Chaos...

When my friend Kim and I get together we always have great conversation....I think we solve a good chunk of the world's problems over our favorite Dr. Pepper and some laughs. 

Our children enjoy their time together too....sometimes a little too much.  Last time we were visiting with Kim the little ones took every single piece of clothing out of Tessa's closet and they ended up wearing most of it.  I counted how many layers Eva had on and it totaled 12!  Jaden, on the other hand, had to make due since he was the only boy in the crew...he went with the flow and dressed up in Tessa's clothing too! 

Kim and I decided we maaaaay have officially lost control of our little ones that day...especially when we noticed her youngest, Ella, was walking around with underwear on her head.

And it wasn't her own. 

What's a Mama to do??  In this case....just laugh!!!!



"Women gather to wear silly hats, eat dainty foods, and talk about their husbands.  Men gather to talk sports, eat heavy foods, and hang out with the guys.  Only where children gather is there any real chance of fun."

--Mignon McLaughlin, modified.

Do you accept this mission??

So I mentioned in my last post that Isaac's family is doing something that I find SUPER cool....like so cool that when I read about it I could not text his mom fast enough to tell her just how amazing I thought the idea was.  Maybe it's the teacher in me (I had my students read a book about this)....maybe it's because I vividly remember a book about this from when I was a child...whatever the reason I LOVE it.

But it's gonna take YOUR help to do it.  Here it is...

Ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who has 1000 paper cranes will be granted a wish, such as long life or a recovery from an illness or injury.  In Japan the crane is one of the most mystical creatures and is said to live for thousands of years. Hanging the cranes in ones home is considered powerfully lucky.



Isaac's cousins are working together to get 1000 paper cranes for Isaac.  They are hoping to get them from allll over the United States...and even the world.

This is where I need your help.

We need to work together to help Isaac get 1000 paper cranes.  I know that for some of you this is stepping waaaaaay out of your comfort zone (I know there are many of you out there that read this blog and have never commented or emailed or whatever - I'm cool with that - but right now I'm asking for you to step out of your comfort zone and join us on this endeavor).  We need to reach out to a little boy that has the battle of his life in front of him and do something that will hopefully bring a smile to his face.  Isaac needs 1000 paper cranes.

They are simple to make and directions can be found HERE.  The family is asking that only ONE crane be made per person and that they include their name, city, state, and country on the crane.

Please email me and I will pass on the address where you can mail your cranes.  My email is theblissfullyhappyhousewife@gmail.com

THANK YOU!!!!

(This is gonna be AWESOME...I know it)!!

"We can do no great things...only small things with great love."

--Mother Theresa

Check one of the bucket list....



Sometimes I have to laugh at God's timing on things.  I had been working on that bucket list for WEEKS....and I finally posted it on Monday.  One of the items on my bucket list was to donate blood. 

And get this....

As I'm driving down the street of a local little town on Monday afternoon what do I see?

A BLOOD DRIVE!

I just chuckled to myself and said, "Well, there's no time like the present!!!"

So on a whim and a prayer I took my two kiddos with me and walked up to the door of the building.  I explained to the woman standing there that I had NEVER given blood before, I pass out pretty easily, and I had traveled outside of the United States in the last twelve months.

Does it kind of sound like I was giving myself an excuse to scoot on out there without my arm getting pricked?

Ya, subconsciously I probably was.   HA!

Regardless, after taking all of my medical information and checking on the countries I had visited I was cleared to give blood!  I sat in a chair and had them hook my arm all  up.  Eva and Jaden sat with me and watched the bag fill with blood.  I wasn't sure how they would handle the whole situation but we really talked about how that blood will help other people...and they handled it beautifully. 

Just a heads up....that's not my arm.  I promise I'm not that hairy!  Ha!

In the end the amount of blood I donated will help save the lives of THREE people, and the platelets from my blood will help cancer patients.  After what Isaac is facing, that alone made it worth it to me!

I left with a smile on my face, a "I donated blood!" sticker, and two munchkins that seemed pretty pumped about what their Mama had just done (I had to laugh at their re-telling of the whole story to their friends later). 

You can bet this won't be the last time I do this....and I encourage you to do it too!

Also, just a heads up...Isaac's cousins have come up with a SUPER cool way to help lift Isaac's spirits and we are gonna need YOUR help to make it happen!!  Stay tuned!!  It's AWESOME!

"I MUST DO SOMETHING" always solves more problems than saying, "Something must be done".

Make a difference.

--Unknown

My Bucket List

Ohhh friends, if you knew how long it has taken me to get this post together you would laugh out loud.  It has required this girl to think, think, think!  Let me tell you how it all started...

A few months ago Erin over at Living in Yellow had a bucket list on her blog and encouraged her blog readers to do the same.  (On a side note, if you have never checked out Erin's blog you are missing out.  Simply put...love her positive attitude...love her spunk...love her).  All of this being said, I've never been a fan of bucket lists because, quite honestly, I feel so blessed by what has already transpired in my life.  Sooo many things that "I've always wanted to do" I thought I had already done.

Fast forward about a week....and I was still thinking about Erin's bucket list.  For some reason it REALLY got me thinking.  I started thinking about things I still wanted to do with my life and realized there most definitely were some things that I had not accomplished that had always been in the back of my mind.  Soon after all this I attended my step-grandfather's funeral.  During the service the pastor really talked about allllll the things he had done and how a few weeks before he died he said, "I've really done everything I want to do in life."

That stuck. 

Soooo my friends....after much thought and work and crossing out and adding to I officially have my bucket list.  At this point in my life theses are the top 50 things I have always wanted to do that I either HAVE accomplished (and have crossed off) or WANT TO accomplish in the future.  They are in absolutely no particular order.  Enjoy.

Jamie's Bucket List

Write a children's book

Visit Italy and the town where my great-grandparents are from.

Go to College.



College Graduation



Build a house for Habitat for Humanity.

Fly in a fighter jet.

Get married and have a family.



My World.



See a tornado from a safe distance.

Shower in a waterfall.

Take my kids to a soup kitchen/homeless shelter to volunteer.

Go on a Mission Trip as a family.

Visit Hawaii

Read the whole Bible.

Take a hot air balloon ride over Napa Valley.

Fly in a blimp.

Fly on a zero gravity flight (experience weightlessness)

Take my kids to Disney World.



Halloween in Disney!

Visit England and allll things Princess Diana (including Althorp).

Become trained by the Red Cross to assist children in disaster situations...and be dispatched to use those skills.

Visit the site of the Salem Witch Trials.

Go whale watching.

Purchase value meals with the kids and deliver them to homeless on the streets in our city.

Learn to play tennis...well.

Actively join the campaign to Green our Vaccines!

Take the kids on a "once in a lifetime" vacation before they "leave the nest".

Stage dive and crowd surf at a concert.

Donate blood.

Tour the White House.

Spend an afternoon with Matt on a deserted island.

Host an elaborate outdoor dinner party.

Swim with dolphins.



I could NOT stop smiling!





Tour Ford's Theater.

Adopt a child.

Live my life so that others know I am a Christian...without ever discussing religion.

Vacation in Fiji in a hut over the ocean.

Take the kids to the grocery store and anonymously pay for someone's groceries.

Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef.



Snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef in Australia!



Stand on a stage in large arena during a concert (any concert) and feel the energy of the crowd.

Create a home that my family feels is a safe and cozy haven in a crazy world.
Be a stay-at-home mommy.



My reason for spending my days at home!





Support a child through World Vision.

Listen to Jimmy Buffet live while leisurely laying on the beach sipping a cocktail.

Sit in a natural hot spring.

Learn Photography.



Smile!



Go skydiving with Eva and Jaden when they each turn 18.
(Note:  Eva, Jaden, and I want to skydive...Matt's not so keen on the idea)!

Spend a week on a catamaran leisurely cruising the Caribbean Islands.

Learn to speak Spanish fluently.

Garden with my children.



Dinner fresh from the garden!



Ice Skate with the kids in Rockefeller Center with the Christmas tree lit.

Frame a bunch of my children's artwork and hang it in my home.

Learn to live in the NOW!  (tough one)!





 "When your life flashes before your eyes...make sure you've got plenty to watch!"
--Unknown



Splash Pad Fun!

While Eva was at camp this week Jaden and I enjoyed a little time with some great friends at the local splash pad!  Fun for the kiddos...and for the mamas!



"You are worried about seeing him spend his early years doing nothing?!  What?!!!  Is it nothing to be happy?  Nothing to skip, play, and run all day long?  Never in his life will he be so busy again!"

--Jean Jacques Rousseau

Happy Father's Day

"He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it."

--Clarence Kelland

Pina Colada Recipe

Here is the pina colada recipe...per request!!  Enjoy!!  (You can bet your bottom dollar that I am)!!

Pina Colada

(courtesy of Paula Dean and The Food Network)

Ice Cubes

1/2 cup rum

1/2 cup coconut cream (found in the Mexican food aisle)

1/4 cup coconut milk (found in the Asian food aisle)

1/4 cup pineapple chunks

Sliced pineapple, for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Fill blender halfway with ice cubes.  Add rum, coconut cream, coconut milk, and pinapple chunks.  Puree  Serve, garnished with a sliced pineapple.

A Bit of Random...

Hello Friends!  I feel like I have sooo many things I need to blog about....but I'm feelin' a random blog post is in order tonight.  Stay tuned for deeper (and more interesting?) things comin' later.  For now, here's some randomness for your weekend....

1.  Eva is at Springhill Day Camp this week.  Let me tell you...COOLEST THING EVER!!!!!  Sooo cool that I swear I get teary eyed every single morning when I drop her off!  The first day we pulled into the church parking lot  there were a ton of signs up welcoming the campers, crazy contraptions/water equipment all over, and all these people cheering for us as we drove through the parking lot!!!  I most definitely went into crazy mom mode and started honking my horn and bouncing around in the car...my poor daughter and her adorable friend were probably hiding under their seats.  Regardless, it is AH-MA-ZING.  More on this to come later.

2.  Speaking of amazing...my sister completed her first triathlon this past weekend.  Seriously, I am soooo incredibly proud of her and the hard work she has put into this goal.  I'm also not ashamed to say that one of my favorite parts of the whole triathlon (aside from the fact she won her age group!) was the fact that while allllll the other triathlon participants were wearing horribly-ugly-sport-looking sunglasses...MY sista was rockin' Gucci's....love her.

3.  It took years of sacrifice and hard work....but I think I finally found the perfect pina colada recipe.  Enough said.

4.  Jaden and I made homemade strawberry shortcake today.  I'm sharing that simply because I want to post this picture of my cutie patootie sifting flour....

5.  I was in a commercial today!  Yep, my friend Amanda and I have about a 0.002 second part in a commercial for a friend's boutique!!! Since this is our acting debut we are most definitely thinking we need to have a screening party...red carpet, cocktails, a VIP list...  

 I must go now...gotta go practice signing my autograph....XOXO!

 

Do it again Daddy!! Do it AGAIN!!!

"You don't raise heroes, you raise sons.  And if you treat them like sons they'll turn out to be heroes..even if it's just in your own mind."

--Walter M. Schirra, Sr.

Baseball Season 2011

This little girl looooves baseball!  This year she has really grown and learned more and more about the game.  Her shining moment for the season came at her very last game (last night).  She was playing pitcher and a girl hit it high...Eva caught the ball AND threw it to second for a double play!!  That's my girl!!!! 

Here are a few pics from this season...

Seriously could not stand how stinkin' cute she looked in her uniform, especially with shorts...the proof is in the ridiculous amount of pictures I have of her in it! 

 She's serious about the game...and serious about playing in the dirt during the down time!

 In ACTION!

  Love this pic...love the determination and concentration on her face!

We always say that Eva got her love of baseball from my grandma...my grandma was one of the biggest Cubs fans I've ever met.  I've also never met a woman who knew the game like she did.  She could carry on a conversation with ANYONE - men included - about baseball and be right in her element.  Soo this quote is for her and my little girl too...

"Every baseball player should be accorded the privilege of at least one season with the Chicago Cubs.  That's baseball as it should be played - in God's own sunshine.  And that's really living."

--Alvin Dark

It's been awhile...

It's been nearly a week since I've posted on my blog...something unusual for me unless I'm out of town.  But this week wasn't a normal week and I'm having a hard time finding a way to transition my blog from "my friend's son has cancer" to "here is what I did this weekend".

It just doesn't seem right.

I wrote on my Facebook page this week that, "Wherever I go...whoever I am with...there is a little 5 year old boy that is on my mind and in my heart."

In the last week I have found that it doesn't matter what I am doing I am thinking of Isaac...and in those few moments that my mind is pre-occupied with something else I find that all of a sudden the situation with Isaac comes at me like a tidal wave.  It has consumed me.

So, even as this blog continues on in the weeks and months ahead...and as I get back into my normal blogging routine...know that there is a little 5 year old boy out there who's life is far from "normal" right now.  A little boy that needs our prayers in the worst way.  A little boy that is a fighter in the true sense of the word.  A little boy that has touched my heart forever.

Thanks all...
Jamie 

PS.  This will probably be my last post about Isaac for awhile, but if you are interested in following his journey through his Caring Bridge site please email me.

I'm humbly asking a favor...

Tonight I sit at this computer with more than a heavy heart...tonight I am totally heartbroken.

You may have read in my last post about Isaac.  He is the five year old son of some friends of ours that was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor.  The surgery to remove the tumor was today...and it was malignant.

Isaac has cancer.



I can't even wrap my mind around this.  My heart is literally breaking for them and the tears have been flowing.  Have you ever had one of those moments that the air seems like it's sucked out of your chest?  Hearing that Isaac has cancer was one of those moments for me.

My heart hurts...for him and for his family.

I was able to chat with Isaac's dad tonight and he said he is shocked by how many people are keeping Isaac in their thoughts and prayers, but the more people pulling for his little boy the better.

So tonight I am sitting here on my computer on a mission to get the word about Isaac out.   I'm using my blog as my outlet and I'm asking you a favor.

Here is what I need from you dear blog readers...

1.  First a foremost, keep Isaac in your thoughts and prayers. This is what he needs the most right now.  Also keep his mom, dad, and two brothers in your prayers.  As his dad said, the book of their life is being rewritten as we speak...and that's a scary thing. 

2.  His family is clinging to the words of encouragement from friends, family, and even people they've never met.  I'm asking you to leave a comment with a word of encouragement for his family.  If possible leave the state (or country )you live in somewhere in the comment.  This blog gets over 500 hits a week from all over the world.  While there are a lot of people already praying for this amazing little boy, let's show this family even more. Isaac's parents spend many hours checking their Caring Bridge and Facebook sites for support...this will give them another avenue to get encouragement from.

3.  Spread the word.  Link back to this blog if you want on your own blogs...but GET THE WORD OUT THERE TO PRAY FOR ISAAC.

This little guy needs our help right now...and I believe in miracles.



"What if Your blessings come through raindrops,

What if Your healing comes through tears.

And what if a thousand sleepless nights,

are what it takes to know You're near.

What if my greatest disappointments,

or the aching of this life,

is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy.

And what if the trials of this life,

the rain..the storms..the hardest nights...

are Your mercies in disguise."

--From the song "Blessings" by Laura Story

From the bottom of my heart...thank you.

Jamie

This week my heart is heavy...

This has been a week which has left my heart heavy....a week in which I have been overwhelmed with devastating news from people in my life that are dealing with some hard situations.

On this bright and beautiful Sunday morning I am headed to church and this time my prayers will be a little more urgent.  Normally I don't share things like this on my blog, but today I am. 

Today I feel like I need to.

Please take time today to pray for the following family members and friends of mine who have had absolutely devastating news the past week...

*  My step-mother, Kay, unexpectedly lost her father this week....please pray for her and her family as they deal with this loss.

*  Long time friends of mine received devastating news this week...their 5 year old son, Issac, has a brain tumor.  He is currently at Riley's Children's Hospital awaiting surgery.  This whole situation has really tugged at my heartstrings because it has to do with a child....an amazing little boy.  I have a hard time when children suffer.  Please pray that God heals this beautiful little boy...

Isaac when I photographed him last summer

 

*  A dear friend of mine, Jeannie, lost her husband very unexpectedly this week.  Please pray for comfort for their family as they deal with this sudden loss. 

To be completely honest, this all has been a lot for me this week.  As I said before, my heart is heavy....but I know that God heals...our hearts, our pain....and in Isaac's case I know he can heal his body too.  So I'm asking you my dear blog readers, please take a few moments out of your day today to pray for these people.  Thank you.

"I believe in prayer.  It's the best way we have to draw strength from Heaven."

--Josephine Baker

Simple Moments....

At one of Eva's recent baseball games she accidently got hit with the ball.  Not a huge big deal...it isn't her first little fat lip and I can pretty much guarantee it won't be her last!  Regardless....together we sat in the dugout icing her lip.  I know moments like these are short lived...she's only six and still likes her Mama to console her when she's upset.  Just another example of how we need to to take the simple moments in life (like sitting with your 6 year old in the dugout) and savor them...let them just seep into our souls.  Every single day gives us sooo many reasons to be thankful and I'm a girl that's gonna soak it in...



"You've got a lot of choices.  If getting out of bed in the morning is a chore and you're not smiling on a regular basis, try another choice."

--Stephen D. Woodhill