in bed with a blasted head cold.

The joy is in the dreaming this go around!

Simple Joy ~ Coffee Bubbles

There are some mornings when staring at the bubbles in my coffee brings me great amusement and satisfaction. 

Today was one of those mornings.

Simple Joy ~ Handwashables

When the label reads, Hand Wash, I ignore it. 

I don't ignore the important message and put the item in the machine washer anyhow. Noooooo, I am dar too serious about following the commands on my clothing tags. 

Rather I ignore the article of clothing, leaving it to the bottom of the laundry pile, hoping somehow it will rise out of the pressing weight from above and wash itself. 

These are my hopes. Somehow this has never actually happened. 

Nor has my fairy godmother ever shown up—with bon-bons and ice cream in hand—to manually remove said handwashable item from the depths of the wash basket while I sat on the couch eating those bon-bons and ice cream only to find in an hours time all of my delicate handwashables hanging neatly on the line.

But the other month I found myself heading out of town on a business trip and I needed some clothes, something other than my usual 'mom' gear. I found half a laundry bin with likely candidates. So I got to it and spent a small portion of my evening sudsing and swishing, swishing and rinsing (but not wringing or twisting). Before I knew it I was pleasantly enjoying this much ignored chore.

I'm heading out of town on another business trip and have found myself looking forward to my new favorite household duty. 

Bring on the suds and the swish. I'm in need of some simple joy today!

Simple Joy ~ Ten Toys Per Child

Remember last week when I posted about Bubba cutting his own hair while all the children were "quietly coloring" at the kitchen table? Turns out there's more to this story, folks.

Over the weekend a friend sent me this note:

"Maybe he really needed 15 toys! Creativity is an amazing adventure! So cute and so damn funny! At least your sweet little girl did not cut her hair!"

I guess I have more to tell you. Let me back up a little.

The day I wrote that post I spent the morning at coffee with some girlfriends.

I was retelling the story about the five minutes alone, the oh-no they've been way too quiet for far too long realization, and the fact that the older kids didn't stop Bubba from whacking at his luxurious locks.

Over cappuccinos and lattes and cute chubby babies I was also explaining the new M.O. (modus operandi) set forth by my dear husband regarding toys in our home.

Two weeks ago we adopted the Ten Toys Per Child policy.

Let me back up a little further. You see, recently he went on a trip where he stayed in the home of some dear friends. This family of four lives in a very small home. Our home is small. Theirs is smaller. They described a simple rule they keep with their kids that has lead to greater happiness, stronger focus and fuller creativity.

The Rule: Ten Toys Per Child

My hubby came home raving about how great it was being in a home without—please excuse my French—all this sh*t laying around all. He has been an advocate for extracting the massive quantities of—please excuse my French—sh*t that so easily accumulates when you have three little people and two big people living in a home together.

The pack-rat in me said, "Oh no, but we might need it. We can't live without 23 plastic horses, a giant robot, 600 million flash cards and 42 miniature dinosaurs."

The housewife in me said, "Anything to make my job easier and I'll take it."

I hesitantly agreed with the new plan. We presented it to the kids. They jumped on board immediately running to their rooms to fill garage sale bags with their things. Clearly the thousands of precious little plastic thingies laying around here didn't really mean all that much to them after all.

We had a garage sale. They sold everything and kept the money for themselves. (Enter Pokemon cards. But that's a different story for a different day.)

Now that we function in a Ten Toys Per Child house I have to agree that the reduction of clutter has led to greater happiness, stronger focus and fuller creativity for all.

Enter last week's Five Minutes Alone episode: Quietly Coloring at the Dining Room Table.

After the children woke up in the morning, I began quizzing them about the previous night's events trying desperately to understand why no one stopped the baby from cutting his own hair. Quite quickly it was revealed that Bubba wasn't the only one taking liberty with the scissors. Turns out he got the idea from his older sister who got the idea from her older brother. Yes indeed, all three children cut their hair that evening.

Which brings me back to the note my friend sent over the weekend:

"Maybe he really needed 15 toys! Creativity is an amazing adventure! So cute and so damn funny! At least your sweet little girl did not cut her hair!"

Ahhhhh, the simple joy of youthful creativity!

Simple Joy ~ Wilderness

My sweet hubby and I had the good fortune of going out on a date this weekend. We wanted to do something different than our usual dinner and a movie. We both agreed that wide open spaces would do us good. So we spent the evening in the wilderness watching the sun set, jumping fish and the peaceful lake water. I could have spent the whole night out there. That is, until my sweet husband made mention of the possibility of lurking mountain lions just above us on the rocks. Then it was time to go home.

Simple Joy ~ Popsicles

Oh the joy of icy cold popsicles on a blazing hot day! 

Little kids are the best at making the most of all the popsicle has to offer because they don't give a care. 

They dig-in without any regard for drips, drops, slurps and burps making the popsicle experience all the more enjoyable.

I've been taking notes and striving to embody more of that spirit lately. Next time you see me I might just be wearing my popsicle like Bubba is here.

Simple Joy ~ Dandelion

Ordinarily, walking past a dandelion in my lawn draws me into a state of frustration and disappointment. Frustration knowing that I have no defense against the bazillions of seeds that will spread with the next wave of wind. And disappointment in my poor lawn keeping skills. If I'm being completely honest with myself, I'll admit that my skills are downright pitiful. Come mid-July brown grass and dandelions cover at least fifty percent of my lawn.

But on this particular mid-summer morning while I was walking back to the house from taking out the recycling, this ordinary dandelion caught my attention. I felt an overwhelming sense of joy as I walked past it while I observed its beautiful patterns illuminated by the early morning light. 

Joy in the beauty of nature's designs. 

Joy in the sun shining brightly every morning.

Joy in the blooming and spreading of a flower's seed. 

Joy in the simple things. 

Go right ahead now, enjoy something simple for yourself today.

Simple Joy

Once a week I slip out of the house at the break of dawn for some me time. It's one of my sanity strategies. On my walk the other morning I saw these sunflowers beautifully illuminated by the rising sun. I felt a deep sense of satisfaction in my soul. Hooray for getting out early and enjoying nature like I'm the only person on Earth it was created for.

Good morning starshine. The Earth says hello. You twinkle above us. We twinkle below. 

[Name That Tune]

Simple Joy

Summertime Free Creative Play... There is nothing on Earth quite like it. 

Little kids dreaming of being bigger. 

Big kids wishing we could steal back our younger years. 

Around and around we go. 

Cherish the moment, my friends. 

Breath deep. And find yourself a moment to cherish today. 

Simple Joy

Please pardon the one-day delay in my Simple Joy this week. Normally I post one simple joy from my week on Monday mornings. But this week I'm posting on Tuesday morning, as you can clearly see.

I took a weekend trip to Boston for business and am just now getting an opportunity to reconnect with this here bloggy-blog.

Boston is a delightful city, one that I hope to return to many times over. One evening after a productive day of work I found such joy gazing out my hotel window at the setting sun over the cityscape.

I simply can't get enough of the architecture in big cities. In Boston, there was something historic and regal to see at nearly every turn. As I sat and watched the sun set with great pleasure behind many of these buildings, I imagined all of the people throughout recent history who have stood gazing out this same window. Watching this same sun set. Dreaming of tomorrow. I was having a moment. My business partner may have thought I was crazy, but I was having a moment.

I hope to see you again soon Boston. Until then, stay historic and regal.

Simple Joy

This photo was taken with my iPhone

It's not often I take the opportunity to lay still and gaze up at the clouds.

This week I made a point of it. Every day.

I laid out my blanket.

Flat on my back I lay to watch the clouds roll by.

I made sure to remain as still as possible.

As a busy mother, this practice was incredibly therapeutic.

I'm still asking myself why I haven't made a practice of cloud gazing sooner.

Slowing down. Breathing. True joy.

Another photo taken with my iPhone