What's Great Day 16

What was great today, I cleaned my shower. Y'all think I'm crazy that's a great thing? Well having a clean shower is a great thing and it is somewhat a good workout too.

I also finished an order of heat wraps for a friend who custom ordered a matched set for her mother for Christmas.

What's Great Day 15 (half way there)

Well I may not have a vegetable garden but that doesn't mean I don't have a beautiful harvest. My rose bush is over loaded with beautiful pink roses. So now I have nice beautiful pink roses on my kitchen table.

Another great exciting thing about today is that I got my vanilla beans in the mail. Yippy can't wait to start using them.

What's Great Day 14

It has been a rainy cool but still damp (as in humid) day here in the north east. What's great today is I finished my book (probably one of my favorite Nicholas Sparks books Safe Haven). I also got a good work out in the morning and I'm just about to go put diner in the oven for when B gets home. That Chicken Rollantini with spinach and parmigiana that I made over the weekend along with sweet potatoes.

What's Great Day 13

Well waking up this morning after being so sick yesterday (1 1/2 boxes of tissues in one day), I was happy to find my nose nearly cleared and actually feeling a lot better. So it was off and running for the day. I had to get both girls out the house and off to Shelby's preschool for the morning. This morning we had her first field trip to go apple picking. It was lots of fun. We saw lots of animals; Highland Cattle, Pygmy Goats, Ducks, Heifers, Chickens, Roosters, Turkeys, and a Pot belly pig. Then we hiked up a "mountain" and had a cider donut and some apple cider. After that we picked a big bag of apples.

So I guess I had two greatnesses today. The field trip and the fact that I got to go without a gross of tissues in tow.

What's Great Day 12

Well today is a challenge. I know the day is young still but so far it hasn't been a great day. But that is kind of the whole point of my 30 day Greatness Challenge after all. I started this because I was in a funk, down in the dumps and the glass was always half empty. I know that is not the right outlook to have but it is the one I had. So I decided to focus my attention on what was great about each day. There is always something great about the day after all "This is the day the Lord has made." If the Lord is great then today is great. So why is it a challenge today well I'm sick, how sick... well I went through more than a box of tissues yesterday (not by myself of course S used one). I only slept a few broken hours due to the constant need to use even more tissues, and now I'm tired and still sick.  But all that aside there is good and even greatness in today. So what are those greatnesses.

1. S (my 4 year old) is the sweetest thing she brought me my box of tissues that I left on the table after snack without me even asking her to. She also threw away my banana peel and will bring me cough drops. She keeps saying Mommy I'm sorry you are sick, I hope you feel better for the apple picking tomorrow (her 1st preschool field trip). How does it get better then that.

2. I'm sick so I'm not working out and I'm just sitting around with the laptop on my lap and playing on Pintrest. Have you not heard of this it is great! Addicting? Maybe a little. Educational? Ehh. Fun? Definitely. Creative? For sure. What this is a virtual pin board. You know your "favorites" or "bookmarked" sight list is taking up the whole screen well here you can access your favorites from anywhere and share with others and see what others are sharing. I've gotten craft ideas, organization ideas, food ideas, decorating ideas, kid project ideas and the list goes on. So check it out it's fun. Here's the link Pintrest.

I hope you are finding the Greatness in your day.

What's Great Day 11

My Fantasy football team is still undefeated (unless my player tomorrow night looses 20 points).

But in more serious and worthy news the new song we sang at church today is great and I love it. Check out Hillsong God is Able. I just love it and I'm sort of bummed I don't sing next week cause I would love to sing it again and they will do it again next week. But it was still great to sing it today.

What is Great Day 10 (1/3 of the way through)

Today I got to start out my day with some yoga (always a nice way to start the day). Not just your typical yoga either, Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown (level 2). Then after a trip to the grocery store we made Chicken Rollatini with Spinach alla parmigiana (for the recipe I used you can click here). I stopped right after breading and put them on a cookie sheet and put them in the freezer then when they are all frozen I will put them in a bag and have them ready to sauce, cheese and bake at a moments notice. I also made a double batch so there was only the mess twice.

I also made homemade granola, and zucchini bread.

Then to top the whole day off we got to Skype with our friends who moved away a month ago (was it just that short a time). Miss them a lot and it was nice to see them again.

So now to get the girls in bed it's been a busy day. Obviously there were lots of Greatnesses today.

What is Great... Day 9

I just got Google + today. I already love it but wish more people were on it. So if you are fed up with Facebook and their new less friendly privacy settings then make the switch.

What is Great... Day 8

Well today was a fun day. Hot and humid and cloudy and rainy and gray but good. Today was S's special day at preschool. For those who don't know she is in a co-op preschool so once every 4 weeks or so I go into help the teacher. I take the kids to the bathroom and set up snack, help with the craft play and read with the kids. Whomever mom (or dad) is the helper for the day has a special day. They get to help set up the snack, hold the hand sanitizer for the kids to use before snack and put the calender day up on the board. I love the co-op because 1. it is cheaper then most preschools, and 2. I really know what is going on in the classroom.

I also finished making a Christmas present today. Yup Christmas all ready, but when you make a lot of your gifts it is beneficial to start early like in September. I couldn't tell S who the gift was for cause I'm pretty sure she would tell her Grammie (oops) Well I guess it is good S can't read yet and I didn't mention what I made.

So those were my greatnesses today.

What is Great... Day 7

Just 3 words...

Homemade Fried Chicken!

What is Great... Day 6

Well not too much to say today but K did cut her first tooth last night (at about 9 1/2 months she is ahead of S by about 4 months). Now she is sleeping like a baby and so it S after a busy day at school, they had a luau to say goodbye to summer. On Tuesday we go apple picking with her class.

So what is great about today. Well MOPs (Mothers of Preschoolers) started today. I have missed it so much this summer. I know I talked way too much (you don't believe that though it's true) I guess I miss that adult conversation.

That's all for today, short sweet and to the point.

PS. I just found another greatness of today, I just did spell check and the only thing it turned up was MOPs so Woo Hoo!

What is Great... Day 5

Wow I'm already on day 5 of my Greatness Search.  I have a list of things that are great about today and I'll get to those but first I wanted to share that S will be having thumb surgery again in a few months. We did find that out for sure today. I sort of stopped blogging at the end of June and even left one blog hanging (Organization 101 I did write it but haven't quite finished with it and I'll post it at some point). Shortly after that we noticed a lump on S's thumb when checking out a splinter. So we took her to the Dr. and he noticed that she couldn't straighten her thumb all the way. So off to a specialist we went. Turned out that her thumb was a congenital (or pediatric) Trigger Thumb. She was most likely born that way and over time the triggering had gotten so bad that her tendon couldn't go through the tendon sheath anymore and it locked her thumb. So in a matter of a week we went from diagnosis to my little baby (ok yes she is 4 but I'm her mom and she will always be my baby) having surgery under general anaesthesia.

Well all came out fine with her surgery and a week or so latter she was showing offer fixed thumb to a near total stranger and said "Look my other thumb triggers too." I was so surprised and was like "What?" she never told me that. But it is true so when we went back to the Dr for her post op check up he looked at that new trigger thumb. Yup another one. So we have given it another 6-8 weeks and it is still triggering all the time. So he said we could set up the surgery now or wait for a bit. We are going to wait a bit since S just started preschool last week.

So that being said it didn't take away from my day since I knew the answer the Dr gave me was what I expected all along but it was just something to share.

Now what is great about today....
- The SUN! it is shining and warm and great.
- Dark Chocolate covered Almonds.
- Yoga to start my day with.
- K slept through night again for like the 4th night in a row.
- My fantasy football team (The Skeeters) is at 161 points and I have 1 more person to play tonight (my opponent has 96 points and one player left to play. I wont way who my opponent is so that He can keep some dignity in blogging world).

What is Great... Day 3 & 4

Well I didn't post yesterday on day 3 but that isn't because there was nothing great. I did think about what was great and was just taking so much time to soak up what was great that I didn't have time to post.

But yesterday I got to spend the whole morning with my husband and girls as we looked for vanilla beans locally (we found them but weren't willing to spend that kind of money on them so we will be buying on Ebay), and then shopping at Joann Fabrics. I got lots of new fabric. Then my new pattern for an apron came in the mail and I spent the whole evening making my new apron. I think I will be making another for myself, cause I have more then one color combination I loved. This is the pink/brown one (it is reversable).

We also got a surprise visit from my in-laws for a few hours and the girls were so happy to see them especially S.

Today has started off great. Church was powerful, and then K and I dozed in the car while B and S went into the grocery store for some essentials. Now we are watching football and cleaning the kitchen in preparation for bread making this afternoon.

In summery...

Saturdays Greatness 1. Family Time  2. Shopping  3. New Apron

Sundays Greatness 1. Church  2. Football  3. Bread Making  4. I've lost another 1lb (Woo Hoo Go Me).

What is Great... Day 2 (Applesauce)

Well today what is great... well this morning my house was absolutely freezing. Before you think I'm complaining let me explain. I love fall it is my favorite time of the year, I love having to wear a hoodie and jeans and being cozy under a blanket. Well I also refuse to turn the heat on this early in the year and my husband has strict rules about turning on the heat. The first rule is if it is cold bake something the second if it is still cold bake more if it is still cold wear slippers if it is still cold turn on the heat. So what did I do? I baked!

What to make? Well I bought a bag of "utility" apples last weekend and we have been eating some and baking with some (Apple crisp, and Apple spice bread) so today was Applesauce.

So my greatness for today is I made 4+ quarts of applesauce. I had some issues with the canning process so we will be eating a lot for the next few days (though I am gonna try to re can some of it this evening).

But before you go if you care here is the How To on my applesauce (no canning info cause well like I said I had some issues).

Get lots of apples (utility apples are cheaper because they have imperfections but like who cares in applesauce)

Fit a large pot with a steaming rack, and add water up to the bottom of the rack.

Wash the apples (kids do this really well).

Cut apples if you are using a food mill you don't need to peel or core the apples but you will if you use a food processor. (I cored mine anyways).

Put the apples in the pot of simmering water. Turn heat up to steam the apples for 20-40 minutes (I did mine longer and basically had applesauce when they were done cooking. But it made milling easy.

Ladle/spoon into the mill when done (don't let it cool more then 5-10 minutes)

Using a food mill or food processor puree they apples. If you use the food mill you can select your level of chunkiness (I like supper smooth).

If milling you will have to discard what is left.

What you have left is super yummy apples sauce.

Hope you enjoy! I know we are.

What is Great... Day 1

Ok it has been a long time since I bloged. Things have been busy, the girls are growing so fast and I have been having fun with them. K now 9 months just started to crawl and blabber all the time. I even think she is saying Mama (but I will admit it may just be wishful thinking). She claps and expects you to say "Yeah" and clap back to her. She is interested in being everywhere she isn't supposed to be and play with anything she isn't supposed to.

S (four) just started preschool 2 mornings a week. She is on her second day (and there right now) and is having fun. It was funny when she came home on Tuesday she said that she "made a fuss" after snack time. She said that she wanted to play after snack time but the teacher wanted her to "read" She was upset because she "doesn't know how to read." But she said that the teacher told her she could just look at the pictures. Well obviously she can't read it is the 1st day of 4 year old preschool none (or few) of the kids can read but that wasn't the point. She did have fun and was happy to go back today.

So what am I doing now on my blog? Well I decided that I really wanted to do something that would make me feel better. Something that would help me think every day about what is going good, what is going well, why I'm happy. Lately there has been lots of bad news, lots of sad days, lots of loss. But there are always good things happening and today while I was putting away dishes (I hate doing that), and thinking ugh I have this headache, I'm tired, I'm a sad etc... I also had the thought. Wow my jeans fit really good thanks to the fact that I've been working on dropping some weight for the last few months. Then I thought I need to start looking at the great things going on every day. Obviously I could put "God Loves Me" everyday as the good thing going on or "God is Good" but I'm gonna go with those are a given. But hopefully for the next 30 days (wow the challenge). I'll find and post something that is Great!

Today's Greatness is.... My jeans fit great and may even be getting a little too big.

Have a greatness day!