It’s the stupid things that make me so happy …

I think the saying is supposed to be "it's the simple things," but today it was the stupid, silly and sweet things that made my day.

Here is my list:

1. The Grocery Game – I have been trying to have our monthly grocery bill be under $1000 a month for the last year. I actually want it to be about $500 a month, but when you buy organic meat, dairy, veggies, fruit and bread that just doesn't happen. So I had set a goal for myself to use The Grocery Game to try to save 50% off my bill. (If you are not familiar with The Grocery Game, it is a website where you log in and print out a list of the really good sales at your local store – it tell you which coupons to use and how much to buy to get the best deal.) At the bottom of your receipt at King Soopers it tells you the percentage you have saved that day. I have been hovering around 40% for about a month. It would be safe to say that I am obsessed with this little game. I feel the need to tell everyone how much I saved that week. Pete and my mom are getting rather weary of the "guess how much I saved today" game. Well today I finally did it! Right on the dot. I spent $107 and saved $106. Yippee. I am still excited 5 hours later. Of course I had to call to call my friends and my mom and ask "guess how much I saved today!"
   

   
   

2. John and Kate Plus Eight on TLC. Have you seen this show? It follows a couple (John and Kate) and their two six-year-olds and six two-year-olds. I am a reality tv sucker to begin with, but this show tops my list. After a day with my two very nice little girls who completely exhaust me, I love to watch this crazy family with all of their kids. It is complete mayhem, kids are everywhere, two or three of them are always screaming, the mom is a total control freak who is always mean to her husband, basically - it makes me feel much better about myself! J Sarah watched it one day with me and said "wow that mommy has way too many of those little babies." It's a great waste of thirty minutes of my life.
   

   
   

3. Little girl pedicures – tonight after their bath, the girls asked me to paint their toenails. We pulled out all the nail polish and carefully made our selections – although it always ends up being the same ones – glittery purple for Sarah, very bright pink for Emily, dark pink for me. I painted all of our nails on the bathroom floor. I love seeing all 30 of our painted toenails wiggling together as we wait for them to dry. Sarah makes up songs while we wait. Tonight's song went something like this. "I gotta blow, blow, blow on my toes, I gotta blow, blow, blow, blow, blow on my toes and get all the wet part oooouuuuuuttt! It was a sweet ending to a happy day.
   

So now I have shared the stupid, silly and sweet things that made my day. What makes your day end with a smile?

Making friends with my MIL

I don't know when or where mother-in-laws jokes started. I wonder if every culture has them, or it just one of those American things. Regardless of their origin, I know that I definitely participated in them for the first 7 or 8 years of my marriage. I can safely say that when Pete proposed to me neither Pat, my MIL, or myself got what we had hoped for in a daughter/mother-in-law. I was this giant 6 foot non-southern, non-Baptist, shopping hating, non-make-up wearing Democratic oddity to her. She was a very southern, small town woman with giant fake red hair, matching lip stick and an obsession with the mall. There was much disappointment on both sides.

Neither of us worked too hard on making the situation better. She questioned Pete's choice in proposing to a woman who would (get ready, this is good!) "Burn in hell eternally" for being raised Catholic. Looking back I wasn't that great either. I completely excluded her from the planning of our wedding. Basically she was just an invited guest. I also announced early in our engagement that I had no intention of EVER spending Christmas with her, as I love my own family tradition of going to the Bahamas. Those are two pretty tough things with Pete being an only child.

We lived in a mutually unhappy state of veiled dislike for the next 8 years. Along the way we really missed some great opportunities. When my first child, Sarah, was born, Pat and I clashed for her entire first visit. I was hormonal, exhausted and a complete control freak. Although she had successfully raised Pete, she obviously knew NOTHING about children. Instead of letting her enjoy her first grandchild, I spent four days complaining about how she did everything wrong. She spent three days dragging 2-week-old Sarah and I to the mall. Of course things came to a terrible clash and she left with only an hour's notice, 5 days before she was scheduled to. It was a disaster.

But a bigger disaster was looming, one that would finally break my heart enough to make me see Pat for who she is. Three years ago we got a call that my father-in-law had died suddenly from a heart attack. Pat had held him while he died in their home. We immediately got to the airport and flew to Tennessee. In the course of the next few days, I watched Pat bury Johnny with astounding grace, strength and faith. But you see she had done this before, actually twice before. Pat had buried Pete's father when Pete was 5, his first step father when Pete was in college, and now she was burying his second step-father. As I watched her during those sad days, my heart literally broke for her. How can someone bury three husbands before their 60^th birthday? How can someone get up in the morning, put one foot in front of the other and sing praises to God after all that? My eyes were finally opened to see beyond the hair and makeup and shopping sprees, I finally saw a women who deserved (and really wanted) my respect and love.

Pat spent a lot of time with us that summer and fall. During that time, both of our hearts softened, healed and completely changed toward one another. She came when Emily was born and we had a great visit. I begged her to stay for a third week. Yes, she still wanted to go shopping, and we did. I have learned to shrug my shoulders and say thank you – most of her shopping these days is focused on dressing the girls. She learned to shrug her shoulders and feed the girls tofu and only organic dairy products. Although I do it differently than she did with Pete, she never misses a chance to tell me that I am a good mom. I really appreciate that.

Having just come home from visiting Pat last week, I am completely in awe of how things have changed over the years for us. It is nothing short of a miracle! I look forward to our visits together, and I am sad when they end. When we are together, we talk until midnight or until we just have to go to sleep. After 11 years, I can finally say that we are truly friends now and I am so grateful for it.

Hello hello hello

Hi everyone,
Sorry for the unannounced little blog break. Many of you know we have been in Pete's home town in Tennessee for the past week. I completely forgot the fact that some people actually live without Internet! I had visions of catching up on postings while the kids ran around with their grandma and other assorted relatives. No such luck. The Internet fast was actually much harder on Pete who is completely addicted to all things computer related. On Monday we found a Panara about 30 minutes from my MIL's and left Pete there while the girls and I went shopping. He was a changed man after an hour of Internet access!
Aside from the Internet issues, we had a great week of visiting with relatives and driving around the beautiful Tennessee hills (I just can't call mountains - I'm a Colorado girl!). Spring has actually sprung there and it was amazing to get to see the dogwoods, pear and cherry trees abloom.

I am looking forward to sharing some of our experiences with you in the next few days, but first things first - we have a winner for March's drawing. Congratulations Angie! Let me know where I you would like me to send your Barnes and Noble gift card.

Angie has a great blog about her life as a mom of four and a missionary living in southern Africa. Go check it out.